Indy 500: LIVE updates of Indianapolis 500 as Danica Patrick competes in final race
THE Indy 500 gets underway this afternoon and Express Sport is on hand to bring you all the action LIVE.
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Danica Patrick is set to bow out of the Indianapolis 500 after an illustrious 14-year career in the sport.
She has an outside chance of claiming the top prize in the IndyCar Series as she starts seventh in a 33-man field.
Ed Carpenter, Simon Pagenaud and Will Power will start on row 1 while reigning champion Takuma Sato will have to fight his way from row 6.
Speaking ahead of her final appearance, Patrick said: “I’m sure I’ll be around racetracks, but how often, I don’t know. I really don’t.
“At this point in time, there really isn’t a plan for that, but I really didn’t plan for this all that long ago, either.
“So, as I always say to people, my life changes in ways I didn’t expect every couple of years. Who knows where I’ll be in a couple of years?
“Right after Indy I go to California for a big wine auction that raises a lot of money for the area,
“I’ll be as busy as I want to be.
“None of my other businesses are linked with racing necessarily — other than it being me, and that’s what I did, and that’s given me everything I have, from awareness to the houses I own and the life I get to live.”
Follow all the action below LIVE
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Indy 500 LIVE updates
Lap 48: Oh no, catastrophe for 2017 winner Takuma Sato! The Japanese star has collided with James Davison and the pair crash out of the race.
The safety car is out and that could play into the hands of Carpenter who will now have a lot of clear track ahead of him.
The race leader chooses to take the time to pit - along with the majority of the field - and they rejoin the safety car queue.
Lap 40: Patrick has dropped one place to 12th but Carpenter is still ahead and is
building a commanding lead.
Tony Kanan has jumped to second place while Josef Newgarden is up to third.
Lap 18: Danica Patrick suffering some problems with her toosl and she revealed over the team radio that they are not working.
Ed Carpenter is still leading the race but his times are not as quick as we saw on Friday - he must be reserving some serious power for the latter stages.
The front three maintain their place with a blistering start.
5.23pm: As usual we are running slightly behind schedule but were are expecting to get underway shortly.
5.10pm: The drivers are out on the grid and we are now under 10 minutes away from the green flag!
4.30pm: We're less than an hour away from getting underway in Indianapolis and excitement is reaching fever pitch.
The pre-race ceremony is pretty lengthy and includes a number of traditions including the playing of 'Taps', the American national anthem, a veteran salute and a flyover from B-52 Bomber.
Drivers will be told to start their engines at 5.14pm UK time with the race scheduled to get underway seven minutes later.