Scott McLaughlin has crashed in Friday practice at Belle Isle in Detroit, in a session filled with drama throughout the pack.
McLaughlin lost control of his PPG Chevrolet on entry to turn five. The rear end stepped out under braking, with McLaughlin overcorrecting to the right. This resulted in the Kiwi nosing the tyre wall at relatively low speed.
McLaughlin was checked and cleared by on-site medical staff.
The former Supercars champion wasn’t the only one to suffer an incident in the session. Seven-time Nascar champion Jimmie Johnson also spun off, although he didn’t clout any walls along the way.
In fact, all three of the new high profile ‘rookies’ to the series had some kind of incident. Former Formula 1 ace Romain Grosjean spun at turn four, narrowly avoiding clipping his rear wing on the tyre wall while looping.
Perhaps the most spectacular off was that of Rinus Veekay. The youngster toured through the grass on the exit of turn one; his car bucking and leaping over the undulations. He was also lucky to not make contact with the wall.
Scott Dixon ended the session fourth in the times, with a 1:17.517 to his name. McLaughlin’s teammate Will Power topped the session with a 1:17.276, over Sebastien Bourdais and Patricio O’Ward.
Alexander Rossi, Colon Herta, Marcus Ericsson, Josef Newgarden, Veekay, and Ryan Hunter-Reay completed the top 10.
McLaughlin’s crash hampered his ability to record a competitive time; the Kiwi ending up 24th.