McLaughlin leads qualifying simulation session at Indy test

Team Penske’s Scott McLaughlin led Thursday morning’s 2h30m high-boost session at the Indy Open Test, posting a best lap of 232.686mph in the No. 3 Chevy with the benefit of the draft.

The best and most session-relevant lap, which came with no aerodynamic tow, belonged to Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing’s Takuma Sato, who produced a 232.565mph lap in the No. 75 Honda. McLaughlin’s top no-tow lap was a 230.020mph, good enough for fifth on the no-tow list.

Unfortunately for the two-time Indy 500 winner, Sato’s session was cut short at the start of his ninth lap when a spin and big crash at Turn 1 demolished a significant portion of the brand-new car. Sato was uninjured in the crash.

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Continuing with the no-tow speeds behind Sato, Andretti Global’s Kyle Kirkwood was second with the No. 27 Honda at 231.464mph, followed by Sato’s teammate Louis Foster in the No. 45 Honda at 230.263, Chip Ganassi Racing’s Kyffin Simpson in fourth at 230.188mph with the No. 8 Honda, McLaughlin in fifth, and Andretti’s Colton Herta in sixth with the No. 27 Honda at 229.953mph.

The other drama to emerge from the session involved Arrow McLaren/Hendrick Motorsports’ Kyle Larson, who preceded Sato by crashing in Turn 1 about 15 minutes earlier. Like Sato, Larson was uninjured, and despite experiencing a lighter hit that incurred less damage, the McLaren/Hendrick team chose to skip the afternoon session -- final for the event, run on lower race-day boost -- and focus on repairing the car at their shop.

COMBINED RESULTS

NO-TOW RESULTS