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Honda Drivers Top Speed Chart in “Fast Friday” at Indianapolis

  • Marco Andretti, Robert Wickens lead the way in final practice day before qualifying
  • Honda drivers take four of top six practice speeds
  • Field of 33 to be set on Saturday, pole position qualifying takes place Sunday

"Fast Friday" once again lived up to its name today at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway as the Honda duo of Marco Andretti and Robert Wickens claimed the top two positions on the speed chart in the final full day of practice prior to qualifying for the Indianapolis 500.

With turbocharger boost turned up to the higher, qualifying level permitted by series rules, Honda drivers claimed four of the six fastest speeds positions on the day, and six of the top 10.  In a one-off appearance for the Scuderia Corsa/Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing effort, veteran Oriol Servia ended the day fourth, joining Andretti, Wickens and Ed Carpenter with laps above 230 miles per hour.

In an impressive return to Indianapolis after a bone-breaking crash in 2017, Sebastien Bourdais posted the sixth-fastest speed today, with Stefan Wilson ninth in his Andretti Autosport Honda.  Wilson's teammate, Alexander Rossi, rounded out the top ten with a best lap of 229.235 mph.

First-round and "Bump Day" qualifying on Saturday will determine the 33-car field from the 35 entries at the Speedway, as well as the nine pole finalists.  Sunday's "Pole Day" qualifying runs will set the starting order for the 102nd running of the Indianapolis 500, capped by a "Fast Nine" shootout to determine the coveted pole position. 

Live ABC Network television coverage of qualifying action from the Indianapolis Motor Speedway starts at 4 p.m. EDT, both Saturday and Sunday.

Quotes: Marco Andretti (Andretti Autosport Honda) Fastest in "Fast Friday" practice: "We've been feeling good, actually, [the car is] pretty good in traffic, and in race trim. I don't know how much better we can get it.  I think [for qualifying] going earlier is going to be better. It's always faster in the morning. Today [the track] kind of took a dip [in speeds] in the middle of the afternoon, for sure.  Yeah, I think early draw [for qualifying] will be good. Got to nail it on the first [qualifying attempt], especially with -- I think there's weather tomorrow, so at best one [qualifying] attempt tomorrow.  So I think we're just going to have to play whatever hand we're dealt and wring it out."

Robert Wickens (Schmidt Peterson Motorsports Honda) 2nd fastest: "Yeah, [the] first Fast Friday in my IndyCar career, it was interesting. It was pretty crazy at the beginning because everyone thought it was going to rain around lunch, and then it just didn't, so the afternoon was very relaxed because we went through, I think, three sets of tires in the first hour, and we only kind of accounted for five [sets of tires] for the whole day.  Everyone is working hard, and we have to make sure we find that little bit more than everyone else. Our goal is to make the Fast Nine [drivers who advance to pole qualifying]."

Indianapolis 500 "Fast Friday" Practice Circuit:                             Indianapolis Motor Speedway (2.5-mile oval), Indianapolis, IN 2017 Winner:     Takuma Sato (Andretti Autosport) 156.395 mph average Weather:           Mostly cloudy, mild, 71 degrees F

Indianapolis 500 "Fast Friday" Full Field Practice Results:

Ps.

Driver      

Team

Manufacturer

Best Speed

Notes

  1.

Marco Andretti

Andretti Autosport

Honda

231.802

 

  2.

Robert Wickens-R

Schmidt Peterson Motorsports

Honda

231.732

 

  3.

Ed Carpenter

Ed Carpenter Racing

Chevrolet

231.066

 

  4.

Oriol Servia

Scuderia Corsa/RLLR

Honda

230.247

 

  5.

Will Power

Team Penske

Chevrolet

229.780

 

  6.

Sebastien Bourdais

DCR with Vasser-Sullivan

Honda

229.740

 

  7.

Tony Kanaan

A.J. Foyt Racing

Chevrolet

229.500

 

  8.

Matheus Leist-R

A.J. Foyt Racing

Chevrolet

229.365

 

  9.

Stefan Wilson

Andretti Autosport

Honda

229.273

 

10.

Alexander Rossi

Andretti Autosport

Honda

229.235

 

11.

Gabby Chaves

Harding Racing

Chevrolet

229.135

 

12.

Helio Castroneves

Team Penske

Chevrolet

229.122

 

13.

Spencer Pigot

Ed Carpenter Racing

Chevrolet

229.069

 

14.

Josef Newgarden

Team Penske

Chevrolet

228.994

 

15.

Kyle Kaiser-R

Juncos Racing

Chevrolet

228.870

 

16.

Simon Pagenaud

Team Penske

Chevrolet

228.857

 

17.

Ed Jones

Chip Ganassi Racing             

Honda

228.646

 

18.

Charlie Kimball

Carlin Racing

Chevrolet

228.524

 

19.

Jay Howard

Schmidt Peterson Motorsports

Honda

228.365

 

20.

Danica Patrick

Ed Carpenter Racing

Chevrolet

228.284

 

21.

Scott Dixon

Chip Ganassi Racing

Honda

228.233

 

22.

Carlos Munoz

Andretti Autosport

Honda

228.028

 

23.

Ryan Hunter-Reay

Andretti Autosport

Honda

227.889

 

24.

Takuma Sato

Rahal Letterman Lanigan

Honda

227.782

 

25.

Conor Daly

Dale Coyne/Thom Burns

Honda

227.700

 

26.

Sage Karam

Dreyer & Reinbold Racing

Chevrolet

227.593

 

27.

Zachary Claman De Melo-R

Dale Coyne Racing                

Honda

227.315

 

28.

Zach Veach

Andretti Autosport

Honda

227.314

 

29.

James Hinchcliffe

Schmidt Peterson Motorsports

Honda

227.262

 

30.

JR Hildebrand

Dreyer & Reinbold Racing

Chevrolet

227242

 

31.

Pippa Mann

Dale Coyne Racing                

Honda

227.226

 

32.

Max Chilton

Carlin Racing

Chevrolet

227.089

 

33.

Graham Rahal

Rahal Letterman Lanigan

Honda

226.811

 

34.

James Davison

A.J. Foyt Racing

Chevrolet

226.705

 

35.

Jack Harvey

Michael Shank Racing

Honda

226.611

 

# # #

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