Category: Indycar

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Mazda Road to Indy: An Introduction

While most of you will have heard of IndyCar, its support ladder, the Mazda Road to Indy, is lesser known, especially in Europe. The programme is made up of three racing series that incrementally get closer to IndyCar; the lowest is USF2000 with Pro Mazda next and then Indy Lights as the closest to IndyCar.

This whole set up aims to produce the next generation of IndyCar drivers and give aspiring talent a stage where all the IndyCar teams can see their performances and successes in the same paddock as IndyCar. The Mazda Road to Indy as we know it started in 2010 but the individual series have been going much longer, just not as a united body. One of the key perks of the Mazda Road to Indy is the scholarships provided to champions in it; each champion of the individual series is provided with a scholarship to the next series up, meaning that results are rewarded.

However, a recent announcement has given the Road to Indy programme a huge hit; after seven years, Mazda are withdrawing their sponsorship of the programme to pursue other ventures. This means the programme’s future is in some doubt because it cannot function without a title sponsor, but the IndyCar management seem optimistic that the ladder will not be without a title sponsor for long and are confident of its continuation. Something that does need to be addressed in the near future is the rising costs of both Pro Mazda and Indy Lights which is making it harder for teams and drivers to compete in those series – if the programme is to remain viable, the costs need to be cut somehow.

Regardless of these problems, all three series are going strong this year with one champion already crowned and two title fights that look like they could go right down to the last rounds at Portland.

USF2000 is the bottom rung of the Mazda Road to Indy ladder and has been running, in different variations, since 1990. 11 full-time teams field 23 drivers between them over 14 races, most of which shadow IndyCar, with the season ending at the penultimate IndyCar round of Portland. With the two Portland races still to go, series rookie Kyle Kirkwood has already clinched the championship in what is the most crowded series on the ladder, leaving Rasmus Lindh, Igor Fraga and others to fight for second.

In the middle of the programme is Pro Mazda which replaced the Star Mazda Championship in 2012, after that had run since 1991. The series champion is, as previously mentioned, awarded a scholarship to advance Indy Lights for the following season so it is a very important series to win for drivers coming up the ladder. Pro Mazda has 18 drivers and 9 teams, including Juncos Racing who are present in IndyCar. Rinus VeeKay has a 25-point lead over Parker Thompson with three races yet to run in a championship that looks set to go right down to the wire.

The top, but smallest, tier of Mazda Road to Indy is Indy Lights which has been running as an IndyCar sanctioned series since 2002. This series, however, does have a problem or two – the field has been diminishing in numbers for the last few years, this year there are just seven full-time drivers and only full-time three teams, albeit including both Andretti and Juncos. Patricio O’Ward currently has a 32-point lead over Colton Herta in what has been a very close title battle, but changes are on the horizon for Indy Lights with a new five-year plan being set out. The aim is to reduce budgets while increasing prize money, testing and revising the IndyCar licence guidelines – all to make the path to IndyCar more accessible for the talent coming through.

The list of Mazda Road to Indy graduates who now grace the IndyCar grid is a very, very long one. Josef Newgarden, James Hinchcliffe, Ed Jones, Charlie Kimball, Kyle Kaiser, Matheus Leist, Carlos Munoz, Spencer Pigot, Zach Veach and Zachary Claman De Melo, along with many others, have all been a part of one or more rungs of the Mazda Road to Indy ladder since it all joined up in 2010 so, clearly, it works.

The programme is the place to look for the up and coming IndyCar drivers with countless more names ready to be added to the above list when they too make the step up to IndyCar in years to come.

To showcase this, we will be publishing a series of interviews with drivers in various stages of the programme over the next week and, you never know, you may well be able to see some, or all, of them in IndyCar in a few years’ time!

(Featured Image courtesy of Igor Fraga)

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Mazda Road to Indy: Rinus VeeKay

Rinus VeeKay is one of the brightest stars in Mazda Road to Indy’s middle class, Pro Mazda. He’s currently fighting for the title with fellow rookie, Parker Thompson, and, with only a few points between the pair, he has a very good shot at it. Although Dutch-born, Rinus’ aim is to continue racing in America, heading for IndyCar, rather than returning to Europe. Here is what he had to say when I talked to him in early July.

Image courtesy of Rinus VeeKay

Emily Inganni – How is this season of Pro Mazda going for you so far? Have you performed as you expected?

Rinus VeeKay – It’s been a reasonably good season so far, except of some mechanical gremlins. I swept the opening weekend in St-Pete and finished every race in the top 5, except for one DNF in the Indy GP because of a start accident. Toronto is coming up and I’m feeling really confident going into that weekend. I had two podiums there last year and the team and I are good at street courses.

(Rinus went onto sweep the Toronto weekend, taking both wins in a show a dominance)

EI – What do you want to get from the rest of the season? Is the championship still in your sights?

RV – I want to score the maximum points available! I think I’m still in a championship battle and I won’t give up, but I know it will not be easy. We’re going to some great tracks where I had a lot of podiums last year and the team is working harder than ever to get the maximum results.

EI – Is it any different to work with a team like Juncos that is in IndyCar as opposed to one that is only in the Mazda Road to Indy?

RV – There’s quite a difference. With the Pro Mazda team, we can also learn from Juncos and their own IndyCar team. I also get to visit the pit lane during the IndyCar races and listen to everything that goes on, which is really educational for me.

EI – Do you think the Mazda Road to Indy is successful at progressing young drivers careers?

