With positions 1-11 set on May 10 - seeing Brisbane-born Kiwi Scott Dixon and
Sydney’s Ryan Briscoe securing front row spots (1st and 3rd respectively) -
positions 12-33 were up for grabs.
Briscoe's result is his best in three
attempts to qualify for the Indy 500, with his previous highest starting
position for the Indianapolis Motor Speedway event set last year, from where he
went on to finish fifth.
The third day of qualifying saw twenty-two
drivers qualify, including Queensland’s Will Power who will start 23rd for his
Indianapolis 500 debut.
Power's result came after the Aussie Vineyards
crew worked into the night to repair his car after a heavy crash with the Turn
One SAFER Barrier in Friday's final practice. The event will also be the 27 year
old's first superspeedway oval experience and only his fourth trip to an oval.
With positions 12-33 filled on the grid following Saturday's third day
of qualifying, Bump Day was set up to see three drivers, Mario Dominguez, A.J.
Foyt IV and Max Papis attempting their way into the field.
In the end,
Marty Roth breathed the biggest sigh of relief after sitting on ‘the bubble’ for
the final eight minutes as Roger Yasukawa, a five-time starter in the
Indianapolis 500, made an unsuccessful qualifying attempt – his second of the
day, and 2002 Gold Coast Indy 300 winner Mario Dominguez crashed after
completing the first of four necessary laps at the same time the gun sounded to
end the session.
In the end, Roth held the 33rd spot in the starting
lineup while Foyt was 31st and Buddy Lazier 32nd.
Lazier earned a
$50,000 bonus from Firestone for being the final driver to qualify for the
500-Mile Race.
Drivers have one final opportunity to practice on May 23
before the month of May festivities culminate with the 92nd running of the
Indianapolis 500 on May 25 (USET). The event is a major stop in the 2008 IndyCar
Series calendar - a schedule that is the most diverse in world motorsports.
The 2008 schedule will take the teams and drivers to short ovals,
superspeedways, and road and street courses including the Gold Coast Indy 300
which is regarded as a ‘crown jewel’ in international motorsport.
The
future of the Gold Coast Indy 300 was recently secured for at least another six
years with a deal being reached with the new-look IndyCar Series and V8
Supercars Australia.
Now regarded as one of the world’s iconic
motorsport events, the Gold Coast Indy 300 will now continue until and including
2013 with major plans already underway for a massive 20th anniversary
celebration in 2010.
With 96 hours of non-stop excitement over October
23-26 as the Gold Coast comes alive to the sound of the IndyCars burning up the
track and Australia’s own V8 Supercars scorching around one of the most famous
beach-side cities in the world, the event is the hottest ticket in town.
Tickets are now on sale for the Gold Coast Indy 300 with ticket options
to suit everyone's needs. Four day Grandstand passes are available for those who
prefer to watch the racing from the comfort of their own reserved seat or for
those who prefer to wander around and soak up the atmosphere then a four day,
weekend or single day General Admission pass might be more their style. For more
information on ticket options go to www.indy.com.au. For information on
Corporate Hospitality packages please call our Sales Team on (07) 5588 6800.
WHAT THEY HAD TO SAY…
Will Power – Aussie Vineyards – #8
Team Australia Honda/Dallara/Firestone
“Indianapolis Motor Speedway is
so unpredictable and (Saturday) it was really inconsistent, so I had to be very
careful,” said Power after the third day of qualifying.
“Our Aussie
Vineyards team just wanted to do a qualifying run, keep it off the wall, and get
into the show, so I am a little relieved to have this behind us.
“We ran
conservative, with more downforce to make sure we got through the run and give
me some more confidence after (Friday's) incident, but I had understeer in turn
two, was loose in turn three and had to back-off during the run.
“I’m
really proud of the crew. They worked all night. I can’t thank them enough to
actually have the car out there for practice.
“The last lap there, I
started pushing in (Turn) 2 toward the wall; turned into (Turn) 3 and suddenly
have a massive moment. You’ve got to run the car conservatively. That’s what we
were doing (Saturday), we were going out there just to get in.”
Marty
Roth - #25 Roth Racing Honda/Dallara/Firestone
“My guys did a great job
putting the car out. They’ve been working hard. They haven’t slept in the last
two days,” said Roth.
“We wheeled out a car that’s pretty solid. The
changes we made made a lot of sense. The car has been consistent. Right now our
focus is trying to get out in traffic, put some downforce on it and make it a
race car. Hopefully we can get away from the qualifying side of this month."
INDY 500 AT INDIANAPOLIS SPEEDWAY STARTING LINE-UP
Starting
Line-up/Qualifying Results for the 92nd Indianapolis 500 IndyCar Series event on
the 2.5-mile Indianapolis Motor Speedway, with starting position, car number in
parentheses, driver, chassis-engine and speed (mph):
1. (9) Scott Dixon,
Dallara-Honda, 226.366
2. (10) Dan Wheldon, Dallara-Honda, 226.110
3.
