Tag: NBC Gold

Qualifying Day at Mid Ohio

thepitwindow

Photo: Kyle McInnes

Good morning. It’s qualifying day at Mid Ohio for the Honda Indy 200.

Today’s schedule:

10:30 Practice 3     NBC Gold

2:35  Qualifying     NBCSN

Andretti Autosport has announced a media availability at 12:30 today.  Could Silly Season come to an abrupt end?

Noticed some improvements at the track yesterday. The stairs leading up to the keyhole have been replaced with a new wooden staircase. It looks nice. A new grandstand is at the exit of turn 2. I understand it was put up for the ARX event earlier this year. I might check it out during this morning’s practice.

Some questions for today:

Can Colton Herta win his second pole of the year?

Will Simon Pagenaud continue his hot streak?

Will Alexander Rossi have a better day than yesterday?

Back with a post practice wrap-up.

Dixon Fastest in Mid Ohio Practice 1

thepitwindow

Scott Dixon led the opening practice for the Honda Indy 200 at Mid Ohio. The NTT Indycar Series session ended with a mix of Hondas and Chevys in the top ten. Dixon’s best lap was 1:06.097. Spencer Pigot finished second with a 1:06.245 circuit.  Points leader Josef Newgarden was fourth quick, 0.209 seconds behind. The other championship contenders had mixed results.  Simon Pagenaud was third, 0.169 behind Dixon. Alexander Rossi ended the session 13th, more than a second down to the leader.

Jack Harvey was 11th quick in his return to the series with Meyer Shank Racing. R. C. Enerson, driving his first Indycar race in three years for Carlin Racing, was 21st. Enerson completed a session  high 24 laps.  Felix Rosenqvist was the fastest rookie. He finished eighth, 0.508 seconds off Dixon’s lap.

The next Indycar practice is at 3:15 pm EDT.

A couple more photos from this morning:

IMG_6925
Felix Rosenqvist slides to a stop between turns 4 and 5
IMG_6913
Colton Herta leads Santino Ferrucci and Max Chilton into the esses.

Welcome to Mid Ohio

thepitwindow

Greetings from Mid Ohio. As usual, the track has been busy since 8 am. The entire Road to Indy, Mazda MX5, and Stadium Super Trucks join the NTT Indycar Series this weekend.

MX5 Cup is on track now for practice.  I’m hearing that the campground is unusually full for the first day. I hope that’s a good sign for attendance.  It looks as if Sunday’s race will have the heat that Iowa’s race lost after the storm. The forecast high for race day is 90 degrees.

Today’s Indycar Schedule (All Times EDT):

Indycar Practice  1-  11;20 am

Indycar Practice 2-    3:15 pm

Both practices are on NBC Gold.

Mid Ohio is usually the weekend when some news about the next season begins trickling out. I will see what I can find out.  Back with a summary of Practice 1 sometime around 12:30.

Pagenaud Continues Title Quest with Iowa Pole

thepitwindow

Photo: Kyle McInnes

Josef Newgarden and Alexander Rossi can hear the footsteps louder now. They faded for a bit after May, but are now coming faster. Simon Pagenaud won the pole for tomorrow night’s Iowa 300, beating his Penske teammates who will start second and third. It is Pagenaud’s third pole of the season and second consecutive top staring spot.

Pagenaud snatched the pole from teammate Will Power, who posted a two, lap time of 35.8418 seconds. Pagenaud then completed his two laps in 35.7455 seconds. Newgarden was the last driver to attempt to qualify. He appeared to have trouble negotiating turn 4 and will start third Saturday.

The three Penske cars were the only cars in the 35 second range. Takuma Sato in the Rahal Letterman Lanigan Honda was the only driver besides the top three to post a single lap less than 18 seconds. Sato had just taken the provisional  pole from James Hinchcliffe before the first Penske car took the track.

Hinchcliffe had claimed the top spot from his Arrow Schmidt Peterson teammate Marcus Ericsson. Seven drivers failed to top Ericsson before Hinchcliffe’s run. Graham Rahal and Ryan Hunter-Reay eventually topped Ericsson’s time ahead of Sato qualified. Hinchcliffe, the defending race winner, starts fifth tomorrow.

Andretti Cars Lack Outright Speed

Alexander Rossi starts sixth and Ryan Hunter-Reay rolls off ninth tomorrow. Andretti Autosport has seven victories at Iowa but trail the Penske cars by half a second. The good news is the Hondas get better fuel mileage than the Chevys, although tire degradation may prevent them from taking advantage of that edge.

