Wilson tops first Long Beach practice
Justin Wilson beat Will Power to the top spot in the opening practice session for the Champ Car World Series' swansong event at Long Beach
Newman Haas Lanigan driver Wilson's 1:08.286 lap with three minutes to go saw him edge ahead of KV Racing's Power by exactly one tenth of a second.
Alex Tagliani - who is making a one-off appearance with Walker Racing - took third, with Mario Dominguez and Pacific Coast Motorsports ending the morning in a highly impressive fourth place.
Like Tagliani and Walker, Dominguez and PCM have been unable to put together a programme in the merged IRL IndyCar Series for this year, so Long Beach could be their only open-wheel appearance of 2008.
The Mexican driver was fastest of all for 15 minutes towards the end of the session, before being demoted by Tagliani, Power and Wilson.
Oriol Servia completed the top five in the second KV Racing car.
Paul Tracy was sixth fastest in the first session of his final weekend with Forsythe, just ahead of teammate Franck Montagny. The former Super Aguri Formula One driver was the best of those classified as rookies for this race, and had led the way during the opening half hour.
Rocketsports' Antonio Pizzonia - having his first Champ Car outing since the end of the 2006 season - took eighth, with Conquest driver Franck Perera and Dominguez's PCM teammate Alex Figge filling the final top ten spots.
Bruno Junqueira caused the only red flag of the session when he stopped on the pits straight on his sixth lap, but Dale Coyne Racing were able to repair the car in time for him to rejoin in the closing minutes.
Pos Driver Team Time 1. Justin Wilson Newman Haas Lanigan 1:08.286 2. Will Power KV Racing 1:08.386 + 0.100 3. Alex Tagliani Walker 1:08.435 + 0.149 4. Mario Dominguez Pacific Coast 1:08.568 + 0.282 5. Oriol Servia KV Racing 1:08.602 + 0.316 6. Paul Tracy Forsythe Pettit 1:08.633 + 0.347 7. Franck Montagny Forsythe Pettit 1:09.086 + 0.800 8. Antonio Pizzonia Rocketsports 1:09.228 + 0.942 9. Franck Perera Conquest 1:09.415 + 1.129 10. Alex Figge Pacific Coast 1:09.507 + 1.221 11. David Martinez Forsythe Pettit 1:09.522 + 1.236 12. Enrique Bernoldi Conquest 1:09.530 + 1.244 13. Graham Rahal Newman Haas Lanigan 1:09.544 + 1.258 14. Bruno Junqueira Dale Coyne 1:09.592 + 1.306 15. Jimmy Vasser KV Racing 1:09.660 + 1.374 16. Nelson Philippe Minardi HVM 1:10.151 + 1.865 17. Roberto Moreno Minardi HVM 1:10.532 + 2.246 18. Mario Moraes Dale Coyne 1:10.992 + 2.706 19. EJ Viso HVM 1:11.065 + 2.779 20. Juho Annala Rocketsports 1:13.051 + 4.765
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