Category: Auto Racing

Dixon Leads Practice One; Turn 11 Proves Tricky

thepitwindow

Scott Dixon led the first practice session for the Honda Indy Toronto this morning. His lap of 1:01.072 was nearly two tenths better than Josef Newgarden’s best time. Dixon’s teammate Felix Rosenqvist was third quickest. and Alexander Rossi was fourth. This is the NTT Indycar Series’ first race since Road America June 23.

Newgarden, Will Power, and Takuma Sato each spun on the exit of turn 11 causing stoppages to the session.  Newgarden bent the rear tow link in his incident. Ther is an expoxy patch in the center of the road just past the turn’s apex. if the car straddles the patch, no problem. If the tires touch it, there could be an issue.

Rossi led the session until the last five minutes when Dixon passed him. Rossi’s final attempt at a decent lap was frustrated by his being behind another car, then not not having enough tires left for a quicker lap.

Notes

It’s difficult to get used to Sebastien  Bourdais in a blue car.

Karam’s car reminds me of Paul Dana’s car.

Turn three seems even trickier than it has been.

The next practice begins at 3:15 eastern. You can watch on NBC Gold. The coverage this morning was excellent.

The top 12:

Screenshot_20190712-121925

 

Toronto Preview

thepitwindow

Photo from Alexander Rossi’s Twitter feed

Summer break is over. The NTT Indycar series points battle returns this weekend in Toronto. This is the 34th running of the series on the streets of Exhibition Place. The event began in 1986 and except for 2008 has run continuously.  The weekend has the feel of the Indianapolis 500 to it. The course layout has changed over the years  due to construction. It is a narrow track which makes qualifying very important and  perfect pit stops almost mandatory.

We are near the point of the season where a good points finish matters almost as much, if not more, than winning. Josef Newgarden leads Alexander Rossi by just seven points. Simon Pagenaud is 61points behind, and Scott Dixon trails by 94. Of the top four Rossi and Dixon are the two who most need to win Sunday. Rossi needs the victory to tie Newgarden with firsts this season.  Rossi would then hold the tiebreaker with three second place finishes should he and Newgarden end the season tied.

Dixon’s only chance to defend his series title is to win as many of the seven races left as he can. A deficit of nearly 100 points is difficult to make up, but Dixon is known for his second half strength.  Toronto was the last of his three victories last season. Dixon has won at Toronto three times. He swept the double header here in 2013.

Team Penske drivers Newgarden and Will Power have won three of the last four races and three of the last four poles. newgarden has won twice. Power, Newgarden, and Pagenaud have each won a Toronto pole since 2015. Dixon broke up the Penske pole party in 2016.  Since 2009 only Dario Franchitti (2009), Dixon (2013), and Sebastien Bourdais (2014)  have won the race from the pole.

The Honda Indy Toronto race has never been caution free. I don’t think Sunday’s race will break that tradition.  Pit strategy will be a big factor in the race. Newgarden and Tim Cindric have won three times this season playing pit strategy  perfectly. The breaks could fall their way again. In Rossi’s dominant win at Road America, his last pit stop was earlier than the first two. In other races Rossi had seemed to stick to a plan regardless of the situation. That early stop might mean the team is going to be more flexible should the situation warrant.

Qualifying is key at Toronto. The winner will likely come from the Firestone fast Six group.  In 2001 Michael Andretti won from 13th, the farthest back the winner has started. Newgarden started from the pole last year and seemed to be in control of the race. He went wide on a restart and hit the inside wall, allowing Dixon to take the lead and the victory.

Spotlight on the Canadian Duo

A Canadian will triumph before the race begins. Robert Wickens, severely injured in a crash at pocono last August, will drive the parade lap in a modified Acura NSX. Wickens has worked extremely hard on his recovery. He is still a long way from competing again, but his progress has been amazing. This might be the most watched parade lap in series history.

Note to NBC: We’ve seen the crash; we don’t need to see it Sunday. Thanks in advance.

Hometown hero James Hinchcliffe, Wickens teammate,  just missed the podium last year, finishing fourth. He has been on the podium  here, but has had some mixed results. A Hinchcliffe win would cap an amazing day for the two Canadian drivers.

Don’t Bet Against the Front Runners

Newgarden has won two street races on strategy. Rossi has won one in a powerful statement race, although that turned out to be a preview of Road America. Rossi also has finished second on a street course. Toronto is similar to Detroit, where Rossi and Newgarden made up the front row.

