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Returnee Power leads first practice

Will Power announced his return to the IndyCar Series in fine style by setting the pace in the opening practice session for the championship's first Toronto event

The Australian has rejoined Penske in a third car for this and four other events, having begun the season deputising for Helio Castroneves while the Brazilian completed his tax evasion trial.

Having slipped to 19th in the standings during his absence, Power was eligible for the extra half hour of practice for rookies and drivers outside the top ten in the championship, and he made the most of it to set the pace for the majority of the morning, only ever being headed for a few minutes at a time.

Power, who won the final Champ Car race in Toronto in 2007, eventually got down to a 1m02.1733s lap, 0.1242 seconds faster than impressive rookie Raphael Matos (Luczo Dragon), who had raced at the track in Atlantic.

Championship leader Scott Dixon took third for Ganassi, ahead of Ryan Briscoe - the Penske driver jumping to fourth at the end having previously languished in the midfield.

Local hero Paul Tracy was quick from the outset, putting last week's disappointing Watkins Glen performance behind him as he ended up fifth for KV Racing.

Tony Kanaan was sixth in the best of the Andretti Green cars, ahead of 1999 Toronto winner Dario Franchitti (Ganassi), Helio Castroneves (Penske) and Newman/Haas/Lanigan duo Robert Doornbos and Graham Rahal - the Dutch driver putting in his most competitive IndyCar performance yet as he ran in the top five for much of the morning.

The session started slightly late due to delays in the support race sessions and finished slightly early after Dreyer & Reinbold's Mike Conway continued his run of practice incidents by nosing into the tyres. He had started the day with a trip down the Turn 3 escape road in company with Matos.

Power also had a visit to the escape roads, while Vision's Ed Carpenter caused one of the handful of stoppages by sliding into the tyres as he tried to avoid a wayward Marco Andretti (AGR).

Pos  Driver             Team                 Time        Gap
 1.  Will Power         Penske               1m02.1733s
 2.  Raphael Matos      Luczo Dragon         1m02.2975s  + 0.1242s
 3.  Scott Dixon        Ganassi              1m02.3324s  + 0.1591s
 4.  Ryan Briscoe       Penske               1m02.3556s  + 0.1823s
 5.  Paul Tracy         KV                   1m02.3930s  + 0.2197s
 6.  Tony Kanaan        Andretti Green       1m02.4499s  + 0.2766s
 7.  Dario Franchitti   Ganassi              1m02.4964s  + 0.3231s
 8.  Helio Castroneves  Penske               1m02.5057s  + 0.3324s
 9.  Robert Doornbos    Newman/Haas/Lanigan  1m02.5742s  + 0.4009s
10.  Graham Rahal       Newman/Haas/Lanigan  1m02.5765s  + 0.4032s
11.  Ryan Hunter-Reay   Foyt                 1m02.6661s  + 0.4928s
12.  Justin Wilson      Coyne                1m02.6748s  + 0.5015s
13.  Alex Tagliani      Conquest             1m02.6923s  + 0.5190s
14.  Mike Conway        Dreyer & Reinbold    1m03.0203s  + 0.8470s
15.  Mario Moraes       KV                   1m03.0293s  + 0.8560s
16.  Marco Andretti     Andretti Green       1m03.2557s  + 1.0824s
17.  Hideki Mutoh       Andretti Green       1m03.3323s  + 1.1590s
18.  EJ Viso            HVM                  1m03.5222s  + 1.3489s
19.  Tomas Scheckter    Dreyer & Reinbold    1m04.1912s  + 2.0179s
20.  Dan Wheldon        Panther              1m04.3358s  + 2.1625s
21.  Richard Antinucci  3G                   1m04.4100s  + 2.2367s
22.  Ed Carpenter       Vision               1m04.8593s  + 2.6860s
23.  Danica Patrick     Andretti Green       1m04.9420s  + 2.7687s

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