Practice 2: Fittipaldi makes a splash

Broken up asphalt in two large sections of track in a slow-speed area of the circuit were dug up overnight and replaced with quick-drying concrete. The work was completed just after midnight, but a line of showers soon settled in and kept the jet track dryers in use for most of the night.

The rain delay caused the cancellation of the Trans-Am practice session set to kick off the Saturday action. But the American Le Mans Series cars took to the track as scheduled, as did the Champ Cars. By then, however, a light drizzle returned, and precipitation stuck around for most of the Champ Car session.

Christian Fittipaldi was fastest on Saturday morning by more than a second, working his Newman/Haas Lola-Toyota around the tight 1.397-mile course in 62.816 seconds. Ganassi Racing's Scott Dixon remained in the frame with a 64.367-second tour, while six-time winner Cristiano da Matta improved to third on 64.57s3 to lead Team Green colleagues Dario Franchitti and Michael Andretti.

Heavier rain began falling about two-thirds of the way through the session, curtailing the serious action. Only a handful of drivers, including Fittipaldi and Bruno Junqueira, ventured out when the conditions were at their wettest.

Saturday afternoon's qualifying session is expected to remain dry. But high humidity will make the 90-degree heat more of a factor.

Christian Fittipaldi Lola-Toyota 1m02.816s
Scott Dixon Lola-Toyota 1m04.367s
Cristiano da Matta Lola-Toyota 1m04.573s
Dario Franchitti Lola-Honda 1m04.623s
Michael Andretti Lola-Honda 1m05.009s
Oriol Servia Reynard-Toyota 1m05.103s
Patrick Carpentier Reynard-Cosworth 1m05.151s
Tora Takagi Reynard-Toyota 1m05.397s
Kenny Brack Lola-Toyota 1m05.524s
Paul Tracy Lola-Honda 1m05.529s