Kirkwood tops 14-car IndyCar test at Mid-Ohio

Andretti Global’s Kyle Kirkwood led Tuesday’s private test held at Mid-Ohio, site of the next IndyCar Series race, as 14 drivers started the day and 12 finished their run plans.

Kirkwood set an unofficial best of 1m05.354s in the No. 27 Honda after struggling for pace all last weekend in Road America, which made finding gains at the next road course on the schedule a top priority as he attempts to reel in championship leader Alex Palou.

Juncos Hollinger Racing’s Rinus VeeKay was second in the No. 76 Chevy (1m05.413s) ahead of Dale Coyne Racing’s Dennis Hauger in the No. 19 Honda (1m05.670s) in third, followed by Andretti’s Will Power (1m05.714s) and Marcus Ericsson (1m05.944s) in fifth.

Meyer Shank Racing’s Felix Rosenqvist capped the top six in the No. 60 Honda (1m06.012s).

Seventh-fastest Scott McLaughlin was quickest for Team Penske in the No. 3 Chevy (1m06.038s), and had ECR’s Christian Rasmussen close behind in eighth with the No. 21 Chevy (1m06.057s) despite requiring an engine change and suffering a test-ending crash at Turn 11.

JHR’s Sting Ray Robb was ninth in the No. 77 Chevy (1m06.097s) to lead the Penske duo of David Malukas in the No. 12 Chevy (1m06.106s) and Porsche Penske Motorsport IMSA GTP ace Felipe Nasr, who stood in for Josef Newgarden in the No. 2 Chevy and nearly matched Malukas at 1m06.161s.

ECR’s Alexander Rossi was 12th, (1m06.324s), DCR’s Romain Grosjean was 13th, (1m06.355s), and MSR’s Marcus Armstrong was 14th after his test was cut short by a significant crash (1m06.871s).

Teams have a weekend off before the 11th of 18 races gets under way at Mid-Ohio across July 3-5.