Marco Andretti Puts Chevrolet IndyCar V6 Power on Top of Speed Charts at Conclusion of Third Day of Practice for Indianapolis 500
INDIANAPOLIS (May 13, 2013) – Optimum conditions drove speeds higher on the third day of practice for the 97th running of the Indianapolis 500 as Marco Andretti, No. 25 RC Cola Andretti Autosport Chevrolet turned the day’s fastest lap of 225.100 m.p.h.
Also breaking the 225-barrier was Team Penske’s Helio Castroneves with a lap of 225.075 m.p.h. behind the wheel of the No. 3 Shell V-Power Pennzoil Ultra Chevrolet.
Team Chevy drivers occupied the top-five in the speed charts. Ryan Hunter-Reay, No. 1 DHL Andretti Autosport Chevrolet was third quick; Will Power, No. 12 Verizon Team Penske Chevrolet, turned in the fourth quickest time and JR Hildebrand, No. 4 National Guard Panther Racing Chevrolet was the fifth quickest around the 2.5-mile Indianapolis Motor Speedway.
A.J. Allmendinger, James Hinchcliffe, Carlos Munoz and Tony Kanaan all posted top-10 speeds behind the wheel of their Chevrolet V6-powered Indy cars.
Practice will continue Tuesday May 14, 2013, from noon to 6:00 p.m. EDT.
CHEVROLET DRIVER QUOTES – PRACTICE DAY THREE:
MARCO ANDRETTI, NO. 25 RC COLA ANDRETTI AUTOSPORT CHEVROLET: ON TODAY’S PRACTICE: ON TODAY’S PRACTICE: “Obviously it helps when you can simulate a mini-race, so we had that luxury and we’ve been taking full advantage of it, and personally I feel like that’s how the Ganassis beat us last year. It was the first year for me that pole was in reach, so I got too fascinated with just how fast would the car go instead of getting the proper car underneath you for the race. And everybody’s like ‘Last year you were really strong in the race,’ and this and that, but the car was a handful in the race and obviously it bit me there in the end, so we knew we needed to make some gains and we have so far, but obviously we know how Indy goes, it’s early.”
WHEN WILL WE SEE TEAMS WORKING ON QUALIFYING SETUP? “It just depends on how much progress we get done with the race car. If we are pleased, and we get a lot of stuff checked off the list, why not?”
DO YOU THINK ABOUT WINNING THE INDY 500? “We have the dream, but there is a lot of work that needs to get done in between. We are just focused on the task at-hand. We are taking it day-by-day.”
THERE ARE THOSE WHO BELIEVE THAT THE FUTURE OF THESE CARS IS TO PUT BACK IN DRIVER’S HANDS WITH LESS GRIP AND MORE HORSEPOWER AND TAKE DOWNFORCE OFF. WHERE DO YOU STAND ON THAT DEBATE? “We need more power. I think we can take downforce off now, we just don’t want to. (Putting a cap on the minimum downforce) it would make it harder to drive. We’d like more power, any driver does.
“Just to add to that, I don’t think, in my opinion, if it’s not broke, don’t fix it. We are putting on great shows. Last year at Indy, I don’t know how many lead changes, but there were passes every lap. They don’t often get that here every year. The only thing that gets kind of hairy in our hands are the restarts. It gets crazy the way these cars tow-up, so people are five-six wide, four rows back. That part of it can get kind of hairy, but once that settles in, it makes for a good race I think.”
HELIO CASTRONEVES, NO 3 SHELL V-POWER PENNZOIL ULTRA TEAM PENSKE CHEVROLET: ON PRACTICE: “Every time you come over here to Indianapolis, it is a great birthday, so I am happy to celebrate here. We are kind of managing mileage on the engine as well, so yesterday we did not run. We are sticking to the plan. I didn’t want to run yesterday, but now Team Penske is working to make sure we hit the schedule and keep on track.”
WHAT ARE YOUR THOUGHTS ABOUT GOING FOR FOUR WINS? “Right now we’re trying to follow the schedule. We’re not worried about the result. Rick Mears always says that (Indy) is two races and right now we’re worried about the first race, which is qualifying. Plus there is the weather and things like that, so we’re not thinking about the result. I dream about it. About becoming a four-time winner, but right now you have to work before you achieve your dreams. And that’s what we’re going to do.”