I think the race comes down to a battle between these two, but I also wouldn’t count out Pagenaud or Dixon. Last year there were three full course yellows, all in the first half of the race. A late yellow coukld completely change the complexion of the race.

I’m going with Rossi to make it two wins in a row. In 2018 Rossi won back to back races at Mid Ohio and Pocono.

 

 

 

Ferrucci, Chase Briscoe Promote Iowa with Habitat Project

thepitwindow

From Iowa Speedway:

VIDEO NEWS RELEASE: NASCAR and INDYCAR Drivers Build Home with Greater Des Moines Habitat for Humanity

Drivers pitched in to help a future Habitat family to kick off Iowa Speedweek

NEWTON, Iowa (July 9, 2019) – NASCAR Xfinity Series driver Chase Briscoe and NTT IndyCar Series rookie sensation Santino Ferrucci joined Iowa Speedway staff and the Greater Des Moines Habitat for Humanity for a day of rehabilitating a home on Des Moines’ northside. The Greater Des Moines Habitat for Humanity is a nonprofit, all-embracing Christian ministry committed to improving homes and facilities for disadvantaged families.

The drivers were in town to promote Iowa Speedway’s first ever back-to-back race weekends – Iowa Speedweek – featuring the NTT IndyCar Series Iowa 300 on July 20 and culminating with the NASCAR Xfinity Series U.S. Cellular 250 on July 27.

Download b-roll and interviews via direct video link courtesy of Luminary Creative – Des Moines, Iowa: http://bit.ly/HabitatIowa

 

 

Wickens to Drive Parade Lap at Toronto

thepitwindow

Big news from Robert Wickens this morning.  It will be great to see him behind the wheel. I hope we don’t have to see numerous replays of the crash beforehand on NBCSN.  Back later with some thoughts on other things.

McLaren/Alonso Split- Thoughts

thepitwindow

Motorsport Magazine reports this morning that McLaren and Fernando Alonso have parted company. The separation is believed to be amicable.

“We have no plans to run him in any further F1 test sessions this year…He is free to pursue other opportunities in motorsport and we support him doing so,” a McLaren spokesman said.

Alonso has had an off and on relationship with McLaren since his first season with them in 2007, when he complained of the team giving preferential treatment to Lewis Hamilton. When he returned to McLaren for the  2015 season, Alonso complained loudly and often about the uncompetitive Honda engine.

This past May at Indianapolis Alonso and McLaren failed to qualify for the Indianapolis 500 after a series of missteps by the team.

Where does Alonso go from here? If he wants to pursue the triple crown Alonso will need to find an existing team. Will it need to be Chevy team? I’m not sure. it seemed Honda was less happy with McLaren than Alonso.  He will also need to bring a lot of money.

I believe his commitment to Toyota in WEC ends after this season as well.  Alonso has talked of racing in virtually every major series in the world, so I wouldn’t be surprised to see him doing a bunch of one-offs. We might see him in the Daytona 500 next year as well as the Indianapolis 500.  Perhaps a couple more races with Wayne Taylor Racing are in the cards.

I would like to see  Alonso try a couple of Indycar road races, especially road America and Laguna Seca. While McLaren may eventually come to the NTT Indycar sreries full time, I see Alonso just running selected races.

We know wherever he races there will be crowds of fans and press following him.

1946- The Rebirth

thepitwindow2 Comments

It was my best find yet at the memorabilia show the day the day before the 500- a 1946 program with a starting lineup insert for less than $50.  My goal is to collect all programs beginning with the year I was born, which was 1946. That there is a program for that year, let alone a race, is nothing short of a miracle.

Tony Hulman had purchased the track from Eddie Rickenbacker the previous November at the urging of Wilbur Shaw.  From the November 14, 1945, story in the Indianapolis Star, Hulman appointed Shaw president and general manager and announced work would begin immediately to get the track ready for next year’s race. There was a lot of work to do.

The grandstands had deteriorated. Brush and shrubs hid many of the garages, and trees had grown on the track.  Weeds sprouted from the bricks on the front and back straights. I imagine the Pagoda also needed some repairs.

My biggest shock about the program is that it didn’t seem to celebrate the achievements of the previous six months.  It is a straightforward program as if the last race was the year before. There are some congratulatory notes from advertisers, but nothing that screams, “We’re back!” I want to get a 1947 program to see how it depicts this race.  Some of the welcome back ads are below:

wp-15620161401582926537753510389030.jpg

wp-1562016059552909034344198444679.jpg

And this modest note from the Speedway:

wp-15620160993036258690579498357566.jpg

The subdued tone sounds like Tony Hulman.

