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Penske Teammates Lead Opening Edmonton Practice
Edmonton City Centre Airport
Edmonton
07/24/2009
Last Year's Winner:
Scott Dixon (Target Chip Ganassi Racing Honda) 96.967 mph average
Weather:
Sunny, warm, 86 degrees F
Team Penske's Helio Castroneves and Ryan Briscoe headed IndyCar Series practice Friday on the 1.98-mile Edmonton City Centre Airport temporary circuit, as preparations began for Sunday's Rexall Edmonton Indy.
Made up of runways and taxiways connected by several high-speed bends, the challenging airport circuit claimed several victims today in a pair of practice sessions. Most were harmless spins, including that of Toronto race winner Dario Franchitti, making his first visit to Edmonton. But early in the second practice the Panther Racing entry of Dan Wheldon spun exiting Turn 3 and hit the Turn 4 barrier nose first, bouncing off the wall and collecting the Honda Dallara of Danica Patrick. Neither driver was injured, however both were done for the day with extensive damage to their cars.
Action continues here Saturday with Firestone Fast Six qualifying at 5:15 pm EDT. Sunday's race starts at 6 p.m. EDT. Versus will provied live coverage of both qualifying and the race.
Helio Castroneves (#3 Team Penske Honda) fastest in practice: "Our car was very good right from the start today and stayed quick, even as the track changed quite a lot as the day progressed. It's a bumpy circuit, but it's so wide in most places that you can take chances you wouldn't take on other temporary tracks. It was very dirty off-line, and I think you saw that today with some of the spins. But we're at an airport, so it's exciting to be flying so close to the ground!"
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