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Indianapolis 500: Penske's Simon Pagenaud leads Fast Friday session

Penske driver Simon Pagenaud set the pace on a hot and windy Fast Friday as preparations continued for this weekend's Indianapolis 500 qualifying

Boost levels were increased from 130 kPa to 140 kPa, adding an additional 40bhp, and Pagenaud responded with a 230.698mph lap average; the fastest so far this month.

"Today was a good day," he said.

"The conditions were difficult. The conditions were finally hot and there are a lot of differences in how the body kits react depending on the weather.

"For Team Penske the biggest thing is we worked really well as a team to get different versions of aero levels for tomorrow and understanding that, so we can look at that information tonight and decide very precisely what we need."

The speed charts looked similar to Thursday's, with Ganassi and Andretti cars leading the chase, although this time around it was Marco Andretti rather than Carlos Munoz who was quickest of the Honda-powered drivers.

Pagenaud's Penske team-mate Will Power rounded out the top five.

Scott Dixon had occupied the top spot before Pagenaud beat his speed, and said that the conditions made it difficult to draw many conclusions from the day.

"It was hard to tell with the conditions changing so much out there today," he said.

"It was hot and slippery in the late afternoon but better in the early afternoon.

"I was happy with the speed but I think there is more in it.

"We have go look over everything tonight and look at where we can make improvements."

FRIDAY RESULTS:

Pos Driver Team Car Speed Time Laps
1 Simon Pagenaud Team Penske Dallara/Chevrolet 230.698 39.0121s 48
2 Scott Dixon Chip Ganassi Racing Dallara/Chevrolet 230.655 39.0193s 12
3 Tony Kanaan Chip Ganassi Racing Dallara/Chevrolet 230.457 39.0529s 44
4 Marco Andretti Andretti Autosport Dallara/Honda 230.312 39.0774s 34
5 Will Power Team Penske Dallara/Chevrolet 230.206 39.0954s 36
6 Sage Karam Chip Ganassi Racing Dallara/Chevrolet 230.166 39.1022s 28
7 Gabby Chaves Bryan Herta Autosport Dallara/Honda 229.891 39.1490s 32
8 Helio Castroneves Team Penske Dallara/Chevrolet 229.852 39.1556s 35
9 Takuma Sato AJ Foyt Enterprises Dallara/Honda 229.808 39.1632s 38
10 Juan Pablo Montoya Team Penske Dallara/Chevrolet 229.714 39.1791s 32
11 Jack Hawksworth AJ Foyt Enterprises Dallara/Honda 229.495 39.2165s 52
12 Townsend Bell Dreyer and Reinbold Dallara/Chevrolet 229.381 39.2360s 38
13 J.R. Hildebrand CFH Racing Dallara/Chevrolet 229.353 39.2408s 41
14 Carlos Munoz Andretti Autosport Dallara/Honda 229.106 39.2831s 26
15 Charlie Kimball Chip Ganassi Racing Dallara/Chevrolet 229.024 39.2972s 29
16 Ryan Hunter-Reay Andretti Autosport Dallara/Honda 229.023 39.2974s 33
17 James Hinchcliffe Schmidt Peterson Motorsports Dallara/Honda 229.021 39.2977s 38
18 Stefano Coletti KV Racing Technology Dallara/Chevrolet 229.018 39.2982s 33
19 Graham Rahal Rahal Letterman Lanigan Dallara/Honda 228.977 39.3053s 16
20 Ed Carpenter CFH Racing Dallara/Chevrolet 228.885 39.3211s 26
21 Oriol Servia Rahal Letterman Lanigan Dallara/Honda 228.878 39.3223s 15
22 Justin Wilson Andretti Autosport Dallara/Honda 228.722 39.3490s 44
23 Sebastian Saavedra Chip Ganassi Racing Dallara/Chevrolet 228.691 39.3544s 22
24 Simona de Silvestro Andretti Autosport Dallara/Honda 228.640 39.3632s 39
25 Alex Tagliani AJ Foyt Enterprises Dallara/Honda 228.621 39.3665s 19
26 Carlos Huertas Dale Coyne Racing Dallara/Honda 228.555 39.3778s 11
27 Conor Daly Schmidt Peterson Motorsports Dallara/Honda 228.306 39.4208s 34
28 Josef Newgarden CFH Racing Dallara/Chevrolet 227.855 39.4988s 52
29 James Jakes Schmidt Peterson Motorsports Dallara/Honda 227.588 39.5452s 13
30 Sebastien Bourdais KVSH Racing Dallara/Chevrolet 227.424 39.5736s 30
31 Bryan Clauson KVSH Racing Dallara/Chevrolet 226.909 39.6635s 81
32 Tristan Vautier Dale Coyne Racing Dallara/Honda 226.860 39.6721s 10
33 Pippa Mann Dale Coyne Racing Dallara/Honda 225.457 39.9189s 6
34 Buddy Lazier Lazier Racing Dallara/Chevrolet 216.103 41.6468s 8

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