Will The 97th INDY 500 Become An Andretti Autosport Shootout?

May 22, 2013 By Leave a Comment

A joyous Michael Andretti as he basks in the glow of being the team owner of the 2012 IZOD IndyCar Champion Ryan Hunter-Reay while fielding questions from the press just after the last race of the season at Auto Club Speedway in Fontana, CA. Image Credit: Edmund Jenks (2012)

Will The 97th INDY 500 Become An Andretti Autosport Shootout?

The month of May, 2013, at the famed two and a half mile rectangle/oval located at Speedway, Indiana has been dominated by cars prepared and driven by Andretti Autosport. During the week leading up to Pole Day, which took place last weekend, saw all five cars comfortably posting speed times in the top 10 with the consistency usually reserved by Penske Racing or Target Chip Ganassi (who, under their direct banner, have fielded five cars combined).

On Pole Day, Andretti Autosport cars made it to the “Fast Nine” shootout for the pole … the only other multiple car team to place all of its cars in the final cut was Penske Racing (P5. (2) AJ Allmendinger, Dallara-Chevy 02:37.8264 (228.099) | P6. (12) Will Power, Dallara-Chevy 02:37.8342 (228.087) | P8. (3) Helio Castroneves, Dallara-Chevy 02:38.0596 (227.762)) leaving Target Chip Ganassi Racing (TGR) locked out – TGR’s Dixon and Franchitti are P16 and P17 respectively (row six).

The Andretti Autosport DW12′s qualified at P2. (26) Carlos Munoz, Dallara-Chevy 02:37.6581 (228.342) | P3. (25) Marco Andretti, Dallara-Chevy 02:37.7139 (228.261) | P4. (5) EJ Viso, Dallara-Chevy 02:37.7907 (228.150) | P7. (1) Ryan Hunter-Reay, Dallara-Chevy 02:37.9614 (227.904) | P9. (27) James Hinchcliffe, Dallara-Chevy 02:38.5411 (227.070).

Andretti Autosport’s Ryan Hunter-Reay just moments after he pits his #1 DHL sponsored Dallara-Chevy at the end of the race that rewarded him with enough points to secure the 2012 IICS driver championship. Image Credit: Edmund Jenks (2012)

If qualifying position and overall team performance were the solid gold predictors in the outcome of a race run, then one would have to give the inside track to ANY Andretti Autosport team car and driver.

When one adds the calculation of team performance to the winning of races, Andretti Autosport is also given the edge starting the last half of 2012 – when Ryan Hunter-Reay won Race #8 of a 15 race season at the Milwaukee Mile, Race #9 Iowa, and Race #14 through the streets of Baltimore and eventually seizing the 2012 IZOD IndyCar Series (IICS) Driver Championship  – then continuing the performance during the first four races of the 2013 season with James Hinchcliffe winning Race #1 at St. Petersburg and #4 at Sao Paulo, not to forget the win by last year’s IICS champion Ryan Hunter-Reay in Race #2 at Barber Motorsports Park in Alabama – the team is on a roll.

James Hinchcliffe prays in the cockpit of his Andretti Autosport Go Daddy sponsored Dallara-Chevy before taking to the track. Image Credit: Edmund Jenks (2012)

Lastly, through four races of the 2013 season, the consistency of performance can not be ignored. The driver championship standings with over 20% of the season being run has Andretti Autosport season regular drivers Marco Andretti standing at  P2, James Hinchcliffe at P4, Ryan Hunter-Reay at P6, and EJ Viso at P11. And, again, the pinch-hitter for the INDY 500, Carlos Munoz sits as the top qualifying driver for the team at P2 – WOW!

A shootout in the INDY 500 by Andretti Autosport drivers is a very real possibility because the team, and the way the second season DW12 cars have been prepared, would allow this to happen.

Andretti Autosport drivers Marco Andretti and James Hinchcliffe take to the ‘Brickyard’ for set-ups. Marco sets a speed of 225 on the first day of practice laps leading all cars that ran on the first day of May practice at Indianapolis Motor Speedway. Image Credit: IZOD IndyCar Series

This excerpted and edited from SB Nation -

2013 Indianapolis 500: Power ranking the field of 33
By MattWeaver on May 21 2013, 10:00p

Instead of compiling a traditional power rankings list like we normally do on Tuesday afternoons at SB Nation IndyCar, this week’s post will rank the top-10 drivers most likely to win the Indianapolis 500-mile Race.

Drivers can typically be lumped into three groups entering the month of May:

1.) The top-10 drivers that have the easiest path towards winning the Borg-Warner Trophy.

2.) The group of 10 that will need some help or a little bit of luck.

3.) The final 13 that are best described as a long shot.

Conceivably any of the 33 drivers have a shot after 500-miles, as fuel strategy has generated some surprise winners over the last century. That’s one of the many reasons the Greatest Spectacle in Racing is still the greatest race in the world – it’s still the 500-mile sweepstakes.

And yet, there is still a clear hierarchy led by traditional powers Andretti Autosport, Team Penske and Chip Ganassi Racing. Our top-10 picks to win the 2013 Indianapolis 500 can be found below, with an explanation for each of the top contenders. For reference’s sake, we’ve also included a complete ranking to the last driver.

1. Marco Andretti
The entire month of May seemingly has been dedicated to Andretti Autosport, the Andretti Curse and Marco Andretti’s career resurgence. While just a little off the pole speed on Saturday, the number 25 team appears fastest in traffic, picking up a toe [TOW] and several other deciding factors in traffic.
—-
He’s also number 1 on the power rankings list because he’s shown the most consistent speed at Indianapolis since teams unloaded the DW12 oval model last May, leading the most laps of the 2012 race and dominating the practice sessions leading up to the 2013 race.

2. Ed Carpenter
One of the biggest misconceptions about the buildup to this year’s Indianapolis 500 is that Ed Carpenter is some sort of heartwarming underdog victory after capturing the pole on Saturday afternoon. Sure, Ed Carpenter Racing doesn’t have the same budget as Penske or Ganassi, but he is the most prolific oval racer of the post-split era.

3. Carlos Muñoz
With reservation, a 21-year-old rookie makes the podium in the most-likely to win the Indianapolis 500 power rankings post.
—-
Only Marco Andretti has shown quicker pace in practice, and Muñoz has looked confident running in a pack with his Andretti Autosport teammates. He’s looking to do what JR Hildebrand couldn’t do in 2011, and that is winning this race in just his very first attempt — so don’t be surprised if it actually happens.

4. Hélio Castroneves
If youthful disregard could win on Sunday for Muñoz, experience and patience will do it for Hélio Castroneves. There is more than one way to win this race, and it will be interesting to see how Castroneves approaches another attempt to win his fourth Borg-Warner.

5. Dario Franchitti
Repeat everything that was said about Hélio Castroneves in regards to Dario Franchitti. The only thing placing Castroneves over Franchitti is his Chevy turbocharger which appears much-stronger at Indianapolis. Dario is also looking for his fourth win at the Speedway.

6. Will Power
Based on his championship finishes over the past three seasons, Will Power has inherited the title of Team Penske’s number 1 driver. With that title comes a lot of responsibility at Indianapolis Motor Speedway but not a lot of success thus far.
—-
Will Power can absolutely win this race. And in a season where he has somehow gone winless through four-consecutive road and street course events, wouldn’t a victory in the Indianapolis 500 just make sense?

7. James Hinchcliffe
The Go Daddy Andretti driver has been sneaky competitive at Indianapolis, qualifying 13th for Newman/Haas in 2011 and finishing sixth in last year’s race. Brimming with the confidence off two wins to start the 2013 season and the powerful Andretti Autosport backing his entry in 2013, Hinchcliffe could finally and completely break out of her shadow with a win in the Indianapolis 500.

8. EJ Viso
Andretti Autosport has seemingly concentrated the raw potential of EJ Viso, and that could again show itself with a surprise victory in the Indianapolis 500.

9. AJ Allmendinger
Casual observers were quick to point out that AJ Allmendinger’s lack of results in his first two races back in Indy car was a sign of his inability to drive these cars after six seasons or the result of his mixed commitments to both IndyCar and NASCAR.
—-
Like any Penske car, the No. 2 has speed the driver has shown the ability to wield it for brief practice or qualifying spurts, but can he do it for 500 miles? That’s the only question separating AJ Allmendinger from the Borg-Warner trophy.

10. Scott Dixon
In a repeat of last season, Honda and Target Chip Ganassi Racing look to be just off the pace set by their Chevrolet rivals. But like last season, Honda and Ganassi will rise to the occasion and will be a constant threat for the lead in the late stages of the race.

The Borg Warner Trophy – this image never gets old. Image Credit: Dreyer & Reinbold Racing

Lost in the shuffle between the legendary Dario Franchitti/Takuma Sato duel last year was that Scott Dixon was leading the Indianapolis 500 up until three laps to go. That isn’t likely to change on Sunday.

11. Ryan Hunter-Reay

12. Tony Kanaan

13. Takuma Sato

14. JR Hildebrand

15. Ryan Briscoe

 

16. Alex Tagliani

17. Charlie Kimball

18. Graham Rahal

19. Justin Wilson

20. Oriol Servia

 

21. Townsend Bell

22. Simon Pagenaud

23. Simona de Silvestro

24. Josef Newgarden

25. Sebastien Bourdais

 

26. James Jakes

27. Sebastian Saavedra

28. Conor Daly

29. Tristan Vautier

30. Pippa Mann
 

31. Buddy Lazier

32. Ana Beatriz

33. Katherine Legge
(Reference Here)

Predictions are a funny thing because when the race is run, the story always takes on an edge that can never be calculated for. This is why we race, and watch American open wheel races – F1 has nothing like this.

Broadcast Information:

The Memorial Day weekend tradition returns with the 97th running of the Indianapolis 500 on Sunday, May 26, beginning at 12pm ET from famed Indianapolis Motor Speedway.

ABC airs the race for the 49th straight year, beginning with a one-hour preview show Sunday at 11am ET. The production will use 84 cameras, including three on-board cameras each on 12 of the 33 cars. Viewers can also choose a live streaming video feed from the on-board cameras on ESPN3. Marty Reid calls the race with analysts Scott Goodyear and Eddie Cheever. Lindsay Czarniak hosts, with Rick DeBruhl, Jamie Little, Dr. Jerry Punch and Vince Welch reporting from pit row.

… notes from The EDJE

Filed Under: Top Story Tagged With: , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

IZOD IndyCar Series Review At 3 Of 19 Scheduled Races For 2013

April 29, 2013 By Leave a Comment

Former F1, and IZOD IndyCar Series KV Racing Technologies team driver, Takuma Sato – AJ Foyt Racing … looking at data feedback after posting a P4 in qualifications for the Toyota Grand Prix of Long Beach. Image Credit: Edmund Jenks (2013)

IZOD IndyCar Series Review At 3 Of 19 Scheduled Races For 2013

With 15.7894% of the season in the books, an early review of the 2013 IZOD IndyCar Series (IICS) season seemed to be in order.

The Toyota Grand Prix of Long Beach helped to cement a couple of themes that seem to shaping up in this sophomore season of the Dallara DW12 racing platform, two engine manufacturer era of American open-wheel racing.

Takuma Sato and the AJ Foyt Racing team in winner’s circle at the Toyota Grand Prix of Long Beach. Image Credit: AJ Foyt Enterprises (2013)

First, congratulations to AJ Foyt Racing for helping to deliver a team effort role in Japanese, and former F1 driver, Takuma Sato’s first win in the top rung of world automobile racing. A fully honest win won racing starting from P4 at the drop of the green flag aided only by a flawless performance driving the Honda-powered DW12 on the track, and team work in the pits for tires and fuel.

By winning the third race of the season, Takuma Sato notches his first win in 52 IICS race starts. His previous best finish at Long Beach was P8. Image Credit: Chris Jones IICS (2013)

This excerpted and edited from Aljazeera -

Sato and Japan make mark on IndyCar
Aljazeera – Fri, Apr 26, 2013

Takuma Sato says joining AJ Foyt Racing put him in position to become the first Japanese driver to win an IndyCar race.

Sato returned to Japan on Friday to speak about his historic win last Sunday in the Grand Prix of Long Beach, just his third race with the team.

“Motorsports is a team sport and you can’t win without complete effort from the team,” Sato said at a news conference. “The thing about AJ Foyt Racing is that regardless of the conditions they provide the stability needed to win.”

The win at Long Beach came in Sato’s 52nd career start in IndyCar, but was the first for AJ Foyt Racing since Airton Dare won Kansas in 2002.
—-
IndyCar pulled out of Japan after the 2011 race, and Sato said he hopes his win at Long Beach will help return the series to his homeland. “People in Japan love IndyCar,” the 36-year-old Sato said. “I can’t bring it back myself but I hope in some small way the win in Long Beach will help bring it back. I want to race in the Indy Japan before my career is over.”

[Reference Here]

Helio Castroneves survives a Honda engine onslaught at the Toyota Grand Prix of Long Beach to lead all drivers in the points with his Penske Racing Chevy-powered DW12 after three races. Image Credit: Edmund Jenks (2013)

When the dust settled on the third race of the 2013 season, the top five drivers in the points for the IZOD IndyCar Series season championship are 1) Penske Racing’s Helio Castroneves – Chevy – 99 points, 2) AJ Foyt Racing’s Takuma Sato – Honda – 93 points (the only race winner this season in the top five), 3) Target Chip Ganassi Racing’s Scott Dixon – Honda – 89 points, 4) Andretti Autosport’s Marco Andretti – Chevy – 87 points, and 5) Dale Coyne Racing’s Justin Wilson – Honda – 81 points. To paraphrase Takuma Sato in what he stated in the interview above, these drivers through three races “regardless of the conditions they (the teams and drivers) provide the stability needed to win.”

The drivers of the podium take their victory lap to the cheers of the crowd – all three drivers were from teams that were not named Andretti, Ganassi, or Penske. Takuma Sato of AJ Foyt Racing – P1 (R), Graham Rahal of Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing- P2 (L), and Justin Wilson of Dale Coyne Racing – P3 (C). Image Credit: John Cote IICS (2013)

The other observable major point is that the top five, which almost always is exclusively populated by three multiple car teams … and we know them all to well, have been broken up with the presence of two very competent drivers who drive for single car teams that have had trouble with consistency in previous years. That, and

Honda, after not showing so well in the first race of the season at St. Petersburg, Florida, has rebounded to the point that one could say that if you are driving for a team with a Honda engine, you may have a shot at an IICS Championship. Honda was able to occupy 9 of the top 15 positions at races end at the Toyota Grand Prix of Long Beach – which Honda and HPD consider their home track being that their main facility is located in Santa Clarita.

Some numbers to note from the Toyota Grand Prix of Long Beach, the third race of the 2013 IZOD IndyCar Series season:

1 – Indy car race winners from Japan: Takuma Sato, who became the second first-time winner in three races.

2 – Consecutive fifth-place finishes at Long Beach for JR Hildebrand.

