Herta Continues Domination, Goes Fastest in Practice 2 at Long Beach

Colton Herta once again sat atop the timing charts today, going fastest in practice two ahead of the Acura Grand Prix of Long Beach. Herta, who also went fastest in first practice yesterday, was the only driver to crack the 1:07.000 second lap time barrier, despite making heavy contact with the wall earlier in the session.

Josef Newgarden was the fastest of the three title contenders, going fourth fastest as all four Team Penske cars found themselves in the top ten. Patricio O’Ward managed a much better day than yesterday where he struggled greatly, finishing the session eighth fastest while even spending time at the very top.

Championship leader Alex Palou found himself in sixteenth at the end of the session, but the team stated that they were primarily focused on the race setup during this session. The Spaniard switched to the alternate red-wall tyres with under ten minutes left in the session, and with a congested track he was unable to put together a quick lap.

Palou’s Chip Ganassi Racing teammate Scott Dixon didn’t make things any better, going nose-first into the tyre barrier at turn six with one minute remaining, bringing out the red flag that ended the session.

Behind Herta in second place sat Will Power, followed by James Hinchcliffe in third, who has had a very promising start to the weekend with two top-ten finishes in practice. “Hinch” split Power from his teammates Newgarden, Simon Pagenaud and rookie Scott McLaughlin, who finished fourth through sixth respectively in a fantastic showing for Penske. McLaughlin has taken to the streets of Long Beach quickly, which may help him in his fight for the Rookie of the Year honors.

Arrow McLaren SP put both of their cars in the top ten, as Felix Rosenqvist finished seventh ahead of O’Ward in eighth. This is Rosenqvist’s second top-ten practice finish of the weekend, while O’Ward finished much better than first practice where he languished in sixteenth.

Romain Grosjean had quite a few close calls with the barriers around the circuit this session, but still put together a ninth place finish for Dale Coyne Racing with Rick Ware Racing. Jack Harvey rounded out the top ten in his last practice session for Meyer Shank Racing.

Qualifying for the Acura Grand Prix of Long Beach will take place later today, 25 September, at 1500 EST / 1200 PST / 2000 BST.

Acura Grand Prix of Long Beach Practice 2 Results