| Users Online |
 Guests Online: 1
No Members Online
Registered Members: 14
Newest Member: mustangsami
|
|
 |
Welcome |
|
|
Welcome to indyracingleague-online, The MERGED Champ Car World Series and Indy Car series website, created by the fans for the fans
Check out our DEFINITIVE entry list for the 2008 season
|
|
Montagny looking to gain IRL drive for 2009 |
|
 Franck Montagny is aiming for a strong showing in the Champ Car race at Long Beach this weekend, and hopes to enter IndyCar with Forsythe Racing next season.
The former grand prix driver had signed up to contest Champ Car with Forsythe this year, but lost his drive when the series reunified with the IRL and the team dropped out.
But Forsythe will race in the last ever Champ Car event, at Long Beach this weekend, and Montagny is hoping they will make the switch to IndyCar for next year.
"It was disappointing to have a deal three weeks before the season, and then nothing," he told autosport.com. "But we've kept very close with Forsythe and we have a very good relationship. Maybe there will be a chance to do IndyCar with them next year, I hope so."
Montagny had his first races since the 2006 French Grand Prix in the A1GP round at Shanghai last weekend. He finished 12th and eighth in the two races in China, in preparation for the Long Beach event.
"It was good to get some racing in before going to Long Beach," he added. "I will have the same mechanics and engineers as at the Champ Car test so I think we'll have a good car. I've never been to Long Beach but I think we can be strong."
|
|
|
Castroneves looking to win in 100th IRL race at Motegi |
|
Helio Castroneves hoping to mark his 100th race in the IRL IndyCar Series with victory at Motegi this weekend.
The 32-year-old Brazilian has qualified on pole position for the last two years at the Japanese oval and won the race in 2006.
He will become only the third driver to make 100 IRL IndyCar starts on Saturday, behind Scott Sharp (146) and Sam Hornish (116) after switching from Champ Car for the 2002 season.
"I can't believe it's my hundredth start already," said the two-time Indy 500 winner. "It's been a great ride so far - I have good memories from my two Indy wins to my seven poles last season, but hopefully I can add a championship to my legacy.
"It's an honour to have been in this competition so long because it means whatever I'm doing must be right. Hopefully I'll do a hundred more. My first Indy 500 win was probably the most remarkable because it was my first oval win in the series."
Castroneves is pleased that the reunification has brought more road courses to the IndyCar calendar, as a former Champ Car race winner.
"I accepted the challenge to succeed in IndyCars when the series was all oval tracks. Now it has changed to road courses as well it's great.
"Motegi is an oval but it's one of the most unique tracks we run because each turn is different. Downshifting on an oval is normally bad but it's the only way to find success on this circuit.
"I started from pole the last two years and was lucky enough to win in 2006. That fence was one of my favourites to climb because it's very sturdy! I hope I can give it another try this weekend."
|
|
|
92nd Indianapolis 500: Entry List Confirmed |
|
Three past winners, 12 rookies and three women have been confirmed for the 92nd edition of the Indianapolis 500, whose organisers revealed the entry list for the 2008 race on Friay.
Thirty-two drivers have been named for the 39 entries, an increase of seven drivers over last year's initial entry list.
The 12 new drivers will participate in the Rookie Orientation session on May 3.
The numbers of rookies in the race had not been so high since the 1997 edition, when 13 debutants took part in the race.
The race, the first Indy 500 of the unified series, takes place on May 25.
