Palou tops FP1 and Practice 2 at Sonsio Grand Prix, holds points lead

Alex Palou set the pace through Friday practice at the Sonsio Grand Prix, posting the fastest laps in both sessions and reinforcing his status as the driver to beat. Palou turned a 1:10.0904 in FP1 in the No. 10 DHL Chip Ganassi Racing Honda, then topped Practice 2 with a 1:10.4507, giving Chip Ganassi Racing and other frontrunners an early benchmark. Palou entered the weekend as the NTT INDYCAR Series points leader and a four-time series champion who has won the last three May Sonsio Grand Prix races, posting the fastest lap in each of those victories, and he leads the early-season standings with three wins in five starts.

The practice order underlined a competitive field and a tight midfield. Graham Rahal was second-fastest in FP1 with a 1:10.1979, Kyle Kirkwood was third in FP1 at 1:10.2146 and was second in Practice 2 with a 1:10.5574, and Louis Foster, Christian Lundgaard and Marcus Ericsson rounded out the top five in the second session. David Malukas was the quickest Chevrolet and ran a throwback Penske livery.

Cooler morning air, 57°F, and gusty winds reduced grip during the first 64-minute session, which ran without interruption and saw 25 drivers complete 555 laps. Forecasters predicted rain around qualifying at 5:30 p.m. ET, so teams were expected to refine setups with that possibility in mind ahead of qualifying, leaving open who will convert practice speed into pole and race performance.