In a session in which track conditions have forced the teams to be conservative in order not to damage their cars for qualifying, Josef Newgarden has taken first position ahead of JR Hildebrand and Hélio Castroneves.
Session started with few drivers doing constant laps, beacuse track conditions weren’t like they were going to be in qualifying and race (both held at night) and session had to be yellow-flagged due to sand and wind. Only three drivers had completed more than one lap after the first twenty minutes, and Tony Kanaan was leading with a 20.4589. Few moments later, Will Power set a competitive 20.0387. With half an hour undergone, activity on track was busier and Mikhail Aleshin moved up to first with a 19.9262. The Russian was beaten ten minutes later by Scott Dixon‘s 19.7079. Times were dropping as well as the night was coming.
Around the middle of the session, there were two more yellow flags in order to check track status. There were a very few position changes during the following 30 minutes. With half an hour to go, Aleshin came back to the lead with a 19.5444. Ten minutes later, Penske drivers Simon Pagenaud and Josef Newgarden moved up to first and second respectively, being the French’s time a 19.4322. After that, a recovered JR Hildebrand took lead with a 19.3429.
With less than ten minutes to go, Hélio Castroneves took lead with a 19.2786, followed closely by his teammate Pagenaud. All Penskes were considerably improving and Newgarden took the first place from his teammate.
A yellow flag caused by sand and dust that were being introducted on the track by the win led to an early end of the session. Newgarden sets the pace at the only practice session before qualifying. Hildebrand finished second and Castroneves third. Given the results, it seems that Chevrolet cars are a bit stronger on this track.
