Scott Dixon set the pace in second practice for this weekend’s first Verizon IndyCar Series race of the season around the streets of St. Petersburg.
The four-time IndyCar champion hit the front in his Honda-powered Chip Ganassi Racing entry with a time of 1:02.5991, which was even more impressive in the fact he set the lap time on the supposedly slower black-walled Firestone tyre as opposed to the faster red-walled tyre.
Dixon was 0.2825 seconds faster than second-placed Will Power, who after crashing and compromising his first session was much more on the pace in the second session for the Team Penske.
Chip Ganassi Racing enjoyed a strong session overall, with Dixon’s team-mates Tony Kanaan and Charlie Kimball ending up third and fourth fastest respectively, separated by just 0.0203 seconds, while Sebastian Bourdais made it four Honda-powered cars inside the top five on his return to Dale Coyne Racing.
New Team Penske driver Josef Newgarden was sixth fastest ahead of James Hinchcliffe, who put in a late flying lap to move up to seventh for Schmidt Peterson Motorsports, while opening practice pacesetter Marco Andretti was eighth fastest for Andretti Autosport.
Reigning champion Simon Pagenaud made it three Penske machines inside the top ten, which was rounded out by AJ Foyt Racing’s Carlos Muñoz.
As in the first session of the day, the 45-minutes did not go completely to plan for all drivers, with Takuma Sato causing a delay when he crashed into the wall at turn thirteen after locking up his wheels. The Andretti Autosport driver saw his session ended without a time being set as a result, with the front left corner of his car being left damaged.
Streets of St. Petersburg Free Practice 2 Result
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