Grand Prix of Long Beach Friday Practice Report
Honda Racing Report
Friday, April 17, 2015
Grand Prix of Long Beach Friday Practice Report
Circuit: Grand Prix of Long Beach (1.968-mile temporary street circuit), Long Beach, CA
2014 winner: Mike Conway [Ed Carpenter Racing] 82.362 mph average
Weather: Sunny, mild, 77 degrees F
Top-10 Friday Practice Results:
| Ps. | Driver | Team | Manufacturer | Best Time | Notes |
| 1. | Will Power | Team Penske | Chevrolet | 1:07.5485 | 104.885 mph average |
| 2. | Simon Pagenaud | Team Penske | Chevrolet | 1:07.5855 | +0.0370 seconds |
| 3. | Helio Castroneves | Team Penske | Chevrolet | 1:07.9132 | |
| 4. | Scott Dixon | Chip Ganassi Racing | Chevrolet | 1:07.9671 | |
| 5. | Juan Pablo Montoya | Team Penske | Chevrolet | 1:08.0539 | |
| 6. | Josef Newgarden | Carpenter Fisher Hartman | Chevrolet | 1:08.0900 | |
| 7. | Graham Rahal | Rahal Letterman Lanigan | Honda | 1:08.1294 | |
| 8. | Stebastien Bourdais | KV Racing Technology | Chevrolet | 1:08.1417 | |
| 9. | Ryan Hunter-Reay | Andretti Autosport | Honda | 1:08.2978 | |
| 10. | Marco Andretti | Andretti Autosport | Honda | 1:08.3125 |
Other Honda-powered Results
| 11. | Jack Hawksworth | A.J. Foyt Racing | Honda | 1:08.3468 | |
| 13. | James Hinchcliffe | Schmidt Peterson Motorsports | Honda | 1:08.4120 | |
| 17. | Carlos Munoz | Andretti Autosport | Honda | 1:08.4868 | |
| 18. | Gabby Chaves-R | Bryan Herta Autosport | Honda | 1:08.5227 | |
| 19. | James Jakes | Schmidt Peterson Motorsports | Honda | 1:08.6412 | |
| 21. | Takuma Sato | A.J. Foyt Racing | Honda | 1:08.9228 | |
| 22. | Rocky Moran Jr.-R | Dale Coyne Racing | Honda | 1:11.1072 | |
| 23. | Francesco Dracone-R | Dale Coyne Racing | Honda | 1:11.2761 |
Rahal, Hunter-Reay Head Friday Practice for Honda at Long Beach
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Rahal posts seventh-quickest time in afternoon practice session
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Ryan Hunter-Reay leads Honda effort in morning practice, third-quickest
Graham Rahal and Ryan Hunter-Reay led the Honda field in Verizon IndyCar Series practice Friday in preparation for Sunday’s Grand Prix of Long Beach. Rahal, debuting his Rahal Letterman Lanigan Honda in the colors of new sponsor Steak & Shake, ran seventh fastest in the afternoon practice and for the day.
Andretti Autosport’s Hunter-Reay posted the third-quickest time around the 1.968-mile temporary street circuit in the morning practice, but slipped down the order in the quicker afternoon session and ended the day ninth overall. Teammate Marco Andretti rounded out the top 10 in his Andretti Autosport Honda.
Activities continue Saturday with a final practice session, followed by “Fast Six” knockout qualifying that will set the 23-car field for Sunday’s race. The third round of the 16-race 2015 season starts at 4 p.m. EDT Sunday, with live television coverage on the NBC Sports Network.
Graham Rahal (#15 Rahal Letterman Lanigan Honda) 7th fastest in Friday practice: “We had a mechanical issue this morning and only got to run a handful of laps. But the second practice was more of what we expected. Our car was good, and we are the fastest Honda, but we have a little work to do to catch the Penskes. I was on a lap that was about a tenth [of a second] and a half quicker, but I just messed it up, ate too much curb off in Turn 8 and lost it. I feel like there is a lot of potential. But we’re pretty close and if you put Will, Simon and a few others aside, we’re kind of the best of the rest, but we’ll keep fighting hard to improve tomorrow. We’re in the hunt.”