ELKHART LAKE, Wis. – Romain Grosjean saved his fastest lap for the end of Friday’s practice, then whipped off the fastest lap of the day at Road America.
Grosjean’s fast lap was 1:47.6781 around the 4.014-mile, 14-turn road course in the No. 51 Honda for Dale Coyne Racing with RWR ahead of Sunday’s REV Group Grand Prix.
That last lap of practice knocked Andretti Autosport driver Ryan Hunter-Reay off the top of the speed charts, after the driver of the No. 28 DHL Honda ran a lap at 1:47.8024.
PRACTICE RESULTS: REV Group Grand Prix at Road America
“Detroit we were fast, but got really unlucky in the races,” Grosjean said. “We got a really good lap at the end.
“The track was very different when we came to test here and had to make a decision on something different. Because I’m a rookie, I got a second set of tires. It was good for P1. I don’t like topping free practice, though. I would rather be the best in qualifying and the race. When you are the fastest in free practice 1, you won’t make big changes on the car, and that may put you behind in qualifications.”
Team Penske’s Josef Newgarden was third in a Chevrolet at 1:47.8417, followed by Alex Palou in the No. 10 NTT DATA Honda at 1:47.8515 for Chip Ganassi Racing.
“The car felt pretty good, I didn’t do the best job on my lap, I messed up on a couple of my corners, but I put a premium on getting it right on the first run on tires,” Newgarden said. “It could be fun to watch. Hopefully, we’re on the right side of that.
“It feels really low grip. I think we’ll have to wait and see Saturday how the rubber changes. We’ll see tomorrow.”
Graham Rahal’s No. 15 Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing Honda rounded out the top five at 1:48.0938.
Oliver Askew, who is filling in for the injured Rinus VeeKay in the No. 21 Sonax Chevrolet at Ed Carpenter Racing, was eighth quick as he prepares for his second start of the season. Askew’s fast lap was 1:48.3000.
“Getting back to speed is like riding a bicycle, no pun intended,” Askew said when reminded that VeeKay had injured his clavicle when he had a bicycle crash On Monday.
Seven-time NASCAR Cup Series champion and IndyCar Series rookie Jimmie Johnson was 21st fastest out of 25 drivers. Johnson’s best lap was 1:50.0764.
That time was better than NASCAR Xfinity Series driver Cody Ware’s 1:50.2981 as Ware prepares for his IndyCar debut. It was also faster than Kevin Magnussen’s 1:50.4921 in the No. 7 Arrow McLaren SP Chevrolet. Magnussen is preparing for his first IndyCar Series race, filling in for injured driver Felix Rosenqvist.
“I’m super happy for Kevin, he finally got his chance, and he is very fast in qualifying – don’t count him out for tomorrow,” Grosjean said.
Dalton Kellett of Canada was 24th at 1:50.4941 and Ed Jones of Dubai had no time in the No. 18 Honda.
Hunter-Reay likes this weekend’s schedule, which is more like a traditional schedule before the COVID-19 pandemic, with plenty of track activity before Saturday’s qualifications.
“It’s nice to have some sense of a normal race weekend, where we have two practices and qualifying, then the race,” Hunter-Reay said. “It will all change Saturday with cooler conditions. The tire degradation is huge. I haven’t experience that before. It was like the third or fourth lap.
“If we were going racing now, the race would be a toss up. But I think there will be more grip in the race with cooler conditions and more Firestone rubber on the track,“ he added. “It’s very important to start up front, but things will change a lot Saturday with cooler conditions.”
Newgarden believes the grip level of the tires could make for a very interesting race on Sunday. He would also like to see a more “traditional” weekend schedule, with two practices, followed by qualifications, then race day.
IndyCar officials condensed the schedule, partially because of the COVID-19 pandemic when weekend schedules had to be shortened.
“It will be super exciting if it is this grip level all weekend,” Newgarden said. “I want to go back to the regular schedule. All of my teammates want to do that, too.”