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Australia

Dixon grabs P1 in second practice for GP Indy

Under gloomy skies, the four-time and reigning IndyCar champion nailed the fastest time of the day to push Chip Ganassi Racing ahead of its prime rivals Team Penske, as five drivers ducked under the 70-second barrier.

Scott Dixon, Chip Ganassi Racing Chevrolet

Scott Dixon, Chip Ganassi Racing Chevrolet

IndyCar Series

The car of Scott Dixon, Chip Ganassi Racing Chevrolet
Graham Rahal, Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing Honda
Graham Rahal, Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing Honda
Simon Pagenaud, Team Penske Chevrolet
Alex Tagliani, A.J. Foyt Enterprises Honda

Dixon lapped the 2.439-mile course in 1min09.8281sec to set an average speed of 125.743mph with his final lap of the day. That edged him 0.16sec ahead of championship leader Simon Pagenaud of Team Penske-Chevrolet.

Graham Rahal was again top Honda runner, a mere 0.0002 behind his Barber Motorsports Park adversary, with Sebastien Bourdais (KVSH Racing) and Will Power (Penske) a similar distance apart in fourth and fifth. Power’s P1 time from the first practice remains his fastest of the day, and would have put him P2 in combined times.

Following James Hinchcliffe’s problem this morning, Schmidt Peterson Motorsports could be satisfied with sixth and eighth for Mikhail Aleshin and Hinchcliffe, although the latter drove off-course in the closing minute of the session.

2012 champion Ryan Hunter-Reay headed up the Andretti Autosport-Honda quartet in 10th, while Spencer Pigot was again impressive in the second RLLR car, clocking a time less than 0.3sec from team leader Rahal.

Another noticeable improvement came from JR Hildebrand who was just a quarter-second off Ed Carpenter Racing teammate Josef Newgarden… although this made a difference of 10 places on the timesheets!

Alex Tagliani had an adventurous session. He caused the second of two red flags with a spin and stall (Alex Rossi was the first), then he became the quickest AJ Foyt Racing driver, then he received a penalty for ignoring the checkered flag. The Canadian will have to miss the first five minutes of practice tomorrow as his punishment.

Matthew Brabham, on his IndyCar debut, was 24th and last of the drivers who set a representative time, despite his Pirtek Team Murray-KVSH entry being just 1.15sec off the ultimate pace and within one second of KVSH teammate Bourdais.

In the closing five minutes, Carlos Munoz's Andretti Autosport-Honda car made one slow lap, and then all-but expired on the final turn.

Second practice for Grand Prix of Indianapolis

  PiloteÉquipeÉcart
1 9 Nouvelle-ZélandeScott Dixon   Ganassi (C) 1:09.8281
2 22 FranceSimon Pagenaud   Penske (C) +0.1613
3 15 États-UnisGraham Rahal   Rahal (H) +0.1615
4 11 FranceSébastien Bourdais   KVSH (C) +0.1663
5 12 AustralieWill Power   Penske (C) +0.1665
6 7 RussieMikhail Aleshin   Schmidt (H) +0.2297
7 21 États-UnisJosef Newgarden   Carpenter (C) +0.2460
8 5 CanadaJames Hinchcliffe   Schmidt (H) +0.2534
9 2 ColombieJuan Pablo Montoya   Penske (C) +0.3415
10 28 États-UnisRyan Hunter-Reay   Andretti (H) +0.3652
11 3 BrésilHelio Castroneves   Penske (C) +0.4199
12 16 États-UnisSpencer Pigot   Rahal (H) +0.4260
13 83 États-UnisCharlie Kimball   Ganassi (C) +0.4599
14 18 États-UnisConor Daly   Coyne (H) +0.4656
15 27 États-UnisMarco Andretti   Andretti (H) +0.4686
16 19 ColombieGabby Chaves   Coyne (H) +0.4781
17 6 États-UnisJ.R. Hildebrand   Carpenter (C) +0.5126
18 98 États-UnisAlexander Rossi   Andretti-Herta (H) +0.6334
19 35 CanadaAlex Tagliani   Foyt (H) +0.6825
20 8 Royaume-UniMax Chilton   Ganassi (C) +0.7694
21 14 JaponTakuma Sato   Foyt (H) +0.8031
22 10 BrésilTony Kanaan   Ganassi (C) +0.8106
23 41 Royaume-UniJack Hawksworth   Foyt (H) +0.8967
24 61  Matthew Brabham   KV/Murray (C) +1.1488
25 26 ColombieCarlos Muñoz   Andretti (H) +18.1115

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