Australian Will Power led 10 drivers who completed their Indianapolis 500 rookie orientation program on Sunday as the Indianapolis Motor Speedway opened ahead of the 25 May race.

Power set the pace by circling the famed 2.5-mile (4km) oval in 40.7804 seconds at 220.694mph (253.110km/h) and drove this year's first car onto the "Brickyard" pavement.

"Initially when I went out I thought: 'How the hell do you go flat here?' But we crept up through it," Power said. "I was happy to get flat all the way around because that takes you to the next level.

"Now the challenge, you start heading toward 225mph, that's when the driving really comes in."

Power was among the drivers who joined the Indy Racing League this year in the wake of its merger with Champ-car, reunifying the US open-wheel rivals after a 1996 split.

Largely because of the merger, there are 13 Indy 500 newcomers this year, the largest rookie class since 1997.

Newcomers have two days on the track before open practice starts on Tuesday ahead of Saturday's pole qualifying for the 92nd Indy 500. Most complete the four 10-lap phases of Indy rookie testing during these sessions.

Joining Power in finishing rookie tests were Englishmen Justin Wilson, Alex Lloyd and Jay Howard; Japan's Hideki Mutoh, Venezuelan E.J. Viso, Spain's Oriol Servia, Brazil's Jaime Camara and Americans Ryan Huntear-Reay and Graham Rahal.

Rahal won his Indy-car debut last month at St. Petersburg, Florida, on a road course.

Brazil's Enrique Bernoldi completed all but the final phase while countryman Mario Moraes made only three laps late in the day and Mexico's Mario Dominguez did not take the track.

Both Moraes and Dominguez must finish at least three stages on Monday to be eligible to race this year.

AFP