Pato O’Ward looks to capture his first INDYCAR win of 2023 at Indianapolis. (Photo: Wayne Riegle | The Podium Finish)
SPEEDWAY, Ind. – Pato O’Ward set the early tone for the Month of May at Indianapolis Motor Speedway after going quickest in Friday’s morning practice session.
O’Ward’s No. 5 Arrow McLaren clocked in with a time of 69.4981 seconds, besting Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing’s Christian Lundgaard by 0.0007 seconds on what was a rather calm, yet frantic session. The man sitting second in the INDYCAR championship explained how during the session, the field dealt with a few damp spots due to overnight rain.
It created some pondering thoughts as to how they were going about the morning session, especially how the Firestone compounds would behave.
Fortunately, the conditions were ideal as partly cloudy skies beckoned the road course, making the track drier as the session unraveled.
“A lot of us waited and the compound seems to be slightly different to what it was last year, but in a positive way,” said O’Ward. “We’ve been making some changes to the car. It feels good, so we need to make sure we’re following the track the right way and have at it in qualifying.”
Pato O’Ward navigating around the IMS Road Course. (Photo: Luis Torres | The Podium Finish)
A solid start this month at Indy comes a long way, especially for O’Ward, who has come so close, so many times this season to reach the top step of the podium. Ever the determined racer, O’Ward knows a win is a huge confidence booster as the 107th Indianapolis 500 is around the corner. More importantly, O’Ward’s quest intensifies for the Astor Cup at season’s end.
“You want to carry the best momentum that you can into the 500,” said O’Ward. “But it’s a long championship, so we have multiple opportunities. The Month of May is the greatest month for racing, so happy to be here and we want to have a good race tomorrow.”
Defending GMR Grand Prix winner Colton Herta was not as lucky in the morning session. A bit of fire coming off his No. 26 Gainbridge Honda after his installation lap forced the Andretti Autosport squad to bring the car back to Gasoline Alley and assess the problem.
Once it was sorted out, Herta came out with under four minutes remaining, but did another installation lap and his session was over. Consequently, he was 27th on the official time sheet without logging in a true lap on the time chart.
The defending GMR Grand Prix winner towards the end of practice. (Photo: Luis Torres | The Podium Finish)
Herta will look to have a much better session during Friday’s afternoon session at 1:00 p.m. before qualifying commences at 4 p.m. Both sessions will be streamed live on Peacock as last year’s pole sitter Will Power looks to start up front at a road circuit he has won at five times.
