Alex Palou Leads Amid Surprises in Sonsio GP Opening Practice
INDYCAR
Alex Palou continued his spring of speed by leading the first practice for the Sonsio Grand Prix on Friday morning on the Indianapolis Motor Speedway road course, but there were a few surprises behind him on the speed charts.
NTT INDYCAR SERIES championship leader Palou, who has won three of the first four races this season, topped the 80-minute session with a time of 1 minute, 9.9790 seconds in the No. 10 DHL Chip Ganassi Racing Honda. Three-time series champion Palou has won this race the last two years on the 14-turn, 2.439-mile road course.
SEE: Practice Results
Palou led a 1-2 result for Chip Ganassi Racing, with second-year driver Kyffin Simpson springing a surprise by ending up second at 1:10.0677 in the No. 8 Journie Rewards Chip Ganassi Racing Honda. Rookie Louis Foster continued the list of unusual suspects near the top of the charts, third at 1:10.1235 in the No. 45 Mi-Jack Honda of Rahal Letterman Racing.
Santino Ferrucci was fourth at 1:10.1545 in the No. 14 AJ FOYT RACING/SEXTON PROPERTIES Chevrolet, a strong showing by a driver better known for his prowess on the 2.5-mile IMS oval in the Indianapolis 500 presented by Gainbridge.
Second-year INDYCAR SERIES driver Nolan Siegel rounded out a surprising top five – minus Palou – at 1:10.1730 in the No. 6 Arrow McLaren Chevrolet.
A busy day for the 27-driver field continues with another practice at 1:10 p.m. ET today (FS2, FOX Sports app, INDYCAR Radio Network). Then NTT P1 Award qualifying will start at 4:35 p.m. ET (FS1, FOX Sports app, INDYCAR Radio Network).
Live coverage of the 85-lap race starts at 4:30 p.m. ET Saturday on FOX, the FOX Sports app and the INDYCAR Radio Network.
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