Baltimore IndyCar: Ryan Briscoe tops final practice
Ryan Briscoe went quickest in an eventful third IndyCar practice session in Baltimore
The Penske driver, who won at Sonoma last weekend, went to the top with a best time of 1m19.7635s, edging out Mike Conway by just 0.0011 seconds.
Rapidly improving track conditions after morning rain meant that several drivers could have had a shot at bettering the Australian's time with their final lap.
But JR Hildebrand put paid to that when he caught too much of the kerb at the newly-installed chicane and crashed heavily, bringing out a red flag just seconds after the chequered flag had been waved.
Hildebrand's was the fourth stoppage of the morning, with Takuma Sato and Hunter-Reay both causing reds through spins, and EJ Viso triggering one with a crash.
The session gave the drivers the first look at the permanent chicane that was built overnight to prevent cars from launching over the rail tracks on the Pratt Street straight, although the damp surface meant that most took a cautious approach during the first half hour.
Tony Kanaan had lowered the benchmark to 1m31.9703s when James Hinchcliffe bolted on a set of slicks and went 3.7s quicker, triggering a rush to pitlane and an ongoing succession of plunging lap times.
Current championship leader Will Power finished the morning with the 15th-fastest lap.
Pos Driver Team Time Gap 1. Ryan Briscoe Penske Dallara-Chevy 1m19.7635s 2. Mike Conway Foyt Dallara-Honda 1m19.7646s + 0.0011s 3. Helio Castroneves Penske Dallara-Chevy 1m20.0197s + 0.2562s 4. Takuma Sato Rahal Dallara-Honda 1m20.2109s + 0.4474s 5. Sebastien Bourdais Dragon Dallara-Chevy 1m20.2666s + 0.5031s 6. Tony Kanaan KV Dallara-Chevy 1m20.2786s + 0.5151s 7. Simon Pagenaud Schmidt Dallara-Honda 1m20.3769s + 0.6134s 8. Ryan Hunter-Reay Andretti Dallara-Chevy 1m20.3935s + 0.6300s 9. Justin Wilson Coyne Dallara-Honda 1m20.4313s + 0.6678s 10. Scott Dixon Ganassi Dallara-Honda 1m20.4606s + 0.6971s 11. James Jakes Coyne Dallara-Honda 1m20.4621s + 0.6986s 12. Rubens Barrichello KV Dallara-Chevy 1m20.6252s + 0.8617s 13. James Hinchcliffe Andretti Dallara-Chevy 1m20.6356s + 0.8721s 14. Graham Rahal Ganassi Dallara-Honda 1m20.6572s + 0.8937s 15. Will Power Penske Dallara-Chevy 1m20.6916s + 0.9281s 16. Charlie Kimball Ganassi Dallara-Honda 1m21.0125s + 1.2490s 17. Marco Andretti Andretti Dallara-Chevy 1m21.0232s + 1.2597s 18. Alex Tagliani Herta Dallara-Honda 1m21.2063s + 1.4428s 19. Oriol Servia Panther/DRR Dallara-Chevy 1m21.2168s + 1.4533s 20. Simona de Silvestro HVM Dallara-Lotus 1m21.3321s + 1.5686s 21. Dario Franchitti Ganassi Dallara-Honda 1m21.8335s + 2.0700s 22. Bruno Junqueira Fisher Dallara-Honda 1m21.8953s + 2.1318s 23. JR Hildebrand Panther Dallara-Chevy 1m22.6200s + 2.8565s 24. Ed Carpenter Carpenter Dallara-Chevy 1m22.7740s + 3.0105s 25. EJ Viso KV Dallara-Chevy
Share Or Save This Story
The Indy 500 poleman who didn't live to raceday
Fast Failures: American heartbreak at the Indianapolis 500
Indy Lights champion Spencer Pigot gets three race IndyCar deal
WRC Islas Canarias: Katsuta boosted by past winner Rovanpera's guidance
Katsuta leads Rally Islas Canarias after stadium super special opener
All to know about the WRC’s newest constructor
Schumacher's rise: World Sportscar Championship watchalong with Anthony Davidson
Subscribe and access Autosport.com with your ad-blocker.
From Formula 1 to MotoGP we report straight from the paddock because we love our sport, just like you. In order to keep delivering our expert journalism, our website uses advertising. Still, we want to give you the opportunity to enjoy an ad-free and tracker-free website and to continue using your adblocker.
Top Comments