3 – Drivers who have finished in the top 10 in each of the first three IZOD IndyCar Series events: Marco Andretti, Helio Castroneves and Justin Wilson.

5 – Different teams represented in the top five in the Toyota Grand Prix of Long Beach.

6 – Points separating the top two drivers, Helio Castroneves and Takuma Sato, in the IZOD IndyCar Series standings.

7 – Different teams represented in the top 10 in the IZOD IndyCar Series standings.

8 – Different drivers to score podium finishes in nine races.

12 – Positions gained by Graham Rahal in the IZOD IndyCar Series point standings, the biggest jump among drivers who competed.

13 – Drivers with at least one top-five finish in 2013.

18 – Points separating the top-five drivers in the IZOD IndyCar Series standings.

20 – Drivers with at least one top-10 finish in 2013.

21 – Positions improved by Justin Wilson, the most positions gained by any driver. Wilson finished third. ["I think (the competition is) just so tense," said Justin Wilson, who charged from the 24th starting position to earn third place at Long Beach in the No. 19 Dale Coyne Racing entry. "There are so many drivers in this championship that are capable of winning races. When you do your lap in the car, you don't know when you come in if you're first or 25th.

"You can't afford to miss anything. You can't afford to have a bad result. The way this championship happens, when racers have had bad results, it opens it right up. I think it's going to be more intense and interesting as the season goes on."]

27 – Laps led by Dario Franchitti at Long Beach. Franchitti led a total of 11 laps on road/street courses in 2012.

50 – Laps led by Takuma Sato at Long Beach, the most laps he has led in any Indy car race. Sato’s previous high was 31 at Indianapolis in 2012.

199 – Consecutive Indy car starts for Tony Kanaan dating to the 2001 CART race in Portland. Kanaan is second to Jimmy Vasser’s 211 straight starts.

(ht: indycar staff)

Lastly, do not bother to try to break into the top five in the points unless your car (and in one case, including helmet) livery colors include Red, White, and Blue:

Image Credit: Edmund Jenks (2013)

Helio has Automobile Club of Southern California – “Triple A”,

 

Image Credit: Edmund Jenks (2013)

TAKU sports the ABC Supply Americana motif,

 

Image Credit: Edmund Jenks (2013)

Dixie’s predominately Red with White lettering and logo Target car combined with his distinctive Blue lid,

 

Image Credit: Edmund Jenks (2013)

Marco with RC Cola,

 

Image Credit: Richard Dowdy IICS (2013)

Finally, who can imagine becoming more Red, White, and Blue than the Boy Scouts of America who wraps the DW12 of Justin Wilson!

 

Quite fitting for the ultimate professional open-wheel racing series in America to be led by such a thematically colorful, yet international contingent.

Next weekend is the running of the fourth straight road/street race of the season and the last race before the INDY 500, the world’s most famous ‘oval’ race track. The drivers become the boys and girls of Brazil (Helio’s home track) as they race at an event facility known in Sao Paulo for it’s Samba Festival held during pre-Lenten celebration of Carnival.

… notes from The EDJE

 

Filed Under: Top Story Tagged With: , , , , , , , , , ,

2013 IZOD IndyCar Series Season Predictions Using The ‘More Front Wing’ Format

March 21, 2013 By Leave a Comment

Takuma Sato has a lot to prove in this break out season for the former F1 stand out. Image Credit: Edmund Jenks (2012)

2013 IZOD IndyCar Series Season Predictions Using The ‘More Front Wing’ Format

It is common for those who follow the American open wheel racing scene to make predictions just before a season starts and the silly season becomes officially over.

More Front Wing, an IndyCar news and views website, had the simplest approach to this prediction issue and it serves as a good template and baseline upon what to expect for the 2013 season.

View Slideshow: 2013 IZOD IndyCar Series Season Predictions

This year is the second, or sophomore, full year the new chassis that was tested by the late Dan Wheldon, and is numerically attached to his memory through the Dallara designation of DW12, will be used to contest the IZOD IndyCar Series season championship. The fact that the series ran a shortened season left the teams with a lot of time to work toward their strategy on how they will choose to compete and win with the familiarization of the turbo-powered and more robust DW12.2.

Will Ryan Hunter-Reay repeat in 2013 for Andretti Autosport? Image Credit: Edmund Jenks (2012)

The original frame delivered one of the most competitive seasons in about 20 years … so, many wonder, now that the standardization of the push-to-pass, which was introduced to the new engine-chassis package last July on the streets of Toronto, if this type of close competitive performance be expected for 2013?

After reading many predictions as to how the 2013 season will by CouponDropDown”>play out with the first race of the season – by CouponDropDown”>Honda Grand Prix of St. Petersburg – to be run this weekend, March 22-24, through the streets of St. Petersburg, here are the predictions from The EDJE to get things started.

More Front Wing had the simplest approach to this prediction issue and it serves as a good template and baseline upon what to expect for the 2013 season.

2013 IICS season predictions using the More Front Wing format:

 Five different teams were represented in victory lane last season. Will that number be higher or lower this year?

Lower – investments by established teams in their subtle ways of development will show themselves in the DW12 sophomore year – so sophomore developments will rule the day.

Who will surprise everyone by winning a race?

Simona de Silvestro is poised to make a statement with her stable team and engine set-up this year – KV Racing Technology / Chevy. Image Credit: Edmund Jenks (2012)

Two drivers top my list … well maybe three –

1) Simona de Silvestro who has won in a strong open wheel field before in the Atlantic series race at Long Beach – good on the streets. 

Takuma Sato at the Toyota Grand Prix of Long Beach last year when he was driving for Rahal Letterman Lanigan in a one car team. Sato will be moving to the team that fields the car that appears here tracking right behind him … AJ Foyt Enterprises. Image Credit: Edmund Jenks (2012)

2) Takuma Sato – if AJ can finally deliver on the promise of good equipment.

James Jakes after he he went off-roading at turns 9 & 10 in the IndyCar configuration at Sonoma. Image Credit: Edmund Jenks (2012)

3) James Jakes – he is with a team – Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing – that can really challenge the establishment three of Penske, Ganassi, and Andretti … and Jakes really is a winner.

Who will have a disappointing season?

Takuma Sato – for the same reasons that he can be a surprise … AJ Foyt prepared equipment.

 Who will win the Indianapolis 500?

Graham Rahal between set-up laps at the Toyota Grand Prix of Long Beach while racing for Chip Ganassi. New team, new stablemate in James Jakes, and same old boss … Bobby Rahal. Image Credit: Edmund Jenks (2012)

Graham Rahal – the Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing crew knows how to win this thing and is hungry to drive like they stole it. Graham has the experience and I believe they will have the set-ups come race day.

 Who will be the 2013 IZOD IndyCar Series champion?

Will Power starts this year being the odds on favorite to win it all and his speeds at the final test at Barber Motorsports Park stand as the marker. He was fastest by 1/4 of a second and nearly 1/2 mph at the end of four sessions. Image Credit: Edmund Jenks (2012)

Will Power – ‘Nuff said.
ENDS

Here is the NBCSN schedule for the Grand Prix of St. Petersburg:

Saturday, March 23: IndyCar Qualifying at 2:30 p.m.

by CouponDropDown”>Broadband: IndyCar.com

Sunday, March 24: Indy Lights: Streets St. Petersburg at 11 a.m.

by CouponDropDown”>Broadband: IndyCar.com

Sunday, March 24: Honda Indy Grand Prix of St. Petersburg at Noon – ET

by CouponDropDown”>Broadband: IndyCar.com also NBCSports.com

Radio: IMS Network and SiriusXM Radio

Tuesday, March 26: Honda Indy Grand Prix of St. Petersburg Re-Air at Midnight

… notes from The EDJE

Filed Under: Featured Story Tagged With: , , , , , , , , , ,

Auto Club Speedway Hosted Q And A With Dario Franchitti Of Target Chip Ganassi Racing

August 18, 2012 By Leave a Comment

 

Target Chip Ganassi Racing drivers Scott Dixon and Dario Franchitti unveiled culinary creations that will be available for purchase at the Drivers Cuisine Cantina during the MAVTV 500 INDYCAR World Championships at Auto Club Speedway. Image Credit: IZOD IndyCar Series


Auto Club Speedway Hosted Q And A With Dario Franchitti Of Target Chip Ganassi Racing

We are joined by four-time IZOD IndyCar Series Champion Dario Franchitti, who drives for Target Chip Ganassi Racing. After winning the IZOD IndyCar Series Championship three years in a row, posting a season leading five pole positions in 12 races of a 15 race season (second is Will Power with three), winning the Indy500, and needing one more win to become the exclusive seventh all-time winningest driver in American open-wheel racing history here during the first season of the DW12 formula chassis. Let me intorduce myself, I’m Edmund Jenks (please call me Ed), and welcome to Motorsports Unplugged.

Hello, Ed.

There have been a few changes this season in American open-wheel racing, probably more changes than most seasons, what with the chassis, additional engine suppliers, a new director at Race Control and the rules that govern on-track relationships between drivers, technology nuances like push-to-pass and its many applications … and finally, rules that govern the supply and performance of the new turbo-charged engines.

Question #1a – How has the change in attitude and management styles at Race Control – this includes Beaux Barfield and the entire staff – affected your approach and preparation to races this year? What one thing or area of race management stands out in your mind?

I don’t think anything has really changed with the race management, it’s just not any different, really. Ummm, definitely, the last group under Brian Barnhart did a good job and Beaux’s continued that, Ummm so I haven’t looked like a difference there … as you have mentioned, Ed, everything is different though, with the new cars, the DW12, the engine suppliers, the engine war between Honda and Chevy going on its really been a whole fresh start for the IndyCar Series and, its not that there have not been teething problems but has brought some great racing.

Question #1b - Yeah, it really been amazing the way, I guess, the cars have been able to mix it up over the old formula, although you did kinda’ clip the wing in this last race (at Mid Ohio). In general the chassis seems very strong.

I hope that the chassis is strong, definately with the side-to-side contact and the design of the car now with the body work its eliminated some issues, Ummm trust me, the car is far from perfect, there’s some issues with the suspension that when we put on the brakes that we definitely like to sort out but that cut in the wing at Mid Ohio was totally my fault and nothing to do with it (the suspension), the new design, just me makin’ a mistake in judgement. 

So, otherwise though, I think its performed quite well, obviously love some more horsepower from the engines if the series would allow us run more with something … but the Honda has done a great job at gettin’ some good horsepower that was fixed this year.

Question #2 – In this late season section of races, we have seen the implementation of Push-to-Pass – we have also seen its implementation take on a few technology wrinkles like 100 seconds to be used whenever as opposed to 10 second spurts – and a delay added to the reaction time when the button is pushed. Most people I talk with are confused, do you have an understanding of this tool and what would be your recommendation on how it might be used … if at all.

I think there’s a bit of a plus on that – I think the push-to-pass is a good thing, but at the same point that if both cars are on the push-to-pass, or on the overtaking, if you want to call it that, then it negates the whole thing, so we have to do something to change that, but we have to be careful not to be too gimmicky I would say. With the five second delay that is attached to it? – that when you press it you have to wait five seconds to activate, you … it will only activates when you go full throttle … we get some teething problems with that. Ummm, we can’t make it too complicated otherwise the fans will ahh won’t understand, I would say, they won’t understand the intricacies with it … the casual fan, anyway, not the hardcore fan will.

They are tryin’ stuff and I like the fact they are mixing up trying to improve the racein’ for the fans, and umm it probably needs a little bit of work but we’ll get there.

Question #3 – Your brother, Marino Franchitti, is a talented and winning driver in his own right. His latest project has him developing a new concept in a racing platform known as the DeltaWing. A little less than a week ago, word was released that the Panoz developed, Nissan-powered and supported DeltaWing joined the competition of constructors vying for the contract to supply the new 2014 Indy Lights car. What do you think of the DeltaWing? Being that it was originally developed and considered in the competition that was eventually was won by the new DW12 here in the IndyCar Series, would you have preferred driving the DeltaWing as opposed to the DW12?

It was an interesting position to be in because my boss, and Scott Dixon’s boss, the boss of the Target team, Chip Ganassi … he was the guy who put up the money to develop the DeltaWing – and ummm – when I first saw it, it was totally unbelievable, I thought this thing is not going to work. I’m really not sure about it. So when it became a project for Le Mans and Marino found out that it worked in the turns and he said it drove pretty much just like a normal car but the performance was far exceeded and umm if they really get a chance to work on that with differentials and stuff, the performance of that car with only 300 horsepower it would be really significant.

I know it was a shame that they got taken out at the 24 Hours of Le Mans, it was a real shame the way it ended there.

As far as Indy Lights, I think it would be a very interesting thing to have that as the car. The future … would that train the future IndyCar drivers in the best possible way? I don’t know.

Question #4 – How has the issues surrounding engine hours, engine changes, and the 10-spot penalty in qualifications effected your season and will it be a factor in closing out your season?

Ahh we’ve had a couple of engine issues. You know, the guys at Honda continue to absolutely improve the envelope – to get the most power, the best fuel consumption, and the possible improvement on a couple of issues since Iowa (the rest of the answer became inaudible).

I think I’m on my 5th engine, I have one engine to go (more break up).

Question #5 – You are tied with Sebastien Bourdais (the only other active four-time IndyCar open wheel champion) and Paul Tracy for seventh all-time winning-est drivers – besides wanting to hold this seventh position exclusively, what other goals do you have in IndyCar and are there other racing goals outside of open wheel racing that you would like to pursue?

Obviously I have great pride in all of those wins, and the three Indianapolis 500s and the four championships, I’d like to have more wins, absolutely, especially at Indianapolis. But eventually I would love to race the 24 Hours of Le Mans I really think that is a race I’d like to do.

Dario, thank you for your reflections on this 2012 season and we wish you great success in your Honda-powered DW12 at the GoPro Indy Grand Prix of Sonoma, Grand Prix of Baltimore, and the season ending MAV TV 500 mile race at Auto Club Speedway there in Fontana  – thanks for joining us here at Motorsports Unplugged.

… notes from The EDJE

 

 

 

** Article first published as Auto Club Speedway Hosted Q And A With Dario Franchitti Of Target Chip Ganassi Racing on Technorati **

Filed Under: Top Story Tagged With: , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

The Tale Of Two Mid Ohio’s – How Will Power Secures Championship Chances

August 8, 2012 By Leave a Comment

Target Chip Ganassi Racing’s Scott Dixon saved fuel when he needed, kept the No. 9 Target Chip Ganassi Racing car out of harm’s way and took advantage of every opportunity. And his pit crew performed admirably, too. All told, it led to Dixon winning the Honda Indy 200 at Mid-Ohio for the fourth time in the past six years. His 29th victory tied Rick Mears for 10th all time. Image Credit: IICS (2012)

 

The Tale Of Two Mid Ohio’s – How Will Power Secures Championship Chances

Last Sunday showed how one’s fortunes on the track can translate into championship winning drives. Every race at the end of a season carries greater significance in competitive season championship races for the simple fact that EVERY POINT COUNTS.

