Long Beach IndyCar: Will Power sets the pace in final practice
Will Power emerged as the pacesetter from another close practice session on the streets of Long Beach to set the fastest time in IndyCar's final outing before qualifying.
Several drivers took turns at the top as the times continued to fall during the 45-minute session, with Power finally claiming it for good with a 1m08.1696s.
That was the fastest lap seen so far this weekend, although it was only barely enough to keep the Australian ahead of Josef Newgarden, whose own best effort fell short by just 0.022 seconds.
The spicy rivalry that IndyCar needs
As was the case with the second practice session on Friday, the top 19 cars were covered by less than a second.
James Hinchcliffe relied on his final flying lap to jump to third fastest ahead of Sebastien Bourdais, leaving 2012 series champion Ryan Hunter-Reay to round out the top five.
Juan Pablo Montoya's encouraging start to the weekend continued when he backed up his top 10 speed from second practice by going eighth fastest.
Montoya is one of five previous Long Beach winners on the grid this weekend; the Colombian having earned the first CART win of his career at the venue in 1999.
Follow the Long Beach IndyCar race as it happens on AUTOSPORT Race Centre Live from 9.30pm UK time on Sunday April 13
Pos Driver Team/Engine Time Gap Laps 1. Will Power Penske/Chevy 1m08.1696s 17 2. Josef Newgarden Fisher/Honda 1m08.1718s +0.0022s 18 3. James Hinchcliffe Andretti/Honda 1m08.3552s +0.1856s 20 4. Sebastien Bourdais KV/Chevy 1m08.4456s +0.2750s 19 5. Ryan Hunter-Reay Andretti/Honda 1m08.5396s +0.3600s 20 6. Justin Wilson Coyne/Honda 1m08.5369s +0.3673s 20 7. Simon Pagenaud Schmidt/Honda 1m08.5513s +0.3817s 15 8. Juan Pablo Montoya Penske/Chevy 1m08.5605s +0.3909s 19 9. Jack Hawksworth Herta/Honda 1m08.6148s +0.4452s 20 10. Mike Conway Carpenter/Chevy 1m08.6634s +0.4938s 16 11. Helio Castroneves Penske/Chevy 1m08.6926s +0.5230s 23 12. Ryan Briscoe Ganassi/Chevy 1m08.7153s +0.5457s 13 13. Mikhail Aleshin Schmidt/Honda 1m08.7912s +0.6216s 9 14. Scott Dixon Ganassi/Chevy 1m08.8731s +0.7035s 22 15. Carlos Huertas Coyne/Honda 1m09.0018s +0.8322s 21 16. Tony Kanaan Ganassi/Chevy 1m09.0230s +0.8534s 23 17. Takuma Sato Foyt/Honda 1m09.0718s +0.9022s 21 18. Carlos Munoz Andretti/Honda 1m09.0837s +0.9141s 21 19. Oriol Servia Rahal/Honda 1m09.1291s +0.9595s 16 20. Graham rahal Rahal/Honda 1m09.1812s +1.0116s 21 21. Charlie Kimball Ganassi/Chevy 1m09.1976s +1.0280s 22 22. Marco Andretti Andretti/Honda 1m09.2509s +1.0813s 14 23. Sebastian Saavedra KV/Chevy 1m09.8116s +1.6420s 14
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