Collet leads Hauger again in final Road America practice

Photo: Joe Skibinski

Caio Collet topped the times again in the final Indy Nxt practice session ahead of qualifying at Road America.

The HMD Motorsport driver improved on the time he managed in Friday practice, setting a lap at 1m52.3358s.

It was a busier practice session, with fastest times swapping hands multiple times. Collet set the early pace before a red flag briefly neutralised running in the opening minutes. 

Times rapidly improved after the track went green again, with Lochie Hughes, Myles Rowe and Dennis Hauger each taking turns at the top of the order. Collet gradually slipped backwards, outside the top 10, until two flying laps late in the session. The first put him second, just 0.0041s behind Hauger. The second put him ahead of the Andretti driver, where he stayed until the chequered flag.

A number of drivers had small offs which were covered by yellow flags. One of these was Hailie Deegan, who came to a stop sideways on track. Collet narrowly avoided collecting her, and Deegan was able to resume without issue.

Hauger had a clean run to go second quickest, 0.0640s behind Collet and ahead of Rowe, Callum Hedge and Salvador de Alba. 

Hughes slipped back to seventh behind Josh Pierson. A late improvement from Evagoras Papasavvas put him eighth, as Liam Sceats and James Roe completed the top 10.

Free practice results