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?

IndyTalkThe 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 Patrón car at Indy http://tinyurl.com/indy-5-7

... notes from The EDJE

ChampCar Vet, Neel Jani Wins In Taupo

Neel Jani At Speed - A1 Team Switzerland claimed its second win of the season in this afternoon’s Feature race in A1GP Taupo, New Zealand. Image Credit: A1GP – SUI

ChampCar Vet, Neel Jani Wins In Taupo

Neel Jani drove for the PKV Racing team in the Champ Car World Series in 2007. He ended the series in ninth place with a total of 231 points. After choosing to focus on the 2007-2008 A1GP season rather than stay in ChampCar/IRL for 2008 season (the series was absorbed by the IRL).

Jani has not been linked to any 2009 IRL rides to date. PKV Racing became KV Racing Technology upon the transition phase of ChampCar into the IRL at the beginning of the 2008 season.

Neel Jani On The Podium - He got ahead the pole-sitter, A1 Team Ireland’s Adam Carroll, in a crucial moment in the second round of pit stops, when it was slightly slower in getting away than Jani’s Swiss machine. Jani then controlled the race, surviving a late scare when the field close up after a late safety car period. Image Credit: A1GP – SUI

This Excerpted and edited from Autosport –

Jani wins Taupo feature race
By Mark Glendenning - Sunday, January 25th 2009, 04:53 GMT

Team Switzerland's Neel Jani took advantage of a Team Ireland pitlane mishap to win the feature race in this weekend's A1GP round at Taupo.

After a brilliant start from fifth, Jani had been running second behind Ireland's Adam Carroll until the pair made the second and final of their compulsory stops.

Both pitted on the same lap and the Irish crew was able to release Carroll into the lead, only for the car to suffer a problem with its anti-stall and stop momentarily in the pitroad.

Ironically, it stopped right beside the Swiss pit crew, who were just completing their own stop, and by the time Carroll had got his car moving again Jani had already gone past.
----
Neel Jani On The Podium - Two other ChampCar refugees (Robert Doornbos, Dan Clarke) and one IRL driver (Marco Andretti) were in the field as well. Image Credit: A1GP – SUI

How the field finished (ChampCar/IRL drivers in bold):
----
Pos Driver Team Time
1. Neel Jani Switzerland 1:06:19.574
2. Adam Carroll Ireland + 1.047
3. F. Albuquerque Portugal + 2.379
4. John Martin Australia + 10.593
5. Robert Doornbos Netherlands + 14.402
6. Loic Duval France + 17.423
7. N. Karthikeyan India + 20.215
8. Marco Andretti USA + 20.799
9. Edoardo Piscopo Italy + 23.156
10. Adrian Zaugg South Africa + 23.347
11. Fairuz Fauzy Malaysia + 26.832
12. Felipe Guimaraes Brazil + 1 lap
13. Dan Clarke Great Britain + 1 lap
14. C. van der Drift New Zealand + 1 lap
15. Cheng Cong Fu China + 1 lap
16. Salvador Duran Mexico + 7 laps
17. Satrio Hermanto Indonesia + 8 laps
18. Clivio Piccione Monaco + 17 laps
19. Daniel Morad Lebanon + 49 laps
Reference Here>>

Dan Clarke is confident that he will return to racing full-time this year, and expects to secure a drive in the IndyCar Series.The Briton lost his drive when the Champ Car World Series merged with IndyCar on the eve of the 2008 season, and spent last year on the sidelines. But he has returned to action with Team Great Britain at the Taupo A1GP races this weekend, and while he wouldn't rule out more A1GP appearances, he said his priority was getting an IndyCar seat. "I'm still living in Indianapolis, and we're still gearing up for a season in IndyCar," Clarke told autosport.com. Caption and Image Credit: Autosport

... notes from The EDJE

Tough Times For The T-Team Ten In West Allis

Graham Rahal as he slides against the outer wall about halfway through the The ABC Supply/AJ Foyt Indy 225 - The Milwaukee Mile :: West Allis, Wisconsin. Image Credit: Edmund Jenks (The EDJE) 2008

Tough Times For The T-Team Ten In West Allis

The Milwaukee Mile proved to be a very tough place for many of the T-Team Ten. Mario Dominguez and the Pacific Coast Motorsports team could not get a clue as to how to get any speed or handling out of their Dallara all weekend long. Virtually last in qualifying and after hobbling around the track for half of the race, Mario and the PCM team thought it best to park the car for the balance of the race.

Mario Dominguez - Image Credit: Andy Sallee (2008)

There were five transition team drivers to make it into the top ten of the starting grid, but the lead driver of the group, Graham Rahal, did not finish the race. The first half of the race, Graham showed well staying in the top five positions most of the time but then drifted high off of the driving line on the track and glanced the wall, crushing his right side A-Frame.