Last year at Mid Ohio, Will Power was on his way to try and secure his first championship after having a couple of good races on which he was able to tighen up the points differential between him and his chief rival, Dario Franchitti. But last year, one would argue, was the one race on which he lost the championship for a second time to the driver from Target Chip Ganassi Racing.

This excerpted and edited from “… notes from The EDJE” –

No Magic For Power In Round 11 Of 17 At Mid-Ohio
By Edmund Jenks – Monday, August 8, 2011

The Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course in Lexington, Ohio, Round 11 of 17 delivered a fatal blow to Will Power’s chances at getting his first IndyCar Series (ICS) season championship. The Verizon Penske Racing Dallara driver, who was on track to get the ICS championship last year up until the final race of the season when Dario Franchitti was able to eclipse Power’s season points total, was looking to climb back into the challenge at 38 points behind and a perfect track for his talents, was caught out twice in pit stop strategy by full course cautions.

“We were making great fuel mileage and we were going to go a lap or two longer than the leaders on the second stop, which would have put us in great position to challenge for the race lead in the last stint,” said Power of the Lap 58 incident involving contact between the cars of Graham Rahal and Danica Patrick. “Basically, today we suffered for doing a great job of driving a smart race. We just got caught out by that last yellow flag.”

This dropped Power to P16 and allowed Target Chip Ganassi team-mates to duke it out for the win with Scott Dixon passing Dario Franchitti on a restart to eventually take the win.

It may have been doubtful if Will Power had anything for the Scott Dixon Dallara because of how well the driver and car had been hooked up all weekend long (fastest Lap – 1:09.1271 / 76), but to finish so far down in the order with a competitive car (set 2nd fastest lap late in the race – 1:09.2376 / 85), placed a stake through the heart (a loss of 24 points against Franchitti – at 62 points behind) of Will Power’s chances for a ICS season championship. In fact, with the points Scott Dixon gained with his win (he is now just 29 points behind Power with six races left), Will Power may not even become a repeat “bridesmaid” (runner-up) at season’s end in 2011.

[Reference Here]

This brings us to Mid Ohio 2012, Round 12 of 15, where Will Power is in contest for the championship for a third year in a row and he enters this late season road course race much as he did last year. Power was displaced by Andretti Autosport’s Ryan Hunter-Reay and Penske Racing team mate Helio Castroneves by 26 points and 3 points respectively.

As Power put it just after the first practice on Friday as the weekend began, “This new DW12 Indy car feels great here – lot’s more power and more downforce – you can really get after a lap. We’re bloody determined to get the pole here tomorrow. I think the entire Verizon 12 Chevy Team is very happy with today and the results. The weather is going to change a lot over the next day or so. It was good to get a fast clean lap and get confidence going into tomorrow. For the rest of the year we need to win poles and win races if we are going to win the Championship, it’s pretty simple. We need to run well and fast to make up ground in the points race.”

The Penske team delivered the best of all results providing that Will Power did not win the race. By securing the pole position in the Firestone Fast Six on Saturday, running the most laps during the race, and finishing P2 behind last year’s race winning driver, Target Chip Ganassi’s Scott Dixon (who, by winning, became the 10th most successful driver in IndyCar history), Will was able to come away with the IZOD IndyCar Series Championship points lead by 5 points.

Though Power was a little unhappy settling for second, he ultimately was pleased with the result, which put him back in the points lead. “These are such tight pit boxes here and (Dixon) had a clean in. We had a tight in so some of that was me getting in,” he said the pit road exchange. “It’s hard for the fuel to get in clean because he has to step back from my front wing to swing in. Still it’s a very good points day. We’re happy to get the Verizon car on the podium. We’ll keep chasing after it, we’ll get a win here soon and keep going after that championship.” Image Credit: IICS (2012)

This excerpted and edited from Pressdog –

Welcome to Mid-Ohio. Holy confusion! We got the NBC Sports Network team calling the race but it’s on ABC. Here’s the deal: ABC had the time slot, but not the people to do the race what with NASCAR Nationwide in Iowa and NASCAR Cup in Pocono. NBC Sports Network had the team to do the race but not the air time since the Olympics is taking up every second of their air. So .. BANG, the two worked together.
—-
Pursuant to Rule 15.6.1, Cars 3 and 98 penalized 10 grid spots. Pursuant to Rule 14.14.6.4.1, Car 3 will start on Primary Tires. (Rule 14.14.6.4.1 says: “Within 30 minutes of the completion of final practice, an Entrant must declare via instant message system to INDYCAR which compound it intends to use at the start of the Race. Failure to comply will result in the Entrant being allocated the compound by INDYCAR.”)

Chassis: D=Dallara | Engine: C=Chevy, H=Honda, L=Lotus | Tire: F=Firestone

Bob Jenkins, Jon Beekhuis and Wally Dallenbach Jr. in the booth. Pit pees are Kevin Lee, Townsend Bell and Marty Snider. Let’s light this candle.

 

We’re … GREEN.

Festival of Three Wide into the first few turns. Nobody get bashed! We’re through cleanly. The Circus Clowns are visibly upset that they didn’t get to make an appearance.

Wilson has slight contact with Barichello and goes off, but keeps it fired and whips it around and back under way. Lot of dirt-tracky sliding out there. Simona De Silvestro and her pigged out Lotus even get some love for navigating the slick-ish track well.

Lap 3 — Servia may be toast. He’s being worked on. Replay of Wilson popping into Rubens and then going ass around. One of them racing deals. JoeNew is up four positions and Conway also up four positions in the first three laps.

Kevin tells us JoeNew has never raced here before, ever, but liked the track after the first practices.

Lap 5 — Bourdais goes to the power to pass and inhales RHR. Jon gives a viewing-enhancing explanation. The deal is, IndyCar put a five second delay on Power to Pass for this race. When a driver hits the button, the other teams won’t know he’s on the Power to Pass until it actually activates, at which time it will be too late for the car in front to use P2P to defend. That’s the thinking, anyway. Worked like a charm for Bourdais on RHR.

Lot of overtaking in the early going, especially for Mid-Ohio. Extreme amounts of overtaking for Mid-Ohio.

Marty says RHR says something is wrong with his car and he’s being inhaled. Marty says he’s also in fuel saving mode. Jon said the drivers can’t go full rich here because of … wait for it … fuel strategy. YAY!

Lap 6 — Bourdais is on the button (Power to Pass) again and round the outside of JoeNew. CLEAR. More televised overtaking.

Lap 7 — Wilson overtakes Viso. Wilson has driven from P24 to P18 in about five laps after his spin.

Lap 7 — Pitting starting. Cars that are going on a three pit-stop strategy will start pitting now. Those on a two pit stop strategy will pit around lap 28. This race is going to be about comparing and contrasting the one-stoppers versus the two-stoppers.

Lap 9 — Helio pits to ditch primary tires and go to alternates. Alternates are allegedly more grippy but don’t last as long as primary tires. Replays of a pit guy almost getting his foot run over by another car coming in due to the tiny pit stalls.

Lap 10 — Power, Dario, Pagenaud, Dixon, Bourdais, Newgarden, RHR, Marco, Briscoe, Rubens.

Lap 11 — Kevin says Graham Rahal wants to get a deal done for 2013 in the next couple weeks. Rahal has sponsor cash and is shopping it around to teams, I guess. Not real fond of being one of the Ganassi Death Star Satellite teams, allegedly.

Lap 13 — Viso got a drive-through penalty for speeding on pit lane. Bob says Sato got one two but the race summary says NO. No penalty listed for Sato.

Lap 15 — Festival of lock step sets in here. Pagenaud working on Dario for P2. Marty says Dario says his front tires are shit (paraphrasing).

Justin Wilson in. Right rear tire changer has issues! Major long stop. JWill not happy. The right rear must be beeeeyotch to get on this car because we’ve had about five right rear tire change issues so far this year alone.

I see a Ferris Wheel in the background. Crowd driver!* (*Denotes sarcasm and/or chagrin)

Lap 18 — Ed Carpenter is up six spots … (all due to pit stops in front of him).

Replay of Rubens under Marco … CLEAR. Jon says Dario is on the button! Has used 25 seconds of his 100 allotment. Bog hits us with the points-as-they-run info for the first time today. WITH ONLY THREE RACES LEF.

Lap 20 — Power, Dario, Pagenaud, Dixon, Bourdais, Newgarden, RHR, Briscoe, Rubens, Marco.

Lap 21 — Simona pits. Sticker blacks. Wally says a three-stopper is good strategy to keep fresher tires on the car as well, something I had not thought about. Viewing enhanced.

Power is 3.1 seconds ahead. Driving with his feet while eating a Vegemite sandwich.

More lock stepping here.

Lap 26 — JoeNew is P6. Pits and gets primaries. Was as high as P5. The two-stoppers will start to pit now.

Power may have dialed it back because he’s lost two seconds Dario.

Lap 27 — Dario pits with Pagenaud and others. Power, Dixon and Bourdais stay out.

Lap 28 — Power, Dixon and Bourdais pit. Power and Dixon come back out P1 and P2. Bourdais back out in P4 behind Hinch who is a three-stopper. Dario slouches to P6.

Festival of three wide as cars overtake struggling Briscoe.

Lap 32 — TK overtakes Bourdais. Bourdais stayed out until the leaders pit and TK is a three-stopper, so TK will have to pit soon.

Three Stop vs. Two Stop has evolved into The Big Story. If it stays green the whole way, the three-stoppers are screwed.

Lap 34 — Dixon is pressing Power. Eyebrows raised. Is power “saving fuel?” Hmmm. Both may be saving fuel. Jon said both are “racing to a fuel number.” Go about your business; nothing to see her except exhibition fuel saving driving.

Lap 35 — Power, Dixon, Bourdais, Dario, Pagenaud, Tagliani, RHR, Briscoe, JR, Newgarden.

Lap 38 — Bourdais hanging around in third. Dario moved up to P4 when cars in front of him made pit stops.

Rahal overtakes Sato … for P18. Briscoe and Newgarden fight for P8.

Lap 41 — Wilson has another crap pit stop. Loses SEVEN spots in the pits.

Still no yellows. Back-to-back yellowless IndyCar races? Last happened in 1987.

Lap 44 — Panther claims — via Twitter — that Briscoe is throwing a block party for JR. They have reported same to the authorities.

Lap 51 — John raises the possibility that people lie on their radio and to the media about if they have enough fuel to make it. Nooooo. I’m SHOCKED* (*I am actually not shocked.)

Marty says RHR has no power. RHR is slowing down. Misfiring. Engine is a festival of shit. RHR is getting inhaled by everyone.

Lap 57 — Power, Dixon, Bourdais and Dario (P1-4) all pit together. This could be the race … Dixon out first. Dixon bests Power out. P1. P1. Second race in a row the ultimate pass for what should be the win happened on pitting. This time it was actually in the pits. Bourdais back out in P3. Replays. Dixon Fueler had a fraction of a second harder time getting in there.

Lap 57 — Jon calls it “definitely a defining moment” of the race. True.

Lap 59 — Dario bashes into the back of JR as he was trying to overtake. Dario swung out and hit is wing on the rear wheel guards. Will have to pit for a new nose.

Lap 60 –Dixon, Power, Bourdais, Bagenaud, Dixon, Hinch, JR, Newgarden, TK, Tag.

Lap 61 — RHR into the gravel, gives it the dirt track slide and keeps it going. Back onto the rack. No yellow. Impressive job there.

Bourdais also did some off-roading. Actually cooked a corner and let Pagenaud under him on Lap 61.

Bell says it’s easy when you are used to judging passes based on how close you are to the rear gear box to forget the wheel guard things which stick back another foot until you pull out to pass and clip them.

Replay of RHR. Tapped by Sato and went into the dirt track mode.

Lap 64 — Marty says RHR’s engine’s fuel injectors are injecting too much fuel, making it misfire, etc.

Dario gets a new wing and is back out. Jay Penske gets air. JAY PENSKE. When Jay gets air you know we got some time on our hands. Next they will talk to Sarah Fisher, right before the sun freezes and drops from the sky.

Lap 73 — Dixon is three seconds up. Will win barring air strike or horrid fuel calculations.

Kevin says Pagenaud’s people are not sure if he can make it on fuel.

Lap 75 — Dixon, Power, Pag, Bourdais, Hinch, JR, TK, Jakes, Marco, Briscoe.

Lap 76 — RHR pits. Pull the engine cover. Can’t fix it easily. Send him back out. He limps around until there’s no more positions to lose then comes in and calls it a race. Jon makes a good observation that by doing that he can claim the engine issue cost him a DNF and won’t have to pay a 10-grid-spot penalty to replace it because it technically blew during the race.

Lock step. Dixon told to conserve just in case.

Lap 81 — Dixon, Power, Pag, Bourdais, Hinch, TK, Maco, Briscoe, JR, Tag.

White flag. Dixon wins. Dixon, Power, Pagenaud, Bourdais, Hinch.

Wow. Last half of that race, not stirring. Just gotta be up front with you. Wasn’t putrid, by any means. There was some overtaking well back in the pack and Bourdais choked away P3, but other than that … The race was caution free, first time IndyCar had back-to-back zero-yellow races since 1987 per IndyCar PR.

Again, pretty classic road course stuff. Fuel saving, some overtaking in the pack (amazing for Mid-Ohio), strategy (two-stop vs. three-stop). A lot of people would hold this race up as “proper road racing.” Whether or not you dig that is a matter of personal choice and preference, for sure.

IZOD IndyCar Series – Honda Indy 200 – LEXINGTON, Ohio

Results Sunday of the Honda Indy 200 IZOD IndyCar Series event on the 2.258 mile Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course, with order of finish, starting position in parentheses, driver, chassis-engine, laps completed and reason out (if any):

1. (4) Scott Dixon, Dallara-Honda, 85, Running
2. (1) Will Power, Dallara-Chevy, 85, Running
3. (3) Simon Pagenaud, Dallara-Honda, 85, Running
4. (6) Sebastien Bourdais, Dallara-Chevy, 85, Running
5. (15) James Hinchcliffe, Dallara-Chevy, 85, Running

6. (18) Tony Kanaan, Dallara-Chevy, 85, Running
7. (5) Ryan Briscoe, Dallara-Chevy, 85, Running
8. (8) Marco Andretti, Dallara-Chevy, 85, Running
9. (12) JR Hildebrand, Dallara-Chevy, 85, Running
10. (14) Alex Tagliani, Dallara-Honda, 85, Running

11. (21) Graham Rahal, Dallara-Honda, 85, Running
12. (9) Josef Newgarden, Dallara-Honda, 85, Running
13. (17) Takuma Sato, Dallara-Honda, 85, Running
14. (24) Giorgio Pantano, Dallara-Honda, 85, Running
15. (13) Rubens Barrichello, Dallara-Chevy, 85, Running

16. (23) Helio Castroneves, Dallara-Chevy, 85, Running
17. (2) Dario Franchitti, Dallara-Honda, 85, Running
18. (11) Justin Wilson, Dallara-Honda, 85, Running
19. (20) James Jakes, Dallara-Honda, 85, Running
20. (19) EJ Viso, Dallara-Chevy, 85, Running

21. (16) Mike Conway, Dallara-Honda, 85, Running
22. (25) Ed Carpenter, Dallara-Chevy, 84, Running
23. (22) Simona de Silvestro, Dallara-Lotus, 83, Running
24. (7) Ryan Hunter-Reay, Dallara-Chevy, 79, Mechanical
25. (10) Oriol Servia, Dallara-Chevy, 78, Running

Race Statistics

Winners average speed: 115.379

Time of Race: 01:39:48.5083

Margin of victory: 3.4619

Cautions: 0

Lead changes: 2

Lap Leaders:

Power 1 – 57

Hinchcliffe 58 – 59

Dixon 60 – 85

Point Standings: Power 379, Hunter-Reay 374 (-5), Castroneves 353 (-21), Dixon 351 (-23), Hinchcliffe 316 (-58), Pagenaud 311 (-63), Kanaan 307, Franchitti 271, Briscoe 267, Rahal 256.

