Will Power ended the open IndyCar test at Barber Motorsports Park fastest for Team Penske on Tuesday, edging ex-F1 driver Max Chilton to the top spot after a very competitive day of track action.
The duo were separated at the top by only +0.0073 seconds after a whole day of testing, which saw the top 14 drivers on the combined classification across the two sessions split by less than half a second.
This comes after a highly competitive start to the 2017 season several weeks earlier around the streets of St. Petersburg, where Honda offered a firm challenge to rivals Chevrolet throughout the weekend.
Power’s overall fastest lap was completed just as the chequered flag fell, after a frenetic end to the day’s action due to four late red flags and the activation of push-to-pass in the final hour.
"It just shows how tight it is between Honda and Chevy now," explained Power, who won at Barber in 2011 and 2012.
”It's tough, man. We just went through a bunch of stuff [during the test day] to see what it does and I think we got some good answers here.
“I think we've got a good car for here, I feel good about my setup."
Former Barber race winner Josef Newgarden ended the day third fastest for Penske, ahead of the man he replaced at the iconic outfit for the new season Juan Pablo Montoya.
The Columbian veteran will return to the action for the two Indianapolis races in May, and despite not turning a wheel since the last race of the season last year in September, he was immediately on the pace in the No. 22 Chevrolet-powered car.
Andretti Autosport drivers Marco Andretti and Takuma Sato rounded out the top six, with the latter ending the three-hour first session fastest earlier in the day.
Four-time champion Scott Dixon could only manage seventh fastest for Chip Ganassi Racing, ahead of Ryan Hunter-Reay and Graham Rahal.
Reigning champion and 2016 Barber race winner Simon Pagenaud rounded out the top ten for Penske.
The Frenchman was one of many drivers who managed to improve upon his time in the second session, but was still unable to trouble the likes of Power, Newgarden or Montoya.
Veterans Tony Kanaan and Helio Castroneves ended the day just outside the top ten in 11th and 12th, with Kanaan in particular unable to improve during the second session of the day.
Although the first session was incident-free, the second session was interrupted by four red flags. The first was caused by simultaneous incidents when Charlie Kimball stopped at Turn 6 and Newgarden made contact with the barrier at Turn 1.
The second and third cautions were due to track inspections, while the fourth and final red flag was caused by Kanaan who also made contact with the barrier at Turn 1.
