Indy 500: Speed records still the 2016 aim

IndyCar insists that its aim of beating the Indianapolis Motor Speedway track record at next year's 100th edition of the Indy 500 remains intact, despite slowing cars down as a safety precaution this year.

In reaction to a string of crashes ahead of qualifying on Sunday, the series lowered boost levels and mandated that teams race the same aero configuration that they qualified with - effectively forcing them to qualify in race trim.

At the same time, work continued to continued to establish whether there were any links between the airbone accidents suffered by Helio Castroneves, Josef Newgarden and Ed Carpenter in the lead-up to Sunday's battle for pole.

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Scott Dixon secured pole for this weekend's race (with a four-lap average of 226.760mph, however single-lap speeds in the lead-up to qualifying had reached the 233mph range before the cars were hamstrung.

Arie Luyendyk currently holds the records for the fastest single lap in qualifying at Indy (237.498mph) as well as the fastest four-lap average (236.986mph).

IndyCar's president of competition and operations Derrick Walker said that the events of Sunday had not caused the series to rethink its ambitions regarding the speed record.

"I don't believe that," he said. "This problem is solvable. We just wanted to err on the side of safety, and I'm very confident we will resolve whatever issues we've got."

Mark Miles, CEO of IndyCar parent company Hulman & Co, reiterated Walker's position, but said that he expects speeds to rise as a natural byproduct of ongoing development, rather than in the pursuit of a particular milestone to coincide with the 2016 race.

"It was never intended to be a stunt to get to a certain speed, or above a certain speed, next May," he said. "It's a journey. It's a development exercise. And we knew two years ago that there were at least two periods for homologation where the cars were likely to get quicker because of the engine changes, and the introduction of the aero kits presented a third time when the cars were likely to get quicker.

"We're not determined to get to a certain number come hell or high water. We think that the evolution of our racing is ongoing, and we think it will continue."

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Originally on Autosport.com