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Tag: Alexander Rossi

  • Rossi comes up short in Indy 500 bid

    Rossi comes up short in Indy 500 bid

    INDIANAPOLIS — Alexander Rossi was asked what made the difference in the end that cost him in his duel with Simon Pagenaud in the closing laps of the 103rd Indianapolis 500.

    He said it was the horsepower differential between Chevrolet and Honda and the straight-line speed.

    “Obviously the 22 guys fully deserve it,” Rossi said. “They were on pole. He led probably 70 percent of the laps. Yeah, I mean, he was a deserving winner for sure.”

    The last caution particularly hurt him, as he was going to cycle out to the lead at the conclusion of the green flag pit cycle, having passed Pagenaud for said spot.

    “We were doing a lot better on fuel mileage than (Pagenaud) was, so that was the first kind of nail in the proverbial coffin.”

    On the final restart with 13 laps to go, Pagenaud pounced on him coming to the line and took the lead heading into Turn 1. He was able to match him for a few laps, and even took the lead with three laps to go. But with two to go, Pagenaud overtook him for the final time and won.

    “We didn’t have the speed out front,” he said. “I mean, I was flat for the last 15 laps, and there’s not much more you can do.”

    Bad luck basically sums up the day for Rossi at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway. In addition to the untimely caution, he suffered a slow stop because the fuel pump wouldn’t connect to his car. Then came his battle with the lapped car of Oriol Servia, who blocked him for multiple laps.

    “I think it was one of the most disrespectful things I’ve ever seen in a race car, to be honest,” he said. “He’s a lap down and defending, putting me to the wall at 230 miles an hour. It’s unacceptable. It’s unacceptable for him, and it’s unacceptable that INDYCAR allowed it to happen as long as they did.”

    At the end of the day, it was an excellent race to the win that he and Pagenaud put on. Maybe in time, he said he could take solace in that aspect.

    “Ultimately it was a good day for the team,” he said. “You know, I think that we put a huge focus all month as we always do on the race car. The car was by far the best in the field in terms of what we could do and pass at will when I needed to. I didn’t see anyone else doing that. So a huge testament to the whole Andretti Autosport organization for really my fourth year here giving me a car that was capable of winning.

    “So that’s a great thing, and I’m very, very thankful for that.

    “But as I said, leading up to this many times, once you’ve won this thing once, the desire to win just ramps up exponentially every year, so it sucks to come this close and really have nothing that we as a team could have done differently. I’m proud of them. I’m proud of the effort that they always put in, and yeah, when we get No. 2, it’s going to be probably a huge explosion of emotions because we all want it really bad.”

    He leaves Indianapolis third in points, trailing new points leader Pagenaud by 23.

  • Rossi puts on clinic in Long Beach

    Rossi puts on clinic in Long Beach

    LWe were all just living in Alexander Rossi’s world on Sunday, as he won on the streets of Long Beach for the second year in a row.

    The Andretti Autosport driver dominated from pole position, from the drop of the green flag, as he led all but six laps to win the Acura Grand Prix of Long Beach.

    His 20.236 second margin of victory is the largest at Long Beach since Al Unser Jr. beat Scott Pruett by 23 in 1995.

    Even at a track where he’s led nearly 150 laps over the last two years, he didn’t think he’d be this dominant.

    “We knew it was going to be a really hard fought battle, but the NAPA Auto Parts crew gave me such a great car.

    It’s his fifth career victory in 54 career starts in the NTT IndyCar Series. He’s the eighth driver to win in back-to-back years at Long Beach. It’s also the 200th victory for Andretti Autosport.

    Points leader Josef Newgarden finished second, his 25th career podium finish.

    Following a last-lap blocking penalty assessed to Graham Rahal, Scott Dixon overcame a pit road miscue to round out the podium.

    Rahal and Ryan Hunter-Reay rounded out the top five.

    Rahal said the call was “not that tough to swallow,” as he was going to lose the position if he didn’t block, because his used red front tires were all used up.

    “I had no braking grip whatsoever,” he said.

    Simon Pagenaud, Will Power, Takumo Sato, James Hinchcliffe and Felix Rosenqvist rounded out the top 10.

    Who had a good afternoon

    Despite the last-lap blocking penalty, Rahal earned a top five finish for the second time this season. It ties his best finish of the season.

    Dixon rebounded from a pit road miscue on his final pit stop, when his team couldn’t get the fuel hose to connect, to salvage a podium finish.

    Who had a bad afternoon

    After a strong start to the season, including a win at Circuit of the Americas, Colton Herta retired from the race, after suffering damage to his front wing from snapping loose and hitting the wall in Turn 9.

    He’s finished last in back-to-back races.

    What else happened

    The only caution of the race flew on the first lap for a three-car incident in Turn 2, that involved Spencer Pigot, Jack Harvey and Marcus Ericsson.

    Nuts and bolts

    There was one caution for four laps and five lead changes among three different drivers.