RV – I think that the Mazda Road to Indy is the best series/ladder system to progress your racing career! With their unique ladder system and scholarships, they really give a driver the chance to get to the top.

EI – You’re Dutch-born so what made you decide to race in America rather than in Europe?

RV – I got scouted by the Mazda Road to Indy (MRTI) organization at the last round of the 2015 US Open Go-Karting championship in Las Vegas. They invited me to do a USF2000 test in in COTA. I got a look into the MRTI and I really loved it! I still think that it’s the best decision in my life.

Image courtesy of Rinus VeeKay

EI – Where can you see your career going? Do you want to carry on racing in America or return to Europe?

RV – I’m focusing to make a career in America and be a very successful IndyCar driver in the near future. I’m already training as hard as I possibly can to achieve my goal.

EI – Lastly, what advice would you give to young drivers looking to make a career out of racing?

RV – My advice to other young drivers is to keep moving forward and don’t think in the past!

A big thank you to Rinus for answering my questions, we’ve got another interview coming up tomorrow so stay tuned!

(Featured image courtesy of Rinus VeeKay)

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Safety in Motorsports Week: Dan Wheldon, A Horribly Perfect Storm

The 2011 IndyCar season finale is about to begin. The thirty-four drivers line up on the grid of Las Vegas Motor Speedway, but there’s an unusual entrant at the back. Dan Wheldon had been without a permanent ride all season – he’d only started two races in 2011. Las Vegas was to be his third, this time with a very tasty incentive. He had been offered $5 million if he could win from the back of the grid by IndyCar CEO Randy Bernard as a way of adding to the spectacle, dubbed a ‘dash for cash’.

The race distance stands at 200 laps. 200 laps to pass 33 cars and make it to Victory Lane, a challenge that Wheldon, ever the racer, relished. ABC selected the two-time Indy 500 champion as their in-race reporter, and they talked to Wheldon just before the race start, where he told them, “I wouldn’t be doing this if I didn’t think that I could win”.

Formation lap done, it was time for the green flag, and Wheldon made up ten places in the first ten laps. If he continued at that pace, he’d stand a very good chance of being in the mix by lap 200 and he knew it.

Wade Cunningham and James Hinchcliffe made light contact on lap 12 in a seemingly insignificant incident. However, the numerous and fast-approaching cars changed that. Cunningham and Hinchcliffe were collected in a high-speed, 15-car wreck as drivers tried to avoid the chaos.

This type of wreck was more accustomed to NASCAR rather than IndyCar, but it wasn’t completely out of the ordinary. The consequences, however, were.

While 14 of the 15 drivers got away relatively unharmed, one didn’t. That one was Wheldon. There was a two-hour delay before the remaining drivers were given the news. It told them of something they knew could happen, but didn’t think ever would happen to them – they wouldn’t step in the car if they thought it would. The race was abandoned after the field completed a five-lap salute to their fallen friend, but this was just the start of what was to unfold.

2011 Indy 500 champion Dan Wheldon. Image courtesy of Greg Hildebrand (creative commons 2.0 )

On December 15th 2011, a 49-page document was published and released to the media, providing in-depth analysis of every angle of the 15-car crash that resulted in Wheldon’s death. It attributed his death to a “non-survivable” impact with a fence post on the catch fencing where his roll-hoop was torn off and left his helmeted head exposed.

As a result, Las Vegas Motor Speedway’s contract was temporarily suspended and eventually permanently ended after it was deemed that the series could no longer race there with ensured safety. The same fate almost befell Texas Motor Speedway, which is another high-banked oval, but after some consideration it remained on the calendar and is still there to this day.

Las Vegas have since expressed interest at returning to the schedule, but IndyCar management remain sceptical, not wanting to re-open old wounds or risk anything else at that track.

Since 16th October 2011, Bernard and IndyCar as a series have come under huge amounts of criticism for creating the deadly circumstances surrounding Wheldon’s death, namely the chance to earn $5 million, the often three-wide high-banked oval, the speeds in excess of 220mph and seasoned drivers having to fight against rookies. It is still such a worrying crash to look back on. Sure, the so-called ‘dash for cash’ competitions are no longer held, but the man-made nature of the circumstances are disturbing to say the least.

Las Vegas Motor Speedway hosting a Nascar event in 2011. Image courtesy of Tom Donoghue (under Creative commons 2.0)

This all happened at a time when IndyCar was far more like NASCAR than F1 and that was the direction that the series was being taken in. The directors wanted close, high-speed pack racing that was both unpredictable and dangerous in nature. But, while NASCARs can bump and barge without too much worry, open-wheeled IndyCars, quite clearly, cannot.

This has since been turned around. A change of series directors brought about a change in attitude, and the realisation that IndyCar was not NASCAR and shouldn’t try to be like it because it just wasn’t going to work. The controversial and often polarising duo of Bernard and Brian Barnhart are no longer part of IndyCar’s management, with the former being removed in 2012 and the latter leaving to set up Harding Racing at the end of 2017.

The truth is that Wheldon’s death didn’t cause anywhere near as much change as it should have, and probably would have if it happened now. It showcased the blame-culture within the management at the time, with blame being put on the circuit for a culmination of issues that were mostly in the series’ control, not the track’s. Change was dangerously slowly implemented but that has now altered, primarily and unfortunately due to another tragedy.

