Indy 500 – Carburation Day: Simon Pagenaud puts a smile back on Honda’s face

Last week, qualifying for the 97th edition of the 500 miles saw Chevrolet outrageously dominate Honda. Today, during Carburation Day, the day during which the final free practice session is held before the start of the event on Sunday, the Japanese manufacturer has regained momentum, notably thanks to a sparkling simon pagenaud. The Frenchman, who defends the colors of Schmidt Peterson Motorsports, completed a lap of the legendary oval at an average speed of 225,827 mph. A great result which will allow the entire Poitevin team to start with increased motivation. During qualifying, Simon worked exclusively on his racing car. And if he starts from 21st position on the starting grid, he proves that he will be a competitor to take seriously on Sunday.

The top three for this Carburation Day is completed by two drivers from Andretti Autosport, namely the Venezuelan EJ Viso and the American Ryan Hunter-Reay. Follows Scott Dixon, who defends the interests of Target Chip Ganassi Racing.

And the Tricolores were in good shape this morning! To find a second Frenchman, you don't have to go very far in the ranking, since it's Sébastien Bourdais who completes the top 5 while making his Dragon Racing team shine, somewhat struggling at the start of the season.

Tristan Vautier, Simon Pagenaud's teammate in the Sam Schmidt team, ranks 24th.

Note that in the last seconds of the session, Ryan Briscoe had to extricate himself from his car of Chip Ganassi Racing victim of an outbreak of fire.

Ranking from the last free practice session:
1. S. Pagenaud – 225,827 mph
2. EJ Viso – 225,304
3. R. Hunter-Reay – 22(.053
4. S. Dixon – 224,870
5. S. Bourdais – 224,848
6. D. Franchitti – 224,688
7. J. Jakes – 224,622
8. K. Legge – 224,409
9. Marco Andretti – 224,293
10. A. Tagliani – 224,231
11. T. Kanaan – 224,204
12. J. Wilson – 224,112
13. AJ Allmendinger (R) – 224,106
14. J. Hinchcliffe – 224,073
15. W. Power – 224,047
16. J. Newgarden – 223,814
17. E. Carpenter – 223,794
18. O. Servia – 223,771
19. T. Sato – 223,737
20. C. Kimball – 223,666
21. JR Hildebrand – 223,569
22. R. Briscoe – 223,549
23. G. Rahal – 223,307
24. T. Vautier (R) – 223,277
25. S. Saavedra – 223,276
26. T. Bell – 222,927
27. S. de Silvestro – 222,908
28.H. Castroneves - 222,026
29. C. Daly (R) – 221,773
30. C. Munoz (R) – 221,734
31. A. Beatriz – 220,786
32. B. lazier – 219,167
33. P. Mann – 149, 106