Oriol Servia running clean on the Milwaukee Mile. Image Credit: Andy Sallee (2008)

Oriol Servia, Justin Wilson, and EJ Viso finished 6, 7, and 8, respectively but they were helped into the top ten by an accident started by Marco Andretti when he tapped Ed Carpenter sending both cars spinning. When Marco’s car was turned 180 degrees on the track, Vitor Meira’s car rode up the nose of the car and was launched into the air and collapsed onto the track to slide up against the outer wall to a stop.

Ryan Brisco was leading the race and INDY 500 winner, Scott Dixon at the time and was able to win the race under the Yellow caution flag.

How the T-Team Ten Fared:

POS./Car # Driver, Team, Sponsor

06/ 5 Oriol Servia, KVRT, Plantronics

07/02 Justin Wilson, NHL, Mc Donald’s

08/33 EJ Viso, HVM, PDVSA

14/ 8 Will Power, KVRT, Aussie Vineyards

16/36 Enrique Bernoldi, CR, Sangari

18/18 Bruno Junqueira, DCR, Z-Line

23/19 Mario Moraes, DCR, Sonny’s BBQ

24/34 Jaime Camara, CR, Sangari

25/6 Graham Rahal, NHL, No Sponsor

26/96 Mario Dominguez, PCM, Visit Mexico City

This from Autosport.com -

"It's been 30 years since Roger's first IndyCar win," Briscoe said. "I can't tell you how important it is to me to get my first IndyCar victory for him in this race." Image Credit: Andy Sallee (2008)

Briscoe clinches first IndyCar win
By Matt Beer and Jeff Olson - Sunday, June 1st 2008, 22:00 GMT

Ryan Briscoe fended off championship leader Scott Dixon to score his first IndyCar Series race win at the Milwaukee Mile.

Penske driver Briscoe worked his way into contention in the second half of the race after falling as low as 14th early on. With 70 laps to go, Briscoe was up to third place, then overtook teammate Helio Castroneves and then Dixon in quick succession to hit the front on lap 176.

After briefly losing ground to Briscoe, Dixon closed right back in and put the Penske driver under enormous pressure through the traffic in the closing laps, briefly drawing alongside on the outside on lap 220 of 225.

But when a full course yellow came out with three laps to go following a dramatic multi-car incident, Briscoe was able to clinch his maiden win and put last week's controversial Indianapolis pit lane crash with Danica Patrick behind him.
----
The only other major incident prior to the late crash was Graham Rahal's impact with the wall on lap 130. Newman/Haas/Lanigan's rookie had been running a strong third before understeering into the barriers in traffic.

Oriol Servia charged back through the field to take sixth for KV Racing despite having to pit for a new front wing on lap one, with fellow 'transition' drivers Justin Wilson (Newman/Haas/Lanigan) and EJ Viso (HVM) also putting in strong runs to seventh and eighth.

Danica Patrick and Buddy Rice completed the top ten.

Reference Here>>

Full Race Summary Here

Driver Points Standing Here - By finishing in the top ten, Oriol Servia surges into the Rookie Of The Year points lead. Next week it's the high banks of Texas for the T-Team Ten!

... notes from The EDJE

Milwaukee – “T-Team Ten” Fill Five Of The Top Ten Spots

Pit Lane at the ABC Supply/AJ Foyt Indy 225 - The Milwaukee Mile :: Milwaukee, Wisconsin - Image Credit: Edmund Jenks (The EDJE) 2008

Milwaukee – “T-Team Ten” Fill Five Of The Top Ten Spots

At the race track located at the Wisconsin State Fair, the sixth race of the season in Milwaukee is bearing the fruit that many felt would never happen with the move to unification when it was announced late last February.

Of the ten drivers for teams that originally started the 2008 season as ChampCar World Series organizations, half of the ten filled half of the spots available in the first five rows of two during qualifications today. That translates to five of the top ten positions.

To put it another way, eleven of the remaining sixteen positions (for a total field of 26 cars) are filled by drivers from established IRL teams.

Graham Rahal being interviewed just after father, Bobby Rahal tapped him on the helmet after setting the fastest pace at the time. Image Credit: Edmund Jenks (The EDJE) 2008

The other real story involves the names of the two drivers who occupy the top two positions. An Andretti and a Rahal, again, are the two names that top the charts of American open wheel racing. This edition of the show features the spawn of champions past.

Graham Rahal of Newman/Haas/Lanigan Racing laid down the gauntlet about halfway through the late afternoon qualification session in Milwaukee with an average time of 1:27.1796 with a speed of 167.654. He was only challenged once during the qualifying session. He was challenged once later in the run of his four lap session by Helio Castroneves/Penske Racing who eventually ended up in the third qualifying position just behind Scott Dixon/Target Chip Ganassi Racing before the runs laid down by Marco Andretti/Andretti Green Racing then Will Power/KV Racing Technology.

It was Marco Andretti, the second youngest driver in the series to win an IRL race though (the youngest being Graham Rahal). Andretti made the most impressive run. His average time for the four laps was 1:26.9591 for a speed of 168.079. The last driver to qualify, Will Power, was fast enough to drop Castroneves to fifth, who was just ahead of Tony Kanaan with Andretti Green Racing in sixth.

