Category: Featured Other Series

At the end of the fifth practice at Indianapolis Motor Speedway, it was Helio Castroneves topping the charts with the quickest lap of the day. No surprise, right?

Castroneves’ lap of 227.166 mph (39.6186 seconds) is the quickest lap of practice so far this year as drivers got in a clean day of testing without weather playing havoc today. In total, Castroneves has logged 297 laps this week.

“We will keep working,” he commented. “The weather dropped a lot today, but right now the car is handling really well. Certainly the draft counts a lot here and I feel very confident in the Pennzoil No. 3 machine, so right now we will keep going and keep working. Right now the conditions are really, really good. It has cooled down, which means that it is good for the tires, it’s good for the engine, and downforce as well, so we don’t know what is going to happen tomorrow. They are calling for rain, but right now we are looking quite happy.”

The speed isn’t a surprise as Castroneves is one of hte most successful drivers on the oval with four victories and 11 top 10 finishes in the 13 starts. Castroneves is always a threat to win and that shouldn’t be different this year.

Castroneves showed speed and consistency all season last year as he finished second in points, and that hasn’t slouched at all this year. Castroneves has a pair of podiums so far this year and sits fourth in points. In reality, Team Penske looks quick across the board this year with Will Power contending and winning while Juan Pablo Montoya picks up more speed as he gets more comfortable.

The only thing that may play havoc on Castroneves’ chances is how he and his team handle the new two-day qualifying format that IndyCar has chosen to go with this year.

“The team is going to have a meeting tomorrow so that they understand more of the new format,” Castroneves said. “For me, it is just about understanding what the car is doing. Right now, I really like what I have, but tomorrow we will go to the boost, and you are going to see big numbers up there too. So, we are really looking forward to tomorrow to see those numbers keep going higher.”

Castroneves added that qualifying at Indianapolis is always stressful.

“I always repeat myself because it’s true. Rick Mears always said there are two type of races, and it is true, it is qualifying and then the race,” he continued. “Now we definitely have to go for Saturday and for Sunday, so that is going to be nerve wracking, I will tell you. To go four laps at this place, I know how tough it is. So, to do two days in a row, it will be really tough. I don’t think I will or I don’t think my guys will have much sleep.”

It’d be no surprise if Team Penske was to win the race with any of their drivers based on speed so far, history and the caliber of talent in the organization. However, if Castroneves was to win, it’d be neat to see based on the throwback yellow Pennzoil paint scheme that he is running.

After being re-evaluated on Thursday by Medical Director Dr. Michael Olinger, James Hinchcliffe has been cleared to drive for the Indianapolis 500.

In last Saturday’s Grand Prix of Indianapaolis, the Andretti Autosport driver suffered a concussion when a piece of debris hit him on lap 58 of the 72 lap race.

“Obviously very excited,” the Canadian commented. “It’s been a long couple of days sitting at home and not even really watching. I was banned from electronics and I was getting little updates and snippets here and there, and that made it tougher because you don’t know exactly what’s going on. But I knew everyone was running and I was sitting at home. Getting better was the No. 1 goal and the effort we put into that is paying off because we even surprised the doctors with how quickly we’ve been able to come back. All of the testing has been good and everything we’ve done is pointing in the right direction, so I’m feeling good.”

Olinger stated that Hinchcliffe passed the ImPACT (Immediate Post-Concussion Assessment and Cognitive Testing) test on Thursday. Each driver takes the test at the beginning of the season to set a baseline, and then must retake it and be close to that baseline to resume driving duties if they suffer a concussion. The neurocognitive part of the test includes verbal recognition memory, design memory, visual processing speed, symbol matching, color matching and three-letter memory.

With regards to his recovery period, Hinchcliffe says that he woke up on Sunday with a little headache.

“I did a really intense day of resting, which is kind of an oxymoron, but a lot of sitting around,” he commented. “My girlfriend (Kirsten Dee) and my sister (Rebecca) and my family were there and they took really good care of me and made sure I didn’t have to lift a finger.”

He said that he was feeling perfectly fine by Monday, but also knew that they still needed to take their time rather than jumping right into it. As a result, he was given permission on Tuesday to do some ‘light training’.

“I just went lightly to make sure my head was fine with the heart rate coming up and yesterday, no sorry, this morning – I swear my memory is fine – I got back in the gym and working a little harder and got that heart rate threshold up to where it would be in the car and everything was great,” he continued. “I did some reaction training and I was on the upper end of average of the previous runs and then came here for the ImPACT Test. That was the toughest thing knowing it was kind of make or break and seeing everyone driving. It was the first time I’d been here for any on-track activity and it was tough to watch but it’s all come good. Looking forward to getting out there.”