Results and lap chart courtesy of IndyCar PR.

That’s it for Mid-Ohio. Tune in again in three weeks for the race at Sonoma. Aug. 26 at 4:30 p.m. on NBC Sports Network.

[Reference Here]

With only three races left, two road/street courses (Sonoma and Baltimore) and one super speedway oval (Fontana) will this be Will Power’s year? As Will said himself at Mid Ohio, “For the rest of the year we need to win poles and win races if we are going to win the Championship, it’s pretty simple.”

Going into Mid Ohio 26 points behind and coming out of Mid Ohio with a 5 point lead, the magic is back in the hopes for Power’s first championship after being the bridesmaid for two consecutive years.

… notes from The EDJE

Filed Under: Top Story Tagged With: , , , , , , , , , , ,

Eleventh Round #EdmontonIndy Tweet-By-Tweet

July 23, 2012 By Leave a Comment

As cars were still in the process of finishing the race, Penske’s Helio Castroneves celebrates his second win of the season … Spiderman-Style. Image Credit: Sportsnet.ca

Eleventh Round #EdmontonIndy Tweet-By-Tweet

Ryan Hunter-Reay’s hot streak continued yesterday during Firestone Fast Six qualifications as the American edged Dario Franchitti by one one-hundredth of a second for pole at the Edmonton City Centre Raceway. However, because the Andretti Autosport driver will incur a 10-spot grid penalty for an engine change, Hunter-Reay will start 11th, with Franchitti leading the field to the green flag.

“It was great we picked up a championship point for the pole, but too bad we will be starting 11th instead of first because of the engine change,” said Ryan Hunter-Reay after qualifications. “[The race] will be really interesting for everyone.”

Ryan Briscoe, Takuma Sato, Alex Tagliani, and Helio Castroneves completed the Firestone Fast Six, while championship contenders Will Power and Scott Dixon were caught by a brief rain storm during round two, which kept them making the Fast Six round. Power will start P17, while Dixon will grid in 18th position after he too incurred a 10-spot grid penalty for changing an engine.

The following entries about the Honda Indy Toronto come from “Tweet Deck” tweet-by-tweet with added comments from the author:

Edmund Jenks @TheEDJE – Pivotal #EdmontonIndy may prove P2P strategy key to winningexaminer.com/article /pivota… via@examinercom #indycar #dw12 #p2p#chevrolet #honda

Dario Franchitti and Ryan Briscoe lead the field into turn one at the start of the Edmonton Indy. Image Credit: INDYCAR/LAT USA

GREEN, GREEN, GREEN – This will be the last color of race control flag being waved the rest of the race!

The action of this 2012 #EdmontonIndy got going quickly as Dario Franchitti led off the initial start while Ryan Briscoe, who shared the front row, began falling back and dropped to fifth. Alex Tagliani, who started fourth, made an aggressive move to second and eventually took the lead from Franchitti as the field completed the first lap.

The first stint ran without incident with the only drama occurring on lap 13 as James Hinchcliffe missed his braking point in the final hairpin when he tried to pass Simon Pagenaud for 10th. He ran wide in the corner and fell to 13th. Will Power broke loose somewhat on corner exit and slightly brushed the wall – no major effect.

LAP20 of 75 – Top Ten – Tagliani, Franchitti, Sato, Castroneves, Briscoe, Rahal, Barrichello, Wilson, Hunter-Reay, and Pagenaud

LAP23 of 75 – Pitstops begin – Will Power overtakes Pagenaud for P10

LAP25 has Rahal, Wilson, Pagenaud, Newgarden, Kimball and more in for fuel and a change of tires – Briscoe and Power stay out – Castroneves, who started the race on black tires, changed to REDS during his first stop

The two Penske Racing drivers come in on LAP26 and Will Power comes out just ahead in contention on Turn #1 of Ryan Hunter-Reay to begin LAP27

LAP30 of 75 – Top Ten – Tagliani, Helio, Dario, TAKU, Briscoe, Rahal, Power, Kanaan, RHR, and Wilson

We pick up the addition of Tweet-By-Tweet commentary on LAP35:

Christopher Estrada @estradawriting
Takuma Sato finally gets past Dario Franchitti! Move him to third place.
#IndyCar #EdmontonIndy

Dominique Gelineau @dgelineau
Sato overtakes Franchitti – Sato now in 3rd. #edmontonindy

Rebecca F. @hermione278
Nice job by Sato! #EdmontonIndy

Meesh Beer @whatimthinking
GO TAKU GO!! #indycar #edmontonindy

Matt Archuleta @indy44
The P2P has definitely improved the racing today. Can’t remember seeing this much passing at Edmonton. #EdmontonIndy

TCGR @TCGRTeams
Lap 38 @dariofranchitti reporting overtake assist is not working #edmontonindy

LAP38 of 75 – Top 10 – Tagliani, Castroneves, Sato, Briscoe, Rahal, Power, Hunter-Reay, Wilson, and Hinchcliffe

Team Barracuda – BHA @BHA
Great to hear so many messages of support from the fans! Tagliani continues to lead at #EdmontonIndy!

The gap between Briscoe and Power is getting smaller … may catch up and gain positions

Matt Archuleta @indy44
Lap 42 and no yellows. I hope I didn’t jinx it by posting that. #EdmontonIndy

Rebecca F. @hermione278
Servia still has all of his P2P left. #EdmontonIndy

Ted Bauer @tedgbauer
Engine wise here how it looks only Ford in the top 5 is 2nd place – rest are Honda Engines. #edmontonindy

WHAT??

James Jakes @JamesJakes
JJ experiencing problems with the left rear. In the pits for the crew to exam. #EdmontonIndy #indycar2012

LAP45 of 75 – Power only .5 sec. behind Briscoe now … passes Briscoe for position to P6 and now set sights on Rahal who is less than 2 seconds ahead

Keyrazy LEDs @KeyrazyLEDs
So Servia is the only driver that has not used ptp yet at the @IndyCar #Edmontonindy race. Pagenaud has almost used his up!

LAP 48 of 75 – Servia is in P21 and Pagenaud is in P11

CogitoErgoBibo @CogitoErgoBibo
Amazing that we’re still caution-free in #edmontonindy Hope that holds. Great racing!

Rebecca F. @hermione278
Sato gaining on Helio. #EdmontonIndy

Final pitstops expected soon as we are on LAP49 of 75

Helio Castroneves is in the pits on LAP50 – REDS on in order to finish out the last stint – Wilson in as well!

LAP51 Taku, Tags, Dario, Briscoe, RHR, and more

Castroneves passes Tagliani on pitstop exchange for the lead

Power comes out in P4 in front of Rahal and more importantly ahead of RHR at P7

LAP55 of 75 – Top 10 – Helio, Tagliani, Sato, Power, Rahal, Dario, Briscoe, Hunter-Reay, Kanaan, and Wilson

Takuma Sato puts a pass on Tagliani for P2

Meesh Beer @whatimthinking
@therossbynum if anyone is insane enough to try it, it’s Taku!! #indycar #edmontonindy

Sébastien Bourdais @BourdaisOnTrack
http://twitvid.com/RDDOK – Second pitstop // Deuxième pitstop #edmontonindy

Joe @WFOJoe
I’d like to see #IndyCar add 150hp for next year, good racing but the cars need to be faster! #Boost

Will Power passes Tagliani for P3 on LAP57 – Tags blocks Rahal but does not get away with it – spins and loses positions to P5

IndyCar al día @indycaraldiaweb
Alex Tagliani perdió hasta el 5to lugar, lo han pasado Power y Rahal. Gran estrategia del australiano #IndyCar

LAP 59 of 75 – Helio pulls away from Taku by 1.2 seconds

LAP 60 of 75 – Top 10 – Helio, Sato, Power, Rahal, Tags, Dario, Briscoe, RHR, Wilson, and Dixon

LAP 61 of 75 – Sato is cutting into the lap times of Helio and looks stronger and wants the lead of the race – He looks to be dropping deeper into the corners than Helio

Dan Brodeur @LumberingD
Good one! RT @SUNdvandiest As long as Helio Castroneves doesn’t block anybody, he should be able to win this race. #edmontonindy

Shane Rogers @shagers
Bobby Rahal: “Helio starts blocking when he picks up his rental car from the airport.” LOL. #indycar #EdmontonIndy

Top 5 DW12′s are running on the REDS

Dominique Gelineau @dgelineau
Sato will have the pass in the next few laps. He’s getting quicker. #edmontonindy

Rebecca F. @hermione278
Newgarden is the last car on the lead lap. #EdmontonIndy

Zachary Houghton @indycaradvocate
Honda vs Chevy. Who’s got this? #edmontonindy

Gina Navarra @fastlifeofgina
I really wanna see Taku win especially after what happened at the #Indy500 #EdmontonIndy #IndyCar

Ten laps to go and it is still Castroneves and Sato for the lead with NO YELLOW Flags!

Rahal in P4 is challenging Power for position at P3 at .6 seconds back

Sarah Quest @leadtheway
I know I’m supposed to be cheering for the Rebel Alliance, but I want to see Helio win…. #EdmontonIndy

Victor Vallee @Victor_Vallee
Sato is hungry, but does he have enough to get by Helio? #IndyCar

Ian Court @iancourtracing
C’mon Taku, nail him #SatoForTheWin #Indycar #edmontonindy

Larry Collester Sr
With just a few laps to go. Castroneves was pushing his Push to not get passed button!

Gina Navarra @fastlifeofgina
Do either Helio or Taku have any P2P left? #EdmontonIndy #IndyCar

The biggest problem with P2P is that there is little way for the fans to know where the drivers are in relation to this tool and its use

LAP70 of 75 – It is still Helio holding off Sato – Power being challenged by Rahal for P3 – and RHR challenging Ryan Briscoe for P7

Racing all over the place on this weird counter-clockwise course – Lapped traffic may come into play

TrackVids.com @TrackVids_com
#IndyCar: Sato having difficulty getting the power down and falls back, then catches up under braking…every lap

LAP71 of 75 – Power has pulled a full second on Rahal – Servia at P24 pulls out of the way of the lead pack traffic – very professional

This may end up good for Helio, good for Power and, of course, Great for Penske

Shane Rogers @shagers
Championship quality drive by Power today. #indycar #EdmontonIndy

Three laps to go – RHR passes Ryan Briscoe for P7
Richard Griffis @RichardGriffis

Is there anything dumber in racing than push to pass used by #indycar at #edmontonindy? Please let the drivers drive without the gimics!

Castroneves has 27 seconds of P2P whereas Sato only has 15 seconds

Tony Stack @TonyStack1
Come on Tacu Sato great racing to the flag #IndyCar

Javi Martin @rubiodj77
2 laps to go, todo sugue igual en el TOP 5 liderando Castroneves #IndyCar

RacingNation Crew @RacingNation
Just think how good this battle would be between @h3lio & Sato if they had 200 more HP? #edmontonindy #IndyCar

Last lap it is all Helio Castroneves and Sato trails 10 car lengths

CHECKERED Flag – Helio Wins #EdmontonIndy and moves up to P2 in the points championship

Final Top Ten – Helio Castroneves, Takuma Sato, Will Power (makes podium after starting in P17), Graham Rahal, Alex Tagliani, Dario Franchitti Ryan Hunter-Reay, Ryan Briscoe, Justin Wilson, and Scott Dixon

Tony DiZinno @tonydizinno
That sound you hear is the collective groan from the #IndyCar fanbase as Taku finishes second.

Emma Buxton @EmBuxton
#edmontonindyy!@h3lioo takes the win,@TakumaSatoRacerr &@12WillPowerr on podium.#indycar20122 WOOOOO HOOOO

Fernando Oliveri @olivierirokao
@h3lio wins! #IndyCar

Gabriel Marinho @marinho_gabriel
elio castroneves vence o gp d edmonton, a 11ª etapa da #formulaindy 2012; sato é o 2º, power 3º, barrichello o 15º e kannan 19º. #indycar

Linda @greenfield7814
Great race for Power and Sato #Indycar

Kassia @KassiaS10
@h3lio is the winner! Woohoo in your face! #indycar

Bruno Santos @_snatos
Parabéns ao @h3lio na #IndyCar

IZOD IndyCar Series @IndyCar
Checkered flag on the #edmontonindy! @h3lio takes the win! @TakumaSatoRacer & @12WillPower on podium. #indycar2012

Jennifer Coomer @jennifercoomer
@h3lio HELIO! HELIO! HELIO! HELIO! HELIO! HELIO! HELIO! HELIO! HELIO! HELIO! HELIO! HELIO! HELIO! #edmontonindy #IndyCar

“Spiderman” Castroneves climbs the fence again as he did at the end of the first race of the season in St. Petersburg after his first win of the season. At the time of this expression of joy for his win, cars were still crossing the finish line to take the Checkered Flag. Image Credit: IICS via Twitter

1 Racing Mind @1RacingMind
Helio Castroneves wins the #INDYCAR series #EdmontonIndy.

Joan Boscà @sentoan
#IndyCar Ganó Castroneves, 2º Sato, 3º Power, Oriol último con problemas #IndyCar

Dan Takyi @D4NT4KY1
Castoneves wins! Sato P2, Power then Rahal, Tagliani, Frnachetti, Hunter-Reay, Briscoe, Wilson, Dixon, Conway Hinchcliffe, Kimball #Indycar

Basementball @basementball
Helio Castroneves wins at #Edmonton. That was a fantastic race with NO CAUTIONS. I wish every race could be like that. #IndyCar

Mazza @GPtee_
#edmontonindy #indycar2012 Great race – thanks for the action @TakumaSatoRacer & @h3lio now for the Spiderman ;-)

Jason Sharpe @jasonsharpe
That @TakumaSatoRacer is an awesome addition to this series…great drive today. #IndyCar #edmonton

SpeedFreaks @SpeedFreaks
Caution free @IndyCar race won by @h3lio… #EdmontonIndy Excellent run by @TakumaSatoRacer too! #IndyCar

