IndyCar Portland: Lundgaard sets searing pace in first practice

The Dane’s rise to the top spot came on a set of alternate, red sidewall tires with his Honda-powered Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing entry, putting down a flying lap of 58.1776s around the 1.964-mile, 12-turn natural terrain road course.

It was only the second time Lundgaard led a practice session in the IndyCar Series, having previously done so last year on the streets of Nashville.

Andretti Autosport’s Kyle Kirkwood ended up second, trailing Lundgaard by 0.1470s.

Championship leader Alex Palou was third quickest overall – and on the alternates – at 0.779s off the top spot. The Chip Ganassi Racing driver did lead a portion of the early running on primary, black sidewall tires. The Arrow McLaren duo of Pato O’Ward and Felix Rosenqvist ended up fourth and fifth, respectively.

Dale Coyne Racing’s David Malukas was sixth, followed by the No. 28 Andretti Autosport entry of Romain Grosjean.

Rinus VeeKay, who ended up eighth-fastest overall, was the fastest on the primary tires. The Dutch driver slapped together a lap of 58.783s with 20 minutes remaining before being dethroned by Lundgaard’s quick lap on the alternates, which began a chain reaction of drivers switching to the preferred rubber.

Alexander Rossi came away ninth, providing Arrow McLaren with all three of its entries in the top 10.

Josef Newgarden was the best representative for Team Penske in 10th, 0.5957s behind Lundgaard.

Juri Vips, who is making his IndyCar debut in the No. 30 Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing Honda, put in a respectable effort to finish 15th. Defending race winner and pole-sitter Scott McLaughlin was 16th of the 27 cars.

The first red flag came just under 20 minutes into the session when Rosenqvist dropped wheels in Turn 12 before sliding nose-first into the tire barrier, albeit with light contact.

Ed Carpenter Racing’s Ryan Hunter-Reay had an off entering Turn 12, with the backend snapping out briefly, which was enough to drift him off course before catching it and returning to the track, 25 minutes into the session.

 A second red flag came out moments later after Santino Ferrrucci spun at the exit of Turn 6 and stalling at Turn 7. However, he was able to continue after the AMR Safety Team helped refire the No. 14 AJ Foyt Racing Chevrolet.

The issues continued to persist for Hunter-Reay, who brought out a third stoppage with roughly 40 minutes remaining in the session. The Floridian was pushing through the final section and drifted wide and was darting into Turn 12 when the backend snapped once more, and he ended up stalled coming onto the frontstretch.

Fortunately, he didn’t make any contact and, with assistance, was able to continue on.

Team Penske’s Will Power spun out of Turn 2 with 27 minutes left but was able to quickly whip around and continue on and no impede the session. With just under six minutes left, Colton Herta ended up off course in Turn 6 pushing in a late run on the alternate tire compound before returning his Andretti Autosport Honda to the pits.

Hunter-Reay has been handed a six-position starting grid penalty by INDYCAR officials for an unapproved engine change at the previous round in St. Louis.

Main Information Additional Data Driver Info

     

Driver Info			Main Information
Cla	Driver	#	Laps	Time	Interval	Mph
1	C. Lundgaard Christian Lundgaard Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing	45	39	58.1776		121.531
2	K. Kirkwood Kyle Kirkwood Andretti Autosport	27	18	+0.1470	0.1470	121.225
3	A. Palou Alex Palou Chip Ganassi Racing	10	25	+0.1779	0.0309	121.161
4	P. O'Ward Patricio O'Ward Arrow McLaren	5	26	+0.2322	0.0543	121.048
5	F. Rosenqvist Felix Rosenqvist Arrow McLaren	6	28	+0.4652	0.2330	120.567
6	D. Malukas David Malukas Dale Coyne Racing	18	23	+0.5323	0.0671	120.429
7	R. Grosjean Romain Grosjean Andretti Autosport	28	29	+0.5477	0.0154	120.398
8	R. van Kalmthout Rinus van Kalmthout Ed Carpenter Racing	21	33	+0.5569	0.0092	120.379
9	A. Rossi Alexander Rossi Arrow McLaren	7	28	+0.5780	0.0211	120.336
10	J. Newgarden Josef Newgarden Team Penske	2	32	+0.5957	0.0177	120.300
11	D. DeFrancesco Devlin DeFrancesco Andretti Autosport	29	25	+0.6526	0.0569	120.183
12	M. Ericsson Marcus Ericsson Chip Ganassi Racing	8	27	+0.6731	0.0205	120.141
13	M. Armstrong Marcus Armstrong Chip Ganassi Racing	11	37	+0.7571	0.0840	119.970
14	C. Ilott Callum Ilott Juncos Hollinger Racing	77	25	+0.7594	0.0023	119.965
15	J. Vips Jüri Vips Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing	30	39	+0.8441	0.0847	119.793
16	S. McLaughlin Scott McLaughlin Team Penske	3	25	+0.8453	0.0012	119.791
17	W. Power Will Power Team Penske	12	28	+0.8478	0.0025	119.786
18	G. Rahal Graham Rahal Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing	15	26	+0.8508	0.0030	119.780
19	S. Dixon Scott Dixon Chip Ganassi Racing	9	25	+0.8681	0.0173	119.745
20	C. Herta Colton Herta Andretti Autosport	26	25	+0.8844	0.0163	119.711
21	H. Castroneves Helio Castroneves Meyer Shank Racing	06	23	+0.8971	0.0127	119.686
22	A. Canapino Agustin Canapino Juncos Hollinger Racing	78	35	+1.1177	0.2206	119.240
23	B. Pedersen Benjamin Pedersen A.J. Foyt Enterprises	55	41	+1.1877	0.0700	119.100
24	R. Hunter-Reay Ryan Hunter-Reay Ed Carpenter Racing	20	27	+1.4412	0.2535	118.593
25	S. Ferrucci Santino Ferrucci A.J. Foyt Enterprises	14	28	+1.4724	0.0312	118.531
26	R. Robb Ray Robb Dale Coyne Racing	51	28	+1.5062	0.0338	118.464
27	T. Blomqvist Tom Blomqvist Meyer Shank Racing	60	35	+1.6642	0.1580	118.152
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