Practice 2: More rain causes early bath

Patrick Racing's Jimmy Vasser topped the unrepresentative times with championship outsider Helio Castroneves, currently third in the standings, going second fastest while Adrian Fernandez was third.

Neither reigning champion and current standings leader Gil de Ferran, nor his main rival Kenny Brack, were able to set times before the morning rain came. Heavy rain forced teams back into the pits during the morning session and then, as if to make sure, a torrential storm over the lunch break left standing water on much of the track.

For more than an hour of the afternoon session, the circuit was empty as teams decided against turning any laps due to the conditions.

Only five cars ventured onto the track in the 90-minute afternoon session, Casey Mears completed four laps as he further adapted to the Mo Nunn Racing Reynard he has taken over from the injured Alex Zanardi. Mears's best was more than 20 seconds off Vasser's benchmark time from the morning.

Tony Kanaan (checking a gearbox) and Christian Fittipaldi were the only other drivers to set a time, while most had already changed out of their overalls and called it a day.

With dry conditions forecast for tomorrow (Saturday), qualifying is certainly going to be interesting, bearing in mind the lack of track time so far. And changes to the kerbs and the positioning of walls looks set to make the track faster, according to Vasser.

"There's a higher grip there, and with some of the walls moved, your vision is better which helps make you faster," said Vasser. "I don't think the kerbs will make much difference. I never really used them here anyway."

The former CART champion was also impressed with the improved view: "They've chopped some of the trees away on the back stretch, so you get a much better view of the Ocean," he quipped.