It's Friday today, which means a first look at the track for the 14 Master Class pilots... they have started Free Practice sessions and we'll report on progress through the day...
Interestingly the start gate here has been built up to a height of 17m from the ground and the entire track required a two-phase build, due to the requirement to raise certain gates...
Although it's the first time the Red Bull Air Race has landed at Indianapolis, if we rewind the clock back over a century there is a rich aviation heritage...
As we begin our back-to-back US rounds, all eyes are on the American homegrown heroes Kirby Chambliss and Mike Goulian, as well as Challenger Class pilot Kevin Coleman...
Track conditions at IMS:
Wind max last 10 min: 12 kts
Temperature: 14.7 ℃
Air Pressure: 984.8 mbar
So the big question is can Murphy maintain a lead here or will American pilot Kevin Coleman get the better of him?
With two American pilots in the Master Class, this is an exciting race for the fans here in Indy – where motorsport is BIG news!
Kirby Chambliss is currently sitting in fourth place overall on 30.25 points – if he scores a podium in front of the home fans, this will move him up... and with just one race remaining after Indy, he could be on the 2016 World Championship podium
- Pylon Hit!
And it's going from bad to worse here at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway for Le Vot... 2s straight away at gate 2 for incorrect level and it's a pylon hit at gate 11... that's 1:12.825 on the clock...
And it's Spain's Juan Velarde out now and he's already way ahead of Podlunsek's time... it's green on the split times and he's making light work of this
Yesterday Velarde finished in 10th and 13th... so he had some homework to do last night
It looks like he's losing time in the middle part of the track... and he posts a 1:05.180 which is very respectable, but he'll need to shave more time off to be up there with the frontrunners
Second run is clean and that's a 1:06.483 for Velarde...
Now we have American Mike Goulian out into the track and we know he was really excited to be racing here this weekend!
It's a home race for Goulian and he has a lot of support from friends and family at Indy...
He's off Sonka's pace still... it's red on the split times and we know Chambliss is better on the drag race style tracks so this twisting and turning one could prove a challenge... and there's the buzzer again :(
Incorrect level gate 13 puts 2s on his time and it's 1:05.712 for Chambliss
That puts Chambliss in 8th position, with fellow US pilot Mike Goulian sitting pretty in 2nd...
And Matt Hall of Australia flies next... after having to retire yesterday from FP2 due to illness...
This race is the most important of his career – he needs to stop Germany's Matthias Dolderer from sewing up the 2016 World Championship here in Indy to keep his own title hope alive
But it's not looking great for the Australian out there... that was red at every split time and it's a disappointing but clean 1:04.917
- Pylon Hit!
Second run for Hall and we wonder if he's really back to full health as that's the buzzer for a pylon hit at gate 5! That's not what we expect from Hall...
Fellow Challenger Class pilot Luke Czepiela is also a fan of the track here, adding that it's a combination of the best bits of the Ascot and Spielberg tracks
And this is it... 2 minutes until we are LIVE with Master Class Qualifying!
Before we start, we are observing a minute of silence for Hannes Arch.
It's a poignant moment for the entire Red Bull Air Race community...
And now we are ready... to start Qualifying here at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway...
It's Friday today, which means a first look at the track for the 14 Master Class pilots... they have started Free Practice sessions and we'll report on progress through the day...
Hello, can we meet with heroes at Indianapolis? [ autographing ]
