Las Vegas - Thursday practice

Danica Patrick topped the timesheets at the end of the first day of activity at Las Vegas Motor Speedway, ahead of this weekend's climax to the 2011 IZOD IndyCar Series season.

Andrew Lewin_1

13 Oct 2011

Andretti Autosport's Danica Patrick topped the timesheets for first practice going into her final weekend of competition in the IZOD IndyCar Series before her move to the NASCAR Nationwide Series in 2012.

Patrick's time of 24.7349s on the 1.544-mile Las Vegas Motor Speedway oval narrowly pipped Oriol Servia and Ryan Hunter-Reay in the timings.

Of the two championship rivals, Dario Franchitti finished ninth in the times and Will Power was 14th fastest in the 34-car field.

There will be a second, 90-minute practice session on Friday ahead of the qualifying session later in the afternoon. The race itself is on Sunday; Saturday will see the Nationwide Camping World Truck Series take to the track.

Practice 1 times

1. #7 Danica Patrick 224.719mph 24.7349s after 43 laps
2. #2 Oriol Servia 224.026mph 24.8114s + 0.0765s after 51 laps
3. #28 Ryan Hunter-Reay 223.888mph 24.8267s + 0.0918s after 36 laps
4. #9 Scott Dixon 223.689mph 24.8488s + 0.1139s after 57 laps
5. #27 Mike Conway 223.558mph 24.8634s + 0.1285s after 37 laps
6. #3 Helio Castroneves 223.519mph 24.8677s + 0.1328s after 60 laps
7. #26 Marco Andretti 223.509mph 24.8688s + 0.1339s after 29 laps
8. #6 Ryan Briscoe 223.482mph 24.8718s + 0.1369s after 54 laps
9. #10 Dario Franchitti 223.465mph 24.8737s + 0.1388s after 54 laps
10. #38 Graham Rahal 222.869mph 24.9402s + 0.2053s after 40 laps
11. #83 Charlie Kimball 222.854mph 24.9419s + 0.2070s after 39 laps
12. #82 Tony Kanaan 222.635mph 24.9664s + 0.2315s after 33 laps
13. #67 Ed Carpenter 222.375mph 24.9956s + 0.2607s after 41 laps
14. #12 Will Power 222.220mph 25.0131s + 0.2782s after 56 laps
15. #06 James Hinchcliffe 222.197mph 25.0156s + 0.2807s after 51 laps
16. #14 Vitor Meira 222.021mph 25.0355s + 0.3006s after 32 laps
17. #5 Takuma Sato 221.960mph 25.0424s + 0.3075s after 47 laps
18. #78 Simona de Silvestro 221.847mph 25.0551s + 0.3202s after 43 laps
19. #30 Pippa Mann 221.679mph 25.0741s + 0.3392s after 47 laps
20. #17 Wade Cunningham 221.648mph 25.0776s + 0.3427s after 52 laps
21. #8 Paul Tracy 221.459mph 25.0990s + 0.3641s after 34 laps
22. #77 Dan Wheldon 221.440mph 25.1012s + 0.3663s after 50 laps
23. #98 Alex Tagliani 221.426mph 25.1027s + 0.3678s after 39 laps
24. #4 JR Hildebrand 221.360mph 25.1102s + 0.3753s after 50 laps
25. #24 Ana Beatriz 221.271mph 25.1203s + 0.3854s after 52 laps
26. #44 Buddy Rice 221.002mph 25.1509s + 0.4160s after 38 laps
27. #57 Tomas Scheckter 220.950mph 25.1568s + 0.4219s after 33 laps
28. #11 Davey Hamilton 220.577mph 25.1994s + 0.4645s after 26 laps
29. #34 Sebastian Saavedra 220.535mph 25.2042s + 0.4693s after 40 laps
30. #22 Townsend Bell 220.392mph 25.2205s + 0.4856s after 44 laps
31. #19 Alex Lloyd 220.287mph 25.2325s + 0.4976s after 34 laps
32. #59 EJ Viso 219.877mph 25.2796s + 0.5447s after 17 laps
33. #18 James Jakes 219.565mph 25.3155s + 0.5806s after 34 laps
34. #15 Jay Howard 219.466mph 25.3269s + 0.5920s after 42 laps