McLaughlin off to fast start
Scott McLaughlin has shot out of the blocks at Portland by topping Friday IndyCar practice.
McLaughlin emerged with the fastest time from the three-session practice period, recording a 58.3669s and average speed of 121.137mph.
The Team Penske Kiwi just edged ahead of Alex Palou, while another New Zealander in Marcus Armstrong won a tight battle for third.
Australia’s Will Power had a solid session, securing sixth, just one spot behind Scott Dixon.
McLaughlin admitted he only felt he nailed his final lap, which was the fastest of the session.
“I only hit it as good as my last lap. My best time was my last lap through there,” McLaughlin said.
“It takes time to build up how you use the curbs, the way you hit the curbs, it’s not just going in as deep as you can, it’s how you use them and where you put your car.
“Obviously, you’ve got to think of the long exit and the straight up to turn four. There’s a lot to think about.
“That’s why I love this track because you have to set up for tight hairpins, big braking stops, and you’ve got some super quick corners, some of the quickest we go to on the circuit.
“Really fun and tricky for all of us.”
McLaughlin also revealed he found confidence in a couple of tweaks made to both the Chevrolet engine and chassis.
“Just going through the process,” he recalled.
“There’s a couple of things we tried on the engine front, a couple of things on the chassis front.
“So we talked the chassis with the engineer, and the engineer out the back.
“So far the Freightliner Chevy feels good.”
McLaughlin was victorious at Portland back in 2022 and has enjoyed a near perfect start in 2024.
Qualifying takes place tonight, while the race begins at 5.00 AEST Monday morning.
IndyCar Portland practice results
Photo by Perry Nelson / LAT Images
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