Nikki Thompson @nikki_btcc
Great drive @h3lio! #IndyCar #EdmontonIndy

Four Chevy’s (P1, P3, P7, P8) and six Honda’s (P2, P4, P5, P6, P9, P10) in the top ten

SWO @Pudgey_Pete
@shagers Radio broadcast had it covered at least. T&S was great today with the P2P numbers and who was on it. @RBINDYCAR #indycar

Mark Johnson @MarkJ19960
@h3lio wins @ Edmonton and @RyanHunterReay holds onto a 23 pt lead over now P2 Castroneves & 26 over P3 Power. #IndyCar pic.twitter.com/y9QpLNnw

Podium celebration with (L to R) P3 RLL Racing’s Takuma Sato, P1 Penske Racing’s Helio Castroneves, and P3 Penske Racing’s Will Power at Edmonton City Centre Raceway. Image Credit: IICS via Twitter

Official #EdmontonIndy Results

Pos.     Driver             Laps     Running / Reason Out

1     Helio Castroneves     75     Running
2     Takuma Sato         75     Running
3     Will Power         75     Running
4     Graham Rahal         75     Running
5     Alex Tagliani         75     Running

6     Dario Franchitti     75     Running
7     Ryan Hunter-Reay     75     Running
8     Ryan Briscoe         75     Running
9     Justin Wilson         75     Running
10     Scott Dixon         75     Running

11     Mike Conway         75     Running
12     James Hinchcliffe     75     Running
13     Rubens Barrichello     75     Running
14     Marco Andretti         75     Running
15     Sebastien Bourdais     75     Running

16     EJ Viso         75     Running
17     Josef Newgarden     75     Running
18     Tony Kanaan         75     Running
19     Charlie Kimball     75     Running
20     Simon Pagenaud         74     Contact

21     JR Hildebrand         74     Running
22     Ed Carpenter         74     Running
23     Simona de Silvestro     73     Running
24     Oriol Servia         65     Mechanical
25     James Jakes         43     Mechanical

In two weeks, the IZOD IndyCar Series is back in the Midwest
for the Honda Indy 200 at Mid-Ohio. The twelfth race of the season will take
place on Sunday, August 5. An estimated green flag for the 85-lap competition is
scheduled to drop at approximately 1 p.m. EDT. Fans can watch the live
broadcast on ABC, or listen live on IMS Radio Network and Sirius (XM 94 and Sirius 212).

… notes from The EDJE

** Article first published as IICS Eleventh Round #EdmontonIndy Tweet-By-Tweet on Technorati **

Filed Under: Top Story Tagged With: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Pivotal #EdmontonIndy May Prove P2P Strategy Key To Winning

July 16, 2012 By Leave a Comment

Edmonton Indy race start last year – The secret to the IndyCar engine’s success is how its twin turbochargers boost performance and throttle response. With the ability to reach 12,000 rpm, the power plant is the highest-revving direct injection engine in current racing competition. Image Credit: Edmonton Indy (2011)

Pivotal #EdmontonIndy May Prove P2P Strategy Key To Winning

Going into the 11th race in a shortened 15 race season, the driver’s championship is as competitive as ever. Ryan Hunter-Reay has vaulted into first place after winning three straight races, while the Franchitti, who won his fourth drivers’ championship in 2011, has struggled. He’s in eighth spot, 13 points ahead of Briscoe.

The last two years ended in disappointment for the Penske driver, Will Power, who ended up in P2 on the last race of the season, and up until he lost his left front tire to a Josef Newgarden weakened broken wing section that came off and caused a puncture, he looked as though he would be able to retain the points lead built upon with three season wins of his own.

Last year, Will Power was behind Dario Franchitti and needing a win to get back into contention after loosing points in Toronto. This year, Power is pretty much in the same position but this time his chief rival is Andretti Autosport’s Ryan Hunter-Reay who is ahead by 34 points by winning on two ovals and one road course. The Achilles heel for Penske and Will Power in securing a championship has always been ovals. Edmonton represents a must win situation as it did last year for Will Power but all things are not the same.

First off, we find ourselves in the infancy of the DW12 era with new engines. It appears that this new chassis outfitted with the Chevrolet engine, performs a little better than the Honda engine under racing conditions. Of the top five drivers in the points chase, four of the five are powered by Chevrolet engines (P1 – Ryan Hunter-Reay, P2 – Will Power, P3 – Helio Castroneves, P5 – James Hinchcliffe). The only Honda to spoil the “bowtie” party for the championship is Scott Dixon in P5.

Secondly, the IZOD IndyCar Series has decided to add another wrinkle into the mix for Street/Road courses – of which four of the last five races are to be contested. This driver controlled element to performance is called Push-to-Pass or P2P. These new engines are outfitted with a turbo-charger which boosts additional power through compression to the engine and the P2P gives each driver additional boost controlled by a button on the steering wheel for a total of 100 seconds.

City Centre Raceway – last year known as Rexall Edmonton Indy Speedway – Edmonton City Centre Airport IndyCar race track configuration detail – pre-2011 in yellow / 2011 configuration in blue [ctrl-click image for "A virtual lap of the Edmonton Indy" video]. Image Credit: GrabBagSports.com (2011)

The reason P2P is very important to a driver’s strategy at Edmonton is because of the unique character of the new layout introduced just last year (so the contending drivers have seen the track before). The track is a 2.25 mile temporary road course set up on an airport runway/tarmac in Edmonton.

The course is unusual in that it tracks counter-clockwise and features 13 turns, a nasty hairpin turn that separates two long straights made from a landing/takeoff runway, and another slightly curved straight that dives into another situation similar to ” Turn 3″ at the end of the only high speed straight in Toronto.

Turn 1 out of the pits and at the end of the long straight past the Start/Finish line (the longest of the new layout). The corner is an unusual left hand power turn (120%) that leads to a speed section with a slight right-hand kink at Turn 2 and a high-speed left/right jig at turns 3 and 4.

The second kinked straight ends at Turn 5 in another hard left-hand turn (curved 180%) that tracks through a curvy section that was used in the previous layout.

Lastly, starting at turns 10 and 11, a long 150 mph straight made from a landing/takeoff runway that ends in a nasty hairpin at turn 13 that starts the process over again with the longest straight (3/4th of a mile – nearly 200 mph) in this course.

Whoever has the best strategy to manage and where to engage the 100 seconds of P2P just may end up having the advantage on this course.

Again, turns #1, #5, and #13 are pivotal to the fortunes (or lack thereof) of these teams and drivers and the  Edmonton Indy is uniquely situated in the season, with just 5 races left, to set the tone to the end – Honda Indy 200 at Mid-Ohio, Indy Grand Prix of Sonoma, Grand Prix of Baltimore, and the season finale at Auto Club Speedway.

… notes from The EDJE

Event Information:

Edmonton Indy, Edmonton, AB, City Centre Raceway, Knockout Qualifications, ending with the Firestone Fast Six – 2:00 to 3:15PM ET Sat. July 21, Race Coverage – 11:00AM to 4:00PM ET Sun. July 22 on NBC Sports Network

UPDATE – Reset Grid Assignments:

With this morning’s warmup in the books, the starting grid for today’s Edmonton Indy (2:30 pm ET, NBC Sports Network) is set with three of the top four drivers in the IZOD IndyCar Series championship kicked into the pack after 10-spot grid penalties for unapproved engine changes.

Ryan Hunter-Reay (qualified on pole), Will Power (qualified 7th), and Scott Dixon (qualified 8th) — first, second and fourth in the standings respectively — will have to wind their way through the field and perhaps play a bit of strategy in order to get back up front.

Their penalties may prove fortuitous for Helio Castroneves, who sits third in the standings and will start fifth in the race after qualifying sixth on Saturday. Castroneves has earned three second-place finishes in four starts at Edmonton and wants to finally get the top spot on the podium there.

Dixon was the fastest in this morning’s warmup session, posting a lap of 76.9006 seconds in the No. 9 Target Chip Ganassi Racing Honda. Rubens Barrichello was second-quickest and Mike Conway bounced back from mechanical woes in qualifying to go P3, indicating the strong pace he’s had at times over the weekend.

Also getting tagged with 10-spot grid penalties today are Oriol Servia (qualified 20th) and Simona de Silvestro (qualified 23rd).

Here’s how the grid looks for this afternoon’s 75-lapper around Edmonton’s City Center Airport:

ROW 1
10-Dario Franchitti, Ganassi/Honda
6-Ryan Briscoe, Penske/Chevrolet

ROW 2
15-Takuma Sato, RLL/Honda
98-Alex Tagliani, Herta/Honda

ROW 3
3-Helio Castroneves, Penske/Chevrolet
77-Simon Pagenaud, SHM/Honda (rookie)

ROW 4
8-Rubens Barrichello, KVRT/Chevrolet
38-Graham Rahal, Ganassi/Honda

ROW 5
27-James Hinchcliffe, Andretti/Chevrolet
18-Justin Wilson, Coyne/Honda

ROW 6
28-Ryan Hunter-Reay, Andretti/Chevrolet
7-Sebastien Bourdais, Dragon/Chevrolet

ROW 7
67-Josef Newgarden, SFHR/Honda
19-James Jakes, Coyne/Honda

ROW 8
26-Marco Andretti, Andretti/Chevrolet
5-E.J. Viso, KVRT/Chevrolet

ROW 9
12-Will Power, Penske/Chevrolet
9-Scott Dixon, Ganassi/Honda

ROW 10
83-Charlie Kimball, Ganassi/Honda
4-J.R. Hildebrand, Panther/Chevrolet

ROW 11
11-Tony Kanaan, KVRT/Chevrolet
20-Ed Carpenter, ECR/Chevrolet

ROW 12
14-Mike Conway, Foyt/Honda
22-Oriol Servia, Panther+DRR/Chevrolet

ROW 13
78-Simona de Silvestro, HVM/Lotus
(ht: IndyRacingRevolution.com)

Filed Under: Top Story Tagged With: , , , , , , , , , ,

Push To Pass Gives 100 Seconds And Excitement At Honda Indy Toronto

July 8, 2012 By Leave a Comment

Crystal trophy to be presented to the IZOD IndyCar Series Honda Indy Toronto Champion. Image Credit: Edmund Jenks via Twitter

Push To Pass Gives 100 Seconds And Excitement At Honda Indy Toronto

Push-to-Pass (P2P) will be re-introduced as a tool for the drivers to use in today’s race in the streets around Exhibition Place in Toronto ON, Canada.

The Honda Indy Toronto will have a different version from the one that was introduced by the ChampCar World Series (CCWS) through the Panoz DP01 where a driver could push a button on the steering wheel and get 10 seconds of extra boost delivered to the turbo-powered engine. The driver’s were limited to only ten 10-second boosts on the P2P for a total of 100 seconds.

The version that will be used on the DW12′s on the 11 turn 1.75 mile track in Toronto will allow the driver to use as much of their 100 second allotment whenever, and however they choose.

If Takuma Sato, for example, wishes to employ the 100 second boost all at one push, all he has to do is keep the button down. Most drivers feel that P2P is best used as a tool saved for the final third of the race but this is not a guarantee of advantage. If the driver to be overtaken also saved his allotment of P2P, all he has to do is push-to-defend and the advantage is neutralized.

In a report at SPEED TV, Helio Castroneves shared another idea on how P2P should be modified to make it more exciting to the on-track action.

“We can see the revs increasing on the computer, but you don’t feel it in the car,” said Team Penske’s Helio Castroneves, who echoed the comments of numerous IndyCar pilots. “It’s about two-tenths [of a second] on lap time. The good thing is, Push-to-Pass is back again. But maybe we should plan ahead, especially when we have a two-week break to the next race at Edmonton.”

At the behest of the engine manufacturers, the series has re-introduced the system with a modest and measured increase in power, but it’s likely the power the button delivers will grow before the end of the season.

For now, and with such a soft increase in performance, Castroneves would like to see a unique anti-Push-to-Pass safeguard system established.

“Maybe we can do something like a delay, so if one guy presses the button, the guy in front or behind him cannot react right away,” he suggested. “Then you can make a proper overtake. If I push my button, and the guy I’m chasing then pushes his button, you get nothing out of it. The bottom line is yes, this is for us as drivers, but it’s also for the fans. If we can use the button to cancel each other out, maybe we should think about not letting that happen so easy.”
[ht: SPEED TV]

Photo of Andretti Autosport – Ryan Hunter-Reay’s steering wheel – At present, the Overtake button will not provide the rush of acceleration some where hoping for, but the series will likely tweak its impact in the coming races. Green “Overtake” button on upper-right. Image Credit: Marshall Pruett

The following entries about the Honda Indy Toronto come from “Tweet Deck” tweet-by-tweet with added comments from the author:

Jordan Irvine @IrvineF1
#HondaIndy atmosphere and paddock is just fantastic! What a day so far, and the race hasn’t even started yet!!! #Indycar

IZOD IndyCar Series @IndyCar
Happy Race Day! Catch us on @ABC & TSN2 (Canada) @ 12:30pm ET! Look out for these hot spots at #hondaindy: indycar.com/News/2012/07-J… #indycar2012

Dale Coyne Racing @DaleCoyneRacing
If you see him around the track today, be sure to wish Dale Coyne a #HappyBirthday! #indycar #HondaIndy

GREEN, GREEN, GREEN – The Honda Indy Toronto with P2P begins!

Mouser Racing Team @MouserIndy
Toronto is green! Best of luck to @TonyKanaan and @kvracing! #GoMouser11 #IndyCar

Dario jumps to the front over Will Power – all cars get through the first turns side-by-side then settle into a single file.

Matthew Day @matthewnotmatt
Time for some #Indycar – maybe @dariofranchitti can save some pride for us Brits and win at Toronto

Marcoteers Andretti© @Marcoteers
@FollowAndretti cars are @RyanHunterReay p6 @Hinchtown p16 and @MarcoAndretti p21 #HondaIndy #Toronto #IndyCar2012

Justin Wilson gets past Will Power for a couple of laps … Power grabs the position back before Franchitti gets to far away.

