Power fastest in opening practice

The Australian was 0.4s clear of the field on a highly successful morning for Penske, which got all three of its cars in the top four as Ryan Briscoe and Helio Castroneves took third and fourth.

The trio were split by rookie Raphael Matos, who drives for the Luczo Dragon team run by Roger Penske's son Jay.

National hero Paul Tracy had been in front for much of the session, despite several spins and trips off the road, and ended up fifth for KV Racing.

Mike Conway continued his strong road course form for Dreyer & Reinbold to take sixth, ahead of compatriot Justin Wilson (Dale Coyne Racing) and Tracy's team-mate Mario Moraes.

Ganassi had a low-key session, with Dario Franchitti and Scott Dixon only 11th and 12th, and the latter completing just 12 laps. There was no joy for Andretti Green either, as its highest runner was Tony Kanaan in 16th.

The session saw plenty of incidents, including a spin into the barriers by Ryan Hunter-Reay (Foyt), a late rotation by Robert Doornbos (Newman/Haas/Lanigan) and several excursions for Dan Wheldon (Panther).

Conquest driver Alex Tagliani - the hero of the previous race in Toronto - was slowest of all after spinning off early on and needing a precautionary engine change.

Pos  Driver             Team                 Time        Gap
 1.  Will Power         Penske               1m02.2840s
 2.  Raphael Matos      Luczo Dragon         1m02.7084s  + 0.4244s
 3.  Ryan Briscoe       Penske               1m02.7561s  + 0.4721s
 4.  Helio Castroneves  Penske               1m02.7816s  + 0.4976s
 5.  Paul Tracy         KV                   1m02.8520s  + 0.5680s
 6.  Mike Conway        Dreyer & Reinbold    1m02.9546s  + 0.6706s
 7.  Justin Wilson      Coyne                1m03.1026s  + 0.8186s
 8.  Mario Moraes       KV                   1m03.1577s  + 0.8737s
 9.  Robert Doornbos    Newman/Haas/Lanigan  1m03.2693s  + 0.9853s
 0.  Hideki Mutoh       Andretti Green       1m03.3363s  + 1.0523s
11.  Dario Franchitti   Ganassi              1m03.4095s  + 1.1255s
12.  Scott Dixon        Ganassi              1m03.6812s  + 1.3972s
13.  Ryan Hunter-Reay   Foyt                 1m03.8273s  + 1.5433s
14.  Tomas Scheckter    Dreyer & Reinbold    1m03.8464s  + 1.5624s
15.  Graham Rahal       Newman/Haas/Lanigan  1m03.8524s  + 1.5684s
16.  Tony Kanaan        Andretti Green       1m04.1162s  + 1.8322s
17.  EJ Viso            HVM                  1m04.1282s  + 1.8442s
18.  Richard Antinucci  3G                   1m04.2159s  + 1.9319s
19.  Dan Wheldon        Panther              1m04.6254s  + 2.3414s
20.  Marco Andretti     Andretti Green       1m04.9379s  + 2.6539s
21.  Danica Patrick     Andretti Green       1m05.3368s  + 3.0528s
22.  Ed Carpenter       Vision               1m05.3386s  + 3.0546s
23.  Alex Tagliani      Conquest             1m06.3707s  + 4.0867s