James Davison has made heavy contact with the wall as Marco Andretti set the pace on Fast Friday at Indianapolis.
Davison lost the rear end of the #33 Foyt w/ Byrd-Hollinger-Belardi Chevrolet at Turn 2 during the fourth hour of the seven-hour session, spinning and making left-hand side contact with the wall.
Fortunately, the Australian found a section of the wall which is protected by an extended SAFER barrier this year and was able to extricate himself from the car.
There is no confirmation yet of whether or not the car will be repaired for qualifying.
With engine boost turned up to 1.4-bar for qualifying simulations it was Andretti, already the fastest driver so far this fortnight, who got around the Brickyard quickest.
The #98 Andretti-Herta w/ Curb-Agajanian Chevrolet clocked a 38.8262s lap at an average 231.802mph (373.049km/h), while rookie Robert Wickens was only marginally slower in the #6 Schmidt Peterson Honda.
Oval-only driver Ed Carpenter (#20 Ed Carpenter Racing Chevrolet), Indy-only driver Oriol Servia (#64 RLL w/ Scuderia Corsa Honda), and Will Power (#12 Team Penske Chevrolet) rounded out the top five.
Power also led a Penske sweep of the top three on the non-tow rankings, ahead of Josef Newgarden (#1 Chevrolet) and Simon Pagenaud (#22 Chevrolet).
The Australian’s fastest lap was in fact set without a tow at 229.780mph (369.795km/h).
Saturday sees a total of 90 minutes of practice before qualifying from Sunday at 0100 AEST, when the top nine will be determined and two cars bumped from the 35-car field.
Highlights: Practice: Day 4
Results: Practice: Day 4
Pos | Num | Driver | C/E/T | Time | Avg speed (mph) | Total laps |
1 | 98 | Marco Andretti | D/H/F | 0:38.8262 | 231.802 | 31 |
2 | 6 | Robert Wickens (R) | D/H/F | 0:38.8379 | 231.732 | 35 |
3 | 20 | Ed Carpenter | D/C/F | 0:38.9499 | 231.066 | 37 |
4 | 64 | Oriol Servia | D/H/F | 0:39.0884 | 230.247 | 40 |
5 | 12 | Will Power | D/C/F | 0:39.1679 | 229.780 | 32 |
6 | 18 | Sebastien Bourdais | D/H/F | 0:39.1747 | 229.740 | 40 |
7 | 14 | Tony Kanaan | D/C/F | 0:39.2157 | 229.500 | 24 |
8 | 4 | Matheus Leist (R) | D/C/F | 0:39.2388 | 229.365 | 32 |
9 | 25 | Stefan Wilson | D/H/F | 0:39.2545 | 229.273 | 47 |
10 | 27 | Alexander Rossi | D/H/F | 0:39.2611 | 229.235 | 58 |
11 | 88 | Gabby Chaves | D/C/F | 0:39.2782 | 229.135 | 42 |
12 | 3 | Helio Castroneves | D/C/F | 0:39.2804 | 229.122 | 42 |
13 | 21 | Spencer Pigot | D/C/F | 0:39.2895 | 229.069 | 15 |
14 | 1 | Josef Newgarden | D/C/F | 0:39.3024 | 228.994 | 30 |
15 | 32 | Kyle Kaiser (R) | D/C/F | 0:39.3237 | 228.870 | 62 |
16 | 22 | Simon Pagenaud | D/C/F | 0:39.3259 | 228.857 | 44 |
17 | 10 | Ed Jones | D/H/F | 0:39.3621 | 228.646 | 50 |
18 | 23 | Charlie Kimball | D/C/F | 0:39.3831 | 228.524 | 24 |
19 | 7 | Jay Howard | D/H/F | 0:39.4106 | 228.365 | 25 |
20 | 13 | Danica Patrick | D/C/F | 0:39.4245 | 228.284 | 13 |
21 | 9 | Scott Dixon | D/H/F | 0:39.4334 | 228.233 | 13 |
22 | 29 | Carlos Munoz | D/H/F | 0:39.4688 | 228.028 | 38 |
23 | 28 | Ryan Hunter-Reay | D/H/F | 0:39.4929 | 227.889 | 42 |
24 | 30 | Takuma Sato | D/H/F | 0:39.5115 | 227.782 | 44 |
25 | 17 | Conor Daly | D/H/F | 0:39.5257 | 227.700 | 33 |
26 | 24 | Sage Karam | D/C/F | 0:39.5442 | 227.593 | 43 |
27 | 19 | Zachary Claman DeMelo (R) | D/H/F | 0:39.5926 | 227.315 | 11 |
28 | 26 | Zach Veach | D/H/F | 0:39.5928 | 227.314 | 34 |
29 | 5 | James Hinchcliffe | D/H/F | 0:39.6019 | 227.262 | 41 |
30 | 66 | JR Hildebrand | D/C/F | 0:39.6053 | 227.242 | 49 |
31 | 63 | Pippa Mann | D/H/F | 0:39.6082 | 227.226 | 45 |
32 | 59 | Max Chilton | D/C/F | 0:39.6321 | 227.089 | 34 |
33 | 15 | Graham Rahal | D/H/F | 0:39.6806 | 226.811 | 54 |
34 | 33 | James Davison | D/C/F | 0:39.6991 | 226.705 | 37 |
35 | 60 | Jack Harvey | D/H/F | 0:39.7157 | 226.611 | 19 |