Dixon leads Motegi opening practice
Scott Dixon had the fastest lap in the opening practice session Thursday for the Indy Japan 300 at Twin Ring Motegi
Dixon was clocked at 27.3348 seconds - 200.184 mph - in the No. 9 Target Chip Ganassi Honda/Dallara, just 0.04 seconds faster than teammate Dan Wheldon.
The 18-car field will hold another practice session Thursday. Qualifying is set for Friday at 12:30 a.m. EDT; the race is scheduled to begin shortly after 12 a.m. Saturday.
The race is one of two points events this weekend for the IndyCar Series. Champ Car teams, some of which are making the transition to the IndyCar Series, are competing this weekend in the final Champ Car race at Long Beach.
Following Dixon and Wheldon on the timesheet in the first practice session were Andretti Green Racing teammates Tony Kanaan and Marco Andretti. Kanaan was clocked at 199.661 mph in the No. 11 AGR Honda/Dallara, while Andretti was clocked at 199.165 mph in the No. 26 AGR Honda/Dallara.
Fifth-fastest was series points leader Helio Castroneves, followed by Danica Patrick, Ed Carpenter and Hideki Mutoh. A.J. Foyt IV and Darren Manning rounded out the top ten.
The 18 cars completed 764 laps around the 1.52-mile oval in the first session.
Pos Driver Speed Time Laps 1. Scott Dixon 200.184 27.3348 47 2. Dan Wheldon 199.863 27.3788 43 3. Tony Kanaan 199.661 27.4065 36 4. Marco Andretti 199.165 27.4747 50 5. Helio Castroneves 198.521 27.5639 43 6. Danica Patrick 198.303 27.5942 35 7. Ed Carpenter 198.165 27.6134 40 8. Hideki Mutoh 197.794 27.6651 46 9. AJ Foyt IV 197.650 27.6853 40 10. Darren Manning 197.558 27.6982 18 11. Buddy Rice 196.995 27.7774 46 12. Ryan Briscoe 196.190 27.8914 51 13. Townsend Bell 196.116 27.9018 32 14. Vitor Meira 195.582 27.9780 35 17. Marty Roth 191.638 28.5538 57 18. Roger Yasukawa 190.571 28.7137 37 15. Ryan Hunter-Reay 194.878 28.0791 37 16. Jay Howard 194.297 28.1630 61
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