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Romain Grosjean has continued his impressive start to his maiden IndyCar Series campaign, going fastest on Friday in Practice 1 at Road America.
The Dale Coyne Racing with Rick Ware Racing driver clocked a 1:47.678s on the 6.5km circuit with just 30 seconds remaining in the 45-minute session, edging out Andretti Autosport driver Ryan Hunter-Reay by a little over one tenth of a second.
“It’s a good start to a track that is very different from when we came testing,” said Grosjean.
“So I think we’ve got some work to do on a set-up.
“But yeah, we’ve managed to get a good lap at the end. So that’s good for the race weekend.”
Josef Newgarden was the first of the Team Penske entries in third while former series leader Alex Palou, who claimed his first series podium at Road America last year, was fourth fastest for Chip Ganassi Racing.
Graham Rahal (Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing), Colton Herta (Andretti Autosport), and Sebastien Bourdais (AJ Foyt Racing) were fifth, sixth, and seventh respectively.
Scott McLaughlin was the second best Team Penske pilot in eighth, setting a 1:48.284s to put him 0.606s adrift of Grosjean’s chart-topper.
His quickest effort came on his 13th and final lap of the 14-turn circuit.
Rinus VeeKay’s temporary replacement Oliver Askew (Ed Carpenter Racing) was ninth while Will Power (Team Penske) rounded out the top 10.
Askew’s impressive performance comes just a week after he subbed in for Felix Rosenqvist at McLaren SP when the Swede was hospitalised for a high-speed crash at the Detroit Grand Prix.
Series leader Pato O’Ward was on the fringe of the top 10 in 11th for McLaren SP while Chip Ganassi Racing’s Scott Dixon was 12th.
Series debutants Cody Ware of Dale Coyne Racing with Rick Ware Racing and Kevin Magnussen, who is standing in for Rosenqvist at McLaren SP, were 22nd and 23rd respectively.
Dale Coyne Racing with Vasser Sullivan driver Ed Jones was unable to take part in practice after a small fire put the brakes on his session before it got underway.
Practice 2 will get underway at 01:10 AEST tomorrow followed by Qualifying at 04:30 AEST before Practice 3 at 07:30 AEST.
The Grand Prix at Road America gets underway on Monday at 02:00 AEST.
Results: Road America, Practice 1
| Pos | Num | Name | Time | Diff | Gap | Laps | Engine | Team |
| 1 | 51 | Romain Grosjean | 1:47.6781 | 10 | Honda | Dale Coyne Racing w/Rick Ware Racing | ||
| 2 | 28 | Ryan Hunter-Reay | 1:47.8024 | 0.1243 | 0.1243 | 10 | Honda | Andretti Autosport |
| 3 | 2 | Josef Newgarden | 1:47.8417 | 0.1636 | 0.0393 | 8 | Chevy | Team Penske |
| 4 | 10 | Alex Palou | 1:47.8515 | 0.1734 | 0.0098 | 11 | Honda | Chip Ganassi Racing |
| 5 | 15 | Graham Rahal | 1:48.0938 | 0.4157 | 0.2423 | 10 | Honda | Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing |
| 6 | 26 | Colton Herta | 1:48.1407 | 0.4626 | 0.0469 | 12 | Honda | Andretti Autosport |
| 7 | 14 | Sebastien Bourdais | 1:48.2481 | 0.5700 | 0.1074 | 11 | Chevy | AJ Foyt Enterprises |
| 8 | 3 | Scott McLaughlin | 1:48.2844 | 0.6063 | 0.0363 | 13 | Chevy | Team Penske |
| 9 | 21 | Oliver Askew | 1:48.3000 | 0.6219 | 0.0156 | 12 | Chevy | Ed Carpenter Racing |
| 10 | 12 | Will Power | 1:48.3432 | 0.6651 | 0.0432 | 12 | Chevy | Team Penske |
| 11 | 5 | Pato O’Ward | 1:48.4251 | 0.7470 | 0.0819 | 9 | Chevy | Arrow McLaren SP |
| 12 | 9 | Scott Dixon | 1:48.4412 | 0.7631 | 0.0161 | 8 | Honda | Chip Ganassi Racing |
| 13 | 30 | Takuma Sato | 1:48.4566 | 0.7785 | 0.0154 | 11 | Honda | Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing |
| 14 | 20 | Conor Daly | 1:48.6623 | 0.9842 | 0.2057 | 11 | Chevy | Ed Carpenter Racing |
| 15 | 60 | Jack Harvey | 1:48.6690 | 0.9909 | 0.0067 | 8 | Honda | Meyer Shank Racing |
| 16 | 27 | Alexander Rossi | 1:48.7379 | 1.0598 | 0.0689 | 10 | Honda | Andretti Autosport |
| 17 | 22 | Simon Pagenaud | 1:48.9839 | 1.3058 | 0.2460 | 9 | Chevy | Team Penske |
| 18 | 8 | Marcus Ericsson | 1:49.0249 | 1.3468 | 0.0410 | 10 | Honda | Chip Ganassi Racing |
| 19 | 59 | Max Chilton | 1:49.3676 | 1.6895 | 0.3427 | 13 | Chevy | Carlin |
| 20 | 29 | James Hinchcliffe | 1:49.5357 | 1.8576 | 0.1681 | 10 | Honda | Andretti Steinbrenner Autosport |
| 21 | 48 | Jimmie Johnson | 1:50.0764 | 2.3983 | 0.5407 | 14 | Honda | Chip Ganassi Racing |
| 22 | 52 | Cody Ware | 1:50.2981 | 2.6200 | 0.2217 | 12 | Honda | Dale Coyne Racing w/Rick Ware Racing |
| 23 | 7 | Kevin Magnussen | 1:50.4921 | 2.8140 | 0.1940 | 14 | Chevy | Arrow McLaren SP |
| 24 | 4 | Dalton Kellett | 1:50.4941 | 2.8160 | 0.0020 | 13 | Chevy | AJ Foyt Enterprises |
| 25 | 18 | Ed Jones | No Time | Honda | Dale Coyne Racing with Vasser Sullivan |
