Ed Jones has finished with the fastest non-towed lap and fastest overall on the third day of practice for the 2019 Indianapolis 500.
On a day when the last hour-and-a-half was lost due to wet weather, Jones’ 39.5008s (227.843mph, 366.678km/h) on his eighth lap stood up as the benchmark.
The 24-year-old Brit also lapped Indianapolis Motor Speedway without a tow at an average speed of 224.957mph (362.033km/h) in the #63 Ed Carpenter Racing Chevrolet, edging team-mate Spencer Pigot (#21 Chevrolet) by 0.070mph (0.113km/h) on that metric.
Jones’ margin over second-fastest for the day overall was somewhat larger with 2017 race winner Takuma Sato next on the timesheets thanks to a 39.7002s (226.699mph, 364.837km/h) in the #30 Rahal Letterman Lanigan Honda.
The top five was completed by Zach Veach (#26 Andretti Autosport Honda), Sebastien Bourdais (#18 DCR w/ Vasser-Sullivan Honda), and Colton Herta (#88 Harding Steinbrenner Honda).
Scott Dixon (#9 Chip Ganassi Racing Honda) was ninth with his very first lap his best at 39.9467s (225.300mph, 362.585km/h), while James Davison (#33 DCR w/ Byrd-Hollinger-Belardi Honda) was 12th and Will Power (#12 Team Penske Chevrolet) 14th.
The McLaren Racing entry was missing as the team worked to prepare a back-up car after Fernando Alonso crashed his primary #66 Chevrolet a day earlier.
Rookie Patricio O’Ward smacked the wall at Turn 2 but escaped injury, as the #31 Carlin Chevrolet spun and very nearly flipped.
After this incident, @PatricioOWard has been checked, cleared and released from the medical center.
This is the third crash we’ve seen this week, and all three drivers have walked away. Thanks to @DallaraGroup for being great partners #INDYCAR // #ThisIsMay pic.twitter.com/Xp8UGzV87Y
— NTT IndyCar Series (@IndyCar) May 16, 2019
“That was a wild ride,” O’Ward, 23rd fastest on the day, told NBC Gold as he watched the replay.
“I’m not really sure what happened, but suddenly I was backwards. I’m just thankful to be OK.”
Power’s effort from Day 1 remains the fastest on combined times, although Jones did lower the non-tow benchmark as Day 3 saw hotter temperatures than those before.
Results: Practice: Day 3
| Pos | Num | Driver | C/E/T | Time | Avg speed | Laps | |
| mph | km/h | ||||||
| 1 | 63 | Ed Jones | D/C/F | 0:39.5008 | 227.843 | 366.678 | 37 |
| 2 | 30 | Takuma Sato | D/H/F | 0:39.7002 | 226.699 | 364.837 | 47 |
| 3 | 26 | Zach Veach | D/H/F | 0:39.8107 | 226.070 | 363.824 | 58 |
| 4 | 18 | Sebastien Bourdais | D/H/F | 0:39.8238 | 225.996 | 363.705 | 53 |
| 5 | 88 | Colton Herta (R) | D/H/F | 0:39.9188 | 225.458 | 362.839 | 73 |
| 6 | 24 | Sage Karam | D/C/F | 0:39.9289 | 225.401 | 362.748 | 86 |
| 7 | 32 | Kyle Kaiser | D/C/F | 0:39.9298 | 225.396 | 362.740 | 39 |
| 8 | 21 | Spencer Pigot | D/C/F | 0:39.9406 | 225.335 | 362.642 | 66 |
| 9 | 9 | Scott Dixon | D/H/F | 0:39.9467 | 225.300 | 362.585 | 53 |
| 10 | 22 | Simon Pagenaud | D/C/F | 0:39.9545 | 225.256 | 362.514 | 40 |
| 11 | 3 | Helio Castroneves | D/C/F | 0:39.9747 | 225.142 | 362.331 | 65 |
| 12 | 33 | James Davison | D/H/F | 0:39.9886 | 225.064 | 362.205 | 60 |
| 13 | 20 | Ed Carpenter | D/C/F | 0:39.9933 | 225.038 | 362.164 | 50 |
| 14 | 12 | Will Power | D/C/F | 0:40.0252 | 224.858 | 361.874 | 49 |
| 15 | 59 | Max Chilton | D/C/F | 0:40.0353 | 224.802 | 361.784 | 42 |
| 16 | 23 | Charlie Kimball | D/C/F | 0:40.0361 | 224.797 | 361.776 | 67 |
| 17 | 98 | Marco Andretti | D/H/F | 0:40.0408 | 224.771 | 361.734 | 41 |
| 18 | 48 | JR Hildebrand | D/C/F | 0:40.0924 | 224.481 | 361.267 | 47 |
| 19 | 25 | Conor Daly | D/H/F | 0:40.0927 | 224.480 | 361.266 | 76 |
| 20 | 7 | Marcus Ericsson (R) | D/H/F | 0:40.1060 | 224.405 | 361.145 | 34 |
| 21 | 2 | Josef Newgarden | D/C/F | 0:40.1171 | 224.343 | 361.045 | 39 |
| 22 | 27 | Alexander Rossi | D/H/F | 0:40.1391 | 224.220 | 360.847 | 50 |
| 23 | 31 | Patricio O’Ward (R) | D/C/F | 0:40.1481 | 224.170 | 360.767 | 24 |
| 24 | 15 | Graham Rahal | D/H/F | 0:40.1547 | 224.133 | 360.707 | 57 |
| 25 | 5 | James Hinchcliffe | D/H/F | 0:40.1814 | 223.984 | 360.467 | 31 |
| 26 | 60 | Jack Harvey | D/H/F | 0:40.1817 | 223.983 | 360.466 | 26 |
| 27 | 39 | Pippa Mann | D/C/F | 0:40.2111 | 223.819 | 360.202 | 41 |
| 28 | 77 | Oriol Servia | D/H/F | 0:40.3075 | 223.284 | 359.341 | 49 |
| 29 | 42 | Jordan King (R) | D/H/F | 0:40.3274 | 223.173 | 359.162 | 43 |
| 30 | 28 | Ryan Hunter-Reay | D/H/F | 0:40.3454 | 223.074 | 359.003 | 38 |
| 31 | 4 | Matheus Leist | D/C/F | 0:40.3644 | 222.969 | 358.834 | 34 |
| 32 | 14 | Tony Kanaan | D/C/F | 0:40.3893 | 222.831 | 358.612 | 34 |
| 33 | 81 | Ben Hanley (R) | D/C/F | 0:40.4742 | 222.364 | 357.860 | 67 |
| 34 | 10 | Felix Rosenqvist (R) | D/H/F | 0:40.5960 | 221.697 | 356.787 | 41 |
| 35 | 19 | Santino Ferrucci (R) | D/H/F | 0:40.8242 | 220.457 | 354.791 | 60 |
(C)hassis: D=Dallara | (E)ngine: C=Chevy, H=Honda | (T)yre: F=Firestone
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