(Photo by Dan Boyd/INDYCAR)
Day 3, May 13, 2014. E.J. Viso (No. 27 Andretti Autosport United Fiber & Data Honda) filling in for the concussed James Hinchcliffe for the third consecutive day, topped the speed chart at 224.488 mph (40.0912 seconds) on Tuesday, in a rain-shortened practice session for the 98th running of the Indianapolis 500 at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway. Kurt Busch (No. 26 Andretti Autosport Suretone Honda), who plans on running both the Indianapolis 500 and the Coca-Cola 600 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series race at Charlotte Motor Speedway on May 25, posted the second best speed of the day and his fastest lap of the month at 224.159 mph (41.1501 sec.). Juan Pablo Montoya (No. Team Penske Verizon Chevrolet) was third quick at 224.115 mph (40.1580 sec.). Ryan Hunter-Reay (No. 28 Andretti Autosport DHL Honda) was next up with a lap of 223.612 mph (40.2482 sec.), followed by Marco Andretti with a lap of 223.605 mph (40.2495 sec.). Hunter-Reay has the top lap speed of the month so far at 225.025 mph.
(Photo by Chris Owens/INDYCAR)
Day 2, May 12, 2014. Ryan Hunter-Reay (No. 28 Andretti Autosport DHL Honda) set the pace at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway on Monday, the second day of practice for the 98th running of the Indianapolis 500, "The Greatest Spectacle in Racing." Hunter-Reay's best lap was 39.9955 seconds at 225.025 mph. Marco Andretti (No. 25 Andretti Autosport Snapple Honda) was next quick with a lap of 40.1719 (224.037 mph), followed by Helio Castroneves (No. 3 Team Penske Pennzoil Ultra Premium Chevrolet) with a 40.2441 (223.635 mph).
(Chris Owens/INDYCAR)
Day 1, May 11, 2014. Will Power (above) was fastest with a lap of 223.057 mph (40.3485 seconds) in the No. 12 Team Penske Verizon Chevrolet as Team Penske swept the top three spots on the speed chart in opening practice for the 98th Running of the Indianapolis 500 Mile Race at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway on Sunday. Power turned 82 laps in the practice session. Juan Pablo Montoya (No. 2 Team Penske Verizon Chevrolet), the 2000 Indy 500 winner, was second with a best lap of 222.502 mph and three-time Indy 500 winner Helio Castroneves (No. 3 Team Penske Pennzoil Ultra Platinum Chevrolet) was third at 222.373 mph. JR Hildebrand (No. 21 Preferred Freezer Services/Ed Carpenter Racing Chevrolet), runner-up in the 2011 race as a rookie, was fourth fastest at 222.200 mph and Ryan Hunter-Reay (No. 28 Andretti Autosport DHL Honda) was fifth quick at 222.134 mph. Practice continues May 12 (noon-6 p.m. ET). Qualifications take place on May 17-18.
(Photo by Walter Kuhn/INDYCAR)
Simon Pagenaud (No. 77 Schmidt Peterson Hamilton Motorsports Honda) had just enough fuel left to win the inaugural Grand Prix of Indianapolis on Saturday. Pagenaud started fourth and held off Ryan Hunter-Reay (No. 28 Andretti Autosport DHL Honda) by .8906 of a second for his third career Verizon IndyCar Series victory. Helio Castroneves (No. 3 Team Penske Verizon Chevrolet) finished third, 1.8244 seconds behind. Castroneves made a late pit stop and was charging to the front when the checkered flag waved. The start of the race - a standing start - was ruined by a massive crash when polesitter Sebastian Saavedra (No. 17 AFS KV AFS Racing Chevrolet) stalled and was hit hard in the rear by the cars of Carlos Munoz (No. 34 Cinsay AndrettiTV.com HVM Honda) and Mikhail Aleshin (No. 7 SMP Racing Honda).
(Photo by Jim Haines/INDYCAR)
Ryan Hunter-Reay (No. 28 Andretti Autosport DHL Honda) gets pit service from his Andretti Autosport crew on the way to a second-place finish in the Grand Prix of Indianapolis "That was a really close call (at the start of the race)," Hunter-Reay commented. "That was such a close call and we made it through that. The rhythm got kind of strange there. Everybody doing different strategies, but it was a lot of fun. Would rather not have saved fuel at the end. But the team put us on the right strategy, so thanks to them. I thought maybe we had a shot that time but hopefully we're saving that last step of the podium for the big race at the end of the month, The 500. Thanks to all the fans that came out and made the inaugural Grand Prix of Indianapolis a success. We really appreciate it. We'll see you tomorrow going the other way." The IndyCar teams started practicing on the famed Indianapolis Motor Speedway oval the next day (Sunday).
