Angie's List Grand Prix of Indianapolis combined practice results
Three-time Verizon IndyCar Series champion Scott Dixon recorded the quickest lap time of 25 drivers during the first day of practice for the Angie’s List Grand Prix of Indianapolis.
Dixon’s lap of 1 minute, 10.6971 seconds in the second of two sessions on the 2.439-mile, 14-turn Indianapolis Motor Speedway road course was one second off the track record set by Simon Pagenaud in May 2014.
“It’s always a lot of fun when you’re at Indianapolis, road course or oval. I think this track a lot different from the other ones because you trim out (shed downforce) so much,” said Dixon, who has finished first and third in the past two races. “I can be frustrating at times trying to piece a lap together, but I think when you do, it’s rewarding. I think all of us have been off-track testing the limits.”
Reigning series champion Will Power was second on the time chart (1:10.8118) in the No. 1 Verizon Team Penske Chevrolet and Juan Pablo Montoya (1:10.8560) was third in the No. 2 Verizon Team Penske Chevrolet.
Sebastien Bourdais, driving the No. 11 Team Mistic E-Cigs – KVSH Racing Chevrolet, was quickest in the morning practice at 1:10.9378 and bettered it in the afternoon session (1:10.8839) for fourth quick overall.
"We were quick off the truck and sustained that pace throughout the day," said Bourdais, who finished fourth in the race last year. "We made some progress on the balance of the car and I believe we are in good shape. Some guys put new tires on at the end and we didn’t because we didn’t have any left. Overall, pretty happy with the car and looking forward to a good weekend.”
Helio Castroneves, who will mark his 300th Indy car start in the 82-lap race May 9, was fifth on the time chart (1:10.9290) in the No. 3 Verizon Team Penske Chevrolet and Pagenaud (1:10.9527) was sixth in the No. 22 DeVilbiss Team Penske Chevrolet.
"We had an opportunity to try quite a lot of things. We had a lot of practice and actually had more practice time than we had Firestone tires," said Castroneves, who has earned the Verizon P1 Award the past two races. "We are still going to make some changes, but at this point we are happy. With a day under our belts here, there is no question that we are on the right path.”
Pagenaud set the track record of 1:09.6716 last May in the first segment of knockout qualifications and went on to win the inaugural Verizon IndyCar Series race on the road course. He received the champion's ring following the second practice. Sebastian Saavedra earned the Verizon P1 Award in the Firestone Fast Six last May with a lap of 1:23.8822 in wet/drying track conditions.
A 45-minute practice at 11 a.m. (ET) May 8 will determine the qualifying groups for the first of three segments of knockout qualifications (3 p.m.). All the sessions are streamed live on RaceControl.indycar.com, supplemented by live Timing & Scoring and the Advance Auto Parts INDYCAR Radio Network broadcast.
Nos. 10 and 25 cars stand out
The LED display real-time car positioning panels that were tested in mid-March at Barber Motorsports Park were on the Nos. 10 (Tony Kanaan) and 25 (Justin Wilson) cars for both sessions.
The 8-inch-wide by 7-inch-tall panels, which are only 3 millimeters thick, will be attached to either side of the airbox (below the cockpit camera mount) on each entry. INDYCAR is seeking to implement the panels beginning with Indianapolis 500 practice on May 15, pending positive results and delivery of components for all entries.
The minimum car weights will be adjusted for the addition of the panels: road/street and short oval events will be 1,604 pounds and 1,574 pounds for superspeedway events.