Herta tops Iowa IndyCar test

Andretti Autosport’s Colton Herta was comfortably faster than the other 19 NTT IndyCar Series drivers who partook in Wednesday’s private test on the 0.875-mile Iowa Speedway oval.

Herta, the polesitter for last weekend’s race at Road America, backed up his front-running pace with a quick lap of 18.390s in the No. 26 Honda. New Ed Carpenter Racing driver Ryan Hunter-Reay was second in the No. 20 Chevy, posting a 18.603s lap to edge Meyer Shank Racing’s Simon Pagenaud, who was third in the No. 60 Honda with a tour of 18.651s.

Chip Ganassi Racing’s Alex Palou was fourth with a 18.686s lap in the No. 10 Honda and teammate Scott Dixon was only a few thousandths of a second slower with the 18.695s lap generated with his No. 9 Honda. Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing’s Christian Lundgaard completed the top six with a 18.774s run in the No. 45 Honda which carries branding from Hy-Vee, the event’s primary sponsor.

ALL TIMES UNOFFICIAL:

1. Colton Herta, 18.390s
2. Ryan Hunter-Reay, 18.603s
3. Simon Pagenaud, 18.651s
4. Alex Palou, 18.686s
5. Scott Dixon, 18.695s
6. Christian Lundgaard, 18.774s
7. Jack Harvey, 18.785s
8. Takuma Salo, 18.785s
9. Marcus Ericsson, 18.796s
10. Helio Castroneves, 18.832s
11. Kyle Kirkwood, 18.873s
12. Devlin DeFrancesco, 18.912s
13. Rinus VeeKay, 18.912s
14. Ed Carpenter, 18.952s
15. Graham Rahal, 18.979s
16. Sting Ray Robb, 19.096s
17. Agustin Canapino, 19.097s
18. Romain Grosjean, 19.154s
19. Santino Ferrucci, 19.327s
20. Benjamin Pedersen, 19.531s