Wilson leads first Milwaukee test

The Briton, who finished fourth here last year, lapped the 1.032-mile circuit in 21.215 seconds to go almost a quarter of a second clear of his closest opponent Alex Tagliani of Team Australia. Wilson's teammate AJ Allmendinger, who completed only 44 laps compared to Wilson's 109, was eighth fastest.

Forsythe Championship Racing's Paul Tracy only came out in the last half-hour of the three-hour session but went fourth quickest, 0.1 seconds slower than teammate Mario Dominguez, and a few hundredths quicker than PKV Racing's Oriol Servia.

Nelson Philippe, driving for CTE Racing-HVM, the team who dominated the 2004 Milwaukee race, was sixth quickest, ahead of compatriot and championship leader Sebastien Bourdais. Newman/Haas, who haven't won here since Michael Andretti's 1996 triumph, saw their second car, driven by Bruno Junqueira wind up 10th.

Will Power (Team Australia) was quickest of the rookies and ninth overall, two tenths clear of fellow oval virgin Britain's Dan Clarke. The CTE Racing-HVM driver was an impressive 0.672 seconds up on the remainder of the rookies headed by Charles Zwolsman (Conquest Racing).