Five-six cars across four different classes with 168 drivers from 30 different countries have made the annual mid-June trek to Circuit de la Sarthe for the 24 Hours of Le Mans. This marks the 83rd running of the twice-around-the-clock French classic, which serves as the third round of the 2015 FIA World Endurance Championship season. Teams from all across the globe have entered this year's race, which is set to start Saturday at 9:00 a.m. ET. This preview will go class-by-class through each entry and driver in the field starting with the premier LMP1 class.
LMP1
Fourteen cars from six manufactures are entered in the premier class.
The #7 Audi R18 e-tron quattro of Marcel Fässler, André Lotterer and Benoît Tréluyer are the defending Le Mans winners. The Swiss-German-French trio have won three 24 Hours of Le Mans together and have won the first two races this FIA WEC season. A win this year for the #7 would triple the amount of four-time Le Mans winners as all three could join Yannick Dalmas, Olivier Gendebien and Henri Pescarolo at that level. The #8 Audi has only one returning drivers from last year's runner-up team. Lucas di Grassi is joined by Loïc Duval, who missed Le Mans last year after not being cleared to race after a practice accident and Oliver Jarvis, who drove in Audi's third entry. Duval won overall in his last Le Mans start in 2013. Di Grassi has made 13 starts for Audi in the FIA WEC and has yet to score a victory. Jarvis' best finish at Le Mans is third on two occasions. Felipe Albuquerque and Marco Bonanomi return in the #9 Audi with René Rast making his Le Mans LMP1-class debut. Rast finished fourth in LMP2 for Sébastien Loeb Racing in his Le Mans debut last year.
Toyota Racing has entered two cars. Defending world champions Anthony Davidson and Sébastien Buemi will be joined in the #1 TS040 Hybrid by Kazuki Nakajima. The Japanese driver missed the most recent round of the FIA WEC season at Spa-Francorchamps after suffering a back injury in practice but has been cleared to race. Davidson and Buemi have finished on the podium the last two years. Two-time Le Mans winner Alexander Wurz leads the #2 Toyota line-up with Stéphane Sarrazin and Mike Conway as his co-drivers. Sarrazin has finished on the overall podium in the last four years ending in an odd-number. This will be Conway's second Le Mans start, first in LMP1. In 2013, Conway had finished third in LMP2 with Roman Rusinov and John Martin in the G-Drive Oreca only to be excluded after having an illegal fuel tank.
Porsche has won pole position in the first two rounds of the FIA WEC season and they have three 919 Hybrids entered as the German brand looks for their record-extending 17th overall Le Mans victory and first since 1998. The #17 Porsche of one-time Le Mans winner Timo Bernhard, Mark Webber and Brendon Hartley have won each pole position this year. The #18 Porsche of Marc Lieb, one-time Le Mans winner Romain Dumas and Neel Jani have finished second in each race this season. The #19 Porsche features Force India driver Nico Hülkenberg, Earl Bamber and Nick Tandy and this line-up finished sixth at Spa last month as a tune-up for Le Mans.
This year's race marks the anticipated return of Nissan and debut of the Nissan GT-R LM NISMO. Nissan has entered three cars for this year's race as two will go on to complete for the rest of this season. The #22 Nissan features one of last year's winners in LMP2 Harry Tincknell. The British driver won the class with Jota Sport on his Le Mans debut. Long-time Nissan driver Michael Krumm makes his Le Mans turn after a one-year sabbatical. Krumm raced the DeltaWing-Nissan in 2012 for Highcroft Racing and finished third in LMP2 two years ago with Greaves Motorsport. Krumm finished third overall for Audi in 2002. British driver and Le Mans debutant Alex Buncombe rounds out the #22 Nissan. The other full-time Nissan will be the #23 and Olivier Pla is the senior driver as he has six consecutive Le Mans starts and finished second in the 2013 FIA WEC LMP2 championship. Jann Mardenborough will make his third Le Mans start and finished third in LMP2 in 2012 will Krumm. He has spent the last two seasons in GP3 and won at Hockenheim last year. Max Chilton makes his debut in the #23. The former Marussia F1 driver has spent the first half of 2015 driving for Carlin in Indy Lights. The #21 Nissan is the Le Mans only entry. Defending Super GT GT500 champion and two-time Super Formula champion Tsugio Matsuda will be joined by 2012 Lucas Ordóñez and Mark Shulzhitskiy. Ordóñez and Shulzhitskiy have each made Le Mans starts in LMP2.
There are three privateer LMP1 entries. Rebellion Racing has two R-One-AERs scheduled to make their debuts at Le Mans. Nicolas Prost, Nick Heidfeld and Mathias Beche finished fourth last year and return in the #12. Dominik Kraihamer is the lone returning driver in the #13. He will be joined by Alexandre Imperatori, who has raced the last two years in LMP2 with KCMG and Daniel Abt, who will be making his Le Mans debut. Team ByKolles enters their CLM P1/01-AER with two Le Mans debutants in Simon Trummer and Tiago Monteiro. Pierce Kaffer is the third driver and has eight Le Mans start and won in the GT2 class in 2009 with Risi Competizione.
LMP2
Nineteen cars are entered in the Pro-Am LMP2 class with eight different chassis and four different engine manufactures. Nine of the entries are full-time FIA WEC competitors; nine are full-time European Le Mans Series entry with one Le Mans-only entry.
Defending race winners, Jota Sport return with the #38 Gibson-Nissan. Simon Dolan and Olivier Turvey will defending their class victory with New Zealander Mitch Evans making his Le Mans debut.
G-Drive Racing hold the top two spots in the FIA Endurance Trophy for LMP2 drivers and have won the first two races. The #26 Ligier-Nissan of Gustavo Yacamán, Ricardo González and Pipo Derani lead the championship after winning at Spa. González won the LMP2 class at Le Mans in 2013 on his way to the championship. The #25 Ligier Nissan ofRoman Rusinov, Julien Canal and Sam Bird are 16 points back of their sister car and won the season opener at Silverstone. The #47 KCMG Oreca-Nissan of Matthew Howson and Richard Bradley are third in the LMP2 championship and will be joined by Nicolas Lapierre, who finished third overall last year with Toyota. The all-British #42 Strakka Racing Dome-Nissan of Nick Levants, Danny Watts and Jonny Kane are fourth in the championship. These three drivers won the LMP2 class at Le Mans in 2010. Despite missing the opening round at Silverstone, the #43 Team SARD-Morand Morgan-SARD of Pierre Ragues, Oliver Webb and Zoël Amberg are fifth in the championship after finishing second at Spa.
The #35 OAK Racing Ligier-Nissan of Jacques Nicolet, Jean-Marc Merlin and Erik Maris are tied with the #43 for fifth but best finish is fifth this season. The second OAK Racing entry, the #34 Ligier-Honda is the non-championship affiliated entry in LMP2 and all-three drivers are making their Le Mans debut. The line-up features defending Blancpain GT champion Laurens Vanthoor, Pirelli World Championship and Blancpian Endurance Series race winner Kévin Estre and IMSA Prototype Challenge class winner Chris Cumming. The #36 Signatech Alpine-Nissan finished third last year in class and drivers Paul-Loup Chatin and Nelson Panciatici won the 2014 European Le Mans Series title. Chatin and Panciatici will be joined this year by Vincent Capillaire.
The American Extreme Speed Motorsports have two cars entered in the FIA WEC. It's been a difficult season for the American team. After struggling to develop the HPD ARX-04b and being off the pace at the 24 Hours of Daytona, they switched back to the ARX-03b for the 12 Hours of Sebring and the opening round of the FIA WEC season at Silverstone. The team switched to the Ligier JS P2 chassis at Spa and will use it at Le Mans. The #30 will feature two former Le Mans class winners. Ryan Dalziel won in LMP2 with Starworks in 2012 while David Heinemeier Hansson won in GTE-Am last year with Aston martin and finished second in LMP2 in 2013 driving for OAK Racing. Scott Sharp rounds out the #30 line-up as the Connecticut-based driver makes his first Le Mans appearance since 1996 when he drove a Riley & Scott Mk III-Oldsmobile with Wayne Taylor and Jim Pace. The #31 features an all-American line-up of Ed Brown, Johannes van Overbeek and Jon Fogarty.
The #46 Thiriet by TDS Racing Oreca-Nissan of Pierre Thiriet, Ludovic Badey and Tristan Gommendy lead the ELMS championship and won at Imola this year. This all-French trio finished second in LMP2 last year. The #41 Greaves Motorsports Gibson-Nissan won the ELMS season opener at Silverstone with the one difference from their ELMS line-up being Gaëtan Paletou replacing Björn Wirdheim and joining Jon Lancaster and Gary Hirsch. The third American entry in LMP2 is the #40 Krohn Racing Ligier-Judd of Tracy Krohn, Niclas Jönsson and João Barbosa. This will be Krohn and Jönsson's tenth time racing Le Mans together, breaking the record for most Le Mans raced together by two drivers, which was set by Dindo Capello and Allan McNish.
