Penske pace Indy practice

With Castroneves having claimed a second and two victories so far this season, it came as no surprise to see the Brazilian at the front of the field, but the ease in which the double Indy 500 winner and Hornish Jr clocked their fastest times will have caused much concern amongst their rivals.

The duo set four of the fastest six times of the day as they switched between their T-car and the primary car. Hornish Jr eventually ended the rain-shortened day with a top speed of 224.811mph, beating Castroneves into second with a best circulation of 224.106mph.

"We wanted to be sure we got out with both cars today because we knew there was a possibility of rain," said Hornish. "The forecast doesn't look good for the rest of the week. We wanted to make sure we had a good feeling on both cars. To have both cars in the top five and Helio and I one-two, that's a pretty good day."

A good day indeed as the 2006 Indycar Series leading team worked extremely well to get both the T-car and primary car of both drivers up to speed. Once the spare cars were running at the front, the Penske team, searching for a record 14th win at the Brickyard, then took a long lunch break as the mechanics switched the engines to the primary cars.

Britain's defending champion Dan Wheldon was third fastest, clocking a best lap of 223.916mph, and was satisfied with the performance of his Chip Ganassi car. "Right from the start of the day, the no.10 Target Honda was really fast," said Wheldon.

“Now it's going to be a cat and mouse game with the weather leading up to qualifying but I feel pretty confident as we prepare for Pole Day and beyond,” he added. “It's always very important that your momentum peaks just before the race. If you can peak race day, then you had a perfect month. We are working towards that.”

The majority of the leading teams completed minimal running due to a new rule limiting the engine to 1200km before the race on May 28th. However, with rain forecasted for the next few days, a handful of less experienced drivers got as much dry track time as possible, including rookie driver Marco Andretti.

Former IRL champion Scott Dixon was fourth fastest, ahead of Hornish and Castroneves' second quickest times, with South Africa's Tomas Scheckter showing good potential in seventh. Former winner Buddy Rice was eighth, with Scott Sharp ninth and rookie Townsend Bell tenth.

Marco Andretti was 16th quickest after safely coming through two days of rookie testing, with father Michael four places back in 20th. Female sensation Danica Patrick could only manage 21st at the wheel of here Panoz Honda.