Jeff Cunningham @Cowboy_Witch
This just in: Will Power is pretty good at Toronto. But you probably already knew that. #hondaindy #IndyCar

Power passes Franchitti for the lead on LAP 6

Deke Weinberg @Deke15
Chilly Willy with the lead! #hondaindy #IndyCar

IZOD IndyCar Series @IndyCar
Car No. 9 stopped in the runoff in Turn 1. #hondaindy #indycar2012

F1 Fanatic Live @f1fanaticlive
Dixon has stopped. #IndyCar

This is big because Dixon was third in points and one of the biggest threats to Will Power maintaining his potential lead – engine broke and oil is spilling out

Simona de Silvestro has pitted and it is not known why … except she is in a Lotus

Tony DiZinno @tonydizinno
Since it’s not listed on T&S, those on reds: Dario, Will, Justin, Seb, Dixon, Helio, Conway, Hinch, Jakes #HondaIndy #IndyCar

Kent Barber @Thummper08
Who ever said that Team Lotus couldn’t finish higher in a race than a Ganassi ?? #IndyCar

F1 Fanatic Live @f1fanaticlive
Hinchcliffe and Kanaan made contact at turn four. #Indycar

Great in-car camera work – the cars solider on

LAP 12 – Viso in for REDS – stays on lead lap

IndyCar al día @indycaraldiaweb
Ernesto Viso se va a los pits en la vuelta 12. Tiene llantas negras #IndyCar

1 Racing Mind @1RacingMind
Grid position penalty means another confusing event ahead defining differences in driver qualifying results and grid position. #INDYCAR

More pit stops – Briscoe in for REDS

LAP 16 – Will Power tries to check out with a 3.3 second lead on Dario Franchitti

Tagliani in for REDS and fuel

Ryan Brothers @renegade_3
#IndyCar Will Power dominating #Toronto100 #hondaindy on lap17 Franchitti 2nd Wilson 3rd. Tight/skinny street circuit in Toronto

IndyCar Garage @IndyCarGarage
Hinch into the pits at lap 18 – still green #INDYCAR

LAP 18 - Sebastien Bourdais gest around Justin Wilson for P3

LAP 19 – Graham Rahal leaves no room for Charlie Kimball and Kimball is in the tires – backs out and continues

LAP 20 – Top 10 are as follows: Power, Franchitti, SeaBass, Conway (up from P16), RHR, Helio, Rahal, Sato, JR Hildebrand, and Newgarden

Ricardo Arcuri @FaleComCarioca
ow, o Graham Rahal tb nao foi la muito correto nesse lance viu…. #Indycar

Matthew Embury @MattEmbury
Ton of defensive blocking from Graham Rahal there, not a cool move on his own teammate. #indycar

Tony Kanaan is issued a drive through penalty for hitting a tire in the pits on previous pit stop

YELLOW Flag – LAP 22 – Rahal locks tires up and hits the wall – PITS Closed

IZOD IndyCar Series @IndyCar
Full course yellow. Car 38 of Graham Rahal in the wall at exit of Turn 1. #hondaindy #indycar2012

Race Control: Car #11 has a walk of shame penalty for trying to stick a fifth tyre on his car. #IndyCar

Joshua Rogers @Joshua_Rogers
Is it safe to say that Graham Rahal is the Steve Wallace of #Indycar?

Sal’im McNeill @Salim1luv
Absolutely love the car design, and real racing#indycar

Top 7 cars have not pitted – this may leave Simon Pagenaud in a good position

Pit Lane is open – Dario Franchitti pits first – fuel buckeye gets stuck and gives hime a long pit stop

Tagliani replaces nose piece during pit stop

Christopher Estrada @estradawriting
10-Franchitti needed to have his car jacked up and moved closer to pit wall in order to get fuel. That’s gonna hurt him. #IndyCar #HondaIndy

 RESTART – GREEN Flag – LAP 29

KV Racing Technology @kvracing
Kanaan moves from 10th to 3rd at the restart!! Barrichello to 6th and Viso 12th #HondaIndy #Indycar2012

LAP 32 – Top 10 – Pagenaud, RHR, Kanaan, Briscoe, Sato, Barrichello, Wilson, Kimball, Servia, and Newgarden

Matt White @MattW1986
Hmmm, cheering for 2 Frenchmen in a series full of brits #indycar

Ashley Noelle @AshNoeModel
Watching #F1 on Fox and #IndyCar racing on ABC from my balcony over the ocean in San Diego.. Today is a good day ❤

Niko @icthyes
Pagenaud is bossing it #IndyCar

Indy Racing Review @INDYracereview
@simonpagenaud has a 3.42 seconds lead over @RyanHunterReay #IndyCar #HondaIndy

Race with Insulin @racewithinsulin
Charlie makes a pass to reach 7th position on lap 35. #HondaIndy #IndyCar2012

Kai @AndersFinn
Stinks that Dario had that fuel buckeye issue in pit, but happy to see Pagenaud leading. #Indycar

IZOD IndyCar Series @IndyCar
Lap 35 update: Pagenaud leading, Hunter-Reay, Kanaan, Briscoe, Sato follow. #hondaindy #indycar2012

If the race would end with this order, Ryan Hunter-Reay would lead Will Power by 16 points by securing P2 over a P11 finish for Power

Hinchtown officially out of the race – broken engine – bowed out from a P4 position on the track

Niko @icthyes
Massive shame for @Hinchtown #IndyCar

LAP 41 of 85 – Race leader Pagenaud last pitted on LAP 14 – 29 laps on tires and fuel

Lewis Franck @LewisFranck
Got to consider the caution laps produced better mileage when making this next pit stop. @hondaindy #IndyCar

Cambyland @MarkCLynch
A little more yellow and those 7 will only have to stop once more. #Indycar

Martin Pinnau @martinpinnau
Why is Simon Pagenaud listed as a rookie? I remember watching him in Champ Car. #indycar

The merger betweem CCWS and the IRL did not account for a break for those drivers that were unable to make it through the transition – Simon Pagenaud went on to become a American Le Mans Series Champion driving along with teamate/co-driver Gil de Ferran in Gil’s last competitive racing season

Great action with Josef Newgarden pulling a nifty move on Oriol Servia for P9 from P10

LAP 49 of 85 – Pagenaud comes in and may have a little problem with the car coming down on the air hose – awaiting to see if he gets a penalty

Power passes Sato in Turn 1 – for P7 and Bourdais gets past Sato as well

Christopher Estrada @estradawriting
Kanaan on pit road, scuffed reds for him. #IndyCar #HondaIndy

Sato is the main target as Conway passes him with a slick move

IZOD IndyCar Series @IndyCar
Lap 57 update: Top 5 — Hunter-Reay, Wilson, Kimball, Newgarden, Power. #hondaindy #indycar2012

Power in the pits … EJ Viso pulls in and he is out of the race with engine problems

LAP 58 of 85 – Will Power gets contact with Newgarden and has a flat front tire – possible damaged front wing but puts off change to stay on lead lap

DZ @HalfShaftBlues
Did I just hear someone honking a clown horn when RHR hit his pit? #IndyCar

Kashvinder Mann @kashwinner
Power’s wing broke, which cut the tyre. How did that got damage in the first place? #IndyCar

Kev @ElusiveKev
Looks like Hunter-Reay really likes this leading thing lately. #hondaindy #indycar2012

Christopher Estrada @estradawriting
Power comes out 20th, while Ryan Hunter-Reay leads Tony Kanaan by six-tenths of a second. New points leader on the way? #IndyCar #HondaIndy

LAP 60 of 85 – Top 10 – RHR, Kanaan, Pagenaud, Kimball, Wilson, Briscoe, Newgarden, Barrichello, Bourdais, and Servia

nascarcasm @nascarcasm
Roger Penske has just put Hornish on a plane to Toronto to fix Will Power’s front wing. Just for the hell of it. #IndyCar #hondaindy

Christopher Estrada @estradawriting
77-Pagenaud and 83-Kimball going at it hard for third place! #IndyCar #HondaIndy

IZOD IndyCar Series @IndyCar
Big movers: Kanaan P2 (from 17th), Kimball P4 (from 13th), Newgarden P7 (from 20th), Barrichello P8 (from 18th). #hondaindy #indycar2012

Colby Martin @Goblowsoup
So saying no to Road America and Michigan is not what I wanted to hear. Phoenix sounds good, but replace Detroit with RA please. #IndyCar

F1 Fanatic Live @f1fanaticlive
Third-placed Pagenaud has Kimball, Wilson, Briscoe and Newgarden on his tail tryingto pass. #IndyCar

James Jakes @JamesJakes
20 laps to go. JJ holding P17 PR #HondaIndy #IndyCar2012

Jacob Kraemer @StewCrew14
Pagenaud is in the way and holding up 4 other cars. Kimball is all up in his wing. #IndyCar #HondaIndy

Jeff Cunningham @Cowboy_Witch
@armond_ealey There’s so much racing going on that I sometimes have trouble keeping up. #NASCAR #F1 #IndyCar #GrandAm #ALMS

IZOD IndyCar Series @IndyCar
Car 18 of Justin Wilson hits wall on front stretch. #hondaindy #indycar2012

PRN Motorsport Mag @prnmag
@justin_wilson out of race, engine problems #HondaIndy

17 Laps to go – RHR leads by 5.5 seconds over Kanaan, Pagenaud, Kimball, Briscoe, Newgarden, Barrichello, Bourdais, Servia, and Castroneves – Power is running in P19 and may loose the points lead today

IZOD IndyCar Series @IndyCar
Wilson has retired due to suspension damage from contact with wall on frontstretch. #hondaindy #indycar2012

Indy Pro Sports @ProIndy
15 to go! We’re predicting another win for @RyanHunterReay. RT if you’re thinking the same! #hondaindy #indycar2012

Kimball passes two cars in one move on the end of back straight corner – now up to P2 – not bad for being fueled on insulin

AJ @ajslideways
That move by Charlie Kimball was siiiiiiiick. #IndyCar

Christopher Estrada @estradawriting
Pagenaud goes to the inside of Kanaan, locks up. Kimball sneaks by on the inside line. Heads-up pass by the American! #IndyCar #HondaIndy

Shane Rogers @shagers
You were looking at Kimball, but Newgarden’s move on Briscoe was Balls with a capital B. #indycar #hondaindy

Peter Leung @BaronVonClutch
What Diabetes? @charliekimball is a Hella Better Driver. He’s up to P2 now. #IndyCar

Ten laps to go and its RHR by 7.6 seconds over Kimball, Pagenaud, Newgarden, Briscoe, Barrichello, Bourdais, Servia, Conway, and Kanaan

Cecilia Rodgers @CeciliaRodgers3
#HondaIndy I truly enjoy this goo.gl/xUAya?FLt1eJ

Fake Charlie Whiting @charlie_whiting
Fantastic. @charliekimball and @racewithinsulin in P2!!!! Team is pumped. Now bring her home, lad. #IndyCar

Newgarden gets BLOCKED and pays the price as he goes into the tires

YELLOW Flag – Newgarden stalls out and this will bunch up the pack – SFR not happy with Sam Schmidt/Hamilton Racing’s Pagenaud … should be a penalty on Simon

Kim Wilson @daisy2gal
I didn’t know @SarahFisher knew how to say that word! Not that I blame her! #IndyCar

Tim Blum @dbsdad
Newgarden is, of course, one word. But not to auto correct. #Indycar

Indy Racing Review @INDYracereview
Full course caution for @josefnewgarden into the tires. #IndyCar #HondaIndy

Joaquín Candia @_chudox_
Bandera amarilla, faltan 5, cagó la ventaja de Hunter-Reay, va a estar buena esa relargada cuando falten 3 #IndyCar

Daniel Gazquez Tapia @dangaztap
Sato es 14º #IndyCar y Newgarden 18º

Christopher Estrada @estradawriting
Five laps to go. BIG RESTART COMING. #IndyCar #HondaIndy

Eric Hamme @NegativeVORP
That might be the first recorded profanity of Sarah Fisher ever. #indycar #hondaindy

ZOD IndyCar Series @IndyCar
Newgarden has continued. #hondaindy #indycar2012

Keyrazy LEDs @KeyrazyLEDs
Pagenaud should get a penalty! @IndyCar @hondaindy #HondaIndy

GREEN, GREEN, GREEN, Restart – LAP 82 – Carnage to Bourdais, Ryan Briscoe, Barrichello, & Franchitti

Pagenaud serves penalty

Ron @rrush59
Was Dario driving with his eyes closed ? WTF ! #HondaIndy

repT.O @repTdotO
Shit just went kray!!! #HondaIndy

James Jakes @JamesJakes
Full course yellow. So much just happened but JJ did a great job avoiding it! Currently P8! PR #HondaIndy #IndyCar2012

SCCGR & NNCGR @CGRTeams
Back to yellow with only 3 laps to go at #hondaindy. @racewithinsulin holds P2.

RACE ENDS under YELLOW Flag

Ryan Hunter-Reay gets his third win in a row here in the middle of the season – up 34 points for the championship over Will Power

Jozef Colomy @JozefColomy
Damnnn 3 in a row? Go @RyanHunterReay #IndyCar

Dayna Winslette @UCTaillights
Three in a row for @RyanHunterReay AND takes over the points lead! WOW!!! #IndyCar

F1 Fanatic Live @f1fanaticlive
Hunter-Reay leads home Kimball, Conway, Kanaan, Servia, Castroneves, Hildebrand, Jakes, Sato and Tagliani. #IndyCar

Daniel Gazquez Tapia @dangaztap
Que gran carrera de #IndyCar se ha perdido @Javigarv Oriol Servia finalmente 5º !!

IndyCar al día @indycaraldiaweb
Ryan Hunter-Reay gana el Honda Indy Toronto 2012. Tercera consecutiva del año, nuevo líder del puntaje #IndyCar

Tammy_Madsen @tamiramadsen
Really, #IndyCar? Finish under yellow? Change that rule!

Andy Young @AndyYoungF1
That’s a Ryan Hunter-Reay Hat-Trick!! #Indycar

Matt Soleyn @soleynm
#Breaking: Ryan Hunter-Reay wins the #HondaIndy in #Toronto, giving him three straight IZOD #IndyCar wins!

Jenna Fryer @JennaFryer
Second race in a row that ends under yellow. Just feels so flat to me. #IndyCar

Hunter Gunnell @HunterGunnell
#indycar Congratulations RHR!

Christopher Estrada @estradawriting
Tony Kanaan finishes fourth, Oriol Servia comes up fifth. #IndyCar #HondaIndy

Austin @Zappatista
At least the idiots didn’t ruin the class of the field. Hunter-Reay with a well deserved win. #IndyCar

Chris Cunningham @CunninghamCE
How about absolutely not? RT @rsanchez4577: @JennaFryer How bout some G W C #IndyCar

TCGR @TCGRTeams
Checkered flag @dariofranchitti p17 @scottdixon9 p25 @hondaindy #IndyCar2012

Fox Sports 1230 WMML @WMML1230
RT @IndyCar: Race ends under yellow. @RyanHunterReay wins third in a row! Kimball and Conway on podium! #hondaindy #indycar2012

Blayne Pereira @Blaynos14
Well most of it was pretty dull, but glad I woke up for the frantic end to the #IndyCar race

IZOD IndyCar Series @IndyCar
Incident on the restart, several cars involved. Among them Pagenaud, Carpenter, Briscoe. Back to yellow. #hondaindy #indycar2012

Ben Turner @BLT77
Looks like AJ’s car will get a podium. I guess that means Supertex won’t throw any laptops today or beat on a car with a hammer

Joaquín Candia @_chudox_
Ganó Hunter-Reay en Toronto, había ganado la última en Iowa también #2AlHilo #IndyCar

Antoine L. @TonioF1
Hunter-Reay wins the race at Toronto #IndyCar

John Haywood @JHay97
Congrats to @RyanHunterReay and @FollowAndretti on the win!!! 3 in a row!! #Epic #IndyCar

Dustin Long @dustinlong
#IndyCar …Ryan Hunter-Reay wins Toronto for 3rd victory in a row. ABC says he’ll have take points lead & have a 34-point lead on Will Power.

