Palou tops Collet in first IndyCar practice at Markham

Following yesterday’s disruption caused by a track not ready for action, the NTT IndyCar Series’ first practice session for the Ontario Honda Dealers Indy at Markham got the green flag after practice sessions by USF Pro 2000, USF2000 and the NASCAR Canada Series. It concluded with runaway points leader and four-time champion Alex Palou of Chip Ganassi Racing leading the way, followed by AJ Foyt Racing’s rookie Caio Collett and Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing’s Louis Foster.

The initial 40-minute segment involving all cars, saw Palou set the benchmark at 1m14.9915s – a 100.811mph average around this bumpy and – so far – slippery 12-turn 2.19-mile street course that has replaced Toronto on the calendar. Andretti Global’s Marcus Ericsson had the dubious honor of causing the first red flag with a spin, but he was able to get going and return to pitlane unassisted.

However, Kyffin Simpson of Ganassi made wall contact at Turn 6, caused by a missed downshift, the damage severe enough to break an A-arm off the rear suspension, and send him limping to the pits. He was unable to return to action for the course once the field was split into the 13-car/12-car segments.

Inevitably at a new track, the double-sided pitlane – a la Detroit – was a flurry of activity in this opening session of a brand-new temporary course, with drivers calling for ride-height adjustments, major tweaks to shocks and dampers, and in several cases, gear stacks.

Palou, dominant points leader, turned in the first 100mph lap of the course, but had to further trim his lap time to get under the 75s barrier in order to beat a couple of surprise entries in the top five – RLL’s Foster, and Foyt rookie Collet. They were followed by the Penske entries of David Malukas and Scott McLaughlin, Marcus Armstrong of Meyer Shank Racing and Juncos Hollinger’s Rinus VeeKay, whose elevation in form continues. Will Power led the Andretti Global trio who completed the top 10. MSR’s second car, Indy 500 winner Felix Rosenqvist, finished that segment with a spin and calling for several adjustments to his car.

In the first group in the split segment, the majority of the field ran the Firestone’s softer alternate compound, and while Palou was fastest again – and by almost 0.6s – he failed to improve on his time on primary tires. Late in the session, Alexander Rossi jumped to second fastest for ECR, although both he and teammate Christian Rasmussen are being stalked by the specter of a six-place grid penalty due to an early engine change.

Another driver due to suffer that fate will be Armstrong, who finished the Group 1 segment in third, while echoing seemingly everyone’s sentiments that the track remains slippery, despite the grip level improving with every lap.

In the second group Collet and Foster again shone, holding the top two spots with just over two minutes to go, when the red flag waved for debris dragged onto the racing surface by Dale Coyne Racing’s rookie Dennis Hauger making light contact with the wall.

With such a late stoppage, there was enough time for everyone to go for one final flyer, although not all chose to try. Power improved his time but not his position (fourth) just behind former teammate McLaughlin and just ahead of current teammate Ericsson. VeeKay was sixth, ahead of Hauger and Kirkwood.

Overall, Palou’s 1m14.9915s on primaries remained top of the class, ahead of Collet, Foster, McLaughlin, Power and Malukas. Ericsson, Armstrong, VeeKay and Hauger completed the top 10.

Second practice – on primary tires only – should commence at 2:30pm ET.

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