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Practice report

"What They're Saying" from Honda Indy 200 at Mid-Ohio Practice

The Verizon IndyCar Series returned to the country's heartland today for this weekend's Honda Indy 200 at Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course.

Will Power, Team Penske Chevrolet

Will Power, Team Penske Chevrolet

Art Fleischmann

Will Power, Team Penske Chevrolet
Will Power, Team Penske Chevrolet
Tony Kanaan, Chip Ganassi Racing Chevrolet
Tony Kanaan, Chip Ganassi Racing Chevrolet
Simon Pagenaud, Team Penske Chevrolet
Graham Rahal, Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing Honda
Josef Newgarden, Ed Carpenter Racing Chevrolet
Josef Newgarden, Ed Carpenter Racing Chevrolet
Charlie Kimball, Chip Ganassi Racing Chevrolet
R.C. Enerson, Dale Coyne Racing Honda
Spencer Pigot, Ed Carpenter Racing Chevrolet
James Hinchcliffe, Schmidt Peterson Motorsports Honda
Scott Dixon, Chip Ganassi Racing Chevrolet
Mid-Ohio - Free Practice 2
P.DriverTeam (Engine)Time/deficit
1 12 Will Power http://cdn-1.motorsport.com/static/custom/car-thumbs/INDYCAR_2016/13-MidOhio/Power_s.png Penske (C) 1:04.1962
"It's interesting this place. It's funny, tracks that click with you, it's me and Sonoma and Dixon and this track. Usually he clicks well around here. I think we've had a couple poles here. We finished second a couple times. It's just about nailing it. Obviously yellows play a big part. If it goes yellow and you're stuck out, you go to the back, which is one of the worst things about this series, and it has to change. I say it every week. But it won me a race in Toronto, and it probably won me a race in Detroit, and I still say it's wrong. But hopefully it's dry for qualifying. I think that'll make it -- I wouldn't say more interesting. There's a way to make it really interesting, but for us we've got a good car on the dry, so we're open to that. So this way we'll be ready.
2 10 Tony Kanaan http://cdn-1.motorsport.com/static/custom/car-thumbs/INDYCAR_2016/13-MidOhio/Kanaan_s.png Ganassi (C) 0.2701
"I can't complain about how the No. 10 NTT Data Chevrolet ran today. We took new tires at the end of both practices and saw some jumps in lap times. We were hoping to get a little more time on track at the end of the second session with those new tires, but we got a lot of good data at the test last week so we aren't too worried about the lost 15 or 20 minutes of track time." 
3 22 Simon Pagenaud http://cdn-1.motorsport.com/static/custom/car-thumbs/INDYCAR_2016/13-MidOhio/Pagenaud_s.png Penske (C) 0.3391
"We were looking to build on what we learned at the test and were able to do that. The PPG Chevy is in a good place. I don't know what the rain will do to the track, but we'll find that out in practice tomorrow. I'm confident that we'll perform well in qualifying and get a good starting position. I just hope we can get some dry weather for us and the fans." 
4 15 Graham Rahal http://cdn-1.motorsport.com/static/custom/car-thumbs/INDYCAR_2016/13-MidOhio/Rahal_s.png Rahal (H) 0.4020
  "It was difficult to get the Steak 'n Shake car to improve this morning. We tested here last week and came back and it was a whole different beast to drive. The track can change so much in a short amount of time and that's why it's hard to test here, and some teams don't. With all the GT cars and other cars racing, there are a lot of different types of rubber on the track and on top of that, just a lot of cars, period. We definitely improved the Steak 'n Shake car in the second practice. We got a decent lap in at the end. The rain did catch me on the last part of the lap but we were fourth fastest so we'll take it. When you come here to test as a single-car team, it's tough. It's all on you as the lone individual, whereas Penske for instance has four cars to share the data with. It's not easy but my guys have done an excellent job this year of keeping their heads down and fighting hard. Obviously we want to win here, we want to go back-to-back. It's a big weekend for myself, for all of our sponsors like Steak 'n Shake, PennGrade and everyone that is heavily involved and makes this happen. I hope we can have a solid weekend."
5 21 Josef Newgarden http://cdn-1.motorsport.com/static/custom/car-thumbs/INDYCAR_2016/13-MidOhio/Newgarden_s.pngCarpenter (C) 0.4430
"We're moving along through our list of changes to get to. We're on a good path, but I think it's going to be tight. It's always very close together here in Mid-Ohio. The field is generally quite tight. You have to get every little tenth of time. We're going to be on the right end of it this year, the goal is to get into the Firestone Fast Six during qualifying and do work from there." 
6 83 Charlie Kimball http://cdn-1.motorsport.com/static/custom/car-thumbs/INDYCAR_2016/13-MidOhio/Kimball_s.png Ganassi (C) 0.4467
"Today was a good day. It's really nice coming back to Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course - the track is a lot of fun to drive. I think you can see that with all of the drivers and the smiles on their faces. The track itself is a lot of fun. There are a few things that have changed from year to year - the sealing patches in some of the corners wearing differently and how they rubber up is quite interesting. It's a shame we didn't get to put new tires on the No. 83 Tresiba Chevrolet because of the rain - I think we would've been quite quick. Some of the guys up and down pit lane definitely put new tires on and took a big jump in lap times. I think the track is getting better. Obviously with the rain washing stuff away we'll have to adapt to that tomorrow morning and keep an eye on the weather for qualifying. I feel really good about the No. 83 - it was quick straight out of the box. Even though we didn't test here last week, I was comfortable and up to speed. It's been a good day in the No. 83 camp." 
7 19 R.C. Enerson http://cdn-1.motorsport.com/static/custom/car-thumbs/INDYCAR_2016/13-MidOhio/Enerson_s.png Coyne (H) 0.5322
"It was incredible. (Driving an Indy car) It's completely different from anything I have driven. Every time I come here I tend to do all right and it's one of my favorite tracks. It's just got this thing about it that suits my driving style really well and I'm just excited to be here. This is probably the best track to make my debut at." 
8 20 Spencer Pigot http://cdn-1.motorsport.com/static/custom/car-thumbs/INDYCAR_2016/13-MidOhio/Pigot_s.pngCarpenter (C) 0.5880
"We made a lot of progress from the first practice session to the second. We still had more potential for the second session if we'd been able to finish it out in the dry. We would have gone even quicker on our next set of tires but we'll see what tomorrow brings. Might be wet, might be dry! I feel confident in what we have with the Fuzzy's Vodka/Rising Star Racing/Mockett car." 
9 5 James Hinchcliffe http://cdn-1.motorsport.com/static/custom/car-thumbs/INDYCAR_2016/13-MidOhio/Hinchcliffe_s.png Schmidt (H) 0.6060
Not available. 
10 9 Scott Dixon http://cdn-1.motorsport.com/static/custom/car-thumbs/INDYCAR_2016/13-MidOhio/Dixon_s.png Ganassi (C) 0.6375
"The Target car felt good this morning. We were quick and even put on a set of tires at the end of the first session, but didn't get to use them after the red flag came out. In the second session we didn't take tires like some of the others. I got out when it started raining and we stopped for the rest of the session." (On success at Mid-Ohio) "It's always a place that the team loves coming to. It's 10 victories for the team here so it's definitely been a place that we've run well at throughout the generations. Today it rolled off the truck pretty well and the car was decent. I think the car is always competitive and hopefully we'll see what tomorrow brings. Obviously weather conditions are going to be tricky I think throughout and will definitely dice up the field a bit. Always happy to be here at Mid-Ohio. It's always a fun track." 

(C) = Chevrolet, (H) = Honda

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