Efficiency bred speed for Christian Lundgaard in the second practice for the XPEL Grand Prix at Road America Presented by AMR on Saturday.

Lundgaard led the pre-qualifying practice session at 1 minute, 45.3412 seconds in the No. 7 Arrow McLaren Chevrolet despite turning just 10 laps on the 14-turn, 4.014-mile permanent road course. Lundgaard was fifth in the opening practice Friday.

SEE: Practice Results

“We decided to go out on new tires in the beginning, and I think the track was potentially a little better,” Lundgaard said. “Our run plan was to go out and see what we have and try the items we wanted to try and don’t necessarily try any more.

“Obviously, the car was fast enough. It got hotter at the end of the session. I think we’re looking good for qualifying. We’ve been fast all weekend.”

Air temperatures are expected to climb into the low- to mid-90s in Wisconsin today after reaching the mid-80s Friday.

NTT INDYCAR SERIES championship leader Alex Palou climbed to second after ending up ninth Friday, turning a top lap of 1:45.5916 in the No. 10 SOLO Cup Chip Ganassi Racing Honda. Reigning Road America winner Will Power continued a steady, fast weekend so far in third at 1:45.6809 in the No. 12 Verizon Team Penske Chevrolet.

Kyle Kirkwood, quickest Friday, dropped to fourth today at 1:45.7126 in the No. 28 Siemens Honda of Andretti Global. His teammate Colton Herta rounded out the top five at 1:45.7160 in the No. 26 Gainbridge Honda.

Up next is NTT P1 Award qualifying at 2:30 p.m. ET (FS1, FOX Sports app, INDYCAR Radio Network). The 55-lap race starts at 1:30 p.m. ET Sunday (FOX, FOX Deportes, FOX Sports app, INDYCAR Radio Network).