INDIANAPOLIS — It was the fastest “Fast Friday” at Indianapolis Motor Speedway since 1996.
Four of the fastest laps recorded in the last 27 years were turned during Friday’s six-hour practice session as teams continued preparation for the 107th Indianapolis 500.
Two-time Indianapolis 500 winner Takuma Sato was the fastest single-lap driver with a speed of 234.753 mph in the No. 11 Deloitte Honda for Chip Ganassi Racing. The driver from Tokyo also had the fastest four-lap average at 233.413 mph.
“It was day early,” Sato said. “I think we want to be competitive tomorrow. That’s the whole purpose. Of course, it’s nice to be quick this much. Working with my teammates and team, I did a fantastic preparation. Entirely impressive with the current package, with HPD. The group of engineering and the team working extremely hard, of course.
“I’m happy to be here. It was my first experience for Chip Ganassi qualify trim car today with high boost. My eyeballs got big first lap in the morning. They give me equipment of same trimming with Scott made last year with a significant speed.
“That’s probably perhaps in the condition maybe too light, so I couldn’t compete a lap. As soon as I had a moment, my team put a few more degrees on the wings. It’s all working together to find the limit, consistency. How you drive the tires is the key with the degradation, the management. I love it. I love it to working through the process.
“I’d like to say a big thank you to Chip Ganassi Racing give me such a fantastic opportunity. Today is only test day, but nice to see the car working really well.”
Teammate and defending Indianapolis 500 winner Marcus Ericsson was second on the four-lap average speeds at 233.113 mph in the No. 8 Huski Chocolate Spritzers Honda.
He was followed by Team Penske’s Josef Newgarden’s 233.086 mph in the No. 3 Shell Chevrolet, Team Penske teammate Will Power’s 233.070 mph in the No. 12 Verizon Chevrolet and Ed Carpenter Racing’s Rinus VeeKay’s 232.898 mph in the No. 21 Chevrolet.
In the fastest single-lap speed, Marco Andretti was second at 234.202 mph in the No. 98 Honda, VeeKay was third at 234.171 mph, Ericsson fourth at 234.029 mph and Pato O’Ward was fifth at 233.796 mph.
“We did three attempts today,” O’Ward said. “Didn’t finish the first one. Second one was slightly better. Finished it not in the best of ways, I guess. Then we found a very happy balance there in the end. Yeah, ‘Sato San’ was quick today, very, very fast, as we were expecting the whole Ganassi camp.
“I have to reiterate a bit of what Josef said. It’s going to be tight, really, really tight, like to get into the Fast 12 is probably going to be the tightest it’s been in the last few years for sure. It’s good to see that we were able to put it in the mix there with our cars today. Yeah, tomorrow it seems to be a bit colder ambient, sun is going to be shining, so the track temperature shouldn’t be too cold, fairly similar to what it was today.
“Obviously, the wind is shifting a bit, that makes things a bit more interesting.”
The top four single-lap speeds were the fastest at the Speedway since 1996.
Saturday’s schedule includes a full field practice from 8:30 a.m. to 9:30 a.m. (ET) with full field qualifying from 11 a.m. to 5:50 p.m. The fastest 12 drivers will advance to Top 12 Qualifying on Sunday from 2 p.m. to 3 p.m., followed by Last Chance Qualifying for positions 31-33 from 4 p.m. to 5 p.m.
This year, it’s the Firestone “Fast Six” instead of the “Fast Nine” and that will determine the pole winner.
That session is from 5:15 p.m. to 5:45 p.m.
Sato won his first Indianapolis 500 in 2017 with Andretti Autosport. His second Indy 500 win came in 2020 with Rahal Letterman Lanigan. The driver from Japan has an excellent opportunity for a third Indy win this year with Chip Ganassi Racing.
“The teams are very different, in the way my circumstance also different, the environment is different,” Sato said. “Chip Ganassi Racing is probably the most successful team in the paddock, particularly for recent years over the Indy 500. You can see it in the shop, the guys and boys working entirely through the preparation.
“Don’t get me wrong, everything the team do prepare for the 500 big-time. So does Michael Andretti, too. I think it’s just organization is extremely strong, and resource, methodically go through all the numbers. It’s just entirely impressive. The driver is just a part of the group. Really happy to be involved.
“Whatever the experience I had in the past, if that’s helping for the team, it’s always great just to pushing more forward. I enjoy the process. I still try to learn my environment compared to my teammates.
“Hopefully we can get gathering everything together tonight, have a big lap tomorrow.”