The second day of practice for the 106th running of the Indianapolis 500 was due to begin at 12.00 noon local (Eastern) time and run through to 6.00pm.
The Rahal Letterman Lanigan-Honda team had optimistically towed its cars for Graham Rahal, Christian Lundgaard and Jack Harvey to pitlane barely 10mins earlier before the session was due to start. Then light but persistent drizzle arrived and has consigned the teams to Gasoline Alley.
Since the track penetrant was applied last fall, Motorsport.com is given to understand it will take less time than the old two-hour parameter from the rain stopping to the track being sufficiently dry to allow the 33 cars back on. However, this is very dependent on ambient heat, track temperature and the amount of wind to accelerate the evaporation process. With those caveats in mind, IMS president Doug Boles told Motorsport.com that the penetrant – which prevents the water-table rising beneath the track surface, causing weepers – could reduce the gap between rain stopping and sessions restarting by somewhere between 30 and 45mins.
This may prove a moot point, since the weather forecast for the remainder of the day appears very gloomy, with rainfall possible beyond 5.00pm.
However, the forecast for Thursday is now suggesting a rain-free day, with temperatures up to 85degF, while ‘Fast Friday’ should again be clear, and with temperatures reaching up to 90degF.
Unfortunately, the first day of qualifying, Saturday, while reaching a similar peak temperature, may still be affected by rain, and the odd shower may occur on Sunday, too.
Currently the schedule for the 500 has a two-hour practice session set for next Monday, but this day could feasibly be extended were IndyCar to decide that teams had had insufficient practice time, or if qualifying couldn’t be completed at the weekend.