Car Driver Entrant
2 A.J. Foyt IV Vision Racing
3 Helio Castroneve Team Penske
4 Vitor Meira Panther Racing
5 Oriol Servia KV Racing Technology
6 Ryan Briscoe Team Penske
7 Danica Patrick Andretti Green Racing
8 Will Power KV Racing Technology
9 Scott Dixon Target Chip Ganassi Racing
10 Dan Wheldon Target Chip Ganassi Racing
11 Tony Kanaan Andretti Green Racing
12 Tomas Scheckter Luczo Dragon Racing
14 Darren Manning A.J. Foyt Enterprises
15 Buddy Rice Dreyer & Reinbold Racing
16 Alex Lloyd Rahal Letterman Racing
17 Ryan Hunter-Reay Rahal Letterman Racing
18 Bruno Junqueira Dale Coyne Racing
19 Mario Moraes Dale Coyne Racing
20 Ed Carpenter Vision Racing
21 TBA Playa Del Racing
22 TBA Vision Racing
23 Milka Duno Dreyer & Reinbold Racing
24 Jay Howard Roth Racing
25 Marty Roth Roth Racing
26 Marco Andretti Andretti Green Racing
27 Hideki Mutoh Andretti Green Racing
33 E.J. Viso HVM Racing
34 Franck Perera Conquest Racing
36 Enrique Bernoldi Conquest Racing
41 Larry Foyt A.J. Foyt Enterprises
44 Max Papis Sam Schmidt Motorsports
67 Sarah Fisher Sarah Fisher Racing
77 TBA Team Penske
83 TBA Panther Racing
91 TBA Hemelgarn Johnson
98 TBA CURB/Agajanian/Beck Motorsports
99 Townsend Bell Dreyer & Reinbold Racing
02 Justin Wilson Newman/Haas/Lanigan Racing
06 Graham Rahal Newman/Haas/Lanigan Racing
TBA TBA PDM Racing
|
|
|
Lloyd will enter Indy 500 with Rahal Letterman Racing |
|
Alex Lloyd will enter this year's Indianapolis 500 thanks to a joint venture between Chip Ganassi Racing and Rahal Letterman Racing.
The 23-year-old Briton dominated IndyCar's feeder category, the Indy Pro Series, last season and won the title by a record 171 points.
He has been signed by Chip Ganassi as a development driver and is expected to make selected IndyCar appearances later this year, possibly with the Dreyer and Reinbold team.
Lloyd's car will be run by Rahal Letterman at the Indy 500, with help from several Chip Ganassi engineers.
"There's just something about Indy that is so very special," said Lloyd. "You want to go there to watch a race, you want to go there to race, you want to go there to win.
"I'm looking forward to be able to race in the Indy 500. I've even moved to Indianapolis to be near the team and to be near the speedway."
Team boss Chip Ganassi is pleased to be able to get Lloyd out for IndyCar's flagship event and tipped the young Briton as a potential star.
"I really think everyone is going to be hearing a lot about Alex Lloyd in the coming years," he said. "He is one of the sport's future stars.
"This is something we've been wanting to do for a while now, and the opportunity with Bobby (Rahal) and his team is perfect for us."
Lloyd will take to the track with RLR and Chip Ganassi on May 4 for the opening day of rookie orientation.
|
|
|
CCWS Finale (IRL Round 3.b): Long Beach: Entries |
|
The last ever Champ Car race at Long Beach next weekend will have a field of 20 cars - two more than entered last season's championship round.
All nine drivers that have switched to the reunified IndyCar Series will race at Long Beach to score points that will count towards their IndyCar tally. They'll be joined by Champ Car veterans Paul Tracy, Roberto Moreno, Mario Dominguez, Alex Tagliani, and Jimmy Vasser.
Tracy had been unsure of his deal with Forsythe Racing last week but has now been confirmed for the event, while Moreno and Vasser are racing to bid farewall to the series in which they both raced for more than a decade.
Several other drivers have signed up for the one-off event, including those that have been left without full-time drivers for 2008 after the merger between Champ Car and the IRL.
Former grand prix drivers Franck Montagny and Antonio Pizzonia will race for Forsythe and Rocketsports respectively. Mexican David Martinez will join Montagny and Tracy at Forsythe while former British F3 racer Juho Annala will drive for Rocketsports.
Pizzonia's Brazilian Stock Car commitments will prevent him from testing ahead of the event, but he's looking forward to the outing none the less
"I'm excited to return to a team and a track that I know, but the car will be a surpise for me - I drove the 2006 Lola but not last year's Panoz," he said. "I'll be going straight into the race weekend so that is a challenge.
"I am still confident of a good result, though, because I have driven a Champ Car before and I hope I will be able to learn the new car quite quickly."
