Leeds, Ala. – Will Power topped the IndyCar Series field as IndyCar Series practice got underway Friday at Barber Motorsports Park. Driving the Verizon Team Penske, the Australian’s top speed around the winding 2.3-mile road course was 113.814 miles per hour.
“When you are with Penske, you are expected to be in the top three or four, so we are about where we should be,” Power said. “I wasn’t that happy (with the car) at the end, and we will have to think about set-ups tonight. We just have to keep working.”
Rain slowed the first practice session and washed away much of the rubber, but the speeds picked up as the second-round progressed.
As practice concluded, Scott Dixon moved into second place on the speed charts with a late run of 113.382 mph.
“We changed the car a little bit but it was a pretty ugly lap to be honest about it,” the New Zealand native said. “I was kind of surprised we put that time up, but we have been consistently there this weekend.”
Power’s teammates Ryan Briscoe and Helio Castroneves were third and fifth fastest with St. Petersburg winner Dario Franchitti in-between them in the fourth spot.
Graham Rahal, Oriol Servia, Ryan Hunter-Reay and newcomer James Hinchcliffe with Takuma Sato rounding out the top-10 in practice speed.
During the rainy period, Sebastian Bourdais was the only driver to brave the elements but he went off-course, damaging the Dale Coyne entry. Switching to a back-up car, Bourdais returned to the track in the subsequent session.
In the late afternoon, Ryan Briscoe spun but continued on while E. J. Viso crashed hard into the first turn wall, causing extensive damage to the KV Racing Lola.
IndyCar SeriesJoe Jennings