(Photo by Daniel Incandela/INDYCAR)
Helio Castroneves (No. 3 Team Penske Verizon Chevrolet) on his way to third place in the Grand Prix of Indianapolis. Castroneves started tenth, fell back with a late pit stop, then charged to a strong third place at the finish.
(Harold Hinson/HHP for GM Racing/Chevrolet)
Jeff Gordon (No. 24 Hendrick Motorsports Axalta Coatings Chevrolet SS) won the 5-Hour Energy 400 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series race at Kansas Speedway Saturday night. Gordon held off a charging Kevin Harvick (No. 4 Stewart-Haas Racing Jimmy John's Chevrolet SS) for his 89th win in NASCAR's premier series. Kasey Kahne (No. 5 Hendrick Motorsports Farmers Insurance/Thankamillonteachers.Com Chevrolet SS) finished third. Gordon continues to lead the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series standings by fifteen points over Matt Kenseth (No. 20 Joe Gibbs Racing Dollar General Toyota Camry). "It’s a weight lifted off this team’s shoulders," Gordon said. "We’ve been leading the points but we needed to get to Victory Lane." Watch the NASCAR video here.
(Harold Hinson/HHP for GM Racing/Chevrolet)
Danica Patrick (No. 10 Stewart-Haas Racing GoDaddy Chevrolet SS) finished seventh at Kansas Speedway on Saturday night, by far the best performance on a non-restrictor plate track of her NASCAR Sprint Cup Series career. Patrick ran as high as third and was competitive and running in the lead pack throughout the race. "She’s run well all weekend," Kevin Harvick commented. "Qualified well, raced well all night." Harvick has been having talks with the 32-year-old driver. "I guess one thing I did tell her was to quit thinking about it and mash the gas," he said. "Sometimes your car is never going to be perfect, and you just have to take what it will give you and expect that every time you pit it's going to get better and if it’s not, you adjust and move on." Patrick said the talk with Harvick "definitely paid off in qualifying for sure. And it does pay off in the race, too."
(Mercedes AMG Petronas/newspressUSA)
Lewis Hamilton (No. 44 Mercedes AMG Pretronas) raced to his fourth victory of the F1 season at the Spanish Grand Prix on Sunday with teammate Nico Rosberg (No. 6 Mercedes AMP Petronas) finishing just 0.636s behind in second place. It was the fourth consecutive one-two finish for the team; a feat last achieved by Mercedes-Benz in 1955. "It’s fantastic to get my first win here after eight attempts and it’s really difficult to put that feeling into words right now," Hamilton said. "We have our bosses from Mercedes-Benz here today and it’s great for the team that we were able to give them a one-two finish. In all my career, I’ve never before had a car or a performance gap like this."
(Development Engineering and Enterprise Limited)
Development Engineering and Enterprise Ltd, a privately owned British development engineering firm, will introduce its concept for Formula Genesis – a new entry-level single-seater racing series - on Thursday, May 15th, in Bedfordshire, England. The program has been conceived specifically to incorporate and promote a range of high-performance low-carbon products and technologies, and also to plug the current gap between the top of competitive karting and the entry stages of the UK motorsport ladder. Formula Genesis is designed to be an affordable category to attract young drivers and engineers into motorsport. Warwickshire-based DEE-Ltd has teamed up with some of the UK’s leading race car manufacturers to propose an engine and chassis design for the Formula Genesis program, which will allow competitors to buy a car and compete for a season at a fraction of the cost of current Formula classes. Current with industry trends towards downsizing and boosting to achieve impressive performance, reliability and fuel efficiency, the Formula Genesis car is based around a supercharged version of Toyota’s 3-cylinder 1KR-FE engine. The widespread use of the engine in existing production road vehicles also makes it a very cost-effective platform on which to base a race series. Supercharging the stock engine reliably boosts the power output of the 70kg unit to around 120bhp, with minimal changes necessary to the base engine, meaning that re-builds and running costs are comparatively low. “We have a plan; we have registered the name and associated domains and we are in initial discussions with various sport bodies, interested parties and potential sponsors," DEE’s Head of Motorsport, Nathan Poole says. "We are now inviting interested partner organizations to help us develop the Formula Genesis concept to the next stage, with naming rights and the full suite of marketing opportunities available which are normally associated with Formula racing.”