OPENING DAY REPORT: 109th Running of the Indianapolis 500 Presented by Gainbridge
Practice Notes
- Opening Day for the 109th Running of the Indianapolis 500 officially went green this afternoon following a two-hour delay to the start of practice due to rainy conditions. The end of the day’s running was also cut short due to lightning in the area, totaling just under three hours of on-track time.
- Kyle Kirkwood led the field in no-tow lap speeds while Marcus Ericsson and Marco Andretti led the Andretti stable in overall lap speeds, rounding out the top 10.
- Throughout the abbreviated first day of running, all four Andretti drivers combined for 170 run laps.
- Ahead of the Opening Day on-track action, Andretti Global announced Siemens and Allegra® as new Indianapolis 500 primary partners with Kirkwood slated to run the No. 27 Siemens Honda and Ericsson in the No. 28 Allegra® Honda.
Practice Results
Colton Herta
No. 26 Gainbridge Honda
P16
| Top Speed | 222.537 MPH |
“It was a slow first day for us in terms of running, but we were happy to get on track here today. The weather played a big role in how much we were able to do, but it’s always great to be able to run a few laps at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway. We have some good things and we know what we need to work on, so I’m excited for day 2.”
Kyle Kirkwood
No. 27 Siemens Honda
P19
| Top Speed | 222.030 MPH |
“It was a good day and we’re really happy with our cars. I think all the team cars were fast. Our no-tow time looks really good and our race pace was strong. We got cut a little bit short because of lightning, but it ended up being a good day for the No. 27 Siemens Honda.”
Marcus Ericsson
No. 28 Allegra® Honda
P9
| Top Speed | 224.169 MPH |
“We’re pretty happy so far. We had a strong test here a couple of weeks ago, and we’ve started here today where we left off at that test. It’s been a productive day and I think that the new Allegra® Honda not only looks good, but it also feels good out on track. It’s good in traffic, and I feel like we’ve improved that a bit compared to a couple of weeks ago. That’s the main focus these days before we shift to qualifying. So, it’s been a really positive and productive day, but I’m trying to remember that patience is the name of the game. That’s how I’ve been successful here in the past. I think that’s specifically where I went wrong last year. I tried to go a bit too fast a bit too early and afterwards it’s extremely tough to recover from that. Overall, the Open Test was strong and today’s been a really good first day.”
Marco Andretti
No. 98 MAPEI / CURB Honda
P10
| Top Speed | 224.147 MPH |
“We have some limitations being on the new engine, so we’re on a different cadence to the rest of the field. That hinders us a bit as far as speed, but we made some really good gains with the race car today. Overall, it was a decent day.”
Rob Edwards
Chief Operating Officer
“Day one is under our belts, and it was a good first day. I was happy that the weather cleared and that we got out and got our baseline runs done. No surprises came up, and I think everyone’s pretty happy with where they’re at. I look forward to, weather permitting, getting stuck into our program properly for tomorrow.”
