Friday’s lone practice session at Road America’s XPEL Grand Prix offered drivers 75 minutes to learn about their cars for the first time with hybrid power, and once it was over, Kyle Kirkwood posted the fastest lap of 1m44.988s in the No. 27 Andretti Global Honda.
The winner of IndyCar’s last two races delivered the best lap in Firestone’s alternate tires as the field performed qualifying simulation runs to close the session and was the only driver to crack the 1m44s threshold. Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing’s Devlin DeFrancesco put in a flyer to earn second with a 1m45.141s in the No. 30 Honda ahead of the Team Penske duo of Will Power who produced a 1m45.180s in the No. 12 Chevy and Josef Newgarden who went to fourth with a 1m45.223s in the No. 2 Chevy.
Arrow McLaren’s Christian Lundgaard in the No. 7 Chevy had a 1m45.225s lap and Penske’s Scott McLaughlin toured the road course in 1m45.319s in the No. 3 Chevy to round out the top six.
Other than two harmless off-track stoppages, the session run in 80-degree ambient temperature was straightforward.
Four drivers ventured out during the first 13 minutes as most teams opted to sit and save tires, and once the clock wound down to 60 minutes remaining, Lundgaard went to the top.
