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Sato Heads Honda Pole Contenders in First-Round Qualifying at Indianapolis
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Six Honda drivers to contend for “Fast Nine” pole shootout
Dixon, Rossi, Alonso, Kanaan and Andretti also make “Fast Nine”
Final qualifying Sunday to set 33-car field
SPEEDWAY, Ind., (May 20, 2017) – Led by Andretti Autoport’s Takuma Sato, six Honda drivers
completed qualifying runs among the top nine drivers today in first-round qualifying at the Indianapolis
Motor Speedway, and will take part in Sunday’s “Fast Nine” shootout for the coveted pole position in the
101st running of the Indianapolis 500 on May 28.
The tight first-round qualifying battle Saturday – held under changing weather conditions after activities
were delayed by rain for approximately five hours – saw the nine pole contenders separated by less than
a half mile per hour over four laps around the historic 2.5-mile Brickyard.
Following Sato, second fastest on the day, was Scott Dixon for Chip Ganassi Racing, third. Defending
race winner Alexander Rossi posted the fifth-fastest average for Andretti Autosport, with teammate
Fernando Alonso slotting in seventh as the only Indy 500 rookie to make the Fast Nine shootout. Tony
Kanaan and Marco Andretti rounded out the nine finalists for the pole.
Today’s qualifying action was also marred by a massive crash for Sebastien Bourdais. Bourdais had
already set the two fastest qualifying laps of the day – at more than 231 mph – when the rear of his car
started to slide in Turn 2. After an initial attempt at correcting the slide, his Dale Coyne Racing Honda
turned hard right and hit the SAFER Barrier nearly head-on, then rolled down the track before coming to a
stop upright.
After being removed from his car, Bourdais was transported to IU Health Methodist Hospital, where he
was diagnosed with multiple fractures to his pelvis and a fracture to his right hip. According to INDYCAR
Medical Director Dr. Geoffrey Billows, Bourdais will undergo surgery on his pelvis this evening.
The nine fastest drivers from today’s first-round qualifying will contend for the pole on Sunday, with each
driver making a single qualifying run to determine his starting position in the first three rows of the “500”.
The remaining drivers are assured of making the field, but will also make second-round qualifying runs
tomorrow to determine starting positions 10 through 33.
Takuma Sato (#26 Andretti Autosport Honda) second fastest in first-round qualifying: “My car was
super fast. I must say a big ‘thank you’ to Andretti Autosport, the whole [Honda] 26 car crew, engineers,
and of course, my teammates. Everything really worked really seamlessly over the past few days in
practice. It was a great day yesterday, with Fast Friday. The car was great. Usually for the [Indianapolis]
qualifying, I'm not enjoying. We don't like ‘scrub’ [understeer] in the car. That means the car ends up
being absolutely neutral. You almost don't want to steer the car because any steer angle is scrubbing the
speed. But the car was very, very stable. So, at one point I was starting to really enjoy Turn One. So I
think the car was really good. Tremendous support from all the team effort.”
Scott Dixon (#9 Chip Ganassi Racing Honda) third-fastest in qualifying Saturday: “It’s a great day
today in Indianapolis, and it’s great to see so many fans out here, even after the rain we had. Just the
butterflies and anticipation before you get to go out always gets you here. I think the NTT DATA car has
been strong and the whole Ganassi team has been performing great. We’re happy with our [qualifying
speed] and we’re pleased with the laps we ran. There is still tomorrow, of course, so doing the best we
can on Sunday is what really matters.”
Indianapolis 500 Qualifying
Circuit:
2016 Winner:
2016 Pole:
Weather:
Indianapolis Motor Speedway (2.5-mile oval), Indianapolis, IN
Alexander Rossi (Andretti Autosport Honda) 166.634 mph average
James Hinchcliffe (Schmidt Peterson Motorsports Honda) 230.760 mph four-lap average
Mostly cloudy, mild, early afternoon showers, 77-86 degrees F
Indianapolis 500 First Round Qualifying:
Ps.
Driver
1.
Ed Carpenter
2.
Takuma Sato
3.
Scott Dixon
4.
JR Hildebrand
5.
Alexander Rossi
6.
Will Power
7.
Fernando Alonso-R
8.
Tony Kanaan
9.
Marco Andretti
Other Honda-powered Results:
10.
Ed Jones-R
11.
Charlie Kimball
12.
Max Chilton
13.
Ryan Hunter-Reay
15.
Mikhail Aleshin
16.
Graham Rahal
19.
James Hinchcliffe
22.
Jay Howard
24.
Oriol Servia
25.
Jack Harvey-R
31.
Pippa Mann
-Sebastien Bourdais
Team
Ed Carpenter Racing
Andretti Autosport
Chip Ganassi Racing
Ed Carpenter Racing
Andretti Autosport
Team Penske
McLaren Honda-Andretti
Chip Ganassi Racing
Andretti Autosport
Manufacturer
Chevrolet
Honda
Honda
Chevrolet
Honda
Chevrolet
Honda
Honda
Honda
Speed
230.468
230.382
230.333
230.205
230.148
230.072
230.034
230.007
229.924
Dale Coyne Racing
Chip Ganassi Racing
Chip Ganassi Racing
Andretti Autosport
Schmidt Peterson Motorsports
Rahal Letterman Lanigan
Schmidt Peterson Motorsports
Schmidt Peterson Motorsports
Rahal Letterman Lanigan
Michael Shank-Andretti
Dale Coyne Racing
Dale Coyne Racing
Honda
Honda
Honda
Honda
Honda
Honda
Honda
Honda
Honda
Honda
Honda
Honda
229.717
229.713
229.636
229.533
229.217
228.835
228.557
227.853
227.150
226.894
219.282
crash
Notes