Collet fastest as Hauger crashes in Indy Nxt FP2 at Laguna Seca

Photo: Paul Hurley

Caio Collet topped Indy Nxt’s second practice at Laguna Seca after Dennis Hauger hit the barriers early in the session.

Hauger had only completed a single lap when he ran off at turn six. He could not stop his car in time and made contact with the barriers, bringing an early end to his Friday.

Practice was then red-flagged so his car could be removed. Everyone else had also only done one timed lap, with Hauger’s 1m16.7582s enough to lead the way.

When FP2 resumed, there was little time for any improvements to be found before red flags waved again due to Jack William Miller coming to a stop on track. By the time the next restart occurred, only 11 minutes remained of practice.

Once the field was back on track, laptimes quickly tumbled. Lochie Hughes and Callum Hedge swapped top spot, with Hughes being the first driver to go sub-1m15s before bettered Hauger’s FP1 benchmark.

Hughes remained at the top of the order until the closing minutes, when a late improvement from Collet moved the HMD Motorsports driver ahead.

Collet had suffered a spin earlier in FP2 but was able to continue without issue. He jumped up to second before improving again on his penultimate lap to go quickest. His 1m14.0546s effort put him 0.2786 ahead of Hughes.

HMD team-mate Josh Pierson was another late improver and he went third fastest. Just before the chequered flag, he ran off at turn eight but managed to avoid a serious incident. Abel Motorsports with Force Indy’s Myles Rowe was fourth, ahead of Hedge (Abel), Sebastian Murray (Andretti Cape) and James Roe Jr (Andretti Global). 

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