Pacific Coast Motorsport will run cars for Dominguez and Alex Figge, while Walker Racing will field a single entry for Tagliani. Nelson Philippe will race for HVM Minardi, alongside Moreno and IndyCar convert EJ Viso.
|
|
|
Julianne Hough chosen to sing National Anthem at the Indy 500 |
|
Helio Castroneves's TV dancing partner Julianne Hough will sing the national anthem ahead of the 92nd Indianapolis 500 this year, race organisers announced today.
Hough is best know for having won last year's 'Dancing with the Stars' television show as partner to two-time Indianapolis 500 champion Helio Castroneves.
"I am so excited to be able to sing the national anthem at this year's Indy 500," Hough said.
"I've never been to the race, and it will give me a chance to cheer on my friend and dancing partner Helio Castroneves."
|
|
|
Champ Car converts can win again soon |
|
The converted Champ Car drivers can expect to fight for victory in every IndyCar road and street race this season.
That is the view of Graham Rahal, who won the race at St Petersburg yesterday, and IndyCar front runners Tony Kanaan and Helio Castroneves.
Although Rahal was helped by the changeable conditions and a yellow flag period that played into his hands while he was trying to conserve fuel, the former Champ Car teams had the pace to fight for the win all weekend and Will Power and Justin Wilson qualified second and third respectively.
Rahal, who became the youngest ever winner of a major North American open-wheel race at 19 years and 93 days, isn't surprised to see the former Champ Car teams and drivers be so competitive in the IndyCar Series.
"There were a lot of people that wanted to see how well the Champ Car drivers were going to do this weekend," he said. "I didn't know who it was going to be, but I thought one of us would win.
"I think we've shown that there are a lot of drivers coming over that are very quick, and maybe people underestimated how good a series that really was. The drivers are some of the fastest out there. Will Power is insane on a single lap. I knew we could do well here and I expect the same at Mid-Ohio, Watkins Glen, and especially places like Edmonton that we're familiar with.
"The road courses are where we're going to have to do really well this year because until we can get some more development on the oval car, I don't know if we can compete with the big teams. We've only had the things a month and they've had them five years."
Kanaan, who started the St Petersburg race from pole position and finished third, says he also expected this form from the ex-Champ Car drivers.
"They didn't need to prove themselves, not to me anyway. We know these guys and have raced some of them before, and they're very capable drivers. In the past five years we've done about 14 road courses and they did that many just last season, so we felt the same here as they did on the oval.
"They're going to give us a lot of hard times, so I wish them the best and look forward to beating them in the future. I think we still have something for them and the next road course is going to be tough."
Castroneves, who finished second to Rahal at St Petersburg, added: "This is great for motor racing. It shows how the series and the quality of drivers is getting better. Good teams will always be good teams and they'll pick it up quick."
Kanaan also paid tribute to Rahal's victory: "People can say the strategy played along for him, but if I was 19 years old and doing a restart with three laps to go with Castroneves and Kanaan behind, I'd be worried. He played it cool and proved how good he is, so I'm very pleased for him."
|
|
|
Rahal takes historic victory in St.Petersburg |
|
 In his first IndyCar Series race, Graham Rahal made quick work of the new competition.
Rahal, the 19-year-old son of 1986 Indianapolis 500 winner Bobby Rahal, recovered from trouble early in the race to claim victory in the Honda Grand Prix of St Petersburg on Sunday.
It was the first victory by a former Champ Car driver in just the second race since the two open-wheel series unified under the IndyCar banner.
Rahal skipped the season opener last week at Homestead-Miami Speedway after he crashed there during practice before the race. Instead, his Newman/Haas/Lanigan Racing team chose to focus on St Petersburg, the first street race of the season.
"It doesn't get any sweeter than this," Rahal said. "I knew we had the pace and I knew if we stayed calm; if I could attack the car, we could pull away. You don't want your focus to get off the car and the race, and we never did."
Helio Castroneves had a shot at Rahal on a restart with five minutes left in the two-hour race, but Rahal beat him into the first turn and began to pull away.
The victory made Rahal the youngest winner ever in a major open-wheel race - 74 days younger than Marco Andretti was when he won at Infineon Raceway in 2006.
Following Castroneves was pole-sitter Tony Kanaan, who led early as the race started under wet conditions but fell behind as his team tried a different strategy.