Hinchcliffe made one-installation lap during today’s session as an engine change to his No. 27 United Fiber & Data car limited on-track activity. E.J. Viso has been testing the car so far this week and currently ranks 16th on the overall speed chart with a lap of 40.0478 seconds. 

It didn’t start well, and it didn’t end well. Except for someone of course.

Simon Pagenuad only  led six laps on Saturday afternoon, but what counted was the one that mattered, the checkered flag lap. In a pass limited, wreck filled, crazy afternoon at the newly renovated Indianapolis Motor Speedway Road Course, Pagenuad came out on top.

The contest started with a “standing start”. There was standing all right, and waiting, waiting, and more waiting for the flag to turn to green and to finally get back to racing. In a race full of yellow laps, it was a whopper of a race.

After two warm up laps and a stop by all drivers, the lights turned to yellow, then to green and we went racing, well sort of. After getting the pole position for the Inaugural Grand Prix of Indianapolis, Sebastian Saavedra didn’t cross the finish line even once.

“Man, we had an opportunity to be at the front of the pack in this amazing place so to not even get the chance because of a freaking electrical thing,” said the obviously frustrated Colombian.

After the wild race, fan favorite James Hinchcliffe suffered a concussion and was taken to the track hospital, and from there was admitted to Methodist Hospital not far from the speedway.

Andretti Autosport stated Saturday night that former driver E.J. Viso will be on standby for Hinchcliffe in case he is unable to qualify next weekend. Doctors stated that the common protocol for a concussion is 7-10 days which would mean Hinchcliffe would miss qualifications next weekend. “I’m a little stiff and sore and I’d love to get in the car tomorrow, but I suppose I should probably let the doctors make that decision,” said the Canadian in a statement.

A mere 18 hours after the final flag flew Saturday, another will fly Sunday afternoon as Indy 500 practice will start at noon Eastern Time.

It’s huge. A great way to start the month of May. I think we’ve been pushing ourselves, looking to get this opportunity. When we saw that there was a great opportunity, we took it. So very proud. – Sebastian Saavedra

When qualifying officially completed and it was determined that Sebastian Saavedra had won the pole, shock was the only word to describe most fans as nobody expected a driver that hasn’t finished on the podium or won a pole in 41 career starts to win the pole.

However, as Saavedra noted – Grand Prix of Indianapolis qualifying was the perfect opportunity. The rain is the great equalizer and sometimes can play right into the favor of some drivers over others. This was the case on Friday with Saavedra.

Saavedra also notes that he has been working towards this goal and looking over the previous two seasons, this plays true. Last year with Dragon Racing, Saavedra six crashes over the course of the 19 races with plenty of finishes outside of the top 15. This year with KVAFS Racing, Saavedra has completed all the laps each week with finishes of 11th, eighth and 18th.

“I think everybody on the team has been non-stop,” Saavedra commented. “We’ve been taking a couple away from us. Something we are close to deserving more. This is a way to start that. It’s a good strike. Better here in Indianapolis. Hopefully keep it up. It’s a long month ahead.”

Perhaps one of the things that has helped Saavedra is working with new teammate Sebastien Bourdais, who has shown speed also in the first three races. Bourdais qualified 7th for the GP of Indianapolis.

“We definitely were slightly different when it was the wet conditions this morning, trying different combinations. At the end, we were pretty close,” Saavedra commented. “I think we made different aero configurations just trying to see who was going to take the right one. I think that was the main difference.” 

The success of the team, though, isn’t a huge surprise as Tony Kanaan won the Indianapolis 500 last year with the same group that Bourdais has around him. Without a doubt, the confidence is there.

“It’s huge,” Saavedra said of the confidence. “Everybody wants to keep it the same way this year, of course. With Sebastien Bourdais, we’re trying to keep the same mentality, trying not to push ourselves too much. We need to try to keep doing the same work that T.K. and Simona did last year. So far everything has been smooth, great merge with AFS Racing. Everything seems to be going in the right direction. Just need to keep it up.”

While Saavedra has the pole, some people are wondering how he will handle it tomorrow as this marks only his third full season in the series. However, Saavedra notes that that at the age of 23, he feels old.

“They do have a lot more experience, but it’s a matter of keep doing what you’ve been learning for the last 15 years of your racing career,” he commented. “Every day you’re learning something different, every corner you’re learning something different. But at this time it’s not the time to try different things. It’s time to keep things the same way, focus on the start. It’s going to be huge, whoever gets a good jump or not. It’s a long straight. Whatever happens with the weather conditions and the wind direction, it’s going to be huge as well.”

Still, regardless of how the race on Saturday turns out, there’s one thing for sure – this is a huge career moment for Saavedra.

“It’s the top level, the top spot for sure,” he commented. “We’ve been getting closer to a couple things. We’ve been leading laps and stuff like that. Strategies or things like that haven’t worked out. But definitely this is a point that makes you get addicted to more. You just want more. I think this is a great start for that to happen.  I think we have something. We’re building something from scratch. The long relationship that we’re building, it’s hopefully soon to be shown.”

