Power Leads Team Penske 1-2-3 Practice Sweep at Edmonton
July 23, 2010
Just five days after his victory on the streets of Toronto, Will Power led the way with the fastest lap of the day, circling the 14-turn course in 1:01.6689 in the No. 12 Verizon Team Penske Dallara/Honda. Power, last year's winner at Edmonton, said the team is off to a good start, but there's still some room for improvement.
"The Verizon car is doing great, but we still have some work to do on the car to make it better," said Power. "I don't have the feeling in the car that I had earlier in the day. The track is coming up to grip and I'd like to get a better feel for the car because the field will get faster and tomorrow will be the toughest qualifying session of the year."
Ryan Briscoe was right behind Power on the speed chart on Friday afternoon, clocking the second-fastest lap of the day at 1:01.9474 in the No. 6 Team Penske Dallara/Honda.
"I love this track. It is just so exciting," said Briscoe, the 2008 polewinner at Edmonton for Team Penske who finished fourth at the venue last season. "You're out there really pushing hard, jumping over curbs, it's just a lot of fun. It's good to be out there. The balance feels pretty close on the Team Penske car, like we were used to last year."
Helio Castroneves completed the team sweep as he owned the third-fastest lap of the 25-car field - 1:02.0152 in the No. 3 Team Penske machine. Castroneves qualified third last season at Edmonton and has finished second in each of the last two races on the popular street circuit.
"This is a good start for Team Penske, finishing the second practice 1-2-3," said Castroneves, the three-time Indy 500 winner. "The No. 3 car group was struggling through some technical issues, but we figured out what the car needed and we are confident going into tomorrow's practice and qualifying. It's great to be back in Edmonton. I love this place."
All three Team Penske drivers are among the top six in the IZOD IndyCar Series championship standings, with Power leading the way after 10 of 17 races this season. Briscoe is ranked fourth and Castroneves sixth.
Team Penske entered the weekend looking for its seventh win of the season. Power's victory in Toronto last weekend was the 150th in the history of Roger Penske's Indy car team.
Action continues from City Centre Airport Saturday with a one-hour practice session at 12:15 p.m. ET, followed by qualifications at 5:30 p.m. ET. Qualifying television coverage will begin at 6:00 p.m. ET on Versus. Sunday's Honda Indy Edmonton will also be televised on Versus with coverage starting at 5:00 p.m. ET.