EJ Viso, who also led briefly, finished third, followed by Enrique Bernoldi, Hideki Mutoh, Oriol Servia and Will Power, giving former Champ Car teams five of the first eight positions.
Castroneves, who had pitted 23 laps after Rahal's last stop, lost his chance to catch Rahal on fuel but gained a chance to catch him on a restart when Vitor Meira and Franck Perera crashed on the 76th lap. By then a timed event, the race had just minutes remaining, and Castroneves's only shot at Rahal appeared to be on a restart.
With smoke from his locked right-front tyre, Rahal outbraked Castroneves heading into Turn 1 on the restart and went on to win, becoming the fourth driver to win in his first IndyCar race.
"Good job for him," Castroneves said. "He did an excellent job. It's a great day for motor racing. It just proves that guys who execute are the guys who are successful."
Bobby Rahal, who won three CART championships during his career, was emotional in his assessment of his son's effort. "It's a tremendous moment," Rahal said. "I'm so proud of him. He drove tremendously. The car was there and he was there. It's just a great moment."
The race began with 10 laps under caution while sweepers attempted to reduce large puddles on the track following a downpour minutes before the scheduled start.
Tony Kanaan took the green flag on the 11th lap, and Ryan Hunter-Reay - who started sixth - spun behind him on the exit of Turn 12. Hunter-Reay continued, but dropped to 18th.
Minutes later, Ed Carpenter and Danica Patrick spun in separate incidents. Marco Andretti then spun, bringing out a full-course caution, and barely got restarted in front of the pace car to stay on the lead lap.
At that point, the different strategies began when the pits opened on the 16th lap. Kanaan pitted, as did Castroneves, and Justin Wilson assumed the lead.
On the 32nd lap, as Ryan Briscoe pursued Wilson for the lead, another full-course caution was ordered for debris.
Most of the leaders hit the pits, and most took on slick tyres as the groove began to dry. Briscoe stayed out and inherited the lead, but later he had to pit, giving the lead to Enrique Bernoldi.
On the 48th lap, Viso passed Bernoldi for the lead. Nine laps later, Briscoe crashed hard on the exit of Turn 10, bringing out another full-course yellow. Hunter-Reay and Graham Rahal stayed out, giving Hunter-Reay the lead, while Viso held third position.
Rahal passed Hunter-Reay heading into Turn 1 on the restart on the 64th lap, while Castroneves passed Viso for third place moments before Ed Carpenter and Wilson crashed, bringing out another caution.
On the restart, with less than 20 minutes remaining, Castroneves passed Hunter-Reay for second.
Pos Driver Team Time
1. Graham Rahal Newman Haas Lanigan Racing 2h00:43.5562
2. H.Castroneves Team Penske + 3.5192
3. Tony Kanaan Andretti Green Racing + 5.5134
4. Ernesto Viso HVM Racing + 8.8575
5. Enrique Bernoldi Conquest Racing + 9.6360
6. Hideki Mutoh Andretti Green Racing + 10.0071
7. Oriol Servia KV Racing Technology + 11.2871
8. Will Power KV Racing Technology + 12.8493
9. Justin Wilson Newman Haas Lanigan Racing + 14.3598
10. Danica Patrick Andretti Green Racing + 16.7298
11. AJ Foyt IV Vision Racing + 20.8319
12. Dan Wheldon Target Chip Ganassi Racing + 24.7800
13. Darren Manning AJ Foyt Enterprises + 45.8601
14. Jay Howard Roth Racing + 1 Lap
15. Buddy Rice Dreyer & Reinbold Racing + 1 Lap
16. Mario Moraes Dale Coyne Racing + 1 Lap
17. Ryan Hunter-Reay Rahal Letterman Racing + 2 Laps
18. Ed Carpenter Vision Racing + 3 Laps
19. Vitor Meira Panther Racing + 8 Laps
20. Franck Perera Conquest Racing + 8 Laps
21. Townsend Bell Dreyer & Reinbold Racing + 8 Laps
22. Scott Dixon Target Chip Ganassi Racing + 9 Laps
23. Ryan Briscoe Team Penske + 27 Laps
24. Bruno Junqueira Dale Coyne Racing + 39 Laps
25. Marco Andretti Andretti Green Racing + 42 Laps
26. Marty Roth Roth Racing ---
Fastest lap: Kanaan, 1:03.8874 on lap 76
|
|
|
Power and Wilson gutted on missing pole |
|
Former Champ Car drivers Will Power and Justin Wilson both admitted that they were slightly disappointed not to beat Tony Kanaan to pole position at St Petersburg.
