The final hour of practice ahead of the 101st running of the Indianapolis 500 took place on Friday, with the traditionally Carb Day running, and it was Helio Castroneves who will go into the race with a little momentum after the veteran Brazilian set the fastest time of the day.
The Team Penske driver was able to set a lap around the 2.5-mile oval at 227.377mph, albeit with a tow, but Castroneves ended up ahead of Andretti Autosport’s Takuma Sato and Chip Ganassi Racing’s Tony Kanaan.
Indianapolis 500 pole sitter Scott Dixon was fourth fastest, setting a lap of 226.682mph, just 0.073mph faster than Fernando Alonso, who completed 32 laps ahead of his maiden oval race for McLaren Honda Andretti.
Graham Rahal was sixth for Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing ahead of defending Indy 500 champion Alexander Rossi of Andretti Herta Autosport, while the top ten was rounded out by Team Penske duo Josef Newgarden and Juan Pablo Montoya, and by Andretti Autosport’s Ryan Hunter-Reay.
All thirty-three drivers completed laps, with 960 laps being completed across the 60 minutes of the session, but for James Hinchcliffe, his session appeared to be cut short by a Honda engine failure on his Schmidt Peterson Motorsport machine. The Canadian was fourteenth quickest on Friday, but it was the ninth such failure for Honda in the past ten days.
Takuma Sato (26) ended up second fastest, whilst Sebastien Bourdais’ replacement James Davison (18) got some decent running in – Credit: Jim Haines / IndyCar
Indianapolis Motor Speedway Carb Day Practice Result
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