O'Ward leads Dixon in Indy 500 Carb Day final practice
Pato O'Ward put his Arrow McLaren SP at the top of the speed charts in the last on-track session before the 104th running of the Indianapolis 500.
In the final track time ahead of this weekend's Indy 500, O'Ward, classified as a rookie at Indy after failing to qualify for the race in 2019, was the only driver to break the 225mph barrier and the 40 seconds barrier, with his 11th lap of 84 resulting in 225.355mph.
That put him 0.7mph ahead of the best effort from Scott Dixon, the 2008 Indy 500 winner for Chip Ganassi Racing, while two more former winners in Alexander Rossi and Takuma Sato were third and fourth fastest.
Oliver Askew, another rookie, was fifth in the second Arrow McLaren SP entry ahead of Zach Veach for Andretti Autosport who said yesterday that his car was feeling comfortable in traffic and duly proved it today.
As in qualifying, Josef Newgarden was the fastest of the Team Penske runners, while his Indy winning team-mates were buried in 14th, 17th and 24th. The last of these, Will Power, told NBC the car was "off" at the start of the session but made good gains towards the end, before he reverted to pitstop practice.
Power was just behind Fernando Alonso in terms of outright speed on the timing screens, but ahead of pole-winner Marco Andretti, who could only manage P28 and whose car looked very nervous in the wake of his rivals.
Alonso, who makes his third appearance at the Indy 500, claimed P23 in final practice will start the race from 26th place having endured an eventful opening week of the reshuffled race programme.
After taking fifth place in the opening practice session, Alonso saw his progress curtailed by a heavy Turn 4 crash on the second day of practice.
PLUS: Why Alonso's latest McLaren reunion has cause for optimism
Marcus Ericsson (Ganassi), Ben Hanley (DragonSpeed) and James Hinchcliffe (Andretti Autosport) all clocked more than half-race distances respectively in the final practice session.
The rescheduled 2020 Indy 500, postponed from its traditional month of May programme, will take place this weekend (23 August) without fans due to COVID-19 protocols.
2020 Indy 500 Carb Day practice times
-
Previous article
Why Ganassi's newest winner is still on an upward curve
Next article
Alonso positive he can fight for the lead at Indy 500
About this article
| Series | IndyCar |
| Drivers | Scott Dixon , Patricio O'Ward |
| Author | David Malsher |
How McLaren is striving towards IndyCar's elite
The second year of McLaren's full-time IndyCar return is looming, with Patricio O'Ward and Felix Rosenqvist leading its line-up. Strong team personnel and work behind the scenes means that 2021 could be the year it joins the established elite
The enigmatic legacy of a misunderstood Indy stalwart
Flashes of brilliance amid spells of obscurity have been too common for Marco Andretti. While the third-generation racer has opted to bring his full-time IndyCar career to a close, his peaks and troughs have never been for want of trying
Why American racing's top dog is without equal
A byword for success in business and in motorsport for over 50 years, Roger Penske's importance to the US scene cannot be understated. In an exclusive interview, the custodian of the IndyCar Series and Indianapolis Motor Speedway reflects on his journey
The McLaren that rendered its Indy rivals obsolete
When founder Bruce McLaren died in June 1970, his team could have folded. Instead, his loyal band rallied to produce a string of winners - including an Indycar game-changer that won its third Indianapolis 500 five years after its debut
Why Newgarden's best IndyCar season yet wasn't enough
Josef Newgarden feels he didn't put a foot wrong in 2020, yet his finest season-long run of performances failed to yield a third series championship. But in a warning shot to Scott Dixon, Team Penske's team leader has vowed to redouble his efforts in 2021
How Dixon held on in IndyCar's most unpredictable season
Three wins on the trot gave the Chip Ganassi Racing superstar the cushion he needed to hang on for a sixth title in the face of Josef Newgarden's late challenge. Here's the rundown of a typically frantic IndyCar campaign in an extraordinary year
The balancing act required for improving racing at Indy
Calls for an improvement in the racing spectacle at the Indianapolis 500 have been met with small aerodynamic tweaks from IndyCar on superspeedways. But where such high speeds are involved, even minor adjustments require significant planning
The departing IndyCar hero who can't let go
He's an IndyCar champion and an Indianapolis 500 winner, but there's more to Tony Kanaan's legacy than sheer numbers according some key rivals, team-mates and friends from his 20-year top-flight US open-wheel career
