Indianapolis 500 practice interrupted by weather with Bourdais top
Imminent thunderstorms interrupted Friday's Indianapolis 500 practice after 90 minutes, with Sebastien Bourdais fastest for Dale Coyne Racing
With the turboboost on the engines raised from 1.3-bar to 1.4 in preparation for the weekend's qualifying runs, Bourdais turned a 233.116mph lap on his 11th lap with the aid of a tow from a rival, but then later set a 231.192mph in the middle of a four-lap qualifying simulation, with no drafting help.
That means Bourdais tops both the outright and the 'no tow' speed charts as the field waits for practice to restart.
Andretti Autosport Dallara-Honda team-mates Ryan Hunter-Reay and Takuma Sato were second and third fastest but 13th and sixth on the no-tow charts, while Penske's Juan Pablo Montoya was fastest Chevrolet runner.
His team-mate Will Power was the fastest Chevy in the qualifying simulations, and the only one of the firm's drivers to break the 230mph mark without the aid of a draft.
Fernando Alonso swiftly adapted to the trimmed-out downforce levels, going fifth fastest overall and a very impressive third fastest without a draft.
Honda-powered Schmidt Peterson Motorsports pairing James Hinchcliffe - whose pole last year was a 230.7mph - and Mikhail Aleshin were sixth and seventh.
Thursday's pacesetter Jay Howard was eighth in another SPM car ahead of Bourdais' team-mate Ed Jones and then Chip Ganassi Racing's Tony Kanaan and Scott Dixon 10th and 11th.
Kanaan was also second fastest on the no-tow charts behind Bourdais, ahead of Alonso and Power.
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