Practice: Manning hits the front
Yorkshireman Darren Manning was fastest in the first Champ Car practice session at the Autodromo Hermanos Rodriguez in Mexico City. Manning's 1m29.340s lap was a whole 0.455s quicker than CART championship front runner Bruno Junqueira, with series leader Paul Tracy third on 1m30.466s.
"I wanted to drive here last year so bad that I left on race day because it was killing me that I wasn't in a car," Manning said. "It's a bit bumpy in spots, but we succeeded in improving the car between sessions and we need to keep that up for qualifying."
Manning and the other Reynard runners are in with a chance this weekend because their chassis performs best on smooth, natural road courses. Seventh placed Tiago Monteiro was the next best Reynard runner, while Mario Dominguez was quickest among the six Mexican drivers in fourth place. Michel Jourdain was 10th, while national hero Adrian Fernandez was 14th.
This marks Fernandez' first race in Mexico City in a Champ Car. Last year, he was recuperating from injuries suffered in a start-line crash at Surfers Paradise, Australia.
Rain has been forecast for throughout the weekend, but conditions on Friday morning were clear and pleasant.
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