St. Pete: Pagenaud tops opening IndyCar practice
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| Simon Pagenaud |
Penske Racing's Simon Pagenaud turned the fastest lap in opening practice for the 2016 IndyCar season on the streets of St. Petersburg. A.J. Foyt Racing's Jack Hawksworth was second, a mere six-hundredths behind Pagenaud, with Team Penske's Helio Castroneves third. Takuma Sato and Ryan Hunter-Reay rounded out the top-five.
Two-time Firestone Grand Prix of St. Petersburg winner Will Power brought out a red flag midway through the session with a crash in turn 9. The #12 Verizon Team Penske Chevrolet sustained significant damage to the right suspension.
The Verizon IndyCar Series will be back on track at 3:40 p.m. this afternoon for practice 2.
Results
| Pos | No | Name | Time | Diff | Gap | FL | Laps | Speed | Engine |
| 1 | 22 | Simon Pagenaud | 1:01.725 | 0.000 | 0.000 | 13 | 19 | 104.982 | Chevy |
| 2 | 41 | Jack Hawksworth | 1:01.787 | 0.0624 | 0.0624 | 12 | 20 | 104.876 | Honda |
| 3 | 3 | Helio Castroneves | 1:01.805 | 0.0805 | 0.0181 | 5 | 11 | 104.846 | Chevy |
| 4 | 14 | Takuma Sato | 1:01.841 | 0.1165 | 0.0360 | 5 | 15 | 104.785 | Honda |
| 5 | 28 | Ryan Hunter-Reay | 1:01.873 | 0.1488 | 0.0323 | 7 | 16 | 104.730 | Honda |
| 6 | 9 | Scott Dixon | 1:01.962 | 0.2376 | 0.0888 | 7 | 18 | 104.580 | Chevy |
| 7 | 10 | Tony Kanaan | 1:01.997 | 0.2721 | 0.0345 | 6 | 23 | 104.522 | Chevy |
| 8 | 2 | Juan Pablo Montoya | 1:02.096 | 0.3718 | 0.0997 | 8 | 13 | 104.354 | Chevy |
| 9 | 83 | Charlie Kimball | 1:02.147 | 0.4225 | 0.0507 | 7 | 19 | 104.269 | Chevy |
| 10 | 26 | Carlos Munoz | 1:02.155 | 0.4300 | 0.0075 | 4 | 18 | 104.256 | Honda |
| 11 | 27 | Marco Andretti | 1:02.158 | 0.4335 | 0.0035 | 10 | 16 | 104.250 | Honda |
| 12 | 11 | Sebastien Bourdais | 1:02.162 | 0.4375 | 0.0040 | 8 | 18 | 104.244 | Chevy |
| 13 | 5 | James Hinchcliffe | 1:02.184 | 0.4592 | 0.0217 | 5 | 18 | 104.207 | Honda |
| 14 | 21 | Josef Newgarden | 1:02.237 | 0.5120 | 0.0528 | 12 | 19 | 104.119 | Chevy |
| 15 | 15 | Graham Rahal | 1:02.242 | 0.5169 | 0.0049 | 6 | 18 | 104.111 | Honda |
| 16 | 19 | Luca Filippi | 1:02.288 | 0.5635 | 0.0466 | 18 | 18 | 104.033 | Honda |
| 17 | 12 | Will Power | 1:02.435 | 0.7105 | 0.1470 | 4 | 5 | 103.788 | Chevy |
| 18 | 98 | Alexander Rossi | 1:02.590 | 0.8651 | 0.1546 | 6 | 22 | 103.531 | Honda |
| 19 | 16 | Spencer Pigot | 1:02.835 | 1.1108 | 0.2457 | 24 | 27 | 103.127 | Honda |
| 20 | 18 | Conor Daly | 1:02.927 | 1.2023 | 0.0915 | 20 | 26 | 102.977 | Honda |
| 21 | 7 | Mikhail Aleshin | 1:03.281 | 1.5562 | 0.3539 | 19 | 21 | 102.401 | Honda |
| 22 | 8 | Max Chilton | 1:03.381 | 1.6562 | 0.1000 | 33 | 34 | 102.239 | Chevy |