With yesterday’s complete washout at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway, teams and drivers were eager to get Indianapolis 500 practice started today. They wasted no time once the green flag waved, pushing their machines to the limit around the famed 2.5-mile oval. Six hours later, it was a pair of drivers that again sat at the top of the overall speed chart.
Takuma Sato held the top spot with a lap at 227.519 mph while Scott Dixon hit 227.335 mph on his best lap. The two Honda drivers and Indy 500 winners were the only two that topped the 227 mph barrier on Thursday. Most of the teams opted to work on qualifying sims but there were still several that were fine tuning their race trim.
The Dale Coyne Racing with Rick Ware Racing driver was happy to be back at the top of the chart, but he knows there is still work to be done. “It was a very productive day,” Sato said. “Two cars in the top three. More importantly, we’re getting happy with the cars in traffic. We made huge progress.”
While he was fastest with a tow, the Japanese driver was just 29th on the no-tow report. “We’re working on it,” Sato said. “The car’s not entirely happy in a big pack. Still there’s work to be done. The boys are doing such a meticulous job, with great engineering. I’m happy with the progress, step by step, and here we are. Hopefully we have more to come.”
Sato mentioned his teammate, David Malukas, who was very quick as he posted the third-fastest lap of the day in his No. 18 Honda. The rookie was just ahead of 2011 race runner-up JR Hildebrand, and Jimmie Johnson rounded out the top five in what was another strong day for Honda and Chip Ganassi Racing.
“Interesting day,” Dixon said about how Thursday played out. “Lots of running for everybody. For us, race running for the majority. Pretty happy in some situations. Generally, I think all of us at Ganassi had a pretty smooth day.” Another team that had another outstanding day was Ed Carpenter…
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