Round 6: The 105th running of the Indianapolis 500. May 18-30, 2021.

[broadrun96]

You would assume they generally do that late, the number of slow laps at Petit on Wednesday evening at the "golden hour" and proper photo laps with the van is probably 10-15 per year.

https://twitter.com/IndyCar/status/1...723909642?s=20

Idiots all, and every idiot on the "let's do a picture" email at RLL, and the 2 morons waving a yellow at the flag stand and a green on the inside wall should dragged out front and made to wear I'm a moron sandwich boards until after the 500.

Oh, Penske did his Tuesday with 4 but no one had a problem then so it can be done. RLL just seems to often have their head in the backdoor as a team often in Indy and IMSA, drivers and team management both

[broadrun96]

Ferrucci might need a new car, that looked rough on the rear of the car.

https://twitter.com/IndyCar/status/1...823791620?s=20

[broadrun96]

And RLL is being sat for 30 min tomorrow to start tomorrow's practice, although I'm guessing in reality Santino won't be ready for the start of practice. But he is pretty tough at getting back in the car

https://racer.com/2021/05/20/rll-pen...r-photo-stunt/

[billy bleach]

Originally Posted by broadrun96

And RLL is being sat for 30 min tomorrow to start tomorrow's practice, although I'm guessing in reality Santino won't be ready for the start of practice. But he is pretty tough at getting back in the car

https://racer.com/2021/05/20/rll-pen...r-photo-stunt/

What numbskull thought a half speed photoshoot on a live track was a good idea?!

[Knowlesy]

Originally Posted by billy bleach

What numbskull thought a half speed photoshoot on a live track was a good idea?!

Nuts isn't it? This was presumably OK'ed by motorsport people, which makes it even more bewildering.

Should be banned from the race imo. It would sour the win for Montoya, there would be a little less competition to overtake, but a line needs to be drawn here.

[S griffin]

There's a time and a place for everything. Doing a photoshoot while the track is still live is not a great idea and really is something you wouldn't expect from professional teams in a top series

[Adam43]

Originally Posted by Knowlesy

Should be banned from the race imo. It would sour the win for Montoya, there would be a little less competition to overtake, but a line needs to be drawn here.

[broadrun96]

Originally Posted by Knowlesy

Nuts isn't it? This was presumably OK'ed by motorsport people, which makes it even more bewildering.

Should be banned from the race imo. It would sour the win for Montoya, there would be a little less competition to overtake, but a line needs to be drawn here.

Supposedly the boss's, Penske, race people alerted his track people that they would start Tuesday's practice with such a thing and everyone was alerted early. No one can confirm that RLL informed anyone of such a move

[bjohnsonsmith]

RLL penalised for their on track photoshoot, with a 30-minute sit on Friday morning for all three drivers at the start of the Fast Friday practice session. It seems rather paltry considering.


https://racer.com/2021/05/20/rll-pen...r-photo-stunt/

[tux]

Palou seriously impressive so far today, never had him down as a potential pole winner.

[mstets]

Is Peacock working for anyone? I've been trying all day but can't even get the menu page.

[mstets]

Originally Posted by tux

Palou seriously impressive so far today, never had him down as a potential pole winner.

I thought the Ganassi cars have looked to be the strongest over the past three days. Any idea what pole speed will be?

[mstets]

Rahal cars looking strong. Sato has the fastest 4 lap time of the day, and Ferrucci just went 230.361 in the heat of the day (4:30 PM) for P2.

[mstets]

Wilson goes P1 for 4 lap average of 230.844 at 4:38 PM. Very consistent run as his fastest lap was 230.9.

[mstets]

Herta to P1 at 4:52 with 231.239 mph, hitting over 240 going into turn 3.

[NaBUru38]

Scott Dixon has clocked a tow lap of 233.3 mph.


Non-tow laps are between 231.3 and 228.6 mph, except for RC Enerson and Charlie Kimball who couldn't break 227.0 mph.

[mstets]

Here are the fastest 4 lap averages for the day. Some had tows while others did not. Dixon tried 3 times late in the day, but was unable to get 4 laps of clear running.


Draw for qualifying order coming up shortly.

[mstets]

Dixon drew first and will be the first to attempt to qualify.

[joeb]

Originally Posted by mstets

Here are the fastest 4 lap averages for the day. Some had tows while others did not. Dixon tried 3 times late in the day, but was unable to get 4 laps of clear running.


Draw for qualifying order coming up shortly.

Those are some seriously impressive times by great drivers at the top. I do enjoy the qualifying format for Indy, but also understand that is almost irrelevant to the way that the race is going to play out!

[Adam43]

I think that is a good thing. Two slightly different disciplines. It might mix stuff up too.

Doesn’t massively matter really.

[mstets]

Interesting to hear two different perspectives on the qualifying order. Graham Rahal apparently felt that his early draw last year was key to starting in the first three rows and his third place finish. Colton Herta said that he thinks the winds will be more favorable late in the day on Saturday. Perhaps that was just his spin after drawing #30. Conventional thinking is that going out early is best, as temperature and winds tend to increase during the afternoon. Last year's qualifying seems to support that, as 6 of the fast 9 qualifiers went out 1-14. I think that Kanaan might have a good shot at pole, as he goes out eighth with enough time to make adjustments based on feedback from Dixon's run.



There is a practice session at 9:30 AM. Qualifying starts at noon. Here is the order.

1. #9 Scott Dixon
2. #98 Marco Andretti
3. #28 Ryan Hunter-Reay
4. #06 Helio Castroneves
5. #18 Ed Jones
6. #29 James Hinchcliffe
7. #25 Stefan Wilson
8. #48 Tony Kanaan
9. #2 Josef Newgarden
10. #21 Rinus VeeKay
11. #3 Scott McLaughlin
12. #30 Takuma Sato
13. #45 Santino Ferrucci
14. #24 Sage Karam
15. #51 Pietro Fittipaldi
16. #86 Juan Pablo Montoya
17. #1 JR Hildebrand
18. #12 Will Power
19. #20 Ed Carpenter
20. #5 Pato O’Ward
21. #7 Felix Rosenqvist
22. #59 Max Chilton
23. #4 Dalton Kellett
24. #47 Conor Daly
25. #15 Graham Rahal
26. #60 Jack Harvey
27. #75 RC Enerson
28. #10 Alex Palou
29. #22 Simon Pagenaud
30. #26 Colton Herta
31. #27 Alexander Rossi
32. #8 Marcus Ericsson
33. #16 Simona De Silvestro
34. #11 Charlie Kimball
35. #14 Sebastien Bourdais

[S griffin]

Look forward to seeing how it goes, so many great names

[Yannick]

All week long, it's been looking like Kimball and Bourdais are the two guys that RC Enerson needs to beat on this Bump Day. And now, they are are the very end of the qualifying line.

Is Bourdais running the same tub that crashed twice at the previous round in Texas? If so, then maybe the Foyt team has even built their base setup on data from that car. Which might explain why they are so far at the back.

[Formulahistory]

it would be better the Fast Friday would decide the quali order.

[bjohnsonsmith]

Originally Posted by Formulahistory

it would be better the Fast Friday would decide the quali order.

I think the format works well as it is.