LEEDS, Alabama – Callum Ilott, a rookie driver from England who drives for Juncos Hollinger Racing, was the fastest driver in Saturday’s final practice session for Sunday’s Honda Indy Grand Prix of Alabama.
Ilott’s No. 77 Chevrolet lapped the 17-turn, 2.33-mile Barber Motorsports Park at 1:07.0906.
“The pace is good,” Ilott said. “We learned a few things. But it’s only warmup. Good, good, good day, I think. Good day at the office.”
Ilott believes the pace of his car is good on the Firestone Reds.
“If we can manage the fuel, we should be able to save the tires,” Ilott said. “Everyone is happy. P1 in warmup shows that we have the pace.”
Defending race winner Alex Palou, who is driving the National Guard No. 10 Honda at Chip Ganassi Racing this weekend, was second at 1:07.1916.
“I’m really happy with the way the weekend has gone so far,” Palou said. “We got to try to some stuff. The car feels good. The American Legion car should be good for the race on Sunday.
“We need to go through everything we’ve done and everything we see from the data and come up with the best plan tomorrow.”
Marcus Ericsson, driver of the No. 8 Huski Chocolate Honda for Chip Ganassi Racing, was third at 1:07.2745.
“We were good in qualifying as well but it was my mistake,” Ericsson said. “I feel very good in the race car. The key for us is we have very good pace in our car. It’s a little tricky to pass, but with the pit windows, we should be clever with strategy.”
Scott Dixon’s No. 9 PNC Bank Honda was fourth at 1:07.3412 and Alexander Rossi’s No. 27 Honda rounded out the five at 1:07.3529.
Eight minutes into the final practice session, AJ Foyt Racing street and road course rookie Tatiana Calderon’s No. 11 Chevrolet went off course in Turn 2 to bring out the red flag.
Seven minutes later, the race course returned to green flag conditions as teams continued to fine-turn their setups for Sunday’s race.