Simon Pagenaud started off Team Penske's Saturday full of highway robbery with a brilliant drive in the wet to win the Grand Prix of Indianapolis. Jack Harvey was the darling of the day with Meyer Shank Racing. Andretti Autosport was lost. Formula E made its biennial trip to Monaco. NASCAR had a good race at Kansas and it was letting you know about it. Formula One possibly made its final trip to Spain and Barcelona for the foreseeable future. The Brits were back on top in Imola and World Superbike had another race cancelled due to weather. There were a pair of endurance races, a touring car weekend and a rally. Here is a run down of what got me thinking.
IndyCar Needs to Embrace Electric
The excitement in IndyCar can be best described as the level of excitement of a soccer team dominating possession, living in the attacking third, constantly having shots whiz toward goal only to be deflect wide off a defender's leg or goalkeeper's finger tips, winning corner kicks and a goal feels imminent though it has not yet come to fruition.
When Porsche is in the discussion, you have to be excited.
Porsche.
This isn't some ho-hum engine manufacture.
This isn't a company with no pedigree and looking to try something new.
When it comes to listing the manufactures of the motorsports' world, Porsche is at the head table with Ferrari. That's the list. The identities of those two companies are motorsports. They make flashy road cars and adore the walls of teenage bedrooms as the quintessential cool automobile and the love for the Ferrari F40 and Porsche 911 comes from motorsports. Without success around the globe on the racetrack, those cars do not have the same panache.
Porsche has a fan base. It doesn't need a driver. It doesn't need a series. It has droves of loyalist who buy the cars, buy the merchandise, hang the flags and go to the races, not necessarily because the series has any cache but because Porsche is there. They come out and support the brand but not because they are brainwashed but because Porsche means something to them.
Not many others manufactures can say that. IndyCar needs that.
Porsche had a fling in IndyCar three decades ago and the cars Teo Fabi and John Andretti drove hold a special place in the hearts of many but it was not a long stay. Three seasons and then Porsche moved on.
When you hear Porsche is interested, you have to listen and while IndyCar may have been talking to the German manufacture, it appears the talks have fizzled out. The hang up? Porsche's interest in hybrid engines.
The second decade of the 21st century is in its final chapter. We are moving into the 2020s and the further we move from the 20th century, the more electricity sparks up in conversations about the future of the automobile industry. Manufactures are already stating its entire fleet will be electric automobiles come 2040. Countries and cities plan on only allow electric automobiles in the next 10-20 years. It is coming.
If the manufactures are going that direction, the motorsports series will have to follow and IndyCar needs to be on the front foot.
IndyCar has been chomping for a third manufacture since Lotus wilted after a short life in 2012. Since 2013, there have been two manufactures. From 2006 to 2011, there was one manufacture. If there is anything the last decade and a half shows is whatever the IndyCar formula has been it has not been attracting manufactures like flies to a Fourth of July picnic. The current regulations kept Honda on board and brought Chevrolet back. Other than the failure of Lotus, not many other brands have been buzzing around this basket.
The next set of engine regulations are in the drafting phase and hope to come to life for the 2021 season but the 2020s decade is going to be a pivotal for the future of IndyCar and the regulations for 2021 could keep IndyCar alive for years to come or be massive blow and set the series back to a point of irrelevance the series fell into during the CART-IRL split.
Attracting manufactures comes down to what the manufactures want and IndyCar needs to stay on top of the interests of the manufactures for the series to survive.
Electric automobiles scare people and electric automobiles creeping into motorsports straight up frightens them. People are afraid of change, especially when it is a complete shock to the system. Electric motorsports has been a change. In Formula E, it is a massive decline in noise, different pit stops, different look and feel and culture. Like all changes, especially when it comes to culture, the established crowd mostly pushed back. It rejected the differences. It discredited it. It belittled it. It demonized it. It made it an other.
Formula E came in as a disruptor, not only because it was doing something never done before in an all-electric series, but it set itself up to be different with only street courses, the car change, fan boost and one-day shows to name some of the differences. It was made to be different and it scared people away from day one.
The problem is all existing motorsports series are bound to face the inevitable electric dilemma. Eventually, every manufacture is going to twist arms and series are either going to have to change or accept a decline in relevance.
IndyCar is no different and if anything it has its toes over the ledge, facing the choice of bringing in electric components or sticking to its guns and waiting and seeing what happens. Either way, IndyCar has to take a leap of faith, it is just a matter of whether the series stays up right or falls to its death.
It is pretty simple, if Porsche is at the table, you have to listen and this might be the time for IndyCar to embrace electric. I am not saying IndyCar has to go full-electric and take on Formula E. Nothing suggests the technology is there yet to make that a wise choice but something in the form of hybrid systems is logical step for the series.
Hybrids are a bit of a sore subject. The systems are rued in Formula One but the hybrid systems of the LMP1 class from Audi, Toyota and Porsche were behemoths and had raw pace that grabbed spectators by the throat and didn't let go. However, costs have broken down the LMP1 class, leaving Toyota as the only one in the sandbox and with the FIA World Endurance Championship at an uncertain intersection with its new regulations for the premier class, due for the 2020-21 season.
Everyone around IndyCar is afraid of hybrids killing the series. We saw how the introduction of the DW12 chassis and 2.2 L twin-turbo engine formula had its negatives for IndyCar. A lot of teams died. It took more than a half a decade to start getting new teams in and the teams are rolling around in money today. Everyone is still living on tight budgets. The fear is hybrids would scare teams away to other series or straight up kill teams. That is understandable but the manufactures have to know what is expected when it comes to IndyCar and it would have to be rolled out in a way to make sure majority of the teams can survive.
