Briscoe on top as Viso has big crash
Ryan Briscoe was quickest again in Saturday morning IndyCar practice at Watkins Glen
The Australian led his Penske team-mate Will Power, but a late improvement by Ganassi's Scott Dixon denied Penske a top three sweep.
The session was interrupted by a long yellow for a massive crash by KV's EJ Viso, who was fortunate to escape injury.
Viso ran wide over the large kerb at the first corner, then speared into the inside wall as he rejoined, having possibly broken his suspension as the car jumped over the strip of grass between the run-off and the track.
After a heavy, near head on, impact, the KV Dallara then rebounded back into the outside wall and had a second hard hit before coming to rest near the exit of Turn 2 with substantial damage to both sides. Thankfully Viso was able to walk away unscathed.
Briscoe, who had been quickest in Friday's session as well, moved to the front shortly before the crash and remained on top thereafter, 0.0162 seconds ahead of Power.
Helio Castroneves got the third Penske car up to third in the closing minutes, but was pushed back to fourth by Dixon's late run. Castroneves had earlier caused a brief yellow when he spun and stalled mid-corner at Turn 8.
Marco Andretti set the pace for a while and ended up fifth for Andretti Autosport, ahead of Dario Franchitti (Ganassi), Justin Wilson (Dreyer & Reinbold) and Ryan Hunter-Reay (Andretti).
Viso held on to ninth in the results despite his accident, and was just ahead of his team-mate Takuma Sato, who had a quick spin on his last run but had already done enough to earn 10th.
Pos Driver Team Time Gap 1. Ryan Briscoe Penske 1m30.1910s 2. Will Power Penske 1m30.2072s + 0.0162s 3. Scott Dixon Ganassi 1m30.4899s + 0.2990s 4. Helio Castroneves Penske 1m30.5152s + 0.3243s 5. Marco Andretti Andretti 1m30.5619s + 0.3710s 6. Dario Franchitti Ganassi 1m30.5849s + 0.3939s 7. Justin Wilson Dreyer & Reinbold 1m30.9152s + 0.7242s 8. Ryan Hunter-Reay Andretti 1m30.9162s + 0.7252s 9. EJ Viso KV 1m30.9877s + 0.7968s 10. Takuma Sato KV 1m31.1183s + 0.9274s 11. Raphael Matos De Ferran Dragon 1m31.1632s + 0.9722s 12. Tony Kanaan Andretti 1m31.2689s + 1.0779s 13. Mario Moraes KV 1m31.4298s + 1.2388s 14. Hideki Mutoh Newman/Haas 1m31.4955s + 1.3046s 15. Alex Lloyd Dale Coyne 1m31.7119s + 1.5209s 16. Danica Patrick Andretti 1m31.7261s + 1.5351s 17. Dan Wheldon Panther 1m31.8575s + 1.6665s 18. Adam Carroll AFS/Andretti 1m32.1357s + 1.9447s 19. Vitor Meira Foyt 1m32.2812s + 2.0902s 20. Paul Tracy Dreyer & Reinbold 1m32.4126s + 2.2216s 21. Mario Romancini Conquest 1m32.4581s + 2.2671s 22. Simona de Silvestro HVM 1m32.5451s + 2.3541s 23. Alex Tagliani Fazzt 1m32.7607s + 2.5697s 24. Bertrand Baguette Conquest 1m33.3148s + 3.1239s 25. Milka Duno Dale Coyne 1m35.9548s + 5.7639s
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