Indy 500 practice summary: Practice 1-4
Summary of what happened through the first four days of Indianapolis 500 practice, in case you don’t want to sit through nearly 20 hours of practice footage.
Highlights include: Alonso’s rookie orientation dominance; Honda and Chevrolet mirroring each other in Practice 1 and 2; a small grid participating in Practice 3; and some drivers finally turning up their engines for a qualifying sim before Fast Friday.
Rookie Orientation: Not a rookie
Fernando Alonso’s 00m40.6074s with a top speed of 221.634 mph topped all rookies and refresher drivers. The McLaren Honda Andretti driver’s 35 completed laps were second only to fellow rookie Ed Jones’s 48.
Practice 1: Honda dominate
In Practice 1, Marco Andretti topped the timing sheets with a 00m39.7636s at 226.338 mph. Meanwhile JR Hildebrand put in the most laps with 74. Score Practice 1 for Honda, as Honda power dominated the Top-10 with eight of 10 slots occupied by Honda cars.
The fastest Chevrolet was the #20 of Ed Carpenter in P3. Indy Grand Prix winner Will Power finished P7. Among rookies, Alonso was the fastest in P19 but a mechanical issue (suspension) limited his session to 20 laps.
Twitter: Alonso loses valuable #Indy500 traffic experience to suspension issue – https://t.co/TDre8D3ESh
@IndyCar @IMS https://t.co/FQOcbZ1AJd (@Motorsport)
Harding Racing’s Gabby Chaves could only complete six laps during the four-hour practice session. Andretti Autosport’s Jack Harvey went into the wall at Turn 2, but got out on his own power. No injuries reported. Harvey oversteered into the wall mid-session.
Practice 2: Chevy reverse the script on Honda
Team Penske’s Power rebounds to lead the runners at the top in Practice 2. The Australian’s P1 time of 00m40.0613s was .2977s slower than Andretti’s effort in Practice 1. Chevy took the practice podium with two Team Penske cars (Power and Helio Castroneves) and Chaves. In a reverse from Practice 1, Chevy cars dominated the Top-10 taking seven of 10 places.
Ryan Hunter-Reay was the fastest Honda, in P4. Andretti Autosport team-mate, Alonso completed the most laps 117, but finished in the bottom third, P24.
Twitter: . #Indy500 – Fernando @Alo_oficial says he’s “learning every lap” in traffic, after completing 117 tours of @IMS -… https://t.co/cHOnJukJyh (@Motorsport)
The Spaniard was joined by two others who hit triple digits in laps completed. Alonso, Sato (106 laps, P6), and Graham Rahal (100 laps, P20).
Meanwhile, Andretti pulled a Chaves in Practice 2, as the third generation Andretti could only put in six laps.
Practice 3: Drivers limit running
Only 21 cars participated in Practice 3. Top-10 was evenly split among Chevy and Honda. Carpenter was fastest in session with a 00m40.3779s.
Twitter: . @ECRIndy 1-2 at midway point of Day 3 of #Indy500 practice at @IMS – https://t.co/RshlMjDW4Q
@IndyCar https://t.co/1vMwpLAo26 (@Motorsport)
Drivers also limited their running in Practice 3 with 10 drivers completing less than 10 laps.
Alonso was P4 in the limited run session and showed off his ability to pass in traffic.
Twitter: A quiet day of practice @IMS. 39 laps and a best of 219.533mph puts @alo_oficial P4 on the timesheets.… https://t.co/APHAZZxOTC (@HondaRacingF1)
Practice 4: Drivers turn up the wick
In prep for Fast Friday, the full grid returned. All 33 drivers on track. Some doing qualifying simulations. Schmidt Peterson Motorsport’s Indy 500 runner, Jay Howard topped the timing sheets for Honda with a 00m39.6924s. Honda-powered cars outpace Chevy in cars to reach sub-40s lap times. Five Hondas to two Chevys. Honda also cover the practice podium. Howard P1, Hunter-Reay P2, and Andretti P3. Alonso repeats Practice 3 form with another P4 finish.
Three drivers hit triple digits in laps complete. Castroneves (117), Power (103), and James Hinchcliffe (100).
Josef Newgarden (P5) crashes hard, but no injuries reported.
YouTube: Josef Newgarden Incident at IMS – May 18, 2017
1996 Indy 500 winner Buddy Lazier completed just one lap. Lazier is attempting to qualify for his 20th Indy 500.