Murphy Prototypes returns with the #48 Oreca-Nissan of Karun Chandhok, Mark Patterson and Nathanaël Berthon. The Sammarinese Ibañez Racing will run the #45 Oreca-Nissan of José Ibañez, Pierre Perret and Ivan Bellarosa. The #29 Pegasus Racing Morgan-Nissan will run Léo Roussel, Ho-Pin Tung and David Cheng. SMP Racing has entered two of their BR Engineering BR01-Nissan. The #27 will feature Maurizio Mediani, David Markozov and Nicolas Minassian. The #37 will feature an all-Russian line-up with Kirill Ladygin and Anton Ladygin being joined by Mikhail Aleshin, who will be making his Le Mans debut.
GTE-Pro
Four manufactures are represented in GTE-Pro with a total of nine entries in the class.
The favorite is the #51 AF Corse Ferrari 458 Italia GT2 of Gianmaria Bruni, Toni Vilander and Giancarlo Fisichella. This trio won the GTE-Pro class last year and Bruni and Vilander enter as championship leaders in the World Endurance Cup for GT Drivers. Bruni, Vilander and Fisichella won the GTE-Pro class at Le Mans in 2012 as well. Bruni won a class on his Le Mans debut in 2008 with Risi Competizione in 2008. The other Ferrari entered in GTE-Pro is the #71 AF Corse Ferrari of Davide Rigon, James Calado and six-time Le Mans class winner Olivier Beretta. Beretta's last victory was in 2011.
The other big story in GTE-Pro is the possibility of the Endurance Racing Triple Crown being completed. The #63 Corvette Racing of Jan Magnussen, Antonio García and Ryan Briscoe won the 24 Hours of Daytona and the 12 Hours of Sebring. Corvette has not won at Le Mans since 2011 with Beretta, García and Tommy Milner. Milner will drive the #64 with Oliver Gavin and Jordan Taylor. Gavin has four class victories with Corvette but his last came in 2006. Taylor finished second last year in GTE-Pro with García and Magnussen.
Porsche has two 911 RSRs entered. The #91 Porsche features two Le Mans class winners with three-time class winner Richard Lietz and one-time class winner Jörg Bergmeister being joined by debutant Michael Christensen. Lietz won two years ago and Bergmeister's lone Le Mans class victories came in 2004. Wolf Henzler, Frédéric Makowiecki and Patrick Pilet will drive the #92 Porsche. Henzler won the GT2 class at Le Mans in 2010 while Makowiecki and Pilet each have runner-up finishes in GTE-Pro.
Aston Martin has entered three Vantage GTEs. Nicki Thiim moves up to GTE-Pro after winning in GTE-Am last year and he will lead the #95 "Dane Train" Aston Martin. Christoffer Nygaard will make his fifth Le Mans start while current GP2 driver Marco Sørenson will make his Le Mans debut. Two-time Le Mans class winner Darren Turner will be joined by Stefan Mücke and Robert Bell in the #97 Aston Martin. The most recent GP2 winner, Richie Stanaway will make his Le Mans debut in the #99 Aston Martin with Alex MacDowall and Fernando Rees.
GTE-AM
Fourteen entries fill out the GTE-Am class with five manufactures being represented.
The #98 Aston Martin of Paul Dalla Lana, Pedro Lamy and Mathias Lauda have won the first two rounds of the FIA WEC season. The other Aston Martin in the GTE-Am is the #96 of Roald Goethe, Stuart Hall and Francesco Castellacci. Aston Martin has won eight consecutive GTE-Am races dating back to Le Mans last year and 14 of 18 dating back to 2013.
Six Ferraris are entered in GTE-Am. AF Corse has three cars entered in class. The FIA WEC #83 AF Corse Ferrari features two-time Le Mans class winner Emmanuel Collard, François Perrodo and Rui Águas. The ELMS #55 AF Corse Ferrari features 2013 ELMS GT champion Matt Griffin being joined by Duncan Cameron and Alex Mortimer. The Le Mans-only #61 AF Corse will be driven by Peter Ashley Mann, Raffaele Gianmaria and Matteo Cressoni. Viktor Shatter, Andrea Bertolini and Alksey Basov are in the FIA WEC #72 SMP Racing Ferrari. The ELMS #66 JMW Motorsport Ferrari will be driven by Abdelaziz al Faisal, Kuba Giermaziak and Michael Avenatti. The all-American #62 Scuderia Corsa Ferrari features Bill Sweedler, Townsend Bell and Jeff Segal.
Four Porsches are entered in GTE-Am and two are FIA WEC entries. The #77 Dempsey-Proton Racing Porsche features Patrick Dempsey, Patrick Long and Marco Seefried while it's sister #88 Abu Dhabi-Proton Porsche will be driven by Christan Ried, Khaled Al Qubaisi and Klaus Blacher. The #88 finished second in class last year. The other Porsches belong to Tawainese Team AAI in partnership with ProSpeed Competition. The #67 Porsche will be driver by Jun-San Chen, Xavier Maassen and Alex Kapadia with Han-Chen Chen, Gilles Vannelet and Mike Parisy in the #68 Porsche.
The #50 Labre Compétition Corvette will feature two-time Le Mans class winner Kristian Poulsen, Gianluca Roda and Paolo Ruberti. Poulsen won last year in GTE-Am with Aston Martin and won in his Le Mans debut in 2009 driving in the LMP2 class in a Team Essex Porsche RS Spyder with Casper Elgaard and Emmanuel Collard. The final entry is the #53 Riley Motorsports-TI Auto Dodge Viper SRT GTS-R of Jeroen Bleekemolen, Ben Keating and Marc Miller. The #53 Viper was initially on the reserve list and was added to the field after one of the Team SARD Morand withdrew.
All in all, France has the most representatives in the race with 31 drivers, 19 will be in LMP2 and the United Kingdom has the second-most drivers with 28. The United States has the third-most drivers entered with 17 but have zero in LMP1. The United States has nine drivers in GTE-Am, more than another nation. Germany has 15 representatives and most in LMP1 with nine. Italy is the final nation with representatives in the double-digits with 12. France, United Kingdom and Italy are the only nations with at least one driver in all four classes.
Russia and Switzerland each have eight drivers. All eight Swiss drivers are in LMP classes with six in LMP1. Denmark has seven representatives but only one in an LMP class, that being Heinemeier Hansson in LMP2.
Austria and Portugal each have five drivers and two in LMP1. New Zealand also has two drivers in LMP1 but only four drivers total. Brazil has three drivers, one in each LMP class and one in GTE-Pro. Australia has two drivers entered, each platinum (Webber and Briscoe). Canada has two drivers, each bronze (Cumming, Dalla Lana). Neighbors China and Taiwan each have two drivers; Spain has two drivers and the Netherlands have two drivers. Japan also has two drivers, both in LMP1.
Belgium, Colombia, Finland, India, Ireland, Mexico, Monaco, Poland, Saudi Arabia, Sweden and the United Arab Emirates each have one representative.
Free practice for the 2015 24 Hours of Le Mans begins at 10:00 a.m. ET on Wednesday. The first qualifying practice will take place at 4:00 p.m. ET Wednesday. On Thursday, there will be two qualifying practice sessions at 1:00 p.m. ET and 4:00 p.m. ET. On Saturday, there will be a warm-up session at 3:00 a.m. ET. Green flag is scheduled for 9:00 a.m. ET Saturday.
Covering All Motorsports. From Indianapolis to Le Mans, Daytona to Monaco.
Wednesday, June 10, 2015
Monday, June 8, 2015
Musings From the Weekend: Foxy Lady Le Mans
Tires degradation was the name of the game in Texas. The Brits continue to dominant World Superbike. Lewis Hamilton won in Canada again. Martin Truex, Jr. won at Pocono. Russia had a very busy weekend and all eyes turn to France. Here is a run down of what got me thinking.
Foxy Lady Le Mans
When Fox released their broadcast schedule for the 2015 24 Hours of Le Mans, I would be lying if I said I wasn't a little disheartened.
It starts off nicely. Live from 8:30 a.m. ET to noon on Fox Sports 2 but then not back on television until 7:00 p.m. ET and only for one hour on Fox Sports 1. Then FS2 doesn't pick up coverage until 11:00 p.m. ET and runs until 12:30 a.m. ET Sunday morning. Just counting race time, only five and a half of the first 15.5 hours will be shown live on television.
The good news is the final five and a half hours will be shown live on television with a 30-minute post race show. Action returns at 3:30 a.m. ET on FS1 and will run until 7:30 a.m. ET. FS2 will then pick up the final 90 minutes of racing before FS1 shows the half hour post race show.
