Indianapolis, IN (May 15, 2017) – Dale Coyne Racing drivers, Sebastien Bourdais, Ed Jones and Pippa Mann, are looking forward to getting on track this afternoon as practice for the 101st Indianapolis 500 begins.
Before official practice starts however, Jones who will be making his first appearance on the Indianapolis Motor Speedway oval aboard an Indy car, will have to go through Rookie Orientation.
Rookie Orientation consists of 3 phases. For the first phase rookie drivers must complete 10 laps in the 205 to 210 mph range. For phase 2 they must complete 15 laps in the 210 to 215 mph range and finally for the final phase they must do another 15 laps at 215 mph or above. After that, they can practice freely.
Rookie Orientation will take place, Monday afternoon (May 15) from Noon to 2pm and will be followed by official practice from 2pm to 6pm. All drivers will then get to practice from Noon to 6pm Tuesday to Friday ahead of the weekend’s qualifying.
All practice sessions will be streamed live on racecontrol.indycar.com.
Sebastien Bourdais – #18 Sonny’s BBQ Honda
“I’m pretty excited, it will be my first superspeedway experience with the Honda package. I’m looking forward to discovering that. The whole team is working quite hard to get the best car we can. It’s going to be an interesting week, it looks like the weather is going to be pretty nice all week until we get to qualifying, where the weather might be a factor, we will just have to see how it goes. Overall, I’m looking forward to getting the week underway and getting to work.”
Ed Jones – #19 Boy Scouts of America Honda
“I’m looking forward to getting on the oval in an Indy car for the first time. I raced here last year in the Freedom 100 in Indy Lights, so I have a bit of experience around the track but I’m sure it’s going to be a lot more extreme going faster. It should be a good week getting to adapt to the car, then we will see where we are at heading into qualifying. It’s great to be here at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway, who wouldn’t be, it’s the most famous racetrack in the world and the most famous race in the world.”
Pippa Mann – #63 Dale Coyne Racing Honda
“I am thrilled to be re-joining Dale Coyne Racing, and the Verizon IndyCar Series for my 6th Indianapolis 500 this year. It’s great to be back working with the same core people as last year, and as someone who only drives an IndyCar once/a few times a year, it’s great for me personally that the rules package has not changed since last year as that means I will be getting back into a car I am familiar with. I’m also extremely happy to be working with Rob Ridgely, my engineer from 2016, and Tim Whiting my crew chief from last year too as that level of continuity makes a big difference. I’m looking forward to being back on the oval tomorrow, and with the great additions to the Dale Coyne Racing engineering staff over the winter, I’m hoping that we can make this the best year yet for this pink car supporting Susan G. Komen.”
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