HMD’s Collet leads Andretti quartet in Road America practice

Photo: Chris Owens

HMD Motorsports’ Caio Collet set the pace in Indy Nxt ‘s first practice at Road America.

Collet jumped to the top of the times early in the 45-minute session and remained untroubled at the top of the order. His personal best of 1m53.1345s was 0.3934 seconds faster than anyone else’s, with Andretti Global’s drivers his closest rivals.

A red flag was thrown just three minutes into FP1 after an incident for Jack William Miller. The Abel Motorsports with Miller Vinatieri Motorsport driver had smoke coming out of his car and came to a stop on track. The incident was cleared and running resumed with 36 minutes left on the clock.

After the first laps, it was Andretti’s James Roe Jr at the top of the order ahead of Collet. An improvement from Collet on his fourth lap then put him ahead.

Ten minutes after the track returned to green flag conditions, everyone returned to the pits to end their first full runs. Collet led championship leader Dennis Hauger and his team-mates Lochie Hughes and Roe, an order which would not change through the second half of FP1.

There were few improvements thereon, with most drivers setting their fastest lap on their third or fourth attempt. Abel Motorsports with Force Indy’s Myles Rowe improved on his sixth lap to go sixth quickest, behind Andretti’s Salvador de Alba.

Further down the order there were a few late improvements. Chip Ganassi Racing’s Bryce Aron jumped up to ninth before Miller improved on his final lap of the session to go 10th fastest.

Free practice results