Pocono IndyCar: Marco Andretti fastest in first practice
Marco Andretti kicked off IndyCar's return to Pocono by setting the fastest time in opening practice
Andretti set the pace with a 221.883mph average on just his third lap, and the time stood for the remainder of the hour-long session.
Tony Kanaan came closest to matching the Andretti Autosport driver, but his 220.819mph effort for KV was still a mile per hour down on Andretti's time.
Ganassi's Charlie Kimball was best of the Hondas in third, with Simon Pagenaud vaulting up to fourth-fastest with his final flying lap.
Current points leader Helio Castroneves rounded out the top five.
A mostly uneventful session was interrupted just once when Will Power's car stopped at Turn 2 with a suspected electrical problem.
Only 23 cars ran as Panther's Ryan Briscoe is skipping practice and qualifying day due to his American Le Mans Series commitments at Lime Rock.
With the teams having spent a full day testing at the track on Thursday, the morning session marked the final opportunity to fine-tune cars before qualifying takes place later on Saturday.
Pos Driver Team/Engine Time Gap 1. Marco Andretti Andretti/Chevy 40.5620s 2. Tony Kanaan KV/Chevy 40.7573s +0.1953s 3. Charlie Kimball Ganassi/Honda 40.7825s +0.2205s 4. Simon Pagenaud Schmidt/Honda 40.8671s +0.3051s 5. Helio Castroneves Penske/Chevy 40.8685s +0.3065s 6. Scott Dixon Ganassi/Honda 40.8688s +0.3068s 7. Takuma Sato Foyt/Honda 40.8832s +0.3212s 8. Will Power Penske/Chevy 40.9543s +0.3923s 9. James Hinchcliffe Andretti/Chevy 40.9551s +0.3931s 10. Alex Tagliani Herta/Honda 40.9600s +0.3980s 11. Ryan Hunter-Reay Andretti/Chevy 40.9794s +0.4174s 12. Tristan Vautier Schmidt/Honda 40.9906s +0.4286s 13. EJ Viso Andretti/Chevy 41.0031s +0.4411s 14. Simona de Silvestro KV/Chevy 41.0787s +0.5167s 15. Josef Newgarden Fisher/Honda 41.0870s +0.5250s 16. Dario Franchitti Ganassi/Honda 41.1757s +0.6137s 17. Sebastien Bourdais Dragon/Chevy 41.2025s +0.6405s 18. Pippa Mann Coyne/Honda 41.2425s +0.6805s 19. Ed Carpenter Carpenter/Chevy 41.2841s +0.7221s 20. Sebastian Saavedra Dragon/Chevy 41.3188s +0.7568s 21. Justin Wilson Coyne/Honda 41.3470s +0.7850s 22. James Jakes Rahal/Honda 41.4317s +0.8697s 23. Graham Rahal Rahal/Honda 41.4646s +0.9026s All drivers use Dallara DW12 chassis
Be part of the Autosport community
Join the conversationShare Or Save This Story
Subscribe and access Autosport.com with your ad-blocker.
From Formula 1 to MotoGP we report straight from the paddock because we love our sport, just like you. In order to keep delivering our expert journalism, our website uses advertising. Still, we want to give you the opportunity to enjoy an ad-free and tracker-free website and to continue using your adblocker.
Top Comments