Scott Dixon continued to set the pace in final practice for the opening race of the season around the streets of St. Petersburg, with the track continuing to quicken ahead of qualifying.
The New Zealander following up his pace setting time in Friday’s second practice session with a lap of 1:01.6240 for Chip Ganassi Racing, with nineteen of the twenty-one drivers in the field going faster than Dixon had managed yesterday.
James Hinchcliffe was second fastest for Schmidt Peterson Motorsport, confirming that Honda, who struggled for performance for most of 2016, have improved their package for 2017. In fact the top six in the session were Honda powered, with Alexander Rossi third fastest for Andretti Herta Autosport.
Max Chilton had his best session of the weekend so far to place fourth for Chip Ganassi’s outfit, ahead of Sebastien Bourdais of Dale Coyne Racing and Marco Andretti of Andretti Autosport, while the leading Chevrolet-powered entry was that of Josef Newgarden of Team Penske in seventh.
Ryan Hunter-Reay was eighth fastest for Andretti Autosport ahead of series veteran Tony Kanaan of Chip Ganassi Racing, with the Brazilian entering his twentieth season of IndyCar racing in 2017.
Completing the top ten was Team Penske’s Will Power, who finished just ahead of team-mate and current IndyCar champion Simon Pagenaud, with Charlie Kimball twelfth.
Streets of St. Petersburg Free Practice 3 Result
[table id=1787 /]
