Canadian James Hinchcliffe was fastest in the first Friday practice session at St. Pete's and ended up 6th fastest for the day. (Photo-Chris Jones/indyCar)

St. Petersburg, Florida - Takuma Sato topped the time chart in the second practice session to lead the opening days of preparations for the Firestone Grand Prix of St. Petersburg.

The Japanese driver recorded a best lap of 1 minute, 2.5615 seconds. Driving the Honda-powered No. 14 ABC Supply car, after he was third in the morning session on the 1.8-mile, 14-turn circuit.

'I am very excited to back in St. Petersburg and excited to be on track," said Sato, who has a best finish of fifth in four previous races. "The conditions were not very representative as usual for St. Petersburg, but still the car worked really well and we made good progress during this session. Let's hope this continues and we will work on speed for (qualifying)."

Sebastien Bourdais holds the track record of 1:00.928 in qualifying for the 2003 race sanctioned by CART.

Graham Rahal in the No. 15 National Guard car for Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing was second quick (1:02.6122) and Will Power, who has earned the pole in each of the past four years, was third in the No. 12 Verizon Team Penske car (1:02.6443). Teammate Helio Castroneves, a three-time winner of the race, was fourth and Simon Pagenaud was fifth in the No. 77 Schmidt Peterson Hamilton Motorsports car.

Five Hondas and an equal number of Chevrolet-powered cars occupied the top 10. The top 19 cars were separated by less than a second.

Rahal, whose victory at St. Petersburg in '08 made him the youngest winner in Indy car history, won the pole the following March.

"Overall, for our first day out I think it was a great day," said Rahal. "For us to be that competitive right off the bat feels awesome. I have to say most of all I am proud of these National Guard guys because it was only 48, maybe 72 hours ago that we had a big trailer fire and our guys did an incredible job getting everything switched back over in Indy. It was a rush, it was absolutely a rush to get down here."

The crew was to have the day off, but everyone reported to the Brownsburg, Ind., headquarters by 6 a.m. to offer assistance.

"I am proud of them and as Dad said last night to them 'through adversity comes a team' and I think we have a great group of people and I think that is going to show this year," added Rahal, referring to team co-owner Bobby Rahal.

In the first session of the season, 2013 race winner James Hinchcliffe was quickest of the 22 drivers at 1:02.9326.

VERIZON INDYCAR SERIES PRACTICE #1

At 10 a.m., the ambient temperature was 71 degrees with a relative humidity of 74 percent. Winds were from the north-northwest at 5 mph. Skies were cloudy. The track temperature was 76 degrees, according to Firestone engineers.

10 a.m. - Session is delayed for track cleanup from previous session.s

10:05 a.m. - GREEN. Session will be for 45 minutes.

10:39 a.m. - RED FLAG: #11 Bourdais is off-course in Turn 4 and in need of assistance. Car is assisted by Holmatro Safety Team and returns to pit lane under its own power and without damage.

10:41 a.m. - GREEN.

11:50 a.m. - CHECKERED.

JAMES HINCHCLIFFE (No. 27 United Fiber & Data Honda): "That first session of the season is something everyone is excited about. The track was very green and a lot of guys have something to come and hopefully, that includes us. Hopefully that means we're on the right track for the weekend." (How important is that first session): "We get so little track time and need to use every lap of testing and practice you get, so you can lollygag too much. " (Does last year's win help you today?): "I've been saying that last year is past and we need to focus on 2014, so it doesn't have much to do with last year. It's good to start the 2014 season with a good session. It show we did our job over the offseason. The guys have been working very hard and it's a good way to kick off our relationship with Honda and United Fiber & Data. It's very early days in the weekend and hopefully it means we're starting on the right foot. (What it's like to come back as a defending winner): "I think the biggest thing is just added attention when you come back as a defending winner. Whether you crashed in Turn 1 or won the race. You come in with the same mindset and that's to do the best that you can. I'd love to get another surfboard. It looks pretty good in the living room."

VERIZON INDYCAR SERIES PRACTICE #2:

At 2 p.m., the ambient temperature was 74 degrees with a relative humidity of 69 percent. Winds were from the north at 2 mph. Skies were overcast. The track temperature was 89 degrees, according to Firestone engineers.

2 p.m. - GREEN.

2:07 p.m. - RED FLAG. #17 Saavedra off course in Turn 10 and in need of assistance. Car is restarted by Holmatro Safety Team and returns to pits under its own power and without damage.

2:13 p.m. - GREEN.

2:30 p.m. - RED FLAG. #67 Newgarden off course in Turn 4. Car had an apparent steering issue under braking and car spun into the runoff area. Driver climbs from the car without assistance from Holmatro Safety Team.

2:34 p.m. - GREEN.

2:39 p.m. - RED. #98 Hawksworth makes contact with the tire barrier in Turn 12. Car continues to pit lane under its own power.

2:41 p.m. - GREEN.

3:31 p.m. - CHECKERED.

VERIZON INDYCAR SERIES POST-PRACTICE QUOTES:

TAKUMA SATO (No. 14 ABC Supply A.J. Foyt Racing Honda): "I am very excited to back in St. Petersburg and excited to be on track. The conditions were not very representative as usual for St. Petersburg, but still the car worked really well, and we made good progress during this session. I am happy with the balance and the boys and the team worked really well today. Let's hope this continues and we will work on speed for tomorrow."

JAMES HINCHCLIFFE (No. 27 United Fiber & Data Honda): "Good first day, honestly. The second session was a little bit of a tossup with the weather the way it was. We maybe didn't get as good of read as we would have liked but, at the end of the day, we weren't going the be the guys that did something silly and put the car into the wall trying to win practice. I'm pretty pleased with the way it turned up and I think a good basis to build on for the United Fiber & Data car."

Notes:
Former Indy car driver and current ABC Verizon IndyCar Series analyst Scott Goodyear will be the first motorsports athlete to be inducted into the Ontario Sports Hall of Fame. He's already a member of the Canadian Motorsports Hall of Fame.

SATURDAY'S SCHEDULE (all times local):

7 a.m.
Garages open

10 - 10:45 a.m.
Verizon IndyCar Series practice

2 - 3:10 p.m.
Verizon IndyCar Series qualifying for Verizon P1 Award (knockout qualifying and Firestone Fast Six)

Friday Combined Practice Session Results 

Canadians In BOLD