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IndyCar
INDYCAR: Power Tops Second St. Pete Practice
Team Penske's Will Power nearly matched his pole speed from last year in only the second practice session of the weekend, leading Briscoe and Franchitti.
Team Penske's Will Power nearly matched his pole speed from last year in only the second practice session of the weekend with the new Dallara chassis and turbocharged engine formula.
The Aussie's 1:02.00 was just a whisker off his pole lap of 1:01.96 set on sticky Firestone Reds in 2011. The fastest lap from second practice last year, for the sake of comparing the new Dallara DW12 chassis to its predecessor, the IR07, was Power's own 1:03.37
"We didn't do many laps in the second session, we wanted to conserve tires until we have a better understanding of how they degrade and it puts us in a good position for tomorrow in practice," he said. "All in all, we'll make some changes over night and see what we can come up with for tomorrow. You have to get the car right because that's what you'll be using in qualifying and the race."
Penske's Ryan Briscoe followed Power closely with a 1:02.09, and reigning IndyCar Series champion Dario Franchitti was 0.13 seconds behind Briscoe with a 1:02.22.
"The IZOD Team Penske car is good," said Briscoe. "It already feels faster than the old car around here, braking later. It feels really good, especially the extra horsepower from the Chevrolet twin-turbo V6. It's definitely a different feel. There's a lot of tuning we can do around the engine drivability and the car setup. I'm enjoying it like a kid with a new toy. I'm having a good time with it. I feel like it is suiting my driving style, and I've been able to learn a lot about my driving style as well with this new car.
"It's good timing with a new engineer, Jonathan Diuguid. He's doing a great job. It will be his first race as an IndyCar engineer so we're hoping to kick it off with a good one."
Franchitti's take on the second was slightly more reserved.
"We're still learning both the engine and the chassis," he said. "The Target guys are working hard on it and we have tonight and a practice session tomorrow to get it right for qualifying. You always have these things when you're developing a new car. It's a lot of work."
Graham Rahal turned a 1:02.29 in the No. 38 Ganassi entry to take fourth and Scott Dixon claimed fifth in yet another Ganassi car with a 1:02.31-second tour of the 14-turn, 1.8-mile street course.
"Overall, I feel like it was a really good day for the Service Central guys," said Rahal. "We made a lot of improvements and we feel like there's more time in both myself and the car and so I think we feel good about where we stand both tomorrow and then on into Sunday. There's still work to be done but, overall, I think the guys did a really good job and we're looking forward to the rest of the weekend."
Dixon, who was fastest in the first practice session, had too much oversteer in the afternoon to hold the top spot.
"We worked today on balance for the most part," he said. "Coming back to St. Petersburg with a new car, there are a lot of unknowns obviously. The Target car is good though. We made a number of adjustments in the second session and I think we over-adjusted and got the car too loose. Looking back now I think we should probably have been higher up on the scoring charts."
With Chevrolet-powered cars taking first and second in the session, the Bowtie Brigade also took sixth through ninth with Helio Castroneves, James Hinchcliffe and Tony Kanaan.
Mike Conway closed the top 10 in his Honda-powered A.J. Foyt car.
Rubens Barrichello lost most of the morning session with gearbox issues limiting track time in his KV Racing Dallara DW12-Chevrolet, and tried to make up for it by running 25 laps, the most laps of any driver, but could only muster the 23rd-fastest lap, some 1.3 seconds off Power's best as he got accustomed to the bayside circuit.
"I spent the afternoon session learning the track, while everyone else was now improving their cars," he said. "I was playing catch up big time that's for sure. Hopefully tomorrow I can improve a little more from today."
Simona de Silvestro was the fastest of the Lotus contingent, turning a 1:02.91-second lap, which was good enough for 16th.
The next Lotus car belonged to Sebastien Bourdais whose No. 7 chassis turned its first laps in the morning session. The Frenchman was ecstatic with setting the 19th-fastest time with so little mileage or setup work on the car.
"It was the first day in the car and there was a lot to do," he said. "Overall, I'm pretty damn happy that everything went the way that we wanted to. Honestly, if you had told me that we would run two sessions with no problems, I would have signed straight away. We're near the top of the Lotus teams, pretty much. We're seven hundredths behind Simona, who was the fastest. We're just learning about the car and making it better every run and making progress.
"This is what the team needs. We'll all get a good night's sleep after the boys worked until 3 a.m. last night. It's a good day. A good day."
Simon Pagenaud was the fastest rookie in 12th with a lap of 1:02.59, with fellow rookie Josef Newgarden close behind in 14th after posting a lap of 1:02.78.
