IndyCar testing: Will Power completest day one at Barber on top
Will Power ended the first day of the IndyCar open test at Barber Motorsports Park on top after setting the fastest time in the afternoon at the Alabama circuit
Power, who had earlier been the pacesetter in the morning session with a 1m09.8529s, remained the benchmark in the faster afternoon session to finish the day with a best lap of 1m07.8625.
"The cars are unbelievably hooked up here," Power said. "I have never felt so much grip in this car."
Helio Castroneves was 0.07 seconds behind him for a Penske one-two at the top of the timing sheets, with Andretti's James Hinchcliffe a further 0.04s back in third.
Mike Conway finished the day as best of the Honda-powered runners in fourth with a 1m08.1584s for Rahal Letterman Lanigan.
AJ Allmendinger, who will make his single-seater comeback at the Barber race in early April, was 16th fastest on a day where the top 20 times were covered by one seconds.
The five-time Champ Car race-winner's afternoon was seemingly not without incident, with eye-witness reports that his car was sent airborne after going off at Turn 8. He was able to return to the pits.
Testing continues at Barber on Wednesday.
Pos Driver Team/Car Time Gap Laps 1. Will Power Penske Dallara-Chevy 1m07.8625s 24 2. Helio Castroneves Penske Dallara-Chevy 1m07.9388s + 0.0763s 42 3. James Hinchcliffe Andretti Dallara-Chevy 1m07.9869s + 0.1244s 32 4. Mike Conway Rahal Dallara-Honda 1m08.1584s + 0.2959s 49 5. EJ Viso Andretti Dallara-Chevy 1m08.2190s + 0.3565s 31 6. Simona de Silvestro KV Dallara-Chevy 1m08.2301s + 0.3676s 56 7. Oriol Servia Panther/DRR Dallara-Chevy 1m08.2477s + 0.3852s 72 8. Scott Dixon Ganassi Dallara-Honda 1m08.2543s + 0.3918s 41 9. Josef Newgarden Fisher Dallara-Honda 1m08.3260s + 0.4635s 57 10. Simon Pagenaud Schmidt Dallara-Honda 1m08.3535s + 0.4910s 31 11. Ryan Hunter-Reay Andretti Dallara-Chevy 1m08.3557s + 0.4932s 54 12. Marco Andretti Andretti Dallara-Chevy 1m08.4123s + 0.5498s 27 13. Charlie Kimball Ganassi Dallara-Honda 1m08.4629s + 0.6004s 24 14. Alex Tagliani BHA Dallara-Honda 1m08.4798s + 0.6173s 45 15. Tony Kanaan KV Dallara-Chevy 1m08.4940s + 0.6315s 42 16. AJ Allmendinger Penske Dallara-Chevy 1m08.5098s + 0.6473s 40 17. JR Hildebrand Panther Dallara-Chevy 1m08.5250s + 0.6625s 28 18. Tristan Vautier Schmidt Dallara-Honda 1m08.5921s + 0.7296s 58 19. Takuma Sato Foyt Dallara-Honda 1m08.6877s + 0.8252s 57 20. Justin Wilson Coyne Dallara-Honda 1m08.8208s + 0.9583s 56 21. Graham Rahal Rahal Dallara-Honda 1m09.0141s + 1.1516s 52 22. Sebastien Bourdais Dragon Dallara-Chevy 1m09.0215s + 1.1590s 39 23. Dario Franchitti Ganassi Dallara-Honda 1m09.0381s + 1.1756s 52 24. Sebastian Saavedra Dragon Dallara-Chevy 1m09.4749s + 1.6124s 58 25. Ed Carpenter Carpenter Dallara-Chevy 1m09.7659s + 1.9034s 32 26. Ana Beatriz Coyne Dallara-Honda 1m12.0076s + 4.1451s 47
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