Patrick: Indy a struggle this year

Patrick, who was the talk of last year's race after just missing out on pole position and leading the closing laps before she finished fourth, admits this year's race will be harder because everyone is powered by the Honda power plants her Rahal Letterman team used last year.

Her best practice performance of the week so far came on Wednesday, where she was just 12th quickest.

"I wish I could say it's good to be back, but it's been a little bit of a struggle this year," Patrick said. "Last year was, I guess, comparatively easy.

"We're struggling, for sure. We're doing the best we can to make our cars work. We just can't seem to get the car to grip up. We can't really trim out and go fast right now. That's kind of the problem. We're trying to work around it.

"I think that's why Ganassi and Penske are so fast, because they learned how to do that last year without the horsepower. That's one of those things that isn't working to our advantage now that we are amongst all Hondas. "

However, the American has vowed to push as hard as possible in an attempt to work her way back from her poor start to the Month of May.

"I don't think anybody thinks I'm a bad driver," she added. "It's just we're struggling right now. I don't think there's anything in particular that I have to do to validate. I feel like I have to get the most out of myself, but that's it. I promise you, there's not a single time I go out on the track without giving everything I've got."

Pole qualifying for this year's Indy 500 takes place on Saturday.