Based on feedback from their drivers and teams, the NTT IndyCar Series will experiment Friday at Road America by extending their 45-minute Free Practice 1 session to a full 75 minutes.
Unlike the new scheduling process, where IndyCar has allocated 60 minutes to conduct the 45-minute sessions – to allow time to deal with red flags without impacting the time allotted for training – the 75-minute session will not add any additional time Any interruptions that may occur have leeway.
With a trend emerging in recent years to reduce time on track or reduce the number of sessions, resulting in a single, late 45-minute session on Friday at most road and street circuits, the paddock is unsatisfied with the relatives becoming inactive on the opening days and the relatively short time on the line. With teams already on the ground and more than able to spend extra time at the track without incurring significant additional costs, the series has responded by extending an additional 30 minutes to FP1.
Road America’s CT Friday session from 3:25 p.m. to 4:40 p.m. will now serve as a test for the series to see if upcoming FP1s will receive the same expanded treatment. Although the teams have the same tire allocation for the weekend, a change will be made, with a set of Firestone’s faster spares being allowed on Friday.
Standard practice was for a single set of the red-banded Firestones to be made available for the first time during FP2 on day two of the race – right before qualifying – but for the Road America test the alternative tire availability schedule will be moved to FP1. According to IndyCar, the spare tires must be returned to Firestone after the session.
For many years it has not been uncommon for teams to pit lane for decent parts of FP1 to save tires for the rest of the event. The use of alternative tires to the main tires is intended to provide an incentive to use more of the 75-minute window at the track, but if the longer session results in more idle time in the pit lane, a return to the 45-minute sessions is expected.