Three-time Indy 500 winner Helio Castroneves set a 224.665mph fastest time to claim top time of the afternoon session, although his best effort was slower than that of Penske-Chevrolet teammate Simon Pagenaud in opening practice. Castroneves, who is no longer fulltime in IndyCar and last won at IMS in 2009 took just 40.0597sec to lap the 2.5-mile course, beating local hero and two-time Indy polesitter Ed Carpenter by just 0.14mph, with Jay Howard’s Schmidt Peterson-Honda just 0.005sec further back. However, Pagenaud cracked the 40sec barrier in the morning session and claimed fastest time of the day with a 225.787mph; in the afternoon he was 14th. In the busy closing minutes, with...
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