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Road America IndyCar: Rossi beats Penskes to top spot in practice

Alexander Rossi produced a strong lap on soft tyres to beat Penske drivers Will Power and Josef Newgarden to top spot in practice for IndyCar's Road America race

Rossi was the first driver of the weekend to set a 140mph-average lap, recording a 1m43.1206s lap of the 4.014-mile track in second practice in his Honda-powered Andretti Autosport entry.

That effort put him 0.2883 seconds clear of Power, whose best time eclipsed Newgarden's by just 0.0669s. Both also set their times on the softer alternate compound.

Colton Herta was fourth fastest for Harding Steinbrenner Racing, just 0.0049s ahead of fellow rookie Felix Rosenqvist in the faster of the two Chip Ganassi Racing-Hondas, while Graham Rahal was sixth in his Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing entry.

Ryan Hunter-Reay was seventh in his Andretti Autosport-Honda, having topped the first practice session, ahead of James Hinchcliffe, Patricio O'Ward (Carlin-Chevrolet) and Marco Andretti.

Simon Pagenaud was only 15th in the third Penske, just ahead of the two AJ Foyt Racing-Chevrolets.

Hunter-Reay's fastest time in an opening practice that was twice halted by red flags caused by Jack Harvey was a 1m43.7556s.

The first stoppage came after 20 minutes when Michael Shank Racing driver Harvey ground to a halt at Turn 12 with an electrical problem.

That issue was reserved, and Harvey returned to the track after serving a five-minute penalty for causing the red flag - only to suffer a stuck throttle at the same spot, before skating over the gravel trap and nosing into a tyre barrier.

Harvey's first off had shortened the original 30-minute period in which drivers were permitted to use their push-to-pass boost, which protected Hunter-Reay's place at the head of the order.

Takuma Sato ended up second in his Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing-Honda, 0.0688s behind, ahead of Scott Dixon's Chip Ganassi Racing-Honda.

Power and Newgarden were fourth and fifth, with Rossi behind the two in that session.

FP1 times

Pos Driver Team Car Gap
1 Ryan Hunter-Reay Andretti Autosport Dallara/Honda 1m43.7556s
2 Takuma Sato Rahal Letterman Lanigan Dallara/Honda 0.0688s
3 Scott Dixon Chip Ganassi Racing Dallara/Honda 0.2286s
4 Will Power Team Penske Dallara/Chevrolet 0.2838s
5 Josef Newgarden Team Penske Dallara/Chevrolet 0.3150s
6 Alexander Rossi Andretti Autosport Dallara/Honda 0.4283s
7 Simon Pagenaud Team Penske Dallara/Chevrolet 0.6423s
8 Spencer Pigot Ed Carpenter Racing Dallara/Chevrolet 0.6468s
9 James Hinchcliffe Schmidt Peterson Motorsports Dallara/Honda 0.6630s
10 Marco Andretti Andretti Herta Dallara/Honda 0.8307s
11 Sebastien Bourdais Dale Coyne Racing Dallara/Honda 0.8660s
12 Tony Kanaan AJ Foyt Enterprises Dallara/Chevrolet 0.9844s
13 Patricio O'Ward Carlin Dallara/Chevrolet 1.0875s
14 Ed Jones Ed Carpenter Racing Dallara/Chevrolet 1.1494s
15 Felix Rosenqvist Chip Ganassi Racing Dallara/Honda 1.1973s
16 Colton Herta Harding Racing Dallara/Honda 1.2276s
17 Zach Veach Andretti Autosport Dallara/Honda 1.2902s
18 Matheus Leist AJ Foyt Enterprises Dallara/Chevrolet 1.6065s
19 Santino Ferrucci Dale Coyne Racing Dallara/Honda 1.8400s
20 Marcus Ericsson Schmidt Peterson Motorsports Dallara/Honda 1.8563s
21 Graham Rahal Rahal Letterman Lanigan Dallara/Honda 1.8636s
22 Jack Harvey Meyer Shank Racing Dallara/Honda 3.1529s
23 Max Chilton Carlin Dallara/Chevrolet 19.3221s

FP2 times

Pos Driver Team Car Gap
1 Alexander Rossi Andretti Autosport Dallara/Honda 1m43.1206s
2 Will Power Team Penske Dallara/Chevrolet 0.2883s
3 Josef Newgarden Team Penske Dallara/Chevrolet 0.3552s
4 Colton Herta Harding Racing Dallara/Honda 0.6209s
5 Felix Rosenqvist Chip Ganassi Racing Dallara/Honda 0.6258s
6 Graham Rahal Rahal Letterman Lanigan Dallara/Honda 0.8566s
7 Ryan Hunter-Reay Andretti Autosport Dallara/Honda 0.8930s
8 James Hinchcliffe Schmidt Peterson Motorsports Dallara/Honda 0.9217s
9 Patricio O'Ward Carlin Dallara/Chevrolet 0.9372s
10 Marco Andretti Andretti Herta Dallara/Honda 0.9525s
11 Scott Dixon Chip Ganassi Racing Dallara/Honda 1.0453s
12 Zach Veach Andretti Autosport Dallara/Honda 1.0812s
13 Spencer Pigot Ed Carpenter Racing Dallara/Chevrolet 1.0889s
14 Sebastien Bourdais Dale Coyne Racing Dallara/Honda 1.1230s
15 Simon Pagenaud Team Penske Dallara/Chevrolet 1.3736s
16 Matheus Leist AJ Foyt Enterprises Dallara/Chevrolet 1.4655s
17 Tony Kanaan AJ Foyt Enterprises Dallara/Chevrolet 1.4845s
18 Takuma Sato Rahal Letterman Lanigan Dallara/Honda 1.4935s
19 Ed Jones Ed Carpenter Racing Dallara/Chevrolet 1.5394s
20 Santino Ferrucci Dale Coyne Racing Dallara/Honda 1.5786s
21 Max Chilton Carlin Dallara/Chevrolet 1.8618s
22 Marcus Ericsson Schmidt Peterson Motorsports Dallara/Honda 1.9427s
23 Jack Harvey Meyer Shank Racing Dallara/Honda 2.1211s

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