Alonso finds comfort zone as Indy 500 pole fight looms

WASHINGTON: Formula One star Fernando Alonso has made a fast adjustment to IndyCars and driving around in circles as the Spaniard prepared for weekend qualifying at the 101st Indianapolis 500.

The 35-year-old McLaren racer, the F1 champion in 2005 and 2006, is skipping this year’s Monaco Grand Prix, a race he won twice, to compete on the famed 2.5-mile (4km) Indianapolis Motor Speedway oval in the May 28 classic.

“The more laps I do, the better I feel,” Alonso said. “Have been good learning days for me. It’s still very new for many of the things that are happening out there, but every lap I feel better in the car, able to feel the setup changes a little bit.”

It doesn’t hurt that his Honda-powered entry is among six for Andretti Autosport, a lineup that includes defending Indy 500 champion Alexander Rossi, his US compatriots Marco Andretti and Ryan Hunter-Reay and Japan’s Takuma Sato.

“We are six drivers in our team with a lot of experience,” Alonso said. “We share. I keep learning also from them. On traffic, it was very good to organise these runs with the team. They take care of me. I felt that. So I will try to keep learning.”Alonso surpassed 231 mph (371.7 km/hr) on Friday before rain arrived as the team tested aerodynamics for time trials after a focus on race setups during practices.