    Newgarden leaves with a 28-point lead over Rossi, who overtakes Dixon for second in points.

    IndyCar returns to action on May 11 in the IndyCar Grand Prix at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway, to kick off the Month of May that leads up to the 103rd running of the Indianapolis 500.

  • Dixon wins Texas; Pagenaud, Rossi score best Texas finishes

    Dixon wins Texas; Pagenaud, Rossi score best Texas finishes

    Scott Dixon scored his third win at Texas Motor Speedway when he won the DXC 600, his second win of 2018 and second win in three races. Dixon held off Simon Pagenaud in second, Alexander Rossi in third, James Hinchcliffe in fourth and Ryan Hunter-Reay rounded out the top-five. Graham Rahal finished sixth, Takuma Sato finished seventh, eighth went to Sebastien Bourdais, and Ed Jones and Charlie Kimball rounded out the top-10.

    “Good race, smooth, pretty tricky toward the end,” said Dixon. “Great team effort with everybody on the PNC crew, a great effort on their part.” Dixon also pointed out that the race was started on scuffed tires as they were a concern heading into the race.

    Newgarden and Pagenaud started on the front row, with Newgarden leading early before the race’s first caution on Lap 5 when the No. 4 entry of Matheus Leist lost power and pulled off the track. Leist emerged uninjured as his AJ Foyt Racing entry caught fire. Shortly after his AFR teammate Tony Kanaan pulled off the track after contact with the wall led to suspension problems, an issue rookie Zack Veach also faced after scraping the wall.

    Tire issues plagued the race early, as several drivers including the Penske cars of Will Power and Newgarden made stops to change tires out of sequence with the rest of field. Most of the race was run under green until Lap 173 when the lapped car of Ed Carpenter turned down on rookie Robert Wickens, sending both into the wall and out of the race.

    The night’s biggest incident happened on Lap 205 when the 12 of Power slid into rookie Zachary Claman De Melo, who was making a pass on the outside of Power off of the fourth turn. Both went into the wall with Power taking the most damage. Both drivers retired from the race and Power will be facing a penalty for the incident.

    Pagenaud summed up the race as being fast and physical, although his runner-up finish was his best finish at the speedway, an accomplishment third-place finisher Rossi can also hold onto.

    Dixon was the dominant car of the night, leading 119 laps while Newgarden led 59 laps before being penalized on lap 226 for jumping the restart. Newgarden finished 13th, four laps down. Rookie Wickens also had a strong showing before his incident with Carpenter as he led 31 laps. His accident was his first oval DNF this season, having had his only other DNF in the first race of the season at St. Peterburg.

    The next race will be June 24 at Road America on NBCSN.

     

  • 2018 a Winning Season For Both Rossi and IndyCar

    2018 a Winning Season For Both Rossi and IndyCar

    2018 continues to prove to the rest of the racing world that the Verizon IndyCar Series cannot stop winning. The new aero package has put competitors on a level playing field considering that there isn’t a discrepancy among manufacturers. The quality of the competitors in the field is top notch, and to boot the racing this season has been phenomenal.

    According to 2016 Indianapolis 500 winner Alexander Rossi, the sport has even been generating some much wanted (and needed) mainstream attraction.

    “I really think there has been a lot of extra buzz at the races this year,” said Rossi, who appeared on the most recent season of CBS’s The Amazing Race with fellow IndyCar driver Conor Daly. “It seems like there’s more fans in the stands and definitely more people who come and ask about the show.”

    Rossi also co-hosts the podcast Off Track with fellow IndyCar driver James Hinchcliffe, where they tackle topics both racing-related and mainstream. But when it comes to IndyCar’s mainstream media presence, he is optimistic where the sport stands in comparison to NASCAR and Formula One.

    “We’re not on their level, but we hope to get there soon and we have momentum,” said Rossi. “We have a lot of young talented drivers who can perform on the track, but also do things off-track to showcase their personalities.”

    The Andretti-Herta Autosport driver currently sits second in points following the Indianapolis Grand Prix, where his NAPA Racing Honda finished fifth behind winning Team Penske driver Will Power. Rossi has already gone to Victory Lane this season, winning at Long Beach in the third race of the season.

    According to Rossi, the credit for the excellent racing product this season goes to both the drivers and the cars this season, placing emphasis on the onslaught of rookies this year, pointing out that their level of talent just makes the talent level of the field even deeper and more competitive, which in turn brings the best out of each driver.

    Rossi is quick to credit his team for his growth and success, stating that great cars and great teammates can go a long way in the IndyCar garage.

    “Having a good car underneath you, and great veteran racers like [Ryan] Hunter-Reay and Marco Andretti, makes it easy to learn,” said Rossi. “The team has made a step forward each year on all types of courses. We are ready to compete against anyone on all types of tracks.”

