Palou fastest in first IndyCar practice at Portland

Chip Ganassi Racing’s decision to test at Portland International Raceway last week in concert with Juncos Hollinger Racing paid off for both teams as they were impressively quick during Friday’s practice session for the OnlyBulls Grand Prix.

Championship leader Alex Palou was comfortably fastest in the No. 10 Ganassi Honda on primary tires, which is where he set the best time of the day (58.571s), but he wasn’t remarkably competitive during his qualifying simulation run on Firestone’s alternate compound tires. That honor went to Andretti Global’s Kyle Kirkwood in the No. 27 Honda (58.660s), who was second on the day.

“Good day, great start,” Palou said. “I think there’s some work to do with the alternates (Firestone Firehawk tires), but we were really good on primaries, so I’m looking forward to tomorrow.

“It’s good that we tested here because it allowed us to start with good speed already in the No. 10 Honda. But, yeah, some work to do still. We just need more speed.”

Rinus VeeKay was third in the No. 76 Juncos Hollinger Chevy (58.800s), followed by Andretti’s Will Power in the No. 26 Honda (58.910s), a rebounding Louis Foster with the No. 45 Rahal Letterman Lanigan Honda (58.927s), and Ganassi’s Kyffin Simpson, who completed the top six in the No. 8 Honda (58.943s). All of the drivers between Palou and Simpson were on alternates.

Palou led the 40-minute opening session for all drivers with the 58.571s, clearing Simpson (58.943s) by a massive margin. In the first split-group session, Kirkwood was fastest on alternates (58.660s) and if his pace holds, the Andretti driver could be a lock for pole position. Rinus VeeKay was second (58.799s).

Palou led the second split group (58.976s) on alternates, and David Malukas was second (58.988s), but both were nowhere near Kirkwood.

Aggressive approaches to Turn 1 led to flattened tires, damaged wheels and broken wings for Marcus Armstrong of Meyer shank Racing and Arrow McLaren’s Pato O’Ward during the opening session as they glanced off of the right-side barrier. Both cars were repaired and Armstrong and O’Ward got back to action after paying visits to pit lane.

RLL’s Foster wasn’t as fortunate, as a new engine installation led to an issue that required taking the car back to the paddock for further inspection and problem solving. He missed most of the session but returned in the next phase of action and thrived. Dennis Hauger wasn’t as fortunate and didn’t turn a lap all day, with more problems facing his Dale Coyne Racing entry.

UP NEXT: Practice 2, Saturday, 1:05pm ET

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