Peter Leung @BaronVonClutch
.@RyanHunterReay takes the chequered Flag! ‘Make sure you wave to the fans!’ Mitch Davis tells RHR. #IndyCar @FollowAndretti

Covsupport News Serv @CovsupportNews
Great drive Mike Conway #indycar

AJFoytRacing @AJFoytRacing
YES @Mikeconwayindy !! what a run! Way to go!#hondaindy #indycar

Matt White @MattW1986
Actually, not a bad top 3 #indycar

IZOD IndyCar Series @IndyCar
Race ends under yellow. @RyanHunterReay wins third in a row! Kimball and Conway on podium! #hondaindy #indycar2012

ENDS

Following his final service stop with 30 laps remaining in the Honda Indy Toronto, Ryan Hunter-Reay was enjoying his Sunday drive on the Exhibition Place street circuit. Hunter-Reay, in the No. 28 Team DHL/Sun Drop Citrus Soda car, inherited the lead on Lap 57 when JR Hildebrand pitted and upped his margin over Tony Kanaan from .6040 of a second to 4.0794 seconds in the matter of five laps on the 1.75-mile, 11-turn course. Charlie Kimball replaced Kanaan as the protagonist on Lap 72, but the challenger didn’t matter. Hunter-Reay pulled away by 7.6 seconds with 10 laps left and — staying ahead of restart pileups in Turns 1 and 3 with three laps left — went on to his third consecutive victory. Caption and Image Credit: IICS

An American driver leads in the points for the first time in … forever! Hats off to Andertti Autosport and Ryan Hunter-Reay for completing a “hat-trick” with three mid-season wins in a row to pull into the points lead for the IICS championship over Will Power.

In the post-race interview, Sebastien Bourdais claims that Charlie Kimball does not deserve to be on the podium because it was Kimball that took Bourdais out of the race with poor driving.

Push-to-Pass had an effect on the race but not as many imagined. Some of the best passing moves on the track happened when those using the P2P came in too hot into a corner and leaving the apex open for following cars to sneak through. Charlie Kimball’s pass on two cars was just such a pass.

Unofficial Results – Honda Indy Toronto

Pos.     Driver     Laps     Running / Reason Out

1     Ryan Hunter-Reay     85     Running
2     Charlie Kimball     85     Running
3     Mike Conway     85     Running

4     Tony Kanaan     85     Running
5     Oriol Servia     85     Running
6     Helio Castroneves     85     Running
7     JR Hildebrand     85     Running
8     James Jakes     85     Running
9     Takuma Sato     85     Running
10     Alex Tagliani     85     Running

11     Rubens Barrichello     85     Running
12     Simon Pagenaud     85     Running
13     Josef Newgarden     84     Running
14     Sebastien Bourdais     84     Running
15     Will Power     84     Running

16     Marco Andretti     84     Running
17     Dario Franchitti     84     Running
18     Ryan Briscoe     84     Running
19     Ed Carpenter     84     Running
20     EJ Viso     81     Running

21     Justin Wilson     67     Contact
22     James Hinchcliffe     28     Mechanical
23     Graham Rahal     23     Contact
24     Simona de Silvestro     9     Mechanical
25     Scott Dixon     7     Mechanical

Five more races remain on the schedule – four road/street courses and one super speedway oval – Edmonton Indy, Honda Indy 200 at Mid-Ohio, Indy Grand Prix of Sonoma, Grand Prix of Baltimore, and the season finale at Auto Club Speedway.

… notes from The EDJE

 

—-

 

** Article first published as Push To Pass Gives 100 Seconds And Excitement At Honda Indy Toronto on Technorati **

Filed Under: TECHNOLOGY HIGHLIGHT Tagged With: , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Milwaukee IndyFest – Motorculture In Motion

June 20, 2012 By Leave a Comment

Milwaukee IndyFest podium where two of the race promoter’s drivers sit in positions P1 – Ryan Hunter-Reay, and P3 – James Hinchcliffe. A driver who use to race for Andretti Autosport and now drives for KV Racing Technology, Tony Kanaan came in at P2. Image Credit: Marcus Hotels

 

Milwaukee IndyFest – Motorculture In Motion

The IZOD IndyCar race last weekend was an interesting study of motorculture in motion (as viewed in more ways than just the race).

Traditionally, the open-wheel race at the track known as the Milwaukee Mile was held as the first race after the Indianapolis 500. The race is run on the Wisconsin state fair grounds and it garnered excitement for this distinction and the fact that this intimate short track race was on a surface that was wide and flat and this helped to increase the visual nature of the competition for all who attended. Further, this was a good race for television, as long as there was 2 to 3-wide passing throughout the field. Homes and West Allis town streets could be seen in the background as the cars raced by at speeds up to 168 mph.

The Milwaukee Mile track is also known as America’s Legendary Oval because it is the oldest, continuously used auto racing track in the world. It started as a horse track in 1876 and the first auto racing event was held on September 11, 1903.

This race had been dropped off of the schedule in 2008 and again for 2012 due to tepid fan and corporate support. The last few years put the future of an IndyCar race at the Milwaukee Mile on life support, that is, until Michael Andretti’s marketing company took over to stage Milwaukee’s IndyFest at the Mile on Father’s Day Weekend.

On October 14, 2011, Michael Andretti announced the launch of Andretti Sports Marketing LLC. This new venture is the result of the business expansion strategy of INDYCAR team Andretti Autosport to provide turn-key marketing solutions for companies both within and outside of its sponsor base.

Andretti Sports Marketing’s agenda leverages the considerable expertise of its staff in multiple sports marketing formats on behalf of corporate clients in all forms of sport as well as in professional motorsports where Andretti Autosport made its mark as one of North America’s leading sports marketing properties.

Then on February 10, 2012, Andretti Sports Marketing Wisconsin announced that it will promote the Milwaukee IndyFest at the Milwaukee Mile, June 15 and 16. The Father’s Day weekend festival will be headlined Saturday afternoon by an internationally televised IZOD IndyCar race and will also include many other events designed to create a memorable family holiday weekend at the Wisconsin State Fair Grounds.

“Andretti Sports Marketing is excited about promoting IndyFest at the Milwaukee Mile,” said Michael Andretti, CEO of Andretti Sports Marketing, LLC, and a racer who visited Milwaukee’s victory lane five times as a driver and three more times as a team owner … at the time of the announcement. “It’s a historic track in a great city, and it’s a place that has always been a favorite for my family. I think I had my first pole here. I know Marco had his first pole here. My dad has had poles here. We’ve done a lot of races here. There was an all-Andretti podium here one year, in 1991, so we’ve done a lot of things here as a family,” Andretti continued. “But, more importantly, it’s an ideal track for Indy cars and always produces exciting racing for the fans.”

As for the race itself, it was beset by a scheduling delay due to late spring rain that rolled through the area. ABC Sports did its best to keep the television crowd that had to endure a 90 minute delay but could not keep with the race to the end because of additional broadcast commitments.

The race was transferred to ESPN News which is not carried by all cable fed operations in their general cable programming packages so many fans were left with finishing the race online and IMS Radio through Timing & Scoring found at IndyCar.com.

The race could have been a bit more exciting if it had not devolved into a “pack-racing” affair but it was good to see the DW12 formula cars take to this type of legendary venue for the first time.

Other than the rain delay, one other race time decision by Race Control marred an otherwise spirited contest and that was a drive through penalty assessed on one of the race lead challengers from the Target Chip Ganassi Racing stable, Scott Dixon. His car was one of the most competitive out there and Scott knew it. The best explanation of the situation that ended up in a penalty came directly from the President of competition and the final authority for race control during a race, Beaux Barfield.

Basically, an assumption that the technology of the race clock and the video assets of the race for review were in synchronization … which turned out NOT to be the case. The race clock was set at almost exactly the time it would take for a lap to be completed around the Milwaukee Mile. Scott Dixon was observed to be jumping a GREEN Flag re-start of the race but the start was waived off with a YELLOW Flag so technically, Scott Dixon did not actually jump the GREEN Flag re-start. This was discovered after the race and Beaux held a lengthy press conference with track reporters in order to make it clear exactly the level of technology aided human error that had happened – “That’s Racin’!”

Overall, even with the rain delay, pack-racing due to more down-force and less power delivered in the approved set-ups on the DW12 chassis, and the Race Control error to Scott Dixon, the first Milwaukee IndyFest was a success over the previous IndyCar race in 2011 and looks to be a winner on the schedule in the years to come – thanks to Andretti Sports Marketing.

This excerpted and edited from the Milwaukee IndyFest Post-Race News Conference Transcript – Discussion in ‘IndyCar Headlines’ started by John Kernan -

MILWAUKEE INDYFEST PRESENTED BY XYQ
MILWAUKEE MILE – JUNE 16, 2012

MICHAEL ANDRETTI, TEAM OWNER, NO. 28 TEAM DHL/SUN DROP CITRUS SODA ANDRETTI AUTOSPORT CHEVROLET DRIVEN BY RYAN HUNTER-REAY:

TAKE US THROUGH YOUR FEELINGS RIGHT NOW WITH GETTING A WIN, FINISHING THIRD WITH JAMES (HINCHCLIFFE) AND WHAT LOOKS LIKE A GREAT EVENT ALL AROUND: “Unbelievable, just incredible first of all. Thank you Milwaukee for coming out and supporting it. I think we had a great crowd [20,000] for the first shot out here. It’s something to build on and we are going to be back here next year and hopefully for a long time after that. We are excited about that and I think the whole Andretti sports marketing team did an incredible job and my hats off to those guys. We have a great team there as well as we have a great racing team. I think we showed that here coming out here and getting two cars on the podium. I’m really excited about that. Ryan (Hunter-Reay) did one heck of a job and so did the whole DHL/Sun Drop team just didn’t miss a beat. Pit stops were great, pit strategy was great and the car was really good. That was all good. James (Hinchcliffe) did a hell of a job just to hang in there and get himself on the podium for GoDaddy so that was awesome.”

FROM A TEAM OWNER STAND POINT TO KIND OF STEM THE HONDA TIDE THAT HAS BEEN GOING THE LAST COUPLE OF WEEKS TO GET ANOTHER VICTORY FOR CHEVY AND ALSO THE FACT THAT THE LAST TWO WEEKS IT’S BEEN NON PENSKE/GANASSI TEAMS THAT HAVE WON RACES HOW IMPORTANT IS THAT FOR THE SERIES? “I don’t know about the series but it’s good for us. We are one of them. Anytime you can beat those two you have done something. Those two organizations are total class organizations. They are the ones that set the bar. When you go out there and beat them that is great. I think it’s great for the series as you said to have other winners. I was really happy for Justin (Wilson) and the whole Dale Coin team last week. I’m glad we were able to come out and do this.”

MICHAEL, WHAT WERE YOUR FEELINGS COMING IN TODAY? RYAN, WHAT WAS THE TALK AMONGST THE OTHER GUYS ON THE TEAM? WAS THERE ADDITIONAL PRESSURE TO WIN BECAUSE IT WAS YOUR BOSS’ RACE OR NOT? “Lot of extra pressure (laughter). No, I was feeling a lot of things. The first time at the event, so we had to focus on that. Then there was still the race. Honestly didn’t know what to expect because it’s an all-new package with the car and everything. We were cautiously optimistic. Until you get out there with everybody, you don’t really know. After the first stint, I thought, You know what, we got a shot at winning this thing for sure. The guys did a great job calling the race, he did a great job driving it, great pit stops.”

DO YOU SEE MOMENTUM BUILDING IN TERMS OF GOING INTO IOWA? “I hope so. We have a great series. We have great drivers, great personalities. If you like racing, how do you not like what’s been happening this year in all the races? It’s been flat-out great racing. I think our product’s great. That’s important. Hopefully people are going to take notice. I think they’re starting to more and more. Hopefully you guys will report a good show and hopefully create some more interest for us, as well.”

WHERE DOES THIS ONE RANK WIN-WISE COMPARED TO ’91 (WHEN MICHAEL WON AT MILWAUKEE AS A DRIVER)? “You know, they’re all special. Every win is special. When you’re a driver, it’s a different feeling as an owner. But it’s special in a different way.

This one’s special. To have Ryan go out and win our first race that we’re promoting is huge. We had this sort of feeling back when we did the first race that we promoted back in St. Petersburg, we had a 1-2-3-4 finish there in St. Petersburg. People are probably starting to think these things are rigged (laughter). But those are things that will always go up there as being one of the special ones, and this one ranks right up there.”

RYAN HUNTER-REAY, RACE WINNER – NO. 28 TEAM DHL/SUN DROP CITRUS SODA ANDRETTI AUTOSPORT CHEVROLET:

TAKE US THROUGH MAYBE YOUR EMOTIONS OF GETTING A WIN HERE AT YOUR BOSSES EVENT: “What a storyline it really is amazing. Milwaukee has been so important to IndyCar for so long and I think this is a huge event for Milwaukee. These two belong together. I really thank Michael (Andretti) for sticking his neck out coming back here and really doing it the right way. Andretti sports marketing if they are going to do it one way it’s definitely the right way. They have done a great job with this and hopefully this is the basis for years to come. We have laid the foundation now and hopefully many years to come and this will be a very successful event on the schedule. Getting the DHL/Sun Drop car though in DHL victory lane is quite a big deal for us. We are very happy about that.”

WHAT WAS THE LAST THIRD OF THIS RACE LIKE? IT DIDN’T LOOK LIKE ANYBODY HAD ANYTHING SERIOUS FOR YOU: “I didn’t really like the restarts I would rather just gone green, but you can’t always get your way. It was definitely tough work. You really had to look after the tires, know when you use them and know when not to. Michael (Andretti) really knows his way around this place and he was in my ears during the race and kind of coached me along. ‘Hey make sure you have those tires when you need them.’ That is what we did we saved them for when we needed them. We pounced we were right there ready to go when somebody slipped up and on the restarts we were aggressive. The guys did a great job in the pits. Really just a very strong day for Andretti Autosport overall, they just did such an amazing job. Those last few laps were a lot of fun just opening up the lead counting me down on the number of laps. I will tell you what though, 225 laps around here feels like a 500 mile race. It is a long race. It’s a short little place and it adds up quick. One thing I wanted to mention to was Happy Father’s Day to my dad he wasn’t able to be here. I want to dedicate this win to him for sure. He has done so much for me and my career he is the reason why I’m standing here.”

DO YOU SEE MOMENTUM BUILDING IN TERMS OF GOING INTO IOWA? “Yeah, absolutely. On the racing side, this is tough to beat. We’ve just been having great races. Big props to everybody involved in developing the car, to the engine manufacturers. It’s been a lot of fun. But one thing I also forget is thanks to Go Daddy for an awesome site. It’s pretty much the only site you need on your web browser. It’s new, improved, awesome. Thank you, guys, for the support.”

