Fontana IndyCar: Scott Dixon tops practice two for Ganassi
Scott Dixon took Ganassi to the top of the timesheets in the second practice session for this weekend's IndyCar round at Fontana
The New Zealander (pictured above with Ed Carpenter and Tony Kanaan) laid down his 217.629mph benchmark relatively early - it was just his third flying lap - but it proved to be enough to keep him on top at the end.
Simon Pagenaud came closest to matching him; the Penske driver finishing up with a fastest lap of 216.861mph, with Ed Carpenter just a hair behind him to complete a Chevrolet 1-2-3.
Takuma Sato made a late jump to end the session as the fastest Honda driver and fourth-fastest overall, leaving championship leader Juan Pablo Montoya to round out the top five.
As was the case earlier in the day, the dirty track surface prompted a couple of early yellows for debris and track inspections, but the longest delay was triggered when James Jakes suffered an apparent engine failure and left a trail of oil through Turns 3 and 4 as he wheeled his Schmidt car back to the pits.
That promoted a stoppage of more than half an hour, although an extra 15 minutes of green time was added on to the end of the session.
The cars are scheduled to return to the track later on Friday for qualifying.
PRACTICE TWO SPEEDS AND TIMES:
| Pos | Driver | Team | Car | Speed | Time | Gap |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Scott Dixon | Chip Ganassi Racing | Dallara/Chevrolet | 217.629 | 33.0839s | - |
| 2 | Simon Pagenaud | Team Penske | Dallara/Chevrolet | 216.861 | 33.2010s | 0.1171s |
| 3 | Ed Carpenter | CFH Racing | Dallara/Chevrolet | 216.809 | 33.2089s | 0.1250s |
| 4 | Takuma Sato | AJ Foyt Enterprises | Dallara/Honda | 216.337 | 33.2814s | 0.1975s |
| 5 | Juan Pablo Montoya | Team Penske | Dallara/Chevrolet | 216.251 | 33.2946s | 0.2107s |
| 6 | Marco Andretti | Andretti Autosport | Dallara/Honda | 216.230 | 33.2979s | 0.2140s |
| 7 | Ryan Briscoe | Schmidt Peterson Motorsports | Dallara/Honda | 216.139 | 33.3119s | 0.2280s |
| 8 | Sage Karam | Chip Ganassi Racing | Dallara/Chevrolet | 216.054 | 33.3250s | 0.2411s |
| 9 | Tony Kanaan | Chip Ganassi Racing | Dallara/Chevrolet | 215.772 | 33.3685s | 0.2846s |
| 10 | Jack Hawksworth | AJ Foyt Enterprises | Dallara/Honda | 215.500 | 33.4106s | 0.3267s |
| 11 | Gabby Chaves | Bryan Herta Autosport | Dallara/Honda | 214.712 | 33.5333s | 0.4494s |
| 12 | Carlos Munoz | Andretti Autosport | Dallara/Honda | 214.533 | 33.5613s | 0.4774s |
| 13 | Ryan Hunter-Reay | Andretti Autosport | Dallara/Honda | 214.485 | 33.5688s | 0.4849s |
| 14 | Helio Castroneves | Team Penske | Dallara/Chevrolet | 214.399 | 33.5822s | 0.4983s |
| 15 | Charlie Kimball | Chip Ganassi Racing | Dallara/Chevrolet | 214.300 | 33.5977s | 0.5138s |
| 16 | Tristan Vautier | Dale Coyne Racing | Dallara/Honda | 213.965 | 33.6504s | 0.5665s |
| 17 | Sebastien Bourdais | KVSH Racing | Dallara/Chevrolet | 213.311 | 33.7535s | 0.6696s |
| 18 | Graham Rahal | Rahal Letterman Lanigan | Dallara/Honda | 212.815 | 33.8322s | 0.7483s |
| 19 | Stefano Coletti | KV Racing Technology | Dallara/Chevrolet | 212.408 | 33.8970s | 0.8131s |
| 20 | Josef Newgarden | CFH Racing | Dallara/Chevrolet | 212.133 | 33.9410s | 0.8571s |
| 21 | Will Power | Team Penske | Dallara/Chevrolet | 211.985 | 33.9647s | 0.8808s |
| 22 | James Jakes | Schmidt Peterson Motorsports | Dallara/Honda | 210.579 | 34.1914s | 1.1075s |
| 23 | Pippa Mann | Dale Coyne Racing | Dallara/Honda | 209.884 | 34.3046s | 1.2207s |
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