The second day of IndyCar’s Indy 500 open test opened with qualifying simulations and a couple high-profile crashes.
Cars had their turbo boost pressures increased for Thursday morning’s session, allowing drivers to run at faster speeds that simulate qualifying conditions.
Multiple drivers set laps averaging above 232 MPH, over seven MPH faster than Wednesday’s speeds.
The fastest lap of the morning was set by Scott McLaughlin in the #3 Team Penske Chevy, but a couple violent incidents were the focus of most of the attention.
Kyle Larson earned the unfortunate title of being the first driver of the test to suffer a major accident.
The NASCAR driver, who is attempting The Double again this year, ran a little wide in Turn 1 while beginning his first lap at full speed.
He was not able to keep the #17 from drifting further up the track and ended up all the way out into the barriers by the exit of the corner.
The collision was relatively minor in speedway terms, but still broke all of his right side suspension and left him uncontrolled as he slid towards Turn 2.
Larson climbed from the car unaided and was cleared by IndyCar Medical Director Dr. Julia Vaizer. His car will need significant work, however, and he will not be able to take part in the later portion of the test this afternoon.
The 32-year-old effectively missed out on all available high-boost testing time and will enter Indy 500 qualifying with very little recent experience at the highest speeds.
Larson, for his part, was happy to walk away from his first significant IndyCar crash and will work with his Arrow McLaren team to figure out why his understeer was so problematic.
Hard impact for a champion
Takuma Sato also suffered a crash in the morning session, but his incident was much more violent.
His #75 RLL Honda appeared to spin around in Turn 1, leading to a heavy impact to the SAFER barriers with the rear of the car.
Sato gingerly climbed from the car and escaped with no injuries other than a few bruises, but his car was significantly damaged in the incident.
It is not yet known if RLL will have to employ a new chassis for the two-time Indy 500 champ come race week, but that outcome seems possible considering the amount of damage done.
Sato had logged the second fastest lap of the session at the time of the accident, and the fastest No-Tow speed, showing that he had good pace prior to his troubles.
Most of the field will return to the track for a session in race configuration this afternoon, the final running of the two-day test.
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