Castroneves is fastest at final Indy 500 practice
INDIANAPOLIS — Hélio Castroneves and Team Penske trumped Honda power on Carb Day for the Indianapolis 500.
That wasn’t the only bad news for the engine manufacturer at Indianapolis Motor Speedway.
Along with watching the Chevrolet-powered three-time champion turn the fastest lap Friday in the final session of practice, Honda had another engine failure when James Hinchcliffe’s car slowed to a stop after the oval’s third turn and began spouting oil and water onto the track’s apron.
It was the seventh Honda engine to fail during the leadup to the 101st running of the Indy 500, and its proximity to race day has raised the anxiety level for all of its teams.
“I’m sure everybody is concerned,” said Scott Dixon, whose Honda will start in the pole position Sunday. “It’s been an issue I think we’ve seen the last few days, or actually the last few weeks. Ever since the start of the year.”
Honda had five engines go in Long Beach, Calif. Eight failed at Phoenix International Raceway. Two went down at the Grand Prix of Indianapolis, the road race that begins the build toward “The Greatest Spectacle in Racing.”
Honda engineers have found some commonalities in the engine failures in Indianapolis, but what is causing them remains somewhat of a mystery. Some have happened after hundreds of laps, while the engine Hinchcliffe was using on Carb Day had fewer than 30 laps on it.
“I’m just happy it didn’t happen 20 minutes later, because that would have been lap five of the 500,” Hinchcliffe said. “We’re going to get a new engine.”
While reliability has been an issue for Honda, horsepower has not. Castroneves turned the fastest lap at 227.377 mph on Friday, but he was chased on the speed chart by six Honda-powered teams, including Dixon, 2016 race winner Alexander Rossi and two-time Formula One champion Fernando Alonso.
“The car was the best so far the last two weeks,” said Alonso, who was fifth-fastest Friday and will start in the middle of the second row. “They’re making some moves, trying different lines. I was practicing that, and I also was in the simulator the last two or three days. The car felt great.”
The practice session was also a positive step for Team Penske, which landed only Will Power in the first three rows. Castroneves set the pace, but Juan Pablo Montoya spent time atop the speed chart and all five of Roger Penske’s teams were in the top 15 by the time practice ended.