Dalziel Leads ESM 1-2 in Opening Practice at Indy

Photo: John Dagys

Ryan Dalziel topped the time charts in opening practice at Indianapolis, leading a 1-2 for Extreme Speed Motorsports and a sweep of the top three positions for P2 cars.

The Scotsman, who won last year’s Brickyard Grand Prix, reeled off a 1:18.329 early in the 90-minute session, outpacing the No. 2 ESM HPD ARX-03b of Johannes van Overbeek by 0.231 seconds.

Both of the Honda-powered entries received a larger air restrictor ahead of this week’s TUDOR United SportsCar Championship race.

Gustavo Yacaman pedaled the No. 42 OAK Racing Morgan-Nissan, fresh off victory at Canadian Tire Motorsport Park, to third with a 1:18.735.

The quickest DP came from the No. 5 Action Express Racing Corvette of Joao Barbosa, who was 0.561 seconds slower than Dalziel’s pace-setting time.

Martin Plowman led the way in Prototype Challenge, with the Englishman recording a 1:20.320 lap time in his BAR1 Motorsports Oreca FLM09.

Plowman is one of two drivers with race experience of the revised 2.439-mile Indianapolis Grand Prix course.

Porsche North America’s Patrick Long was quickest in GT Le Mans, thanks to a 1:23.092 in his No. 912 Porsche 911 RSR, while a late flyer by Dane Cameron saw the No. 94 Turner Motorsport BMW Z4 GT3 top the time charts in GT Daytona.

The session saw two red flags, the first for the No. 35 Flying Lizard Motorsports Audi R8 LMS of Seth Neiman, who stopped at Turn 7, while Giancarlo Fisichella stranded his No. 62 Risi Competizione Ferrari in Turn 5.

The second and final practice session prior to this afternoon’s qualifying is scheduled for 1:45 p.m. ET.

RESULTS: Practice 1

John Dagys

John Dagys is the founder and Editor-in-Chief of Sportscar365. Dagys spent eight years as a motorsports correspondent for FOXSports.com and SPEED Channel and has contributed to numerous other motorsports publications worldwide. Contact John