Justin Wilson died as a result of injuries sustained at the 2015 IndyCar race at Pocono after being struck by a piece of flying debris that had come off the crashed car of Sage Karam. The report, which was never released to the media like Wheldon’s was, stated that it was a “freak accident”. Since then, front and rear wings have been tethered to the cars, the new universal aero kits were brought in to reduce the amount of flying debris and soon the new windscreen will be brought in, something that many believe would have saved Wilson’s life.

This showed a quick, coordinated and effective response to a tragedy, one that was far from present in the aftermath of Wheldon’s crash. IndyCar, and motorsport in general, has thankfully changed drastically since 2011, with a much greater interest in safety and the prevention of unnecessary risks. But, the sport is, by nature, reactive rather than proactive. It takes an accident for the true danger of something to be seen and the correct preventive measures to be put in place.

Not as much has been learnt from Wheldon’s accident as it should have, but times have changed. IndyCar has woken up to the safety revolution that European motorsport is already undergoing. That change just needs to keep going.

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Safety in Motorsports Week: IndyCar Safety Development

IndyCar has evolved huge amounts over the last decade in terms of safety with numerous crashes and unfortunate tragedies to be learnt from. Development has come for the cars, the tracks and the safety crews but it’s a constant race to keep the stars as safe as possible with speeds reaching in excess of 230mph.

One of the biggest changes to come to the oval races was the introduction of the Steel and Foam Energy Reduction Barriers, more commonly known as just ‘SAFER Barriers’. These first came about, after a number of high profile fatalities, in 2002 when they were installed at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway before being retro-fitted to all ovals used by IndyCar and NASCAR by 2006. Since then, the SAFER Barriers have been used at some IndyCar road courses – such as Watkins Glen – where there’s not enough room for sufficient run off given the speed of the cars.

SAFER barrier at the top and the traditional indy car oval barrier on the bottom, at the Indy 500, Indianapolis speedway. Image courtesy of hondanews.eu

Iowa Speedway was actually the first track to have the SAFER Barriers incorporated in the track design, featured around the whole perimeter of the track to reduce the loading on the driver, decreasing the chance of injury or worse.

During the event itself, the AMR IndyCar Safety Team are there for the drivers, should they be in need of their assistance. A dedicated team consisting of three trucks and, in total, twelve personnel, follow IndyCar around for every race of the season, joining forces with the local safety teams at each track. This group are there to focus on the three main areas of an incident – the impact zone with the wall, the place where the car comes to rest (including the driver) and the debris field. The teams will be dispatched to every incident from a simple breakdown to a multi-car wreck and, for 99% of the time, the incident can just be cleared and the session can continue as usual.

It’s that 1% where the problem lies.

One of those such incidents happened on 18th May 2015 during Practice 8 of the Indy 500, the day after qualifying. It was about an hour into the session and James Hinchcliffe was getting some draft practice in before race day when his right front rocker failed. This was a highly unusual failure, when cars have been through huge crashes, their rockers will more than likely be intact but, for Hinchcliffe, that wasn’t the case. The Canadian was left a passenger in his #5 Schmidt Peterson as it ploughed into the wall of the famous speedway coming out of Turn 3 and into Turn 4. From the outside, the crash didn’t look that bad at first, sure, it was a big hit but we see them quite a lot in IndyCar.

However, all was far from well. The piece of suspension that had caused the crash had also puncture the tub and, along with it, Hinchcliffe’s thigh. Worse still, it had hit the Canadian’s femoral artery. This was not good news but, thanks to the quick work of the Safety Team, they managed to get Hinchcliffe out of the car and to the hospital – all with about 90 seconds to spare before his time was up.

Just days after Hinchcliffe’s crash, parts had been added to the rockers on all cars to stop them failing in the same manner and the tubs had been strengthened further to prevent anything from puncturing it.

Once Hinchcliffe had recovered enough to be conscious and talking, his third question was “when can I get back in a car?” which is true testament to the mentality of racing drivers. Return he did, having sat out the rest of the 2015 season, Hinchcliffe was back for 2016 and, incredibly, took pole for the Indy 500, at the track that had so nearly claimed his life the year before.

Another one of those 1% crashes came at the Indy 500 last year when Sebastien Bourdais hit the barriers during his qualifying run. After running pole pace on his first two laps, Bourdais lost control of his car on the third, hitting the wall and causing the tub to break. As a result, Bourdais fractured his pelvis but, thankfully for him, that was the only damage done and he returned to racing just over three months later at Gateway. The consequences weren’t nearly as severe for Bourdais as they were for Hinchcliffe but both their injuries contributed to the all-new design for the 2018 cars.

The biggest change on the new cars safety-wise was the restructuring of the sidepods. They, along with the oil and water radiators, were moved forwards to be ahead of the driver’s hips, providing extra cushioning to the driver in the case of a side impact, such as Bourdais’. Additionally, a wider edge to the base of the sidepod and other modifications means the cars are less likely to go airborne during spins and collisions, as they have been doing in previous years.

Also, the front and rear wings have less elements and the rear wheel guards, along with the winglets, have been removed, all to reduce the amount of potential flying debris in incidents. The design of these cars allows for a cockpit windscreen to be put in place which is where IndyCar is heading next.

While F1 have pushed ahead in developing and implementing the ‘Halo’, IndyCar have been forced to take a different route, primarily because of the ovals and the visual implications to the driver that would surface as a result. IndyCar’s cockpit windscreen has already had a few running’s in tests and practice sessions by numerous drivers, who agree that it takes a while to get used to but does need to be put in place.