There has to be a smart way IndyCar can roll out hybrid systems and there has to be a way for it to be affordable. If IndyCar holds the manufactures to the responsibility to be able to field 60% of the grid then the manufactures will have to make the systems reasonably affordable, otherwise it will not get enough customers to justify the program.
One way IndyCar can attempt to assure the program will not cripple the teams is state that this formula will last for an extended period of time. No one said the DW12 chassis and 2.2 L twin-turbo engine formula was going to last into 2019 and 2020. It kind of just happened and I don't think anyone is ready for it to leave. The previous formula had its flaws with Honda being the lone engine supplier and lackluster racing and we had enough of it after nine years. This combination will go for at least nine seasons.
It would be best if IndyCar off the crack of the bat stated this engine formula would be in place for at least nine, if not ten seasons. For starters, it would give manufactures assurance its investment will get the bang for the buck. Secondly, it would give manufactures a time window for entry. If a make doesn't get involved for year one it knows it will have eight or nine more and it could spend two years in development, come in for year three and not be woefully off to the manufactures that were involved from the start.
My other hope is the IndyCar rulebook would not allow for the development of hybrid systems such as we saw in the LMP1 class. Unlike LMP1, where manufactures run two cars full-time with possibly a third at Le Mans, an engine manufacture would need to be able to supply at least eight to ten full-time entries and increase that to 12-15 entries for the Indianapolis 500. The programs would not be as wild when it comes to cash and instead of focusing on two cars, a manufacture would have to work on a whole armada. Not to mention, IndyCar has done a very good job of controlling in-season engine developments with this formula and one would hope it could do the same with the next system to keep costs in line, whether it had hybrids or not.
I know some say IndyCar should push back and reject the way of the automobile industry, reject electricity and be the loud, petrol-chugging series to standout but being a blockhead doesn't make you a genius. IndyCar could go against the stream but that will only get the series so far. The series needs manufacture support. If manufactures are interested in electric components then it better find of way to make it work. More and more manufactures are looking to expand electric components. The series cannot be a stick in the mud adopting a formula that is going out-of-date because eventually the series will become so obsolete in doing so.
There is a fear in what introducing electric components could do to IndyCar and I get it. Porsche might want it but what about Honda and Chevrolet? This looks like a one step forward, two steps back situation but what if hybrid systems get Nissan interested and Ford and Toyota and BMW and Jaguar? It might be a case where you lose what you have but get more in return.
We are at the point where IndyCar has to take a swing and evolve a little bit. It has to be done with caution to make sure the series does not go from two-dozen entries to 14-16 entries at each race but it has to take the next step forward. The LMP1 regulations show us what a hybrid can be an aggressive machine that yanks the hearts of spectators from their chests into their throats. It can shatter track records and leave everyone in amazement. We can learn from past mistakes and watch the costs to make sure it is feasible for existing teams and the teams of the future.
It is time for IndyCar to embrace electric and be on the front foot instead of falling behind and risk being cast into the shadows.
Winners From the Weekend
You know about Simon Pagenaud but did you know...
Lewis Hamilton won the Spanish Grand Prix, his third victory of the season and his third consecutive Spanish Grand Prix victory.
Nicholas Latifi won the Formula Two feature race from Barcelona with Nyck de Vries winning the sprint race. Robert Shwarzman and Jehan Deruvala split the Formula Three races.
Jean-Éric Vergne won the Monaco ePrix, the first repeat winner of the 2018-19 season.
Robert Megennis and Rinus VeeKay split the Indy Lights races from the IMS road course. Rasmus Lindh swept the Indy Pro 2000 races and Braden Eves swept the U.S. F2000 races, his second sweep of the season.
Brad Keselowski won the NASCAR Cup race from Kansas, his third victory of the season. Ross Chastain won the Truck race, his first career victory.
Jonathan Rea won two World Superbike races from Imola. The third race was cancelled due to rain. Randy Krummenacher won the World Supersport race, his third victory of the season.
#The 26 G-Drive Racing Aurus 01-Gibson of Norman Nato, Romain Rusinov and Job van Uitert won the 4 Hours of Monza. The #11 Eurointernational Ligier-Nissan of Mikkel Jensen, Jens Petersen and Andrea Dromedari won the LMP3 class. The #77 Dempsey-Proton Racing Porsche of Matteo Cairoli, Riccardo Pera and Christian Ried won the GTE class.
The #72 SMP Racing Ferrari of Davide Rigon, Mikhail Aleshin and Miguel Molina won the 3 Hours of Silverstone, Ferrari's first victory in the Blancpain Endurance Series in six years.
Frédéric Vervisch, Néstor Girolami and Ma Qing Hua split the World Touring Car Cup races from Slovakia.
Ott Tänak won Rally Chile, his second victory of the season.
Coming Up This Weekend
Indianapolis 500 qualifying, bumping and all.
MotoGP will be at Le Mans.
NASCAR has an All-Star race.
Mosport host Blancpain World Challenge America.
Deutsche Tournenwagen Masters returns to Zolder for the first time since 2002.
Zolder isn't the only track that starts with the letter "Z" hosting racing. World Touring Car Cup goes to Zandvoort.
Super Formula hopes the weather holds off and allows for a race at Autopolis this year.
Covering All Motorsports. From Indianapolis to Le Mans, Daytona to Monaco.
