Castroneves tops Friday practice
Helio Castroneves had the fastest lap of the day during practice for the IRL IndyCar Series race at St. Petersburg
Penske driver Castroneves was recorded at 1:01.6016 (105.192 mph) late in today's second session. That was enough to top Kanaan's lap of 1:01.6892, which had stood for most of practice.
"We put everything together this afternoon that we weren't able to this morning," Castroneves said.
"It seems like we've found our way. The car is becoming tighter, but it's fun to drive.
"There's no question that every practice is becoming more important. The competition on the road course is closer this year, and it seems like everyone understands the car better."
Others near the top of the speed chart included Scott Dixon, Dario Franchitti, Marco Andretti, Dan Wheldon, Kosuke Matsuura and Sam Hornish Jr.
Kanaan expects Castroneves to invert the order of Saturday's qualifying so the two Brazilian drivers run their laps at the end of the session.
"It's always good to go at the end because it gives you a better chance to improve your time," Kanaan said. "There's going to be more rubber on the track and you get to watch everybody, so you can judge what you can and can't do."
Friday practice times:
Pos Driver Team Time 1. Helio Castroneves Penske 1:01.6016 2. Tony Kanaan Andretti-Green 1:01.6892 + 0.0876 3. Scott Dixon Ganassi 1:01.8767 + 0.2751 4. Dario Franchitti Andretti-Green 1:02.0060 + 0.4044 5. Marco Andretti Andretti-Green 1:02.5648 + 0.9632 6. Dan Wheldon Ganassi 1:02.6648 + 1.0632 7. Kosuke Matsuura Panther 1:02.7769 + 1.1753 8. Sam Hornish Jr Penske 1:02.7824 + 1.1808 9. Tomas Scheckter Vision 1:02.7835 + 1.1819 10. Darren Manning Foyt 1:02.8449 + 1.2433 11. Vitor Meira Panther 1:02.9049 + 1.3033 12. Danica Patrick Andretti-Green 1:03.0078 + 1.4062 13. Buddy Rice Dreyer & Reinbold 1:03.7456 + 2.1440 14. Jeff Simmons Rahal-Letterman 1:04.0690 + 2.4674 15. Scott Sharp Rahal-Letterman 1:04.2465 + 2.6449 16. A J Foyt IV Vision 1:04.7126 + 3.1110 17. Ed Carpenter Vision 1:04.7866 + 3.1850 18. Sarah Fisher Dreyer & Reinbold 1:06.8229 + 5.2213
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