IndyCar: Andretti Fastest At Indianapolis 500 Practice
May 07, 2008
Ron McQueeny/IMS
Marco Andretti, set the fastest practice lap on the first day of open practice for the 92nd Indianapolis 500.
Andretti turned the quick lap around the 2.5-mile (4km) Indianapolis Motor Speedway oval at 226.599 mph (362.558 k/hr) to lead 33 cars that turned 1,385 total laps in the six-hour session ahead of pole qualifying.
Tony Kanaan, Andretti’s teammate for Andretti-Green Racing, was second Scott Dixon third, Ryan Briscoe fourth and Dan Wheldon fifth.
The young Andretti attributed his speed to a tow from rookie Graham Rahal’s No. O6 Newman/Haas/Lanigan entry, but that didn’t dispel the fact that Marco’s speed was faster than last year’s pole speed (225.817 by Helio Castroneves).
“We got a tow, obviously, but the mechanical balance of the car was very good and we couldn’t have gotten that speed without mechanical balance first.”
Tuesday’s practice was primarily to shake down the cars, so when speeds in the high 225s and mid 226s surfaced so quickly, it’s apparent that this year’s field is going to be fast.
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