The caution periods will need to play out in Rossi’s favor for him to have a shot at his third win of the year.

Notes

Pagenaud said qualifying was “very intense… I’m still shaking, but that’s what Indycar is all about.”

He said he is “living in the moment” this year, focusing on the next task once the last one is finished.

The cars from Ed Carpenter Racing qualified a disappointing 17th ( Ed Carpenter) and 19th ( Spencer Pigot).

Indycar has a final practice session at 7 pm Eastern time tonight.

Qualifying Results

img_20190719_1559312372127085060601343.jpg

 

 

Iowa 300 Qualifying- Quick Thoughts

thepitwindow

Simon Pagenaud is definitely back in the title chase now. He now has three poles and three wins. The bonus points he is accumulating are helping him gain ground quickly.

The title could come down to whoever wins their fourth race of the year first.

Josef Newgarden missed turn 4 on his first qualifying lap. He seemed to brake and turn a hard right. That is the moment he lost a chance at the pole.

It was an interesting qualifying session with several drivers at the top throughout the session.

Carlin Racing had a respectable qualifying effort with Sage Karam in 14th and Conor Daly in 16th.

Pagenaud said tire degradation will be the key to the race tomorrow.

The polesitter has never won at Iowa. That is not a reason to discount Pagenaud’s chances tomorrow.

It was nice seeing the two Arrow Schmidt Peterson cars at the top of the pylon for a few minutes.

Team Penske looks formidable this weekend.

The next Chevy after the Penskes in the top three spots is Tony Kanaan in 13th.

The starters in fourth through ninth could win. Fuel strategy will be crucial for the Honda cars.

Several cars had lots of understeer.

A full story on qualifying will follow in a bit.

Final practice for the Iowa 300 is from 7-8 EDT.

 

Welcome to Iowa Speedway

thepitwindow2 Comments

Greetings from Iowa Speedway. It will be a warm, make that a hot day for the NTT Indycar Series drivers.  The temperature for the first practice  first practice at 11 EDT should be around 86 degrees. It will be 90 when qualifying takes place at 2 pm EDT and 92 degrees at 7 EDT for the final practice.

Last night it did not get dark until well after the race should be over tomorrow night.  The cars will be driving into a lowering sun about an hour into the race. I’m wondering if the start time will be adjusted after tonight’s practice.

Today’s Schedule – all times EDT

Practice 1- 11-12  NBC Gold

Qualifying  2:15  NBCSN

Final practice 7-8 NBC Gold

Something to look for is how the extra horsepower will affect lap times. Iwill be interesting to see how much the drivers lift in the turns.

St. Pete Extension

Adam Stern reported yesterday that the St. Pete race has been extended through 2024. A new four year agreement between the city and Green Savoree was reached. The current agreement expires after next year’s race.

This event has grown substantially over the past six years. My first time at St. Pete was 2013. I have noticed a big positive change in the race weekend since then.

 

I’ll be back with a first practice wrap-up later.

 

 

Pagenaud Fastest In P2; Three Drivers Break 60 Second Mark

thepitwindow

Turn 11 continued to be tricky in the afternoon session as Simon Pagenaud led Practice 2. The winner of the 103rd Indianapolis 500 had the day’s first sub-60 second lap with a best time of 59. 871. Felix Rosenqvist was second quickest 0.06 seconds behind. Sebastien Bourdais ended the period third 0.116 seconds slower than Pagenaud.

Turn 11 again was a busy spot with contact by Takuma Sato,  Marcus Ericsson, and Alexander Rossi.  Ericsson had another contact incident in turn 5.  Rossi hit the turn 9 wall and damaged the left front tire.There was no suspension damage and he returned to the track, but finished 14th.

Pagenaud, Bourdais, and Rosenqvist looked strong in both sessions. Scott Dixon, who led the morning practice, was fifth this afternoon. The Ganassi pair of Dixon and Rosenqvist join Pagenaud as the only three drivers in the top five of both sessions.

Notes

Spencer Pigot was fourth in practice 2 as he continues to seek a breakout race performance.

The cars of Marco Andretti and Colton Herta look a lot alike from a distance. It will be good to know their starting positions to help watching them in the race. I hope they don’t end up in the same row.

Both of Rossi’s wall contacts happened in the first 20 minutes of the session. The car looks like it needs some work overnight.

Tomorrow’s practice session is at 10: 20 am ET. Qualifying begins  at 2 pm ET. The practice is on NBC Gold. Qualifying is live on NBCSN.

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