Long Beach Grand Prix Starting Lineup
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O’Ward Tops Tight Long Beach Practice 1
Photo by Kyle McInnes
Pato O’Ward ended up with the fastest lap in a tightly bunched practice session to kick off the Grand prix of Long Beach weekend. O’Ward’s lap of 1:06.6874 in his 10 minute segment nipped Will Power by nine hundredths of a second. The top fifteen cars were separated by less than one second.
The three Team Penske teammates finished second (Power), third (Scott McLaughlin), and fifth (Josef Newgarden).
Felix Rosenqvist continued his early season strength with a fourth place result.
2023 race winner Kyle Kirkwood came back from gearbox issues early in the session to finish the day eighth quickest.
Notes
The split segment format- 45 minutes all cars followed by two 10 minute segments for half the field-seemed to be much smoother and less confusing than the schedule Indycar used at St. Pete. I’m interested to hear what the drivers thought of it. It definitely looked better on television.
From what I could tell, the new aeroscreen appears to be sleeker than the original screen. It did not look as large from the head on shots.
Chevrolet had seven of the top 10 speeds. Christian Lundgaard and Kirkwood were the other Hondas after Rosenqvist in the top 10.
Theo Pourchaire had an impressive Indycar debut, finishing his first ever session in 21st.
Colton Herta was near the top most of the afternoon, but a vibration in the second part of practice prevented his getting a clean lap on the alternate tires.
Results
PREMA Enters Indycar with Eyes Wide Open
Photo: From left-Piers Phillips, Rene Rosin, Jay Frye
“Everything is on the table,” according to PREMA principal Rene Rosin at a media conference this morning. The European team will enter a two car team in the NTT Indycar Series in 2025 powered by Chevrolet engines.,
PREMA has won80m championships in various European series in their 40 y=ears . Marcus Ericsson, Felix Rosenqvist, and Callum Ilott all drove for PRFEMA.
“Piers Phillips, who has worked in Indycar before, will the CEO of the Indycar operation. He looks forward to combining his Indycar and European experiences to create a new team. Phillipos has worked for Rahal and Schmidt.
“Oh, the first thing that excited me is obviously working with Rene and his team preeminently what a wonderful opportunity to be part of such a fabulous organization with such an amazing history. The challenge is something we all live for, you know. Anybody that’s a race that gets out of bed to go win and you know, the challenge of LeMans or the challenge that’s associated with that. But, you know, for me, starting from what is effectively a blank pitch Yeah. And being able to incorporate what I know from my time here in the US and this amazing championship, and my previous experience, and obviously the premier experience from Europe, being able to blend that and really produce a, you know, a different sort of culture and a really progressive thinking organization along with, you know, our partners at Chevrolet really excites me by putting a consistently competitive team together.”
Jay Frye commented that a 29 car grid is a problem Indycar needs to solve as some tracks may not be able to accommodate that many cars. Frye sais, “That’s a good problem to have.”
PREMA is open to all possibilities and has not made decisions about drivers, personnel, or whether to form a technical partnership with an established team.
I think PREMA will be a great addition to Indycar. The team adds international prestige to the series and enhances IndyCar’s credibility. The team is entering the series with a realistic approach, and with a CEO who has Indycar experience.
Rowe, D’Orlando Head Indy NXT at Chris Griffis Memorial Test
From Indycar:
The Chris Griffis Memorial Test is scheduled for Friday, Oct. 20, on the Indianapolis Motor Speedway road course.
INDY NXT by Firestone drivers will turn laps on the 14-turn, 2.439-mile circuit from 9 a.m.-4 p.m. ET,
The open test is named in memory of Chris Griffis, the team manager of Schmidt Peterson Motorsports who passed away suddenly in September 2011.
Live timing and scoring of the test will be available at racecontrol.indycar.com
Entry list
Notes
The Road to Indy will be on track for testing Saturday and Sunday.
