IndyCar Thermal

Lundgaard surges late to pace final test session at Thermal

Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing’s Christian Lundgaard led the last test session ahead of Sunday’s $1 Million Challenge at The Thermal Club.

Joey Barnes

Joey Barnes

Published: Mar 23, 2024, 10:17 PM

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Christian Lundgaard, Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing Honda

Lundgaard managed to vault to the top spot in the final few minutes after putting down a flying lap of 1m38.2199s (112.413 mph) around the 3.067-mile, 17-mile circuit.

The run by Lundgaard halted a Team Penske 1-2, with Will Power, who led much of the session, ending up a distant 0.4205s behind. Scott McLaughlin was bumped to third, 0.5041s off the top time.

The fourth session of the weekend, it was slightly delayed due to heavy winds blowing debris on course. The wind continued to persist, albeit with different intensity levels, throughout the rest of the two hours of running.

Arrow McLaren took hold of positions fourth through sixth, led by Alexander Rossi, then Pato O’Ward and Callum Ilott. Colton Herta, driving the No. 26 Andretti Global Honda, came away seventh, with Juncos Hollinger Racing newcomer Romain Grosjean in eighth.

Ed Carpenter Racing was ninth, courtesy of Rinus VeeKay.

Reigning and two-time IndyCar Series champion Alex Palou took the final spot in the top 10.

 

While there were several off-track moments for a number of drivers, along with a spin by six-time series champion Scott Dixon, the only significant incident happened 40 minutes in was when Christian Rasmussen went off course in Turn 2 and brought out the red flag.

Dixon logged the most laps in the session with 32, with a best of 1m39.1877 (+0.9678s) slotting the CGR driver 12th, just behind Team Penske’s Josef Newgarden.

Marcus Ericsson, the newest member to the Andretti Global driver roster, ended up 13th.

Juncos Hollinger Racing’s Agustin Canapino spent some of the session in the top 10, but late running as track conditions improved as other drivers went out for runs on fresh tires pushed him down the order in 14th.

Chip Ganassi Racing’s Marcus Armstrong completed the top 15.

Qualifying to set the field for the heat races will take place at 8 p.m. ET on Peacock.

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