Indy 500 Practice Results – Day 2 – May 16, 2017

Indianapolis 500 practice times from May 16, 2017

INDIANAPOLIS, Indiana (Tuesday, May 16, 2017) – Warm and windy conditions didn’t prevent Verizon IndyCar Series drivers from logging more than 6,000 incident-free miles at Indianapolis Motor Speedway on the second day of practice for the 101st Indianapolis 500 presented by PennGrade Motor Oil.

When the checkered flag waved, it was a pair of Team Penske drivers – Will Power and Helio Castroneves – atop the speed chart, followed closely by Gabby Chaves with newcomer team Harding Racing.

Power, winner of Saturday’s INDYCAR Grand Prix on the Indianapolis Motor Speedway road course, put his No. 12 Verizon Team Penske Chevrolet at the top of the time sheet with a mid-afternoon lap of 224.656 mph on the 2.5-mile oval. Power’s best finish in nine previous Indianapolis 500 starts was second in 2015. The 36-year-old Australian is looking to do one better on May 28 and give team owner Roger Penske a record 17th Indianapolis 500 victory.

“Roger definitely just puts everything into this race,” said Power, the 2014 Verizon IndyCar Series champion. “As a team, I think we did a lot of homework in the offseason for this race and we tested here twice, so you know we’re getting the most out of our package. I know Chevy is working really hard and obviously you can see that our speeds are pretty good right now.

“Yeah, Roger, he would love to get No. 17, and I would absolutely love to do it for him.”

Helio Castroneves Indianapolis Motor Speedway
Helio Castroneves (Photo by: Jim Haines)

Castroneves jumped into second during the hectic final hour of practice that featured large groups of cars running together, with a lap of 224.287 mph in the No. 3 Shell Fuel Rewards Team Penske Chevrolet. The three-time Indianapolis 500 winner said the importance of the race is symbolized by the fact that the team owner, who serves as Castroneves’ race strategist, is spending the week at IMS instead of attending to his many business interests.

“He’s staying here all week, which shows the commitment that he has and it shows what he wants,” Castroneves said of Penske. “It’s another (Indy 500) win, and it’s not just because his team has a lot that he’s going to settle down. He’s going to continue collecting victories and we want to continue hopefully getting him that kind of result.”

Chaves was elated to turn a top lap of 223.991 mph among his 87 laps today in the No. 88 Harding Racing Chevrolet after being limited to just six circuits around the iconic oval Monday.

“We did, I think, three laps on track and then three more out and in (Monday), and that wasn’t good,” said Chaves, the 2014 Indy Lights champion who has competed in the last two Indianapolis 500s. “Obviously, our guys were disappointed that we didn’t really do any laps. Today (we) had to kind of bounce back from that and right away work on the car and improve it and show some speed.

“We’re happy. Obviously, we’ve still got plenty of work ahead of us. I think if we just keep doing what we’re doing, we should be able to be in a good spot for the race.”

The only caution periods of the six-hour session came for debris and track inspections. It allowed the 32 drivers to turn 2,404 laps, nearly 1,100 more than on Monday’s opening day. Rookies Zach Veach (No. 40 Indy Women in Tech Championship Chevrolet) and Jack Harvey (No. 50 Michael Shank Racing with Andretti Autosport Honda) completed their rookie orientation programs and are cleared for full competition the rest of the month. They join Ed Jones and two-time Formula One champion Fernando Alonso – both having already completed the rookie assessment – as first-timers in the field.

Fernando Alonso Indy 500 Practice
Fernando Alonso (Photo: Chris Owens)

Alonso ran the most laps of anyone on the day, 117, as he worked to become comfortable racing in traffic. The driver of the No. 29 McLaren-Honda-Andretti Honda finished 24th on the speed chart with a top lap of 221.029 mph.

“It felt OK, it felt as I expected,” Alonso said. “Obviously, here it’s very important to keep close to the car in front of you, to take the benefit from the next straight. It was useful. I’m on the best team for that; we are six cars and we were running together.

