Rossi, Hinchcliffe Head Honda Field Friday at Road America
- Alexander Rossi leads morning session, ends day fifth overall
- Hinchcliffe posts sixth-fastest time
- All five Honda teams represented in top 10
ELKHART LAKE, Wis. – Andretti Autosport's Alexander Rossi led the first of two Verizon IndyCar Series practice sessions Friday at Road America, and finished the day fifth overall in preparation for Sunday's Kohler Grand Prix.
After leading the morning session, Rossi went off course early in the second practice and lost time in pit lane while minor damage was repaired. James Hinchcliffe posted the quickest time for Honda and his Schmidt Peterson Motorsports team in the afternoon session to end the day in sixth.
All five Honda Indy car teams placed at least one car in the top nine results, with rookie Ed Jones continuing to impress for Dale Coyne Racing by running seventh. Chip Ganassi Racing's Scott Dixon posted the eighth-quickest time, with Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing's Graham Rahal ninth. Ryan Hunter-Reay rounded out the top 10 in his Andretti Autosport Honda.
Activities continue Saturday at Road America with final practice and qualifying for Sunday's 55-lap, 220-mile race. The 10th round of the 17-race 2017 season begin at 12:30 p.m. EDT Sunday, with live television coverage on the NBC Sports Network.
Alexander Rossi (Andretti Autosport Honda): "We set our quickest lap on the second run on "reds" [softer compound, alternate tires]. I think the fact that we were able to do that shows there's inherent speed in the car. It was a bit of disjointed [afternoon] session with the "off" in the beginning, so we were kind of playing catch up after that, but I think the car is good. We need to make a couple of little tweaks overnight to get me more comfortable, but I feel good about the pace the car has today."
Verizon IndyCar Series Kohler Grand Prix Circuit: Road America (4.0-mile road course) Elkhart Lake, Wis. 2016 Winner: Will Power (Team Penske) 121.426 mph average Weather: Sunny, mild, 78 degrees F
Top-10 Friday Practice Session Results:
| Ps. |
Driver |
Team |
Manufacturer |
Best Time |
Notes |
|
1. |
Josef Newgarden |
Team Penske |
Chevrolet |
1:42.8229 |
Practice 2 |
|
2. |
Will Power |
Team Penske |
Chevrolet |
1:42.8721 |
Practice 2 |
|
3. |
Simon Pagenaud |
Team Penske |
Chevrolet |
1:43.1370 |
Practice 2 |
|
4. |
Helio Castroneves |
Team Penske |
Chevrolet |
1:43.2227 |
Practice 2 |
|
5. |
Alexander Rossi |
Andretti Herta Autosport |
Honda |
1:43.3285 |
Practice 1 |
|
6. |
James Hinchcliffe |
Schmidt Peterson Motorsports |
Honda |
1:43.4802 |
Practice 2 |
|
7. |
Ed Jones-R |
Dale Coyne Racing |
Honda |
1:43.6812 |
Practice 2 |
|
8. |
Scott Dixon |
Chip Ganassi Racing |
Honda |
1:43.7425 |
Practice 2 |
|
9. |
Graham Rahal |
Rahal Letterman Lanigan |
Honda |
1:43.7540 |
Practice 2 |
|
10. |
Ryan Hunter-Reay |
Andretti Autosport |
Honda |
1:43.7607 |
Practice 2 |
Other Honda Results
| 11. |
Charlie Kimball |
Chip Ganassi Racing |
Honda |
1:43.7931 |
Practice 2 |
|
13. |
Max Chilton |
Chip Ganassi Racing |
Honda |
1:43.8871 |
Practice 2 |
|
14. |
Marco Andretti |
Andretti Autosport |
Honda |
1:44.0036 |
Practice 2 |
|
15. |
Takuma Sato |
Andretti Autosport |
Honda |
1:44.0183 |
Practice 2 |
|
16. |
Tony Kanaan |
Chip Ganassi Racing |
Honda |
1:44.0413 |
Practice 2 |
|
17. |
Esteban Gutierriez-R |
Dale Coyne Racing |
Honda |
1:44.0868 |
Practice 2 |
|
20. |
Robert Wickens-R |
Schmidt Peterson Motorsports |
Honda |
1:44.7085 |
Practice 2 |
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