IndyCar has a very personal reason for wanting some form of cockpit protection. Back in 2015, Justin Wilson was killed at Pocono when he was struck by a piece of front wing from Sage Karam’s crashed car, it was a fatality that shook IndyCar to the core and the first in the series since the much-loved Dan Wheldon in 2011. Following Wilson’s crash, front and rear wings were tethered to the main body of the car, in a similar way to the wheels, to prevent them from breaking free but the huge loss was all the same.

Over the years, huge changes have been made to all aspects of IndyCar, making the series much safer than before with the crashes acting at catalysts for quick or more long-term changes. However, like any other form of motorsport, there are still changes to be made and, as it was put it perfectly in the documentary ‘Yellow Yellow Yellow: The IndyCar Safety Team’, “you think you’ve got every aspect covered until they figure out another way to crash…”

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IndyCar Mid-Ohio Report: Rossi trounces the field with two-stop strategy

The #27 Andretti team and Alexander Rossi left the rest of the IndyCar paddock scratching their heads and looking for answers after they completed what should’ve been the impossible – the two-stop at Mid-Ohio. To highlight the unusual nature of this, Rossi was the only driver in the 24-car field to even attempt the two-stop strategy, everyone else stuck to the book with the three-stop.

Rossi’s win was far from certain for the first half of the race with his strategy looking outlandish and impossible at best but, as we all should’ve known, Rossi’s the master of making an unreasonable strategy work… just think back to his sensational Indy 500 win! Many were writing the pole-sitter off as he stayed out way later than anyone else for his first stop with most thinking that this was going to be Robert Wickens’ long-awaited first win.

However, it soon became clear that Rossi’s strategy call wasn’t stupid at all, in fact it was a masterstroke, leaving him untouchable with a 20 second lead. His only real mistake of the day came after the chequered flag when he tried, and failed, to do a donut. He got the spin going alright but then dropped off the edge of the track and got himself stuck with his front wheels off the ground… not the best way to end what was otherwise a near-perfect race.

Second on the road was Rossi’s season-long rival Wickens who felt that his race could’ve been so much more without the intervention of traffic. After Rossi’s final stop, Wickens found himself caught amongst a gaggle of lapped cars and ended up losing over a second a lap, meaning he was unable to make any impression on Rossi’s lead. This was primarily because blue flags in IndyCar carry no weight; they are simply there to warn a driver that there are leaders behind, but they have no obligation to let them past. Still, it was another good result for the rookie who has established himself as an IndyCar front-runner.

The same could not be said for Wickens’ Schmidt Peterson teammate, James Hinchcliffe, who crashed in qualifying and was unable to recover during the race. The strategy didn’t work out for Hinchcliffe and, to add to that, he had a slow stop which meant he came out behind Zach Veach and was then unable to pass. The #5 SPM driver trailed home in fourteenth with yet another race to forget.

Max Chilton joined Hinchcliffe in the ‘race to forgot’ club. He qualified in sixth which was an all-time best for Carlin but contact with Takuma Sato in the opening laps earnt him a drive-thru penalty which was topped off with a very long stop as a result of damage from that incident. It was just one of those days for the British driver…

Will Power, driver of the #12 Verizon Team Penske IndyCar Chevrolet V6, races to a 3rd place finish Sunday, July 29, 2018 during the Verizon IndyCar Series Honda Indy 200 at MId-Ohio Sports Car Course in Lexington, Ohio. Power sits in 4th place in the drivers championship with four races remaining. (Photo by Scott R. LePage/LAT for Chevy Racing)

Meanwhile, Will Power took third as he continues to struggle in keeping his title hopes alive. Power, like everyone else, got caught out by Rossi’s risky strategy while he also got jumped by Wickens who pitted earlier than the #12 Penske driver. Despite trying to put on a late challenge, Power was unable to regain the place he lost to Wickens, leaving him in third but with a reduced 87-point gap to championship leader Scott Dixon.

Power’s Penske teammate, Josef Newgarden, finished between him and Dixon on track but he was hoping for so much more after Dixon’s poor qualifying. Newgarden only ended up gaining two points on Dixon, despite the fact the latter qualified in ninth after being caught out by Hinchcliffe’s crash in qualifying. Dixon himself ran a fairly good race with damage limitation being the name of the game; his lead is down by 24 points with Rossi stealing a march, but it could’ve been a whole lot worse.

The star of the race, other than Rossi, was undoubtedly Sebastien Bourdais who, after starting dead last, made 20 passes to finish in a sensational sixth place. This was made all the more impressive by the fact that there were no cautions to close the field up during the race, Bourdais did it all on merit. The Frenchman overtook more drivers than can be mentioned with the majority of the overtakes happening in risky places and around the outside – he was unstoppable all race and proved to everyone what he could’ve done had he not crashed in qualifying.

Alexander Rossi wins the Indycar 2018: Round Thirteen – Mid-Ohio
Image courtesy of hondanews.eu

Another driver to note was Bourdais’ returning teammate, Pietro Fittipaldi, who was competing in his first race back since his horrific leg-breaking crash at the top of Eau Rouge during the WEC round at Spa. Fittipaldi is still walking with a cane, could hardly get into the car, had to have a brace on his leg and had to have numerous adjustments to the pedals – any normal person just wouldn’t race but Fittipaldi’s a racing driver, so race he did! The Brazilian finished second-to-last but that didn’t really matter, he finished and gained valuable experience while he was at it.

