Will Power continued to pace the field during the second practice session around the Indianapolis Motor Speedway Road Course on Friday, but the gaps between the drivers indicate that it will be a close weekend.
Just 1.3 seconds separates Team Penske’s Power from the slowest driver in the session, while just 0.0363 separates the Australian from second placed Jordan King of Ed Carpenter Racing, while Alexander Rossi is only a tenth back on the pace in third for Andretti Autosport.
For the first time this weekend, drivers were able to get some running on the red-sidewalled Firestone tyres, and Power hit the front with a time of 1:09.8759s, although significantly slower than the kind of speeds achieved last year, which can be attributed to the change in the aero package for 2018.
Robert Wickens put his Schmidt Peterson Motorsports machine into fourth place ahead of Team Penske duo Simon Pagenaud and Helio Castroneves, while Dale Coyne Racing’s Sébastien Bourdais was seventh, albeit just 0.2313 seconds off the pace!
Spencer Pigot put the second Ed Carpenter Racing machine into eighth place, confirming that the team has a good set-up in place for this weekend, while Tony Kanaan was ninth for AJ Foyt Enterprises ahead of the fourth Penske of defending series champion Josef Newgarden.
Marco Andretti just missed out on the top ten by 0.0446 seconds for Andretti Herta Autosport, with Graham Rahal of Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing twelfth ahead of Chip Ganassi Racing duo Scott Dixon and Ed Jones and Carlin’s Max Chilton.
After impressing in first practice, Zachary Claman De Melo ended up twenty-fourth and last for Dale Coyne Racing, but the Canadian will take heart that he was just 1.3071 seconds away from Power’s best.
Indianapolis Motor Speedway Road Course Free Practice 2 Result
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