Team Penske took advantage of a full day of practice to work on race setups, then made the most of the final few minutes of Thursday’s session to post three of the four fastest laps of the day in preparation for the 100th anniversary Indianapolis 500.
IZOD IndyCar Series points leader Will Power had the fastest lap of the day – 227.778 mph – in the No. 12 Verizon Team Penske Dallara/Honda.
“The Verizon car was good today. We were able to do a lot work on our race setup and we are finding a good balance,” said Power, who has claimed two wins and four poles in the first four races of the season. “At the end of day we trimmed out a bit and were fortunate enough to get a big tow at the right time. It was great to get on track and give all the fans something to see.”
With 12 minutes left in the six-hour session, Verizon Team Penske’s Power unseated Alex Tagliani atop the speed chart with a lap of 227.778 mph (fastest of the month) to earn the $5,000 Grady Brothers Construction Fastest Lap of the Day award. All 40 entrants took on the track, recording a total of 2,394 laps, and the top 38 cars were separated by one second.
Tagliani, driving the No. 77 Bower & Wilkins car for Sam Schmidt Motorsports, had a quick lap of 227.652. Team Penske’s Ryan Briscoe (227.217) and three-time Indy 500 winner Helio Castroneves (226.927) followed, and Townsend Bell in the No. 99 Herbalife Schmidt Pelfrey Racing car was fifth (226.741).
The yellow flag flew early in the session when Simona de Silvestro’s No. 78 Nuclear Clean Air Energy car made heavy contact with the outside retaining wall in the North Short Chute and became airborne before catching fire. She was transported to Methodist Hospital to be treated for burns to her hands and released. Her driving status will be determined on Friday.
The Team Penske trio turned a combined 242 laps during Thursday’s practice.
“It was a very good day, overall,” said Briscoe.” We worked on the race setup on the No. 6 IZOD Team Penske car, and I worked a lot with my teammates on track. We made a ton of changes throughout the day and we were very productive. We trimmed out the car at the end of the session and focused a bit more on speed. All in all, it was a very productive day.”
As he takes aim at history, looking to tie the record of four Indianapolis 500 victories, Castroneves and his No. 3 car crew had a full day. The Shell V-Power Pennzoil Ultra team qualified for the Pit Stop Competition in the morning as they will try to win their fifth consecutive title on May 27 and then they ran 97 laps in practice.
“It was certainly a good and full day for the No. 3 Shell V-Power Pennzoil Ultra team,” said Castroneves. “We ran a lot of laps and all of them were really about race setup. My teammates, Will and Ryan, did some qualifying runs so we know what we need to do there, but we really just focused on getting our car right for the race. Tomorrow will be all about speed for us. It’s going to be fun!"
IZOD IndyCar Series points leader Will Power had the fastest lap of the day – 227.778 mph – in the No. 12 Verizon Team Penske Dallara/Honda.
“The Verizon car was good today. We were able to do a lot work on our race setup and we are finding a good balance,” said Power, who has claimed two wins and four poles in the first four races of the season. “At the end of day we trimmed out a bit and were fortunate enough to get a big tow at the right time. It was great to get on track and give all the fans something to see.”
With 12 minutes left in the six-hour session, Verizon Team Penske’s Power unseated Alex Tagliani atop the speed chart with a lap of 227.778 mph (fastest of the month) to earn the $5,000 Grady Brothers Construction Fastest Lap of the Day award. All 40 entrants took on the track, recording a total of 2,394 laps, and the top 38 cars were separated by one second.
Tagliani, driving the No. 77 Bower & Wilkins car for Sam Schmidt Motorsports, had a quick lap of 227.652. Team Penske’s Ryan Briscoe (227.217) and three-time Indy 500 winner Helio Castroneves (226.927) followed, and Townsend Bell in the No. 99 Herbalife Schmidt Pelfrey Racing car was fifth (226.741).
The yellow flag flew early in the session when Simona de Silvestro’s No. 78 Nuclear Clean Air Energy car made heavy contact with the outside retaining wall in the North Short Chute and became airborne before catching fire. She was transported to Methodist Hospital to be treated for burns to her hands and released. Her driving status will be determined on Friday.
The Team Penske trio turned a combined 242 laps during Thursday’s practice.
“It was a very good day, overall,” said Briscoe.” We worked on the race setup on the No. 6 IZOD Team Penske car, and I worked a lot with my teammates on track. We made a ton of changes throughout the day and we were very productive. We trimmed out the car at the end of the session and focused a bit more on speed. All in all, it was a very productive day.”
“It was certainly a good and full day for the No. 3 Shell V-Power Pennzoil Ultra team,” said Castroneves. “We ran a lot of laps and all of them were really about race setup. My teammates, Will and Ryan, did some qualifying runs so we know what we need to do there, but we really just focused on getting our car right for the race. Tomorrow will be all about speed for us. It’s going to be fun!"