That rounds out the IndyCar action at Mid-Ohio with a well-deserved two weekends off for the IndyCar paddock ahead before they return at the ‘Tricky Triangle’ of Pocono.

Full Race Results:

  1. Alexander Rossi
  2. Robert Wickens (R)
  3. Will Power
  4. Josef Newgarden
  5. Scott Dixon
  6. Sebastien Bourdais
  7. Ryan Hunter-Reay
  8. Simon Pagenaud
  9. Graham Rahal
  10. Zach Veach
  11. Marco Andretti
  12. Jordan King (R)
  13. Spencer Pigot
  14. James Hinchcliffe
  15. Ed Jones
  16. Charlie Kimball
  17. Takuma Sato
  18. Tony Kanaan
  19. Matheus Leist (R)
  20. Jack Harvey
  21. Rene Binder (R)
  22. Conor Daly
  23. Pietro Fittipaldi (R)
  24. Max Chilton
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IndyCar Mid-Ohio Preview

After a weekend off, the IndyCar paddock is back on American soil for the Honda Indy 200 at Mid-Ohio. This round marks five-to-go for the 2018 season while the championship lead is at its biggest for quite some time with Scott Dixon boasting a 62-point lead over Josef Newgarden. Even that margin is far from safe, especially in IndyCar, and a late charge from Newgarden, or any other of the top five, cannot be ruled out.

Dixon was the victor last time out on the Streets of Toronto, extending his already large championship lead after Newgarden, and pretty much all of his championship rivals, faltered in dramatic fashion. Consistency is key when it comes to winning championships and Dixon is the only driver who’s shown that so far this season, all the rest have been very up and down, going from winning to having a disaster of a weekend.

Anyway, back to Toronto and it was fairly even between the two manufactures of Honda and Chevrolet with a Honda win but an equal distribution of the cars throughout the field – something we’ve become accustomed to seeing in the universal aero kit era.

Dixon may have had it all his own way at Toronto however, it was a Newgarden show at Mid-Ohio last year with the Penske driver dominating the race after starting second. Will Power completed the Penske 1-2 with only Graham Rahal standing in the way of it being a Penske 1-2-3 – a level of dominance that is now a distant memory. The 2.258-mile road course has often been classed as a Chevrolet track, but the form book has already been chucked out the window for this season, given how much has changed regulation-wise.

What the track does bring is a very narrow racing line which can make it harder to overtake than usual however, the overtakes that do happen are sensational to watch. It’s also a track that can punish any minor mistakes harshly, despite the walls being quite some distance from the track, and the tricky pit entry nearly always causes problems.

The next two races may be ovals but, for now, we’re sticking to the road courses which means the usual grouped qualifying format, eventually culminating into the Firestone Fast Six.

There are a number of notable driver changes this weekend, some expected but some not so. Pietro Fittipaldi makes his much-anticipated return to IndyCar after his leg-breaking crash at the WEC 6 Hours of Spa outing. He will take the wheel of the #19 Dale Coyne for only the second time after a combination of Zachary Claman De Melo and Santino Ferrucci filling in for where Fittipaldi was supposed to race.

Both Jordan King and Rene Binder are staying in the respective cars while Jack Harvey is back in the #60 Schmidt Peterson/Shank Racing machine for the first time since the Indy 500. Also staying put is Conor Daly who, after delivering Harding’s best result in his first race with the team, has been kept on for another race at the expense of Gabby Chaves while the team asses their options for next season.

Josef Newgarden, driver of the #2 PPG Automotive Finishes Team Penske IndyCar Chevrolet V6, celebrates his victory Sunday July 30, 2017, after winning the Verizon IndyCar Series Honda Indy 200 race at Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course in Lexington, Ohio. (Photo by Scott R. LePage/LAT for Chevy Racing)

Heading into this weekend, there are some drivers who you’d expect to be strong and others who desperately need a good weekend to stay in realistic championship contention. As a five-time winner at Mid-Ohio, you’d expect Dixon to be up there, along with last year’s winner Newgarden. The other three title contenders – Alexander Rossi, Ryan Hunter-Reay and Power – need good weekends to prevent the remainder of the season becoming a Dixon/Newgarden dogfight.

Each weekend is becoming more and more pivotal in the championship, so you really don’t want to miss the action! Practice is being streamed as usual but qualifying is not this weekend while the race is being shown on BT Sport/ESPN. The whole Mazda Road to Indy programme is also in tow for Mid-Ohio and, with those three series approaching season’s end, they are certainly ones to watch on IndyCar’s streaming channels. If you want to catch the action this weekend, the timings, in BST, are as follows…

Friday

Practice 1 – 4:00pm
Practice 2 – 7:35pm

Saturday

Practice 3 – 3:00pm
Qualifying – 6:30pm

Sunday

Race – 8:00pm

Featured image courtesy of Scott R. LePage/LAT for Chevy Racing

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IndyCar announces returns to Laguna Seca after fourteen-year absence

Well it’s been rumoured around the paddock for weeks, if not months, and became the worst kept secret in IndyCar but now it’s official: IndyCar are making their much-anticipated return to Laguna Seca.

The deal jumped through its final hoop after being approved by the County Board, something that was widely expected, and means that the series will return to the venue that held regular races from 1983 to 2004.

One of the most notable parts of the deal is Laguna’s position on the calendar; the race will take Sonoma’s spot as the season finale which has only fuelled speculation that the Sonoma race will not be present on the 2019 calendar. This, however, remains to be seen as the rest of the IndyCar schedule has not yet been announced, although the series organisers say that the reveal is impending.

