LONG BEACH, Calif. -- Here are two indicators that the three rounds of qualifications for the Toyota Grand Prix of Long Beach will be quite the shootout: the top 10 cars in the practice session this morning were separated by a half-second, and the top 19 were separated by a mere second.
Will Power, who earned three consecutive pole starts on the 1.968-mile, 11-turn street circuit, posted the quickest lap in the 45-minute session at 1 minute, 8.1696 seconds in the No. 12 Verizon Team Penske car. Josef Newgarden, driving the No. 67 Sarah Fisher Hartman Racing entry, was .0022 of a second back. Newgarden, in his third Verizon IndyCar Series season, started second at Long Beach as a rookie.
James Hinchcliffe was third (1:08.4309) in the No. 27 United Fiber & Data car for Andretti Autosport. Sebastien Bourdais, who's won three times at Long Beach, had a best lap of 1:08.4446 in the No. 11 Mistic KVSH Racing car, and Ryan Hunter-Reay was fifth (1:08.5296) in the No. 27 DHL car for Andretti Autosport.
Qualifications start at 5 p.m. (ET), featuring the Firestone Fast Six to determine the Verizon P1 Award winner. The IMS Radio Network broadcasts all sessions in conjunction with Timing & Scoring on www.indycar.com and the INDYCAR 14 app. The broadcast also is on Sirius 213 and XM 211. NBCSN will telecast qualifications (6-7 p.m. ET) and the April 13 race (4-7 p.m. ET). The Indy Lights Presented by Cooper Tires race telecast on NBCSN (2:30 p.m. ET) precedes the Verizon IndyCar Series telecast.
Click it: Practice 3 results || Groups for Segment 1 of qualifications
Circuit: 1.968 miles, 11 turns
Pit box dimensions: 40 x 15 feet
Race day fuel: 60 U.S. gallons of E85 (60 gallons for practice/qualifying)
Verizon IndyCar Series on-track times (all times local/PDT):
Saturday, April 12: 2-3:10 p.m. (Qualifications, including Firestone Fast Six)
Sunday, April 13: 9-9:30 a.m. (Warm-up)
1 p.m. pre-race and NBCSN/IMS Radio Network on air; 1:50 p.m. green flag
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