Looking at Fox's plate, it is easy to understand why less than half the race will be shown on television. Fox has the FIFA Women's World Cup from Canada and on Saturday the 13th, there are four matches, one at 1:00 p.m. ET, two at 4:00 p.m. ET and one at 7:00 p.m. ET. Then there is NASCAR coverage from Michigan with a Grand National race at 1:30 p.m. and a Truck race from Gateway at 8:30 p.m. on Saturday. Just when you think that is all, it isn't. Fox has the FIFA U-20 World Cup from New Zealand, which is why for the lack of overnight coverage. New Zealand is 16 hours ahead of the Eastern Time Zone and the matches are at 9:00 p.m. ET Saturday and 12:30 a.m. ET Sunday. And on top of all that is the MotoGP Catalan Grand Prix is at 8:00 a.m. Sunday.
The good news is the entire race, from 8:30 a.m. ET Saturday to 9:30 a.m. ET Sunday will be streamed online and through the Fox Sports GO app. If you can't get the coverage online or through the app, there is always Radio Le Mans.
It does suck that so little of the race will be shown on television but this is a one-year thing. The Women's World Cup is every four years and will be in France ironically enough in 2019 and had the U-20 World Cup been held in Europe, the overnight windows would have been opened for Le Mans coverage. If we could just get NASCAR and MotoGP to take off Le Mans weekend (like every series should) then that would open up the Saturday afternoon time slots and clear up the final hours on Sunday. Michigan is one of the handful of tracks that don't need two NASCAR weekends anyway and Catalunya could be pushed back a week, forming a back-to-back with Assen.
The times are a changing. As much as we want the 24 Hours of Le Mans shown in its entirety on one network, that's not going to happen. With the media landscape changing, there are plenty of options to show an endurance race like Le Mans. The Internet is a wide-open range where the race can be shown and not take space from another event. Le Mans needs a good balance between the traditional television coverage and Internet streaming and I think Fox is doing a good job of providing that.
Could Virtual Safety Car Work On an Oval?
The IndyCar race had one caution for thirteen laps at Texas on Saturday night. It was for debris that may or may not have existed. If it did exist (and it very well could have), why not use virtual safety car? Instead of bringing the entire race to a standstill for an extended period of time, why not tell the drivers to slow to a decided pace that allows the safety workers to go out and retrieve said debris?
Obviously if there is an accident, a safety car would be necessary but if it's just debris, just slow the cars to caution pace, keep the pit lane open and make sure drivers don't pass each other. At Texas, they were running 100 MPH under caution. If IndyCar wanted to they could slow the cars to 60 MPH under VSC and make it slightly safer for safety crews to retrieve debris.
VSC is pretty much a pacer light system that can actually be enforced and doesn't involve flashing numbers on video boards. I am not against in IndyCar looking at improving the safety car procedures on both oval and road/street courses. In fact, IndyCar should be looking into improving safety car procedures. A thirteen-lap caution period for a single piece of debris is absurd. There is nothing wrong with breaking from the way things are done. If you can clean up an incident without having to release the safety car and close the pits than do it. People want to see as few laps under yellow as possible and VSC, whether it is used at an oval or on a road/street circuit could solve one of the lingering but fixable problems in IndyCar.
Winners From the Weekend
You know about Scott Dixon, Lewis Hamilton and Martin Truex, Jr. but did you know....
Nelson Piquet, Jr. won his second Formula E race of the season as he took the Moscow ePrix. Piquet, Jr. leads the championship with just the London doubleheader remaining on the schedule.
Jonathan Rea swept the World Superbike weekend at Portimão. Jules Cluzel ended Kenan Sofuoglu's winning streak in World Superbike. Cluzel picked up his second victory, Sofuoglu finished second and American PJ Jacobsen finished third in his first race for Core" Motorsport Thailand Honda. Jacobsen lost his ride with Intermoto Ponyexpres after the team lost their funding from Kawasaki.
Laurens Vanthoor and Robin Frijns swept the weekend in the #1 Belgian Audi Club Team WRT R8 LMS ultra at Zolder.
Yvan Muller and Tiago Monteiro split the WTCC weekend at Moscow Raceway. It was Monteiro's first victory since Shanghai on November 3, 2013.
Matt Crafton won the NASCAR Truck race at Texas, his third victory of the season.
Coming Up This Weekend
The 83rd 24 Hours of Le Mans.
IndyCar makes their annual trek to Toronto.
NASCAR goes to Michigan.
MotoGP is in Barcelona.
World Rally heads to the island of Sardinia.
Foxy Lady Le Mans
When Fox released their broadcast schedule for the 2015 24 Hours of Le Mans, I would be lying if I said I wasn't a little disheartened.
It starts off nicely. Live from 8:30 a.m. ET to noon on Fox Sports 2 but then not back on television until 7:00 p.m. ET and only for one hour on Fox Sports 1. Then FS2 doesn't pick up coverage until 11:00 p.m. ET and runs until 12:30 a.m. ET Sunday morning. Just counting race time, only five and a half of the first 15.5 hours will be shown live on television.
The good news is the final five and a half hours will be shown live on television with a 30-minute post race show. Action returns at 3:30 a.m. ET on FS1 and will run until 7:30 a.m. ET. FS2 will then pick up the final 90 minutes of racing before FS1 shows the half hour post race show.
Looking at Fox's plate, it is easy to understand why less than half the race will be shown on television. Fox has the FIFA Women's World Cup from Canada and on Saturday the 13th, there are four matches, one at 1:00 p.m. ET, two at 4:00 p.m. ET and one at 7:00 p.m. ET. Then there is NASCAR coverage from Michigan with a Grand National race at 1:30 p.m. and a Truck race from Gateway at 8:30 p.m. on Saturday. Just when you think that is all, it isn't. Fox has the FIFA U-20 World Cup from New Zealand, which is why for the lack of overnight coverage. New Zealand is 16 hours ahead of the Eastern Time Zone and the matches are at 9:00 p.m. ET Saturday and 12:30 a.m. ET Sunday. And on top of all that is the MotoGP Catalan Grand Prix is at 8:00 a.m. Sunday.
The good news is the entire race, from 8:30 a.m. ET Saturday to 9:30 a.m. ET Sunday will be streamed online and through the Fox Sports GO app. If you can't get the coverage online or through the app, there is always Radio Le Mans.
It does suck that so little of the race will be shown on television but this is a one-year thing. The Women's World Cup is every four years and will be in France ironically enough in 2019 and had the U-20 World Cup been held in Europe, the overnight windows would have been opened for Le Mans coverage. If we could just get NASCAR and MotoGP to take off Le Mans weekend (like every series should) then that would open up the Saturday afternoon time slots and clear up the final hours on Sunday. Michigan is one of the handful of tracks that don't need two NASCAR weekends anyway and Catalunya could be pushed back a week, forming a back-to-back with Assen.
The times are a changing. As much as we want the 24 Hours of Le Mans shown in its entirety on one network, that's not going to happen. With the media landscape changing, there are plenty of options to show an endurance race like Le Mans. The Internet is a wide-open range where the race can be shown and not take space from another event. Le Mans needs a good balance between the traditional television coverage and Internet streaming and I think Fox is doing a good job of providing that.
Could Virtual Safety Car Work On an Oval?
The IndyCar race had one caution for thirteen laps at Texas on Saturday night. It was for debris that may or may not have existed. If it did exist (and it very well could have), why not use virtual safety car? Instead of bringing the entire race to a standstill for an extended period of time, why not tell the drivers to slow to a decided pace that allows the safety workers to go out and retrieve said debris?
Obviously if there is an accident, a safety car would be necessary but if it's just debris, just slow the cars to caution pace, keep the pit lane open and make sure drivers don't pass each other. At Texas, they were running 100 MPH under caution. If IndyCar wanted to they could slow the cars to 60 MPH under VSC and make it slightly safer for safety crews to retrieve debris.
VSC is pretty much a pacer light system that can actually be enforced and doesn't involve flashing numbers on video boards. I am not against in IndyCar looking at improving the safety car procedures on both oval and road/street courses. In fact, IndyCar should be looking into improving safety car procedures. A thirteen-lap caution period for a single piece of debris is absurd. There is nothing wrong with breaking from the way things are done. If you can clean up an incident without having to release the safety car and close the pits than do it. People want to see as few laps under yellow as possible and VSC, whether it is used at an oval or on a road/street circuit could solve one of the lingering but fixable problems in IndyCar.
Winners From the Weekend
You know about Scott Dixon, Lewis Hamilton and Martin Truex, Jr. but did you know....
Nelson Piquet, Jr. won his second Formula E race of the season as he took the Moscow ePrix. Piquet, Jr. leads the championship with just the London doubleheader remaining on the schedule.
