Schmidt Peterson Motorsports driver James Hinchcliffe set the fastest time of Friday IndyCar practice at Barber Motorsports Park ahead of Austin winner Colton Herta.
After Chip Ganassi racing driver Felix Rosenqvist had topped the damp first practice, Hinchcliffe set a best time of 1m08.999s in the second session.
That put him 0.009s clear of Herta, with ex-Formula 2 driver Santino Ferrucci third for Dale Coyne Racing.
Herta was among several drivers who did not feel that the Firestone red tyres were offering a lot of extra grip at so far Barber this weekend – possibly because the support series for this event have left a blend of Pirelli, Yokohama, BF Goodrich and Hankook rubber on the racing line.
Sebastien Bourdais finished fourth in second practice, although his rookie team-mate Ferrucci understeered off the course into the tyre wall at Turn 15 during the session, causing a red flag.
Alexander Rossi and Ryan Hunter-Reay grabbed fifth and sixth for Andretti Autosport, ahead of the two fastest Chevrolet runners, Spencer Pigot of Ed Carpenter Racing and Carlin Racing’s Patricio O’Ward.
Marco Andretti (Andretti) and Ganaasi’s Scott Dixon completed the top 10, ahead of the Will Power, who ended up as the fastest Penske driver.
Marcus Ericsson was 14th for SPM, while Rosenqvist harmed his chances of a top 10 in second practice due to a long lock-up into Turn 5.
First practice results
| Pos | Driver | Team | Gap | Laps |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Felix Rosenqvist | Chip Ganassi Racing | 1m09.2296s | 14 |
| 2 | Sebastien Bourdais | Dale Coyne Racing | 0.0454s | 8 |
| 3 | James Hinchcliffe | Schmidt Peterson Motorsports | 0.0980s | 7 |
| 4 | Scott Dixon | Chip Ganassi Racing | 0.2077s | 8 |
| 5 | Ryan Hunter-Reay | Andretti Autosport | 0.2156s | 9 |
| 6 | Colton Herta | Harding Racing | 0.2691s | 14 |
| 7 | Patricio O’Ward | Carlin | 0.2711s | 16 |
| 8 | Takuma Sato | Rahal Letterman Lanigan | 0.3183s | 5 |
| 9 | Alexander Rossi | Andretti Autosport | 0.5726s | 8 |
| 10 | Simon Pagenaud | Team Penske | 0.5998s | 7 |
| 11 | Marco Andretti | Andretti Herta | 0.6841s | 7 |
| 12 | Will Power | Team Penske | 0.7144s | 11 |
| 13 | Tony Kanaan | AJ Foyt Enterprises | 0.7411s | 6 |
| 14 | Josef Newgarden | Team Penske | 0.8872s | 7 |
| 15 | Marcus Ericsson | Schmidt Peterson Motorsports | 0.8957s | 14 |
| 16 | Spencer Pigot | Ed Carpenter Racing | 0.9132s | 4 |
| 17 | Max Chilton | Carlin | 1.0334s | 9 |
| 18 | Jack Harvey | Meyer Shank Racing | 1.0884s | 8 |
| 19 | Ed Jones | Ed Carpenter Racing | 1.3983s | 7 |
| 20 | Graham Rahal | Rahal Letterman Lanigan | 1.5086s | 8 |
| 21 | Santino Ferrucci | Dale Coyne Racing | 1.5299s | 8 |
| 22 | Zach Veach | Andretti Autosport | 1.8477s | 8 |
| 23 | Ben Hanley | DragonSpeed | 2.1826s | 12 |
| 24 | Matheus Leist | AJ Foyt Enterprises | 24.4181s | 1 |
Second practice results
| Pos | Driver | Team | Gap | Laps |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | James Hinchcliffe | Schmidt Peterson Motorsports | 1m08.9994s | 9 |
| 2 | Colton Herta | Harding Racing | 0.0090s | 14 |
| 3 | Santino Ferrucci | Dale Coyne Racing | 0.0467s | 15 |
| 4 | Sebastien Bourdais | Dale Coyne Racing | 0.0974s | 15 |
| 5 | Alexander Rossi | Andretti Autosport | 0.1146s | 15 |
| 6 | Ryan Hunter-Reay | Andretti Autosport | 0.1551s | 13 |
| 7 | Spencer Pigot | Ed Carpenter Racing | 0.2061s | 15 |
| 8 | Patricio O’Ward | Carlin | 0.2735s | 15 |
| 9 | Marco Andretti | Andretti Herta | 0.3119s | 14 |
| 10 | Scott Dixon | Chip Ganassi Racing | 0.4085s | 15 |
| 11 | Will Power | Team Penske | 0.4172s | 13 |
| 12 | Zach Veach | Andretti Autosport | 0.4326s | 14 |
| 13 | Takuma Sato | Rahal Letterman Lanigan | 0.4538s | 14 |
| 14 | Marcus Ericsson | Schmidt Peterson Motorsports | 0.5391s | 15 |
| 15 | Simon Pagenaud | Team Penske | 0.5552s | 17 |
| 16 | Graham Rahal | Rahal Letterman Lanigan | 0.5666s | 14 |
| 17 | Felix Rosenqvist | Chip Ganassi Racing | 0.5992s | 17 |
| 18 | Josef Newgarden | Team Penske | 0.6315s | 14 |
| 19 | Jack Harvey | Meyer Shank Racing | 0.8185s | 18 |
| 20 | Matheus Leist | AJ Foyt Enterprises | 0.8899s | 17 |
| 21 | Tony Kanaan | AJ Foyt Enterprises | 0.8977s | 14 |
| 22 | Ed Jones | Ed Carpenter Racing | 1.0492s | 14 |
| 23 | Max Chilton | Carlin | 1.0915s | 17 |
| 24 | Ben Hanley | DragonSpeed | 1.7360s | 18 |