Barber IndyCar: VeeKay top, Grosjean and Power spin, Rossi shunts

Rossi’s shunt after 15mins was a strange one, the car fishtailing viciously on the exit of the final turn, despite not initially riding the curbs. The #27 Andretti car, which had been seventh fastest up to that point, escaped its drivers’ control, went onto the grass and smacked an unprotected part of the barrier, most heavily with its right-rear corner.

The top of the rear attenuator was torn off, and thrown across the track just as Rossi’s semi-teammate Helio Castroneves arrived on the scene, and the right-front tire rode over the carbonfiber shard, picking up a puncture. Bizarrely, an IndyCar regulation meant that Castroneves would have to sit out the restarted session for five minutes, since he had required a tow-in.

However, the Andretti #27 crew – and their colleagues from other cars – had a daunting prospect to rebuild the car and fit a new engine in time for qualifying, set to begin 2hr45min later.

That wasn’t the only off for the team, as Romain Grosjean, who was sitting atop the times, went long into the quick chicane at Turn 7, launched off a curb and spun in the gravel. The ex-F1 driver smartly let the car roll backward out of the sandtrap, kept the engine alive, and continued.

Ed Carpenter Racing-Chevrolet’s Rinus VeeKay was the first driver to break the 66sec barrier, turning a 65.9264sec after he put on a set of Firestone’s alternate compound, but there was a second red when Will Power’s Penske spun off at the same spot as Grosjean.

Thus there was a flurry of late improvements as everyone had to try out their alternates for the first time in the last seven minutes. Arrow McLaren SP-Chevrolet’s Pato O’Ward, last year’s polesitter, came up just 0.0872sec short of VeeKay’s marker, while Colton Herta jumped into third, displacing Penske’s pacesetter, Scott McLaughlin.

Grosjean wound up fifth, ahead of a trio of Chip Ganassi Racing-Hondas led by Alex Palou, while Callum Ilott’s superb form for Juncos Hollinger Racing-Chevy continued with ninth fastest. Jack Harvey rounded out the Top 10 with an encouraging run, albeit 0.6324sec off the ultimate pace.

Qualifying begins at 12 noon local (Central) time.