Thursday, May 7, 2009

IMS - Marco Andretti Ends Day On Top

Marco Andretti sits out the day's session, waiting with legendary grandfather, Mario Andretti, on top of the speed charts. Image Credit: Andy Sallee (2009)

IMS - Marco Andretti Ends Day On Top

Bobby D started the day at the top of the charts.



Newman/Haas/Lanigan Racing driver, Bobby D (Robert Doornbos), climbs to register the fastest time in the scheduled Practice Day 2 (the first day of combined team practice, Practice Day 1 was rained out) in early going.

Newman/Haas/Lanigan's Bobby D (Robert Doornbos) looks good at speed during the first couple of hours of the morning session of Practice Day #2 at Indianapolis Motor Speedway. Image Credit: Andy Sallee (2009)

His speed of 223.194 places him ahead of Team Penske drivers Ryan Briscoe @ 223.109 - P2 and Helio Castroneves @ 223.047 - P3 (for the top 15, refer to photo below).

Rookie Orientation Practice, held two days ago, was led by Paul Tracy, KV Racing Technology at a speed of 223.089 which would place him at third highest for all laps run in the month of May at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway (IMS).

Up until noon on this day, Paul has been able to place in at P6 with a speed of 222.010 but what this says about how competitive this field for the 110th edition of the INDY 500 is fantastic. What with two of the top three lap speeds being registered in the month of May, at this early time by teams that are in only their sophomore year and Transition Players competing in the Indy Racing League, the competition for the Centennial Indy 500 is wide open.

Timing and Scoring snapshot from the morning sessions. Image Credit: Edmund Jenks via computer display (2009)

UPDATES from Twitter throughout the day:

10:50 AM PT - Danica Patrick sets Fastest Lap - 223.253 ... Sarah Fisher up to P10!

IndyTalk32 cars on track so far. Danica, Doornbos, Briscoe, Helio faster than 223. #indy500

FuriousWedgeTop 29 cars within one second of each other for best lap time. Will the Bottom get closer as they get more time, or will the Top go higher?

IndyTalk
The ins and outs of the Indianapolis 500 qualifying procedure, all on one page! http://www.indy500.com/imag...

TheEDJE@FuriousWedge - Top 29? ... Now that is competitive! Great early going results.

RaceRemoteWatching Practice for the Indy 500 See it live on-line and with T+S at http://www.indycar.com

11:05 AM PT - Scott Dixon sets Fastest Lap - 223.275

11:15 AM PT - Graham Rahal @ 222.967 is up to P6 making it 3 Transition Players (joining Robert Doornbos and Paul Tracy) placing in the Top 10 on lap speed.

11:32 AM PT - Helio Castroneves sets Fastest Lap - 223.650

IndyTalkHelio just jumped to No. 1 on speed charts at 223.650. Definitely NO tow. Did it solo

11:41 AM PT - Dario Franchitti sets Fastest Lap - 223.679

IndyTalkFranchitti tops of day at 223.679. Didn't see lap, don't know if it was solo or tow. Sorry.

IndyCarNationRT @IndyCarNation: RT @IndyCarNation: Ryan Hunter Reay first to make contact at Indy. Here's the direct link http://ow.ly/5Ewt

Marco Andretti, Andretti Green Racing in his new Venom Energy Drink black and red livery. Image Credit: Andy Sallee (2009)

12:25 PM PT - Marco Andretti blisters Fastest Lap by 1.8 MPH - 225.478

VisionRacingVision team repairing & looking over the no. 21 car to make sure it is A-ok. Expecting to head back out on track before the end of the day.

IndyCarPR3:30 [PM ET] update: Fastest of the Day is now @Andretti26 with a lap of 225.478 mph.

Track Yellow Flag for inspection.

IndyTalkTop 5 at 3:55: [PM ET] Marco 225.4, Dario 223.67, Helio 223.65, Doornbos 223.5, Briscoe 223.4

TRACK STATUS: 16:01:23 GMT-0400 The track is green.

IndyTalkRT @Goblowsoup @IndyTalk tow for Marco, he was right behind Robert Doornbos.

IndyCarNationGuys r getn the car ready w changes. Going bck out n hope 2 find some speed. Wide open n not enough speed n abt 10 degrees 2 much steering

kvracing#5 and #15 cars are both back on track, 1hr 30mins left of practice. Currently PT is 10th & MM is 16th. Marco is P1 (225.478mph)

IndyCarNationMarco fastest. Watch latest highlight clip here: http://ow.ly/5FGI

IndyCarNationRT @IndyTalk: New IndyCast video podcast with Al Unser Jr., Sarah Fisher: http://bit.ly/9JToY

SarahFisher67Sarah could revisit her 221 lap if she could improve T 1,2. T 3,4 are the same as before

IndyTalkTop 5 at 5:25: Marco 225.478, Helio 225.237, Dixon 224.448, Dario 223.679, Doornbos 223.592

IndyCarPR5:30 update: @Andretti26 still the fastest at 225.478 mph.

RaceRemoteCongratulations to Townsend Bell for his Indy500 Ride: His interview is now "Live" on the Sidepods Podcast http://www.sidepods.com

He will be driving a KV Racing Technology Dallara sponsored by HerbalLife.

VisionRacingED Carpenter is on track @ #Indy 500 practice & is currently P14 @ 220.447 mph & has turned 112 laps. Only Conway & Matos put in more laps.

FuriousWedgeHope the trend continues; Stanton Barrett/Team 3G just went out & found a very slight more speed to get to 218.089mph; field now within 1.3s

5:53 PM ET - #16 Scott Sharp just turned a lap of 222.437 mph. This is their fastest lap of the day.

5:54 PM ET - #18 Justin Wilson just turned a lap of 221.200 mph. This is their fastest lap of the day.

5:56 PM ET - #4 Dan Wheldon just turned a lap of 224.022 mph. This is their fastest lap of the day.

5:58 PM ET - #14 Vitor Meira just turned a lap of 221.142 mph. This is their fastest lap of the day.

Timing and Scoring snapshot - Final stack ranking of the top 15 positions. Image Credit: Edmund Jenks via computer display (2009)

18:00:27 GMT-0400 The checkered flag is out. Up next: IndyCar Series Fast Friday practice on May 8 at Noon (EDT).

kvracingPractice has finished for today, PT is 12th (222.671) and MM is 16th (222.150). Fastest was Andretti (225.478.ph)

VisionRacingCheckered flag on a FULL day of practice @ #Indy 500. TOP speed of the day 225.478 mph by M.Andretti. He has BIG toes or is that A BIG TOW?

patronhighcroftAll the news from the first full rain-free day of practice for Scott Sharp in the Tequila PatrĂ³n car at Indy http://tinyurl.com/indy-5-7

... notes from The EDJE


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