Takuma Sato posted the top speed of the day as drivers battled heavy wind throughout practice.
“That’s why we try to attempt it a couple times,” the two-time Indy 500 winner said. “The confidence is something that you experience and then you build up. Nothing just ‘somebody told you and then you get confidence.’ We never had that kind of thing. I had to go out twice, actually, to get reasonably comfortable.”
David Malukas, Sato's Dale Coyne Racing rookie teammate: “For me, the struggle is you get this setup and whatever you have once, you go out and you hit the wind. One lap there might not be any wind, the next lap there is. And then you kind of have to guess. Was that the setup dropping off? Was that the tire dropping off or was it just a gust of wind? The hard part is trying to guess going to the next corner how the car is going to react.
Alexander Rossi, who has been racing in the IndyCar series since 2016, couldn’t recall a time on any track that the wind had made driving so difficult. Sato compared it to 2017 qualifying, where he brushed the wall twice on his four laps. Marcus Ericsson opted not to push his car too much in the gusts.The forecast Saturday calls for cooler temperatures and less wind, although the likelihood of rain has already cut practice time from 90 minutes to an hour and moved qualifying up an hour to 11 a.
If the weather cooperates for qualifying, Friday’s weather could prove beneficial to Malukas. He finished with the seventh best speed of the day despite struggling to get comfortable in the conditions. Sato complimented the rookie’s consistency after practice. “I’m actually really happy that was very windy and to deal with all these gusts because I would almost be even more nervous if was a beautiful, perfect day and then we go in and it’s gusty and windy,” Malukas said.2. Alexander Rossi, Andretti Autosport, 231.8835. Scott Dixon, Chip Ganassi Racing, 231.5308. Tony Kanaan, Chip Ganassi Racing, 231.227