In a little more than a day, Katherine Legge went from Indianapolis 500 spectator to Indianapolis 500 qualifier.
The surprising turn of events Sunday propelled Legge, who logged her first track time in the morning practice session (24 laps), into her second Indianapolis 500. Less than 48 hours earlier, her Honda-powered car was a skeleton in the Gasoline Alley garage. Her deal with Schmidt Peterson Motorsports was announced on May 18.
Nearby, Michel Jourdain Jr. buried his head in the shoulder of wife, Nora, as the realization of not even presenting for a qualifying attempt for the 97th Indianapolis 500 Mile Race sunk in.
Legge sat in the No. 81 Angie’s List Schmidt Peterson Pelfrey Honda to potentially bump her way back into the 33-car field for the May 26 race. On the bubble at 223.176 mph for her four-lap average speed set five hours earlier, she breathed easier when seeing crew members offering condolences to the veteran driver from Mexico.
By Jourdain’s account, and supported by teammate Graham Rahal after turning five laps on the 2.5-mile oval late in the six-hour session, the car just wasn’t comfortable to drive. The chassis is the same that Takuma Sato challenged for the lead on the final lap in last year’s race and last driven by Mike Conway at Long Beach in mid-April.
Josef Newgarden (225.731 mph) was the fastest second-day qualifier in the No. 21 Century 21 Honda for Sarah Fisher Hartman Racing. Also qualifying were Rahal (225.007), Sebastian Saavedra (224.929), rookie Tristan Vautier (224.873), Ana Beatriz (224.184), Pippa Mann (224.005), rookie Conor Daly (223.582) and Buddy Lazier (223.442).
Lazier, 45, will make his 17th Indianapolis 500 start – the most in the field. The average speed of the field is 226.176 mph.
There are four first-year Indy 500 competitors and four females in the field.
Source: IndyCar