IndyCar

2017 Indianapolis 500 build-up

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  • 15th May 2017, 17:04 at 5:04 pm #342442
    Keith Collantine
    Keymaster

    The build-up to the 2017 Indianapolis 500 is underway and the first official practice session is go (see video above).

    Naturally there’s a lot of attention on Fernando Alonso’s addition to the entry list this year but he’s just one of 33 drivers in with a chance of winning. Here they all are:

    Simon Pagenaud
    Josef Newgarden
    Helio Castroneves
    Conor Daly
    James Hinchcliffe
    Mikhail Aleshin
    Max Chilton
    Scott Dixon
    Tony Kanaan
    Spencer Pigot
    Will Power
    Carlos Munoz
    Graham Rahal
    Oriol Servia
    Sebastian Saavedra
    Sebastien Bourdais
    Ed Jones
    Ed Carpenter
    JR Hildebrand
    Juan Pablo Montoya
    Sage Karam
    Takuma Sato
    Marco Andretti
    Ryan Hunter-Reay
    Fernando Alonso
    Zach Veach
    Buddy Lazier
    Jack Harvey
    Pippa Mann
    Jay Howard
    Charlie Kimball
    Gabby Chaves
    Alexander Rossi

    15th May 2017, 18:18 at 6:18 pm #342443
    Damon
    Participant

    This build up has a feel of some sort of Motorsport Olympic Games. I’m loving it :)

    17th May 2017, 16:44 at 4:44 pm #342526
    Damon
    Participant

    Nice seeing Alonso druving in a crowd, figuring out slipstreaming and overtaking:

    19th May 2017, 16:56 at 4:56 pm #342555
    Damon
    Participant

    Am watching Fist Friday session at Indianapolis and this comment made my day:

    “Alonso at Indy “Something is ahh wrong with the car…it feels fast, no? What do you see on the telemetry. Is everything ok? It feels good…this cannot be…””

    :):):):)

    21st May 2017, 7:22 at 7:22 am #342568
    James McGrenery
    Participant

    Real shame for Bourdais to be out of the running, he was so fast leading up to his crash! Hopefully he can make a swift and full recovery!

    22nd May 2017, 0:17 at 12:17 am #342575
    Keith Collantine
    Keymaster

    Qualifying is done and we have Scott Dixon on pole position, he’ll share the front row of the grid with Ed Carpenter and last year’s winner Alexander Rossi.

    Fernando Alonso will line up fifth behind Takuma Sato, making it three Andretti-Hondas in the top five. Here’s how the rest of the field will take the start. James Davison will take the place of the injured Sebastien Bourdais:

    1. Scott Dixon – 232.164mph
    2. Ed Carpenter – 231.664mph
    3. Alexander Rossi – 231.487mph
    4. Takuma Sato – 231.365mph
    5. Fernando Alonso – 231.3mph
    6. JR Hildebrand – 230.889mph
    7. Tony Kanaan – 230.828mph
    8. Marco Andretti – 230.474mph
    9. Will Power – 230.2mph
    10. Ryan Hunter-Reay – 231.442mph
    11. Ed Jones – 230.578mph
    12. Oriol Servia – 230.309mph
    13. Mikhail Aleshin – 230.271mph
    14. Graham Rahal – 230.253mph
    15. Max Chilton – 230.068mph
    16. Charlie Kimball – 229.956mph
    17. James Hinchcliffe – 229.86mph
    18. Juan Pablo Montoya – 229.565mph
    19. Helio Castroneves – 229.515mph
    20. Jay Howard – 229.414mph
    21. Sage Karam – 229.38mph
    22. Josef Newgarden – 228.501mph
    23. Simon Pagenaud – 228.093mph
    24. Carlos Munoz – 227.921mph
    25. Gabby Chaves – 226.921mph
    26. Conor Daly – 226.439mph
    27. Jack Harvey – 225.742mph
    28. Pippa Mann – 225.008mph
    29. Spencer Pigot – 224.052mph
    30. Buddy Lazier – 223.417mph
    31. Sebastian Saavedra – 221.142mph
    32. Zach Veach – 221.081mph
    33. James Davison – No time

    22nd May 2017, 8:04 at 8:04 am #342576
    bukester
    Participant

    Interesting how they changed his engine before final quali….

    23rd May 2017, 8:40 at 8:40 am #342639
    Excuse me :D
    Participant

    How much is getting the pole position important in the Indy 500?

    23rd May 2017, 19:37 at 7:37 pm #342649
    Damon
    Participant

    @piyush
    The pole position is not so important. A good starting position is. You get a championship point for a pole position though. There’s more:
    Pole Award: 1 point
    Leading At Least One Lap: 1 point
    Most Laps Led: 2 points

    It’s certainly favourable to start from the front row, it’s also safer in terms of possible crashes, especially if there’s a gentlemen’s agreement among the top-3 to respect each other’s positions into the first corner.

    23rd May 2017, 20:22 at 8:22 pm #342651
    Adam Blocker
    Participant

    @damon In terms of points, you are incorrect for the Indy 500. Qualifying for Indy is essentially another round of the championship, with the pole sitter scoring 42 points, as can be seen here: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_American_Championship_car_racing_point_scoring_systems#Indy_Qualifying_2


    @square-route     Here is a table of where previous winners have started on their way to victory: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Indianapolis_500_winners#Winning_starting_positions

    Keep in mind that a lot of winners started up front because they were fast in the race and in qualifying. If a driver is fast in race trim and has good strategy, he can win from any starting position. Montoya came from 30th at one point in the race in 2015 to win, so it can be done.

    24th May 2017, 0:28 at 12:28 am #342652
    Damon
    Participant

    Woah! That’s surprising! Thanks for the correction :)
    I used IndyCar’s official page for info, but failed to read down to the point where they add that Indy quali is indeed awarded the same way a reagular race is:
    http://www.indycar.com/Fan-Info/INDYCAR-101/Points-System

    So, there you go – quali is sure important in that particular aspect.

    24th May 2017, 5:26 at 5:26 am #342653
    Excuse me :D
    Participant

    @blockwall2 and @damon
    Thanks a ton for taking the time guys.

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