Alonso first to crash in Indy practice, Dixon leads day two

Chip Ganassi Racing Honda driver Scott Dixon topped the six and a half hour Thursday practice for the Indianapolis 500, as Fernando Alonso had a heavy crash at Turn 4 in the last hour.

With just over 45 minutes to go, Alonso – holding the second highest number of laps completed in the day at that point with 126 – dipped his left-front wheel onto the inside concrete apron at Turn 4.

Full course yellow during practice after an on-track incident with @alo_oficial.

Currently 43 minutes remain in the session. #INDYCAR // #Indy500 pic.twitter.com/AZbSIPJXAi

— NTT INDYCAR SERIES (@IndyCar) August 13, 2020

He lost grip in the rear and then crashed into the outside wall, coming to rest in the pitlane.

Alonso said that he believed the car could be repaired, ready for Friday practice, following his release from the infield care centre. The team later confirmed to The Race that this was the case and it would avoid using a back-up car.

"Hopefully it happens today and not Sunday the 23rd."

Fernando Alonso talks about what led to the crash in #Indy500 practice. @alo_oficial // @ArrowMcLarenSP pic.twitter.com/eg85wbw7oN

— IndyCar on NBC (@IndyCaronNBC) August 13, 2020

He had missed almost the first full hour of testing earlier in the day. However, the Arrow McLaren SP driver managed a lap in the 224mph range on just his second run which was good enough for sixth overall before his crash, and continued to rack up laps through the day as he and engineer Craig Hampson worked through a number of set-ups.

"If we give him a good car, (@alo_oficial) can definitely go out and win the race."

Craig Hampson, engineer for Fernando Alonso, talks about what it's like working with a multi-time World Champion. #Indy500 // @IMS // @ArrowMcLarenSP pic.twitter.com/B87me2k2jK

— IndyCar on NBC (@IndyCaronNBC) August 13, 2020

A flurry of very late improvements did shake up what had been a long-term static top 10, as teams and drivers had set quick laps early and then immediately set about working on aero set-ups for race trim.

The goal for most in the day was to find a set-up that worked well in traffic. A huge temperature increase in the afternoon gave teams the chance to trial configurations relative to the heat, too.

Rahal Letterman Lanigan Honda driver Takuma Sato’s benchmark lap of 225.693mph had topped the session for the majority, but a charging lap while experimenting with rear wing set-up in the last 20 minutes put Dixon – five-time IndyCar champion and winner of the first three races of the season – to the top.

Behind Sato, Marco Andretti took third, running his fastest lap just after the Alonso crash to finish the day one spot lower than where he placed yesterday.

Ed Carpenter Racing’s Conor Daly was the last driver to reach 225mph, albeit the top Chevrolet driver in the session having spent most of it in second behind Sato before the late improvements.

Another late improvement came from the ever-impressive Alex Palou. New to oval racing this year, he topped the rookies in yesterday’s practice and delivered fifth for Dale Coyne Racing today.

Colton Herta made it five Honda powered cars in the top six. Andretti driver Herta set the second fastest time recorded without a tow which bodes well for his qualifying set-up. Jack Harvey – driving for the Meyer Shank Racing Andretti affiliate – was the only driver to beat Herta witout a tow but ended up 12th overall.

Behind Herta, Charlie Kimball brushed the wall early but took the seventh fastest time for AJ Foyt Enterprises, ahead of Alonso.

Dale Coyne’s James Davison had a strong day to set the ninth fastest time, having come from a NASCAR Cup Series outing last weekend at Michigan. He will appear in that series again at Daytona this weekend.

He received second-degree burns on his heel from his previous NASCAR outing, but hasn’t let it hinder his performance at the Brickyard.

Alonso’s team-mate and rookie Oliver Askew finished 31st of 33 cars in practice yesterday, but out of the box got into the 224mph times and ended the day 10th.

He demonstrated a key issue on Thursday, as bits of rubber gathered in his helmet air hose. Some teams noticed the hose flapping above the level of the aeroscreen creating drag as well, so worked on that during the morning.

While the top Penske car was Helio Castroneves in 16th, the team’s cars are clearly much quicker than the timing screens are showing.

Simon Pagenaud – last year’s winner – in particular has a fantastic handling car that is able to slipstream well. He ended the session 27th. Will Power was 23rd and Josef Newgarden 18th, but there are no signs of concern.

Alexander Rossi battled Pagenaud for the win last year, and finished practice one spot ahead of Pagenaud. He is another driver where there doesn’t appear to be cause for worry over his time.

All drivers that set a time breached 220mph, while DragonSpeed’s attempts to make the race have been slowed by an electrical issue that means Be Hanley needs to pass his refresher with extra time on track this evening.

Practice resumes at 11am tomorrow for seven hours of running on what’s known as Fast Friday. It’s typically where drivers trial qualifying runs, and will receive an extra horsepower boost to practice with.

Practice 2 Results