Mario Andretti at Laguna Seca, 1991. Image courtesy of Stuart Seeger

Another point to pick out in the deal is its length – IndyCar have signed up for at least the next three years at the track with the finale position being confirmed for 2019 but not, as of yet at least, for the other two. This decision, if not already made, will probably hinge on the show that Laguna puts on for 2019 but, if the hype’s anything to go by, that shouldn’t be a worry.

The most famous feature of the 2.2-mile circuit is, of course, the Corkscrew which has seen a wealth of showstopping overtakes across all series that have, or still do, race there. From Valentino Rossi on Casey Stoner to IndyCar’s own Alex Zanardi on Byran Herta and many more; that corner has certainly seen a lot of action of the years!

The announcement has been given a very warm reception by the IndyCar drivers, teams and fans alike with many already reminiscing about old Laguna memories while also excited to jump at the chance of making more.

We’ll have to wait until next year to finally have an IndyCar turn a wheel at the legendary track but that wait is certainly worth it, the end to the Laguna absence is in sight.

Videos are courtesy of Indycar.

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IndyCar Toronto Report: Dixon’s dream, rivals nightmare

While his title rivals faltered all around him, it was Scott Dixon who reigned supreme on the streets of Toronto to nearly double his championship lead, now standing at 62 points over defending champion Josef Newgarden. The #9 Chip Ganassi driver got lucky to get into the lead but once he was there, he never looked back.

Scott Dixon. Indycar 2018: Round Twelve – Toronto, Canada. Image courtesy of Hondanews.eu

Dixon did not start on pole, that accolade went to Newgarden, and spent the first half of the race in a firm second, occasionally challenging but ultimately looking like the lesser force of the two. Teammate Ed Jones did his bit to reduce Newgarden’s advantage; after a problem in the pit stops, he’d come out just ahead of the leading duo and made Newgarden’s life very difficult, allowing Dixon to close up but not pass. However, the complexion of the race changed drastically when, on the first restart, Newgarden got onto the marbles, going wide, hitting the wall and damaging his suspension – handing Dixon the lead and eventually the victory. Gifted or not, this was a very important one for Dixon who now boasts a large, but not insurmountable, championship lead.

Josef Newgarden. Image courtesy of Jake Galstad/LAT for Chevy Racing

On a day of struggles for all of Dixon’s rivals, the most self-inflicted pain probably came from Newgarden after he was entirely at fault for his wide moment that completely ruined his race. Following this, the defending champion was dropped down to thirteenth and then dropped further when he had to pit to repair the damage that the incident had caused. Newgarden found himself battling through the pack with a familiar face in Alexander Rossi, who’d had his own troubles, and managed to get up to ninth in what became a damage limitation race. He may have lost a lot of ground, but the #1 Penske driver refuses to lose hope of defending the #1.

Rossi, as previously mentioned, had his own problems – two incidents in fact, both of which left his car damaged and meant that he got through three front wings during the race. After fighting with Takuma Sato in the early stages of the race, Rossi had caught up to the back of Will Power and was clearly the faster of the two. On the back straight, Rossi went for an overtaking manoeuvre which was just about on however, Rossi misjudged the speed differential between the two and clipped Power’s rear left, breaking his front wing and causing some damage to Power’s suspension. This dropped Rossi down the order, but things were about to get worse.

On the second restart Graham Rahal locked up into Turn 1 and hit the back of Max Chilton before spinning and tangling with Ryan Hunter-Reay who in turn clipped the rear of Rossi’s car, sending the #27 Andretti flying and causing extensive damage to the floor of the car. Even through all that, Rossi managed to finish in a respectable position, coming come in eighth and ahead of Newgarden, gaining ground on him in the championship but all the while losing ground on Dixon.

With Newgarden and Power’s troubles, the latter of whom got caught up in the Rahal collision, it was Simon Pagenaud who was left to fly the Penske flag, finishing in his equal best result of the season in second. After the restart melee, Pagenaud found himself in third, just behind Robert Wickens who held second but that was about to change. Wickens came into the pits first and had a poor out lap, giving Pagenaud the opportunity to overcut him and, despite some fighting on the Frenchman’s out-lap, that was achieved. There was a bit of wheel-banging and Wickens very nearly ended in the wall but both drivers managed to get through it, declaring that there were no hard feelings after the race.

For Wickens, his impressive, season-long, run of form continues with a home podium that he was delighted to stand on, especially given that most his family were in attendance. In fact, it was another good race for the whole Schmidt Peterson team with Wickens in third and last week’s winner, James Hinchcliffe, in fourth – both drivers solidly in the top five is a decent result for the self-proclaimed ‘Team Canada’.

Perhaps one of the surprises of the race was Carlin’s Charlie Kimball who came home in fifth, after challenging Hinchcliffe for fourth in the latter stages of the race. This marks the best result so far for Carlin, who are new to IndyCar this season, and is Kimball’s best result since the 2016 Indy 500. Kimball’s teammate, Chilton, was less fortunate, ending as an innocent party in Rahal’s collision but even so, it was a brilliant weekend for the British team.

