The 25-year-old Mexican latched on to an early morning tow and hurtled round with a flying lap of 228.861mph to say the highest spot on the leaderboard.
Scott McLaughlin’s No. 3 Team Penske Chevrolet, which led Wednesday’s apply, continued to showcase robust tempo after a tow lap of 227.316mph put him second general.
Reigning and two-time IndyCar Sequence champion Alex Palou ended up third-fastest on the day with one other tow-supported run at 226.915mph for his No. 10 Chip Ganassi Racing Honda.
Colton Herta’s greatest lap of 226.828mph was ok for fourth general. He additionally claimed one of the best no-tow lap on the day – which got here within the opening hour – as his No. 26 Andretti International Honda nailed a better of 224.182mph.
Defending race winner Josef Newgarden was fifth on the general velocity charts after his No. 2 Crew Penske Chevrolet managed a tow-assisted lap of 226.684mph.
The remainder of the highest 10, all tow-assisted runs, had been led by Marco Andretti (Andretti Herta) in sixth, adopted by rookie Linus Lundqvist (Chip Ganssi Racing), Ed Carpenter (Ed Carpenter Racing), 2018 Indy 500 winner Will Power (Crew Penske) and 2008 Indy 500 champion Scott Dixon (Chip Ganassi Racing).
Straight behind Herta on the no-tow listing was Andretti International team-mate Kyle Kirkwood, who was in a position to run a lap of 223.387mph.
4-time Indy 500 winner Helio Castroneves was third amongst single-car runs, together with his No. 06 Meyer Shank Racing Honda unleashing a lap of 222.852mph.
Graham Rahal (Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing) and Rinus VeeKay (Ed Carpenter Racing) had been fourth and fifth, respectively, on the no-tow listing.
Linus Lundqvist hits the wall
Two huge wrecks
There have been a number of incidents on the day, with Lundqvist the primary to expertise a apply crash this yr on the Indianapolis Motor Speedway.
Lundqvist bumped into bother simply 90 minutes into the session after his No. 8 Chip Ganassi Racing Honda, which was tailing the Arrow McLaren duo of O’Ward and Rossi, touched the within kerb of Flip 2, which thrust the rear-end of his automotive into the skin wall.
The momentum carried him down the backstretch, the place he happily averted the within wall earlier than coming to a cease. Lundqvist, one in every of seven rookies entered within the occasion, was in a position to stroll away below his personal energy after being rigorously assisted out of the automotive by IndyCar’s AMR Security Crew.
“I am alright,” stated Lunqvist, who ran 23 laps. “It is my mistake. I do know precisely what I did; I touched the kerb in (Flip) 2 and I could not maintain onto it. One thing they discuss usually round this place. But it surely’s only a mistake in my half and clearly my group has to pay the worth for it, so yeah, it sucks.”
The group was in a position to protect going to a backup automotive, as an alternative opting to interchange the rear meeting, bodywork and exchange the ground.
The opposite incident concerned 2022 Indy 500 winner Marcus Ericsson, who crashed with simply over two hours remaining.
He was the final driver in a line of 4 vehicles when he grazed the kerb in Flip 4 earlier than taking a 180-degree spin and slapping the left aspect of his automotive into the skin wall. From there, his No. 28 Andretti International Honda drifted throughout the observe and nosed into the within wall earlier than making heavy contact with the attenuator at pit entrance.
Ericsson acquired out gingerly but in addition walked away below his personal energy. He logged 79 laps earlier than the incident, with a better of 224.592mph to face 18th general.
“I believe I brushed the kerb somewhat bit and that is most likely sufficient to ship it,” he stated. “And then you definately’re a passenger, so yeah. Very dissatisfied.
“Very sorry for my group. They’ve carried out an excellent job and so they have quite a lot of work forward of them now, in order that’s most likely the worst of the entire thing.”
Andretti International COO Rob Edwards, who additionally calls technique for Colton Herta, confirmed to Autosport the harm sustained to Ericsson’s crash was extreme sufficient that the group has elected to maneuver to a back-up automotive.
Kyle Larson, Arrow McLaren Chevrolet
Photograph by: Josh Tons / Motorsport Images
Frustration for Larson
NASCAR star Kyle Larson’s day started within the storage as his No. 17 Arrow McLaren-Rick Hendrick Chevrolet underwent an engine change. His automotive arrived on pit lane at 11:15am ET, 75 minutes after apply started.
Though Larson, the 2021 Cup Sequence champion, managed to get out with a number of hours remaining to get acclimated, he reported additional points together with his automotive and solely logged 29 laps with a better of 222.805mph within the tow to position twenty second general.
He was again out on observe once more on the finish of the day and recorded a good no-tow lap of 222.554mph throughout a qualifying simulation.
Alexander Rossi had a few moments within the early portion of the day, starting with misjudging the entry in Flip 2 and briefly catching the apron. Roughly an hour later, his No. 7 Arrow McLaren Chevrolet was squeezed subsequent to the pit wall on the within of the entrance straight whereas making an attempt a cross on the No. 77 Juncos Hollinger Racing Chevrolet of Romain Grosjean.
There was a short spell of inexperienced flag working after Ericsson’s crash and the prolonged warning to restore the attenuator. Nevertheless, the rain persevered because the warning got here out as soon as once more with 90 minutes remaining within the session.
It dried sufficiently for working to renew with 25 minutes on the clock, just for Conor Daly to convey out a yellow when he coasted to the pits with a smoking right-front nook on his Dreyer & Reinbold entry.
Extra rain sprinkles ended the day with 10 minutes to go.