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Sunday, May 17, 2015

Indianapolis 500 Qualifications Day 2

On the 12th lap of his 20-minute practice session prior to qualifying, Ed Carpenter became the 3rd Chevy of the month to get upside down. He walked away from his destroyed Chevy Dallara and was checked, cleared and released from the medical center.

Following a lap at 230.754mph, his car lost control at the apex of Turn 2 and spun just over 180 degrees, making contact with the SAFER Barrier. The car's right rear immediately lifted, sending the gearbox into the fence. The car came down on it's roll hoop and slid to a stop on the back straight.

Damage was done to both the track and chicken wire portions of the catch fence. The track was repaired and the green flag was thrown for the 2nd session of practice.

Shortly after the green, the yellow flag came down. The reason for the yellow given over the radio was "Race Director".

Members of INDYCAR, IMS, Chevrolet, Honda and other parties held several meetings and after a lengthy discussion changes were made.

Just after 11:30 officials made an updated to today's schedule:

1:30-2:00 Practice 1
2:00-2:30 Practice 2
2:45 Group 1 Qualification line forms
3:15 Group 2 Qualifications line forms
3:15 Qualifications begin

Following the new schedule announcement Hulman & Company CEO Mark Miles and president of competition and operations Derrick Walker held a media availability in the Economaki Press Conference Room at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway.

"This morning we saw a third car get into the wall, turn backward and lift into the air. We've said all along we want to go faster, but we want to do so safely. "
"As a precautionary measure, INDYCAR will require that the cars qualify today in the same aero setup that they will run in the Indianapolis 500 next weekend. Also, for today, boost levels will return to race conditions. Given these changes, we have elected to not award points for today's qualifications." 
"Safety for drivers and fans is the top priority for INDYCAR and we will continue to be proactive in our research and development to improve all safety aspects of our sport."

According to Walker, "They've [Honda & Chevy] been running their super computers every day into the night" since the Helio Castroneves incident earlier in the week to determine what's responsible for this week's airborne incidents.

Unfortunately, according to Miles they "Still don't have complete clarity" as to why the cars get into the air."

Walker says that he believes the problems are solvable and will not influence their goal of reaching the Indianapolis Motor Speedway track record next year.

Thankfully, the two 30-minute practice session went off without an incident.

Buddy Lazier had a bit of a moment in the 2nd session when he said his steering wheel made a 'click' and it then "moved". He pitted and returned the car to the pits.

The combined speeds:

1 - Will Power 227.377mph
2 - Jack Hawksworth 227.316mph
3 - Simon Pagenaud 226.863mph
4 - James Jakes 226.784mph
5 - Helio Castroneves 226.739mph
6 - Justin Wilson 226.632mph
7 - JR Hildebrand 226.617mph
8 - Simona De Silvestro 226.604mph
9 - Conor Daly 226.520mph
10 - Scott Dixon 226.286mph
11 - Marco Andretti 226.199mph
12 - James Hinchcliffe 226.187mph
13 - Charlie Kimball 226.161mph
14 - Juan Pablo Montoya 225.904mph
15 - Tony Kanaan 225.187mph
16 - Gabby Chaves 225.161mph
17 - Pippa Mann 225.830mph
18 - Oriol Servia 225.770mph
19 - Townsend Bell 225.764mph
20 - Sage Karam 225.750mph
21 - Ryan Hunter-Reay 225.605mph
22 - Takuma Sao 225.429mph
23 - Sebastien Bourdais 225.417mph
24 - Carlos Munoz 225.114mph
25 - Carlos Huertas 225.114mph
26 - Alex Taglianai 224.993mph
27 - Tristan Vautier 224.975mph
28 - Graham Rahal 224.578mph
29 - Josef Newgarden 224.455mph
30 - Sebastian Saavedra 224.386mph
31 - Bryan Clauson 224.142mph
32 - Ed Carpenter 223.981mph
33 - Stefano Coletti 223.607mph
34 - Buddy Lazier 218.398mph

Qualifying went off without a hitch at 3:15. No cars had issues and everyone made their scheduled run with the exception of Buddy Lazier. Lazier skipped his qualification attempt and opted to wait until the Final 4 session.

His opportunity came following solid 221+mph runs by Jack Hawksworth, Stefano Coletti and Bryan Clauson. His 219.438mph attempt failed to break into the field. His second and final attempt came with just minutes left. His second run of the day earned a 220.153mph average, not good enough to make the 33-car field.

2015 Indianapolis 500 Starting Field

1 - Scott Dixon 226.760mph
2 - Will Power 226.350mph
3 - Simon Pagenaud 226.145mph
4 - Tony Kanaan 225.503mph
5 - Helio Castroneves 225.502mph
6 - Justin Wilson 225.279mph
7 - Sebastien Bourdais 225.193mph
8 - Marco Andretti 225.189mph
9 - Josef Newgarden 225.187mph
10 - JR Hildebrand 225.099mph
11 - Carlos Munoz 225.042mph
12 - Ed Carpenter 224.883mph
13 - Oriol Servia 224.77mph
14 - Charlie Kimball 224.743mph
15 - Juan Pablo Montoya 224.657mph
16 - Ryan Hunter-Reay 224.573mph
17 - Graham Rahal 224.290mph
18 - Carlos Huertas 224.233mph
19 - Simona De Silvestro 223.838mph
20 - James Jakes 223.790mph
21 - Tristian Vautier 223.747mph
22 - Alex Tagliani 223.722mph
23 - Sage Karam 223.595mph
24 - James Hinchcliffe 223.519mph
25 - Conor Daly 223.482mph
26 - Townsend Bell 223.447mph
27 - Takuma Sato 223.226mph
28 - Pippa Mann 223.104mph
29 - Gabby Chaves 222.916mph
30 - Sebastian Saavedra 222.898mph
31 - Jack Hawksworth 223.738mph
32 - Stefano Coletti 222.001mph
33 - Bryan Clauson 221.358mph
























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