Photo: Penske Entertainment / James Black
Dennis Hauger topped his first Indy Nxt practice session in St. Petersburg by more than half a second over Caio Collet.
It was Hauger’s Andretti Global team-mate Salvador de Alba who headed the times 15 minutes into the 45-minute session, but the Norwegian took over just a few minutes later. He soon lowered the pace to a 1m05.8278s.
HMD Motorsports driver Collet, the highest-placed driver in the 2024 standings to return, then went four tenths of a second quicker to lead through the middle of the session.
Entering its final third, the session was interrupted by a red flag after another former FIA Formula 3 racer, Sophia Floersch, spun into the barriers in Turn 4.
After the restart, it looked as though Collet may cling onto the best time until Hauger went 0.566s faster as he posted a 1m05.2225s.
Myles Rowe was third-quickest just ahead of his Abel Motorsports stable-mate Jordan Missig.
De Alba improved his time late on as he finished up fifth. All four Andretti Global entries finished in the top 10, with James Roe in seventh behind HMD’s Callum Hedge and Lochie Hughes taking 10th. Josh Pierson was eighth for HMD, with Ricardo Escotto ninth for Andretti Cape.
Practice 1 results
| Pos | Driver | Team | Time | Gap | Laps |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Dennis Hauger | Andretti Global | 1m05.2225s | 22 | |
| 2 | Caio Collet | HMD Motorsports | 1m05.7885s | +0.5660s | 24 |
| 3 | Myles Rowe | Abel Motorsports | 1m05.9760s | +0.7535s | 22 |
| 4 | Jordan Missig | Abel Motorsports | 1m05.9886s | +0.7661s | 23 |
| 5 | Salvador de Alba | Andretti Global | 1m05.9962s | +0.7737s | 24 |
| 6 | Callum Hedge | Abel Motorsports | 1m06.0241s | +0.8016s | 27 |
| 7 | James Roe | Andretti Global | 1m06.2025s | +0.9800s | 28 |
| 8 | Josh Pierson | HMD Motorsports | 1m06.2568s | +1.0343s | 23 |
| 9 | Ricardo Escotto | Andretti Cape | 1m06.2600s | +1.0375s | 27 |
| 10 | Lochie Hughes | Andretti Global | 1m06.3701s | +1.1476s | 25 |
| 11 | Jack William Miller | Abel Motorsports | 1m06.3733s | +1.1508s | 27 |
| 12 | Seb Murray | Andretti Cape | 1m06.6969s | +1.4744s | 25 |
| 13 | Liam Sceats | HMD Motorsports | 1m06.7379s | +1.5154s | 23 |
| 14 | Bryce Aron | HMD Motorsports | 1m06.9620s | +1.7395s | 26 |
| 15 | Sophia Floersch | HMD Motorsports | 1m06.9649s | +1.7424s | 17 |
| 16 | Niels Koolen | Chip Ganassi Racing | 1m06.9805s | +1.7580s | 20 |
| 17 | Nolan Allaer | HMD Motorsports | 1m07.1888s | +1.9663s | 23 |
| 18 | Tommy Smith | HMD Motorsports | 1m07.2936s | +2.0711s | 23 |
| 19 | Jonathan Browne | Chip Ganassi Racing | 1m07.3027s | +2.0802s | 22 |
| 20 | Nikita Johnson | HMD Motorsports | 1m07.4739s | +2.2514s | 21 |
| 21 | Hailie Deegan | HMD Motorsports | 1m09.9742s | +4.7517s | 20 |