Pagenaud fastest after second practice
TORONTO — Simon Pagenaud was the fastest driver after the second Honda Indy Toronto practice.
Pagenaud finished his quickest lap in one minute 0.2573 seconds on the streets surrounding Exhibition Place. Helio Castroneves was the quickest during the first practice session earlier Friday.
Defending race champion Will Power was second in 1:00.4844 ahead of driver standings leader Scott Dixon, who completed his fastest lap in 1:00.6253.
Pagenaud was last season’s Verizon IndyCar Series champion and is searching for his second victory of the season after winning in Phoenix in April.
Canadian James Hinchcliffe was 16th in 1:01.4874. The Oakville, Ont., native was seventh in the morning run and finished third at last year’s race.
A final practice session takes place on Saturday morning before qualifying in the afternoon. The race is scheduled for Sunday.
Power has won three times in Toronto, which is the most wins at the track by an active IndyCar driver.
Dixon has 403 points and captured the Kohler Grand Prix in late June. He claimed pole position for the Indianapolis 500 in May.
Castroneves ended a three-year win drought with a victory at last weekend’s Iowa Corn 300. It was his first victory since 2014 and Team Penske’s first win in 11 tries in Iowa.
A red caution flag was brought out 10 minutes into the second practice when rookie Esteban Gutierrez connected with the wall near the iconic Princes’ Gates. Gutierrez, a former Formula One driver, is being mentored by IndyCar veteran and Dale Coyne Racing teammate Sebastien Bourdais this weekend. The Frenchman is back at the track just two months after a crash during qualifying for the Indy 500.
Carlos Munoz made contact late in practice which caused a second red flag to come out.