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Briscoe tops first Sao Paulo session

Ryan Briscoe led a Penske one-two in the opening free practice session for this weekend's IndyCar Series race on the streets of Sao Paulo

Last minute improvements from Briscoe and team-mate Will Power took them to the top two positions, 0.0349 seconds apart, as they deposed long-time pacesetter Ryan Hunter-Reay (Andretti Autosport).

The latter had been quickest in the opening half hour, which was reserved for rookies and drivers outside the top 10 in the championship.

Although Power soon moved to the front when the full field joined in for the final 45 minutes, it was Hunter-Reay who was ahead again going into the last few moments, until the Penske duo made their eleventh-hour improvements.

But for Hunter-Reay it would have been an all-Penske top three, with Helio Castroneves ending up fourth.

Justin Wilson's Dreyer & Reinbold car headed to the pits carrying a 'Helio's Hitlist' banner mocking Castroneves' recent string of collisions - one of which had seen Wilson the victim in Long Beach. Wilson then ended the session right behind Castroneves in fifth.

Ganassi's Dario Franchitti and Scott Dixon were sixth and seventh, with KV's Tony Kanaan and EJ Viso next up, and Graham Rahal completing the top 10 in another Ganassi entry. Long Beach winner Mike Conway (Andretti) was 12th.

The morning saw only one yellow, to retrieve Simona de Silvestro's HVM car after it ground to a halt on her out-lap. The problem could not be fixed in time for her to rejoin the session.

With all the track activity compressed into Saturday and Sunday in Sao Paulo, there will be another hour of practice later today before the qualifying session.

Pos  Driver               Team               Time        Gap
 1.  Ryan Briscoe         Penske             1m25.1072s
 2.  Will Power           Penske             1m25.1421s  + 0.0349s
 3.  Ryan Hunter-Reay     Andretti           1m25.2043s  + 0.0971s
 4.  Helio Castroneves    Penske             1m25.2314s  + 0.1242s
 5.  Justin Wilson        Dreyer & Reinbold  1m25.3510s  + 0.2438s
 6.  Dario Franchitti     Ganassi            1m25.3873s  + 0.2801s
 7.  Scott Dixon          Ganassi            1m25.5052s  + 0.3980s
 8.  Tony Kanaan          KV                 1m25.6099s  + 0.5027s
 9.  EJ Viso              KV                 1m25.7079s  + 0.6007s
10.  Graham Rahal         Ganassi            1m25.7247s  + 0.6175s
11.  Raphael Matos        AFS                1m25.7486s  + 0.6414s
12.  Mike Conway          Andretti           1m25.7720s  + 0.6648s
13.  Takuma Sato          KV                 1m25.8121s  + 0.7049s
14.  Alex Tagliani        Sam Schmidt        1m25.8724s  + 0.7652s
15.  Charlie Kimball      Ganassi            1m25.8942s  + 0.7870s
16.  Oriol Servia         Newman/Haas        1m25.9291s  + 0.8219s
17.  JR Hildebrand        Panther            1m26.0231s  + 0.9159s
18.  James Hinchcliffe    Newman/Haas        1m26.1082s  + 1.0010s
19.  Marco Andretti       Andretti           1m26.1088s  + 1.0016s
20.  Sebastien Bourdais   Dale Coyne         1m26.2445s  + 1.1373s
21.  Danica Patrick       Andretti           1m26.2506s  + 1.1434s
22.  Sebastian Saavedra   Conquest           1m26.2629s  + 1.1557s
23.  Vitor Meira          Foyt               1m26.5350s  + 1.4278s
24.  James Jakes          Dale Coyne         1m27.3504s  + 2.2432s
25.  Ana Beatriz          Dreyer & Reinbold  1m27.8477s  + 2.7405s
26.  Simona de Silvestro  HVM

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