Ericsson lapped the 2.439-mile 14-turn in 71.0839sec, an average speed of 123.522, while Callum Ilott put Juncos Hollinger-Chevrolet in the spotlight again with an eye-catching second-fastest time. He will roll off seventh on the grid this afternoon.
No drivers touched their alternate tires in a morning session held in 81degF ambient temperatures with a track temp of 107degF. Although drivers are expecting severe tire degradation across the three-stop/four-stint race, the Firestone alternate tires are some 1sec per lap faster, so teams will want to spend as many laps as possible on these red sidewalled tires to minimize time loss.
