Power Fastest In Opening Practice

[Mark H]

Sao Paulo race winner Will Power picked up where he left off by topping the opening practice session for round two of the IndyCar Series in St Petersburg.

 

The Penske driver finally hit the front in the closing minutes with a 1m03.6741s, after a frenetic session that saw all three Penske entries, both Ganassi drivers, Andretti Autosport's Tony Kanaan and Dreyer & Reinbold's Justin Wilson all take turns at the head of the order.

 

Dario Franchitti ended up second for Ganassi, just 0.032 seconds behind Power, ahead of Penske's Ryan Briscoe and Helio Castroneves.

 

Newman/Haas/Lanigan's Hideki Mutoh was quick throughout the hour and eventually ended up fifth. Kanaan, Scott Dixon (Ganassi) and Ryan Hunter-Reay (Andretti) filled the rest of the top eight, followed by Wilson.

 

Takuma Sato completed more laps than most as he learned the track. Running in Lotus colours for the first time, the KV driver ultimately ended up 10th.

 

Graham Rahal had a promising first official appearance with Sarah Fisher Racing, where he will drive for the next two races. The American was in the top ten for most of the session, although he was pushed back to 11th late on.

 

The morning passed without major incident. Andretti Autosport's Danica Patrick and KV's EJ Viso both lost a little track time with throttle and gearbox issues respectively, but the field avoided the barriers at the Florida street track.

 

 

 

 

http://www.autosport.com/news/report.php/id/82413

[Mark H]

Times:

 

Pos Driver Team Time Gap

1. Will Power Penske 1m02.3200s

2. Scott Dixon Ganassi 1m03.0299s + 0.7099s

3. Justin Wilson Dreyer & Reinbold 1m03.0576s + 0.7376s

4. Tony Kanaan Andretti 1m03.0615s + 0.7415s

5. Ryan Hunter-Reay Andretti 1m03.0763s + 0.7563s

6. EJ Viso KV 1m03.0890s + 0.7690s

7. Takuma Sato KV 1m03.0930s + 0.7730s

8. Marco Andretti Andretti 1m03.2866s + 0.9666s

9. Helio Castroneves Penske 1m03.2884s + 0.9684s

10. Graham Rahal Sarah Fisher 1m03.3220s + 1.0020s

11. Alex Tagliani Fazzt 1m03.3687s + 1.0487s

12. Hideki Mutoh Newman/Haas/Lanigan 1m03.4320s + 1.1120s

13. Ryan Briscoe Penske 1m03.5043s + 1.1843s

14. Alex Lloyd Dale Coyne 1m03.5329s + 1.2129s

15. Mike Conway Dreyer & Reinbold 1m03.5431s + 1.2231s

16. Dan Wheldon Panther 1m03.6383s + 1.3183s

17. Simona de Silvestro HVM 1m03.7857s + 1.4657s

18. Dario Franchitti Ganassi 1m03.7870s + 1.4670s

19. Raphael Matos de Ferran/Luczo Dragon 1m03.7882s + 1.4682s

20. Vitor Meira Foyt 1m03.8672s + 1.5472s

21. Danica Patrick Andretti 1m03.8864s + 1.5664s

22. Mario Romancini Conquest 1m04.4134s + 2.0934s

23. Milka Duno Dale Coyne 1m08.9920s + 6.6720s

24. Mario Moraes KV 1m09.7015s + 7.3815s