Andretti tops opening IndyCar practice in Long Beach

Marco Andretti, intent on restoring the Andretti name at the top of the Long Beach record book, turned the fastest lap in opening practice for the IndyCars on the 1.97-mile street circuit. On a track that started damp but slowly dried, Andretti's lap of 1m17.2298s was nearly 3/4 of a second up on Takuma Sato in second.

Mike Conway was third for AJ Foyt Racing. Tony Kanaan and J.R. Hildebrand rounded out the top-5.

The times are way off from the record here at Long Beach but the lap times will drop quickly tomorrow on a dry track and sunny weather.

Rank Car Driver Engine Time Diff. Gap Laps
1 26 Marco Andretti Chevy 1:17.2298 0.0000s 0.0000s 11
2 15 Takuma Sato Honda 1:17.9448 0.7150 0.7150 7
3 14 Mike Conway Honda 1:18.2396 1.0098 0.2948 6
4 11 Tony Kanaan Chevy 1:19.2201 1.9903 0.9805 5
5 4 JR Hildebrand Chevy 1:19.5781 2.3483 0.3580 13
6 2 Ryan Briscoe Chevy 1:19.6077 2.3779 0.0296 4
7 28 Ryan Hunter-Reay Chevy 1:19.6864 2.4566 0.0787 6
8 5 EJ Viso Chevy 1:20.0477 2.8179 0.3613 10
9 3 Helio Castroneves Chevy 1:20.8696 3.6398 0.8219 12
10 9 Scott Dixon Honda 1:20.8931 3.6633 0.0235 13
11 7 Sebastien Bourdais Lotus 1:20.9018 3.6720 0.0087 12
12 8 Rubens Barrichello Chevy 1:20.9135 3.6837 0.0117 19
13 12 Will Power Chevy 1:21.2195 3.9897 0.3060 8
14 20 Ed Carpenter Chevy 1:22.7224 5.4926 1.5029 7
15 22 Oriol Servia Lotus 1:23.2228 5.9930 0.5004 7
16 98 Alex Tagliani Lotus 1:24.2307 7.0009 1.0079 3
17 78 Simona de Silvestro Lotus 1:24.4915 7.2617 0.2608 7
18 6 Katherine Legge Lotus 1:25.7130 8.4832 1.2215 11
19 27 James Hinchcliffe Chevy 57:27.5598 56:10.3300 56:01.8468 1
20 10 Dario Franchitti Honda 0 0.0000 0 0
21 67 Josef Newgarden Honda 0 0.0000 0 0