Nikon Indy 300 - Australia

[DanicaFan]

Well, the IndyCar teams have a day of practice in now. They had 2 sessions today and they practice again tomorrow. Qualifications are Saturday. Danica didnt do as well as I hoped but now that she has some laps on the track, Im sure she will do good from here on out. I look for her to easily be in the top 10 tomorrow and for qualifications.

Will Power was the fastest today. And look at Dario Franchitti, 3rd quickest!

Here are the combined results of today's practice sessions..

Rank / Car# & Driver / Lap Time / Speed

1. #8 Will Power / 01:34.8084 / 106.130
2. #3 Helio Castroneves / 01:36.1609 / 104.637
3. #10 Dario Franchitti / 01:36.1712 / 104.626
4. #5 Oriol Servia / 01:36.4394 / 104.335
5. #06 Graham Rahal / 01:36.4963 / 104.273
6. #02 Justin Wilson / 01:36.5127 / 104.256
7. #9 Scott Dixon / 01:36.5812 / 104.182
8. #17 Ryan Hunter-Reay / 01:36.8863 / 103.854
9. #36 Alex Tagliani / 01:37.0625 / 103.665
10. #11 Tony Kanaan / 01:37.0650 / 103.662
11. #18 Bruno Junqueira / 01:37.3127 / 103.399
12. #6 Ryan Briscoe / 01:37.5183 / 103.181
13. #33 EJ Viso / 01:38.3860 / 102.271
14. #19 Mario Moraes / 01:38.6572 / 101.990
15. #27 Hideki Mutoh / 01:38.8353 / 101.806
16. #2 AJ Foyt IV / 01:39.0920 / 101.542
17. #14 Vitor Meira / 01:39.1538 / 101.479
18. #4 Dan Wheldon / 01:39.8513 / 100.770
19. #26 Marco Andretti / 01:39.8582 / 100.763
20. #7 Danica Patrick / 01:40.0527 / 100.567
21. #34 Jaime Camara / 01:40.4821 / 100.137
22. #15 Buddy Rice / 01:40.7196 / 99.901
23. #20 Ed Carpenter / 01:41.4751 / 99.157
24. #23 Townsend Bell / 01:41.5490 / 99.085

[ShiftingGears]

Well, I can only hope that everything goes Power's way come raceday.

I expect him to take pole.

[ShiftingGears]

Well, the IndyCar teams have a day of practice in now. They had 2 sessions today and they practice again tomorrow. Qualifications are Saturday. Danica didnt do as well as I hoped but now that she has some laps on the track, Im sure she will do good from here on out. I look for her to easily be in the top 10 tomorrow and for qualifications.

Will Power was the fastest today. And look at Dario Franchitti, 3rd quickest!

Here are the combined results of today's practice sessions..

Rank / Car# & Driver / Lap Time / Speed

1. #8 Will Power / 01:34.8084 / 106.130
2. #3 Helio Castroneves / 01:36.1609 / 104.637
3. #10 Dario Franchitti / 01:36.1712 / 104.626
4. #5 Oriol Servia / 01:36.4394 / 104.335
5. #06 Graham Rahal / 01:36.4963 / 104.273
6. #02 Justin Wilson / 01:36.5127 / 104.256
7. #9 Scott Dixon / 01:36.5812 / 104.182
8. #17 Ryan Hunter-Reay / 01:36.8863 / 103.854
9. #36 Alex Tagliani / 01:37.0625 / 103.665
10. #11 Tony Kanaan / 01:37.0650 / 103.662
11. #18 Bruno Junqueira / 01:37.3127 / 103.399
12. #6 Ryan Briscoe / 01:37.5183 / 103.181
13. #33 EJ Viso / 01:38.3860 / 102.271
14. #19 Mario Moraes / 01:38.6572 / 101.990
15. #27 Hideki Mutoh / 01:38.8353 / 101.806
16. #2 AJ Foyt IV / 01:39.0920 / 101.542
17. #14 Vitor Meira / 01:39.1538 / 101.479
18. #4 Dan Wheldon / 01:39.8513 / 100.770
19. #26 Marco Andretti / 01:39.8582 / 100.763
20. #7 Danica Patrick / 01:40.0527 / 100.567
21. #34 Jaime Camara / 01:40.4821 / 100.137
22. #15 Buddy Rice / 01:40.7196 / 99.901
23. #20 Ed Carpenter / 01:41.4751 / 99.157
24. #23 Townsend Bell / 01:41.5490 / 99.085

She was terrible. I'm baffled how some drivers who are apparently talented are 5 seconds a lap slower than the top drivers in a spec chassis series.

[Damon]

I'm baffled how some drivers who are apparently talented are 5 seconds a lap slower than the top drivers in a spec chassis series.

Road and street courses bring the driver in the equation more than ovals, everybody knows that, but with that being said it's ridiculous to say a driver isn't talented when they struggle on a track they're seeing for the very first time, because if that's the case, based off this year I could say guys like Rahal, Power and Wilson have no talent when it comes to oval racing because of how much they struggled at a lot of tracks they were seeing for the first time, which simply isn't true either.

Power is a great road racer and has been on pole at this track twice, so he knows what to do here and that's showed so far by being over a second quicker than everybody else.

[TURN3]

Danica didnt do as well as I hoped but now that she has some laps on the track, Im sure she will do good from here on out. I look for her to easily be in the top 10 tomorrow and for qualifications.

Exactly what were you "hoping" for? Fact: She's HORRIBLE!! Not only in an Indycar where she only occassionally does well in a machine with an aerodynamic advantage over the vast majority of the rest of the field....she can't even hang with half the guys in my Bondurant shifter cart school in Phoenix. Her times in a cart are SLOW also and she has a 30lb to 100lb weight advantage which is huge in a cart. She does not belong in a race car at this level, period (.).

[harvick#1]

thats a scary fast lap by Will, but I hope he gets pole.

sort of surprised by Briscoe, I thought he would be right up there with Will as he has a little motivation also being in his home country

[NickFalzone]

Exactly what were you "hoping" for? Fact: She's HORRIBLE!! Not only in an Indycar where she only occassionally does well in a machine with an aerodynamic advantage over the vast majority of the rest of the field....she can't even hang with half the guys in my Bondurant shifter cart school in Phoenix. Her times in a cart are SLOW also and she has a 30lb to 100lb weight advantage which is huge in a cart. She does not belong in a race car at this level, period (.).

I don't like Danica but that's a bunch of BS. Plus the weight-rule negates her supposed advantage and actually hurts her on road courses without any power steering, as the bigger guys can handle the physical aspects of it easier. Talent-wise I'd put her mid pack and with some of the best equipment she regularly finishes in the top 10. Everything about that girl is taken to extremes when the reality is that she's just ok, not terrible, not great.

[F1boat]

OMG, Power has an enormous advantage.

[nanders]

I do PC SIM Racing and race on most of the tracks Indycars race on. By far, the most difficult track we race on is Surfers. There are a boat load of fast straights followed by either a very tight chicane or a 90% corner with very little run off. This is the first time for this car and the first time for most of the slow runners. I have no problem letting some of these people come up to speed before getting too prejudiced.

[dataman1]

By far, the most difficult track we race on is Surfers. There are a boat load of fast straights followed by either a very tight chicane or a 90% corner with very little run off. This is the first time for this car and the first time for most of the slow runners. I have no problem letting some of these people come up to speed before getting too prejudiced.

Agree 100%. No judgement meant or implied, as a comparison for chassis/engine differences, 2007 qualifications had Power on pole with 1:30.054 and Martinez the slowest at 1:33.892.