Indianapolis 500 2021: TV schedule, favorites and starting grid

The 500 miles d’Indianapolis – queen round of the Indycar championship – are part of the great traditions of American sport with the Superbowl or the March Madness of basketball. Unlike last year, 135,000 spectators will have the right to pass through the gates of the Speedway, to attend this 105^e edition – which promises to be particularly open.

33 pilots – 32 men and one woman – representing 15 countries will take the start of this exceptional 500-mile (804 km) race contested on an ultra-fast rectangular line : last weekend, the New Zealander Scott Dixon took pole position at an average of 371.76 km / h.

TV programs

• Sunday May 30 at 6:25 p.m. on Canal + Décalé

The Indycar specialist for Canal + – Stephane Genti – will be at the microphone for direct, provided by the Canal + Décalé channel. The antenna will be taken 20 minutes before departure, at 6:25 p.m. Just in time to witness the singing Back home again in Indiana – unofficial anthem of the State of the Mid-West – and to the famous order: “Ladies and gentleman, start your engines”. The green flag will be waved at 6:45 p.m. – weather permitting (oval races are prohibited in the event of rain).

On streaming, the race is available via the MyCanal application (on subscription).

Starting grid

1. Scott Dixon (Honda/Ganassi)
2. Colton Herta (Honda/Andretti)
3. Rinus VeeKay (Chevrolet/Carpenter)
4. Ed Carpenter (Chevrolet/Carpenter)
5. Tony Kanaan (Honda/Ganassi)
6. Alex Palou (Honda/Ganassi)
7. Ryan Hunter-Reay (Honda/Andretti)
8. Helio Castroneves (Honda/Meyer-Shank)
9. Marcus Ericsson (Honda/Ganassi)
10. Alexander Rossi (Honda/Andretti)
11. Ed Jones (Honda/Coyne)
12. Pato O’Ward (Chevrolet / McLaren)
13. Pietro Fittipaldi (Honda / Coyne)
14. Felix Rosenqvist (Chevrolet / McLaren)
15. Takuma Sato (Honda/Rahal LL)
16. James Hinchcliffe (Honda/Andretti)
17. Scott McLaughlin (Chevrolet/Penske)
18. Graham Rahal (Honda/Rahal LL)
19. Conor Daly (Chevrolet/Carpenter)
20. Jack Harvey (Honda/Meyer-Shank)
21. Josef Newgarden (Chevrolet/Penske)
22. J.R. Hildebrand (Chevrolet/A.J.Foyt)
23. Santino Ferrucci (Honda / Rahal LL)
24. Juan Pablo Montoya (Chevrolet / McLaren)
25. Marco Andretti (Honda/Andretti)
26. Simon Pagenaud (Chevrolet/Penske)
27. Sébastien Bourdais (Chevrolet / AJFoyt)
28. Stefan Wilson (Honda/Andretti)
29. Max Chilton (Chevrolet/Carlin)
30. Dalton Kellett (Chevrolet / AJFoyt)
31. Sage Karam (Chevrolet/Dreyer&Reinbold)
32. Will Power (Chevrolet/Penske)
33. Simona de Silvestro (Chevrolet / Paretta)

Unqualified:

• Charlie Kimball (Chevrolet/A.J.Foyt)
• R.C. Enerson (Chevrolet/Top Gun)

Technical sheet

Chassis: Dallara DW12 (3^e aero kit), carbon and kevlar monocoque

Engines: 2.2-liter twin-turbo V6 of approximately 600 hp supplied by Honda and Chevrolet

Favorites and issues

Not always lucky in Indiana – only one win 13 years ago – six-time Indycar champion Scott Dixon took pole position behind the wheel of a Dallara that is as swift as it is balanced. “Iceman” is the big favorite of this edition, but his teammates in the Ganassi team also seem to be in a favorable ballot. Ultra-experienced on oval, Tony Kanaan won the 500 miles in 2013. The promising Spaniard Álex Palou (24) won his first round of Indycar in Alabama a few weeks ago. Accident from the 25th^e tour last year, Marcus Ericsson could also play a role.

=> Download the spotter guide (identifying the pilots and their liveries)

Other favorite team before this 105^e edition: Andretti Autosport. Colton Herta (21) took second place after recording exceptional lap times during practice. Ryan Hunter-Reay regained form (8^e at the start) whileAlex Rossi could repeat his 2016 victory, obtained in the dying seconds on a strategic poker move. Beware, too, of the unforeseeable Marco Andretti et James Hinchcliffe.

Local hero, pilot-owner and triple poleman, Ed Carpenter never had any luck in Indianapolis. But his excellent lap times last weekend (4^e at the start) indicate a good level of fitness. An impression confirmed by the 3^e his teammate’s chrono Rinus van Kalmthout (or Rinus VeeKay, barely 20). The third car, entered for Conor Daly, is also one of the outsiders.

McLaren seems to be slightly behind in qualifying (O’Ward 12^e / Rosenqvist 14^e / Montoya 24^e). The Dallara-Honda of the Rahal-Letterman-Lanigan team proved to be very comfortable in traffic, even if the outgoing winner Takuma Sato and his teammates Graham Rahal and Santino Ferrucci appear only in the soft underbelly on the starting grid.

The legendary Penske team – equipped with Chevrolet engines – on the other hand has a complicated edition. Without knowing a year as difficult as 1995 (non-qualifications of Al Unser Jr. and Emerson Fittipaldi) the men of the “captain” are placed very far on the starting grid. He is the least experienced pilot – Scott McLaughlin – who is doing the best at 17^e row in front Josef Newgarden (21^e) and French Simon Pagenaud (26^e). Winner at Indy in 2018, Will Power (32^e) narrowly missed elimination last Sunday. The modifications made for the race could give them better performance.

Among the underrated outsiders is the # 06 single-seater fromHélio Castroneves. This is the Brazilian’s 21st participation in the Indy 500… and the first outside the Penske team. He leads the efforts of the Meyer-Shank team. The team backed by Liberty Media is one of the growing forces in Indycar. The two Foyt pilots, Sébastien Bourdais and JR Hildebrand, could also take advantage of their experience to create a surprise after 200 laps of the race.

To read on auto-moto.com:

Indycar: the guide for the 2021 season

Simon Pagenaud: who is the first French Indycar champion? [Biographie]

Indianapolis 500 – Philippe Gache [INTERVIEW] : “Indy, it’s a crazy thing”