The defending Indy 500 race-winner lapped the 2.5-mile Indianapolis Motor Speedway oval in 38.1854s to set the fastest practice time of the week in the final running before qualifying resumes.
AJ Foyt Racing’s Santino Ferrucci set the early pace at 234.972mph straight out of the box, in perfect weather conditions and much lighter winds than yesterday.
Ferrucci went on to set a four-lap average of 234.649mph to put himself into the mix for pole position later and said: “I think we’ve got what it takes, that’s clear.”
Alex Palou (Chip Ganassi Racing) beat his single-lap speed with 235.609mph, although he was running within 10s of team-mate Takuma Sato further along track. However, his four-lap run was slower than Ferrucci by almost 0.2mph.
“A big tow,” Palou admitted. “The car was really, really consistent in terms of balance, but I made a big mistake into Turn 3 on my last lap.”
Palou was then toppled by another team-mate Ericsson, who recorded a 235.692mph with the benefit of a slipstream. Sato was third fastest at 235.121mph, but trimmed his car too much on downforce and couldn’t stay flat on the throttle on his final lap.
“The car is really good, it’s really fast, but I’m struggling to finish off the runs,” Ericsson also admitted. “I had to bail at Turn 1 on my last lap, so I just need to work on that.”
Source: Autosport