On one of the toughest practice days in modern Indianapolis history, Takuma Sato has been confirmed as the main candidate for pole position in qualifying for this weekend’s 500 miles. The Japanese driver, whose two appearances in the final round (4th in 2017 and 3rd in 2020) ended in victory, had already led in the sessions on Tuesday and Thursday, and reaffirmed his condition as favorite after beating the strong winds blowing across the oval during Fast Fridayday in which all the pilots had the extra power with which they will qualify the next two days.
Sato, who sat on the sidelines for the first three hours of the day, initially posted a 231.821mph lap that put him just behind alexander rossi, which had done its laps two hours earlier on asphalt with less temperature and more grip. During the famous final Happy Hour, in which the track temperature returns to optimal values, the Dale Coyne Racing driver went out again and smashed the clock with a best lap of 232.789 miles per hour (38.661 seconds). His time was 0.032 mph (five thousandths) better than Scott Dixon’s best pole position lap in 2021, which is the fastest ever done in an Indianapolis qualifier before or after a 1996 they battled multiple records.
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As if that wasn’t enough, Sato’s next lap was almost as fast (232.635), although the Japanese had to lift quite a bit on the next two. A constant throughout a day in which very few drivers managed to do full qualifying simulationshaving to abort attempts by an unpredictable and gusty wind which reached over 50 kilometers per hour. With his four laps, Sato was the fifth best in that section, in a table in which the second best average corresponded to his partner David Malukas, seventh at the end of the day. A good omen corroborated in the good positions 10 and 14 that they have obtained in the relevant draw for the order in which they will qualify tomorrow.
Again, Ganassi ran as one of Coyne’s main opponents for this weekend. Both Marcus Ericsson and Dixon, who only rolled out with 50 minutes to go, finished in the top 5, with teammate Tony Kanaan including the eighth-fastest lap in the day’s best four-lap average (230.517 mph), a few minutes before the end of the day. In turn, showing great solvency, Álex Palou was the first rider to tame the windy conditions at the start with a best of 231.085mph on his second lap, but did not try again afterwards, relegating him to a 12th place that might not be representative of its actual rhythm. The Spaniard will be the 19th driver to qualify, just after Dixon.
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For its part, McLaren SP also showed quite a bit of pace, supported by the sixth position of Felix Rosenqvist and the third of Pato O’Ward who signed the fourth best qualifying simulation. The Mexican, in addition, was graced with first place in the ranking order draw, and the Swede in fourth, so they will have the best possible conditions to sneak into the top 12 on Saturday and fight for pole position on Sunday. something further back, in platoon, the three Penske cars appear between positions 9 and 11, all of them above 231 mph, although they will have very unfavorable starting positions in tomorrow’s classification.
Although the wind notably harmed many, it also pushed some great speeds, not seen in Indianapolis for nearly 30 years. Despite finishing only in 14th position, Conor Daly recorded a monstrous top speed of 393 kilometers per hour (244.4 mph in NBC reference, 243.724 mph in the Turn 3 speed trap), and both his boss-mate Ed Carpenter and Sato himself topped 391 km/h. If the conditions are good on Sunday (something that does not seem to happen tomorrow), the high speeds could allow attack pole position record of 233.718 mphheld by the ill-fated Scott Brayton since 1996.
Despite the complexity of the day, it passed only with scares, corrections and a single minor incident, starring Jimmie Johnson. The veteran American driver, immersed in his first qualifying simulation of the day, went a bit wide at the exit of Turn 2 and lightly hit the wall with the side of the car, although he managed to avoid an accident and extensive damage to his car. Johnson was later able to get back on the track to regain confidence and, although he did not reach the 230 mph barrier, the seven-time NASCAR champion did have four consistent laps.
Beyond all this and the surprisingly good performance of Sage Karam (13th overall, 3rd best average of 4 laps), the negative part was carried out by the Foyt and Rahal teams, which continue to replicate the speed problems they experienced at Indianapolis, taking up six of the last eleven spots. And that at the bottom of the table were Juan Pablo Montoya and Colton Herta, who did not make a serious classification simulation and reserved for a Saturday that will be frenetic due to the rain forecast. IndyCar has advanced the start of the session one hour (11:00 local, 17:00 Spanish peninsular); if all 33 are not able to qualify before the end of the day, the times will be eliminated and everything will have to be rescheduled for Sunday.
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RESULTS OF THE SECOND DAY OF TRAINING IN INDIANAPOLIS
(R): Indy 500 debutants
Photos: IndyCar Media