Vautier tops practice cut short by rainstorm at Long Beach
APR 13, 2012
LONG BEACH, Calif. – Fifteen Firestone Indy Lights drivers will have to make the most of a 45-minute session April 14 that precedes qualifications by four hours to learn the 1.968-mile, 11-turn Long Beach street circuit.
A rainstorm cut the lone session April 13 by 40 minutes. In the 20 minutes of running, series points leader Tristan Vautier topped the time chart with a best lap (on the ninth of his 10) of 1 minute, 18.2620 seconds in the No. 77 Mazda Road to Indy/Sam Schmidt Motorsports car.
"It was really slippery; we’re really far from the times from last year," Vautier said. "But, of course, we only ran for a few minutes so I think it’s always the same in these kind of situations."
Oliver Webb (1:18.4657) was second in the No. 7 Lucas Oil/Sam Schmidt Motorsports car and Gustavo Yacaman was third (1:19.4953) in the No. 2 TMR-Tuvacol-Xtreme Coil Drilling car.
A total of 132 laps were recorded in the session. The 45-minute rally qualification session is scheduled for 3:55 p.m. (ET). The 45-lap race is scheduled for 1:45 p.m. (ET) April 15. SESSION RESULTS
Note: Earlier in the week, Juan Pablo Garcia visited with students at Barton Hill Elementary School and the North Long Beach Community Center as part of the Toyota Grand Prix of Long Beach’s eighth School Visits Program.
Garcia talked about his background and racing, answered questions and signed autographs.