Indy: Lloyd tops Monday times for rookies

Alex Lloyd

Chris Jones/IRL

Alex Lloyd, driver of the No. 16 Rahal Letterman with Chip Ganassi Dallara/Honda/Firestone, topped the speed chart with a fast lap of 40.3528 seconds, 223.033 mph on the historic 2.5-mile oval.

Andretti Green Racing’s Hideki Mutoh was second while KV Racing Technology teammates Will Power and Oriol Servia were third and fourth, respectively.

The only incident came just before 1 p.m. when Jaime Camara spun entering Turn 1 and made moderate contact with the SAFER Barrier. Camara was transported to Methodist Hospital for X-rays as a precautionary measure. The results were negative, and he will be reevaluated Tuesday.

The track opens to all drivers Tuesday for practice for the 92nd Running of the Indianapolis 500. The top 11 starting positions, including the PEAK Motor Oil Pole Award presented by AutoZone, will be determined Saturday.

Practice Monday for the Indianapolis 500 IndyCar Series event on the 2.5-mile Indianapolis Motor Speedway, with position, car number in parentheses, driver, chassis-engine and speed:

1. (16) Alex Lloyd, Dallara-Honda, 223.033
2. (27) Hideki Mutoh, Dallara-Honda, 222.600
3. (8) Will Power, Dallara-Honda, 222.267
4. (5) Oriol Servia, Dallara-Honda, 222.089
5. (06) Graham Rahal, Dallara-Honda, 221.155
6. (02) Justin Wilson, Dallara-Honda, 221.029
7. (17T) Ryan Hunter-Reay, Dallara-Honda, 220.839
8. (36T) Enrique Bernoldi, Dallara-Honda, 220.314
9. (18) Bruno Junqueira, Dallara-Honda, 220.289
10. (22) Davey Hamilton, Dallara-Honda, 219.901
11. (33) EJ Viso, Dallara-Honda, 219.558
12. (44) Max Papis, Dallara-Honda, 219.101
13. (34) Jaime Camara, Dallara-Honda, 218.264
14. (19) Mario Moraes, Dallara-Honda, 215.616
15. (24T) Jay Howard, Dallara-Honda, 214.597
16. (96) Mario Dominguez, Dallara-Honda, 214.358

INDYCAR SERIES POST-PRACTICE QUOTES:

ENRIQUE BERNOLDI (No. 36 Sangari Conquest Racing): “My day was good. I progressed a lot. It was actually much nicer than yesterday, speed-wise. Today I could go flat out more and was able to do more laps, and we started to take out some downforce and worked on the setup of the car. I improved over 3 miles per hour today, so it has been a very positive day for us. I feel sorry for my teammate because he crashed. I think if he had stayed on the track, we would have improved even more with two cars. But we still have a long time to go. I think we are on the right track, and hopefully we will improve on today’s time."

ALEX LLOYD (No. 16 Rahal Letterman with Chip Ganassi): “It was a good day really. We didn't get too much running in really, we got one run in early in the morning, then we had a couple of problems that set us back a couple of hours. But we got a good run in in the end, and I was able to gradually take a little bit of downforce out of the car, which is the key. I've been doing that nice and gently over the last couple of days. It's obviously my first time in an IndyCar on an oval, so we're going to be giving the track a lot of respect and taking our time with it. We're just improving the balance of it and going through it during the day and getting up to speed and feeling very comfortable with it. We're very happy with it. I think the guys have given me a good car and it's good for me, having Chip Ganassi and (Bobby) Rahal together working with me. I've got a lot of experience with both teams that are helping, and I'm finding that to be a great benefit to me, and so far it's gone very smoothly. We've got everyone out tomorrow, and that's going to be nice to see what sort of speeds they're doing and see where we are and what we need to improve on and keep working."

HIDEKI MUTOH (No. 27 Formula Dream): “The team gave me a great car, and I was really confident to drive it on the track and feel the downforce on the car. We can be faster, even tomorrow, so I'm really looking forward to driving and qualifying on Saturday. It is more comfortable than yesterday, definitely."

WILL POWER (No. 8 Aussie Vineyard-Team Australia): “It was a good day. We definitely had good balance in the Aussie Vineyards–Team Australia car. We just wanted to go the next step and move into the next speed bracket. The KV Racing Technology team did a good job getting the car balanced, and we keep trimming it out so we can get to 225 mph. That is the area we obviously need to be at in order to have any chance to qualify well on Saturday. I am very happy with how we picked up 2 mph from yesterday. It’s a step forward."

ORIOL SERVIA (No. 5 KV Racing Technology): “Another good day, more miles, not as many as yesterday, but Will (Power) and I again seem to be the ones clocking the most laps. It’s good. We just keep improving the KV Racing Technology car, getting used to how a car should feel here, and that’s down to all the KVRT crew for their hard work."