Charlie Kimball at Toronto 2018. Image courtesy of Phillip Abbott/LAT for Chevy Racing

Another surprise was who took the accolade of top Andretti; normally this is swapped between Rossi and Hunter-Reay with Marco Andretti and rookie Zach Veach not getting a look in, but it was in fact Veach who came out on top after various incidents for the others. Hunter-Reay had driven into the tyre barriers at the same time that Rossi had driven into Power which all amounted to the first caution before both of them were caught up in the Rahal restart collision. For a long time, it looked like Andretti was going to get a near season best finish of fifth however, there was a miscalculation on the fuel numbers which meant that the American had to come in at the end of the penultimate lap for a splash and dash, dropping him down the order and leaving Veach to claim the position of top Andretti in seventh.

The last mention goes to IndyCar returnee Conor Daly who qualified in a near season’s best for Harding in eleventh (only second to Gabby Chaves’ eighth at St Petersburg) before racing to a season’s best finish of thirteenth. Given that was his first race for Harding and only second of the season (the Indy 500 with Dale Coyne being the first), it was an amazing performance from Daly who is now firmly in the frame for a seat that he so richly deserves next season.

With the only international round of the season done, IndyCar are heading back to American soil with the next race at Mid-Ohio after a weekend off.

Full Race Result:

  1. Scott Dixon
  2. Simon Pagenaud
  3. Robert Wickens (R)
  4. James Hinchcliffe
  5. Charlie Kimball
  6. Tony Kanaan
  7. Zach Veach (R)
  8. Alexander Rossi
  9. Josef Newgarden
  10. Marco Andretti
  11. Jordan King (R)
  12. Ed Jones
  13. Conor Daly
  14. Zachary Claman De Melo (R)
  15. Matheus Leist (R)
  16. Ryan Hunter-Reay
  17. Rene Binder (R)
  18. Will Power
  19. Sebastien Bourdais

DNF – Spencer Pigot, Graham Rahal, Takuma Sato, Max Chilton

Featured image courtesy of by Phillip Abbott/LAT for Chevy Racing

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IndyCar Toronto Preview

Well, football may not be coming home but, for the three Canadians on the grid, IndyCar certainly is! Those three are last week’s winner James Hinchcliffe, his Schmidt Peterson teammate Robert Wickens and the often forgotten but highly rated Zachary Claman De Melo. Toronto marks round twelve of seventeen, meaning that there will be just five rounds remaining once this weekend has run its course, so the championship is really starting to get serious.

Last time out was at the ‘world’s fastest short track’ at Iowa which is a sharp contrast to the bumpy streets of Toronto for IndyCar’s only non-American round of the year. Back to Iowa for a minute and it was Hinchcliffe who stole the show from Josef Newgarden, who’d looked dominant throughout the weekend. The hardest blow for Newgarden was not being passed by the afore mentioned Canadian on track but the strategic blunder that robbed him of a certain second place and a stab at the victory on the restart. Simple though the situation seemed, the decision whether to pit or not was an incredibly tough call to make, mainly due how late in the race the last caution was.

Indycar 2018: Round Eleven – Iowa Speedway, Iowa. Image courtesy of Hondanews.eu

Normally, the rule to go by is: if there’s a caution, always pit however, since the race didn’t restart, track position became more important than pace so those who didn’t pit were rewarded while the others were punished. This made for an interesting podium of Hinchcliffe, Spencer Pigot and Takuma Sato – certainly not you’d put money on going into the weekend but then that’s the joy of IndyCar this season!

The 2017 Honda Indy Toronto race was won by a Chevrolet, more specifically the then champion-in-waiting Newgarden who trounced the field, leading more than double the laps of anyone else. Following him home were the Honda duo of Alexander Rossi and home hero Hinchcliffe, somewhat restoring the Honda pride at their own race. The pole sitter last year was Simon Pagenaud who didn’t last very long in the lead, being overtaken by Penske teammate Helio Castroneves before the first corner which shows that pole isn’t everything! The other Penske of Will Power was as unfortunate as ever, tangling with Chip Ganassi’s Scott Dixon on the opening lap – ruining both their races.

Castroneves was somewhat robbed of the win by a conveniently timed caution for Newgarden after Tony Kanaan hit the barriers; Newgarden was in the pits just as it happened whereas everyone else had to pit under caution, giving the American all-important track position.

Looking ahead to this year, we have three driver changes to speak of – two scheduled and one less so. Jordan King is back in the #20 Ed Carpenter Racing entry, taking over from the boss as usual while Juncos are back, this time with Rene Binder. The other change is at Harding where Conor Daly takes the wheel from Gabby Chaves as the team asses their options for a second driver next year, reassuring Chaves that he’s not going to be done out of drive.

Scott Dixon at 2017 Round Eleven: Ontario, Canada

I sound like a broken record saying that it’s hard to predict who will be strong but that’s the truth! The home boys have always run well here while Penske, Andretti, Chip Ganassi and co should be up there as normal. What I can say is that the championship is getting tighter with Dixon’s lead reduced to 33 points and, when there’s 50 on offer for a win, that’s not a lot. Newgarden is the man is second while Rossi is close behind in third with those three looking to be the ones to watch – not to discount Ryan Hunter-Reay and Power.

The practice and qualifying action, of which there is plenty, is being streamed by IndyCar as usual, along with all the Indy Lights, Pro Mazda and USF2000 action with the full Mazda Road to Indy programme in tow this weekend. BT Sport 2 have the Toronto race and there will be full commentary on our Twitter account for both qualifying and the race.

