Dixon quickest as Indy 500 practice rolls on

Scott Dixon ended up fastest in the third Indy 500 practice session this morning.

The 2008 winner of the Great Race clocked 108 laps over the six-hour session, with his quickest coming on his 60th lap with an average speed of 226.829mph.

Dixon’s lap was fractionally faster than Conor Daly and Ed Carpenter, who ended up second and third.

“It is nice to have speed,” Dixon said. “I’d rather be knocking out a lot of quick times at ease than being down at the bottom and scraping the barrel.”

Marcus Ericsson and Tony Kanaan ensured there were three Chip Ganassi Honda cars in the top five.

Scott McLaughlin mustered the 17th quickest lap but did achieve a healthy 112 laps.

Nineteen drivers racked up over 100 laps of the four-mile oval, making up for the time lost yesterday due to inclement weather conditions.

Today, track temperatures were well down on those expected for qualifying but in the range forecasted for the race later this month.

“The race looks like it’s going to be fairly cool, which will definitely make for a robust race for people to watch,” Dixon added.

“I would prefer it to be track-dependent, low-grip, and hopefully we have the better car.”

Tomorrow sees another six hours of practise ahead of qualifying this weekend.

The Indy 500 is set to go ahead on May 31, NZT.