Montoya sets the pace at Indianapolis

Juan Pablo Montoya hit back from his Canadian calamity to set the fastest time in first practice for the United States Grand Prix at Indianapolis.

The Colombian saw a victory in Montreal go begging when a pit stop blunder cost him time before he jumped a red light to earn disqualification.

After spending yesterday answering repeated questions about the incidents, he issued a timely response where it matters most today, clocking the fastest time in first practice.

The McLaren driver’s lap of one minute 12.027 seconds was just 0.058secs quicker than Toyota test driver Ricardo Zonta, with world championship leader Fernando Alonso third for Renault.

Nick Heidfeld took an encouraging fourth for Williams while Jenson Button, who was on pole position before crashing out in Canada, finished the session fifth.

McLaren tester Pedro de la Rosa took sixth with Red Bull’s David Coulthard 14th and world champion Michael Schumacher 10th.

McLaren’s preparations took a blow when de la Rosa parked his car on the grass after just 12 minutes.

The Spanish third driver uses Friday practice to gather valuable data for racers Kimi Raikkonen and Montoya but his work was cut short as his McLaren was dragged back to the pits by a crane.

Scott Speed made history by becoming the first American to turn a competitive lap on the Indianapolis infield track in a Formula One car.

The Red Bull third driver was the busiest man on track in the early stages of the session but he was unable to match de la Rosa’s early speed.

Narain Karthikeyan suffered an off-track excursion halfway through the one-hour session but was able to rejoin with no damage to his Jordan. The Indian repeated the trick two minutes later when he left his braking too late and ploughed through the gravel.

Only a handful of drivers had taken to the track in the first 40 minutes but a healthy crowd for a Friday finally got a chance to see their hero when Schumacher went second with his first lap.

Most of the front-runners eventually emerged with the Renault pair of Alonso and Giancarlo Fisichella, as well as Button, jumping ahead of Schumacher but still falling short of de la Rosa’s early marker.

Zonta finally knocked de la Rosa off his perch with 10 minutes to go as Raikkonen ran wide through the gravel, just steering clear of the tyre wall. However Montoya lifted spirits at McLaren by going fastest soon after.

Coulthard almost crashed with Mark Webber due to a misunderstanding late in the session before Jacques Villeneuve, who won the Indianapolis 500 in 1995, ran wide in his Sauber. Rubens Barrichello also cut across the grass in the final minute.