NOLA IndyCar: Tony Kanaan leads first practice for Ganassi
Ganassi's Tony Kanaan was fastest in the opening practice session for IndyCar's inaugural race at NOLA on a morning where Chevrolet once again dominated the timesheets
Kanaan occupied first position for most of the session, but he confirmed the place by improving his time late on to finish up with a 1m18.8753s.
The Ganassi team appeared set for a one-two until Will Power popped up into second with his final flying lap, bumping Scott Dixon back to third ahead of Sebastien Bourdais.
Chevy's dominance from St Petersburg carried over into the beginning of the NOLA weekend, with its cars claiming the seven fastest times.
Schmidt's James Hinchcliffe was the quickest of the Honda-powered drivers in eighth.
Aside from quick Chevys, the session's other defining theme was red flags. The 90 minutes of allocated running time were interrupted six times by stoppages, most of which were caused by harmless spins.
Of those, three came courtesy of the Dale Coyne Racing stable, with rookie Francesco Dracone looping his car twice in 15 minutes (very nearly collecting Kanaan along the way on one occasion), and Carlos Huertas following suit a short time later.
The only major mechanical problem was reserved for Jack Hawksworth, who triggered the first red just three minutes into the session when his Foyt car stopped with a fuel pressure issue.
He lost several minutes in the pits undergoing repairs, but was later able to rejoin.
PRACTICE ONE TIMES:
Pos | Driver | Team | Car | Time | Gap |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | Tony Kanaan | Chip Ganassi Racing | Dallara/Chevrolet | 1m18.8753s | - |
2 | Will Power | Team Penske | Dallara/Chevrolet | 1m18.9292s | 0.0539s |
3 | Scott Dixon | Chip Ganassi Racing | Dallara/Chevrolet | 1m18.9662s | 0.0909s |
4 | Sebastien Bourdais | KVSH Racing | Dallara/Chevrolet | 1m19.2563s | 0.3810s |
5 | Simon Pagenaud | Team Penske | Dallara/Chevrolet | 1m19.2782s | 0.4029s |
6 | Josef Newgarden | CFH Racing | Dallara/Chevrolet | 1m19.3560s | 0.4807s |
7 | Sage Karam | Chip Ganassi Racing | Dallara/Chevrolet | 1m19.3804s | 0.5051s |
8 | James Hinchcliffe | Schmidt Peterson Motorsports | Dallara/Honda | 1m19.4764s | 0.6011s |
9 | Gabby Chaves | Bryan Herta Autosport | Dallara/Honda | 1m19.5246s | 0.6493s |
10 | Juan Pablo Montoya | Team Penske | Dallara/Chevrolet | 1m19.5876s | 0.7123s |
11 | Charlie Kimball | Chip Ganassi Racing | Dallara/Chevrolet | 1m19.6550s | 0.7797s |
12 | Carlos Munoz | Andretti Autosport | Dallara/Honda | 1m19.6572s | 0.7819s |
13 | Carlos Huertas | Dale Coyne Racing | Dallara/Honda | 1m19.6699s | 0.7946s |
14 | Helio Castroneves | Team Penske | Dallara/Chevrolet | 1m19.7333s | 0.8580s |
15 | Ryan Hunter-Reay | Andretti Autosport | Dallara/Honda | 1m19.8813s | 1.0060s |
16 | Graham Rahal | Rahal Letterman Lanigan | Dallara/Honda | 1m19.8876s | 1.0123s |
17 | Stefano Coletti | KV Racing Technology | Dallara/Chevrolet | 1m19.9393s | 1.0640s |
18 | Marco Andretti | Andretti Autosport | Dallara/Honda | 1m20.0193s | 1.1440s |
19 | James Jakes | Schmidt Peterson Motorsports | Dallara/Honda | 1m20.1132s | 1.2379s |
20 | Luca Filippi | CFH Racing | Dallara/Chevrolet | 1m20.1713s | 1.2960s |
21 | Simona de Silvestro | Andretti Autosport | Dallara/Honda | 1m21.0028s | 2.1275s |
22 | Takuma Sato | AJ Foyt Enterprises | Dallara/Honda | 1m21.2206s | 2.3453s |
23 | Jack Hawksworth | AJ Foyt Enterprises | Dallara/Honda | 1m21.3900s | 2.5147s |
24 | Francesco Dracone | Dale Coyne Racing | Dallara/Honda | 1m21.4269s | 2.5516s |
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