You don’t expect a straightaway to be a hot spot for trouble, but the concrete Sambadromo stretch on the Sao Paulo Indy 300 course is raising hell for IZOD IndyCar Series competitors today in Brazil.
Two more yellow-inducing incidents occurred there during the second practice session for Sunday’s race (11:30 a.m. ET, Versus). Around 10 minutes into the practice, Ryan Briscoe lost control of his No. 6 Team Penske machine near the start/finish line on the Sambadromo, spun out, and lightly brushed the wall before coming to rest near the S of Samba complex (Turns 1 and 2). A more serious accident went down with about 30 minutes left in the session, when hometown driver Ana Beatriz smacked the wall on the Sambadromo and inflicted left side damage on her No. 23 Ipiranga/Dreyer and Reinbold Racing car. Both drivers are OK.
The Turn 3-4 section also saw its share of problems. Danica Patrick spun out of Turn 3 and her No. 7 GoDaddy.com/Andretti Autosport car came to rest off the racing line in Turn 4 with no contact on the wall. But Hideki Mutoh wouldn’t get out of there unscathed — he went into the wall at 3 and came away with a bent suspension and front wing damage on his No. 06 Newman/Haas/Lanigan car.
The yellow flag was also waved for problems involving Raphael Matos and Alex Lloyd.
After this session, the big question has to be about how drivers are going to navigate the Sambadromo, which may as well be an ice rink for these IndyCars. It is becoming a common sight to see drivers getting sideways multiple times on the straight before breaking down to get through the S of Samba. Qualifying is set to go off at 1:30 p.m. ET and it will be entertaining to see what will happen in the Sambadromo as the racers try to put down their flying laps.
Scott Dixon continued to hold P1 through the second practice with a time of 92.7369 seconds in the No. 9 Target Chip Ganassi Racing entry. Briscoe, Tony Kanaan, Will Power and FAZZT Race Team’s Alex Tagliani made up the top five in the session.
Remember folks, Versus will pick up TV coverage of qualifying starting at 2 p.m. ET.
—–
Sao Paulo Indy 300 — Practice Session Two
1. 9-Scott Dixon, 92.7369 seconds.
2. 6-Ryan Briscoe, 93.2741.
3. 11-Tony Kanaan, 93.3384.
4. 12-Will Power, 93.8045.
5. 77-Alex Tagliani, 94.0698.
6. 37-Ryan Hunter-Reay, 94.3339.
7. 26-Marco Andretti, 94.8893.
8. 3-Helio Castroneves, 94.9522.
9. 32-Mario Moraes, 95.0701.
10. 8-E.J. Viso, 95.0702.
11. 10-Dario Franchitti, 95.1564.
12. 2-Raphael Matos, 95.2949.
13. 78-Simona de Silvestro, 95.4282.
14. 7-Danica Patrick, 95.7395.
15. 14-Vitor Meira, 95.7497.
16. 06-Hideki Mutoh, 95.9978.
17. 4-Dan Wheldon, 96.0740.
18. 24-Mike Conway, 96.3362.
19. 5-Takuma Sato, 96.7977.
20. 19-Alex Lloyd, 96.9803.
21. 22-Justin Wilson, 96.9843.
22. 34-Mario Romancini, 100.5845.
23. 23-Ana Beatriz, 100.8720.
24. 18-Milka Duno, 104.2048.