(6) Ryan Briscoe, Dallara-Honda, 226.080
4. (3) Helio Castroneves,
Dallara-Honda, 225.733
5. (7) Danica Patrick, Dallara-Honda, 225.197
6.
(11) Tony Kanaan, Dallara-Honda, 224.794
7. (26) Marco Andretti,
Dallara-Honda, 224.417
8. (4T) Vitor Meira, Dallara-Honda, 224.346
9.
(27) Hideki Mutoh, Dallara-Honda, 223.887
10. (20) Ed Carpenter,
Dallara-Honda, 223.835
11. (12) Tomas Scheckter, Dallara-Honda, 223.496
12. (99) Townsend Bell, Dallara-Honda, 222.539
13. (06) Graham Rahal,
Dallara-Honda, 222.531
14. (14) Darren Manning, Dallara-Honda, 222.430
15. (18) Bruno Junqueira, Dallara-Honda, 222.330
16. (02) Justin Wilson,
Dallara-Honda, 222.267
17. (15) Buddy Rice, Dallara-Honda, 222.101
18.
(22) Davey Ham! ilton, Dallara-Honda, 222.017
19. (16) Alex Lloyd,
Dallara-Honda, 221.788
20. (17T) Ryan Hunter-Reay, Dallara-Honda, 221.579
21. (24) John Andretti, Dallara-Honda, 221.550
22. (67) Sarah Fisher,
Dallara-Honda, 221.246
23. (8) Will Power, Dallara-Honda, 221.136
24.
(41) Jeff Simmons, Dallara-Honda, 221.103
25. (5) Oriol Servia,
Dallara-Honda, 220.767
26. (33) EJ Viso, Dallara-Honda, 220.356
27. (23)
Milka Duno, Dallara-Honda, 220.305
28. (19) Mario Moraes, Dallara-Honda,
219.716
29. (36) Enrique Bernoldi, Dallara-Honda, 219.422
30. (34) Jaime
Camara, Dallara-Honda, 219.345
31. (2) A.J. Foyt IV, Dallara-Honda, 219.184
32. (91) Buddy Lazier, Dallara-Honda, 219.015
33. (25) Marty Roth,
Dallara-Honda, 218.965
INDYCAR SERIES POST-QUALIFYING NOTES:
- There are four former Indianapolis 500 winners! in the starting field:
Buddy Lazier (1996), Helio Castroneves (2001, 2002), Buddy Rice (2004) and Dan
Wheldon (2005). Between them they have five victories. The record for most
former winners in the field is 10, in 1992. The fewest, other than the inaugural
race in 1911, is zero in 1912.
- Dan Wheldon has led 204 career laps in the
Indianapolis 500, more than any other driver in this year’s field. Tony Kanaan
is the only other driver in the field who has led more than 200 career laps in
the Indianapolis 500. Kanaan has led 202 laps.
- There is a combined 104
previous Indianapolis 500 starts among the 33 drivers in this year’s field. The
record is 260 years of experience, set in 1987 and 1992. There were 160 years of
combined experience in last year’s field.
- The oldest driver is Marty Roth,
49. The youngest qualifier is Graham Rahal, 19.
- This is the 10th-closest
matched field by time in Indianapolis 500 history. 5.3748 seconds separate
fastest qualifier Scott Dixon and slowest qualifier Marty Roth. The record is
3.2422 seconds set in 2001.
- Troy Ruttman became the youngest Indianapolis
500 winner when he won the 1952 race at age 22. Ruttman started the 1952 race
from the seventh position. Marco Andretti will start the 2008 Indianapolis 500
from the seventh position. Marco Andretti is 21.
- Buddy Lazier qualified
for his 16th Indianapolis 500. This will be his first start from the Last Row.
Previously, his lowest starting position was 28th in 2004.
- Lazier is the
most experienced driver in the field, with 15 previous Indianapolis 500 starts.
The record is 35, set in consecutive years from 1958-1992 by A.J. Foyt.
-
Eleven rookies have qualified for the Indianapolis 500, the most since 13 in
1997. This year’s rookies are Hideki Mutoh, Graham Rahal, Justin Wilson, Alex
Lloyd, Ryan Hunter-Reay, Will Power, Oriol Servia, E.J. Viso, Mario Moraes,
Enrique Bernoldi and Jaime Camara. Mutoh is the fastest rookie at 223.887 mph.
- In addition to the 11 rookies in the race, there are two drivers (Townsend
Bell, Bruno Junqueira) who did not start in last year’s race.
- There are
nine graduates of Firestone Indy Lights in the field. They are Marco Andretti,
Jaime Camara, Ed Carpenter, A.J. Foyt IV, Alex Lloyd, Hideki Mutoh, Graham
Rahal, Marty Roth and Jeff Simmons.