KV Racing driver Power and Newman Haas Lanigan's Wilson qualified second and third at the Florida street track, both lapping within a tenth of a second of Kanaan's pole time in only their second event in the IRL IndyCar Series.
"I wanted to get into the Firestone Fast Six, which we did," Power said. "I was a little disappointed that we didn't get the pole considering the lap time we posted in the previous session. I'm very happy to be on the front row."
Wilson was similarly upbeat while also wishing he could have made the slight improvement required to beat Andretti Green driver Kanaan.
"This weekend has been great so far for the McDonald's team", he said. "I'm glad to have made it through to the final six and I'm pretty pleased with third.
"I'd have liked to have gone a tenth quicker and got the pole position, but that's racing and Tony obviously put a good lap in."
The 'transition' teams have faced a frantic race against time to prepare and acclimatise to their IRL Dallara-Hondas after the late decision to merge the struggling Champ Car World Series into the IndyCar championship.
All the converts were off the pace at Homestead last weekend, but always expected to be faster once the championship arrived at a street track.
However Wilson admitted that a top three spot was better than he had dared to hope for in the build-up to the race.
"We weren't expecting to be this competitive, but it's a dream come true considering what the team has been through in the last five weeks," he said. "I think generally we're just very pleased with the way the McDonald's car is handling and hopefully we can keep it up in the race tomorrow."
Power agreed that the results were a vindication of the ex-Champ Car teams' efforts.
"Most importantly, it's a payback to the team," he said. "They've been working so hard over the last month - working long hours and they haven't been seeing their families - so I 'm very happy for them."
In addition to Power and Wilson's top three spots, their respective teammates Oriol Servia and Graham Rahal, and Conquest Racing's Franck Perera all made it into the top ten.
|
|
|
Kanaan takes pole with Champ Car convert Power in 2nd |
|
Former IndyCar Series champion Tony Kanaan will start from pole position at St Petersburg as the Champ Car converts began to bare their teeth in qualifying on the first street track of the 2008 calendar.
The Andretti Green driver may have secured the top spot, but he will be joined on the front row by IRL convert Will Power, who was just a tenth of a second slower in his KV Racing Dallara.
Newman/Haas/Lanigan's Justin Wilson will start third ahead of Penske drivers Helio Castroneves and Ryan Briscoe.
The first street race of the post-unification era also was the first for a new, three-round qualifying format in which only the fastest six emerge from each group into the next round - six each from two groups in the first round, then the fastest six from the second round into the final session, which determined the order of start for the first three rows.
Drivers generally gave a weary nod of approval to the new format, which eliminated the single-car, single-lap format previously used for the first portion of qualifying on road and street courses.
"Do we have a race tomorrow? Because it was a race today," said Penske driver Helio Castroneves. "Everybody was pushing the limit, trying to find space. People ask me if I was surprised that the new guys are this fast. I'm not. We knew they would be contenders."
The pole was Kanaan's ninth and his first on St. Pete's 1.8-mile, 14-turn downtown course. He had the pole all but wrapped up last year at the venue when he crashed during qualifying, sending him to the rear of the grid.
"Last year was a shame," said Kanaan. "I had the pole and didn't have to go faster, but I got greedy. The mechanics even put Band-Aids on the car for the race just to make fun of me. It cost me a lot of track position, and then I didn't help on the start when I tangled with Dario (Franchitti). It's nice to start from the front."
Kanaan recorded a 1:02.5322 lap for Andretti Green Racing, then watched Power come up a tenth short in the No.8 KV Racing Technology Dallara-Honda in the final round of the session.
Another former Champ Car driver, Wilson, also came close to the pole position; his lap of 1:02.6426 was good for third.
