Castroneves tops Carb Day practice
Pole-sitter Helio Castroneves underlined his status as the man to beat in the Indianapolis 500 by topping the traditional Carb Day practice session - the final chance for teams to fine-tune their set-ups prior to Sunday's race
The Penske driver set his time of 40.1929 seconds on only his third lap and then remained unbeaten for the rest of the hour.
His team-mate Will Power completed a Penske one-two as he prepared for what could be his last IndyCar Series race of the year, with Ryan Briscoe emphasising Penske's pace in fifth place.
Mario Moraes impressed again in third place, and with his team-mates Townsend Bell and Paul Tracy taking ninth and 12th, KV Racing Technology looks in extremely good shape going into its second Indy 500.
Dan Wheldon suggested he will rapidly move forward from his 18th place on the grid by going fourth quickest for Panther Racing today, with Ganassi duo Dario Franchitti and Scott Dixon, and fourth-place qualifier Graham Rahal (Newman/Haas/Lanigan) completing the top eight.
Davey Hamilton set a promising 10th-fastest time in the best of Dreyer & Reinbold's four entries - but it was an underwhelming session for race's only other four-car squad, Andretti Green Racing, as its top runner Tony Kanaan was back in 11th.
Pos Driver Team Time Gap 1. Helio Castroneves Penske 40.1929s 2. Will Power Penske 40.2577s + 0.0648s 3. Mario Moraes KV 40.3676s + 0.1747s 4. Dan Wheldon Panther 40.4701s + 0.2772s 5. Ryan Briscoe Penske 40.4724s + 0.2795s 6. Dario Franchitti Ganassi 40.4754s + 0.2825s 7. Scott Dixon Ganassi 40.5374s + 0.3445s 8. Graham Rahal Newman/Haas/Lanigan 40.5824s + 0.3895s 9. Townsend Bell KV 40.6441s + 0.4512s 10. Davey Hamilton Dreyer & Reinbold 40.6557s + 0.4628s 11. Tony Kanaan Andretti Green 40.7049s + 0.5120s 12. Paul Tracy KV 40.7278s + 0.5349s 13. Vitor Meira Foyt 40.7966s + 0.6037s 14. Raphael Matos Luczo Dragon 40.8445s + 0.6516s 15. Marco Andretti Andretti Green 40.8710s + 0.6781s 16. AJ Foyt IV Foyt 40.8870s + 0.6941s 17. Scott Sharp Panther 40.9133s + 0.7204s 18. Tomas Scheckter Coyne 40.9302s + 0.7373s 19. Alex Tagliani Conquest 40.9401s + 0.7472s 20. Hideki Mutoh Andretti Green 40.9786s + 0.7857s 21. Ed Carpenter Vision 40.9833s + 0.7904s 22. Mike Conway Dreyer & Reinbold 40.9910s + 0.7981s 23. Danica Patrick Andretti Green 41.0344s + 0.8415s 24. Oriol Servia Rahal Letterman 41.0364s + 0.8435s 25. Alex Lloyd Schmidt/Ganassi 41.0467s + 0.8538s 26. Justin Wilson Coyne 41.1111s + 0.9182s 27. Ryan Hunter-Reay Vision 41.1725s + 0.9796s 28. Robert Doornbos Newman/Haas/Lanigan 41.2534s + 1.0605s 29. EJ Viso HVM 41.3246s + 1.1317s 30. Milka Duno Dreyer & Reinbold 41.3604s + 1.1675s 31. Sarah Fisher Fisher 41.4145s + 1.2216s 32. John Andretti Dreyer & Reinbold/Petty 41.4181s + 1.2252s 33. Nelson Philippe HVM 41.5453s + 1.3524s
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