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Indianapolis 500 testing: Andretti's Munoz puts Honda on top

Carlos Munoz took Honda to the top of the timesheets for the first time in the Month of May by going fastest in the fourth day of practice for next weekend's Indianapolis 500

The Andretti driver reeled off his 230.121mph lap six minutes before the chequered flag.

It marked the first time this year that the cars have topped 230mph; a benchmark that was not achieved last year until Fast Friday, when the boost levels are increased from 130 kPa to 140 kPa.

"Really, we were not looking for a tow, we just made a change and said, 'OK let's go in the group and see if we can just cop a tow and feel the car in traffic a little bit'," Munoz said.

"I went back to the pack and it's practice, so whoever gets the best tow is the one who is going to finish first.

"The positive thing is that I feel really comfortable with the car, the car feels OK. In traffic and by my own, I feel fast.

"We have to continue working, we have still two days of testing so we have to try some stuff."

Townsend Bell was second-fastest ahead of 2013 Indy 500 winner Tony Kanaan, James Davison and Sage Karam.

The day was punctuated by two major accidents, the first of which saw Helio Castroneves's Penske car launched into the air after it spun and hit the wall backwards at Turn 1.

Pippa Mann suffered two heavy impacts when she spun into the SAFER barrier at pit entry and then rebounded into the attenuator before spinning back across the track and into the outside wall.

Both drivers were checked by medical personnel and cleared.

"The guys in front of me in the big pack checked up and I saw them check up," Mann said.

"I got on the brakes, but unfortunately I just got in the grey and made a mistake. When you're not in a race car week in and week out, sometimes you make mistakes.

"We were having a good day and we had a good race car. I'm really sorry that the guys have to go and fix it.

"The joke inside [the medical centre] was I got away with a couple of bruises, but I think my crew chief will have a few more for me when I get back to the garage after that one."

INDY 500 PRACTICE RESULTS:

Pos Driver Team Car Gap Laps
1 Carlos Munoz Andretti Autosport Dallara/Honda 39.1098s 88
2 Townsend Bell Dreyer and Reinbold Dallara/Chevrolet 0.1968s 57
3 Tony Kanaan Chip Ganassi Racing Dallara/Chevrolet 0.3341s 64
4 James Davison Dale Coyne Racing Dallara/Honda 0.3565s 86
5 Sage Karam Chip Ganassi Racing Dallara/Chevrolet 0.3948s 91
6 Scott Dixon Chip Ganassi Racing Dallara/Chevrolet 0.4463s 59
7 Simon Pagenaud Team Penske Dallara/Chevrolet 0.4545s 66
8 Will Power Team Penske Dallara/Chevrolet 0.4767s 70
9 Marco Andretti Andretti Autosport Dallara/Honda 0.4819s 86
10 James Hinchcliffe Schmidt Peterson Motorsports Dallara/Honda 0.4832s 84
11 Ryan Hunter-Reay Andretti Autosport Dallara/Honda 0.5092s 76
12 Gabby Chaves Bryan Herta Autosport Dallara/Honda 0.5214s 83
13 J.R. Hildebrand CFH Racing Dallara/Chevrolet 0.5651s 44
14 Ed Carpenter CFH Racing Dallara/Chevrolet 0.5950s 52
15 Helio Castroneves Team Penske Dallara/Chevrolet 0.5955s 12
16 Graham Rahal Rahal Letterman Lanigan Dallara/Honda 0.5971s 80
17 Juan Pablo Montoya Team Penske Dallara/Chevrolet 0.5972s 41
18 Conor Daly Schmidt Peterson Motorsports Dallara/Honda 0.6052s 41
19 Justin Wilson Andretti Autosport Dallara/Honda 0.6148s 65
20 Charlie Kimball Chip Ganassi Racing Dallara/Chevrolet 0.6341s 93
21 Pippa Mann Dale Coyne Racing Dallara/Honda 0.6603s 64
22 Sebastian Saavedra Chip Ganassi Racing Dallara/Chevrolet 0.6631s 74
23 Takuma Sato AJ Foyt Enterprises Dallara/Honda 0.6879s 92
24 James Jakes Schmidt Peterson Motorsports Dallara/Honda 0.7053s 102
25 Jack Hawksworth AJ Foyt Enterprises Dallara/Honda 0.7128s 88
26 Josef Newgarden CFH Racing Dallara/Chevrolet 0.7746s 69
27 Oriol Servia Rahal Letterman Lanigan Dallara/Honda 0.8397s 59
28 Sebastien Bourdais KVSH Racing Dallara/Chevrolet 0.9272s 53
29 Stefano Coletti KV Racing Technology Dallara/Chevrolet 1.0041s 40
30 Carlos Huertas Dale Coyne Racing Dallara/Honda 1.1155s 55
31 Bryan Clauson KVSH Racing Dallara/Chevrolet 1.2768s 97
32 Sebastien Bourdais KVSH Racing Dallara/Chevrolet 1.6869s 5
33 Alex Tagliani AJ Foyt Enterprises Dallara/Honda 1.6968s 10


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