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Indy 500: Ganassi's Chilton fastest in last full practice session

Chip Ganassi Racing's Max Chilton led the way in the final full practice session for the Indianapolis 500, as drivers focused on running in traffic

Chilton, who will start 15th in Sunday's IndyCar race, clocked a 228.592mph lap during the three-and-a-half-hour session to finish 0.4mph clear of Dale Coyne Racing rookie Ed Jones.

The 2018 Indianapolis 500 grid

Polesitter Scott Dixon was third fastest on a 227.165mph to complete an all-Honda top three, ahead of the fastest Chevrolet driver, reigning champion Simon Pagenaud for Penske.

After eight practice sessions and qualifying, the only remaining running before the 101st Indy 500 will be Friday's traditional hour-long session on Carb Day.

Takuma Sato was the best of the Andretti drivers in fifth, with Ryan Hunter-Reay seventh, defending winner Alexander Rossi ninth, Marco Andretti 10th and Fernando Alonso 12th.

McLaren Formula 1 driver Alonso was one six to complete more than 100 laps, along with Chilton, Penske's Helio Castroneves and Will Power in fifth and 11th, Charlie Kimball and Jack Harvey.

"It was OK," said Alonso. "It was going back to the known setup from last Thursday, so some good laps today.

"Even though the session was a bit shorter, we maximised the track time, so it was a useful day again.

"Today, we tried many things, we just need to put everything together now and try to be ready for Sunday."

Rookie Harvey, whose Andretti entry is being run by Michael Shank Racing, not only completed the most laps (124) but topped the speeds recorded without the aid of a tow with an 224.036mph effort.

The next fastest no-tow speeds came from Rossi, Jones, Hunter-Reay, Tony Kanaan and Mikhail Aleshin.

James Davison was 28th fastest in Dale Coyne's hastily-repaired back-up #18 car, his first day with the team replacing the injured Sebastien Bourdais.

PRACTICE EIGHT RESULTS:

Pos Driver Team Car Speed Laps
1 Max Chilton Chip Ganassi Racing Dallara/Honda 228.592 108
2 Ed Jones Dale Coyne Racing Dallara/Honda 228.118 86
3 Scott Dixon Chip Ganassi Racing Dallara/Honda 227.165 98
4 Simon Pagenaud Team Penske Dallara/Chevrolet 226.998 95
5 Takuma Sato Andretti Autosport Dallara/Honda 226.806 80
6 Helio Castroneves Team Penske Dallara/Chevrolet 226.705 121
7 Ryan Hunter-Reay Andretti Autosport Dallara/Honda 226.542 61
8 Sage Karam Dreyer & Reinbold Racing Dallara/Chevrolet 226.381 87
9 Alexander Rossi Andretti Herta Dallara/Honda 226.376 70
10 Marco Andretti Andretti Autosport Dallara/Honda 226.224 66
11 Will Power Team Penske Dallara/Chevrolet 226.199 109
12 Fernando Alonso McLaren-Honda-Andretti Dallara/Honda 226.147 122
13 Mikhail Aleshin Schmidt Peterson Motorsports Dallara/Honda 225.967 68
14 Tony Kanaan Chip Ganassi Racing Dallara/Honda 225.955 83
15 Jay Howard Schmidt Peterson Motorsports Dallara/Honda 225.946 82
16 Gabby Chaves Harding Racing Dallara/Chevrolet 225.931 80
17 Charlie Kimball Chip Ganassi Racing Dallara/Honda 225.729 119
18 James Hinchcliffe Schmidt Peterson Motorsports Dallara/Honda 225.504 94
19 Oriol Servia Rahal Letterman Lanigan Dallara/Honda 225.389 36
20 Graham Rahal Rahal Letterman Lanigan Dallara/Honda 225.234 72
21 Jack Harvey Michael Shank Racing Dallara/Honda 224.823 124
22 Josef Newgarden Team Penske Dallara/Chevrolet 224.793 99
23 Conor Daly A.J. Foyt Enterprises Dallara/Chevrolet 224.727 87
24 Juan Pablo Montoya Team Penske Dallara/Chevrolet 224.651 55
25 Ed Carpenter Ed Carpenter Racing Dallara/Chevrolet 224.442 79
26 J.R. Hildebrand Ed Carpenter Racing Dallara/Chevrolet 224.337 89
27 Carlos Munoz A.J. Foyt Enterprises Dallara/Chevrolet 223.749 69
28 James Davison Dale Coyne Racing Dallara/Honda 223.670 88
29 Pippa Mann Dale Coyne Racing Dallara/Honda 223.524 60
30 Sebastian Saavedra Juncos Racing Dallara/Chevrolet 222.965 69
31 Spencer Pigot Juncos Racing Dallara/Chevrolet 222.093 45
32 Zach Veach A.J. Foyt Enterprises Dallara/Chevrolet 221.612 61
33 Buddy Lazier Lazier Racing Dallara/Chevrolet 218.998 43


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