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The plan for this
morning's IndyCar session is to go "walk about,"
circling the track with the film camera and get the best
possible shots of the IndyCar's at speed. I'll "use
up" four rolls of film and return to the "MC" for
the rest of the day. I am in the Media Center now,
listening to the professional "shooters" b***h about
the lack of openings in the fencing to shoot through, so be
prepared for some added "enhancements" to my pictures.
Since I shot film, I'll post the pictures later.
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"Q
runs are about to begin, along with my commentary, you can
follow "Q" runs on radio on the IMS Radio Network
webcast, just click on this link.
http://www.indyracing.com/indycar/multimedia/radio.php
Here is the
Qualifying order, I will add commentary during each run.
AJ Foyt IV...
(skipped) Ed Carpenter, 95.385, Carpenter was the slowest in
practice and lost some speed... Patrick Carpentier, a
100.523, Carpentier also lost 1-mph... Roger Yasukawa, Roger
posts a 98.507, three drivers in a row are slower than they
practiced... Ryan Briscoe should be the first very quick
car to run, he crashed hard Friday, this is a backup car.
Briscoe is on the provisional pole for now with a 101.069, first
over 101-mph ... Buddy Rice has struggled on the street
course here, he posts a 99.394, not very good... Danica
Patrick has been slower than Buddy Rice today, yesterday she
was the fastest RLR driver, Danica turns a 100-mph lap, a
100.232, 3rd on the grid so far, besting teammate Rice... Tomas
Scheckter, 4th fastest this morning, looks fast, I'm guessing a
top-six run! 101.538... Sam Hornish Jr., 15th in practice
today, Sam hasn't been doing well in two days of practice, but
he is first over 102 now, where did that come from? Sam at
102.125... Scott Sharp has spun on his warm up lap,
restarted and will finish the run but get no time... Dan
Wheldon practiced well this morning, a 101.323, I'm not sure
that is top-6 territory... Alex Barron ran very well this
morning, he is faster than Carpentier. Alex runs 100.770... Tomas
Enge had a tough morning, the team made several changes last
night and they didn't work out, they reset the car but he is
"flying blind." Enge all over it and above 102 at
102.426, he not only was all over "it," but all over
the track, hitting one of the tire barriers on the run. I never
considered Enge a candidate for the top-six, but he's in... Kosuke
Matsuura, another pleasant surprise, Matsuura at 101.637,
this guy is top-six material as well, but it is beginning to
look like it will take a 102 to make that part of the show,
fastest Panoz in the field so far... Scott Dixon makes
hard tire barrier contact, but still 7th best so far at
100.931...Bryan Herta, a provisional outside pole, Bryan
at 102.166,three drivers above 202 so far with Franchitti,
Castroneves, Manning and Kanaan having "102"
potential... Vitor Meira, 100.790... Darren Manning has
been quick TCGR driver, he was airborne in practice this
morning, but fast too. Manning threw the car all over the track,
but lost a lot of time doing it, Manning @ 100.067... Tony
Kanaan looks quick on the monitor here, on a green flag run now
and finishes at 101.686, with two cars left, Kanaan will finish
in the top-6 for sure... Dario Franchitti made a big wiggle
on his "Q" lap, on the brakes hard on one corner,
POLE, so far with just Helio to go, Dario at 102.794... Helio
Castroneves has led the entire weekend, I have Dario in the
media "pole pick," and Helio didn't beat him. I went
with my 103.2 prediction, if that speed holds up through the
"fast-six" run, I may win a watch, thanks Helio...Here
are the semi-final results, pending the "fast-6" runs.
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Pos
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Driver
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Best
Time
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Best
Speed
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1
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Dario Franchitti (27)
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63.0384
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102.794
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2
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Helio Castroneves (3)
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63.1975
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102.536
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3
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Tomas Enge (2)
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63.2650
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102.426
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4
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Bryan Herta (7)
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63.4260
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102.166
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5
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Sam Hornish Jr. (6)
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63.4515
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102.125
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6
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Tony Kanaan (11)
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63.7254
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101.686
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7
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Kosuke Matsuura (55)
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63.7564
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101.637
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8
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Tomas Scheckter (4)
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63.8182
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101.538
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9
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Dan Wheldon (26)
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63.9536
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101.323
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10
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Ryan Briscoe (33T)
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64.1147
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101.069
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11
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Scott Dixon (9)
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64.2025
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100.931
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12
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Vitor Meira (17)
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64.2921
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100.790
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13
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Alex Barron (51)
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64.3051
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100.770
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14
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Patrick Carpentier (83)
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64.4630
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100.523
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15
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Danica Patrick (16)
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64.6499
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100.232
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16
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Darren Manning (10)
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64.7565
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100.067
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17
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Buddy Rice (15)
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65.1950
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99.394
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18
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Roger Yasukawa (24)
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65.7824
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98.507
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19
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Ed Carpenter (20)
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67.9355
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95.385
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Dario is first
out, the cars will be sent out every 13 seconds. Dario thinks
that the tires will come in after two laps, we'll see. These
cars are going to get everything out of the tires within 5 laps,
this shouldn't take all 10 minutes.
