Doornbos Fastest in Rookie Practice at Indy

It's May and that means the gates at Indianapolis are open for business.

Rookie Orientation commenced on Tuesday and four drivers passed their tests: Mike Conway, Robert Doornbos, Raphael Matos, and Alex Tagliani. Of the four, Doornbos turned the fastest lap at 221.735 mph. Rookies Stanton Barrett and Nelson Philippe will complete their programs on Thursday. Wednesday activities were washed out only 50 minutes after the track went green.

Also on Tuesday was the Veteran Refresher program for drivers returning to Indy after an extended layoff. Of the drivers participating -- Alex Lloyd, Scott Sharp and Paul Tracy -- Tracy posted the fastest lap at 223.069 mph.

Tracy has not participated in the Indy 500 since a controversial finish in 2002. In that race, Tracy was executing a pass on leader Helio Castroneves entering turn three when the caution flag was displayed for a crash in turn two. The race ended under caution. Officials declared that Tracy had not completed the pass before race control had called for the yellow flag, giving Castroneves the win. Tracy's team later appealed the decision and lost, and Tracy decided not to return to Indianapolis.

Prior to 2002, he had four Indy 500 starts -- 1992 through 1995 -- failing to finish in each of them.

The Speedway officially opens practice to all drivers and cars on Thursday in preparation for the Memorial Day weekend race. The 2009 race is the 93rd running of the Indianapolis 500, the 14th under Indy Racing League sanction and the Speedway itself is celebrating its 100th Anniversary.

Pole Day qualifying is set for this Saturday, May 9. Based on Tuesday's times I suspect the pole will be somewhere in the upper 220s.