THERE ARE THOSE WHO BELIEVE THAT THE FUTURE OF THESE CARS IS TO PUT BACK IN DRIVER’S HANDS WITH LESS GRIP AND MORE HORSEPOWER AND TAKE DOWNFORCE OFF. WHERE DO YOU STAND ON THAT DEBATE? “10 years ago, we change a little bit the format going flat-out all the way around an oval, and when they started in 1998 to go flat-out, it was absolutely very difficult to do because we had so much more power. I believe now that is the way we should go back as well. The car is always very difficult to drive, and this place is always very difficult to drive no matter if you are flat or not. Again, when you have that kind of scenario in other places I believe, I am very in favor of the same suggestions. So hopefully we can make that happen.
“I’m not talking about this place (Indianapolis Motor Speedway) because this place you can go as much as you can on the wing. But for the other places, something related to that. He (Marco Andretti) drove at Pocono, I didn’t, but sounds like it is going to be fun. If we cannot achieve that, we should go to small circuits; small ovals that where IndyCar seems to do very well.”
RYAN HUNTER-REAY, NO. 1 DHL ANDRETTI AUTOSPORT CHEVROLET: ON TODAY’S PRACTICE: ““I think it was another good day of practice, we’ve been trying some changes – some work, some don’t – and that’s all part of testing. Had another opportunity to run with the teammates and it’s really good to see all of Andretti Autosport working together that way. We’ll put our heads together tonight and continue to make the DHL Chevy stronger.”
WILL POWER, NO. 12 VERIZON TEAM PENSKE CHEVROLET: ON PRACTICE: “We had a good day in the Verizon Chevrolet. Everything went according to plan as we worked through our process. Towards the end of the day we turned a decent lap and we will work to improve on what we learned today.”
CARLOS MUÑOZ, NO. 26 UNISTRAW ANDRETTI AUTOSPORT CHEVROLET – FASTEST IN PRACTICE: ON TODAY’S PRACTICE: “It was another day of testing for the No. 26 Unistraw Chevrolet. We are just crossing different programs off of our list to practice before we head into the weekend. There are still a lot of days to go and different runs to try. This afternoon’s run with my teammates was a learning experience; I still need to prove myself. We have to continue to work on our practice checklist and figure out what is going to work best for the team.”
E.J. VISO, NO. 5 TEAM VENEZUELA PDVSA CITGO ANDRETTI AUTOSPORT HVM CHEVROLET: ON TODAY’S PRACTICE: “Another day at the track just preparing and slowly trying to hit all the points in our to do test list; little by little we’ve been accomplishing them. Today we had some things we had to check in the engine which is why we couldn’t run at the end of the day. Anyways, as a team, we’ve been progressing. As of now, we’ve all been doing our jobs which is bringing the best information together so we can make some clever decisions and continue to put a good setup together. Tomorrow is another test day and we’re planning to keep following our (to do) list.”
A.J. ALLMENDINGER, NO. 2 IZOD TEAM PENSKE CHEVROLET: ON TODAY’S PRACTICE: “The No. 2 IZOD Chevrolet was good today. It was another day in the car and as more downforce was taken away from the car, the more comfortable it felt. It’s really about logging laps and becoming confident behind the wheel. We ended up seventh on the charts and were able to gain more information regarding the set-up of the car. Looking forward to tomorrow and the rest of the week.”
JAMES HINCHCLIFFE, NO. 27 GODADDY ANDRETTI AUTOSPORT CHEVROLET:
ON TODAY’S PRACTICE: “Solid day. We purposely were limiting miles a little bit, but on the runs that we did I think we
accomplished what we wanted to, and got some more good running in the pack this afternoon with the guys. Everybody is getting more comfortable and sort of blowing the dust off of running in a pack here which is very unique to running in a pack to anywhere else. I say good day for the GoDaddy crew and we’ll just keep progressing like this; if we do that we should be in a good position by the end of the week.”
ORIOL SERVIA, NO. 22 MECUM AUCTIONS PANTHER DREYER AND REINBOLD RACING CHEVROLET: “The position means nothing. It’s all about how much tow you get and we’re not playing that game yet! I’m just very happy. Yesterday was a perfect first day, today was a perfect second day. We’re actually in a much better position than we were last year at this time. We have learned a lot about the car and the team has done a great job preparing it. Every time we go out we have a plan of what to try and the plan is working out well. Also, we have to other cars – JR and Townsend – we’re starting to get to a similar set up so that only helps. We have a very good pace and we’re very happy with the progress so far.”
