Scott Dixon has finished third in a Honda bonanza at Indianapolis in practice 3 for the Indy 500.
But talk of the day went to series veteran Marco Andretti who topped the ‘Fast Friday’ qualifying sim session, clocking a record-breaking 233.491 mph lap.
Andretti’s fastest lap was the best recorded on Fast Friday since Arie Luyendyk fired in a 239.260 mph lap in 1996.
The definitive factor was teams receiving an increase turbo boost – up from 1.3-bar to 1.5-bar – to prepare for this weekend’s qualifying.
Though spectacular, Andretti’s and second-placed Conor Daly’s laps were both tow-assisted and set in the preferred conditions.
An electrical issue in the opening 45 minutes prevented Dixon from making the most of the best conditions but when the five-time series champion did make his way onto track he set a 232.028mph time to sit second among non-tow assisted.
Dixon would later set a tow-assisted 232.9 lap time to elevate the Kiwi to third overall.
Honda-powered cars vacated the top nine non-tow speeds, with A.J. Foyt Racing’s Charlie Kimball the first Chevrolet runner in 10th.
Australian Will Power had a better session today than yesterday but still languished off the pace down in 11th as the lead Penske.
One more practice session will start proceedings for tomorrow which is headlined by Q1 and kicks off from 4am NZT.
