Honda powered James Hinchcliffe tops Saturday qualifier with 230.946 MPH

29 year old James Hinchcliffe doesn’t remember anything of the practice lap accident that nearly took his life. Hitting the wall at upwards of 220 mph, on impact, a front suspension component was driven through Hinchliffe’s leg, up through his thigh, and into his torso. As he sat bleeding to death in what was left of his car, attendees cut him from the wreckage, and transferred him to the hospital, where James effectively “bled out.”

A year and 3 days later...

Saturday topped off an exceptional week for Andretti Autosport, Schmidt Peterson Motorsports and Honda Performance Development. Looking to the Indy 500, Honda’s on a roll, with 5 Honda powered contestants remaining in what is referred to as the “Fast Nine” in IndyCar.

There was speculation last year of James Hinchcliffe hanging up his IndyCar career

Reading the accounts of last May,18th's wall collision, attending doctors had informed Hinchcliffe's family members ‘ that he may not make it!’ or something to the effect. According to Hinchcliffe, as to the accident, he was simply unlucky, yet lucky as to the details of his injury. You may read about that here.

Here are your results for Saturday

May 21, 2016
Circuit: Indianapolis Motor Speedway (2.5-mile oval), Indianapolis, IN
2015 Winner: Juan Pablo Montoya (Team Penske) 161.343 mph average
Weather: Mostly sunny after overnight and morning showers, 74 degrees F
Indianapolis 500 First Round Qualifying Results:

Ps.
Driver
Team
Manufacturer
Speed
Notes
1.
James Hinchcliffe
Schmidt Peterson Motorsports
Honda
230.946

2.
Ryan Hunter-Reay
Andretti Autosport
Honda
230.805

3.
Will Power
Team Penske
Chevrolet
230.736

4.
Helio Castroneves
Team Penske
Chevrolet
230.500

5.
Townsend Bell
Andretti Autosport
Honda
230.452

6.
Josef Newgarden
Ed Carpenter Racing
Chevrolet
230.229

7.
Mikhail Aleshin
Schmidt Peterson Motorsports
Honda
230.209

8.
Carlos Munoz
Andretti Autosport
Honda
230.173

9.
Simon Pagenaud
Team Penske
Chevrolet
230.102

Other Honda-powered Results

10.
Alexander Rossi-R
Andretti Herta Autosport
Honda
230.048
Top Rookie

11.
Marco Andretti
Andretti Autosport
Honda
230.037

16.
Takuma Sato
A.J. Foyt Racing
Honda
228.096

17.
Conor Daly
Dale Coyne Racing
Honda
227.862

21.
Graham Rahal
Rahal Letterman Lanigan
Honda
227.437

22.
Bryan Clauson
Dale Coyne Racing
Honda
227.110

23.
Spencer Pigot-R
Rahal Letterman Lanigan
Honda
227.100

24.
Oriol Servia
Schmidt Peterson Motorsports
Honda
226.893

28.
Jack Hawksworth
A.J. Foyt Racing
Honda
225.388

29.
Alex Tagliani
A.J. Foyt Racing
Honda
224.507

Gabby Chaves
Dale Coyne Racing
Honda
No speed
Wave off

Pippa Mann
Dale Coyne Racing
Honda
No speed
Crash

As you've read, the track speeds are coming down (just) a bit as we get closer to the 100th running of the Indianapolis 500.