After the thrill of seeing the 2008 Indy 500 winner nail a record-breaking lap to take his fifth pole position for the championship's most famous event, it’s time for the main business to begin.
If that sounds like it’s trivialising the efforts of all the teams last week, it isn’t: the thing is, it’s almost like the battle for pole position is a whole separate event in itself, 1) because the cars are so radically different – minimal downforce and 1.5-bar turbo boost instead of the race day 1.3-bar – and 2) because the 500 itself dwarfs every other race on the schedule, let alone the fight to lead the 11 rows of three to the green flag.
