The IndyCar Series and the Firestone Indy Lights Series both ran in free practice this morning. I am afraid the rain probably didn't give any of you late Fantasy League entrants much, if any, useful intelligence with regards to the performance of the teams and drivers in either category.
The Indy Lights got the brunt of the rain and the early part of the session was run in fully wet conditions. Rookies Duncan Tappy and Richard Phillipe were the class of field when the track was at it's worst and as the track gradually dried out it became impossible to get a real handle on the relative speed of the field. If the rains continue, I will be picking Tappy for my free pick this weekend. Anyone who saw his performance in dreadful conditions at Zolder in Superleague Formula will know that rain will not cause him any undue stress.
The lack of car/barrier interface situations was a pleasant surprise with only Pippa Mann in her Panther car hitting the tyres. So, in truth, we will have to wait and hope for a dry session later on this afternoon so that we can get a clearer picture of the real pace setters in the Lights category.
The drying track also meant that we were offered an uneven and almost entirely false picture of the IndyCar field (just think of a landscape drawn by the man whose Museum is in St Petersburg - Salvador Dali). The track had only one drying line for most of the session and only really invited more committed lappery towards it's conclusion. Although nobody was particularly surprised that the Target Chip Ganassi cars topped the time sheets.
1 10 Dario Franchitti 1:04.5032
2 9 Scott Dixon 01:05.1481
3 19 Justin Wilson 01:05.1836
4 6 Ryan Briscoe 01:05.2055
5 4 Dan Wheldon 01:05.3390
6 13 E.J. Viso 01:05.3966
7 26 Marco Andretti 01:05.6370
8 3 Will Power 01:05.6496 7
9 5 Mario Moraes 01:05.7412
10 02 Granham Rahal 01:05.8199
11 06 Robert Doornbos 01:06.0882
12 14 Vitor Meira 01:06.2692
13 2 Raphael Matos 01:06.3043
14 34 Alex Tagliani 01:06.3868
15 21 Ryan Hunter-Reay 01:06.4209
16 24 Mike Conway 01:06.5339
17 27 Hideki Mutoh 01:06.7729
18 7 Danica Patrick 01:07.3126
19 20 Ed Carpenter 01:08.5418
20 23 Darren Manning 01:08.6726
21 98 Stanton Barrett 01:10.6443
Tony Kanaan decided not to venture out at all. Maybe he knew something we didn't? I suspect more hands will be revealed in the afternoon sessions. It will be the last chance you chaps have to adjust your teams before the Midnight EST deadline.
- The Commish
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