Only eight rookies have ever won the Indianapolis 500 – and that includes Ray Harroun, who won the inaugural race in 1911 - but, this year, some 13 newcomers will attempt to add their name to the list that includes Graham Hill,
Juan Pablo Montoya and Helio Castroneves
The biggest rookie contingent since 1997 will take its first laps around the famous 2.5-mile speedway this weekend, completing the mandatory orientation programme - based on a set of four phases of ten laps each, taken at increasing speeds - before the main business of practice and qualifying gets underway next week.
The rookie class is diverse, featuring drivers who have won at the track in the former Indy Pro Series - now renamed Indy Lights - as well as drivers who competed on the track's road course in
Formula One and several who will entering the hallowed grounds for the first time. Then there's Graham Rahal, whose father, Bobby, won the 500 three years before the 19-year old was born.
British-born IPS champions Jay Howard and Alex Lloyd, as well as Jaime Camara and Hideki Mutoh, have all competed at Indianapolis before, lapping the oval at 190mph in the official IndyCar feeder series, but will now tackle it with an increase of 55mph under their right foot. Camara and Lloyd are also winners at the Brickyard, having triumphed in the 2005 and 2007 Freedom 100s respectively. Howard, meanwhile, finished second in the 2006 edition.
“It's obviously something I've been looking forward for a long time,” the Briton, who graduated to the IndyCar Series full-time with Roth Racing this season, admitted, “The first 500 I went to, I was sitting in the grandstands, but the hair stands up on your arms, and you get goose pimples. You can't explain to anyone what it's like, and I can't imagine what it's going to be like actually sitting in the car racing. It's definitely going to be a nice new experience for me.”
