Brian Groce

The Inaugural Grand Prix of Indianapolis started with a bang, literally. Pole Sitter Sebastián Saavedra stalled on the standing start, and was ran into by Carlos Munoz & Mikhail Aleshin. Mike Conway got wrapped up in the accident as well, but managed to get the car back on track after repairs.

Here are our photos of the accident.

Information about 2014 Grand Prix of Indianapolis activity Saturday, May 10, at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway:

DAY: Inaugural Grand Prix of Indianapolis / USF2000, Pro Mazda and Indy Lights Races

SCHEDULE (all times local):

• 7 a.m. Public Gates Open – IMS Midway Open / Celebration of Automobiles Open
• 8:30 a.m.-9:45 a.m. IndyCar Experience
• 10 a.m. -10:15 a.m. Indy Lights Warm-Up
• 11 a.m. USF2000 Race #2
• 12:10 p.m. Pro Mazda Race #2
• 1:30 p.m. Indy Lights Race #2
• 2:33 p.m. Chevrolet Stingray Lap
• 3 p.m. Bronze Badge Grid Walk
• 3:50 p.m. Grand Prix of Indianapolis (82 laps/200 miles)
• 6 p.m. Public Gates Close

TICKETS: Tickets for the inaugural Grand Prix of Indianapolis start at $25 for general admission, children 12 and under free. Reserved seats range from $41-$77 and are available at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway ticket office at the corner of 16th Street and Georgetown Road.

HONORARY STARTERS:

• 11 a.m. USF2000 Race #2: CJ Potts, Milestone
• 12:10 p.m. Pro Mazda Race #2: Allied Building Products Representative (TBD)
• 1:30 p.m. Indy Lights Race #2: Ryan Wanninger, Mid-Continent Cabinetry
• 1:30 p.m. Indy Lights Race #2 Race Command: ABC Supply Representative (TBD)

NATIONAL ANTHEM SINGER: Indianapolis Children’s Choir

FLYOVER: Lima Lima Flight Team

PROMOTIONS: Firestone “Race Car” Pin Distribution Begins at 10 a.m. in Pagoda Plaza

PUBLIC GATES OPEN: 7 a.m. (local time). Pedestrian gates open are Gates 1, 1B, 1B.1, 2, 3, 4, 6, 6A, 7 South, 7 North, 9, 9A, 10, 10A, 11A, 12, 27.

STANDS OPEN: A Penthouse (Reserved Seating), B Penthouse (Reserved Seating), E Stand (Reserved Seating), E Penthouse (Reserved Seating), H Stand (Reserved Seating Sec. 13-24), J Stand (Reserved Seating), North Vista Wheelchair (As needed: GA Sec. 21-23), Northwest Vista (Reserved Seating Sec. 1-10), Northwest Vista Deck (Reserved Seating), Paddock Wheelchair (As needed GA: Box 19-22), Paddock Penthouse (Reserved Seating: Box 10-20), South Terrace (Reserved Seating), South Vista (Reserved Seating: Sec. 1-5), South Vista Deck (Reserved Seating: Sec. 1-4), Southwest Vista Deck (Reserved Seating), Tower Terrace (As needed GA: Sec. 37 & 79), Tower Terrace Wheelchair (Open-GA), Pit Road Terrace, Wheelchair Accessible (Inside-Open GA), Corner 5 (Reserved Seating), Corner 7 (Reserved Seating), Backstretch Family Mounds (Open-GA), Turn 2 Oval Mounds (Open-GA), Turn 3 (Open GA), Turn 4 (Open GA), Corner 6 Mounds (Open-GA), Corner 7 Mounds (Open-GA).

MUSEUM HOURS: 7 a.m.-6 p.m. Admission is $5 for adults and $3 for fans 6-15 years old, with children under 6 free. Gate admission to the Indianapolis 500 is not included in Museum admission and must be purchased separately.

The Inaugural Grand Prix of Indianapolis Qualifying is in the books, and Sebastián Saavedra took the Pole Position. Also, the first of two USF2000, Pro Mazda and Indy Lights Races took place today, and here are the best photos of the day.

Verizon IndyCar Series drivers have said to “expect the unexpected” on the new Indianapolis Motor Speedway road course for the inaugural Grand Prix of Indianapolis. Sebastian Saavedra earning the Verizon P1 Award fits into that category.

The AFS KV AFS driver claimed his first Verizon IndyCar Series pole position topping a wild knockout qualifying session that took place during a rain shower.

Saavedra, whose previous best qualifying effort on a road/street circuit was ninth in the first two events of 2013 (St. Petersburg and Barber Motorsports Park), inherited the top spot in the closing minute of the Firestone Fast Six when the No. 28 DHL car of provisional pole sitter Ryan Hunter-Reay spun and made contact with the wall on the frontstretch of a rain-soaked 2.439-mile, 14-turn.

According to the Verizon IndyCar Series rulebook, Hunter-Reay’s quickest two laps of the 10-minute session were disallowed.

Saavedra is the fourth different pole sitter in as many races this season and he’ll be joined by another surprise driver, Jack Hawksworth of BHA/BBM with Curb-Agajanian. Six different teams were represented on the first three rows for the standing start on the Speedway’s frontstretch. Hunter-Reay ended up third and will start alongside Simon Pagenaud, who was quickest in the morning practice session and set the lap record (1:09.6716) on the reconfigured track in Segment 1 of qualifying on dry pavement in the No. 77 Schmidt Peterson Hamilton Motorsports car.

