Pato O'Ward crashes in 'really wet' IndyCar practice 2 at Barber

Arrow McLaren star Pato O'Ward crashed during the second practice session at the Children's of Alabama Indy Grand Prix. The Mexican driver went off the line on a green track, lost the rear end of the #5 Arrow McLaren, and slammed into the barrier on the outside of Turn 17.

Inclement weather hit the Barber Motorsport Park on Friday, May 2, soon after the first practice session ended. The storm continued into the second day of the race weekend and left the track in a green state, stripping away any rubber deposited by the cars on Friday.

The second practice session began with a damp track, little to no grip for the cars, and dark clouds in the sky. With about 19 minutes left in the practice session, Pato O'Ward, who was on a fast lap, lost the rear of the car going into Turn 17.

At first glance, it seemed as if the IndyCar driver had tried to open up the corner and lost the grip at the rear of the car. However, it also might have been the case that Pato O'Ward touched the painted white lines on the entry of the turn.

The #5 Arrow McLaren then lost control, went into the gravel pit, then into the grass, and eventually into the barrier, with the front right of the car taking a huge impact. As a result of the crash, the session was red-flagged by the race stewards.

Pato O'Ward spoke with Jack Harvey of FOX Sports soon after the crash and detailed what might've been the reason behind the crash. The Mexican driver said:

“Lost the rear, and once I got into the grass, I was just a passenger. It’s really wet, I don't know, I don't know if I touched maybe some paint opening the radius into the corner. Maybe that's why lost the rear or maybe I didn't just lost it. I don't know. I need to see the replay.”

“But, yeah, as soon as I touched the granular, pretty much a passenger. I'd say the damage isn't as bad as I thought but the steering column is damaged. Didn't really want to risk it with the nature of being such high-speed corners here. So, yeah, we'll see what qualifying brings. It's definitely not been the best of weekends so far.”

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Pato O'Ward and Arrow McLaren’s poor start to the weekend at Barber Motorsports Park

Pato O'Ward and Christian Lundgaard struggled with the setup of the car in the first practice session. Both drivers were seemingly fighting the car on faster laps, and were nowhere near the pace of the leaders.

O'Ward finished the session in P14, whereas Lundgaard was in P13. Both drivers were about four-tenths off the pace of Marcus Ericsson, who topped the first practice.

However, that was not all for the Arrow McLaren as the storm that hit the track broke the team's tent. Fortunately, no one was hurt. The team then had to go to a hardware store and had to build wooden supports for its tents.