Collet leads Indy NXT practice at Laguna as Hauger makes rare mistake

A pair of first-day Indy NXT by Firestone practices at WeatherTech Raceway Laguna left series leader Dennis Hauger with a damaged car and Caio Collet with a fast one.

Driving the No. 76 HMD Motorsports entry, Collet posted the quickest overall lap, a time of 1m14.0546s that bested Andretti Global’s Lochie Hughes (1m14.3332s in the No. 26 McGinley Clinic/USF Pro Championship car) and HMD Motorsports’ Josh Pierson (1m14.6193s in the No. 14 HMD Motorsports entry). Hauger had the best lap in the first session – 1m14.7484s – but his opportunity to improve in the second practice was lost when he hit the tire barrier in Turn 6.

Hauger finished with the 16th-best lap overall in Andretti Global’s No. 28 Nammo car, a position he won’t want to be in when qualifying is held Saturday at 1 p.m. ET on FS1. That session will set the starting lineups for each of the two races held this weekend. The past 10 pole winners of the Grand Prix of Monterey have gone on to win the race.

Hauger, who leads the series with five wins and six poles, holds a 76-point lead over Hughes (two wins, two poles) with five races remaining. Collet, a one-race winner this season, stands 94 points out of the series lead.

Nineteen car-and-driver combinations participated after Andretti Cape Indy NXT and driver Ricardo Escotto parted ways.

The weekend’s first race is Saturday at 4:30 p.m. ET on FS2. Race two will be at 1 p.m. ET Sunday on FS1.

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