Rinus van Kalmthout just missed the pole position for the prestigious Indy 500 on Sunday. The Dutchman was only 0.006 miles per hour short of the so-called ‘Fast Six’ and had to leave the first starting spot to the Spaniard Álex Palou.
Van Kalmthout, 22, completed his four laps of the Indianapolis Motor Speedway at an impressive average speed of 234.211 miles per hour (376.765 kilometers per hour). Palou did slightly better at 234.217 miles per hour, beating Scott Dixon’s record speed from last year.
In the so-called ‘Fast Twelve’, Van Kalmthout set third speed behind the American Santino Ferrucci and the Swede Felix Rosenqvist. Ferrucci (233.661) had to settle for fourth place in the ‘Fast Six’ and Rosenqvist (234.114) will start third next week.
For Van Kalmthout, it is his fourth participation in the Indy 500 and also the fourth time that he has managed to qualify in the top four. In 2022 and 2021 he started third and in his debut season he started fourth in ‘The Greatest Spectacle in Racing’. He achieved his best result in the race two years ago. Then he finished eighth.
Van Kalmthout, who is eighteenth in the IndyCar championship this season, can become the second Dutchman to win the Indy 500. Arie Luyendyk was the best in Indianapolis in 1990 and 1997.
The 107th running of the Indianapolis 500 starts next Sunday at 6:45 p.m. (Dutch time). The race is expected to be attended by around 250,000 spectators.
2023-05-22 04:19:48
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