Santiago Urrutia told Rob Howden of IndyCar Radio during the first practice session that they were happy with the car during testing at Watkins Glen International on Tuesday. The Schmidt Peterson Motorsports rookie explained that they would do a couple of qualifying simulations in the the second practice, and get then get prepared for a busy Saturday. True to his word, the current Indy Lights Presented by Cooper Tire champion did just that.
Urrutia only ran 10 laps in the 45 minutes session, the fewest of any of the 12 drivers in the field. The reigning Pro Mazda presented by Cooper Tire turned a scorching lap of 1:33.434 in only his third lap of the session.
That quick lap held until the last few minutes of the session when Kyle Kaiser turned a lap 6/100th of a second quicker than Urrutia.
Andre Negrao and Zachary Claman de Melo joined their teammates in the top five as the only other drivers to break the 1:34 barrier. Zach Veach joined them in the top five.
Kaiser was also the quickest car through the speed trap just before the “Bus Stop”. The Mazda powered No. 18 Juncos Racing Dallara reached a top speed of 174.014mph
Combined time-sheet from the two 45-minute Indy Lights Presented by Cooper Tire practice sessions:
RANK | DRIVER | QUICK LAP | TOTAL LAPS |
---|---|---|---|
1 | Kyle Kaiser | 1:33.4343 | 28 |
2 | Santiago Urrutia | 1:33.4911 | 12 |
3 | Andre Negrao | 1:33.8031 | 15 |
4 | Ed Jones | 1:33.9594 | 22 |
5 | Zachary Claman de Melo | 1:33.9616 | 28 |
6 | Zach Veach | 1:34.2868 | 22 |
7 | Dean Stoneman | 1:34.3749 | 30 |
8 | Neil Alberico | 1:34.3794 | 24 |
9 | Garett Grist | 1:34.5010 | 31 |
10 | Felix Serralles | 1:34.5157 | 31 |
11 | Dalton Kellett | 1:35.0883 | 33 |
12 | Shelby Blackstock | 1:35.1229 | 32 |
The Indy Lights Presented by Cooper Tire teams and drivers are back on track tomorrow (Saturday) morning for a 45-minute qualifying session at 10am.
You can find previous weekend reports here —>
- Indy Lights Presented by Cooper Tire at Watkins Glen International – preview
- Indy Lights Presented by Cooper Tire at Watkins Glen International – practice #1
Don’t miss any of the action
- live timing – Indy Lights, Pro Mazda, & USF2000
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The race will air on NBCSN on Sunday, September 4, 2016 at 1pm (et) – right before the IndyCar race.