Motorsport: Dixon looking good for Indy

Scott Dixon

New Zealand driver Scott Dixon posted the fourth fastest time today as he continues tuning up in defence of his Indy 500 title in the United States.

Dixon circled the famed Brickyard in Indianapolis 79 times and clocked a fastest lap of 357.87km during practice, the fourth best among the 33 drivers on the 4.02km oval circuit.

The reigning IndyCar series champion was less than eight hundredths of a second behind the fastest laps posted by Brazilian pole winner, Helio Castroneves and his Penske teammate Ryan Briscoe, of Australia, the No 2 qualifier.

Dixon won last year's race from pole position, but is provisionally in the second row this year after registered the fifth best time in qualifying last weekend.

He was unsure whether he had closed the gap on the Penske pair today.

"It's hard to tell," Dixon said.

"This was just our first time for race practice. All in all we seemed pretty consistent."

Track conditions late in the afternoon were more like those expected on race day with so many cars on the oval.

"It was more like race running.

"(But) that's what we have to be able to do - run in traffic."

Dixon's teammate, Dario Franchitti, of Scotland, who won the race in 2007, was sixth fastest today.

Franchitti is third, outside the front row, on the provisional grid.

Practice and qualifying continues over the next week, with the big race on Sunday 24 May.

- NZPA