Friday practice: De Ferran the man
Reigning CART champion Gil de Ferran set the pace during Friday practice for this weekend's second round of the Indy Racing League at Pheonix, just four tenths of a second ahead of Sam Hornish Jr
De Ferran, who finished second in his debut race in the series at Homestead two weeks ago, lapped the one-mile oval in 20.315sec in his Penske Dallara-Chevrolet leaving Homestead winner and IRL champ Hornish in second spot.
De Ferran said: "I feel I'm on a much steeper learning curve than I was the last couple of years [in CART]. I must say Homestead and Phoenix are good for us because most of the winter testing is done at those two tracks."
The Brazilian's time was posted in the faster first session of the day, while the second session honours went to Robbie Buhl whose time of 20.424sec was good enough for third overall.
Former Indianapolis 500 winner Buddy Lazier was fourth while late Kelley Racing signing Al Unser Jr took fifth. Mo Nunn Racing's Felipe Giaffone managed sixth, just pipping Team Cheever rookie Tomas Scheckter.
Qualifying for Sunday's 200-mile race takes place later today (Saturday).
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