Power lands first blow of Indy 500

The journey to the 109th Indianapolis 500 has begun and there is good news for Australia with Will Power topping the opening day of practice.

On an interrupted day due to rain, Power was fastest with a 39.6430, which was the only the lap to have an average speed of 227mph.

The Aussie just edged ahead of teammate and Indy expert Josef Newgarden by 0.0097s, while the winning machine Alex Plaou completed the top three.

In another strong sign for Team Penske, Kiwi Scott McLaughlin, who took Indy 500 pole last year, was a solid fifth, three tenths adrift.

Practice started two hours, 32 minutes late due to intermittent rain and damp track conditions, and the session ended 32 minutes early due to lightning strikes within the vicinity of the historic 2.5-mile oval.

Power said some late changes at the end of the session paid off.

“I think we’ve got a pretty good baseline,” Power said. 

“My teammates are pretty good. I learned a thing or two off them. 

“It’s (Indianapolis 500) almost its own championship in itself. You’ve got to look for your weaknesses and improve.

“Definitely, a good change at the end. I felt more comfortable. 

“I’m not sure where we stand, we’ll know that Saturday. 

“I’m in a more comfortable place than where I was last year and we made some big philosophy changes from last year.”

McLaughlin signalled the advice of Simon Pagenaud made a big difference.

“Happy we were able to get out today after the rain seemed like it wouldn’t stop,” McLaughlin said. 

“The Pennzoil Chevy came off the truck quick and now we have a good baseline to attack the rest of the week. 

“Having Simon (Pagenaud) on the timing stand today is something you can’t put a price on, and it means a lot to me that he is here. 

“He has been a tremendous help to me on ovals and he’s someone whose advice I value a lot.”

NASCAR star Kyle Larson has carried on his development by being 24th, 1.048s off the pace after getting 45 laps on the board.

“Our day was good. We kind of took it easy to start,” he said. 

“We got out in clean air and made sure our balance was comfortable, which it was, so I was happy about that. 

“We got in some traffic at the end and, as normal, had some understeer. 

“I’m happy with the first day. It was a nice and smooth, so a good place to start.”

This is just the first chapter of a busy build up to the Indianapolis 500 with the next three days full of practice.

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