The rain falling on the Indianapolis Motor Speedway road course turned out to be the great equalizer and interest as Sebastian Saavedra scored his first ever Verizon P1 Award in his 42nd career Verizon IndyCar Series start.

“I love the rain. It was crazy at first because we didn’t know what to expect from the track – if it was going to be wet, if it was going to be dry,” Saavedra commented. “We were comfortable yesterday, as it got hotter, we just needed to work a little bit more – especially with the rain. We made a huge leap this morning and then the whole session was just weird. It started to rain and went from wet, to dry, to super dry, to super wet. I loved it.”

The Colombian will be joined on the front row by rookie Jack Hawksworth, as Hawksworth looks towards his fourth IndyCar series career start. Hawksworth. In four IndyCar starts, Hawksworth has been in the Firestone Fast Six twice.

“To be honest, I’m working very well with the team,” he commented. “They’re giving me what I want. I think I’m able to kind of lead them in the right direction with the car, as well. I’m not too worried about not having a teammate. I kind of like it. Really looking forward to the rest of the season with them. We started the season out quite strong. There’s been glimmers of speed and potential.  Not all quite there yet, but hopefully tomorrow is the day when we do to.”

Ryan Hunter-Reay posted the quickest time during the session, however spun in turn one and backed the truck into the wall to bring out the red flag. As a result, Hunter-Reay has his fastest two laps dropped and will start third. Hunter-Reay damaged the back of his Dallara, but feels that the team will easily get it repaired.

“We definitely gave that one away,” he commented. “It’s a fun track. Since we got here it’s been dry-wet-dry-wet. It was changing conditions and it was a lot of fun, but it ended the wrong way, so congrats to Saavedra – good job and good pace. It’s going to be a really great championship race (tomorrow) and there will be a lot of passing – especially with these long straights. There will be a lot of different strategies on downforce and tires. I think there will be a lot of (teams) mixing it up like you always do with the Verizon IndyCar Series.”

Simon Pagenaud continued showing the speed that he has had all year so far, qualifying fourth, with Will Power and Scott Dixon rounding out the Firestone Fast Six. Dixon was fastest in yesterday’s practice.

The Inaugural Grand Prix of Indianapolis is scheduled for 3:50 p.m. local time.

 

1.  (17) Sebastian Saavedra, Dallara-Chevy, 01:23.8822 (104.675)

2.  (98) Jack Hawksworth, Dallara-Honda, 01:24.0788 (104.431)

3.  (28) Ryan Hunter-Reay, Dallara-Honda, 01:24.8882 (103.435)

4.  (77) Simon Pagenaud, Dallara-Honda, 01:25.2881 (102.950)

5.  (12) Will Power, Dallara-Chevy, 01:25.5216 (102.669)

6.  (9) Scott Dixon, Dallara-Chevy, 01:25.6548 (102.509)

7.  (11) Sebastien Bourdais, Dallara-Chevy, 01:24.5187 (103.887)

8.  (2) Juan Pablo Montoya, Dallara-Chevy, 01:24.6209 (103.762)

9.  (10) Tony Kanaan, Dallara-Chevy, 01:24.7099 (103.653)

10.  (3) Helio Castroneves, Dallara-Chevy, 01:24.8839 (103.440)

11.  (27) James Hinchcliffe, Dallara-Honda, 01:25.1318 (103.139)

12.  (15) Graham Rahal, Dallara-Honda, 01:25.4748 (102.725)

13.  (25) Marco Andretti, Dallara-Honda, 01:10.2488 (124.990)

14.  (8) Ryan Briscoe, Dallara-Chevy, 01:10.2261 (125.030)

15.  (67) Josef Newgarden, Dallara-Honda, 01:10.3601 (124.792)

16.  (14) Takuma Sato, Dallara-Honda, 01:10.2804 (124.934)

17.  (18) Carlos Huertas, Dallara-Honda, 01:10.4264 (124.675)

18.  (19) Justin Wilson, Dallara-Honda, 01:10.4141 (124.697)

19.  (34) Carlos Munoz, Dallara-Honda, 01:10.5097 (124.528)

20.  (41) Martin Plowman, Dallara-Honda, 01:10.4591 (124.617)

21.  (26) Franck Montagny, Dallara-Honda, 01:10.5571 (124.444)

22.  (16) Oriol Servia, Dallara-Honda, 01:10.5996 (124.369)

23.  (83) Charlie Kimball, Dallara-Chevy, 01:10.6413 (124.296)

24.  (20) Mike Conway, Dallara-Chevy, 01:10.6535 (124.274)

25.  (7) Mikhail Aleshin, Dallara-Honda, 01:11.2704 (123.198)