IndyCar: Felix Rosenqvist tops first 2019 Barber practice session

Felix Rosenqvist opened up the weekend of the third race of the 2019 IndyCar season, the Honda Indy Grand Prix of Alabama, by topping the speed chart in the first practice session.

Chip Ganassi Racing rookie Felix Rosenqvist topped the speed chart in the first of three practice sessions for the third of 17 races on the 2019 IndyCar schedule, the Honda Indy Grand Prix of Alabama, at Barber Motorsports Park.

Rosenqvist topped the speed chart in this opening practice session of the weekend by recording a top lap time of 69.2296 seconds (123.762 miles per hour) around the 17-turn, 2.38-mile (3.830-kilometer) Barber Motorsports Park natural terrain road course in Birmingham, Alabama in his #10 Honda.

Rosenqvist led a top six Honda sweep of the speed chart in this practice session, as Dale Coyne Racing’s Sebastien Bourdais, Arrow Schmidt Peterson Motorsports’ James Hinchcliffe, Chip Ganassi Racing’s Scott Dixon, Andretti Autosport’s Ryan Hunter-Reay and Harding Steinbrenner Racing rookie Colton Herta rounded out the top six by finishing in second, third, fourth, fifth and sixth place in their #18 Honda, #5 Honda, #9 Honda, #28 Honda and #88 Honda, respectively.

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Carlin rookie Patricio O’Ward was the highest finishing Chevrolet driver of this practice session. He finished in seventh place in his #31 Chevrolet. Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing’s Takuma Sato and Andretti Autosport’s Alexander Rossi rounded out the top nine in eighth and ninth in their #30 Honda and #27 Honda, respectively, giving Honda drivers eight of the top nine positions on the speed chart in this session.

Simon Pagenaud was the only Team Penske driver who finished this practice session in the top 10. He finished in 10th place in his #22 Chevrolet. His two teammates, Will Power and Josef Newgarden, who are two of the three drivers who have won the Honda Indy Grand Prix of Alabama more than once (Power in 2011 and 2012, Newgarden in 2015, 2017 and 2018), finished in 12th and 14th in their #12 Chevrolet and #2 Chevrolet, respectively.

Andretti Herta Autosport’s Marco Andretti finished in between Pagenaud and Power in 11th place in his #98 Honda while A.J. Foyt Enterprises Tony Kanaan finished between Power and Newgarden in 13th in his #14 Chevrolet.

The two remaining practice sessions for this race are scheduled to air live on NBC Sports Gold this afternoon beginning at 3:50 p.m. ET and tomorrow morning beginning at 11:45 a.m. ET.

Qualifying for the race is scheduled to air live on NBC Sports Network tomorrow afternoon at 4:00 p.m. ET. The race warmup session is scheduled to air live on NBC Sports Gold on the afternoon of Sunday, April 7 beginning at 12:10 p.m. ET, and the race itself is scheduled to air live on NBC Sports Network later that afternoon beginning at 4:00 p.m. ET.

Here are the full practice results of the first practice session for the 2019 Honda Indy Grand Prix of Alabama at Barber Motorsports Park.

Practice Results
1st – Felix Rosenqvist
2nd – Sebastien Bourdais
3rd – James Hinchcliffe
4th – Scott Dixon
5th – Ryan Hunter-Reay
6th – Colton Herta
7th – Patricio O’Ward
8th – Takuma Sato
9th – Alexander Rossi
10th – Simon Pagenaud
11th – Marco Andretti
12th – Will Power
13th – Tony Kanaan
14th – Josef Newgarden
15th – Marcus Ericsson
16th – Spencer Pigot
17th – Max Chilton
18th – Jack Harvey
19th – Ed Jones
20th – Graham Rahal
21st – Santino Ferrucci
22nd – Zach Veach
23rd – Ben Hanley
24th – Matheus Leist

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Be sure to tune in to each of the remaining practice, qualifying and warmup sessions this weekend prior to the Honda Indy Grand Prix of Alabama, and be sure to tune in to the live broadcast of the 2019 IndyCar season’s third race itself this Sunday, April 7.