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Message: [QUOTE="Clayton Hardy, post: 13371274, member: 267319"] [SPOILER=Free Practice 1 Results] [ATTACH=full]997216[/ATTACH] [B]Session Summary:[/B] The first 90 minutes of on track action for the 2021 AT&T Champ Car World Series season went green for FP1 in Phillip Island. The Panasonic Team Impulse duo of Hazel Lacasse and Sakura Ishibashi quickly went to the top of the timing board, a position they would not relinquish despite some troubles for Ishibashi near the half hour mark. Heading into the turn 4 hairpin of Honda Corner, Ishibashi would be tagged by the LM Competition Mercedes of Mildred Moon, who had suffered a suspension failure before the braking zone. Both cars would be sent into the tire barriers, with Ishibashi suffering the harshest amount of damage. Both drivers would be done for the session, but both cars would be repaired in time for FP2. FP1 would be a rough opening session for all of the Mercedes-powered teams, with the fastest of the six Mercedes cars being Moon in a lowly 20th. It was a fantastic first outing for Obsidian Racing Team and Isabel Espinoza, with the new driver/team combination wrapping up the session in 4th, right behind the defending World Champion of Andrew Draco, who looked right at home with #1 adorning his Honda. All of the Alpine teams had a good unload, with all of the veteran drivers within the top 12, while newcomer Ryan Stevens ended up 23rd in what was a very clean and productive learning session for the American.[/SPOILER] [SPOILER=Free Practice 2 Results] [ATTACH=full]997217[/ATTACH] [B]Session Summary:[/B] Panasonic Team Impulse would continue to dominate Friday practice, with Sakura Ishibashi finishing the afternoon 90 minute session on top despite the crash earlier that morning. The 5 year series veteran set a 1:13.284, with David Wessel splitting the Team Impulse cars with his Phantom Motors Honda. Stephanie Porter-Kelley, beginning her final season of racing, improved two positions from the morning to finish 4th, consistently being the best of the three Striker cars as they adjust to Chevrolet powertrains. After finishing the morning session 24th, Diego Jaramillo would find a better groove in the afternoon heat, rounding up the top 5 times of the session.The Mercedes powered teams could continue to adjust, with Apex's Ronald Walker and LM Competition's Gerard Perth making the biggest gains in the session. Red Bull Highlight Racing, for the second session in a row, ended up next to last, ahead of Cody Blackman. A shocking result of the afternoon session was the appearance of Cristine Espinoza near the very bottom, landing 26th in her Aguila Chevrolet. The team has not obtained any pre-season upgrades, with the team once again playing it conservative to start the season, but with the other Chevrolet teams already in the swing of upgrades, the raw pace of the Chevrolet turbo V8 powerplant, as well as the Mercedes natural V8 engine, shows to be among the weakest on the grid.[/SPOILER] [SPOILER=Fox Starting Off Strong On Opening Day] 2021 marked the first season since the inception of the World Championship in 2000 where pre-season testing was not held. The planned tests for Sebring and Fontana ultimately were cancelled due to a difficulty in getting the adequate supply of Firestone Firehawk tires prepared. As a result, everyone made their first runs in 2021 on Friday in Phillip Island, and quietly lingering in the top 10 in both sessions was the Bar Harbor-native, Keisha Fox. Fifth in FP1, and seventh in FP2 kept her right with the duo from Panasonic Team Impulse, and Rockstar Phantom Motors, leaving the young star happy with how the team unloaded, stating; "I think we ended up a bit better than we were expecting. The team is playing it conservative as far as spending [on upgrades] goes, whereas Impulse, and others are being a bit more liberal with what they buy. So being this close with the conditions changing, I'm pretty happy with what we learned today. With qualifying tomorrow, I don't think it'll look too different." On the other side of the Cherokee GP garage, Siri Lundqvist came to grips with Phillip Island for the first time. The Swedish driver has raced at Surfer's Paradise and Albert Park, but never on the undulating island circuit, and despite her success in FP1 which put her tenth, wrong adjustments set her backwards in FP2 as she finished the session in 18th. "The car was fast in first practice, but it didn't have a lot of stability. I felt like the tires were falling away really fast, so we tried chasing that in the afternoon, and we found some things, but it cost us ultimate pace. I think a compromise might be needed to make the most of the race, and I'm not entirely sure what the gameplan will be. We'll know more after qualifying tomorrow."[/SPOILER] [SPOILER=Dejected Aguila Squad Rues Friday Mishaps] Escuderia Aguila entered the gates to Phillip Island already on the wrong foot. Several members of the team's senior personnel were kept from flying from Buenos Aires due to a stomach flu, and their absences were dearly felt as the team got underway in Friday practice. Cristine Espinoza, entering her 17th season of Indycar World Championship competition, had her worst opening day, going 16th in the morning session, before winding up third slowest in the afternoon session, which will mimic the qualifying sessions on Saturday rather closely. A dejected Espinoza declined to appear in the media pen after the afternoon practice, resigning to the team's mobile operations center for the evening, likely to discuss last resort to avoid a repeat for tomorrow.[/SPOILER] [/QUOTE]

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