Castroneves Once Again Tops Indy 500 Practice
May 16, 2010
Photo courtesy of Steve Swope
SPEEDWAY, Ind. (May 16, 2010) - Team Penske continued its strong performance Sunday during the second day of practice for the 94th running of the Indianapolis 500.
The team's drivers recorded three of the eight fastest laps during Sunday's session, including the top time of the day again by three-time race winner Helio Castroneves. In his pursuit of a record-tying fourth Indy 500 win this month, Castroneves posted the fastest speed of 227.046 mph in the No. 3 Team Penske Dallara/Honda. Intermittent rain showers halted practice several times during the afternoon session.
"Today was a good day for Team Penske," said Castroneves, who also had the fastest lap in Saturday's opening-day practice. "Despite the weather, with it raining off and on, we were still able to work on some areas to make the car better for the race. It's always good to be out there learning something. On the fast lap, I just put myself in a good position to get a good draft and we wound up with a faster lap than yesterday."
Will Power, the current IZOD IndyCar Series points leader, had the fourth-fastest lap Sunday at 225.600 mph in the No. 12 Verizon Team Penske Dallara/Honda, while Ryan Briscoe was eighth on the time chart with a top lap of 224.559 mph in the No. 6 Team Penske car.
"We turned some quality laps today in the Verizon car and a 225.600 (mph) average speed makes for a solid lap," said Power. "We were able to turn 28 laps, despite losing some time with a radio issue that the guys had to fix. The weather could be much different next weekend so we'll have to wait and see if what we learned today is helpful for qualifying. All the Team Penske cars seem to be quick, and we'll continue to fine-tune things so we're prepared when it comes time to qualify."
The team's drivers recorded three of the eight fastest laps during Sunday's session, including the top time of the day again by three-time race winner Helio Castroneves. In his pursuit of a record-tying fourth Indy 500 win this month, Castroneves posted the fastest speed of 227.046 mph in the No. 3 Team Penske Dallara/Honda. Intermittent rain showers halted practice several times during the afternoon session.
"Today was a good day for Team Penske," said Castroneves, who also had the fastest lap in Saturday's opening-day practice. "Despite the weather, with it raining off and on, we were still able to work on some areas to make the car better for the race. It's always good to be out there learning something. On the fast lap, I just put myself in a good position to get a good draft and we wound up with a faster lap than yesterday."
Will Power, the current IZOD IndyCar Series points leader, had the fourth-fastest lap Sunday at 225.600 mph in the No. 12 Verizon Team Penske Dallara/Honda, while Ryan Briscoe was eighth on the time chart with a top lap of 224.559 mph in the No. 6 Team Penske car.
"We turned some quality laps today in the Verizon car and a 225.600 (mph) average speed makes for a solid lap," said Power. "We were able to turn 28 laps, despite losing some time with a radio issue that the guys had to fix. The weather could be much different next weekend so we'll have to wait and see if what we learned today is helpful for qualifying. All the Team Penske cars seem to be quick, and we'll continue to fine-tune things so we're prepared when it comes time to qualify."
"We had a solid day in the No. 6 Team Penske car," added Briscoe. "We ran lots of laps and we actually made some good adjustments on the set-up for our race car. We made progress in the direction we will be working toward tomorrow. Things are going well, we are working through our list and moving forward."
Indy 500 practice is scheduled to resume Monday at 12 p.m. ET. Pole day qualifying on Saturday, May 22 is set to begin at 11 a.m. ET and will be televised live on Versus. The race is scheduled for Sunday, May 30 at 1 p.m. ET and ABC's live coverage will begin at 12 p.m.