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Romain Grosjean was fastest in the first practice session of the Road America IndyCar weekend.
The Formula 1 convert, who already has a pole and podium in the series under his belt from last month’s Indianapolis road course round, threw in a 1m47.6781s right at the end of the 45-minute Friday session to beat long-time pacesetter Ryan Hunter-Reay by 0.1243s.
Though this is Grosjean’s first competitive appearance at the track, he has previously tested there – albeit in what he described as very different circuit conditions.
Grosjean’s 2017-20 Haas F1 team-mate Kevin Magnussen was making his IndyCar and Elkhart Lake circuit debut in the session as he steps in for the injured Felix Rosenqvist at Arrow McLaren SP.
Magnussen was 23rd of the 24 cars that set flying laps, 2.8s off Grosjean’s pace.
“It was pretty wild and a really cool experience,” said Magnussen. “It’s a wild beast this one.”
He added that he now understood why Grosjean was “always smiling” about driving the IndyCar.
Magnussen has one more 45-minute practice session on Saturday before going into his first IndyCar qualifying.
Penske’s Josef Newgarden completed the top three behind Grosjean and Hunter-Reay, with Alex Palou fourth and seven places ahead of his current main championship rival Pato O’Ward.
Magnussen is not the only stand-in driver in the field this weekend. Oliver Askew – who was in the AMSP car in Detroit at short notice last Sunday – has moved across to Ed Carpenter Racing this week after Rinus VeeKay was sidelined with a broken clavicle following a cycling accident.
Askew had little chance to impress when recalled by his 2020 team in Detroit, but his ECR outing started encouragingly with ninth in practice.
Grosjean’s regular Dale Coyne Racing team-mate Ed Jones didn’t run in first practice due to a pre-session fire.
The team’s new additional entry for NASCAR Cup Series racer Cody Ware was 22nd.
Practice 1 Results
| Pos | Name | Team | Car | Gap Next | Gap Leader | Best Time |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Romain Grosjean | Dale Coyne Racing with RWR | Dallara DW12-Honda | 1m47.678s | ||
| 2 | Ryan Hunter-Reay | Andretti Autosport | Dallara DW12-Honda | +0.124s | +0.124s | 1m47.802s |
| 3 | Josef Newgarden | Team Penske | Dallara DW12-Chevrolet | +0.039s | +0.163s | 1m47.841s |
| 4 | Alex Palou | Chip Ganassi Racing | Dallara DW12-Honda | +0.01s | +0.173s | 1m47.851s |
| 5 | Graham Rahal | Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing | Dallara DW12-Honda | +0.242s | +0.415s | 1m48.093s |
| 6 | Colton Herta | Andretti Autosport | Dallara DW12-Honda | +0.047s | +0.462s | 1m48.14s |
| 7 | Sébastien Bourdais | A.J. Foyt Enterprises | Dallara DW12-Chevrolet | +0.108s | +0.57s | 1m48.248s |
| 8 | Scott McLaughlin | Team Penske | Dallara DW12-Chevrolet | +0.036s | +0.606s | 1m48.284s |
| 9 | Oliver Askew | Ed Carpenter Racing | Dallara DW12-Chevrolet | +0.016s | +0.622s | 1m48.3s |
| 10 | Will Power | Team Penske | Dallara DW12-Chevrolet | +0.043s | +0.665s | 1m48.343s |
| 11 | Patricio O'Ward | Arrow McLaren SP | Dallara DW12-Chevrolet | +0.082s | +0.747s | 1m48.425s |
| 12 | Scott Dixon | Chip Ganassi Racing | Dallara DW12-Honda | +0.016s | +0.763s | 1m48.441s |
| 13 | Takuma Sato | Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing | Dallara DW12-Honda | +0.015s | +0.778s | 1m48.456s |
| 14 | Conor Daly | Ed Carpenter Racing | Dallara DW12-Chevrolet | +0.206s | +0.984s | 1m48.662s |
| 15 | Jack Harvey | Meyer Shank Racing | Dallara DW12-Honda | +0.007s | +0.991s | 1m48.669s |
| 16 | Alexander Rossi | Andretti Autosport | Dallara DW12-Honda | +0.068s | +1.059s | 1m48.737s |
| 17 | Simon Pagenaud | Team Penske | Dallara DW12-Chevrolet | +0.246s | +1.305s | 1m48.983s |
| 18 | Marcus Ericsson | Chip Ganassi Racing | Dallara DW12-Honda | +0.041s | +1.346s | 1m49.024s |
| 19 | Max Chilton | Carlin | Dallara DW12-Chevrolet | +0.343s | +1.689s | 1m49.367s |
| 20 | James Hinchcliffe | Andretti Autosport | Dallara DW12-Honda | +0.168s | +1.857s | 1m49.535s |
| 21 | Jimmie Johnson | Chip Ganassi Racing | Dallara DW12-Honda | +0.541s | +2.398s | 1m50.076s |
| 22 | Cody Ware | Daley Coyne Racing with RWR | Dallara DW12-Honda | +0.222s | +2.62s | 1m50.298s |
| 23 | Kevin Magnussen | Arrow McLaren SP | Dallara DW12-Chevrolet | +0.194s | +2.814s | 1m50.492s |
| 24 | Dalton Kellett | A.J. Foyt Enterprises | Dallara DW12-Chevrolet | +0.002s | +2.816s | 1m50.494s |