Wilson, whose team has had few breaks since the announcement that it would move to IndyCar, said he didn't expect to be this fast this soon.
"We didn't expect to be this competitive straight away," Wilson said. "It's kind of a dream come true considering what we've been through over the past month. I expected it to take a little bit longer to get up there, but I hoped we had the capability."
Team Penske teammates Helio Castroneves and Ryan Briscoe followed in fourth and fifth, while Rahal Letterman Racing's Ryan Hunter-Reay rounded out the top six.
Kanaan, who was leading the season-opener last week at Homestead-Miami Speedway before being collected in another car's spin with seven laps remaining, said he is enjoying the challenge presented by a deeper, stronger field.
"This series is so competitive now that you have to give everything," said the Brazilian. "When I finished the qualifying run, I was exhausted. With more good drivers, it makes it a lot more difficult, but it does make me proud to win the pole against this group."
Power took at shot at Kanaan's lap in the waning minute of the fast-six session, jumping three positions but falling shy of the pole.
"We new we would be close," he said. "We're used to road courses and street courses. I was going to be disappointed if I wasn't in the top 10. It's very similar to the Champ Car in the way you work it out. Once you've got balance in the car, you drive it fast and get the lap times. That's what we did. I'm very happy to be on the front row, but I'm not sure I was expecting it."
Perhaps more surprising than the impressive performance of the former Champ Car teams and drivers - five of the top 10 starters are new to the IndyCar Series - was the poor performance of one of the IRL's strongest teams. Target Chip Ganassi failed to make the top seven on the starting grid, and points leader Scott Dixon was relegated to 13th after failing to advance out of the first round.
"We would have had a lap to get us into the next segment, but the yellow came out and that was pretty much it," said Dixon. "Obviously it will make things a bit more challenging, but we'll do everything we can to pick them off one at a time."
Dixon's teammate, Dan Wheldon, will start eighth next to Oriol Servia, the third former Champ Car driver among the top seven.
Sunday's race begins shortly after 2:30 p.m. EDT. Weather forecasts call for a 60 percent chance of rain.
"We can't affect the weather," Castroneves said. "If Mother Nature decides to play games with us, it's going to be the same for everyone. Right now, our plan is to have a clean race and move to the front."
Pos Driver Team Time Speed
1. Tony Kanaan Andretti Green 1:02.5322 103.627mph
2. Will Power KV 1:02.6096 103.499mph
3. Justin Wilson Newman/Haas/Lanigan 1:02.6426 103.444mph
4. Helio Castroneves Penske 1:02.6462 103.438mph
5. Ryan Briscoe Penske 1:02.7071 103.338mph
6. Ryan Hunter-Raey Rahal Letterman 1:03.0077 102.845mph
7. Oriol Servia KV 1:02.7427 103.279mph
8. Dan Wheldon Ganassi 1:02.7694 103.191mph
9. Graham Rahal Newman/Haas/Lanigan 1:02.8122 103.165mph
10. Franck Perera Conquest 1:02.8749 103.062mph
11. Darren Manning Foyt 1:03.0136 102.835mph
12. Marco Andretti Andretti Green 1:03.2443 102.460mph
13. Scott Dixon Ganassi 1:03.2365 102.472mph
14. Hideki Mutoh Andretti Green 1:03.2757 102.409mph
15. Ernesto Viso HVM 1:03.3067 102.359mph
16. Buddy Rice Dreyer & Reinbold 1:03.3591 102.274mph
17. Vitor Meira Panther 1:03.4480 102.131mph
18. Enrique Bernoldi Conquest 1:03.4568 102.117mph
19. Danica Patrick Andretti Green 1:03.5766 101.924mph
20. Jay Howard Roth 1:03.7447 101.656mph
21. Ed Carpenter Vision 1:03.8007 101.566mph
22. Mario Moraes Dale Coyne 1:04.1590 100.999mph
23. Townsend Bell Dreyer & Reinbold 1:04.3880 100.640mph
24. AJ Foyt IV Vision 1:04.4996 100.466mph
25. Marty Roth Roth 1:07.7041 95.711mph
26. Bruno Junqueira Dale Coyne 1:09.3851 93.392mph
|
|
|
Champ Car convert drivers up to speed in St. Petersburg Practice |
|
In just the second event with their new family, former Champ Car teams and drivers are up to speed.
