Andretti drivers upbeat but uncertain at Road America
Andretti Autosport’s quartet believe their cars are strong at Road America, but admitted that they have questions over their ultimate potential around Elkhart Lake’s famous road course.
Photo by: IndyCar Series
Team pacesetter thus far, Carlos Munoz, declared: “I think it was a positive practice today compared to the test last week. We were a bit more competitive, but we still have work to do.
The Colombian, whose second quickest time from first practice gave him fourth fastest time of the day added: “I think the second practice we tried some stuff that just wasn’t as good (as the first practice). There is still one more practice tomorrow before qualifying and we will have to put everything together and set up a great car."
The demise of Jack Hawksworth’s AJ Foyt Racing-Honda with three minutes to go brought the session to an early close, and Ryan Hunter-Reay believes this cost him a chance to jump near the top of the timesheets.
The 2012 champion said: “Timing wise - we didn’t get our last tire run in, which was crucial to us. I think we were probably looking a time good enough for P3, had we gotten that run in.
“I’m happy to be back at Road America, this is such a fun track and the fan support so far this weekend has been great. Now, I’ll have to tell you tomorrow after qualifying exactly how happy I am though (laughs). But we made progress today.”
Indy 500 winner Alexander Rossi was left puzzled, declaring after setting 12th fastest time of the day: “The track is a little bit different than it was at the test, so we will need to try to understand why that is.
“Third through 16th is all within two-and-a-half tenths. If we find a little bit of speed we’ll be right in the top three which is good. But, there is still a big gap to the top two guys [Graham Rahal and Will Power] and we will have to try to figure out how to close in on that gap tonight."
Marco Andretti, who was a couple of hundredths in arrears stated: "I’m not feeling too bad after that run. Right now the guessing game is going to be what we need to do for balance on the reds [soft alternate tire]. We just don’t know where the balance is going to go. It’s going to be a bit of a guessing game for qualifying tomorrow.
“I think we’re going to be able to get aggressive with trying to get the UFD / Snapple car to turn and hopefully the reds will help the rear."
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