The program contains ads for three different spark plug brands- Blue Crown, Champion, and Bowes Seal Fast. I did not know Bowes made spark plugs.  Bowes Seal Fast and Blue Crown sponsored multiple winning cars over the years.

The Speedway staff page showed some very young looking people, who you see age as you look through later programs:

wp-15620162996116139192734237856214.jpg

The Order of the Day page shows little pre- race ceremony. At 8:30 am a parade of vintage cars preceded the national anthem and a salute to “Our Soldier Dead.” Cars lined up at 9:35 and twelve minutes later the cars rolled off for the pace lap.

My favorite picture in the program is this one of the Pagoda. i assume it’s from 1940 or 1941 and is before the start of the race. It is one the closest, clearest shots of the old Pagoda I’ve seen.

wp-15620161899448071452016301417772.jpg

One other interesting feature that did not continue in future years- in addition to the  race statistics of all previous races, there is a separate section with photos of the winning cars and drivers. I like that this gives a clearer view of the winners and their cars, rather than the tiny photos with each race summary we see today.

The starting lineup sheet has a different look. Apparently the lineup sheet was printed before cars finished qualifying. Only 19 cars are listed as starters. Below is a list of drivers listed as possible starters subject to qualifications after May 25. Some drivers who hadn’t qualified by the time of publication are Duke Nalon, Ralph Hepburn, Henry Banks, and Shorty Cantlon. They all made the race.  Nalon was part of the Maserati team.

Race day saw huge traffic jams as fans returned in larger numbers than expected.  George Robson won the race, leading 138 laps. Only nine cars were running at the finish.

The IMS facility today is a product of the humble beginnings of this first post war race. I have seen more of this develop than I care to admit.

 

Updated: O’Ward Makes it Official

thepitwindow

Update: O’Ward finished 14th in today’s F2 sprint race.

A tweet from Pato O’Ward:

I hope he does well. Red Bull doesn’t seem to show much patience with drivers who don’t produce.  Sad that Indycar loses such a great young talent, but it’s neither the first nor last time this will happen.

Indycar Drivers’ European Vacations

thepitwindow

Above: Pato O’Ward at Road America last week.

Indycar began a three week summer break after Road America last weekend. The Series returns to action in Toronto July 14.  What do drivers do in their weeks off?  They go to Europe. One may not return. It’s complicated, and we’ll discuss that last.

The week before the REV Group Grand Prix Scott Dixon and Sebastien Bourdais went to Le Mans to participate in the 24 hour race for Chip Ganassi’s Ford GT teams. It was the last Le Mans for this car. Ford is shutting the GT program down. My hope is that they return in another class, preferably the prototypes.

This coming week (July already? Really/) Marcus Ericsson will participate in a Pirelli tire test in Austria on Tuesday.  Ericsson is still a reserve driver for Alfa Romeo. When the Indycar season ends he will spend more time at the remaining F1 races.

RA19 062
Ericsson heading to Turn 14 at Road America

O’Ward Fills in for Banned Driver; Japan Next?

Pato O’Ward’s weird itinerant season continues. This weekend he is driving for MP Motorsport in Formula 2 in Austria. O’Ward replaces Mahaveer Raganathan, who accumulated enough penalty points to earn a one race suspension. Jordan King is O’Ward’s teammate this weekend. O’Ward qualified 17th Friday, one second off the pole speed and just 0.25 seconds slower than the more experienced King. It was O’Ward’s first time in this type of car, first time at this track, and of course first time on this particular tire.  Overall, he did a great job.

F2 runs two races this weekend, a race on Saturday which includes a pit stop, and a sprint race on Sunday.i am anxious to see how Pato does in the two events.

News from japan’s Super Formula that Dan Ticktum is losing his Red Bull backed ride has led to speculation that O’Ward will finish the season there. Nothing is confirmed. Ticktum has scored just 1 point this season. His teammmate has out performed him significantly.

Since O’Ward is under contract to Red Bull, he may complete his season there. That would be a big loss to Indycar, which thought they had a rising star. Considering Ticktum’s struggles, this may be a difficult situation for O’Ward. doesn’t work out, will there still be room for him back in Indycar? Let’s hope so.

I’ll be back next week with a look at another past Indianapolis 500 program.