The two-time Indy 500 champion wasting no time showing strong pace at Indy. (Photo: Luis Torres | The Podium Finish)
SPEEDWAY, Ind. – There was no rain on Takuma Sato’s parade as he set the early tone for the 107th Indianapolis 500 after going fastest in Wednesday’s six-hour practice session with a speed of 229.439 mph.
Following rain cancelling Tuesday’s practice session, all 34 cars partook in the session on a beautiful and windy, sunny Wednesday afternoon as the Chip Ganassi Racing driver put his No. 11 Deloitte Honda on top of the scoring pylon with under 90 minutes remaining.
Sato explained that while he was quickest, Wednesday’s session was more of an open test for him as the 500 only marks his second INDYCAR start of the year.
“I think obviously yesterday was a little bit shame it rained off, but today it’s a beautiful day and then shook down the car in the morning and everything working the progress,” said Sato.
“Obviously the speed here is not really presenting on the actual race speed, but it’s good to be on the fast side, and certainly for all the Chip Ganassi cars we were very competitive all day long.”
Sato’s 229+ mph trailblazer only marks the fifth fastest opening day session. Naturally, the word speed was brought up during the post-practice press conference. He explained that he’s and others are curious of how much they can cross. But the dollar ends on track conditions dictating aerodynamics.
“I think we’re all interested in how much we can cross, but honestly speaking, again, it’s really depending on the condition,” said Sato. “I think aero configuration for the race, yes, you can choose quite a lot of difference from last year.
“When you go down to the qualifying trim, there’s probably very similar to the last year. So if the condition allowed us to go to first, we would see the big numbers, but otherwise probably very similar.”
Sato was not the only Ganassi driver who showed his pace as his other three teammates cracked the top-four with Scott Dixon being the only other driver who reached the 229 mph barrier in the early stages of practice.
As Honda occupied six out of the top-10 spots, one Chevrolet driver crashed the Ganassi party and denied a potential 1-2-3 afternoon. It was none other than AJ Foyt Racing’s Santino Ferrucci, who ended up third quickest and Chevy’s head honcho at 228.977 mph.
Already, the man who has finished in the top-10 in each 500 he has ever raced is showcasing that the Foyt camp have speed as Ferrucci’s main focus was on race trim. It was indeed a much needed confidence booster as Ferrucci currently ranks 22nd in points after five rounds in the championship.
Early confidence for Ferrucci after leading the “Bowtie Brigade” at Indy. (Photo: Luis Torres | The Podium Finish)
Following the tremendous progress, Ferrucci felt comfortable on his No. 14 Homes for Our Troops Foundation Chevrolet and may not require major adjustments leading up to next Sunday’s 500.
“We’re in full race trim, nose down, rear wing is pretty stacked on there,” said Ferrucci. “We were looking for a tow lap like everybody else. What I didn’t expect was to be passing people in that lap.
“To be able to follow as closely as we did because we did make a change before we put the set of stickers on because the left rear is a little bit softer this year. With the track being as green as it is, they’re not quite lasting as long as we probably would have liked the first day, but expect that to obviously change.”
Although Rinus VeeKay ranked 18th overall in the session, he led the no-tow group with 223.212 mph besting everyone in the category. His boss and teammate Ed Carpenter, a four-time Indy 500 pole sitter, was second quickest in no-tow.
Like Ferrucci, VeeKay felt today’s performance was helpful as this season hasn’t been up to par all across the board as the Dutchman ranks 18th in the standings.
“We think there’s still a lot more in it, so that’s a good sign,” said VeeKay. “But also mostly the focus all afternoon has been race running, just making sure the car is good enough for the race, getting behind the backup cars, and yeah, we found out a lot about bad and good changes. It’s definitely been my hardest season so far. It’s been a struggle, but we keep working, and hopefully we can find back that pace.
“This might be the turnaround. I know we have a fast car here. It showed again today. The whole team does. And of course driving we get a bit more data, and hopefully it just lifts up the spirits of the team and hopefully we nail that setup coming to road and street courses later in the season, and yeah, hopefully it gets better. That’s the goal.”
VeeKay ran 151 laps in practice, the most among 34 drivers. (Photo: Luis Torres | The Podium Finish)
Going eighth quickest was 2014 Indy 500 champion Ryan Hunter-Reay who had a personal best speed of 227.619 mph. After not having a ride in last year’s 500, Hunter-Reay’s unsponsored black No. 23 Chevrolet was consistent in speed where he topped the trap speeds in every corner at IMS.
While some drivers can look back and be satisfied with their early pace, others struggled, some more than others, ranging from “rookie mistakes” like Graham Rahal (13th quickest). Rahal admitted on the IMS Radio broadcast. Some were flat out missing the mark like Juncos Hollinger Racing.
In the opening hour practice, Rahal brushed the wall at the exit of turn three. Fortunately, Rahal was able to continue his afternoon as the No. 15 United Rentals Honda did not sustain damage that would have required time being lost.
Despite the driver error, Rahal ran 79 laps en route of being inside the top-15 practice sheet. (Photo: Luis Torres | The Podium Finish)
As for JHR, some alarms ranged in the first half of practice especially when it pertained to Callum Ilott, whose speed of 223.409 mph was the slowest among the entire 34-car lineup. Ending up 34th is beyond unideal as the Indy 500 only allows 33 cars to compete in the 107th renewal of motor racing’s iconic event.
Adjustments were made, including reports of the nose cone and rear wing being changed, an alarming situation as it is not two parts of the car where drastic changes are made. Ilott was not able to partake in the 10 a.m. installation lap, causing some stress within the organization.
When the session wrapped up at 6 p.m., Ilott ran a total of 80 laps, far more than what he ended up running during last month’s session. But Illot and his team head into Thursday’s session (noon ET on Peacock) on the outside looking in as far as finding improvements, more so if Friday’s weather suggests that rain will alter the schedule for “Fast Friday.”
Top 10 Practice Results: Sato (229.439 mph), Dixon (229.174), Ferrucci (228.977), Palou (228.720), McLaughlin (228.473), Herta (228.057), Ericsson (227.701), Hunter-Reay (227.619), Newgarden (227.463), Andretti (226.982)
Top 3 Practice “No-Tow” Results: VeeKay (223.212 mph), Carpenter (222.341), Power (221.803)
