Power set the fast time over the bridge near the end of the session. Photo: Kevin Dejewski
The NTT IndyCar Series took to the streets of Nashville on Friday for the first practice session of the Music City Grand Prix.
When the 75-minute session was complete, it was Will Power that was the fastest of the 27 cars on the 2.1-mile course.
The reigning champion completed a lap in 1:16.4042, putting in that fast lap near the end of his 20 laps as rubber was put down on the temporary course.
The track was extra clean at the start of the session due to multiple rounds of heavy rain that moved through the area in the 24 hours before the race weekend.
The track was dry by time IndyCar took to the course, but the humidity was still very high and gave the drivers a workout behind the wheel.
Alex Palou was the fastest for a good portion of the session, but lost out in the final minutes to Power’s lap and ended practice in second. He was a quarter of a second slower than the top time.
Third on the list was Alexander Rossi, who was narrowly the fastest Arrow McLaren driver. Pato O’Ward was just 0.05 seconds slower than his team-mate and was the fourth fastest of the day.
Christian Lundgaard, the most recent street course winner, rounded out the top five, and will look to use that momentum through the rest of the weekend.
Linus Lundqvist impressed in his debut IndyCar session, setting the 11th fastest time of the afternoon in his role filling in for an ailing Simon Pagenaud.
The 2022 Indy NXT champion was even faster than his veteran team-mate Helio Castroneves, who was the 16th fastest driver of the afternoon.
Even though the Nashville course typically has a lot of carnage, there were very few incidents throughout the opening session.
It took until five minutes remaining before the red flag came out, and that was only because Callum Ilott stalled while trying to spin around in the runoff area for the final corner.
When the drivers took to the track for the final few minutes, Power pushed a bit too hard and clipped the inside of turn 2.
The impact ripped the wheel out of the veteran’s hand, but he reported that he was not injured by the spinning wheel. The team will look over the car to see how many parts need to be replaced before Saturday’s running.
The second practice session takes place at 10:40 Central Time on Saturday morning, when additional rain is forecast to be in the area.
Keyword: Power tops timesheets in first IndyCar practice from Nashville