Fernando Alonso completes over 300 miles during Indy 500 Monday practice
Speeds down at Indianapolis as teams focus on race setups
By William Esler
8:56, UK, Tuesday 23 May 2017
Fernando Alonso completed over 300 miles as teams focused on their race setups during Monday's practice session for the 2017 Indianapolis 500.
Having secured a second row start in qualifying over the weekend , attention turned to the race during the three-and-a-half hour session, with Alonso completing 122 laps of the famous speedway.
The Spaniard finished the session 12th on the timesheet, with a best average lap speed of 226.147 mph, significantly down on the lap of 231.475 mph he managed during qualifying on Sunday.
The session itself was topped by Britain's Max Chilton who had a best lap of 228.592 mph among the 108 laps he completed for Chip Ganassi Racing.
"The more laps you do around here, the more you learn," said Chilton. "I don't think anyone out there is overly happy with their car in race traffic. You keep trying to learn, trying to get it better.
Alexander Rossi jokes with Fernando Alonso over yet another Honda engine change
"In clear air, I seem to be pretty competitive. In dirty air, I started to learn how to time the moves. This is going to be my second 500. I'm still learning but it's always nice to finish the day at the top of the time sheet."
It was also a British driver in second spot with Ed Jones 0.0818 mph slower than Chilton. Sunday's pole-sitter Scott Dixon was third quickest, a further 0.1655 mph back.
The busiest driver of the day was Jack Harvey, with the Briton completing two more laps than Alonso. He was 21st on the timesheet.
As for the other British drivers, Jay Howard was 15th (225.946 mph) and Pippa Mann 29th (223.524 mph).
Ahead of the session, James Davison was afforded extra time on track as he took to the wheel of the number 18 Dale Coyne Racing car for the first time. The Australian will deputise for Sebastien Bourdais who underwent surgery following a horror crash in Saturday's qualifying session.
Indy 500 Monday practice
Position
Driver
Team
Engine
Speed (mph)
Laps
1.
Max Chilton
Chip Ganassi Racing
Honda
228.592
108
2.
Ed Jones
Dale Coyne Racing
Honda
228.118
86
3.
Scott Dixon
Chip Ganassi Racing
Honda
227.165
98
4.
Simon Pagenaud
Team Penske
Chevrolet
226.998
95
5.
Takumo Sato
Andretti Autosport
Honda
226.806
80
6.
Helio Castroneves
Team Penske
Chevrolet
226.705
121
7.
Ryan Hunter-Reay
Andretti Autosport
Honda
226.542
61
8.
Sage Karam
Dreyer & Reinbold Racing
Chevrolet
226.381
87
9.
Alexander Rossi
Andretti Herta Autosport
Honda
226.376
70
10.
Marco Andretti
Andretti Autosport
Honda
226.224
66
11.
Will Power
Team Penske
Chevrolet
226.199
109
12.
Fernando Alonso
McLaren Honda Andretti
Honda
226.147
122
13.
Mikhail Aleshin
Schmidt Peterson Motorsports
Honda
225.967
68
14.
Tony Kanaan
Chip Ganassi Racing
Honda
225.955
83
15.
Jay Howard
Schmidt Peterson Motorsports
Honda
225.946
82
16.
Gabby Chaves
Harding Racing
Chevrolet
225.931
80
17.
Charlie Kimball
Chip Ganassi Racing
Honda
225.729
119
18.
James Hinchcliffe
Schmidt Peterson Motorsports
Honda
225.504
94
19.
Oriol Servia
Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing
Honda
225.389
36
20.
Graham Rahal
Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing
Honda
225.234
72
21.
Jack Harvey
Michael Shank Racing with Andretti Autosport
Honda
224.823
124
22.
Josef Newgarden
Team Penske
Chevrolet
224.793
99
23.
Conor Daly
A. J. Foyt Enterprises
Chevrolet
224.727
87
24.
Juan Pablo Montoya
Team Penske
Chevrolet
224.651
55
25.
Ed Carpenter
Ed Carpenter Racing
Chevrolet
224.442
79
26.
J.R. Hildebrand
Ed Carpenter Racing
Chevrolet
224.337
89
27.
Carlos Munoz
A. J. Foyt Enterprises
Chevrolet
223.749
69
28.
James Davison
Dale Coyne Racing
Honda
223.670
88
29.
Pippa Mann
Dale Coyne Racing
Honda
223.524
60
30.
Sebastian Saavedra
Juncos Racing
Chevrolet
222.965
69
31.
Spencer Pigot
Juncos Racing
Chevrolet
222.093
45
32.
Zach Veach
A. J. Foyt Enterprises
Chevrolet
221.612
61
33.
Buddy Lazier
Lazier Racing Partners
Chevrolet
218.998
43
Don't miss the Monaco GP live on Sky Sports F1 on Sunday - lights out for the race is at 1pm. Check out all the ways to watch F1 on Sky Sports for subscribers and non-subscribers - including a NOW TV day pass for £6.99!