Tag: NTT Indycar Series

Quick Thoughts- Long Beach Qualifying

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Photo by Kyle McInnes

I really like Indycar Live before qualifying. Krista Voda and A. J. Almendinger did a great job on the set and also in the time between rounds on NBC Gold.  I hope we see this more before qualifying.  In fact a midweek Indycar show might be nice.

I would be happy to not hear the term “Go Fast Day” ever again. I really don’t want to hear it on Pole Day at IMS.

That was a great qualifying session. Every round had some intrigue.

Felix Rosenqvist is having an awfull difficult time at Long Beach. If he doesn’t cause a caution tomorrow, I’ll be surprised.

Once again, Hinchcliffe and Bourdais get bitten by the red bug.

Is this the beginning of Pagenaud’s resurgence?

Is this the real beginning of Rossi’s season?

Honda cars seem a lot faster than the Chevys on black tires.

Graham rahal now has been in The Fast Six two races in a row and Sato just missed.  The RLL team has found something. I hope it continues.

Look for a complete qualifying report on Wildfire Sports tomorrow.

Rossi Leads Practice 3; Edges Rahal on Last Lap

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Defending Acura Grand Prix of Long Beach champion Alexander Rossi nipped Graham Rahal for the fastest time in the final practice session before qualifying by 0.13 seconds. Rahal had jumped to the top of the chart with just a few minutes to go. Team Penske drivers showed more speed today with Simon Pagenaud fifth, Josef Newgarden sixth, and Will Power tenth.

The time sheet:

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Jarrett Andretti Added to Freedom 100 Field

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Jarrett Andretti will become the latest member of one of racing’s most famous families to race at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway. The son of John Andretti will drive an Andretti Autosport Indy Lights car in the Freedom 100 on  Carb Day,  May 24.

Andretti, 26, has won championships in karts, USAC midgets. an Indiana Sprint Car series.  He joins Andretti Indy Lights drivers Oliver Askew, Robert Megnnis, and Ryan Norman in the Andretti Indy Lights Field. Jarrett currently competes for Andretti Autosport in the Pirelli GT4 America program. He has also competed in the Pirelli World Challenge TCR class.

It is always great to have another Indy Lights car in the field, and adding another Andretti is big for the series. No plans for additional Indy Lights races were mentioned at this time, but Michael mentioned this could be first step to more participation in the series. It seems like a logical presumption  for someone with his last name.

Hunter-Reay leads Practice 1 Honda Parade

Hondas had the top seven times in this morning’s first practice, led by Ryan Hunter-Reay.

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Indycar Friday Long Beach Schedule and Some Notes

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LoveToday’s IndyCar schedule  forftye Acura Grand Prix of Long Beach.   Eastern Time

1-1:45 pm Practice NBC Gold

5-5:45 pm Practice NBC Gold

Notes

Sebastien Bourdais will do the Long Beach double, also driving for Chip Ganassi Racing’ s Ford GTLM in the IMSA race. Bourdais drives the endurance races for the program. He replaced Joey Hand who is ill. I would like to see more drivers do things like this.

Kyle Kaiser will be at Long Beach, but not in Indycar. He will drive the Juncos DPi in the IMSA race. I have doubts we will see more Indycar entries from Juncos this year.

Michael Andretti has an “Indianapolis driver announcement at 3:30 pm Eastern today. My guess is it’s about an additional Indy Lights car for the Freedom 100.

Long Beach Preview-Another New Winner?

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Above: Can Alexander Rossi repeat? A tall order given the event’s history the last six years.

There is no better place for a street race than Long Beach, and no better street course event.  It has the feel of the Indianapolis 500. Its rich history includes Formula 1 as well as the NTT Indycar Series and the other  Indycar  iterations.  The city completely embraces the race, one of the key elements for a successful sustainable street race.

There are some noticeable changes for the 2019 event. Acura is the new title sponsor, replacing longtime sponsor Toyota. Jack Harvey’s number 60 will carry Acura decals in place of the Honda markings.  No, this is NOT the third OEM

The  Acura Grand  Prix of Long Beach has seen six different teams and six different drivers win since 2013.  If the trend continues we could see another win from one of the smaller teams in the 45th edition of America’s longest running street race. So far this season no one has really stood out. Josef Newgarden has been the most consistent, winning at St. Pete and finishing second at COTA and fourth at Barber.  Here are some  things to look for this weekend.

Penske Turnaround From Alabama?

Will Power has been frustrated the last two races. He won the pole at COTA and was leading late but was sidelined by a drive shaft problem.  At Barber he failed to make the Fast Six, spun early in the race, and fought back to finish 11th.  He sits an uncharacteristically low 9th in the standings.  Power has won twice here. I see him back in the Fast Six and possibly on the pole again.

Newgarden qualified 17th last weekend but recovered to finish fourth and increase his championship lead. He should return to the front of the grid as he seeks his first victory at Long Beach.

Simon Pagenaud appears ready to move up in the standings. He has two top tens this season and seems to have become comfortable with the new car. This could be the weekend he returns to contention.

Rossi Needs a Repeat Victory

Alexander Rossi has been good, but not great so far this season.  He has made the Fast Six every race this season and has two top five finishes but his race pace just seems a little off. Returning to the venue he dominated last year could be where he can begin challenging for the points lead.

Andretti Autosport teammate Ryan Hunter-Reay is also a past winner at Long Beach. He has made a nice recovery from his engine issue at St. Pete.  with a podium at COTA and an eighth at Barber. Hunter-Reay could also figure in the winning equation this weekend

Rahal Letterman Lanigan Momentum

A pole, a front row lockout, and a win was the best the Rahal team could do last weekend. The only blemish was Graham Rahal’s throttle issue which knocked him out of the race.  Takuma Sato has won two of the last five races going back to Portland last September. Sato also has won here.  Look for another strong showing from both drivers.

