SAO PAULO (AP) — Ryan Briscoe of Australia was fastest Saturday in the first practice session for IndyCar’s Sao Paulo 300 on the streets of South America’s biggest city.
Briscoe had a time of 1 minute, 25.107 seconds with his Penske at the 2.5-mile, 11-turn Anhembi temporary circuit. Teammate and fellow Australian Will Power was second with a time of 1:25.142. American driver Ryan Hunter-Reay of Andretti Autosport was third.
Series leader Dario Franchitti had the sixth-fastest time with the Target Chip Ganassi Racing team.
The track was significantly faster than in last year’s inaugural race after officials repaved the entire surface to eliminate bumps and removed curbs that were slowing the cars in some turns.