Jonathan Rea swept the World Superbike weekend at Portimão. Jules Cluzel ended Kenan Sofuoglu's winning streak in World Superbike. Cluzel picked up his second victory, Sofuoglu finished second and American PJ Jacobsen finished third in his first race for Core" Motorsport Thailand Honda. Jacobsen lost his ride with Intermoto Ponyexpres after the team lost their funding from Kawasaki.
Laurens Vanthoor and Robin Frijns swept the weekend in the #1 Belgian Audi Club Team WRT R8 LMS ultra at Zolder.
Yvan Muller and Tiago Monteiro split the WTCC weekend at Moscow Raceway. It was Monteiro's first victory since Shanghai on November 3, 2013.
Matt Crafton won the NASCAR Truck race at Texas, his third victory of the season.
Coming Up This Weekend
The 83rd 24 Hours of Le Mans.
IndyCar makes their annual trek to Toronto.
NASCAR goes to Michigan.
MotoGP is in Barcelona.
World Rally heads to the island of Sardinia.
Saturday, June 6, 2015
First Impressions: Texas 2015
1. Scott Dixon was the man to beat. Unlike pack racing, Texas is now a nonstop sprint. You can't go off strategy; you can't conserve fuel. If you don't go all out, you will go a lap down and once you go one lap down, you are screwed. Dixon went all out and won.
2. Tony Kanaan made it a Ganassi 1-2 and had a decent battle with Kanaan. Ultimately, Dixon was able to go further on the final round of pit stops and beat Kanaan by 7.8 seconds. Not a bad race for either driver.
3. Hélio Castroneves came home third. He wasn't quite as good as the Ganassi drivers but was able to keep up the pace to stay on the lead lap. Same can be said for Juan Pablo Montoya, who finished fourth.
4. Marco Andretti and Carlos Muñoz did 54 and 55 laps respectively on their final stints and came home fifth and sixth. Andretti was able to say on the lead lap but was running nearly 10 MPH slower than the leaders. Muñoz was the first car one lap down. Not the 1-2 they had at Belle Isle but it could have been worse.
5. Charlie Kimball had another nice race. Seventh place. This is what Kimball does. He qualifies mid-pack but finds a way to finish in the top ten by just bringing equipment home in one piece.
6. Ryan Briscoe finished eighth. It is indefensible that Francesco Dracone has more starts than Briscoe this season. From 19th to sixth. And now he is off to Le Mans to try and accomplish the Endurance Racing Triple Crown with Jan Magnussen and Antonio García after winning the 24 Hours of Daytona and 12 Hours of Sebring. After Le Mans, somebody should get him in a car for the rest of the IndyCar season. He can drive anything and drive it well.
7. James Jakes finished ninth. He runs well at two tracks: Belle Isle and Texas. And NOLA when it rains.
8. Gabby Chaves scored consecutive top ten finishes. Good for him. And he did it beating Simon Pagenaud, Sage Karam and Will Power. The latter three could have finished better. Both Pagenaud and Power just seem to fade as the night went on and Power scraped the wall but was able to continue. Karam also had to make an unscheduled pit stop that dropped him out of it. Not a great night for Power as Montoya extended his championship lead.
9. Sébastien Bourdais scored his best finish at Texas in 14th. Graham Rahal faded early and finished 15th. Takuma Sato did nothing and finished 16th. Pippa Mann did nothing and finished 17th. Ryan Hunter-Reay couldn't back up his final practice pace and finished 18th. Stefano Coletti held on for dear life and finished 19th. That's the rest of the finishers.
10. Tristan Vautier retired. Josef Newgarden and Ed Carpenter retired. Carpenter said his engine failed but he was two laps down, had no shot of turning it around and probably thought it be better to end CFH's night early and not tear up more equipment as Toronto beckons on the horizon in a week. Jack Hawksworth was out before completing 100 miles.
11. One caution in this race for debris and it lasted 10 laps. I doubt there was any debris. With that said, if there was debris, it shouldn't take 10 laps to clean up. Realize the amount of laps under yellow has something to do with the pace and they were doing 100 MPH under caution. That's pretty quick. Maybe slow the caution pace to 50 MPH, especially if they want to sweep the track. Other than that, race control did... well. There wasn't much they could have screwed up tonight.
12. Good news, no accidents. A few "mechanical" failures but those are much cheaper fixes.
13. I thought this was a decent race. Once again, Texas is different than it once was. One slip up and you are out of contention for the victory. I hope Texas returns to the schedule next year but we will have to wait and see. If it doesn't, it doesn't and we will have to move on. If it does, than great.
14. And now IndyCar heads north to Toronto. The good news is there will only be one race at Toronto this year so the teams get a little bit of a break before actually getting a week off. Remember those IndyCar teams and drivers? Do you remember what a week off is? They all deserve it.
Morning Warm-Up: Texas 2015
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| Will Power looks for his second career victory at Texas |
Graham Rahal will join Montoya on the outside of row three. This is Rahal's best start on an oval since starting sixth at Iowa in 2013. Scott Dixon and Tony Kanaan make it an all-Ganassi row four while Charlie Kimball and Sage Karam make it an all-Ganassi row five. Dixon's lone Texas victory came seven years ago while Kanaan's lone Texas victory was nearly 11 years ago. This will be Kimball's first top ten start of the season. Last year, Kimball's first top ten start did not come until the 12th race of the season at Iowa, where he started eighth. This will be Karam's first career top ten start.
Marco Andretti will start 11th with James Jakes joining him on row six. Andretti has three top fives in ten Texas starts. Jakes' first career top ten finish came at Texas in 2012. He finished 12th in his last Texas start in 2013. Takuma Sato will start 13th. Sato finished fifth in the first Twin 275 in 2011. Outside of that top five, Sato's average finish in his other five Texas starts is 17.6 and he has retired in three of his six starts. CFH Racing teammates Josef Newgarden and Ed Carpenter round out the top fifteen. Newgarden's best Texas finish is eighth with finishes of 11th and 13th in his other two starts. Carpenter won last year's race and finished fourth the year before. Prior to 2013, Carpenter had never finished in the top five at Texas.
Tristan Vautier starts 16th, his best career start at Texas. Jack Hawkworth starts 17th. The furthest back a winner has come from at Texas is 17th and it was Justin Wilson, a fellow British driver who won from 17th in 2012. The most recent winner in the Verizon IndyCar Series Sébastien Bourdais starts 18th. The Frenchman has finished 20th in his two Texas starts. Ryan Briscoe and Gabby Chaves round out the top twenty. This is Briscoe's worst start at Texas while this will be Chaves' first start at Texas and Chaves was third fastest in final practice.
Ryan Hunter-Reay starts 21st. The Texas-born driver had an accident in the pre-qualifying practice but in the final practice, he was fifth fastest. Pippa Mann will start 22nd with Stefano Coletti rounding out the grid.
NBCSN's coverage of the Firestone 600 will begin at 8:00 p.m. ET with green flag set for 8:50 p.m. ET.
Thursday, June 4, 2015
Track Walk: Texas 2015
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| The ninth round of the IndyCar season takes place at Texas |
Coverage:
Time: Coverage begins at 8:00 p.m. ET on Saturday June 6th. Green flag at 8:50 p.m. ET.
TV Channel: NBCSN.
Announcers: Brian Till (Leigh Diffey is on Formula One duty in Montreal), Townsend Bell and Paul Tracy are in the booth with Kevin Lee, Robin Miller, Kelli Stavast and Marty Snider working the pit lane.
Aero Changes
Texas will see a slight change in the IndyCar aero package. The rear-wheel guards will now be closed, preventing air from flowing through. The rear wing angle also must be set between -6 and -10.5 degrees to increase overall downforce.
Can Honda Win?
The first year at Texas saw Hondas lead 191 of 228 laps and the race ended with a Honda 1-2 as Justin Wilson took a surprise victory from 17th on the grid after Graham Rahal brushed the wall exiting turn four on the penultimate lap.
In the last two races at Texas, not only has Honda only had one top five and four top tens but Chevrolet has led all 476 laps at Texas in the last two years.
Both Honda victories this season have come in wet conditions with James Hinchcliffe taking the infamous inaugural Grand Prix of Louisiana and Carlos Muñoz working strategy to perfection to switch from slicks to wets without losing the lead and having lightning cause Belle Isle 1 to end early.
Honda struggled at the Indianapolis 500 as Chevrolet led 193 of 200 laps, had the top four finishers and eight of the top ten. Carlos Muñoz led the most laps among the Honda drivers at Texas with three laps while Alex Tagliani and Justin Wilson each led two laps.
