Arrow McLaren Indy 200 at Mid-Ohio: Friday Report

A track repave, new hybrid engine and some unexpected rain all walk into Mid-Ohio…  First practice was one for the records here in Lexington, Ohio.

Eager to hit the track to test out the new hybrid engines, the series session got cut short due to rain. With conditions looking to be dry over the weekend the drivers played it safe and opted for a few laps before ending the day with solid results.

Alexander Rossi led the team in practice, finishing the session second, Pato seventh and Nolan rounding out the group fifteenth. 

Read what the drivers and Team Principal Gavin Ward had to say after Friday's tricky session

"We only got one run in because of the rain, but the car seems to be in a good window.  The hybrid works as we expected, which is good. We even got a couple laps in the rainy conditions. It's hard to really know where we're at, but certainly the No. 7 VELO Arrow McLaren Chevrolet is in a good place to start the weekend."

"We didn't turn a lot of laps today for us in Practice 1. I'm just glad we were able to get one solid lap in to analyze some data. We'll work tonight to see what we need to improve on for tomorrow."

"We're off to a solid start this weekend. The session got cut short because of the rain and we didn't get all the running in that we wanted to, which was tough. I thought we rolled off pretty strong, though; that was the strongest session we've had together. The No. 6 NTT DATA Arrow McLaren Chevrolet team is making progress and getting more competitive, so we're in a good spot moving forward."

Gavin Ward, Team Principal, Arrow McLaren, said:

The weather didn't cooperate today, but everyone had to deal with that. I think we got off to a pretty good start. We learned a few things in the dry conditions and learned a little bit in the rainy conditions. I'm hoping it stays dry for the rest of the weekend here so we can get more laps in."

Session Times