JAIME CAMARA (No. 34 Sangari): “We went for our first run and the car was pretty good. I went into Turn 1 and I turned in a little early. I went below the white line, and that wasn’t such a good idea. That’s why I lost it and crashed. The accident was totally my fault. We had a pretty good car. I’m sure we were going to be on the top of the time charts like yesterday. Unfortunately, the accident happened. Wednesday, everything is going to be all right again. We’re going to the track with the same setup as today and we’re going to be there." (Are you OK?): “They checked me here, but they wanted me to go to the hospital for a CAT scan and make sure that my spine and lower body was all right. Tomorrow, I’m going to see Dr. (Terry) Trammell to see if I’m OK to drive. I hope by Wednesday every thing will be OK. I feel fine, just a little s ore."

MARIO MORAES (No. 19 The SONNY Car): “I was very excited when I arrived at the track for the first time. I didn’t realize how big everything was until I got there. Going down the front straightaway for the first time was incredible. All I could see was grandstands on either side of me and then at the last minute you are turning into Turn 1 flat out. For my first time out here, I thought I did a pretty good job."

BRUNO JUNQUEIRA (No. 18 The Z-Line Car): “It’s great to be back at Indy. If we would have gone out yesterday, we would have been P1 with the time we ran today, so I am very happy with the car’s performance on its first time out. I have had some great results here at Indy and would like nothing more than to give Dale Coyne Racing and Z-Line Designs a podium finish."

MAX PAPIS (No. 44 Rubicon Race Team/Lifelock): “I am really, really pleased and I think we are making great progress. It is nice how I am working with my engineer Tim Neff. We were able to achieve our goals today as I was driving around wide open. I feel it is a really good first day given that we’ve only done 22 laps in the car, and I don’t normally drive this type of car. I think within a few days we will be able to show what we are capable of doing with the Rubicon LifeLock car."

DAVEY HAMILTON (No. 22 Hewlett-Packard/KR Vision Racing): “We almost broke 220 mph. The car is great actually. A lot has changed from last year, so when we first got out there it was a matter of getting comfortable and figuring things out again. We took a little downforce out of the car, and I started to feel it so I think we'll have a good platform to go from in tomorrow's practice with Ed (Carpenter) and A.J. (Foyt IV). It was a really good start and nice to start off in the top 10."

E.J. VISO (No. 33 PDVSA HVM Racing): “So far everything is going smooth. I really like it here, but I think the exciting part begins now. So far we’ve just been taking it easy, as there are plenty of days and we don’t want to use all of our tires up. We are spending some time developing the car and finding more speed. Driving here takes a very different approach than I am used to; you have to think different and drive different from anywhere else. It’s really nothing like the first two ovals I drove on (Homestead-Miami and Kansas) because its four corners are completely separate from the long straights. I’m looking forward to the rest of the week with the veterans on track, and I think I can learn from them, running close, and find out the reactions of the car in traffic. The team has done a great job, and I’m enjoying myself so far."

JAY HOWARD (No. 24 Roth Racing): “Just not a very good day for us. It’s pretty common knowledge in the paddock a lot of people left Roth Racing last week, and we had no engineers as of yesterday. Fortunate for us, Larry Curry has come on board, but he has definitely had his hands full. It’s been a real struggle for us today. Hanging on for dear life and doing slow times is not what we came here to do. Hopefully the guys can put everything right over the next couple of days. We may even sit out tomorrow just to make sure that everything is right. We’re not going to try to be heroes and do anything stupid. So far this year, we have had an up and down season, but we have always managed to come away with something good from every day. This is our first day where it’s not gone so great."

MARIO DOMINGUEZ (No. 96 Visit Mexico City/Pacific Coast Motorsports): “I can’t believe that I ran my first laps around this amazing track today. This is an absolute dream come true for me. I have to give credit to my crew for getting this together in such a short period of time. Despite some issues, we still made it out there and we were able to pass three phases of the rookie test today. We had a small issue with the rear wing and we were very loose, but we did it. We only managed to run two hours and it was our first two hours ever running this car, but we accomplished a lot and I am relieved. Now we can turn our focus to making the car better, and I look forward to that."

JUSTIN WILSON (No. 02 McDonald’s Racing Team): “I think we learned a little bit. We didn’t make as much progress as I think we were hoping to. But on this track, it’s probably better to take it slower than to rush through things. We did the right thing and took our time and made sure we made positive steps. The car feels pretty close to where we started, so we just need to start making a few small changes and get up there. It’s difficult trying not to rush through things too quickly. Each corner is definitely different. Usually the speed is a bit higher into Turns 1 and 3. They’re similar but they’re different because the wind is a factor. The car reacts different in that and you have to adjust for it."

GRAHAM RAHAL (No. 06 Hole in the Wall Camps): “We’re getting a little bit quicker, but we’ve still got a ways to go. The car is quicker, but there is still some speed to find. We’ve gone completely flat, so now it’s a matter of taking wing out of it and going quicker. We need to focus on getting qualified in the first weekend, so we can take the second weekend off."
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A total of 27cars are currently at the Speedway. Sixteen have passed technical inspection. Sixteen drivers have been on the track to date and turned 655 laps today and 1,316 laps this month. Will Power turned 61 laps today and has turned 154 laps this month, most of any driver. There were five cautions for a total of 54 minutes. A total of 96 IndyCar Series and Firestone Indy Lights drivers have passed physicals at the Clarian Medical Center.
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TUESDAY'S SCHEDULE (all times local):
9 a.m. Public Gates Open
Noon-6 p.m. IndyCar Series practice