Saturday’s Practice 2 starts off with a bang in Portland. Two more drivers have been hit with six-position grid penalties. The first is none other than Practice 1 leader, Christian Lundgaard, who led points leader Alex Palou yesterday by just a few thousands of a second. The final tune-up of all cars have the drivers laying it all out on track to get the best data for their teams before qualifying.
Full report and results below.
Breaking News
INDYCAR has announced a six-position starting grid penalty for the entries of No. 7 Arrow McLaren [Christian Lundgaard] and No. 14 A.J. Foyt Enterprises [Santino Ferrucci] for unapproved engine changes following Friday’s practice at Portland International Raceway.
The entries were in violation of:
Rule 16.1.2.3.2. 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.
According to Rule 16.1.6.1.2., the penalty is a six-position starting grid penalty on road and street course events and nine positions at oval events and will be served at the series’ next event, which is the BITNILE.COM Grand Prix of Portland presented by askROI Sunday, Aug. 10 at PIR.
Practice 2 starts
O’Ward leads the pack at the start of practice with Herta and Rahal behind. O’Ward leads with a time of 1:01.975. Newgarden quickly sneaks up and gains the first position.
Power veers off the track and onto the grass about five minutes into the session but the green flag still flies. There was a possible lock up which caused him to go off.
Foster jumps into the top ten at 59.591 as the only rookie currently at the top out on track. There are lots of position swaps as all drivers put it all out on track.
Championship points leader Palou also stays within the top 10. This weekend could be the chance for him to close the gap between him and another IndyCar championship.
Thirty-three minutes into practice, Lundgaard climbs back to the top to reclaim his number one spot with a time of 59.1023. The Dane is running Firestone black tires, as is the rest of the grid, with thirty minutes to go. Ericsson finds his way up into third with a time of 59.0003 but quickly drops down two positions into a time of 1:04.1110.
Seventeen minutes in, the drivers pass turn 1 with no issues to report. The troublesome turn has not stumped any drivers as of yet.
Rasmussen passes Lundgaard and McLaughlin to get a time of 58.7692 before heading into the pits. Ericsson climbs back to the top but then makes a dive for the pits.
Rookie Englishman, Foster, makes a stop in the pits, still hopeful for good results at the last road course of the season.
Putting It All Out There
Lundgaard holds the place for overall best time on the board with a time set at 58.5320. Palou trails not far behind with 58.5381.
Veekay is in the pits as he holds the position as current session leader but DeFrancesco takes it away before heading into the pits.
Herta takes the lead with thirteen minutes to go and a time of 1:02.8170. All drivers are on the Firestone black tires as the track temps start to warm up for the day.
O’Ward is dead last at P27 with ten minutes to go before jumping up with a time of 59.0054 into fifteenth. Arrow McLaren are not looking to repeat the unsatisfactory run they had here in 2024.
The No. 2 Penske of Newgarden is being taken back into the paddock. More developments on this story as Penske continues their 2025 season with a series of truly unfortunate events. McLaughlin has another on track flub with DeFrancesco at the apex of turn 1 near the end of the session.
Herta remains at the top with two minutes left in the session and Dixon sets a best lap time of 58.5023. At the end of the session, O’Ward is pushed out of the top 10 and takes 11th.
Full Session Results:
