Five days of practice for the 100th Running of the Indianapolis 500 is behind and it is time for the qualifying weekend. Will Power set the fastest lap of the practice days with a Chevy-powered car, yet it has been the Honda-powered teams that have impressed the most.
Andretti Autosport dominated the first day of practice on Monday with all its five Honda-powered cars in the top six. Marco Andretti set the fastest lap with an average speed of 228.978 mph, which remained as the fastest lap of the week until Friday. Andretti was followed by Carlos Munoz, Ryan Hunter-Reay, and the rookie Alexander Rossi (for Andretti Herta Autosport) before the fastest Chevrolet driver, Scott Dixon for Chip Ganassi Racing, whose fastest lap had an average speed of 226.835 mph. Townsend Bell completed the strong performance of the Andretti team in sixth place.
Andretti Autosport topped also the no-tow speeds on Monday. Townsend Bell set the fastest no-tow lap, averaging 223.940 mph. Bell was followed by Andretti, Hunter-Reay, and Munoz before another Honda driver Graham Rahal of Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing in fifth place. The fastest Chevrolet driver in no-tow speeds was Josef Newgarden for Ed Carpenter Racing.
There was no track activity on Tuesday due to rain so the practice sessions continued on Wednesday. Andretti drivers topped the practice results again on Wednesday as Ryan Hunter-Reay set the fastest lap at 228.202 mph and was followed by his teammate Carlos Munoz. Will Power for Team Penske was the fastest Chevy driver of Wednesday in third place with his best lap of 227.733. Power was followed by another Chevy driver Josef Newgarden in fourth place.
The fastest no-tow lap of Wednesday was 224.541 mph by Newgarden who was followed by the five Andretti Autosport drivers.
Wednesday also saw the first and so far the only crash of the week as the rookie driver Spencer Pigot crashed at Turn 1. While Pigot was uninjured, Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing had to prepare the spare chassis for Pigot who returned to track only in the end of the Thursday practice for an installation lap.
Thursday saw another Honda-powered team Dale Coyne Racing joining Andretti Autosport at the top of the practice results. Gabby Chaves of DCR set the fastest Thursday lap at 227.733 mph, the fourth fastest lap of the week by then. Chaves was followed by the Andretti drivers Bell and Munoz before his DCR teammate Conor Daly in fourth place. Behind the top four of Honda-powered cars were four Chevy-powered cars. Charlie Kimball for Chip Ganassi Racing was the fastest Chevy driver in fifth place with a best lap of 227.477. Kimball was followed by the defending Indy 500 winner Juan Pablo Montoya of Team Penske in sixth place. Scott Dixon of Ganassi was seventh and Helio Castroneves of Penske eighth.
Will Power set the fastest no-tow lap by then on Thursday, averaging 225.381 mph. The Chevy driver Power was followed by the Honda driver Graham Rahal in second place, the Chevy drivers Dixon and Montoya in third and fourth places, and the Honda drivers Rossi and Munoz in fifth and sixth places.
While Honda-powered cars topped the first practice days at IMS, Mikhail Aleshin on Tuesday and Ryan Hunter-Reay on Wednesday suffered failures of their Honda engines. Due to those failures, those two had to make an early switch to fresh engines that they are supposed to use in the race.
The speeds increased in the Fast Friday practice as the cars were running with a qualifying-level turbo boost. Will Power topped the practice day with the fastest lap of the week averaging at 232.672 mph. Power was followed by another Chevy driver Josef Newgarden in second place. The following positions from third to 11th went to Honda drivers. Friday’s fastest Honda driver was James Hinchcliffe for Schmidt Peterson Motorsports, averaging 231.972. Hinchcliffe was followed by the Andretti drivers Munoz, Andretti, Bell, and Hunter-Reay in fourth to seventh positions. Thursday’s fastest driver Gabby Chaves was eighth-fastest on Friday. Hinchcliffe’s SPM teammates Mikhail Aleshin and Oriol Servia were ninth and 11th respectively, split by the Andretti Herta driver Rossi.
The fastest no-tow lap was 231.342 by Townsend Bell. Will Power was second-fastest in no-tow laps and he was the only Chevy driver in the top eight.
Simon Pagenaud comes into the Indy 500 as the Verizon IndyCar Series points leader after his dominant early season. So far Pagenaud hasn’t shown dominant pace in the Indy 500 practice; at best he was 12th in Thursday practice. But it’s only Saturday when the results matter for the first time. However, as the practice results show, Pagenaud’s Chevy-powered Team Penske seems to be getting tough competition from the Honda-powered teams. The qualifying weekend will show if the Honda teams really have an advantage or if the Chevy teams have been hiding their potential.
The track activity at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway continues with the qualifying weekend. Saturday’s track activity will start with practice from 8 am to 10 am local time (2 pm to 4 pm CET). Saturday’s qualifying session will take place between 11 am and 5:50 pm (5 pm to 11:50 pm CET). Saturday’s qualifying session will decide which cars will advance into the Fast Nine qualifying on Sunday.
Sunday’s track activity will start with practice from 12 pm to 2 pm (6 pm to 8 pm). The starting positions from 10th to 33rd will be decided in the Group One qualifying from 2:45 pm to 4:45 pm (8:45 pm to 10:45 pm CET). The pole winner and the first three rows will be decided in the Fast Nine qualifying from 5 pm to 5:45 pm (11 pm to 11:45 pm CET).