If you’re looking to catch any of the action, your timings for the weekend are as follows:

Friday

Practice 1 – 3:40pm
Practice 2 – 7:30pm

Saturday

Practice 3 – 2:50pm
Qualifying – 6:55pm

Sunday

Final Warmup – 4:40pm
Race – 8:30pm

(All times BST)

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IndyCar Iowa Report: Hinchcliffe shocks Newgarden to take Iowa win

Indycar 2018: Round Eleven – Iowa Speedway, Iowa.Image courtesy of Hondanews.eu

Josef Newgarden thought, for the majority of the race, that he’d be able to repeat his 2016 Iowa triumph with Ed Carpenter Racing, but James Hinchcliffe had different ideas, looking back to 2013 instead, taking his sixth career win and first of the season. This race showcased exactly why the universal aero kit was brought in – close, clean racing where driver skill (and bravery) is key.

After a torrid Month of May and general struggles throughout the season, Hinchcliffe was very relieved to finally get a win on the board, and a convincing one at that. Qualifying in eleventh was a bit of a disappointment but, by Lap 20, the Canadian had already made his way up to sixth before progressing further and showing himself as the only real challenger to Newgarden.

Once he’d wrestled the lead off Newgarden after the #1 driver got caught up in traffic, namely his own Penske teammate Will Power, Hinchcliffe’s biggest test was the final caution which came out with seven laps to go. It was touch-and-go as to whether they’d go green again which meant the decision whether to pit or not was a tough one; if the race was restarted, fresh tyres were practically compulsory but, if it didn’t restart, track position was king. Ultimately, the race was not restarted and Hinchcliffe’s call to stay out was the correct one, but it could’ve so easily been so different.

Indycar 2018: Round Eleven – Iowa Speedway, Iowa. Image courtesy of Hondanews.eu

One driver to get that crucial call wrong was long time leader Newgarden who, after leading 229 of the 300 laps, found himself down in fourth by the time the chequered flag emerged. Up until the last fifty laps or so, Newgarden looked to be in a race of his own and a class of one, heading for a repeat of 2016 where he scored his final win for Ed Carpenter Racing before moving to Penske. After the last scheduled stops, Newgarden had started to show some concern about Hinchcliffe but the win still looked to be his – that slight overconfidence may have been his undoing.

Hinchcliffe breezed past Newgarden, leaving the defending champion surprised and rather confused on the radio so when, with the final caution, he saw an opportunity to retake the lead, he leaped on it. The proximity to the end of the race should’ve been a clue that his gamble wouldn’t pay off but, with the huge advantage that the fresher tyres had, it seemed like a no-brainer at the time. Still, with championship leader Scott Dixon down in twelfth, Newgarden leaves Iowa with a much reduced 33-point deficit.

Ed Carpenter Racing scored a podium last year at Iowa with JR Hildebrand and they repeated that feat again this year, this time with Spencer Pigot. It was in fact Pigot’s first time at Iowa as he’d previously been in Jordan King’s position, sharing the #20 car and only doing road courses, which made this second-place and career best finish all the more impressive. A podium looked out of reach for Pigot until the final caution where he, like Hinchcliffe, stayed out and benefitted from both Newgarden and Robert Wickens pitting from podium places, leaving the young American in second.

It was a similar story for Takuma Sato who came home third, despite late contact with Ed Carpenter that caused the final caution in the first place. Carpenter had got it all a bit wrong and was about to spin when Sato, left with nowhere else to go, hit his front wing and actually straightened him up, saving Carpenter from hitting the wall. This contact, however, had left a sizeable piece of debris on track that had to be cleared which is what brought out the all-important caution. Sato, like most others, didn’t pit and was rewarded with his first podium of the year and only the second for Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing.

One of the major disappointments from the race was the performance, or lack thereof, from the Andretti team. Ryan Hunter-Reay’s race looked promising but was troubled from start with radio issues meaning he could hear the team, but they couldn’t hear him however, suspension problems put an end to his race with just under 20 laps to go. Alexander Rossi’s race was all but ruined when he failed to get away from his first stop, stalling and costing himself two laps while Marco Andretti just lacked any sort of pace all day. The team’s rookie Zach Veach looked to be on for the team’s best result for a long time, even after a pit stop fire but a small brush with the wall brought out the first caution and left him over twenty laps down, just out there to gain experience.

Another let down was the poor pace shown by championship leader Scott Dixon whose 45-point lead is now a diminished 33. After starting sixth, Dixon had soon dropped down to the brink of the top 10 before being lapped by then race leader Newgarden and falling a further two positions, ending the race in twelfth. While not a disaster, that result has put a dent in Dixon’s championship campaign. The same could be said for pole sitter Power who also struggled and lacked pace, ending sixth and meaning he now sits in fifth, 53 points off a lead he once held.

The races are coming thick and fast from now to the season’s conclusion in September with only six races left before the 2018 champion is crowned. Next up is Toronto which is this coming weekend and, with three home drivers, it’s as important as ever.

Full Race Result:

  1. James Hinchcliffe
  2. Spencer Pigot
  3. Takuma Sato
  4. Josef Newgarden
  5. Robert Wickens (R)
  6. Will Power
  7. Graham Rahal
  8. Simon Pagenaud
  9. Alexander Rossi
  10. Ed Carpenter
  11. Sebastien Bourdais
  12. Scott Dixon
  13. Ed Jones
  14. Charlie Kimball
  15. Max Chilton
  16. Marco Andretti
  17. Tony Kanaan
  18. Zachary Claman De Melo (R)

DNF – Ryan Hunter-Reay, Zach Veach (R), Gabby Chaves, Matheus Leist (R)

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