Pagenaud Paces Opening Practice at Road America

June 24, 2016 Joey Barnes Breaking News, IndyCar 0
By Joey Barnes, Editor-in-Chief

Simon Pagenaud topped the timesheets in first practice for Sunday’s KOHLER Grand Prix at Road America.

The Frenchman and IndyCar Series championship leader came in at 139.644 mph (1:43.48) around the 4.048-mile road course, with Andretti Autosport’s Carlos Munoz trailing within 0.2s.

Jack Hawksworth impressively put his AJ Foyt Racing Honda up to third, while defending IndyCar champion Scott Dixon followed in fourth.

Tony Kanaan recovered from a spin during the practice session to round out the top five.

However, all eyes were on Josef Newgarden.

The 25-year-old American was cleared for practice in hopes to convince the doctors and race officials to allow him to race on Sunday. Despite a broken right clavicle and fractured right hand following his horrific crash at Texas Motor Speedway less than two weeks ago, Newgarden ran his Ed Carpenter Racing Chevrolet to 10th.

Surprisingly, Pagenaud was the only Team Penske driver in the top 10, with Juan Pablo Montoya and Will Power sitting 11th and 12th, while Helio Castroneves was marred back in 16th.

About Joey Barnes 611 Articles
Joey Barnes is the Founder of Motorsports Tribune, an outlet that began with the goal of helping aspiring journalists break into and grow the industry. A regular on the racing scene since 2013, the journey for Joey started by covering a Grand-Am event at Circuit of The Americas in his home state of Texas. He has since primarily focused on the IndyCar Series, with appearances in the garages of NASCAR, paddocks of Formula 1, IMSA and World Endurance Championship, while also occasionally engulfing clouds of dust at the Chili Bowl Midget Nationals and select Supercross rounds. With previous stops at Autoweek, IndyCar.com, Motorsport.com and RACER, among others, Joey evolved from the singular task as a freelance writer to advanced roles behind the copy desk and alongside some of the best editorial teams in the business. Recognized as a multi-time award winner by the National Motorsports Press Association, Joey currently resides in Dallas-Fort Worth with his trusty four-legged canine companion, Rocket.
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