Today is the second day of testing at Barber Motorsports Park for the Izod IndyCar Series. Times were quick yesterday as three drivers were in the 1 minute, 7 second bracket, almost two seconds faster than the track record. Will Power, Helio Castroneves and James Hinchcliffe were the fast three, with Mike Conway testing the #16 RLLR in place of James Jakes, being fourth overall and the fastest Honda.
With all that covered, today part four of the Team-By-Team preview of the 2013 season features Dragon Racing and KV Racing Technology.
The previous three parts: Part I, Part II, Part III.
Dragon Racing
2012 Review
Drivers- Sébastien Bourdais (25th in points, best finish 4th at Mid-Ohio), Katherine Legge (26th, best finish 9th at Sonoma).
2013 Drivers- Bourdais, Sebastián Saavedra.
Another of the Lotus refugees, Dragon Racing had to downsize to one car, being split by two drivers after Indianapolis. Bourdais had the only highlight of Lotus' one season in IndyCar and Lotus' only top ten in IndyCar, when he drove from 17th to 9th at Barber.
Since the end of last season, Dragon Racing has received a lot of talk for actions off the track. Katherine Legge was let go and is suing the team saying she still has a contract. This has yet to be settled and may carry on throughout the 2013 season. Meanwhile, Sebastián Saavedra has been promoted back to IndyCar after one season in Indy Lights.
With a legitimate engine package, Bourdais will be a factor to win a race or two in 2013 and, with the balance of road/street course races and ovals, he could sneak into the championship conversation. The four-time champion has not won in open-wheel racing since the final round of the 2007 ChampCar season at Mexico City. Saavedra is in IndyCar for his second stint. He has yet to score a top ten in IndyCar and with the depth of the IndyCar field, it will not be easy for the young Colombian to get one in 2013.
KV Racing Technology
2012 Review
Drivers- Tony Kanaan (9th, three podiums), Rubens Barrichello (12th, two top fives), EJ Viso (20th, best finish 5th at Milwaukee).
2013 Drivers- Kanaan and Simona de Silvestro.
2012 did not go the way many thought it would for KVRT. The pairing of Kanaan-Barrichello did not get a win, which seemed likely before the season began. After one season, Barrichello left, though after some respectable results and hopefully a new appreciation for IndyCar racing, and he is reportedly interested in coming back for Indianapolis.
Enter 2013. Kanaan is back and is looking for that Indianapolis 500 win, which has evaded him his whole career. He also has a new teammate, Simona de Silvestro. She survived running a Lotus in every round of the championship and is now in a competitive ride. In her three previous years in IndyCar, her highlights are a fastest lap at São Paulo, pushing hard Kanaan for third at St. Pete in 2011 and surviving some unfortunate accidents at Texas, Indianapolis and Iowa.
If testing from yesterday was a sign for things to come, de Silvestro was over a quarter of a second ahead of Kanaan, sixth overall at the end of the day. Kanaan cannot be ruled out for a win. Whether it be at Indianapolis, Milwaukee or Iowa, Kanaan is a threat, especially at ovals. Oddly enough, Kanaan has not won a road or street course race since Belle Isle 2007. De Silvestro results will be a vast improvement from 2012 and a few top tens would not be a surprise at all. With the move to KV, she should have better results on ovals as well. Her best finish on an oval is 14th at Indianapolis 2010 and Iowa 2012.
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