Helio is now on
the pole with a 103.360 so far and headed for Pit Road... Now
it's Herta to the pole, a 103.664... Helio is coming back out,
Dario may return as well... Franchitti is out again, as is
Helio, but it appears Herta is going to win his 2nd pole in a
row... Herta and Franchitti both out of their cars now... Helio
won't give up... Kanaan to 3rd, drops Dario to 4th... Kanaan
only shot left, not good enough, Herta wins the pole... What a
great format... Here are the final fas-6 results.
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Pos
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Driver
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Diff
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Best
Time
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Best
Speed
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Best
Lap
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1
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Bryan Herta (7)
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62.5096
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103.664
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5
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2
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Helio Castroneves (3)
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0.1837
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62.6933
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103.360
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4
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3
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Tony Kanaan (11)
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0.4693
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62.9789
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102.892
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8
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4
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Dario Franchitti (27)
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0.5288
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63.0384
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102.794
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1
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5
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Tomas Enge (2)
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0.7554
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63.2650
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102.426
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1
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6
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Sam Hornish Jr. (6)
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0.9419
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63.4515
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102.125
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1
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Helio
Castroneves, shown here with Brian Barnhart, made the call and
decided to invert the qualifying order, he will be the last to
run.
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We are in a
prolonged "lull" in the IndyCar action, the various
SPEED Challenge cars are on the track now. The next
"event" will be the draw for "Q" positions
and the decision by Helio Castroneves as to whether he will run
first or last. It is clear and very windy, but no chance of
further chance for rain. If this were an NHRA race, everyone
would be talking about "good air," or what it takes to
make the most horsepower. The "field altitude" for
Albert Whitted Airport is 7 feet above sea level, it is below 70
degrees here, and the humidity is high, you can't get any better
conditions than that. The winds, (out of the northwest at 26
mph, gusting to 33), which would be a problem on an oval, won't
be a factor anywhere on the course other than the airport
section, where there will be a crosswind. Speaking of the NHRA,
the IndyCar paddock has an NHRA-like look to it today, with fans
walking around looking at the cars, and as soon as someone fires
up an engine, the attention shifts to that area. The four AGR
teams have their trucks parked in a way where the work area is
open for the fans to see what's going on, and they are getting a
lot of attention. The Danica Patrick work is also situated like
that as well, and the fans are gathering there as well.
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As we wait for
IndyCar "Q" runs to begin, I'm going to post some
pictures taken from the paddock.
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It isn't often
that you get a view like this at an auto race, the
"tallest" yacht visible belongs to Roger Penske.
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The two
sheltered areas on the left are for the cars of Dario Franchitti
and Tony Kanaan.
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The two work
areas on the right are also for the AGR cars of Herta and
Wheldon.
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(10:24) There was
never a doubt that the Scheckter speed mark set earlier would
stand, and now three drivers have surpassed him. Helio
Castroneves has now posted a two-day best speed of 103.252
and is close to a full-mph faster than 2nd place Dan Wheldon.
The session has ended, here are the results as posted by IndyCar
T&S.
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Pos
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Driver
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Best
Time
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Best
Speed
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1
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Helio Castroneves (3)
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1:2.7589
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103.252
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2
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Dan Wheldon (26)
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1:3.3091
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102.355
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3
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Bryan Herta (7)
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1:3.3571
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102.277
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4
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Tomas Scheckter (4)
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1:3.5089
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102.033
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5
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Darren Manning (10)
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1:3.5180
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102.018
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6
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Tony Kanaan (11)
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1:3.5778
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101.922
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7
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Dario Franchitti (27)
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1:3.6641
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101.784
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8
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Alex Barron (51)
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1:3.7287
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101.681
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9
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Patrick Carpentier (83)
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1:3.8545
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101.481
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10
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Kosuke Matsuura (55)
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1:3.8633
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101.467
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