PHOTOS: Click Here or on the image below to view INDYCAR: St.Pete Friday 2012
The Aussie's 1:02.00 was just a whisker off his pole lap of 1:01.96 set on sticky Firestone Reds in 2011. The fastest lap from second practice last year, for the sake of comparing the new Dallara DW12 chassis to its predecessor, the IR07, was Power's own 1:03.37
"We didn't do many laps in the second session, we wanted to conserve tires until we have a better understanding of how they degrade and it puts us in a good position for tomorrow in practice," he said. "All in all, we'll make some changes over night and see what we can come up with for tomorrow. You have to get the car right because that's what you'll be using in qualifying and the race."
Penske's Ryan Briscoe followed Power closely with a 1:02.09, and reigning IndyCar Series champion Dario Franchitti was 0.13 seconds behind Briscoe with a 1:02.22.
"The IZOD Team Penske car is good," said Briscoe. "It already feels faster than the old car around here, braking later. It feels really good, especially the extra horsepower from the Chevrolet twin-turbo V6. It's definitely a different feel. There's a lot of tuning we can do around the engine drivability and the car setup. I'm enjoying it like a kid with a new toy. I'm having a good time with it. I feel like it is suiting my driving style, and I've been able to learn a lot about my driving style as well with this new car.
"It's good timing with a new engineer, Jonathan Diuguid. He's doing a great job. It will be his first race as an IndyCar engineer so we're hoping to kick it off with a good one."
Franchitti's take on the second was slightly more reserved.
"We're still learning both the engine and the chassis," he said. "The Target guys are working hard on it and we have tonight and a practice session tomorrow to get it right for qualifying. You always have these things when you're developing a new car. It's a lot of work."
Graham Rahal turned a 1:02.29 in the No. 38 Ganassi entry to take fourth and Scott Dixon claimed fifth in yet another Ganassi car with a 1:02.31-second tour of the 14-turn, 1.8-mile street course.
"Overall, I feel like it was a really good day for the Service Central guys," said Rahal. "We made a lot of improvements and we feel like there's more time in both myself and the car and so I think we feel good about where we stand both tomorrow and then on into Sunday. There's still work to be done but, overall, I think the guys did a really good job and we're looking forward to the rest of the weekend."
Dixon, who was fastest in the first practice session, had too much oversteer in the afternoon to hold the top spot.
"We worked today on balance for the most part," he said. "Coming back to St. Petersburg with a new car, there are a lot of unknowns obviously. The Target car is good though. We made a number of adjustments in the second session and I think we over-adjusted and got the car too loose. Looking back now I think we should probably have been higher up on the scoring charts."
With Chevrolet-powered cars taking first and second in the session, the Bowtie Brigade also took sixth through ninth with Helio Castroneves, James Hinchcliffe and Tony Kanaan.
Mike Conway closed the top 10 in his Honda-powered A.J. Foyt car.
Rubens Barrichello lost most of the morning session with gearbox issues limiting track time in his KV Racing Dallara DW12-Chevrolet, and tried to make up for it by running 25 laps, the most laps of any driver, but could only muster the 23rd-fastest lap, some 1.3 seconds off Power's best as he got accustomed to the bayside circuit.
"I spent the afternoon session learning the track, while everyone else was now improving their cars," he said. "I was playing catch up big time that's for sure. Hopefully tomorrow I can improve a little more from today."
Simona de Silvestro was the fastest of the Lotus contingent, turning a 1:02.91-second lap, which was good enough for 16th.
The next Lotus car belonged to Sebastien Bourdais whose No. 7 chassis turned its first laps in the morning session. The Frenchman was ecstatic with setting the 19th-fastest time with so little mileage or setup work on the car.
"It was the first day in the car and there was a lot to do," he said. "Overall, I'm pretty damn happy that everything went the way that we wanted to. Honestly, if you had told me that we would run two sessions with no problems, I would have signed straight away. We're near the top of the Lotus teams, pretty much. We're seven hundredths behind Simona, who was the fastest. We're just learning about the car and making it better every run and making progress.
"This is what the team needs. We'll all get a good night's sleep after the boys worked until 3 a.m. last night. It's a good day. A good day."
Simon Pagenaud was the fastest rookie in 12th with a lap of 1:02.59, with fellow rookie Josef Newgarden close behind in 14th after posting a lap of 1:02.78.
PHOTOS: Click Here or on the image below to view INDYCAR: St.Pete Friday 2012
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