Hunter-Reay leads morning practice
Rahal Letterman Racing's Ryan Hunter-Reay was fastest in Friday morning practice at Richmond
The American beat IRL IndyCar Series points leader Scott Dixon to the top spot near the end of the session.
Ganassi driver Dixon had sat out most of the first part of the two-hour session to allow the midfield runners to put some IndyCar rubber down on the track, which is being shared with USAC Sprint Cars this weekend, but then leapt to the top of the timesheets within seven laps.
He looked set to remain there until Hunter-Reay posted a 16.2003-second lap to beat Dixon by 0.0195 seconds shortly before the chequered flag.
Buddy Rice (Dreyer & Reinbold) had been quickest before Dixon emerged, and hung on to third place even after all the front-runners had set times.
Fellow early pace-settter EJ Viso (HVM) also impressed as he ended the morning in fourth position, ahead of KV's Oriol Servia, who had been quickest in yesterday's rookie session.
Andretti Green quartet Tony Kanaan, Danica Patrick, Marco Andretti and Hideki Mutoh claimed sixth to ninth places despite a pit lane error that saw Mutoh run over refueller Scott Lynch's foot as he slid into his pit stall. Lynch appeared to escape serious injury, but has been taken to the medical centre for his foot to be examined.
The only major on-track incident of the session was Enrique Bernoldi's spin at Turn 4. The Conquest Racing Dallara sustained some wing and suspension damage as Bernoldi made contact with the wall, but repairs are already underway and the Brazilian should be able to rejoin for final practice and qualifying later today.
Pos Driver Team Time 1. Ryan Hunter-Reay Rahal Letterman 16.2003 2. Scott Dixon Ganassi 16.2198 + 0.0195 3. Buddy Rice Dreyer & Reinbold 16.2688 + 0.0685 4. EJ Viso HVM 16.2714 + 0.0711 5. Oriol Servia KV 16.2761 + 0.0758 6. Tony Kanaan Andretti Green 16.2811 + 0.0808 7. Danica Patrick Andretti Green 16.2904 + 0.0901 8. Marco Andretti Andretti Green 16.3988 + 0.1985 9. Hideki Mutoh Andretti Green 16.4045 + 0.2042 10. Ryan Briscoe Penske 16.4268 + 0.2265 11. Dan Wheldon Ganassi 16.4321 + 0.2318 12. Helio Castroneves Penske 16.4789 + 0.2786 13. Townsend Bell Dreyer & Reinbold 16.4998 + 0.2995 14. Will Power KV 16.5143 + 0.3140 15. AJ Foyt IV Vision 16.5483 + 0.3480 16. Ed Carpenter Vision 16.5614 + 0.3611 17. John Andretti Roth 16.6104 + 0.4101 18. Enrique Bernoldi Conquest 16.6896 + 0.4893 19. Jaime Camara Conquest 16.6914 + 0.4911 20. Mario Moraes Dale Coyne 16.7406 + 0.5403 21. Bruno Junqueira Dale Coyne 16.7610 + 0.5607 22. Graham Rahal Newman/Haas/Lanigan 16.8096 + 0.6093 23. Vitor Meira Panther 16.8131 + 0.6128 24. Justin Wilson Newman/Haas/Lanigan 16.9987 + 0.7984 25. Darren Manning Foyt 17.0524 + 0.8521 26. Marty Roth Roth 17.3487 + 1.1484
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