Allmendinger tops wet practice
AJ Allmendinger set the pace in a rain-hit first practice session at Surfers Paradise on Friday morning, guiding his RuSPORT Lola around the 2.795-mile street circuit in 1:41.542
Intermittent showers jumbled the order and threw up an unfamiliar leaderboard at the end of the one hour and 15 minutes of running.
Unheralded Australian rookie Marcus Marshall gave the locals something to cheer by setting the second quickest time ahead of rookie points leader Timo Glock (Rocketsports), Mario Dominguez (Forsythe Racing) and Rodolfo Lavin (HVM).
Another Aussie, Will Power, acquitted himself well in his first Champ Car session and posted the sixth best time. Fellow debutant Michael McDowell was ninth in the second Rocketsports entry.
Several drivers took unscheduled trips into run-off areas, including champion-elect Sebastien Bourdais, Alex Tagliani, Andrew Ranger, McDowell and Power, but none caused any serious damage to their cars.
Pos Driver Team Time Laps 1. A.J. Allmendinger RuSPORT 1:41.542 11 2. Marcus Marshall Team Australia 1:42.473 + 0.931 12 3. Timo Glock Rocketsports 1:43.056 + 1.514 19 4. Mario Dominguez Forsythe Championship 1:46.183 + 4.641 6 5. Rodolfo Lavin HVM, Inc. 1:46.276 + 4.734 14 6. Will Power Team Australia 1:46.999 + 5.457 14 7. Ricardo Sperafico Dale Coyne 1:47.936 + 6.394 11 8. Cristiano da Matta PKV 1:48.237 + 6.695 5 9. Michael McDowell Rocketsports 1:48.488 + 6.946 21 10. Oriol Servia Newman Haas 1:48.680 + 7.138 4 11. Paul Tracy Forsythe Championship 1:49.788 + 8.246 6 12. Alex Tagliani Team Australia Racing 1:51.567 +10.025 9 13. Justin Wilson RuSPORT 1:51.642 +10.100 15 14. Nelson Philippe Mi-Jack Conquest 1:52.896 +11.354 8 15. Ronnie Bremer Dale Coyne 1:53.202 +11.660 21 16. Jimmy Vasser PKV 1:56.155 +14.613 8 17. Sebastien Bourdais Newman Haas 1:56.657 +15.115 5 18. Andrew Ranger Mi-Jack Conquest 1:57.879 +16.337 14 19. Fabrizio del Monte HVM, Inc. 1:58.687 +17.145 18
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