First practice

SAO PAULO – Will Power has started the 2013 Itaipava Sao Paulo Indy 300 presented by Nestle the same way he began last year.

Power, driving the No. 12 Verizon Team Penske Chevrolet, posted the fastest lap of the initial practice session on May 4. A second practice session is scheduled to begin at 11:05 a.m. (ET), with live timing and scoring and radio broadcast available at racecontrol.indycar.com.

Click it: Practice 1 results

Power’s best lap was timed at 1 minute, 21.8517 seconds. Josef Newgarden placed the No. 67 Sarah Fisher Hartman Racing Honda in second (1:21.8796). Sebastien Bourdais, who finished 17th in last year’s race, was third (1:22.0495).

Dario Franchitti was fourth in the No. 10 Lexar Honda and Panther Racing's JR Hildebrand was fifth in the National Guard Panther Racing Chevrolet. Franchitti and Hildebrand are coming off of fourth and fifth place finishes at Long Beach, respectively.

Second practice

Will Power again led the field in second practice with a time of 1 minute, 20.9264 seconds. The track record, set in Qualifying 2 by Power in 2012, is 1:21.2781. 

Click it: Practice 2 results | Qualifying groups

Reigning IZOD IndyCar Series champion Ryan Hunter-Reay was second (1:21.0022) in the No. 1 DHL Chevy, while Andretti Autosport teammate E.J. Viso (1:21.2222) was third.

Scott Dixon was fourth in the No. 9 Target Chip Ganassi car and native Brazilian Helio Castroneves was fifth for Team Penske.

Power, who has won all three races on the streets of Sao Paulo, is looking for the first win of the season for Team Penske. After tallying off three wins in a row early in 2012, he has not won a race since last year’s Sao Paulo Indy 300.

Qualifying groups were determined by morning practice session times and will commence at 1:35 p.m. (ET). The qualifying broadcast begins on NBC Sports Network Sunday at 1:30 a.m. (ET).