At Indianapolis, Team Penske finished 1-2 with Juan Pablo Montoya leading Will Power to the checkered flag. Ganassi drivers Charlie Kimball and Scott Dixon finished third and fourth. Graham Rahal and Marco Andretti finished fifth and sixth. The four Chevrolet drivers to round out the top ten at Indianapolis were Penske's Hélio Castroneves, CFH Racing's J.R. Hildebrand and Josef Newgarden and Penske's Simon Pagenaud in that order.
How Many Will Finish On The Lead Lap?
In the last three races at Texas Motor Speedway, a total of 17 cars have finished on the lead lap with the most cars finishing on the lead lap in one race being six. A driver will need to be on their A-Game if they want to find themselves in contention late in the race. Also to note that the last three Texas race have averaged 3.33 cautions per race for an average of 27.333 laps. Should this year's race only have three or four cautions there won't be many opportunities for a driver to make up a lap by being waved around.
The other thing to look out for is if there is a late caution, do teams stop for tires? Last year at Texas, Will Power went from sixth to second in the final four laps. At Iowa, Ryan Hunter-Reay and Josef Newgarden spoiled the Ganassi party as they charged from 9th and 11th in the final nine laps to first and second. At Milwaukee, Newgarden pitted on lap 236 and fell to 12th, one lap down. In the final thirteen laps, Newgarden worked his way through the field, unlapped himself and finished fifth. Last year, it was clearly beneficial to pit for fresh rubber. Will teams do the same this year?
Driver Changes
Ryan Briscoe returns to the drive the #5 Arrow Honda for Schmidt Peterson Motorsports. Briscoe won at Texas in 2010 from pole position. Briscoe is the last pole-sitter to win at Texas. He has five podiums and seven top tens in eight starts at Texas. His average finish at the 1.5-mile track is 4.9. Briscoe finished 12th in the Indianapolis 500 as a late substitute for the injured James Hinchcliffe.
Pippa Mann will be in the #18 Dale Coyne Racing Honda. This will be Mann's second appearance at Texas. She made her Texas debut in 2013 where she started 19th and finished 24th after suffering an engine failure after 2 laps. Mann's best finish in her career is 15th and she has never finished on the lead lap in her eight previous starts.
Tristan Vautier returns for the second consecutive weekend in the #19 Dale Coyne Racing Honda. In his lone Texas start in 2013 he started 24th and finished 18th, three laps down.
Fast Facts
This will be the ninth IndyCar race to take place on June 6th. The last was in 2009 where Hélio Castroneves won at Texas. All eight previous races on June 6th have either taken place at the Milwaukee Mile or Texas. Billy Boat won at Texas on June 6, 1998. Boat is the last American driver to win June 6th.
Hélio Castroneves has the most victories at Texas with four. Team Penske leads all teams with eight victories at Texas. Tony Kanaan, Scott Dixon, Ryan Briscoe, Will Power and Ed Carpenter are the only other past Texas winners entered for this year's race.
Team Penske has won a Texas race in a year ending with an odd number four consecutive times. The last time Penske didn't win a Texas in a year ending with an odd number was 2005 when Tomas Scheckter won with Panther Racing. In 2011, Dario Franchitti driving for Chip Ganassi Racing split the Twin 275s with Will Power driving for Penske.
The previous 26 Texas races have averaged 14 lead changes a race.
The average starting position for a Texas winner is 4.5769.
Three times has a driver won at Texas starting outside the top ten: Arie Luyendyk 1997 (11th), John Paul, Jr. October 1998 (14th) and Justin Wilson 2012 (17th).
Can you name the top five finishers at Texas Motor Speedway?
Possible Milestones:
Scott Dixon needs to lead 43 laps to become the eighth driver to reach the 4,500 laps led club.
Ryan Briscoe needs to lead 65 laps to become the twenty-seventh driver to join the 1,500 laps led club.
Marco Andretti needs to lead 47 laps to join the 1,000 laps led club.
Ed Carpenter needs to lead 97 laps to reach the 400 laps led milestone.
Graham Rahal needs to lead 24 laps to reach the 200 laps led milestone.
Charlie Kimball needs to lead 6 laps to reach the 100 laps led milestone.
Predictions
Simon Pagenaud scores his first career oval victory. A Honda does lead at least one lap. All 23 starters will complete at least 10 laps. More than eight cars will finish on the lead lap. Penske will not sweep the front row. There will be no more than two Hondas starting in the first four rows. At least two drivers in the top ten of the championship retire from this race. Sleeper: Ryan Hunter-Reay.
Aero Changes
Texas will see a slight change in the IndyCar aero package. The rear-wheel guards will now be closed, preventing air from flowing through. The rear wing angle also must be set between -6 and -10.5 degrees to increase overall downforce.
Can Honda Win?
The first year at Texas saw Hondas lead 191 of 228 laps and the race ended with a Honda 1-2 as Justin Wilson took a surprise victory from 17th on the grid after Graham Rahal brushed the wall exiting turn four on the penultimate lap.
In the last two races at Texas, not only has Honda only had one top five and four top tens but Chevrolet has led all 476 laps at Texas in the last two years.
Both Honda victories this season have come in wet conditions with James Hinchcliffe taking the infamous inaugural Grand Prix of Louisiana and Carlos Muñoz working strategy to perfection to switch from slicks to wets without losing the lead and having lightning cause Belle Isle 1 to end early.
Honda struggled at the Indianapolis 500 as Chevrolet led 193 of 200 laps, had the top four finishers and eight of the top ten. Carlos Muñoz led the most laps among the Honda drivers at Texas with three laps while Alex Tagliani and Justin Wilson each led two laps.
At Indianapolis, Team Penske finished 1-2 with Juan Pablo Montoya leading Will Power to the checkered flag. Ganassi drivers Charlie Kimball and Scott Dixon finished third and fourth. Graham Rahal and Marco Andretti finished fifth and sixth. The four Chevrolet drivers to round out the top ten at Indianapolis were Penske's Hélio Castroneves, CFH Racing's J.R. Hildebrand and Josef Newgarden and Penske's Simon Pagenaud in that order.
How Many Will Finish On The Lead Lap?
In the last three races at Texas Motor Speedway, a total of 17 cars have finished on the lead lap with the most cars finishing on the lead lap in one race being six. A driver will need to be on their A-Game if they want to find themselves in contention late in the race. Also to note that the last three Texas race have averaged 3.33 cautions per race for an average of 27.333 laps. Should this year's race only have three or four cautions there won't be many opportunities for a driver to make up a lap by being waved around.
The other thing to look out for is if there is a late caution, do teams stop for tires? Last year at Texas, Will Power went from sixth to second in the final four laps. At Iowa, Ryan Hunter-Reay and Josef Newgarden spoiled the Ganassi party as they charged from 9th and 11th in the final nine laps to first and second. At Milwaukee, Newgarden pitted on lap 236 and fell to 12th, one lap down. In the final thirteen laps, Newgarden worked his way through the field, unlapped himself and finished fifth. Last year, it was clearly beneficial to pit for fresh rubber. Will teams do the same this year?
Driver Changes
Ryan Briscoe returns to the drive the #5 Arrow Honda for Schmidt Peterson Motorsports. Briscoe won at Texas in 2010 from pole position. Briscoe is the last pole-sitter to win at Texas. He has five podiums and seven top tens in eight starts at Texas. His average finish at the 1.5-mile track is 4.9. Briscoe finished 12th in the Indianapolis 500 as a late substitute for the injured James Hinchcliffe.
Pippa Mann will be in the #18 Dale Coyne Racing Honda. This will be Mann's second appearance at Texas. She made her Texas debut in 2013 where she started 19th and finished 24th after suffering an engine failure after 2 laps. Mann's best finish in her career is 15th and she has never finished on the lead lap in her eight previous starts.
Tristan Vautier returns for the second consecutive weekend in the #19 Dale Coyne Racing Honda. In his lone Texas start in 2013 he started 24th and finished 18th, three laps down.
Fast Facts
This will be the ninth IndyCar race to take place on June 6th. The last was in 2009 where Hélio Castroneves won at Texas. All eight previous races on June 6th have either taken place at the Milwaukee Mile or Texas. Billy Boat won at Texas on June 6, 1998. Boat is the last American driver to win June 6th.
Hélio Castroneves has the most victories at Texas with four. Team Penske leads all teams with eight victories at Texas. Tony Kanaan, Scott Dixon, Ryan Briscoe, Will Power and Ed Carpenter are the only other past Texas winners entered for this year's race.
Team Penske has won a Texas race in a year ending with an odd number four consecutive times. The last time Penske didn't win a Texas in a year ending with an odd number was 2005 when Tomas Scheckter won with Panther Racing. In 2011, Dario Franchitti driving for Chip Ganassi Racing split the Twin 275s with Will Power driving for Penske.
The previous 26 Texas races have averaged 14 lead changes a race.
The average starting position for a Texas winner is 4.5769.