The Rookies

This class continues to impress me.  Colton Herta had an ignition problem at Barber which prevented another possible top ten finish.  Marcus Ericsson finally earned a result without issues last weekend as well.

Felix Rosenqvist was very strong at St. Pete and should be strong again this weekend. He seems to have a knack for street courses, probably due to his time in Formula E. I could see him on the podium Sunday.

This will be the first street race for Pato O’Ward this season. Don’t dismiss his chances because of that. O’Ward has an uncanny talent for being fast around any circuit. I wpould not be surprised to see him in the Fast Six and have a solid finish.

Scott Dixon

His footsteps are getting louder already. Dixon is actually ahead of where he was at this point in the season last year. He led two laps at Barber. In 2018 he didn’t lead a lap until Detroit. He has already had one of the likely two races out of the top ten.  Another former Long Beach winner, Dixon will probably finish on the podium this time. He should gain some ground on Newgarden.

Sponsor Moves

GESS has moved to Pato O’Ward’s car for Long Beach. The company is supporting the younger drivers in the series by switching their sponsorship from Colton Herta.  Herta, meanwhile, will carry King Taco colors for the race. King Taco usually finds its way onto a car for the race every year. I wonder if Herta’s win at COTA influenced their decision this year.

Totally In(Acura)te Predictions

Pole- Power

Race- Dixon

Top Rookie- Rosenqvist

Back Saturday evening with Qualifying Quick Thoughts. Full qualifying coverage will be on Wildfire Sports Sunday morning.

 

 

 

 

McLaren Reveals Car for 500; Some News; Barber Photos

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McLaren revealed the car Fernando Alonso will drive in the 103rd running of the Indianapolis 500 next month.  The mainly  papaya orange machine, the traditional McLaren color, has blue accents. While similar to Scott Dixon’s car, I think they are different enough to tell apart. The McLaren has less blue in the middle and is a different shade of orange from the Ganassi PNC Bank entry.

The sidepod sponsor is an e-cigarette company and includes a health warning. Don’t look for tobacco companies to come rushing back to motorsports just because they can add a health warning.  This si the second e cigarette company to be on a car. Blu sponsored Sebastien Bourdais a few years ago.

It’s a great looking car and it always adds to the race to have a former F1 champion in the field.

HSR Adds King Taco for Long Beach

Harding Steinbrenner Racing will carry King Taco sponsorship on Colton Herta’s car at Long Beach this weekend.  King Taco usually sponsors a car in their local race.  GESS, the primary sponsor of the 88 at Barber, is an associate sponsor this coming weekend.

It will be interesting to see if GESS commits further with the program in May.

Rich Energy Sponsors Jordan King

Jordan King, who will drive in the Indianapolis 500 as a third entry for Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing, yesterday announced Rich Energy is now a personal sponsor. This might help King, who drove the Ed Carpenter Racing number 20 on the road/street courses last year, get more races. Not sure if Rahal wants to do a third car for more than Indianapolis with the momentum the team has built the last two races.

Frye- Third OEM May Become Necessity

In a media availability at Barber Motorsports Park this past weekend, Indycar President Jay Frye said as more teams enter the field, a third engine manufacturer may “become a necessity rather than a luxury.”

It sounds as if he expects some more teams may be planning to enter the series. I agree. Honda and Chevy are getting stretched a bit already, especially in May.

Frye did not give any hints that a third OEM is imminent though rumors persist that a certain German company may have its name mentioned next month.

Last Look at Barber in Photos

Here are some final photos from Barber. The first two are from my friend Kyle McInnes, a photographer aspiring to become an Indycar photographer. Check out his work at kylemcinnesphoto.com.

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Top: Matheus Leist after spinning in practice.

Bottom: Spencer Pigot brings out another red flag Friday’

Photos by Kyle McInnes

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Scott Dixon makes his final pit stop.

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Sato’s crew celebrates after the checkered flag.

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Takuma Sato addresses the media after his convincing victory.

The last three photos are mine.

Back Thursday with a Long Beach preview.

Quick Thoughts- Honda Indy Grand Prix of Alabama

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I love watching a track come alive on race morning. It’s fun seeing the energy build among the fans and teams.

Age and experience beat youth everytime.

Takuma Sato was unstoppable this weekend. He has won two of the last five races going back to Portland in 2018.

There were terrific battles throughout the day.

Josef Newgarden is doing the things needed to be champion. He fought hard from his 17th starting position to finish fourth. Herta’s issues allowed him to increase his point lead to 27 over Scott Dixon. I wouldn’t count Dixon out just yet.

Both Swedish rookies finished in the top 10.  Marcus Ericsson was 7th and Felix Rosenqvist was 10th. It was a good recovery for Rosenqvist who had some off track excurions earlier in the weekend.

Even though Power has won twice here, he seems to have some sort of problem during the race.  It’s odd to see a driver who has had a lot of success at a track run into so much difficulty the last few years.

Jack Harvey had another good run but it looked like pit strategy kept him from a third straight top 10, Still MSR is doing well this young season.

The crowd was still a good size, but seemed a little down from the last two years.

Baby Steps

Dragonspeed and  driver Ben Hanley have shown a gain in speed since St. Pete. After today they have just three races remaining in their short first season. It looks like they are on a good path to a decent pace.

They were not the last car running today.

Look for my full race report tomorrow on Wildfire Sports. Thanks for following along this weekend.

Photo: Sato’s crew celebrates after the checkered flag.