“My teammates were amazing helping me. I knew they were taking care of me in some moments of the run, so that was good and, yeah, first time for me, learning every lap here and there. When I follow them, learning what they do, how they attack the next corner or the next lap, how they prepare the overtaking, so it was very useful and a very productive day.”

Team owner/driver Ed Carpenter posted the fastest lap without an aerodynamic tow from a car in front of him, at 222.842 mph in the No. 20 Fuzzy’s Vodka Chevrolet.

“I’m still happy with the car,” said Carpenter. “Everyone probably got a little over-excited about the speed charts (Monday, when he was third), but I think we’re better than what they showed today. We’re just working through our program.”

Practice continues Wednesday through Friday from noon-6 p.m. ET each day at Indianapolis Motor Speedway. A live video stream of practice is available at RaceControl.IndyCar.com. Two days of qualifying to determine the 33-car starting grid take place this weekend. Coverage Saturday airs from 11 a.m.-3 p.m. ET on ESPN3 and 4-6 p.m. on ABC. Sunday’s qualifying to determine the pole position airs from 2:30-4 p.m. ETon ESPN3 and 4-6 p.m. on ABC.

The 200-lap Indianapolis 500, the sixth race of the 2017 Verizon IndyCar Series season, airs live at 11 a.m. May 28 on ABC and the Advance Auto Parts INDYCAR Radio Network.

Indianapolis 500 Practice Times
May 16, 2017

Pos # Driver Laps Time Gap Mph
1 12 Will Power 71 40.0613 224.656
2 3 Helio Castroneves 68 40.1271 0.0658 224.287
3 88 Gabby Chaves 87 40.1802 0.1189 223.991
4 28 Ryan Hunter-Reay 78 40.1857 0.1244 223.960
5 24 Sage Karam 69 40.2430 0.1817 223.641
6 26 Takuma Sato 106 40.2584 0.1971 223.556
7 7 Mikhail Aleshin 58 40.2736 0.2123 223.471
8 1 Simon Pagenaud 86 40.2829 0.2216 223.420
9 21 J.R. Hildebrand 84 40.2952 0.2339 223.352
10 2 Josef Newgarden 59 40.3305 0.2692 223.156
11 20 Ed Carpenter 82 40.3874 0.3261 222.842
12 14 Carlos Munoz 81 40.3997 0.3384 222.774
13 9 Scott Dixon 60 40.4403 0.3790 222.550
14 98 Alexander Rossi 98 40.4530 0.3917 222.480
15 19 Ed Jones 85 40.4948 0.4335 222.251
16 18 Sébastien Bourdais 91 40.4952 0.4339 222.249
17 10 Tony Kanaan 49 40.5481 0.4868 221.959
18 16 Oriol Servia 65 40.5550 0.4937 221.921
19 83 Charlie Kimball 72 40.5792 0.5179 221.789
20 15 Graham Rahal 100 40.5884 0.5271 221.738
21 22 Juan Pablo Montoya 58 40.5961 0.5348 221.696
22 40 Zach Veach 68 40.6084 0.5471 221.629
23 8 Max Chilton 75 40.6818 0.6205 221.229
24 29 Fernando Alonso 117 40.7187 0.6574 221.029
25 27 Marco Andretti 82 40.7220 0.6607 221.011
26 11 Spencer Pigot 66 40.7922 0.7309 220.630
27 17 Sebastian Saavedra 55 40.8554 0.7941 220.289
28 4 Conor Daly 67 40.8565 0.7952 220.283
29 5 James Hinchcliffe 60 40.8847 0.8234 220.131
30 77 Jay Howard 72 40.8862 0.8249 220.123
31 50 Jack Harvey 82 41.1065 1.0452 218.943
32 63 Pippa Mann 47 41.1732 1.1119 218.589
33 50 Marco Andretti 6 41.8939 1.8326 214.828
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