Three times has a driver won at Texas starting outside the top ten: Arie Luyendyk 1997 (11th), John Paul, Jr. October 1998 (14th) and Justin Wilson 2012 (17th).
Can you name the top five finishers at Texas Motor Speedway?
Possible Milestones:
Scott Dixon needs to lead 43 laps to become the eighth driver to reach the 4,500 laps led club.
Ryan Briscoe needs to lead 65 laps to become the twenty-seventh driver to join the 1,500 laps led club.
Marco Andretti needs to lead 47 laps to join the 1,000 laps led club.
Ed Carpenter needs to lead 97 laps to reach the 400 laps led milestone.
Graham Rahal needs to lead 24 laps to reach the 200 laps led milestone.
Charlie Kimball needs to lead 6 laps to reach the 100 laps led milestone.
Predictions
Simon Pagenaud scores his first career oval victory. A Honda does lead at least one lap. All 23 starters will complete at least 10 laps. More than eight cars will finish on the lead lap. Penske will not sweep the front row. There will be no more than two Hondas starting in the first four rows. At least two drivers in the top ten of the championship retire from this race. Sleeper: Ryan Hunter-Reay.
Wednesday, June 3, 2015
2015 Verizon IndyCar Series First Half Review
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| What is up next in IndyCar's second half? |
As much as it seems as Team Penske and Chip Ganassi Racing have dominated this season, they haven't. Penske has won the most races (three) and combined Penske and Ganassi have won half the races but that is misleading. While Penske and Ganassi has won half the races, Penske and CFH Racing have combined to win half the races and Penske and Andretti Autosport have combined to win half the races and Penske and Schmidt Peterson Motorsports have combined to win half the races.
From eight races we have had seven different winners from six different teams. There have been two first time winners. Yes, Penske has swept the front row in six of eight races (two of those because qualifying was canceled) and in the races they didn't sweep the front row (the Grand Prix of Indianapolis and the Indianapolis 500) they put four cars in the top five spots and put two cars on the front row. Penske has been the best team but considering how well they have done in qualifying with their driver line-up, they have underachieved.
While Penske hasn't been as dominant as they could have been through the first half of 2015, they still have the top two in the championship (Juan Pablo Montoya and Will Power) with three cars in the top five (Hélio Castroneves is fifth) and all four cars in the top ten (Simon Pagenaud is ninth). Penske is the team to beat and halfway through 2015 Penske is on their way to consecutive titles and their 14th title.
While Penske has been the best team, who has been the second best team this season?
Is it Ganassi? Scott Dixon is third in the championship and as won a race but the other three Ganassi cars have languished. Charlie Kimball is tenth in the championship but outside a fifth in the Grand Prix of Indianapolis and third in the Indianapolis 500, Kimball's best finish is 11th. Tony Kanaan is 12th in the championship. He started well with a third at St. Petersburg and four top tens in the first five races but has hit a rough patch. He was running well in the "500" but an accident provided a huge punch in the gut to his championship hopes and Belle Isle did not go any better. Then there has been Sage Karam. Just when it appeared he would catch a break for race two for Belle Isle and be guaranteed a front row starting position, qualifying was rained out and he was forced to start at the rear of the field. He is only 20 but I bet he thought he'd be better than 21st in the championship and would have at least one top ten.
Is it Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing? It's hard to believe that the worst team from 2014 could be the second best through 2015. Graham Rahal hasn't won a race yet this season but he has three podiums and four top fives. The most podiums Rahal has had in a season is four back in his rookie season driving for Newman-Haas Racing in 2007. And he is fourth in the championship. If I had told you the Thursday prior to St. Petersburg that their would be an American in the top five of the championship at the halfway point, how many guesses would it take for you to get to Rahal? Ryan Hunter-Reay would've been the first guess for the majority. Perhaps Marco Andretti would get a few with people as they might think he would have broken through and won the Indianapolis 500. Would people have guessed Josef Newgarden before Rahal? This has been an impressive season for RLLR and while it seemed like a long shot in March, a victory could come for them in the next three months.
Sébastien Bourdais is sixth in the championship after winning Belle Isle 2 but KV Racing Technology hasn't been as good top to bottom as Ganassi and RLLR. Stefano Coletti has struggled but all the rookies have struggled (more on that later). Bourdais might be the third or fourth most consistent driver this season. He is one of four drivers to have made the second round of road course qualifying on all five occasions. He has five top ten finishes. Bourdais has been just behind Penske and Ganassi all season.
Josef Newgarden broke through for his first career victory at Barber and sits eighth in the championship but CFH Racing hasn't been as consistent as the other top teams. Luca Filippi has three top tens in seven starts but has never been in contention for a victory. Ed Carpenter has only had one start and his Indianapolis 500 ended with an accident. Carpenter will run five of the final eight races and perhaps that will turn around CFH's total record. Overall, it has been a good first season for the merged team and they really have nothing to hang their heads about.
Penske was the Chevrolet aero kit test team and they have been great. Andretti Auotsport was the Honda aero kit test team and they have struggled compared to their last three seasons. It hasn't been the worst season ever for Andretti Autosport. Marco Andretti is seventh in the championship and has six top ten finishes, as many as Will Power and Hélio Castroneves and behind only Juan Pablo Montoya's seven top tens. Carlos Muñoz won Belle Isle 1, leading an 1-2 finish with Marco Andretti in tow and is 11th in the championship. Muñoz could have been in the top ten if it weren't for his engine failure in Belle Isle 2. Meanwhile, Ryan Hunter-Reay hasn't been great compared to the last three seasons. He has three top tens but hasn't been in contention for a victory.
All three Andretti drivers have struggled in qualifying with average starts of 12.667 (Andretti), 13.5 (Hunter-Reay) and 16.667 (Muñoz). Andretti Autosport didn't lead a lap until the Indianapolis 500 and that was only after Muñoz and Justin Wilson stayed out while everyone else pitted. They aren't running a fourth car full-time but Simona de Silvestro showed she hasn't lost it and Wilson qualified sixth for the Indianapolis 500. This season reminds me of 2011 for Andretti Autosport. The first half was awful. Despite Mike Conway winning at Long Beach, they had two cars fail to qualify for the Indianapolis 500 and appeared lost. In the second part of the season, Marco Andretti won a race, Ryan Hunter-Reay won a race and their second half turn around may have led to stronger 2012 season that saw Hunter-Reeay win the championship. I am not sure if Andretti Autosport will score another victory this season but five of the final eight races are ovals. Two of those are Milwaukee and Iowa and Andretti Autosport has been the best team on short tracks in the last decade.
Rest of the field at a glance:
A.J. Foyt Racing had a good weekend at Belle Isle with Takuma Sato finishing second in race two and Jack Hawksworth scoring consecutive seventh-place finishes. Outside of that, both Foyt drivers have struggled but Sato has shown pace in qualifying. The last few seasons say that Sato might get one or two more top tens but will have at least two or three retirements as well.
Schmidt Peterson Motorsports won at NOLA with James Hinchcliffe but the Canadian is out until further notice but might be back at the end of the season. Ryan Briscoe had a good run at the Indianapolis 500 and Conor Daly had a good run at Belle Isle substituting for the Canadian. Briscoe will be back in the car at Texas. James Jakes finished third at NOLA but has only two other finishes in the top fifteen and they both came at Belle Isle. It could be a long second half for SPM.
Dale Coyne Racing. What is there to say? When they had Carlos Huertas, Francesco Dracone and Rodolfo González in their cars, they were rounding out the field and damaging equipment. When they got once Indy Lights champion Tristan Vautier and once Indy Lights vice-champion James Davison in their cars they were much faster and they may have damaged more equipment but they were much more competitive and Vautier finished fourth in Belle Isle 2. Coyne has the capability to run with the big boys and if they hire respectable drivers they can find themselves in contention for top tens. If they "hire" less experienced and talented drivers than they will continue to start on the last row.
Who has been the top rookie?
Gabby Chaves and Stefano Coletti may have run all the races but Conor Daly has been the most impressive rookie. He stepped into the #18 Coyne Honda at Long Beach on short notice after Rocky Moran, Jr. broke his thumb, had a faster qualifying time than Will Power and Takuma Sato and was the first Coyne driver to finish on the lead lap this season. At Indianapolis, he had a decent month but did suffer a little set back in qualifying when IndyCar made the teams qualify in their race aero kits but he did out qualify famed Indianapolis one-off Townsend Bell, both Foyt cars and both Chaves and Coletti. If only he didn't have a fuel leak keep him from taking the green flag. At Belle Isle, he was up front during race one, hanging with the big boys before suffering damage coming to a restart. In race two, he found himself at the front again and he led the first laps of his IndyCar career. He overcame a pit penalty to finish sixth, his first top ten.
