Blundell quickest in practice
Mark Blundell set the pace at a wind-swept California Speedway in practice for Sunday's crucial final round of the season at Fontana
The British driver recorded a lap of 31.044s to finish ahead of Max Papis and Juan Montoya.
Jimmy Vasser was fourth quickest, ahead of Christian Fittipaldi.
Championship leader Dario Franchitti was 11th, after struggling early on with gearbox trouble.
Blundell said after the session, 'This is the worst condition I've seen since I've raced here.
'We just scrubbed all of our tyres and didn't hang it out. With the wind there was no point.
'Overall, it was a very pleasing day.
'Everything went well and the car was pretty quick.'
Forecasters are predicting the winds to disappear before the race start on Sunday.
Single car qualifying for the season finale begins at 10:30 am local time on Saturday
The 250-lap Marlboro 500 begins at noon on Sunday.
Combined times from both morning and afternoon sessions
|
Pos |
Driver |
Team |
Time |
|
1 |
M Blundell |
PacWest Racing |
0.31.044 |
|
2 |
M Papis |
Team Rahal |
0.31.116 |
|
3 |
J Montoya |
Chip Ganassi |
0.31.277 |
|
4 |
J Vasser |
Chip Ganassi |
0.31.308 |
|
5 |
C Fittipaldi |
Newman Haas |
0.31.313 |
|
6 |
M Andretti |
Newman Haas |
0.31.316 |
|
7 |
C da Matta |
Arciero-Wells |
0.31.324 |
|
8 |
S Pruett |
Arciero-Wells |
0.31.334 |
|
9 |
P Tracy |
Team KOOL Green |
0.31.343 |
|
10 |
M Gugelmin |
PacWest Racing |
0.31.361 |
|
11 |
D Franchitti |
Team KOOL Green |
0.31.448 |
|
12 |
T Kanaan |
Forsythe |
0.31.451 |
|
13 |
N Hattori |
Walker Racing |
0.31.472 |
|
14 |
P Carpentier |
Forsythe |
0.31.482 |
|
15 |
A Barron |
Team Penske |
0.31.553 |
|
16 |
A Unser Jr |
Team Penske |
0.31.593 |
|
17 |
J Vasser |
Chip Ganassi |
0.31.641 |
|
18 |
R Hearn |
Della Penna |
0.31.649 |
|
19 |
G Moore |
Forsythe |
0.31.664 |
|
20 |
G de Ferran |
Walker Racing |
0.31.664 |
|
21 |
M Andretti |
Newman Haas |
0.31.690 |
|
22 |
H Castro-Neves |
Hogan Racing |
0.31.704 |
|
23 |
T Kanaan |
Forsythe |
0.31.714 |
|
24 |
M Papis |
Team Rahal |
0.31.753 |
|
25 |
C Fittipaldi |
Newman Haas |
0.31.801 |
|
26 |
B Herta |
Team Rahal |
0.31.811 |
|
27 |
S Pruett |
Arciero-Wells |
0.31.844 |
|
28 |
R Hearn |
Della Penna Racing |
0.31.940 |
|
29 |
D Franchitti |
Team KOOL Green |
0.32.016 |
|
30 |
M Jourdain Jr |
Payton-Coyne |
0.32.209 |
|
31 |
A Fernandez |
Patrick Racing |
0.32.225 |
|
32 |
R Boesel |
All American Racers |
0.32.252 |
|
33 |
H Castro-Neves |
Hogan |
0.32.274 |
|
34 |
R Boesel |
All American Racers |
0.32.452 |
|
35 |
G de Ferran |
Walker Racing |
0.32.453 |
|
36 |
PJ Jones |
Patrick Racing |
0.32.468 |
|
37 |
A Fernandez |
Patrick Racing |
0.32.535 |
|
38 |
R Gordon |
Gordon Racing |
0.32.679 |
|
39 |
D Vitolo |
Payton-Coyne Racing |
0.32.684 |
|
40 |
C da Matta |
Arciero-Wells |
0.32.689 |
|
41 |
B Herta |
Team Rahal |
0.33.203 |
|
42 |
D Vitolo |
Payton-Coyne Racing |
0.33.392 |
|
43 |
G Moore |
Forsythe |
0.33.396 |
|
44 |
P Carpentier |
Forsythe |
0.34.538 |
|
45 |
R Gordon |
Gordon Racing |
0.35.722 |
|
46 |
M Jourdain Jr |
Payton-Coyne Racing |
0.35.935 |
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