INDIANAPOLIS, Monday, May 6, 2002
–Helio Castroneves returned today to a familiar place at the
Indianapolis Motor Speedway – the top.
Defending Indianapolis 500 champion Castroneves led a
rain-shortened, windy practice session with a fast lap of
39.6972 seconds, 226.716 mph in the No. 3 Marlboro Team Penske
Dallara/Chevrolet/Firestone.
Castroneves was second fastest on Indianapolis Star Opening
Day on May 5 with a lap of 39.5764, 227.408.
“Today the conditions were totally different than yesterday,”
Castroneves said. “We had rain. The track was green. The wind
was in a different position.
“The car so far is handling very well, which is good, but you
still have to keep working. Everybody is getting closer. The
times are getting closer. It wasn’t as fast as yesterday, but
I do believe we have a good position right now, so let’s keep
working hard.”
There were just 77 minutes of practice today on the 2.5-mile
oval, as showers delayed the start for nearly six hours.
Practice opened at 4:43 p.m. (EST), the latest start for a
practice day at the Speedway since 1990, when a practice began
at 5:14 p.m. under a running yellow.
Rookie Laurent Redon was second fastest at 39.7972, 226.147 in
the No. 34 Mi-Jack Dallara/Infiniti/Firestone, with 2001 Indy
Racing League Rookie of the Year Felipe Giaffone third at
39.8353, 225.930 in the No. 21 Hollywood Mo Nunn Racing G
Force/Chevrolet/Firestone.
PJ Jones, in just his second day on track with Team Menard,
was fourth fastest at 39.8508, 225.842 in the No. 2 Menards/Johns
Manville Dallara/Chevrolet/Firestone. Jones is substituting
for the injured Jaques Lazier.
Bruno Junqueira stayed in the top five for the second
consecutive day with a top lap of 39.8627, 225.775 in the No.
34 Target Chip Ganassi Racing G Force/Chevrolet/Firestone.
Junqueira was fourth best on Opening Day at 39.6767, 226.833.
1996 IRL co-champion Scott Sharp, fastest on Opening Day at
39.5481, 227.571, did not practice today, citing the
unpredictable weather and heavy traffic due to the short
session.
“If it had been a nice day, I’m sure we would have gone out at
some point in time,” Sharp said. “We thought it would be
better to just chill and run tomorrow, hopefully. We’re pretty
squared away. There’s always more to learn, always speed to be
found, but you’ve also got to do it in the right conditions.”
Twenty-eight drivers in 28 cars combined to turn 744 laps
today at the Speedway. Practice resumes at 11 a.m. (EST)
Tuesday.
Pole Day is Saturday. The 86th Indianapolis 500 is scheduled
for Sunday, May 26.
Quotes
Results
|
Rank
|
Car
|
Driver
|
C/E/T
|
Time
|
Speed
|
Lap
|
Difference
|
|
1
|
3
|
Castroneves, Helio
|
D/C/F
|
39.6972
|
226.716
|
18
|
|
2
|
34
|
Redon, Laurent
|
D/I/F
|
39.7972
|
226.147
|
25
|
+0.1000
|
|
3
|
21
|
Giaffone, Felipe
|
G/C/F
|
39.8353
|
225.930
|
28
|
+0.1381
|
|
4
|
2
|
Jones, PJ
|
D/C/F
|
39.8508
|
225.842
|
24
|
+0.1536
|
|
5
|
33
|
Junqueira, Bruno
|
G/C/F
|
39.8627
|
225.775
|
10
|
+0.1655
|
|
6
|
51
|
Cheever Jr, Eddie
|
D/I/F
|
39.9045
|
225.538
|
22
|
+0.2073
|
|
7
|
6
|
de Ferran, Gil
|
D/C/F
|
39.9568
|
225.243
|
38
|
+0.2596
|
|
8
|
22
|
Brack, Kenny
|
G/C/F
|
39.9582
|
225.235
|
32
|
+0.2610
|
|
9
|
98
|
Boat, Billy
|
D/C/F
|
39.9961
|
225.022
|
22
|
+0.2989
|
|
10
|
19T
|
Vasser, Jimmy
|
D/C/F
|
40.0021
|
224.988
|
25
|
+0.3049
|
|
11
|
4
|
Hornish Jr, Sam
|
D/C/F
|
40.1055
|
224.408
|
25
|
+0.4083
|
|
12
|
11
|
Ray, Greg
|
D/C/F
|
40.1130
|
224.366
|
23
|
+0.4158
|
|
13
|
20
|
Dismore, Mark
|
D/C/F
|
40.1344
|
224.247
|
15
|
+0.4372
|
|
14
|
26
|
Tracy, Paul
|
D/C/F
|
40.2504
|
223.600
|
28
|
+0.5532
|
|
15
|
53
|
Papis, Max
|
D/I/F
|
40.2734
|
223.473
|
24
|
+0.5762
|
|
16
|
39
|
Andretti, Michael
|
D/C/F
|
40.3347
|
223.133
|
16
|
+0.6375
|
|
17
|
17
|
Kanaan, Tony
|
G/C/F
|
40.3806
|
222.879
|
17
|
+0.6834
|
|
18
|
14
|
Dare, Airton
|
D/C/F
|
40.4010
|
222.767
|
30
|
+0.7038
|
|
19
|
91
|
Lazier, Buddy
|
D/C/F
|
40.4376
|
222.565
|
12
|
+0.7404
|
|
20
|
27
|
Franchitti, Dario
|
D/C/F
|
40.5662
|
221.860
|
21
|
+0.8690
|
|
21
|
55
|
Treadway, Rick
|
G/C/F
|
40.5730
|
221.822
|
16
|
+0.8758
|
|
22
|
30
|
Mack, George
|
G/C/F
|
40.6105
|
221.618
|
28
|
+0.9133
|
|
23
|
9
|
Ward, Jeff
|
G/C/F
|
40.7051
|
221.103
|
5
|
+1.0079
|
|
24
|
44
|
Barron, Alex
|
D/C/F
|
40.8448
|
220.346
|
41
|
+1.1476
|
|
25
|
7
|
Unser Jr, Al
|
D/C/F
|
40.9985
|
219.520
|
15
|
+1.3013
|
|
26
|
99
|
Lazzaro, Anthony
|
D/C/F
|
41.4125
|
217.326
|
10
|
+1.7153
|
|
27
|
37T
|
de Vries, John
|
D/C/F
|
41.8232
|
215.192
|
28
|
+2.1260
|
|
28
|
12
|
Hattori, Shigeaki
|
D/I/F
|
41.9799
|
214.388
|
24
|
+2.2827
|
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