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Please note that as usual in a
running recap format, I'll post the latest news first.
(A
"warmer" update) The latest I've heard on when they
will run is 11-something, although there are cars on the track
now under a "running yellow" condition.
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Here is the final chart, Dan Wheldon got a
good tow in the last 15 minutes to pass Danica for 3rd. For Dixon and
Hornish to run that much faster than anyone else, you also have to expect
some drafting help there as well. As it was, the final 20 minutes looked
like a Happy Hour run to me, and the resulting goose bumps on the back of
my neck served to remind me how special this place is.
Also having good results today were Kosuke Matsuura and Eddie Cheever.
Andretti Green Racing had to be disappointed with their results today, at
the end of the session there was Tony Kanaan with a pretty good tow, and
yet his best speed was only 13th on the chart. More ominous for AGR is
their pit road position today, set in the same manner as IndyCar sets pit
road assignments everywhere but Indy. IndyCar uses collective results to
assign pit road position, and one of the reasons AGR found it easy to win
in the past was those pit road assignments. Today AGR not only was behind
MTP and TCGR, but the Fernandez cars of Sharp and Matsuura as well, and
that's how it will be for Motegi.
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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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Last Lap
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1
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Scott Dixon (9)
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39.8209
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226.012
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77
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2
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Sam Hornish Jr (6)
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39.9369
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225.355
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102
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3
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Dan Wheldon (10)
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40.0980
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224.450
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64
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4
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Danica Patrick (16)
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40.2025
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223.867
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79
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5
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Kosuke Matsuura (55)
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40.2312
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223.707
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90
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6
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Helio Castroneves (3)
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40.2479
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223.614
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127
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7
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Eddie Cheever Jr (51)
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40.2924
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223.367
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106
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8
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Tomas Scheckter (2)
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40.2968
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223.343
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73
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9
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Bryan Herta (1)
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40.3613
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222.986
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55
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10
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Scott Sharp (8)
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40.4030
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222.756
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68
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11
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Buddy Rice (15)
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40.5182
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222.122
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67
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12
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Vitor Meira (4)
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40.5927
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221.715
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109
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13
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Tony Kanaan (11)
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40.7392
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220.917
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59
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14
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Dario Franchitti (27)
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40.8388
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220.379
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54
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15
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Jeff Simmons (17)
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40.8472
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220.333
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77
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16
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Ed Carpenter (20)
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40.9791
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219.624
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78
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17
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Marty Roth (25)
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41.7325
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215.659
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121
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This is the 4:30 chart, about 90 minutes
later than the one below. As you see, speeds continue to climb. The test
will end at 5:00 PM and then I'll post the final numbers. Last night at
TCGR we confirmed one thing and learned another. What we learned is that
they planned to be serious about challenging MTP for fast time of the test
today, and with Scott Dixon topping the chart at this time, it looks like
they meant what they said. The "confirmation" was about the
teams having to use the engines from the cars raced at St. Pete for this
test. Last night the TCGR crew worked late taking those engines from the
street race Panoz cars and put them in the Indy Dallara's. As you can see,
one is atop the chart. I guess once you put the cover over the engine it
doesn't know where it is, so it doesn't matter. Dixon has run nearly 175
miles on that engine today, and it ran more than 200 at St. Pete, that's
pretty reliable.
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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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Scott Dixon (9)
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39.8209
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226.012
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2
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Sam Hornish Jr (6)
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39.9369
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225.355
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3
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Helio Castroneves (3)
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40.2479
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223.614
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4
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Dan Wheldon (10)
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40.2898
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223.382
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5
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Bryan Herta (1)
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40.3613
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222.986
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6
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Danica Patrick (16)
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40.3953
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222.798
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7
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Scott Sharp (8)
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40.4030
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222.756
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8
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Kosuke Matsuura (55)
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40.4374
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222.566
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9
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Eddie Cheever Jr (51)
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40.4676
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222.400
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10
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Buddy Rice (15)
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40.5182
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222.122
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11
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Tomas Scheckter (2)
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40.5189
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222.119
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12
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Vitor Meira (4)
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40.5927
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221.715
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13
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Tony Kanaan (11)
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40.8813
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220.150
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14
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Jeff Simmons (17)
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40.9475
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219.794
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15
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Ed Carpenter (20)
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41.0683
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219.147
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16
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Dario Franchitti (27)
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41.0821
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219.074
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17
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Marty Roth (25)
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41.7325
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215.659
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I have been out and about all afternoon, I
made my promised appearance in the short chute and the turn two spectator
mounds, and CCF posted the evidence. Then I went down on pit road and I
think a real scoop in talking with Michael Andretti, at least I hadn't
heard this before. I asked Michael if he was going to run any this
afternoon, Michael said, no, "that he was going to run his car
with Marco in ROP." With Michael out of a car for a couple of
seasons, he may have had to do a refresher test anyway. With the
possibility of the session ending soon, I thought I would post this
mid-afternoon T&S chart to use for comparison purposes in ca we get
some last minute flyers (which of course we did, as speeds are now above
225 mph). I still have no reason to suspect there is some sandbagging
going on.
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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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Sam Hornish Jr (6)
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40.2511
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223.596
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2
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Dan Wheldon (10)
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40.2898
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223.382
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3
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Helio Castroneves (3)
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40.3250
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223.187
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4
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Scott Dixon (9)
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40.3419
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223.093
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5
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Bryan Herta (1)
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40.3613
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222.986
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6
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Danica Patrick (16)
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40.4523
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222.484
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7
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Eddie Cheever Jr (51)
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40.4676
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222.400
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8
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Buddy Rice (15)
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40.5182
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222.122
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9
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Tomas Scheckter (2)
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40.8330
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220.410
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