Justin leads Friday practice in Houston

Houston, Texas (4 October 2013) – Justin Wilson and Dale Coyne Racing finished the first day of preparations for the Shell and Pennzoil Grand Prix of Houston IndyCar Series doubleheader at the top of the timesheets, setting a fast time of 1:04.4237s (91.308mph) which was 0.4s clear of the field.

"It's a tough track and it's really bumpy, but when the grip comes up it feels good," said Justin of the the 1.68 mile Reliant Park street circuit. "Once the car starts to work around here it's a lot of fun, but it's tough. It's really physical and you're bouncing around and you're trying to land in the right spot and get on the brakes and try not to lose one end or the other. This morning I lost the rear on the turn in to Turn 2 or 3 and looped it around. We can see a lot of that and it's going to continue to throughout the race. It's so hard to keep it on that knife edge. I'm really pleased with the car that Dale Coyne Racing has given me. Hopefully we can keep it up and have a good qualifying in the Boy Scouts of America Honda tomorrow."

Weekend schedule: Friday's schedule was modified due to the need to install a temporary chicane at Turn 1 and IndyCar Series qualifying for Race 1 will now take place in two groups, starting at 11:45 am (ET) Saturday. Each group will receive 12 minutes of total track time. The groups were determined by random draw. Green Flag for Race 1 will start at 3.40pm (ET). Qualifying for Race 2 will take place in the same two-group format on Sunday morning (9:45 am (CT)) with the green flag for Race 2 scheduled for 1:40 PM (ET).

Justin Wilson