Rainy practices makes pole favorites hard to find at Indy

Verizon IndyCar Series driver Fernando Alonso watches from the pits during practice for the 101st Running of the Indianapolis 500 at Indianapolis Motor Speedway.

As four-time open-wheel Champion Sebastien Bourdais readies for qualifying for the 101 running of the Indianapolis 500, he will find a familiar logo on-board his auto when he takes to the famed Brickyard today.

Last weekend at the IndyCar Grand Prix, a bad engine forced him to drop out after only a few laps.

More concerning are the noises that are coming out of Alonso and the fact that if McLaren are looking to keep their best driver, they need him in the cockpit of their own auto and not an Andretti Autosport one. “Although, it’s what you expected, what we expected, to be honest”. “We’ve had really good days and really pretty awful days”.

“Short and intense”, Alonso said of his first qualifying attempt at Indianapolis.

After waiting his turn from 15th in the qualifying line, the two-time Formula One champion didn’t disappoint, clocking four crisp laps at an average speed of 230.034 miles per hour.

They’ll be showing all the action on Saturday and Sunday as qualifying is completed before the race in a week’s time.

“I think we could definitely improve things”, said Dixon, who qualified in the heat of the day.

Japan’s Takuma Sato was third quickest with a 231.969 miles per hour and Alonso fourth best with 231.827 miles per hour in his McLaren Andretti Autosport Honda. “We’ve been running a lot together, and that’s really a huge help for me”.

JR Hildebrand (230.205 mph), Alexander Rossi (230.148), Will Power (230.072), Tony Kanaan (230.007) and Marco Andretti (229.924) rounded out the top nine. Teammate Ryan Hunter-Reay, the 2014 Indy victor, finished among the five fastest each of the four days he turned laps. The result: Five different drivers from five different teams found themselves in the No. 1 spot on the leaderboard.

“I want to experience the event and finish the event on Monday morning, sleep on it and try to see how it was”, Alonso told Racer.

The Indianapolis 500 will take place a week from Pole Day, on May 28. “I keep learning. Tomorrow, I will use that lesson and be quicker”.

Fernando Alonso is set to face his biggest test yet in an Indy 500 auto as he gets himself ready for the qualifying which takes place this weekend.

At Indy, Alonso will have a vehicle with which he can win, branded for his McLaren F1 team, run by the elite Andretti Autosport outfit and powered by a Honda engine – which, unlike the one in Alonso’s F1 auto, is absolutely competitive.

“Sebastien is in good hands here at IU Methodist Hospital with the staff and now we just wait for him to recover”, Coyne said in a statement.

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Despite the good publicity that Alonso’s American holiday is bringing the team at a desperate time of need, the move is starting to feel like a bit of an own goal.