- If a driver is going to win the
Indianapolis 500, he or she will most likely do it in either their third or
fourth start, based on past results. Thirteen drivers won for the first time in
their third start, and 13 drivers won for the first time in their fourth start.
The 2008 Indianapolis 500 will be Danica Patrick's fourth Indianapolis 500.
- The 2008 Indianapolis 500 will be Tomas Scheckter's seventh Indianapolis
500 start and his seventh start from the fourth row. Scheckter is starting the
2008 race from the 11th position.
- Townsend Bell qualified a career-best
12th for the Indianapolis 500. He qualified 15th in his only other start in
2006.
- Darren Manning qualified a career-best 14th for the Indianapolis
500. His previous best was 15th in 2004 and 2007.
- Davey Hamilton qualified
18th, his best start since starting 11th in 1999. Hamilton started 20th, 26th
and 28th in his last three Indianapolis 500s (2007, 2001 and 2000,
respectively).
- Milka Duno qualified 27th, bettering her rookie effort of
29th last year.
2008 IndyCar Series Points Standings - After Race 4
1. #3 Helio Castroneves 144
2. #9 Scott Dixon 138
3. #10 Dan
Wheldon 135
4. #11 Tony Kanaan 129
5. #7 Danica Patrick 110
6. #8
Will Power 97
7. #26 Marco Andretti 95
8. #5 Oriol Servia 93
9. #20
Ed Carpenter 90
10. #06 Graham Rahal 88
2008 Bombardier Rookie of
the Year Standings - After Race 4
1. #8 Will Power 97
2. #06 Graham
Rahal 88
3. #27 Hideki Mutoh 87
4. #36 Enrique Bernoldi 84
5. #33 EJ
Viso 83
6. #02 Justin Wilson 71
7. #24 Jay Howard 62
8. #34 Franck
Perera 56
9. #19 Mario Moraes 53
10. #96 Mario Dominguez 35
92nd INDIANAPOLIS 500 - Month of May - SCHEDULE
All Times
US Eastern
Miller Lite Carb Day
Friday 23 May 2008
11:00am -
12:00pm
Checkers/Rally’s Pit Stop Challenge
Friday 23 May 2008
1:30pm - 3:00pm
92nd Indianapolis 500
Sunday 25 May 2008
1:00pm US Eastern
AUSTRALIAN TV SCHEDULE
92nd
Indianapolis 500
Monday 26 May 2008
ESPN
2:50am AEST
92nd Indianapolis 500 Race Replay
Monday 26 May 2008
ESPN
7:30pm AEST
ABOUT INDI! ANAPOLIS MOTOR SPEEDWAY
92nd
Indianapolis 500
Venue: Indianapolis Motor Speedway
Location:
Indianapolis, Indiana
Type: 2.5 mile oval ? 9 degree banking
Distance:
200 laps ? 500 miles/804.67km
INDYCAR SERIES RECORD BOOK
Defending Race Winner: Dario Franchitti
Defending Polesitter: Helio
Castroneves
About the Gold Coast Indy 300
The
annual Gold Coast Indy 300 is a partnership between the Queensland Government
and IMG. The Gold Coast Indy 300 will be held from October 23 to 26 in 2008.
IMG is the world's premier Sports, Entertainment and Media Company. IMG
is a diversified global business with two major business segments: IMG Sports
& Entertainment, and IMG Media. IMG employs over 2,300 people in 30
countries. Forstmann Little & Co. purchased IMG in 2004.
IMG Sports
& Entertainment includes: consulting services; event ownership and
management; fashion events and models representation; licensing; golf course
design; client representation in golf, tennis, broadcasting, European football,
rugby, cricket, motorsports, coaching, Olympic sports and action sports. In
addition, IMG Academies are the world's largest and most advanced,
state-of-the-art, multi-sport training and educational facility, delivering
world-class sports training experiences to over 12,000 junior, collegiate, adult
and professional athletes each year.
IMG Media, which includes our
content production subsidiaries TWI, Darlow Smithson Productions (DSP) and Tiger
Aspect Productions (TAP), is recognized as a global leader in the delivery of
traditional and new media content and services, with Internet, broadband and
mobile expertise, transforming how audiences access and interact with content.
IMG Media produces and distributes over 10,000 hours of sports,
documentary, drama, comedy, entertainment, popular factual and children’s
content annually, over multiple platforms across 200 countries, including
award-winning television and radio programming. It also represents the broadcast
rights to many of the world’s premier sporting events and has the world’s
biggest sports archive with more than 200,000 hours of footage.
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The front row for the 92nd running
of the Indianapolis 500 (Credit - IndyCar Series Media)
Queensland's Will Power qualified
23rd (Credit - IndyCar Series Media)
Marty Roth held on during a tense bump day for
the 33rd starting position (Credit - IndyCar Series Media)
|
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