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Arrow McLaren’s Pato O’Ward fended off Chip Ganassi Racing’s Alex Palou to win the first race of the hybrid era in a thriller at Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course.

Andretti Global’s Colton Herta led the way in a second practice session for the IndyCar Series that was blighted by three red flags on Saturday morning at Laguna Seca.

Two-time IndyCar Series champion and reigning Indianapolis 500 winner Newgarden set the pace with a flying lap of 1m06.7045s in the No. 2 Team Penske Chevrolet around the 2.3-mile, 17-turn natural terrain road course.

The defending race winner, Kirkwood delivered a flying lap of 1m06.4731s (106.581 mph) in the final seconds to lead the session on a chilly morning at the 11-turn, 1.968-mile temporary street circuit.

Herta lapped the 1.8-mile, 14-turn street circuit in his Honda-powered machine in 1m00.1331s, recording the fastest time of the weekend thus far.

The six-time champion kept his head when many around him lost theirs, beating Scott McLaughlin (Team Penske) and his champion team-mate Alex Palou after a race punctuated by eight caution periods caused by a series of wildly over-optimistic lunges and collisions that had a definite end-of-term feel.

The speedy Swede, who is joining Meyer Shank Racing in 2024, drove “a gorilla lap” flyer of 1m06.6416s lap on the 11-turn, 2.238-mile natural terrain road course.

The 23-year-old Californian set the tone early with a flying lap of 1m07.5382s around the 11-turn, 2.238-mile natural terrain road course.

Palou beat Arrow McLaren’s Felix Rosenqvist by 5.4s to claim his fifth win of the season and his second IndyCar championship, following up his 2021 success. It is Ganassi’s 15th title in the series.