It has been a long time since Meyer Shank Racing ended the first day of running on a road or street course with one of its cars near the top 10. Reigning Indy Lights champion and NTT IndyCar Series rookie Linus Lundqvist solved that problem on Friday in Nashville after he produced the team’s best opening practice results since April 28 at Barber Motorsports Park where the currently-injured Simon Pagenaud placed the No. 60 Honda in ninth on the time sheet.
Lundqvist, on his IndyCar debut, came close by finishing the 75-minute session with the No. 60 car in 11th, one spot and 0.0648s behind six-time IndyCar champion Scott Dixon from Chip Ganassi Racing, winner of last year’s Music City Grand Prix.
The 24-year-old product of Sweden also stepped from the car as Friday’s fastest rookie, one position ahead of Ganassi’s Marcus Armstrong. Among his countrymen, Lundqvist was the quickest Swede, out-pacing Arrow McLaren’s Felix Rosenqvist (18th) and Ganassi’s Marcus Ericsson, winner of the inaugural Nashville race, in 25th. Teammate Helio Castroneves was 16th in the sister No. 06 Honda.
[lawrence-auto-related count=3 category=1408]
Altogether, MSR’s decision to give Lundqvist his first shot in IndyCar while Pagenaud is on the mend appears to have been a smart one.
“Really, really happy with FP1,” Lundqvist told RACER. “I think neither me or the team knew what to expect, and we still don’t know. There’s a long way to go and I don’t think everybody maximized what they had, ourselves included, but either way, super happy. Speed was there, but obviously, there’s a lot of time within myself to find, but a big thank you to the team.”
Lundqvist got to sample Firestone’s faster alternate tires to prepare for his first IndyCar qualifying session on Saturday, but didn’t get much of a feel for their full potential which could limit his results as the grid is set.
“The car that we rolled out with was very, very quick, but we definitely were on the safer side, so I think we’re gonna dial it up a little bit for tomorrow and more time is gonna come with it myself,” he said.
“And I only got the one lap on the alternates, for example, which was my first pushing lap. I think there’s a lot of time to gain there just to get more experience and know more of what to expect. Nonetheless, it was a very good first day.”