Briscoe heads busy Thursday practice
A break in the weather Thursday led to a busy day at Indianapolis Motor Speedway
Ryan Briscoe led the way as drivers and teams took advantage of the first full practice session in more than a week, recording in one day nearly two-thirds of the laps they had previously recorded this month.
Briscoe was clocked at 223.708 mph in the No. 6 Team Penske Honda/Dallara, a shade faster than his teammate Helio Castroneves. It was the first time in a week that someone other than the Target Chip Ganassi drivers had been atop the speed charts at Indianapolis Motor Speedway.
It also marked the first time that the 11 drivers already in the field were able to run for extended periods alongside the drivers who haven't qualified.
"A lot of guys are running full race preparation now, as we are," Briscoe said. "We try to be a little careful around the guys who aren't qualified, because you never know. They might be doing a low fuel run and could run out of fuel or something like that.
"When you start running close, you're looking more for the guys who are already qualified, but we're able to run pretty confidently around the guys who aren't."
Thirty-five cars were on the track Thursday, recording 2,628 laps during the six-hour session. That's 61 percent of the total laps turned between May 4 and Wednesday.
"I'm not sure we got everything we needed, but we certainly went through a lot of tests," said Tomas Scheckter, who was among the top five Thursday. "We got some laps in and will look at it tonight and see. Maybe we'll come out with a better car tomorrow."
Among others showing speed Thursday was pole winner Scott Dixon, who has been strong throughout the month and had the third-best lap of the day at 223.192 mph in the No. 9 Ganassi Honda/Dallara. Fourth-fastest was Andretti Green's Tony Kanaan, followed by Luczo Dragon's Scheckter.
Will Power showed some of the best speed of the month by a transitioning Champ Car team, posting the sixth-quickest lap of the day in the No. 8 KV Racing Technology Honda/Dallara.
"It's been interesting so far," Power said of his first Indy 500. "It was good for us to get so much running time. We need it on the ovals. To finish the race would mean a lot to me. I've enjoyed every moment of it so far."
Almost everyone eschewed qualifying simulations Thursday for long, full-tank stints. Dan Wheldon was the busiest of the bunch, circling the 2.5-mile track 109 times. Others who put in more than 250 miles included John Andretti, who has showed speed in the No. 24 Roth Racing Honda/Dallara, and AGR teammates Hideki Mutoh and Marco Andretti.
"We had a tough day today, but you have those days at the Speedway," Marco Andretti said. "We had the same balance problem all day today, no matter what we seemed to throw at it. We have to hit the books tonight and work as a team to see what we can do to make the car handle a bit better."
The session was surprisingly clean, considering the amount of traffic and the cold temperature. Nobody spun, and only six cautions were needed in six hours - three of them for debris, two for track inspections and one for light rain.
Practice resumes Friday at noon ET, the final day before Saturday's busy qualifying session, in which the remaining 22 positions on the starting grid will be filled. Only the first 11 positions have been filled so far.
Pos Driver Team Speed 1. Ryan Briscoe Penske 223.708 mph 2. Helio Castroneves Penske 223.284 mph 3. Scott Dixon Ganassi 223.192 mph 4. Tony Kanaan Andretti Green 222.880 mph 5. Tomas Scheckter Luczo Dragon 222.804 mph 6. Will Power KV 222.657 mph 7. John Andretti Roth 222.474 mph 8. Hideki Mutoh Andretti Green 222.411 mph 9. Dan Wheldon Ganassi 222.378 mph 10. Bruno Junqueira Dale Coyne 222.303 mph 11. Buddy Rice Dreyer & Reinbold 222.252 mph 12. EJ Viso HVM 222.108 mph 13. Marco Andretti Andretti Green 221.850 mph 14. Vitor Meira Panther 221.763 mph 15. Jeff Simmons AJ Foyt 221.370 mph 16. Alex Lloyd Rahal Letterman 221.274 mph 17. Justin Wilson Newman/Haas/Lanigan 221.261 mph 18. Danica Patrick Andretti Green 221.129 mph 19. Ed Carpenter Vision 220.920 mph 20. Townsend Bell Dreyer & Reinbold 220.855 mph 21. Graham Rahal Newman/Haas/Lanigan 220.836 mph 22. Mario Moraes Dale Coyne 220.787 mph 23. Oriol Servia KV 220.729 mph 24. Darren Manning AJ Foyt 220.723 mph 25. Enrique Bernoldi Conquest 220.579 mph 26. Milka Duno Dreyer & Reinbold 220.416 mph 27. Davey Hamilton Vision 220.190 mph 28. Mario Dominguez Pacific Coast 219.929 mph 29. Max Papis Schmidt 219.920 mph 30. Marty Roth Roth 219.634 mph 31. Sarah Fisher Sarah Fisher 219.571 mph 32. A.J. Foyt IV Vision 219.510 mph 33. Jaime Camara Conquest 219.248 mph 34. Ryan Hunter-Reay Dreyer & Reinbold 218.400 mph 35. Roger Yasukawa Beck 217.490 mph
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