Power goes top in final practice
IndyCar Series championship leader Will Power set the fastest lap of the weekend so far in the final free practice session for the Long Beach Grand Prix
The Penske driver waited until the final ten minutes of the session before bumping team-mate and Barber winner Helio Castroneves from the top of the times with a 1m09.960s lap - becoming the only driver to break the 1m10s barrier.
Dario Franchitti also moved ahead of the Brazilian with a late flyer, having temporarily zipped off down an escape road in his Ganassi car on a previous lap.
Street course specialist Justin Wilson was fourth fastest for Dreyer & Reinbold ahead of Ryan Hunter-Reay and Ryan Briscoe, who recovered from a shunt into the Turn 1 wall five minutes in, causing the only full caution of the session.
Mike Conway was another to make a move in the final stages, jumping to seventh in the times ahead of Alex Tagliani, both drivers pushing Marco Andretti down to ninth.
Simona de Silvestro completed the top 10, the impressive rookie outpacing former champion Scott Dixon and Hideki Mutoh as the flag fell.
Other than Briscoe and Franchitti, Raphael Matos, EJ Viso, Alex Lloyd and Takuma Sato also all brought out local yellows for harmless spins/trips down the run-offs during the hour long session.
Pos Driver Team Time Gap 1. Will Power Penske 1m09.9597s 2. Dario Franchitti Ganassi 1m10.3147s + 0.3550s 3. Helio Castroneves Penske 1m10.3738s + 0.4141s 4. Justin Wilson Dreyer & Reinbold 1m10.4007s + 0.4410s 5. Ryan Hunter-Reay Andretti 1m10.5430s + 0.5833s 6. Ryan Briscoe Penske 1m10.5761s + 0.6164s 7. Mike Conway Dreyer & Reinbold 1m10.6014s + 0.6417s 8. Alex Tagliani Fazzt 1m10.6160s + 0.6563s 9. Marco Andretti Andretti 1m10.6640s + 0.7043s 10. Simona de Silvestro HVM 1m10.6780s + 0.7183s 11. Scott Dixon Ganassi 1m10.7836s + 0.8239s 12. Hideki Mutoh Newman/Haas/Lanigan 1m10.8175s + 0.8578s 13. Raphael Matos Luczo Dragon/de Ferran 1m10.8677s + 0.9080s 14. Tony Kanaan Andretti 1m10.8930s + 0.9333s 15. Mario Moraes KV 1m10.8990s + 0.9393s 16. Vitor Meira Foyt 1m10.9482s + 0.9885s 17. Danica Patrick Andretti 1m11.1602s + 1.2005s 18. Dan Wheldon Panther 1m11.2080s + 1.2483s 19. Graham Rahal Sarah Fisher 1m11.4103s + 1.4506s 20. Takuma Sato KV 1m11.4167s + 1.4570s 21. Alex Lloyd Dale Coyne 1m11.4956s + 1.5359s 22. Bertrand Baguette Conquest 1m11.6459s + 1.6862s 23. Mario Romancini Conquest 1m11.8176s + 1.8579s 24. EJ Viso KV 1m11.8565s + 1.8968s 25. Milka Duno Dale Coyne 1m21.1336s + 11.1739s
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