Both Coletti and Chaves have shown pace but each time they seem to be on to something good, they suffer a set back. Chaves got stuck in the mud at NOLA. Coletti hit the barriers in Long Beach qualifying. Coletti did have a great run on the IMS road course and had a great battle with Tony Kanaan. In Belle Isle 2, Chaves used the right strategy and came home ninth. However, outside of each of their lone top tens, Coletti's and Chaves' next best finish is 15th. Both have a lot of room for improvement in the second half, as does Sage Karam who was touched upon above.
Indy Lights
Indy Lights reached the midway point at the Freedom 100 and won't be on track again until Toronto, where they will run a doubleheader. After Carlin and Juncos Racing dominated the preseason and first few rounds, Schmidt Peterson Motorsports has come on strong and last year's vice-champion Jack Harvey finds himself leading the championship after winning on the IMS road course and on the Freedom 100. Harvey leads Carlin driver Ed Jones by 13 points (192-179). The Emirati Jones won the first three races but finished 11th at Barber and retired in the Freedom 100. Juncos' and defending Pro Mazda champion Spencer Pigot swept the Barber weekend but had a horrendous month of May failing to score a top five finish in three races at Indianapolis Motor Speedway. Last year's U.S. F2000 vice-champion RC Enerson is fourth in the championship with two podiums for SPM. Max Chilton rounds out the top five but had a mechanical failure, like Conor Daly in the Indianapolis 500; keep him from starting the Freedom 100.
Chilton's Lights future is up in the air. The former Marussia F1 driver has signed to drive for Nissan's LMP1 program this season and he will miss Toronto to run the 24 Hours of Le Mans. While there are no head-to-head conflicts between any Indy Lights and FIA World Endurance Championship after Toronto-Le Mans, Chilton may choose to step aside from the Indy Lights ride to focus on the LMP1 program. If he does, it opens a prime seat at Carlin for someone of the likes of Matthew Brabham, Scott Hargrove and Zach Veach, three drivers all without full-time rides.
Hargrove tested for 8Star Motorsports during the preseason and was fast. He finished fourth and sixth at St. Petersburg for 8Star but was replaced by Georgian Sean Rayhall at Barber. Rayhall finished second and first in the top IMS road course races before finishing sixth in the Freedom 100.
The other two SPM drivers, Scott Anderson and Ethan Ringel finished on the podium for the Freedom 100. Anderson is sixth in the championship. Ringel's second and Freedom 100 pole position were a surprise as his best finish prior was seventh and he had never raced on a oval prior to the Freedom 100. Juncos' second driver Kyle Kaiser has shown pace and has three top five but he has also early accidents take him out of contention in a few races.
Defending champions Belardi Auto Racing have yet to win this season. Félix Serrallés finished third at Belle Isle but he has four retirements in eight starts. His teammate Juan Piedrahita has yet to score a top five this season. Rounding out the Indy Lights championship is a former powerhouse, Andretti Autosport. Only running one full-time car this year, Andretti's driver Shelby Blackstock's best finish in eight races is eighth. Sean Rayhall, who did not compete in the first three races, has score 96 points while Blackstock has scored 95 from eight races.
Here is more on the 2015 Indy Lights Season through eight races.
The remaining Indy Lights rounds include doubleheaders at Toronto, Mid-Ohio and Laguna Seca with Milwaukee and Iowa the remaining ovals.
Pro Mazda
Pro Mazda is technically one race past their halfway point as they have seven rounds to go. Everyone in Pro Mazda has had at least one bad finish this season. Team Pelfrey's Uruguayan Santiago Urrutia has 201 points and two victories but is coming off his worst finish of 15th at Indianapolis Raceway Park. Eight points behind him is Cape Motorsports' Neil Alberico, who has three victories but finished 17th on the IMS road course. Frenchman Timothé Buret has a victory but has had three finishes outside the top ten and is 39 points back of Urrutia. Andretti driver, Malaysian Weiron Tan has three victories but three finishes of 15th or worse and was penalized five points for unavoidable contact after Barber and 43 points behind Urrutia.
Juncos' Will Owen has finished runner-up in the last two races and rounds out the top five in the championship but 59 points behind Urrutia. Owen's teammate, Canadian Garret Grist is seven points behind him with only one podium. Team Pelfrey's Pato O'Ward is a point behind Grist with defending U.S. F2000 champion Florian Latorre two points behind O'Ward with two podiums driving for Cape Motorsports. Juncos' Jose Gutierrez is ninth with one podium while Canadian Daniel Burkett rounds out the top ten with his fellow countryman Dalton Kellett ten points behind him.
Pro Mazda also return at Toronto with a doubleheader. After Toronto will be Iowa, a doubleheader a Iowa and a doubleheader a Laguna Seca.
U.S. F2000
Frenchman Nico Jamin leads the U.S. F2000 Championship after nine rounds. He has four victories and eight podiums and 233 points. Pabst Racing's Jake Eidson is 15 points behind Jamin with three victories and eight podiums. Aaron Telitz is 30 points behind his Cape teammate Jamin. Telitz won at Barber and has seven podiums. Australian Anthony Martin has 164 points for John Cummiskey Racing with two podiums. JDC Motorsports' Canadian Parker Thompson rounds out the top five, 108 points behind Jamin.
Pabst Racing's Yufeng Luo of China is sixth in the championship with 108 points. German Kevyan Andres Soori of ArmsUp Motorsports is a point behind him. Team Pelfrey's Nikita Lastochkin and Ayla Årgen are eighth and ninth with 104 and 100 points respectively. Victor Franzoni, Luke Gabin and Garth Rickards round out the top ten with 98 points each. Franzoni won at NOLA but has since moved up to Pro Mazda. Gabin and Rickards each drive for Team Pelfrey.
U.S. F2000 will also return at Toronto with a doubleheader. They will run a triple-header at Mid-Ohio and a doubleheader at Laguna Seca.
Questions For the Future
There are still a lot of questions remaining at the halfway point of the IndyCar season. Here are just a few.
1. Now that Eddie Gossage got his wish and Houston fell off the IndyCar schedule, will the flamboyant track owner take advantage of being the exclusive IndyCar race in Texas and draw more people through the gates for his race?
After all, Eddie Gossage needs all of Texas, all 27 million plus Texans, to himself to have a successful race.
2. Will Toronto move back to July after being run in June this year due to the 2015 Pan American Games being held in Toronto?
3. If Toronto does move back to July, does either Milwaukee or Iowa move up to June?
4. With four Americans in the top ten of the IndyCar championship at the halfway point, can any of them take the fight to the four-headed monster of Team Penske and take the title?
5. Does James Hinchcliffe return in August?
6. Does Andretti Autosport make a turn around?
7. Last year, IndyCar had a record-tying 11 different winners. With seven from eight races, will four new drivers win in the second half?
8. How many more drivers will rotate through the two cars at Dale Coyne Racing?
9. Do both Honda and Chevrolet renew their IndyCar contracts pass 2015?
10. Can IndyCar keep all 15 circuits currently on the schedule for 2016, especially with Texas, Pocono and Fontana expressing displeasure recently with their places on the schedule?
11. Will Mark Miles stick to the schedule ending on Labor Day despite team owners (most notably Chip Ganassi) expressing displeasure in the six-month season and failing to get fly-away races on the 2015 schedule?
And In The End...
IndyCar has had some bright spots through the first half of this season (Indianapolis 500, Barber) and some dark spots (NOLA, Indianapolis 500 qualifying). No season can be all positives just like life. There are going to be things that happen that are great and things that leave you scratching your head and that is as true for IndyCar as it is Formula One, NASCAR, FIA WEC and any professional motorsports series on God's green earth. All series have their issues that they have to deal with and IndyCar is no different. It's just part of any series and we just have to roll with it.
Going into the second half of the season IndyCar has had seven different winners and none of them are named Ryan Hunter-Reay, Ed Carpenter, Tony Kanaan, Simon Pagenaud, Hélio Castroneves, Mike Conway and Carlos Huertas, all race winners last year. There are four Americans in the top ten of the championship. Only one driver has won multiple races this year. Aero kits have not made IndyCar less competitive. IndyCar is as competitive as it has been since the introduction of the DW12 and the DW12-era has been one of the most competitive eras in IndyCar history.
Halfway home and there is still no clear picture on who will win the Astor Cup at Sonoma. Will another IndyCar title come down to the wire and could we see a surprise champions? You will have to tune in to find out.
Monday, June 1, 2015
Musings From the Weekend: Double Down
It rained in Detroit. A race was canceled. It was sunny in Mugello. A Brit swept the weekend in the former German Democratic Republic. Some cars did some laps in France. Here is a run down of what got me thinking.
Double Down
I like IndyCar doubleheaders. However, I don't know if they can exist if IndyCar wants expand their schedule. Let's start with the fact that Belle Isle is the lone doubleheader. Toronto became one race after it had to be pushed up to June this year because of the Pan-Am Games taking place in Toronto this July and Houston was dropped from the schedule entirely. Whether Toronto moves back to July and becomes a doubleheader in 2016 remains to be seen but for now, it appears Belle Isle will remain as the sole doubleheader.
