Schmidt Peterson Motorsports were quick early, with RC Enerson and Pro Mazda champ Santi Urrutia jumping up to the top of the time sheets. Soon, though, the surprises started up. Scott Hargrove, competing in St. Pete for the second year in a row but only his second Indy Lights race ever, jumped up to P1 at the halfway point. Hargrove is only confirmed for St. Pete at this point for Team Pelfrey’s Indy Lights squad, and a great result could go a long way to helping him finalize his program for the remainder of the 2016 season.
P1 bounced back and forth during the middle part of the session, with Dean Stoneman of Andretti Autosport swapping in and out with Hargrove. Eventually, though, it settled down, and Belardi Auto Racing’s rookie and reigning FIA European F3 champ Felix Rosenqvist jumped to the top of the charts with less than a minute to go, unseating long-time leader Hargrove. The young Swede turned a lap of 1:07.189, 0.119 seconds faster than Hargrove. Stoneman found himself third at the end of the session, completing a rookie sweep of the top three positions. Ed Jones and Carlin Racing wound up fourth, while veteran returnee Zach Veach brought the other Belardi machine home in fifth. The rest of the top ten were Zach Claman De Melo, Enerson, Shelby Blackstock, Urrutia, and Kyle Kaiser.
If the Indy Lights session proved anything, it’s that unpredictability remained highly predictable in the incredibly diverse paddock this season. Four different teams were in the top five, with the top 12 drivers separated by less than one second. Even the gap to Neil Alberico in last was only 1.45 seconds.
Following an unpredictable and entertaining battle for the top spot in the first practice session, it was back at it for the field in the afternoon. In a session interrupted by two red flags, it was Rosenqvist who found himself quickest again.
As in the first practice session, Team Pelfrey’s Scott Hargrove again finished in second place, 0.066 seconds slower than Rosenqvist’s best lap. After holding the top spot in the latter portion of the session, he was just bested by Rosenqvist as the session concluded. Hargrove, working a one-race deal, has been impressive in all of his outings on a road course for the team. With the drive and desire to convert this opportunity into a full season gig, Hargrove is definitely a driver to watch over the course of the weekend.
Carlin Racing’s Felix Serralles was the top-ranked veteran of the session, piloting his Dallara IL-15 to third. Andretti Autosport’s resurgence in Indy Lights is in full swing following a disappointing 2015 season. British rookie Dean Stoneman jumped right up to fourth at the end of the session. Juncos Racing’s Kyle Kaiser and his rookie teammate, Canadian Zach Claman De Melo, completed the top six. The rest of the top ten were Ed Jones, Andre Negrao, Zach Veach, and Shelby Blackstock.
The session’s two red flags were both caused by Carlin’s Neil Alberico. Alberico first came to a stop in Turn 11 early in the session, before later stopping on course in Turn 7. The car appears to be suffering from a mechanical gremlin in the engine, which both the Californian and the team hope will be sorted out prior to tomorrow morning’s qualifying session.
Speaking of qualifying, it’s another early start tomorrow for the drivers competing for the $1 million Mazda Motorsports scholarship and a guaranteed three-race deal in the Verizon IndyCar Series. The Indy Lights field will take to the track at 7:55 a.m. ET for their 25-minute qualifying session.
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