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We’re halfway to setting the 33-car grid for the 101st running of next weekend’s Indianapolis 500 mile race, with the fast nine determined for the pole shootout on Monday morning (AEST) and, as usual, plenty has already happened.
The good news: Ed Carpenter Racing
Yes, the fast nine is dominated by Honda runners – six of nine – but, crucially, it’s a Chevrolet at the top of the speed charts. Owner-driver and oval specialist Ed Carpenter, a two-time Indianapolis 500 pole sitter, led all comers with a four-lap average of 230.468mph (370.902kph).
In further proof that the Ed Carpenter Racing package is a good one, teammate J.R. Hildebrand – who took the white flag as a comfortable leader in 2011 and crashed on turn four, costing him victory – qualified fourth, clocking 230.205mph (370.479kph).
The bad news: Sebastien Bourdais
If you haven’t seen the massive impact the Frenchman’s Dale Coyne Racing Honda had against the barriers in his fiery crash, get onto YouTube or the IndyCar website and check it out. More than anything else, the shunt is a powerful testament to the bulletproof nature of the Dallara DW12 chassis and the Steel and Foam Energy Reduction (SAFER) barrier.
That piece of technology was the brainchild of former Indy Racing League boss Tony George, and while many blame George for the ugly open wheel civil war, he should be universally lauded for the work he put into the development of the barriers.
Ten years ago, maybe less, and we might’ve been tweeting obituaries about the likeable Frenchman, but instead Bourdais sustained only fractures to his pelvis and a fracture to his right hip in what was one of the worst crashes seen at Indy – one certainly right up there with the crash that nearly claimed the life of Canadian James Hinchcliffe two years ago.
Bourdais will have surgery Sunday morning in Indianapolis and miss a large chunk of the season. Let’s hope the Frenchman comes back strong in 2018.
Honda’s resurgence
I wrote after the Indianapolis Grand Prix that the hot rumour around the garages was that Honda had found some serious speed in time for the Indianapolis 500. After a shaky start to the week during which they suffered two engine blow-outs, Saturday’s results would tend to suggest that the Honda brigade are going to be tough to beat on race day.
Of the fast nine who will shoot for pole, seven are powered by Honda. The Andretti brigade looks particularly strong: Takuma Sato (second-fastest), defending champion Alexander Rossi (fifth), two-time Formula One World Champion Fernando Alonso (seventh) and many people’s favourite Marco Andretti (ninth) all showed excellent speed.
Chip Ganassi’s Honda team is well represented in the fast nine, with Queensland-born New Zealander Scott Dixon third fastest and perennial contender Tony Kanaan in eighth. Their teammates Charlie Kimball and Max Chilton qualified just outside the nine, sitting in eleventh and twelfth respectively.
A special tip of the hat goes to Ed Jones, the other Dale Coyne Racing rookie, who sits in tenth and narrowly missed out on a fast nine berth, providing a little positivity around the DCR garage after Bourdais’ heavy accident.
Team Penske
Roger Penske has won the Indianapolis 500 sixteen times, and it looks from Saturday qualifying that getting a 17th in 2017 might be tough. Aside from Australia’s Will Power, who battled hard en route to a fourth place run with a four-lap average of 230.072mph (370.264kph), the rest of the Penske squad, always favoured at Indianapolis, were nowhere to be seen.
Three-time Indianapolis 500 winner Helio Castroneves was next best for Penske in fourteenth. Rising American star Josef Newgarden could only manage 17th, one position ahead of two-time winner Juan Pablo Montoya, who is making only his second start of the year. Defending series champion Simon Pagenaud is even further back in twentieth.
At least there’s a silver lining to the Penske cloud: while Castroneves, Newgarden, Montoya and Pagenaud won’t be able to run for pole, they have a chance to qualify as high as tenth tomorrow, when qualifying speeds are reset.
(Image: AFP / Jorge Guerrero)
Fernando Alonso
The two-time Formula One world champion has taken to oval racing like a duck to water. He’s been a steady and constant presence at or near the top of the speed charts all week, and he comfortably qualified in the fast nine on Saturday.
It must be a nice thing for Alonso to be saddled with a competitive Honda power plant as opposed to the dog he’s got in Formula One, and with a group of very experienced teammates around him there’s no limit to what Alonso can do in qualifying and on race day. A victory is not out of the question.
Tomorrow
Thankfully for some who struggled, day one of qualifying is all about setting a fast nine for the pole shoot-out. All times are cancelled tonight, and while the fast nine will run four laps each to determine the pole-sitter and the make-up of the front three rows, the rest of the field have a chance to qualify as high as tenth.
There are storylines all over the place. Can Alonso nab pole? Can Carpenter and Hildebrand spoil the Honda party? Will Australia’s Will Power make it to the top of the timesheets? Does Marco rocket to the top?
Whatever happens, you can be assured that it’ll be a very dramatic day.
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