Honda Indy Grand Prix of Alabama
Circuit: Barber Motorsports Park (2.3-mile road course) Birmingham, AL
2015 Winner: Josef Newgarden (Carpenter Fisher Hartman Racing) 107.176 mph average
Weather: Scattered showers, mild, 73 degrees F
Top-10 Practice Session Results:
| Ps. | Driver | Team | Manufacturer | Best Time | Notes |
| 1. | Takuma Sato | A.J. Foyt Racing | Honda | 1:07.2157 | 2nd session |
| 2. | Jack Hawksworth | A.J. Foyt Racing | Honda | 1:07.2197 | 2nd session |
| 3. | James Hinchcliffe | Schmidt Peterson Motorsports | Honda | 1:07.2455 | 2nd session |
| 4. | Sebastien Bourdais | KVSH Racing | Chevrolet | 1:07.3399 | 1st session |
| 5. | Will Power | Team Penske | Chevrolet | 1:07.3434 | 2nd session |
| 6. | Graham Rahal | Rahal Letterman Lanigan | Honda | 1:07.3494 | 2nd session |
| 7. | Josef Newgarden | Ed Carpenter Racing | Chevrolet | 1:07.3871 | 2nd session |
| 8. | Simon Pagenaud | Team Penske | Chevrolet | 1:07.4151 | 2nd session |
| 9. | Juan Pablo Montoya | Team Penske | Chevrolet | 1:07.4693 | 2nd session |
| 10. | Scott Dixon | Chip Ganassi Racing | Chevrolet | 1:07.4994 |
Other Honda-powered Results
| 11. | Ryan Hunter-Reay | Andretti Autosport | Honda | 1:07.5831 | 2nd session |
| 12. | Carlos Munoz | Andretti Autosport | Honda | 1:07.5951 | 2nd session |
| 13. | Mikhail Aleshin | Schmidt Peterson Motorsports | Honda | 1:07.6744 | 2nd session |
| 15. | Luca Filippi | Dale Coyne Racing | Honda | 1:07.7963 | 1st session |
| 16. | Marco Andretti | Andretti Autosport | Honda | 1:07.8069 | 2nd session |
| 19. | Conor Daly-R | Dale Coyne Racing | Honda | 1:08.0137 | 2nd session |
| 21. | Alexander Rossi-R | Andretti Herta Autosport | Honda | 1:08.5240 | 1st session |
A.J. Foyt Racing Heads Honda 1-2-3 in Opening Day Practice in Alabama
- Sato, Hawksworth, Hinchcliffe lead Friday practice sessions
- Rahal gives Honda four of the top six positions
- Honda Indy Grand Prix of Alabama runs Sunday
A.J. Foyt Racing's Takuma Sato and Jack Hawksworth led a 1-2-3 for Honda Friday in Verizon IndyCar Series practice at Barber Motorsports Park in preparation for Sunday's Honda Indy Grand Prix of Alabama. Following on the heels of his eighth-place result last week at the Grand Prix of Long Beach, James Hinchcliffe rounded out the top three on the time charts for Honda and Schmidt Peterson Motorsports.
One of the stars of last year's race, when he finished second after a late-race charge, Graham Rahal was sixth on the time sheets today, to give Honda four of the top six positions. Ryan Hunter-Reay, the 2014 Honda-powered race winner, just missed the top 10 to end the day 11th overall.
Activities at the Honda Indy Grand Prix of Alabama continue tomorrow, with final practice and qualifying. Sunday's 90-lap race starts at 3 p.m. EDT, with live network television coverage on the NBC Sports Network.
Takuma Sato (#14 A.J. Foyt Racing Honda): "It's been a very good day for the ABC Supply/A.J. Foyt team. This is not the result of just one single day. It was the winter testing, and especially the last test here, because the weather was warm and gave us a good foundation and understanding of the car. The engineering department did a tremendous job, working in so much detail and bringing everything together. The car and the Honda engine are working really well. It's a great feeling because the competition level is so high and we are on top of the game today. We'll go through the data and look for where we can improve. In qualifying the red tire could behave differently, so all is not perfect but I think we learned a lot and it's been very positive."
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