INDYCAR Announces 14-Race2024 INDY NXT by Firestone Schedule
From Indycar:
INDIANAPOLIS (Wednesday, Oct. 4, 2023) – INDYCAR has announced a 14-race schedule for the 2024 INDY NXT by Firestone season, with another oval added to even better prepare drivers for the diverse skills required in NTT INDYCAR SERIES competition.One of the highlights of the schedule is a return to the Milwaukee Mile on Saturday, Aug. 31. It’s the first time INDYCAR’s development series has raced at the historic 1-mile oval at Wisconsin State Fairgrounds Park in West Allis, Wisconsin, since 2015. There are three exciting oval races on the 2024 schedule, including events July 13 at Iowa Speedway in Newton, Iowa, and Aug. 17 at World Wide Technology Raceway in Madison, Illinois. Three of the final five events of the season will be on ovals, placing more importance on success in this discipline as the race for the championship reaches its climax. The 2024 season opens Sunday, March 10 on the Streets of St. Petersburg, Florida, with the champion being crowned Sunday, Sept. 15 on the Streets of Nashville, Tennessee, which will host the season-ending event for the first time. There also are two doubleheader weekends, May 10-11 on the Indianapolis Motor Speedway road course and June 22-23 at WeatherTech Raceway Laguna Seca in Monterey, California. “The 2024 INDY NXT by Firestone schedule builds on the growth and success of the 2023 season,” said Levi Jones, INDY NXT by Firestone series director. “We enjoyed great competition among a growing field of 17 to 19 cars at nearly every event, with a talented group of drivers from all over the world.” All 14 races will take place during NTT INDYCAR SERIES event weekends. That will further integrate INDY NXT by Firestone teams and drivers into the INDYCAR paddock.Every race will be streamed live on Peacock, with live coverage of practice and qualifying available on INDYCAR LIVE. The INDYCAR Radio Network again will provide audio coverage of all INDY NXT by Firestone sessions in 2024 via SiriusXM Channel 160 and the INDYCAR App powered by NTT DATA. The schedule was released after a banner 2023 season for INDY NXT by Firestone. Besides an average car count of 18 starters, the most since 2009, 14 different drivers finished on the podium – twice as many as in 2022. A total of 25 drivers competed in at least one race last season, an increase of eight over 2022. On-track action also was breathtaking among the talented young drivers. The average number of lead changes increased 25 percent, and on-track passes for position increased 113 percent, from 651 to 1,226. The average margin of victory also tightened from 3.13 seconds to 2.59. Start times for the 2024 events will be announced at a later date. |
McLaughlin Fastest in Practice 2
Scott McLaughlin led as Penske 1-2 in Saturday’s practice at Portland. The defending race winner turned the fastest lap of the weekend, 58.1516 seconds, edging teammate Josef Newgarden by 0.1179 seconds..
Team Penske dominated the weekend in2022 and it appears they are looking to do it again.
Scott Dixon was third and points leader Alex Palou was fifth. Dixon has a slim chance of catching Palou for the title. He must win Sunday to keep his hopes alive.
Results
Revised Schedule
Here is the revised schedule for the weekend
00 – 6:30 pm INDY NXT by Firestone Practice
6:45 – 7:45 pm NTT INDYCAR SERIES Practice (60 minutes)
• Hot pit stop practice during the last thirty (30) minutes
• Teams must return one (1) set of alternate tires at the conclusion of this session
Saturday
8:00 – 8:10 pm NTT INDYCAR SERIES Group A (10 minutes)
• Teams must use WWTR Primary tires
8:15 – 8:25 pm NTT INDYCAR SERIES Group B (10 minutes)
• Teams must use WWTR Primary tires
8:25 – 8:40 pm NTT INDYCAR SERIES Driver Weigh-in
8:50 pm Green Flag INDY NXT by Firestone OUTFRONT Showdown (75 laps)
10:00 pm NTT INDYCAR SERIES Garage Close
11:30 pm INDY NXT by Firestone Garage Close
Sunday, August 27
7:00 am NTT INDYCAR SERIES Garage Opens
10:00 – 11:00 am NTT INDYCAR SERIES Qualifications (60 minutes)
12:00 pm NTT INDYCAR SERIES Pit Selection
All remaining NTT INDYCAR SERIES timing remains
WWTR Update
The latest from @Indycar_Wxman as of 1:45 pm Central time:
If tghe vrain stops around 3, track activity might begin around 5 Central
Cadillacs Top First Day 2 Test
Cadillacs led the first Saturday test round for the IMSA Weather Tech Championship at Indianapolis Motor Speedway. Sebastien Bourdais drove the Chip Ganassi Racing Cadillac to the fastest time of the two days so far with a 1:15.025 lap. Just 14 hundredths behind Bourdais was Alexander Sims in the Whelen Cadillac.
The Vasser Sulivan Lexus cars led both GTD and F+GTD Pro. Jack Hawksworth led GTD Pro with 1:24. 553 lap. Frankie Montecalvo drove the GTD Lexus to a quick time of 1:24.276.
Ben Hanley was fastest in LMP@ and Wayne Boyd was fastest bin LMP3.
Porsche again led the GS class in the Michelin Pilot Challenge test and Hyundai led the TRC class.
Results:
The Pit Window by Mike Silver 