By: Zach Catanzareti, Staff Writer
Ben Hanley came into Indianapolis Motor Speedway Sunday with his firesuit tucked away. And he was thrilled to not need it.
Qualifying for next Sunday’s 103rd Indianapolis 500, the native of Manchester, England, brought his DragonSpeed No. 81 into the show in their first year attempting the race.
Turning a four-lap qualifying session of 227.482 mph, Hanley, 34, will line up 27th for the 500-mile event.
“Yeah, it was an amazing feeling,” Hanley said Sunday following the run. “I was watching the times on the dash, so I knew we were really competitive and a big step up from the previous run. Then I think I got a ‘well done’ and then the radio silence kind of said that everyone was pretty happy in the team.”
Running the slowest full-speed lap of the 36 entries on Fast Friday, the push of speed from the No. 81 for Saturday surprised the field. And following the run, the sports car talent lacked no fullfillment.
“For me personally, this was the most satisfying qualifying performance I’ve done,” he said. “This place is like no other, and there’s a much more real risk-reward scenario when you’re driving out there.”
With only two prior starts in the NTT IndyCar Series, Hanley had a whole new challenge on his hands during the stressfull qualifying day at Indy.
“Those last two laps, they start to get a bit sketchy,” he said, “so you really need to have some confidence in the car to be able to keep it flat. But at the same time, you know that a gust of wind or the little wiggle has big consequences. So you really need the confidence to do that.”
Testing at Texas Motor Speedway last month, Hanley has come to grips with the unique driving styles of Indy cars on an oval.
“When we did the oval testing in Texas, the first six laps I came in and I thought, ‘This is a different sport.’ It’s nothing like anything I’ve done before.
“But by the end of the day, it was fascinating myself, and I was loving every lap I was doing at Texas. If I could have, I’d have stayed another day and done some more laps. But I really started to enjoy