The T-Team Ten Qualification Positions For The ABC Supply/AJ Foyt Indy 225 - The Milwaukee Mile :: Milwaukee, Wisconsin:

POS./Car # Driver, Time/Speed, Team, Sponsor

Row 1
02/06 Graham Rahal, 1:27.1796/167.654, NHL, No Sponsor

Row 2
04/ 8 Will Power, 1:27.3822/167.265, KVRT, Aussie Vineyards

Row 4
08/36 Enrique Bernoldi, 1:28.4660/165.216, CR, Sangari

Row 5
09/ 5 Oriol Servia, 1:28.4802/165.190, KVRT, Plantronics
10/33 EJ Viso, 1:28.6663/164.843, HVM, PDVSA

Row 7
14/18 Bruno Junqueira, 1:29.6011/163.123, DCR, Z-Line

Row 11
22/02 Justin Wilson, 1:31.3917/159.927, NHL, Mc Donald’s

Row 12
23/19 Mario Moraes, 1:33.9809/155.511, DCR, Sonny’s BBQ
24/34 Jaime Camara, 1:34.5329/154.613, CR, No Sponsor

Row 13
25/96 Mario Dominguez, 1:37.3937/150.071, PCM, Visit Mexico City

Full Qualification Results Here

Pacific Coast Motorsports released this statement from Mario Dominguez:

"We are learning about the car. It is very difficult to make a lot of progress without much practice time. We just have to be patient, it is not a one-day thing and we will keep improving.

For us right now, it is not really about the position we are in, but more about gaining the experience of track time. But, obviously today the car is not where we want it.

I am really looking forward to the race tomorrow. It will be great for me and for the team to get back into race mode, strategy and pitstops. Finishing the race is the most important thing right now, so we can get as many laps as possible in changing conditions to learn about the cars behavior."

... notes from The EDJE

Rookies And Regulars Run Together, In Unification At INDY

The regulars showed their collective experience by topping the speed charts with occupying the top ten lap speeds posted. Graphic Credit: indycar.com PDF

Rookies And Regulars Run Together, In Unification At INDY

Within their first four to eleven laps, just after the 10:00am PDT start time of the official first day of Practice at Indy, the seasoned drivers who have been to the track and have raced in IndyCar Series for the last few years showed their stuff.

Tony Kanaan – 224.591 – 9 laps, Danica Patrick – 223.479 – 11 laps, Ryan Briscoe – 223.068 – 8 laps, Marco Andretti – 223.041 – 4 laps, Helio Castroneves – 222.893 – 7 laps ... all speed marks above the fastest mark set by the ChampCar transition team rookies with KV Racing Technology's Will Power at 222.267 after 154 laps of practice.

Two other rookies also posted better times than Power in the Rookie Orientation Program with Rahal Letterman Racing's Alex Lloyd - 223.033 after 106 laps and Andretti Green Racing's Hideki Mutoh - 222.600 after only 78 laps.

The biggest story from yesterday comes from Andretti Green Racing driver, nineteen year old Marco Andretti posting a lap speed average of 226.599 mph. This mark bests the 2007 pole qualifying speed set by Team Penske driver Helio Castroneves at 225.817 by nearly 8/10ths of a second.

The regulars showed their collective experience by topping the speed charts with occupying the top ten lap speeds posted. Will Power was able to improve his time and lock down eleventh at 223.550 mph.

Mario Dominguez and presidential candidate, Hillary Clinton, share a moment ... each in the middle of their own campaigns. Image Credit: PCM (2008)

Mario Dominguez showed how difficult it is to get to speed on a new track, especially one as unique as Indy.

Day before yesterday on Day 2 of the Rookie Orientation Program, he progressively advanced his times on each lap - 142mph, 171mph, 189mph, 194mph, 199mph, 201.518mph, 204.435mph, 204.777mph – lap 13, 205.024 – lap 17, 205.828, and so on.

He finally posted a 214.358 and completed 48 laps on his first day, Monday.

Mario Dominguez in the #96 Visit Mexico City/Pacific Coast Motorsports Dallara taking first laps at speed on the IMS track. Image Credit: Andy Sallee (2008)

Yesterday, he began to achieve more speed - Mario on the day: “Today we really spent the afternoon building up speed and finding the limits, step by step. Every lap I turn, I learn something.

Yesterday we had to get out there and pass our three phases so we didn’t have time to really focus on anything but that. So today was our first day finding limits and seeing what the car needs. We are fighting a loose condition, but we are working through it.

This racetrack is just phenomenal; it is completely different than any track I have ever run on. I am grateful I have so much oval experience because it helps considerably, but at the same time, this track is different than any other.”

He has completed 61 Laps and is at 30th on the speed charts at 218.306. At the EDJE, we believe that PCM will be able to figure out the set-ups because they really are one of the more competent truly new teams out there.

Today, the fourth day of trials and the third day Mario and the guys at PCM take to the track, the racers face the prospect of a 60% chance of rain. Rain expects to be a threat to practice sessions over the next two days.