Series championship points leader Will Power, driving the No. 12 Verizon Team Penske car, and reigning series champion Scott Dixon in the No. 9 Target Chip Ganassi Racing entry are on Row 3.

Qualifying results for the Grand Prix of Indianapolis Verizon IndyCar Series event on the 2.439 mile(s) Indianapolis Motor Speedway Road Course, with qualifying position, car number in parentheses, driver, chassis-engine, time and speed in parentheses, are listed below:

1. (17) Sebastian Saavedra, Dallara-Chevy, 01:23.8822 (104.675)
2. (98) Jack Hawksworth, Dallara-Honda, 01:24.0788 (104.431)
3. (28) Ryan Hunter-Reay, Dallara-Honda, 01:24.8882 (103.435)
4. (77) Simon Pagenaud, Dallara-Honda, 01:25.2881 (102.950)
5. (12) Will Power, Dallara-Chevy, 01:25.5216 (102.669)
6. (9) Scott Dixon, Dallara-Chevy, 01:25.6548 (102.509)
7. (11) Sebastien Bourdais, Dallara-Chevy, 01:24.5187 (103.887)
8. (2) Juan Pablo Montoya, Dallara-Chevy, 01:24.6209 (103.762)
9. (10) Tony Kanaan, Dallara-Chevy, 01:24.7099 (103.653)
10. (3) Helio Castroneves, Dallara-Chevy, 01:24.8839 (103.440)
11. (27) James Hinchcliffe, Dallara-Honda, 01:25.1318 (103.139)
12. (15) Graham Rahal, Dallara-Honda, 01:25.4748 (102.725)
13. (25) Marco Andretti, Dallara-Honda, 01:10.2488 (124.990)
14. (8) Ryan Briscoe, Dallara-Chevy, 01:10.2261 (125.030)
15. (67) Josef Newgarden, Dallara-Honda, 01:10.3601 (124.792)
16. (14) Takuma Sato, Dallara-Honda, 01:10.2804 (124.934)
17. (18) Carlos Huertas, Dallara-Honda, 01:10.4264 (124.675)
18. (19) Justin Wilson, Dallara-Honda, 01:10.4141 (124.697)
19. (34) Carlos Munoz, Dallara-Honda, 01:10.5097 (124.528)
20. (41) Martin Plowman, Dallara-Honda, 01:10.4591 (124.617)
21. (26) Franck Montagny, Dallara-Honda, 01:10.5571 (124.444)
22. (16) Oriol Servia, Dallara-Honda, 01:10.5996 (124.369)
23. (83) Charlie Kimball, Dallara-Chevy, 01:10.6413 (124.296)
24. (20) Mike Conway, Dallara-Chevy, 01:10.6535 (124.274)
25. (7) Mikhail Aleshin, Dallara-Honda, 01:11.2704 (123.198)

SOURCE: IndyCar

Information about 2014 Grand Prix of Indianapolis activity Friday, May 9, at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway:

DAY: Grand Prix of Indianapolis Qualifying / USF2000, Pro Mazda and Indy Lights Races

SCHEDULE (all times local):

• 8:45 a.m.-6:30 p.m. Public Gates Open
• 8:45 a.m.-9:45 a.m. IndyCar Experience
• 9 a.m. IMS Midway Opens
• 10 a.m-10:45 p.m. Verizon IndyCar Series practice
• 11 a.m.-11:45 a.m. USF2000 Qualifying
• Noon-12:45 p.m. Pro Mazda Qualifying
• 1 p.m.-1:45 p.m. Indy Lights Qualifying
• 2 p.m.-3:10 p.m. Verizon IndyCar Series Qualifying
• 3:30 p.m. USF2000 Race #1
• 4:30 p.m. Pro Mazda Race #1
• 5:30 p.m. Indy Lights Race #1
• 6:30 p.m. Public Gates Close
• 7 p.m.-Midnight Rev Event (Separate admission)

TICKETS: $20, children 12 and under free

HONORARY STARTERS:

• 10 a.m. Verizon IndyCar Series Practice: Lincoln Electric Representative (TBD)
• 4:30 p.m. Pro Mazda Race: Allied Building Products Representative (TBD)

PUBLIC GATES OPEN: 9 a.m. (local time). Pedestrian gates open are Gates 1B, 1B.1, 2, 4, 6, 6A, 7 South, 7 North, 9, 9A, 10, 10A, 12.

STANDS OPEN: A Penthouse, B Penthouse, E Stand, E Penthouse, H Stand (As needed: Sec. 13-24), J Stand, North Vista Wheelchair (As needed: GA Sec. 21), Northwest Vista (As needed GA: Sec. 1-10), Northwest Vista Deck, Paddock Wheelchair (As needed GA: Box 19-22), Paddock Penthouse (As needed GA: Box 10-20), South Terrace, South Vista (As needed GA: Sec. 1-5), South Vista Deck (As needed GA: Sec. 1-4), Southwest Vista Deck, Tower Terrace (As needed: Sec. 37 & 79), Tower Terrace Wheelchair, Pit Road Terrace, Wheelchair Accessible (Inside), Corner 5, Corner 7.

MUSEUM HOURS: 9 a.m.-6:30 p.m. Admission is $5 for adults and $3 for fans 6-15 years old, with children under 6 free. Gate admission to the Indianapolis 500 is not included in Museum admission and must be purchased separately.

Opening day of the Grand Prix of Indianapolis was gorgeous, and IndyCar drivers, new and old, were all on hand. Here are our best photos of the day.