Justin Wilson had fastest lap of the morning session and fourth-fastest of the day as practice began Friday for the Honda Grand Prix of St Petersburg.
It marked just the second IndyCar Series race for Wilson's Newman/Haas/Lanigan team and four other former Champ Car teams that joined the IndyCar Series weeks before the start of the 2008 season.
The replacement for three-time Champ Car winner Sebastien Bourdais, Wilson recorded a lap of 1:03.521 around the 1.8-mile, 14-turn course through the streets of downtown St Petersburg.
"I'm really pleased, considering it's our first time at the track," Wilson said. "We'd only had 15 laps in road-course configuration before we came here. The whole team did a fantastic job. We've got plenty of room to improve. I just want to keep working at our race setup."
The lap was just a shade off the laps recorded by the day's fastest runners, including Helio Castroneves, who led the way with a lap of 1:03.3068 in the No. 3 Team Penske Honda/Dallara.
Andretti Green Racing teammates Tony Kanaan and Hideki Mutoh had the second and third fastest laps of the day respectively.
Wilson was followed on the timesheet by fellow Champ Car refugees Will Power and Franck Perera, while another former Champ Car driver, Oriol Servia, was in the top 10.
In the season opener last weekend on the 1.5-mile oval at Homestead-Miami Speedway, Servia was the best finisher, at 12th, among the former Champ Car pilots.
"Every change we make is going in the positive direction," Servia said. "We feel pretty happy to have both (K Racing Technology's) cars up there in the top 10."
Both sessions were busy, with 26 cars recording a total of 1,252 laps and several incidents, none severe. "It's busy out there," Kanaan said. "It's nice to see a big field. Every time we go out, we see traffic. It's a good problem to have."
Castroneves set his fastest lap shortly before his car stalled and had to be towed back to the pits. "It was a very dirty track, but we were able to put together a good lap," Castroneves said. "We're still working on a couple of guys, so we weren't able to get a clean lap, but I feel very happy for the result."
Drivers will negotiate the series' new qualifying format on Saturday, and they might be doing it during the rain.
The format eliminates the old single-car, single-lap opening stage with a knockout format similar to that used by Formula One. The fastest six drivers will be pitted together in a 10-minute session for the pole position.
"If some of us make it all the way to the end, our arms will be falling off," Kanaan said. "Pushing for an hour each and every lap is going to be tough."
Pos Driver Speed Time Laps
1. Helio Castroneves 102.359 1:03.307 37
2. Tony Kanaan 102.260 1:03.368 50
3. Hideki Mutoh 102.129 1:03.449 35
4. Justin Wilson 102.014 1:03.521 56
5. Will Power 101.890 1:03.598 55
6. Franck Perera 101.831 1:03.635 48
7. Vitor Meira 101.806 1:03.651 63
8. Marco Andretti 101.795 1:03.658 46
9. Scott Dixon 101.670 1:03.736 51
10. Oriol Servia 101.667 1:03.738 55
11. Ryan Hunter-Reay 101.666 1:03.738 27
12. Ryan Briscoe 101.560 1:03.804 53
13. Darren Manning 101.265 1:03.991 53
14. Graham Rahal 101.062 1:04.119 56
15. Bruno Junqueira 100.920 1:04.209 45
16. Buddy Rice 100.871 1:04.241 53
17. Dan Wheldon 100.791 1:04.291 54
18. Enrique Bernoldi 100.424 1:04.526 52
19. Ernesto Viso 100.301 1:04.606 46
20. Danica Patrick 100.044 1:04.772 44
21. Townsend Bell 100.006 1:04.796 54
22. Jay Howard 99.894 1:04.869 42
23. AJ Foyt IV 99.159 1:05.350 51
24. Ed Carpenter 98.566 1:05.743 57
25. Mario Moraes 98.387 1:05.862 33
26. Marty Roth 94.213 1:08.780 36
|
|
|
| Login |
Not a member yet? Click here to register.
Forgotten your password? Request a new one here.
|
|
v6.01.13 © 2003-2005