INDY 500 - Flury of Practice Laps Fill the Day at Indy
INDIANAPOLIS -RIS- (May 16, 2018) It’s been a busy day at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway.
With near-ideal weather conditions all day, a blistering total of 5257 laps of practice were turned by all 35 entrants for this year’s qualifications for the 102nd running of the Indianapolis 500-Mile Race.
It was all-Honda at the top of the speed chart, with four different teams being represented.
Marco Andretti, driving the #98 Andretti/Herta/Curb/Agajanian entry, delivered the day’s best speed of 227.053 mph. Behind the third generation Andretti were Chip Ganassi Racing’s Scott Dixon (226.329), Rahal Letterman Lanigan’s Takuma Sato (226.108), and Schmidt Peterson Motorsports rookie Robert Wickens (226.329).
The day’s biggest speeds all came in an aerodynamic tow, as large groups of cars ran all day, as teams worked on race day traffic set-ups.
WEDNESDAY PRACTICE RESULTS
Eight-time top ten finisher and 2006 Indy runner up Marco Andretti was philosophical about his progress.
“Still early days - just ticking off the boxes,” he said. “We’re not there yet, but we’re sure everyone’s dealing with the same thing. Just working away.”
When asked about how quick his #98 was without a tow, Andretti explained, “I did one run alone, which was pretty slow.”
With the current set-ups, Andretti doesn’t see much more in these cars, topping out about where he was today - 227. “This boost level and a tow, yeah.”
But he expect the added boost the drivers will get for qualifying could see the new aero chassis doing around 228 or 229.
2008 Indy 500 winner Scott Dixon’s day progressed methodically.
“It stated off kind of average. We went though some struggles, and made some pretty big changes. We ran full downforce all day, and just worked on the car.”
Both drivers admitted that the aero package makes passing tough.
“I think if you’re third or back in line, it’ll be tougher to pass,” Andretti said.
Dixon added, “Like Marco said, but if you’re fifth and back, it’s pretty bad.
“If you find a big draft occasionally, take it!”
Dixon noted that the team is more mellow these days with only Ed Jones as the team’s second shoe. Jones is less-experienced than his previous Ganassi teammates - Dan Wheldon, Dario Franchitti, and Tony Kanaan.
“It’s a lot quieter with TK out of the room,” he laughed.
Andretti admits that having the best car in any given Indy 500 doesn’t guarantee success.
“This place picks the winners,” he admitted with a classic Andretti experienced sigh, as his father and grandfather well know.
Chevrolet occupied spots five through nine on the day’s performance.
Charlie Kimball, formerly of Chip Ganassi Racing, now with IndyCar newcomer Carlin Racing, was the bowtie best at 225.887 mph.
Simon Pagenaud’s morning run of 225.787 was sixth-best, followed by the afternoon runs of Tony Kanaan (225.740), Gabby Chaves (225.475), and Ed Carpenter (225.164).
Practice resumes tomorrow at 11:00 am for Saturday's qualifying for the Indianapolis 500.
Tom Beeler
Tom has been a contributor to RIS since 1992. He was invited to join the staff as a full-time reporter/editor in 1995, and has covered IndyCar, Formula 1, NASCAR, Grand-Am, ALMS and the 24 Hours of Le Mans. In addition to his RIS work, Tom has been a contributor for General Motors, Nissan, Toyota and the ACO.