However, can doubleheaders remain if IndyCar wants to expand to their schedule and run a race or two abroad and/or return to tracks such as Road America, Laguna Seca, Phoenix and Michigan? IndyCar is racing on 15 different circuits this season. Let's say somewhere down the line IndyCar returns to the four circuits mentioned above and adds at least one fly-away race that would be 20 circuits and if Belle Isle keeps their doubleheader and Toronto returns to being a doubleheader that would be 22 races. Twenty-two races would be a sufficient amount but doubleheaders do put strain on the teams. This year Belle Isle feel in the middle of a six-week stretch of non-stop track action from the Grand Prix of Indianapolis through Indianapolis 500 qualifying and the race with Texas and Toronto immediately following Belle Isle. Let's not forget last year where IndyCar ran six races in four weeks starting with the Houston doubleheader followed by Pocono and Iowa with the Toronto doubleheader ending the month of non-stop racing.
I think doubleheaders can still have their place should IndyCar's schedule expand but they will have to be done differently. First off, doubleheaders cannot be thrown into five, six, seven weeks of consecutive racing. They need a little space around them. Perhaps you could have a doubleheader be back-to-back with another round but then give the teams the week following a doubleheader off.
Second, perhaps the schedule of the doubleheaders needs to be revised. Using hindsight, the Saturday race might be better off being as early as possible on Saturday to give the teams more time to make any repairs necessary before the Sunday race. Just using this weekend as an example, maybe the IndyCar race should have taken place at noon and the IMSA race taken place at 3:00 p.m. This would have given the IndyCar teams at least an extra four hours to work on the cars before Sunday.
Third, look to change the format of the doubleheaders. When Toronto became a doubleheader it went from one, 85-lap race to two, 85-lap races. Is doubling the amount of racing really necessary? I look at DTM, which brought back doubleheaders this season and their Saturday races are 40-minutes in length plus one lap while their Sunday races are one hour in length plus one lap. I don't think IndyCar doubleheaders should reduce their Saturday race to just 40 minutes but a slightly shorter race on Saturday might not be a bad thing. Looking at Belle Isle, instead of having two, 70-lap races have the Saturday race be something that could be completed in an hour and 20 minutes while the Sunday race length remain 70 laps. I think giving the fans two different race lengths that set up for two different sets of strategies for each day would be more interesting.
Finally, what about adopting a World Superbike type doubleheader where it would all be completed in one day but between IndyCar races would be an Indy Lights race? I could see this format being beneficial for Indy Lights as you could package it all up in one time window and it would give Indy Lights a chance to have their races shown live, which would make it more attractive for sponsors which might get more IndyCar teams involved. This happened last year at Toronto after the Saturday race was postponed but perhaps it could become either the doubleheader format or one of the doubleheader formats. Still using Toronto as the example, instead of their just being one, 85-lap race on Sunday, IndyCar could have two 50-lap races, with race one beginning at noon and probably ending within 90 minutes. The Indy Lights race could begin 15 minutes after the end of race one and run for 45 minutes then 15 minutes after the Indy Lights race, IndyCar race two could begin. You'd have IndyCar race one at noon, Indy Lights begin by 1:45 p.m. and the second IndyCar race beginning at 2:45 p.m. and it would end around 4:15 p.m.
I think doubleheaders can have a place in IndyCar even if the schedule were to grow. I don't think every road/street course race could be a doubleheader but I think three-to-four doubleheaders would work and perhaps they would work better on a permanent road course or two. Maybe doubleheaders would work at Mid-Ohio and Sonoma, for example.
However, can doubleheaders remain if IndyCar wants to expand to their schedule and run a race or two abroad and/or return to tracks such as Road America, Laguna Seca, Phoenix and Michigan? IndyCar is racing on 15 different circuits this season. Let's say somewhere down the line IndyCar returns to the four circuits mentioned above and adds at least one fly-away race that would be 20 circuits and if Belle Isle keeps their doubleheader and Toronto returns to being a doubleheader that would be 22 races. Twenty-two races would be a sufficient amount but doubleheaders do put strain on the teams. This year Belle Isle feel in the middle of a six-week stretch of non-stop track action from the Grand Prix of Indianapolis through Indianapolis 500 qualifying and the race with Texas and Toronto immediately following Belle Isle. Let's not forget last year where IndyCar ran six races in four weeks starting with the Houston doubleheader followed by Pocono and Iowa with the Toronto doubleheader ending the month of non-stop racing.
I think doubleheaders can still have their place should IndyCar's schedule expand but they will have to be done differently. First off, doubleheaders cannot be thrown into five, six, seven weeks of consecutive racing. They need a little space around them. Perhaps you could have a doubleheader be back-to-back with another round but then give the teams the week following a doubleheader off.
Second, perhaps the schedule of the doubleheaders needs to be revised. Using hindsight, the Saturday race might be better off being as early as possible on Saturday to give the teams more time to make any repairs necessary before the Sunday race. Just using this weekend as an example, maybe the IndyCar race should have taken place at noon and the IMSA race taken place at 3:00 p.m. This would have given the IndyCar teams at least an extra four hours to work on the cars before Sunday.
Third, look to change the format of the doubleheaders. When Toronto became a doubleheader it went from one, 85-lap race to two, 85-lap races. Is doubling the amount of racing really necessary? I look at DTM, which brought back doubleheaders this season and their Saturday races are 40-minutes in length plus one lap while their Sunday races are one hour in length plus one lap. I don't think IndyCar doubleheaders should reduce their Saturday race to just 40 minutes but a slightly shorter race on Saturday might not be a bad thing. Looking at Belle Isle, instead of having two, 70-lap races have the Saturday race be something that could be completed in an hour and 20 minutes while the Sunday race length remain 70 laps. I think giving the fans two different race lengths that set up for two different sets of strategies for each day would be more interesting.
Finally, what about adopting a World Superbike type doubleheader where it would all be completed in one day but between IndyCar races would be an Indy Lights race? I could see this format being beneficial for Indy Lights as you could package it all up in one time window and it would give Indy Lights a chance to have their races shown live, which would make it more attractive for sponsors which might get more IndyCar teams involved. This happened last year at Toronto after the Saturday race was postponed but perhaps it could become either the doubleheader format or one of the doubleheader formats. Still using Toronto as the example, instead of their just being one, 85-lap race on Sunday, IndyCar could have two 50-lap races, with race one beginning at noon and probably ending within 90 minutes. The Indy Lights race could begin 15 minutes after the end of race one and run for 45 minutes then 15 minutes after the Indy Lights race, IndyCar race two could begin. You'd have IndyCar race one at noon, Indy Lights begin by 1:45 p.m. and the second IndyCar race beginning at 2:45 p.m. and it would end around 4:15 p.m.
I think doubleheaders can have a place in IndyCar even if the schedule were to grow. I don't think every road/street course race could be a doubleheader but I think three-to-four doubleheaders would work and perhaps they would work better on a permanent road course or two. Maybe doubleheaders would work at Mid-Ohio and Sonoma, for example.
Winners From the Weekend
You know about Carlos Muñoz and Sébastien Bourdais but did you know...
The #31 Action Expression Corvette DP of Dane Cameron and Eric Curran won the IMSA race from Belle Isle. Renger van der Zande and Mirco Schultis won the Prototype Challenge class in the #8 Starworks Oreca. Marco Farnbacher and Ian James picked up their second GTD class victory in the #23 Team Seattle/Alex Job Porsche.
Kevin Éstre scored his third victory of the 2015 Pirelli World Challenge at Belle Isle. Race two was canceled due to weather conditions on Sunday.
Jaime Green swept the DTM weekend from the Lausitzring and extended his championship lead to 17 points over Mattias Ekström and Edoardo Mortara.
Jorge Lorenzo won the Italian Grand Prix from Mugello. Defending Moto2 champion Esteve Rabat won his first Moto2 race of the season. Miguel Oliveira won his first race of the Moto3 season.
Jimmie Johnson won the NASCAR Cup race at Dover, his tenth career victory at Dover. Chris Buescher won the second division race. Tyler Reddick won the Truck race.
Coming Up This Weekend
IndyCar runs their first night race of 2015 at Texas Motor Speedway.
Formula One comes to North America for the Canadian Grand Prix in Montreal.
Formula E heads to Moscow for their penultimate weekend of their inaugural season.
Formula E isn't the only series in Russia as the WTCC runs at Moscow Raceway, 60 miles outside of Moscow.
NASCAR heads to Pocono.
Blancpain Sprint Series heads to Zolder.
The Brits look to continue their World Superbike dominance at Portimão.
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