Lundgaard climbs the hill before the Corkscrew. Photo: Kevin Dejewski
On Saturday morning, drivers were given a second chance at getting control of the tricky Laguna Seca course.
The new pavement continued to prove difficult to master, but it was Christian Lundgaard who set the fastest time of the run.
Lundgaard lapped the 2.24-mile course in 1:07.6154, narrowly slower than the fast time from Friday but still well ahead of the track record.
The time was set on a qualifying simulation, although it was done on the harder Firestone tires due to them being the only ones available for this particular session.
Rinus VeeKay and Alex Palou turned the second and third fastest times, making for a mixed up order at the top of the timesheets.
For the second day in a row, Juri Vips showed significant pace and put his #30 into the top half of the field despite his inexperience in an IndyCar.
Team-mates Kyle Kirkwood and Colton Herta both looked speedy, as they did on Friday, and were able to put their Andretti Autosport entries into the fifth and sixth spots respectively.
Much like the first practice on Friday, there were multiple incidents that disrupted running and shortened the amount of time available.
Instead of the allotted 45 minutes, drivers were given ten minutes less due to the three separate stoppages throughout the session.
The first red flag was for Pato O’Ward, who went off at Turn 3 and crunched his front suspension on the tire barriers after only six laps under his belt.
Will Power was the next to get bring out the red when he became stuck in the gravel, and shortly after that Santino Ferrucci stopped on course with smoke coming from his engine cover.
Rinus VeeKay drives through the gravel to get back on track after a spin. Photo: Kevin Dejewski
There were many other smaller incidents, with drivers running wide and kicking up big trails and dust and dirt.
The nature of the session showed once again that pushing to the limit on the newly-repaved course is particularly tricky, and there are severe consequences for any minor mistakes.
That feature will likely show itself again for qualifying, as the limit is pushed even further. The knockout sessions are scheduled to get underway at 2:00 PM Pacific Time.
The damaged entries of Power and O’Ward did not appear to need much more than a new wing and some suspension pieces, so they should be ready to go in time for qualifying.
Keyword: Incidents mar second IndyCar practice, Lundgaard fastest