Gateway Motorsports Park – Indy Lights practice

Santiago Urrutia, who desperately needs to score maximum points this weekend, led the lone Indy Lights qualifying session before qualifying. The Uruguyan’s fastest lap was at 162.438mph, that’s 2.5mph quicker than the track record set by NBC Sports Network’s Townsend Bell in 2000.

Fellow sophomore Dalton Kellett turned in the second quickest lap and was joined by his Andretti Autosport teammate Nico Jamin (3rd) and Colton Herta (5th) in the top five. Team Pelfrey’s Juan Piedrahita who had the fourth quickest time, was the final pilot in the top five.

The lone Indy Lights Presented by Cooper Tire series practice for the Mazda St. Louis Indy Lights Oval Challenge Presented by Cooper Tires began at 7:45pm with temperatures of

Halfway through the practice and the top five speeds were held by: Kaiser, Dapero, Zachary Claman DeMelo, Juan Piedrahita, and Santiago Urrutia.

The final half of the session saw teams and drivers bolt on fresh Cooper Tire rubber, and complete a mix of qualifying simulations and race running.

Points leader Kyle Kaiser, who led much of the session ended up with the seventh quickest time of the session. When TSO chatted with Kaiser’s team owner Ricardo Juncos after the session, he was really happy with how the session went, and explained to us that they did not do any new tire runs or qualifying simulations.

When we chatted with the teams and drivers after the session, the one constant was that qualifying will take A LOT of commitment. The Cooper Tire slicks take at least five laps to come up to optimal temperatures, so expect teams to compensate by starting out with super high pressures.

Mazda St. Louis Indy Lights Oval Challenge Presented by Cooper Tires practice results

Santiago Urrutia, who desperately needs to score maximum points this weekend, led the lone Indy Lights qualifying session before qualifying. The Uruguyan’s fastest lap was at 162.438mph, that’s 2.5mph quicker than the track record set by NBC Sports Network’s Townsend Bell in 2000.

Fellow sophomore Dalton Kellett turned in the second quickest lap and was joined by his Andretti Autosport teammate Nico Jamin (3rd) and Colton Herta (5th) in the top five. Team Pelfrey’s Juan Piedrahita who had the fourth quickest time, was the final pilot in the top five.

The lone Indy Lights Presented by Cooper Tire series practice for the Mazda St. Louis Indy Lights Oval Challenge Presented by Cooper Tires began at 7:45pm with temperatures of

Halfway through the practice and the top five speeds were held by: Kaiser, Dapero, Zachary Claman DeMelo, Juan Piedrahita, and Santiago Urrutia.

The final half of the session saw teams and drivers bolt on fresh Cooper Tire rubber, and complete a mix of qualifying simulations and race running.

Points leader Kyle Kaiser, who led much of the session ended up with the seventh quickest time of the session. When TSO chatted with Kaiser’s team owner Ricardo Juncos after the session, he was really happy with how the session went, and explained to us that they did not do any new tire runs or qualifying simulations.

When we chatted with the teams and drivers after the session, the one constant was that qualifying will take A LOT of commitment. The Cooper Tire slicks take at least five laps to come up to optimal temperatures, so expect teams to compensate by starting out with super high pressures.

Mazda St. Louis Indy Lights Oval Challenge Presented by Cooper Tires practice results