Sato leads veterans' IndyCar test for Indy 500
2017 Indy 500 winner Takuma Sato put Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing-Honda on top of the speed charts in the veterans’ test session at Indianapolis Motor Speedway, which was heavily disrupted by rain.

Just 28 laps had turned by the time the caution lights blinked on, with three-time Indy 500 polesitter Ed Carpenter leading the way. When action resumed over four hours later, defending Indy 500 winner Will Power sent Team Penske-Chevrolet to the top of the speed charts, albeit with the aid of a tow, clocking 226.225 – the first car under the 40sec barrier.
However, Carpenter inched closer and then put his Chevy-powered machine into P1 with a 226.414, before another Chevy engine – that in Max Chilton’s Carlin car – appeared to blow up and brought out the yellows once more.
Sato’s 23rd lap yielded fastest speed of the test, 226.993mph, and he also set the fastest speed without the aid of a tow – a 222.942mph. Before the rain ended the session some 15mins early, Spencer Pigot moved the second ECR-Chevy into third, while Ed Jones in the ECR with Scuderia Corsa entry clocked seventh fastest with his final lap of the session.
Between Jones and fourth-placed Power were two more former winners, Ryan Hunter-Reay of Andretti Autosport and Scott Dixon of Chip Ganassi Racing.
Simon Pagenaud, who started second here last year, was eighth in a second Penske, just a tick ahead of compatriot Sebastien Bourdais in the Dale Coyne Racing with Vasser-Sullivan Honda, and 2016 rookie winner Alexander Rossi in the second fastest Andretti machine.
The 2016 polesitter, James Hinchcliffe, who failed to qualify for last year’s race, turned the most laps of the session – 49 – and finished 15th of the 20 participants.
The 2013 Indy winner Tony Kanaan, who led last year’s Indy for AJ Foyt Racing-Chevy, suffered an oil leak that kept his car in the garage for most of the day.
Following more rain, IndyCar is now targeting a 5.45pm ET start time for the Rookies and Refreshers test – including Fernando Alonso in the McLaren-Chevrolet – but the all-comers session that was meant to end the day has now been cancelled.
Testing times:
Pos. | Driver | Time | Gap | Laps | Speed | Team |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | Takuma Sato | 39.649 | 32 | 226.993 | Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing | |
2 | Ed Carpenter | 39.750 | 0.1014 | 36 | 226.414 | Ed Carpenter Racing |
3 | Spencer Pigot | 39.766 | 0.1170 | 41 | 226.325 | Ed Carpenter Racing |
4 | Will Power | 39.783 | 0.1346 | 40 | 226.225 | Team Penske |
5 | Ryan Hunter-Reay | 39.826 | 0.1774 | 32 | 225.982 | Andretti Autosport |
6 | Scott Dixon | 39.893 | 0.2439 | 40 | 225.605 | Chip Ganassi Racing |
7 | Ed Jones | 39.895 | 0.2467 | 32 | 225.589 | Ed Carpenter Racing |
8 | Simon Pagenaud | 39.901 | 0.2526 | 40 | 225.556 | Team Penske |
9 | Sebastien Bourdais | 39.932 | 0.2828 | 39 | 225.385 | Dale Coyne Racing with Vasser-Sullivan |
10 | Alexander Rossi | 40.011 | 0.3625 | 39 | 224.936 | Andretti Autosport |
11 | Graham Rahal | 40.132 | 0.4834 | 47 | 224.259 | Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing |
12 | Zach Veach | 40.214 | 0.5651 | 44 | 223.803 | Andretti Autosport |
13 | Marco Andretti | 40.304 | 0.6556 | 39 | 223.301 | Andretti Herta Autosport |
14 | Josef Newgarden | 40.352 | 0.7030 | 38 | 223.038 | Team Penske |
15 | James Hinchcliffe | 40.359 | 0.7104 | 49 | 222.997 | Arrow Schmidt Peterson Motorsports |
16 | Jack Harvey | 40.398 | 0.7490 | 42 | 222.784 | Meyer Shank Racing with Arrow SPM |
17 | Matheus Leist | 40.418 | 0.7696 | 34 | 222.671 | AJ Foyt Enterprises |
18 | Charlie Kimball | 40.619 | 0.9706 | 18 | 221.569 | Carlin |
19 | Max Chilton | 40.799 | 1.1502 | 22 | 220.594 | Carlin |
20 | Tony Kanaan | 7:12.812 | 6:33.1628 | 3 | 20.794 | AJ Foyt Enterprises |

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About this article
Series | IndyCar |
Event | Indy 500 |
Author | David Malsher-Lopez |
Sato leads veterans' IndyCar test for Indy 500
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