TONY KANAAN, NO. 11 GEICO/MOUSER ELECTRONICS KV RACING TECHNOLOGY CHEVROLET – FINISHED 2ND:

TALK ABOUT TODAY’S RACE: “It was kind of a long day for us. In the beginning of the race on the first stint I was just trying to manage the tires and to see how the track was after the rain. When it was time to go race after the second stop I felt that my car lost a little bit of speed and I didn’t know why. So I couldn’t save as much fuel. I could not run the lane the mixture because I was starting to lose a lot of positions. Those guys went three laps farther than I did. I was a little bit concerned about that. If the race had gone green which we had a long period of time of green flags I said ‘well we are hanging in here. I know this place well enough to the last year with 30 laps to go I put it in the wall so I said I will wait until the last stop and we will see what we can do.’ We got extremely a very good pit stop. A very good four or five out laps and I was able to gain a lot of positions and put myself in contention to be on the podium. Once I was there it was just a matter of trying to manage your position.

“For me it was a long day just because it’s very unlikely from me not to attack on restarts and I didn’t have anything for Ryan (Hunter-Reay) like I said I felt that the car was down like I didn’t have enough speed so I was actually defending myself on restarts which I realize I do not know how to do that. I did a very poor job on that. I decided that was one yellow to go. The last yellow I said you know what I’m going to go as fast as I can and I did. Ryan (Hunter-Reay) did a great job. I got a gap we had a lap car in between us which kind of got me. I lost those two precious seconds there and after that I knew it was over. Second place we will take it, it is my best result. We are building some points. I had two terrible races in the beginning of the season. The race before Brazil, I came to Brazil I was dead last in the championship. It was important. I’m happy for Ryan (Hunter-Reay) I think it is nice to see another team winning a part from the two we are used to seeing all the time. Michael (Andretti) did a great job by bringing this race back.”

ON COMING BACK TO MILWAUKEE NEXT YEAR: “I love this place. I always did. I was glad to see the fans, I was glad to see the infield with all this entertainment for the kids. I think every race should be like that because then if your kid wants to come you will come. I’m glad and I know Michael (Andretti) quite well and the people that work for him on the other side which is Scott Walsh which is the guy that does this event. They are very capable people and I was so glad that it was a very successful one. Having only a few months to put an event like this like Hinch said it’s remarkable. I by default I was catching a ride back to Indy with Michael and I did an appearance for free for him and people were extremely excited and I think Michael Andretti is still a big name in racing. Everybody that tried to organize this race up until now I think they were not successful because it was not that they couldn’t organize the race it was because they didn’t have the name that Michael has and the credibility that he does and what he brings to the sport. He said we are coming back and I’m extremely happy about that.”

HOW DO YOU FEEL ABOUT IOWA NEXT WEEKEND? “I don’t know about the heat races but I feel extremely confident. I knew the next two races which were here and Iowa those are places that I did quite well and places that suite me. I got to take advantage of that and I’m confident that we are going to be in contention there. It’s a shame what happened last weekend with us because we’ve been in contention to win a race. It’s like Hinch we’ve been knocking on the door and it looks like it never happens but to be able to win a race that is what you’ve got to do.”

JAMES HINCHCLIFFE, NO. 27 TEAM GODADDY.COM ANDRETTI AUTOSPORT CHEVROLET – FINISHED 3RD:

TODAY WAS OBVIOUSLY AN IMPORTANT DAY FOR YOU WITH THE PODIUM FINISH BUT ALSO IN TERMS OF POINTS MOVING INTO SECOND IN THE CHAMPIONSHIP YOU SAID YOU DIDN’T START THE SEASON THINKING CHAMPIONSHIP ARE YOU THINKING IT NOW? “No, I think not thinking championship is what has gotten us to this point. If you had told me eight races into the season we would be second in the points I mean it just doesn’t add up it wouldn’t have made sense to me. I think that just shows how hard everybody at Andretti Autosport has been working. They don’t get the credit that the GoDaddy.com team guys deserve. Whether it has been road circuits, street circuits now superspeedways and short ovals we have been quick. Whether it has been qualifying trim, race trim and the results are showing. We are finishing races we are staying on lead laps and things like that. The consistency is really paying off. I’m happy to get back on the podium. I was kind of bummed that seven races in we had only had the one. So it’s nice to be back here especially with where we started and huge congrats to Tony (Kanaan) and especially Ryan (Hunter-Reay) he has been on a bit of a down streak so it’s been tough for him I know. It’s great to see him bounce back, especially at a race that an Andretti sort of brought back to life. It’s kind of a perfect day in a lot of ways.”

HOW SPECIAL IS THIS FOR THIS RACE TEAM? “I think the plane ride home with Michael will be a lot more pleasant than it was last week from Texas. It’s tremendous. He really put his neck on the line for this race. It is tough to get an event so late into the season. These guys I’ll tell you they have been working 24-7 since January to make this thing come off the way they have. You look around and I think they did a hell of job. The fans came out, the fans sat through a rain delay which is awesome and ultimately we went out and put on a good show again. That is why we all love coming to Milwaukee. The drivers love this place selfishly because it is so much fun to drive but it was really a good show so for Michael to pull off not only what I think is a successful event as a promoter to then have two cars on the podium as a race team owner it’s a good day to be Michael Andretti.”

WAS MICHAEL BEHAVING DIFFERENT BEFORE THE RACE THAN HE WOULD NORMALLY DO? “No, I don’t think so. I mean, Michael has been a professional sportsman for a long time. The pressures I think of promoting an event are not dissimilar to the nerves you feel in the buildup to a race. If he was feeling nervous about how the event was going to turn out, he certainly didn’t show it. With what you saw here today, I think he leaves here pretty happy on both fronts.”

CERTAINLY SOME GUYS WERE ABLE TO MAKE UP GROUND, BUT I DON’T KNOW THAT ANYBODY REALLY PASSED THE LEADER. IS THERE SOMETHING THAT COULD BE BETTER OR WAS IT JUST THAT THE GUYS WHO LED WERE THAT MUCH BETTER? “Clean air is king, especially at this place. It was difficult to follow other guys, especially on the restarts. If you were three, four, cars back, guys in front of you, it was sketchy. When you’re in clean air, it’s such an advantage. But the leader should have an advantage. He’s up there for a reason. I’m for that. I don’t think the leader should be handicapped by restarting in first.”
ENDS

Numbers to note following the Milwaukee IndyFest Presented by XYQ, the eighth of 16 events of the 2012 IZOD Indy Car Series season.

2 – Drivers to finish every race this season — Ed Carpenter and Simon Pagenaud. … Number of laps Pagenaud has failed to complete (1,061 of 1,063).

6 – Indy car wins for Ryan Hunter-Reay, the most by a current American-born Indy car driver. … Different teams represented in the top 10 in the IZOD IndyCar Series standings.

12 – Different drivers to finish on the podium in the first eight races of 2012.

15 – Different drivers with at least one top-five finish in 2012.

16 – Positions gained by Oriol Servia en route to his fourth-place finish at Milwaukee, most of any driver in the field.

27 – Poles for Dario Franchitti, tying Al Unser for eighth on the all-time list.

31 – Points separating front-runner Will Power (274) and James Hinchcliffe (243) in the IZOD IndyCar Series championship standings.

84 – Laps led by Hunter-Reay. Most by any race winner this season.

108 – Points scored on ovals by James Hinchcliffe, who leads the A.J. Foyt Trophy standings.

189 – Consecutive Indy car starts for Tony Kanaan dating to the 2001 CART race in Portland.
(numbers ht: IICS)

… notes from The EDJE

** Article first published as Milwaukee IndyFest – Motorculture In Motion on Technorati **

Filed Under: Featured Story Tagged With: , , , , , , , , , ,

Dallara DW12 Speedway Aero Takes A Nod From Swift Engineering

May 26, 2012 By Leave a Comment

The Dallara DW12 in Speedway Configuration rear wing side-by-side with the Swift Engineering Concept 66 Mushroom Busting design and the similarities are striking. Image Credit: Various resources combined by Edmund Jenks (2012)

Dallara DW12 Speedway Aero Takes A Nod From Swift Engineering

The major difference with the 96th running of the Indianapolis 500 … the Greatest Spectacle in Racing … and virtually all previous editions of the race is the racing platform technology.

Most people who have been following American open wheel racing since the beginning know the trials and tribulations with the separation and unification of the series but few really have a handle on as to why this year will be different than any other year.

The IZOD IndyCar Series has adopted a new chassis that handles the flow of air much differently than chassis of previous years and this change lays mainly in the concept of managing the airflow vortex that is created by the car and what happens to the flow of air after it leaves the back end or rear wing of the open wheel chassis. The car punches a change of the nature of the air … or hole in the air and this allows a car that is following to pass through the same space more easily, with less drag. Some have come to term this effect as “Tow” but what is really happening is that the new design manages the flow of the air to allow for the vortex “mushroom” to be busted. An aerodynamic design feature first pioneered by Swift Engineering and put into play by some very enterprising aerodynamic engineers at Dallara for the Speedway Configuration of the DW12 chassis.

Bryan Herta Autosport’s Alex Tagliani had the following observation as to this “Mushroom Busting” effect upon the trailing car, a car following a lead driver:

“You can really see it. If you make the corners flat (out), and being within three car-lengths, you’ll get sucked in,” explains Alex Tagliani, who’s understandably bullish about his chances having both a Honda and running with defending champion team Bryan Herta Autosport. “If your car isn’t as good, and you’re maybe four lengths back, you’ll still be able to suck in three, but you’ll just getting right on their back.”

This is where the timing element comes into play. “Getting closer, you get more disturbed, and if you lift, you become a sitting duck,” he says. “The timing of the draft is very important, but you also have to stay within the appropriate distance to pick up the tow and get by the guy.”
(quote ht: Racer.com)

The following was first published on 4/16/2010 and updated on 6/10/2010 by Edmund Jenks after a visit and tour of the Swift Engineering creation and production facility located in San Clemente, California:

Swift Engineering’s 2012 IZOD IndyCar design concept 66 CAD image with California Speedway background. Image Credit: Edmund Jenks (2010)

Surprise Swift Tour Yields A Look At “Concept 66″ Platform
(originally posted 4/16/10 – 1:28 PM)

If the folks at the IZOD IndyCar Series are thinking with a level head, given what we, at The EDJE, were exposed to at a surprise tour of the Swift Engineering facility in San Clemente, they will soon be singing “We get our kicks settling on Concept 66″ as their way of the future of open-wheel racing.

Swift Engineering’s 2012 IZOD IndyCar design concept 66 artist rendering. Image Credit: Edmund Jenks (2010)

We were invited by the Publisher of The Motorsports Report, Dicken Wear, as an impromptu field trip after checking in at the Toyota Grand Prix of Long Beach Credentials area to pick up our Photo Vests for this weekends event. What a bonus since the major motorsports events of the day would be background shots taken while the IRL, ALMS, World Cup Challenge, and Firestone IndyPro Series cars practiced so the teams could dial in for the races ahead.

Swift Engineering’s 2012 IZOD IndyCar design concept 66 CAD image without background. Image Credit: Edmund Jenks (2010)

A group of about 20 people (writers, drivers, engineers, and photographers) gathered and were treated to a tour of the facilities at Swift that included a look and demonstration of their on-premises 140 mph wind tunnel, driving simulator, and composite fabrication areas. We were led on the tour by Program Director, Casper Van Der Schoot originally from Holland by way of Hogan Racing.

Casper enlightened the eager crowd with the concept of designing to reduce the effects of the vortex “dirty air” so that the platforms could race nose to tail with greater safety and, of course, greater competitiveness. The design concept of how to do this came in the development of a rear wing and forward rear wheel pod shapes that turn the Concept 66 into a “Mushroom Buster”!

Swift Engineering Inc. – Design Concept 66 – Mushroom Buster Video

One can not totally eliminate the shroom effect, but by shrinking the width of the shroom plume, and raising the “cap” of the shroom so that it is moved away from the following platform … the mushroom is effectively busted.

UPDATE: Swift Concept #70 proposal for the next IZOD IndyCar

The IZOD IndyCar ICONIC Committee earlier this week, received a presentation previewing Swift’s concept #70. The #70 is the latest evolution open-wheel car concept and incorporates aspects of the six previously launched concepts Swift has designed over the past nine months.

Swift Engineering’s Design Concept #70 placed into a Long Beach Grand Prix track background. Image Credit: Swift Engineering via Racer

“Our latest concept evolves elements from our previous concepts and from the direct feedback we have received from the series, teams and fans,” said Casper van der Schoot, Swift’s Program Director in an interview published in Racer. “I would like to thank the fans who have provided great feedback to us through our Facebook page and in particular Erik Berkman and Dave Marek from Honda for sharing with us their data and modeling for their next generation V6 powerplant as well as their chassis styling concept that weighed heavily in our design.”

The main thing that Swift was able to design in and keep in the #70 was a nose-to-tail racing safety and competition design concept known as “The Mushroom Buster” explained in the breakthrough design first introduced with Design Concept #66 above.

The 70 has increased signage real estate, as demanded by the teams,” said Mark Page, Swift’s Chief Scientist to Racer. “We enlarged the car’s bodywork and angled the surfaces so that they present the best view to the fans. We also have a new ‘Mushroom Buster; design. This promotes passing by busting the ‘mushroom cloud’ of dead air behind the racecar. Our number 70 model was run through extensive Computational Fluid Dynamics on our new Cray supercomputers. The Cray has increased our capability 50-fold, and we now know our car will have significantly less drag than the current car.”

“The monocoque is larger than the current spec,” stated Chris Norris, Swift’s chief designer in the same Racer interview. “It is designed to accommodate driver size from Danica [Patrick] to Justin [Wilson] with added padding beneath and behind the driver. In addition we have added anti-wheel lock blades dubbed, ‘Satan’s teeth’ aft of the front wheels, attached to the front of the sidepods. Also an anti-lift approach to the design of the front wings and sidepods will dramatically reduce the likelihood of the car getting airborne.”

The IZOD IndyCar Series is reviewing the Swift and four other manufacturer’s value propositions and is expected to make its decision for the next generation IndyCar for 2012 by June 30, 2010.
[Reference Here]

Well, Dallara won the contract and the incorporation of the mushroom busting design in the DW12 is very evident, more so than with a road/street course aerodynamic set up. Maybe as this author had done with the quote used by Alex Tagliani for this article, Dallara should place at the bottom of each rear wing assembly (ht: Swift Engineering) … do ya’ think?

This year, the “tow” will be the story of the race and it will be because of moving the dirty air vortex up and away from the track surface – Mushroom Busting – which will allow cars to be more stable and gain an advantage on the track if used properly.

… notes from The EDJE

Filed Under: TECHNOLOGY HIGHLIGHT Tagged With: , , , , , , , , , , ,
« Older Posts
Developed by JMS Web Services