IndyCar: Graham Rahal tops speed charts at Mid-Ohio

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LAT PHOTOGRAPHIC
Graham Rahal posted the fastest lap during IndyCar practice on Friday.

Published on 8/05/2011

Graham Rahal led the 75-minute first practice of the Izod IndyCar Series Friday at the Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course, a track where his father, Bobby, once excelled.

Rahal posted a time of 1 minute, 9.603 seconds around the permanent road course, besting the times of E. J. Viso of KV Racing Technology, Dario Franchitti of Ganassi Racing and the rest of the 27-car field.

The field includes Martin Plowman, who is driving his first IndyCar race in a Sam Schmidt Motorsports car. He led all 40 laps in last year's Firestone Indy Lights race at the track in Lexington, Ohio.

Practice continues Saturday with qualifying to follow. The race is Sunday at 3 p.m. Eastern.

FRIDAY'S TIMES:

1. Graham Rahal (Ganassi Racing) 1:09.603

2. E. J. Viso (KV Racing Technology) 1:09.652

3. Dario Franchitti (Ganassi Racing) 1:09.694

4. Will Power (Team Penske) 1:09.720

5. Justin Wilson (Dreyer & Reinbold) 1:09.791

6. James Hinchcliffe (Newman-Haas Racing) 1:09.814

7. Scott Dixon (Ganassi Racing) 1:09.971

8. Ryan Hunter-Reay (Andretti Autosport) 1:10.051

9. Ryan Briscoe (Team Penske) 1:10.139

10. Helio Castroneves (Team Penske) 1:10.203

11. Simona De Silvestro (HVM Racing) 1:10.352

12. Vitor Meira (A.J. Foyt Racing) 1:10.360

13. Tony Kanaan (KV Racing Technology) 1:10.369

14. Alex Tagliani (Sam Schmidt Motorsports) 1:10.372

15. James Jakes (Dale Coyne Racing) 1:10.405

16. J. R. Hildebrand (Panther Racing) 1:10.598

17. Sebastien Bourdais (Dale Coyne Racing) 1:10.795

18. Charlie Kimball (Ganassi Racing) 1:11.065

19. Martin Plowman (Sam Schmidt Motorsports) 1:11.177

20. Mike Conway (Andretti Autosport) 1:11.434

21. Sebastian Saavedra (Conquest Racing) 1:11.579

22. Danica Patrick (Andretti Autosport) 1:11.608

23. Oriol Servia (Newman-Haas Racing) 1:11.632

24. Ana Beatriz (Dreyer & Reinbold Racing) 1:12.014

25. Ed Carpenter (Sarah Fisher Racing) 1:13.498

26. Marco Andretti (Andretti Autosport) 1:14.200

27. Takuma Sato (KV Racing Technology) 1:15.039

 

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