By: Spencer Neff
September 1, 2023
Continuing a recent hot streak for both himself and his team, Christian Lundgaard was fastest during the 75-minute practice session for Sunday’s BitNile.com Grand Prix of Portland in his No. 45 Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing entry.
The sophomore driver, who has two poles (IMS Road Course 1 and Toronto) as well as his first NTT INDYCAR SERIES victory at Toronto, notched a best lap of 58.1776 seconds (121.531 mph) on the 1.964-mile, 12-turn permanent road course in Oregon.
Kyle Kirkwood of Andretti Autosport was .147 of a second behind. Points leader Alex Palou of Chip Ganassi completed a 1-2-3 effort for Honda. Palou, the 2021 pole and race winner, needs a podium finish to clinch his second INDYCAR Championship.
Teammate Scott Dixon, who has won the last two races and is the only driver mathematically eligible to contend with Palou for the championship, was 19th in the session.
Arrow McLaren’s Pato O’Ward, still in search of his first win of 2023 after his fourth runner-up on Sunday at WorldWide Technology Raceway, led the Chevrolet entries (4th) with teammate Felix Rosenqvist in fifth.
CGR’s Marcus Armstrong was 11t, best among the six rookies in this Weeknd’s 27-entry field. Among those is Juri Vips, who is racing the No. 30 for Rahal Letterman Lanigan in the final two races of the 17-round season. The Estonian driver was 11th in his first session. 2022 pole and race winner Scott McLaughlin of Team Penske was 16th.
Despite no major incidents occurring, Friday’s practice did feature three separate red flags.
Less than 20 minutes into the session, Rosenqvist went off track and made contact with the tire barrier in Turn 12. About 25 minutes later, A.J. Foyt Racing’s Santino Ferrucci spun in Turn 6 and came to a stop in Turn 7, prompting help from the AMR INDYCAR Safety Team to refine the No. 14 entry.
With less than 34 minutes remaining, a third red flag was displayed when Ryan Hunter-Reay clipped a patch of grass and slid to a stop on the front straightaway just past Turn 12.
Prior to Friday afternoon’s session, INDYCAR announced a six-place grid penalty for the No. 20 Ed Carpenter Racing entry (Ryan Hunter-Reay). From the press release,
“The team was in violation of:
Rule 16.2.3.2 A fifth (5th) Engine is eligible to earn Engine Manufacturer points if a Full Season Entrant has completed the Full Season Entrant Engine Mileage with its first four (4) Engines. Otherwise, a fifth (5th) or more Engine does not earn Engine Manufacturer points and will be considered an Unapproved Engine change-out.”
Up Next
Here is the schedule for the weekend at the BitNile.com Grand Prix of Portland
At-track schedule (all times local):
Friday, Sept. 1
1:55-2:40 p.m. – INDY NXT by Firestone practice 1, INDYCAR LIVE
3-4:15 p.m. – NTT INDYCAR SERIES practice 1, Peacock
Saturday, Sept. 2
9-10 a.m. – NTT INDYCAR SERIES practice 2 (45 minutes green flag or 1 hour total), Peacock
11:20 a.m.-12:05 p.m. – INDY NXT by Firestone practice 2, INDYCAR LIVE
12:30 p.m. – BITNILE.COM Grand Prix of Portland NTT P1 Award qualifying (three rounds of knockout qualifying), Peacock
4:25 p.m. – INDY NXT by Firestone qualifying, INDYCAR LIVE
5:15-5:45 p.m. – NTT INDYCAR SERIES final practice, Peacock
Sunday, Sept. 3
10:15 a.m. – INDY NXT by Firestone Grand Prix of Portland “Drivers Start Your Engines”
10:20 a.m. – INDY NXT by Firestone Grand Prix of Portland (35 laps / 68.74 miles / 55 minutes), Peacock
Noon – NBC on air
12:23 p.m. – “Drivers, start your engines”
12:30 p.m. – BITNILE.COM Grand Prix of Portland (110 laps/216.04 miles), NBC (Live)
Header Image By Joe Skibinski/INDYCAR
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