Gabby Chaves set the pace during Thursday’s fourth scheduled practice session at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway as drivers readied themselves for Fast Friday and the subsequent qualifying sessions across the weekend.
The Dale Coyne Racing driver set a best time of 39.4804s around the 2.5-mile oval, which equates to 227.961mph, to top the final day of practice ahead of qualifying that drivers do not have the additional engine boost that will come into play during Friday’s running and across the two qualifying days.
It was another clear, near perfect day on track, with 2563 laps being completed, with track activities been stopped only to clear up debris and to tow in cars that had stopped on track with mechanical issues, most notably Juan Pablo Montoya and Ryan Hunter-Reay.
Second and third place in the timing screens were drivers from the Andretti Autosport quintet, with Indy 500 one-off entry Townsend Bell second ahead of Carlos Munoz, while Conor Daly made it a good day for Dale Coyne Racing with the fourth fastest time as all 32 drivers who practiced on Thursday getting within one second of Chaves’ lap time.
Fifth fastest was Chip Ganassi Racing’s Charlie Kimball ahead of Team Penske’s Montoya, who despite requiring the tow-in after stopping on track was able to get back out for some running towards the end of the day.
Reigning Verizon IndyCar Series champion Scott Dixon was seventh for Chip Ganassi Racing ahead of Penske’s Helio Castroneves, with Marco Andretti ninth for Andretti Autosport.
In more good news for Dale Coyne Racing, Pippa Mann put herself into the top ten on Thursday, with a best lap of 39.7259s – 226.552s.
Spencer Pigot was the only driver who did not take to the track on Thursday, having been forced to sit out the track activities as his Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing team attempted to fix his car following his crash on Wednesday. The 2015 Indy Lights champion got into pit lane towards the end of the day but was unable to get onto the track before the chequered flag fell to end proceedings.
Indianapolis 500 Practice Day 4 Times
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