    With the Indianapolis 500 less than two weeks from now, Rossi’s chances of success are high. Along with his 2016 victory in the event as a rookie, he placed seventh there a year ago after leading 23 laps. His average finish of fourth in the event should give him the confidence needed to contend for the victory if the last two Indy 500s are any indicator of his performance.

     

     

  • Rossi’s Sophomore Season Shows Leaps in Maturity, Experience

    Rossi’s Sophomore Season Shows Leaps in Maturity, Experience

    As a rookie, Alexander Rossi’s 2016 season wouldn’t classify as “memorable.” Granted, there was the surprise win in the Indianapolis 500 in May (a fuel-mileage win, but a win nonetheless), but otherwise, his rookie season with Andretti-Honda Autosport in the Verizon IndyCar Series typified an average rookie campaign: Consistent, but middle of the road. He finished all but one race (a crash DNF at Pocono), got as high as fifth in the points, and only finished off the lead lap in five of the 16 races. However, Indianapolis was his only podium finish and he placed 11th in the final points.

    In 2017, though, Rossi was the perfect example of how a sophomore should perform, scoring a win from the pole in the penultimate race at Watkins Glen and three podium finishes to finish seventh in the final season tally. Although he faced three DNFs during the season, he made up for it with several aggressive runs including a fifth in the first Belle Isle race, a third at Pocono, and a second-place run at Toronto. His average finish in 2017 improved from 11.8 to 9.5 at season’s end.

    Alexander Rossi in Victory Circle after winning the INDYCAR Grand Prix at The Glen — Photo by Chris Owens/IndyCar

    It may seem like an average improvement, nothing too noteworthy at first, but at the same time Rossi is one of the most analytical drivers out there and it is a safe bet he’ll continue to improve with age. For example, while Rossi’s strong points are the road courses, he still needs work on his oval runs. But his oval results in 2017 were improved, with three finishes in the top-10 including his third at Pocono. Still, he improved at almost every event and considering he’s this early into his career, there’s no reason why he shouldn’t continue to improve especially considering the top-notch equipment he pilots.

    With the championship pedigree that Andretti-Honda Autosport possesses Rossi in the best position he could be in his young career. He’s a proven, multiple-time winner with a championship organization that happens to be the flagship Honda organization in the sport. He’s constantly learning and utilizing that knowledge into results. He has the potential to become the new face of AHA, and in time could be the perfect foil to Josef Newgarden over at Team Penske. Of course, that may seem lofty but at the same time, Rossi’s star is rising much in the way Ryan Blaney’s is in NASCAR; slowly, surely, and noticeably.

    Rossi’s 2017 season is the perfect indicator of how a race driver is supposed to perform at the beginning of their career. Their rookie year is all about learning and earning the respect of their peers, and Rossi has proven to be a clean competitor. As previously mentioned, he’s able to analyze his performance and use that knowledge to improve himself as a driver. Soon, he’ll be at the next plane of his career: Championship contender.

  • The Final Word – A day of three iconic races, and the return of an iconic 3 to Victory Lane

    The Final Word – A day of three iconic races, and the return of an iconic 3 to Victory Lane

    One day, three iconic events for racing fans. All you needed was a fine alarm clock or, better still, a fine recording device.

    It all began early Sunday morning along the coast of Monte Carlo and the Monaco Grand Prix. I am not a big fan of driving fast and little passing, but Monaco is a different breed. Fabulous architecture and big expensive craft that fill the marina are the background for a street race that has the competitors driving just a bit above the recommended speed limit for you and me. Simply put, they go fast on a road not built to go fast, be it alone or among 20 other speed demons.

    You get the idea that concentration might be a real attribute. Gazing at a beautiful building or Leo DiCaprio trying to save the planet on one of those monstrous sized yachts might not be helpful in winning. Sebastian Vettel won it for Ferrari this weekend, and was happy about it. Teammate Kimi RÀikkönen was second and he did not appear happy at all. When you start on the pole, you expect to win, but his day went to the pits in the pits. As for Lewis Hamilton, he started 12th and finished seventh. Did I not mention that passing was at a premium?

    From the land of champagne the day took us next to the land of milk and the Indianapolis 500. Indy was built for speed, though I am not sure they had these kind of speeds in mind back in 1909 when they opened the facility. Fernando Alonzo has a win at Monaco, along with 31 other Formula One victories and a pair of championships. On Sunday, he was an Indianapolis rookie. While Alonzo and Andretti teammate, last year’s winner Alexander Rossi, swapped the lead between them, pole winner Scott Dixon made it just past the quarter mark when he went to pieces. Jay Howard bounced off the wall right into Dixon’s path, and the ride he went on would make most of us truly appreciate the soft safe confines of our sofa. Then, he stepped out of the wreckage and walked away. Amazing.

    It was riveting action from the Midwest. It was a great day for Andretti’s boys, at least for a time. A pit problem cost Rossi and sent him back in the pack to stay. A blown engine removed Ryan Hunter-Reay from the equation. Near the end, it was Alonzo’s turn to clear away the mosquitoes. That left only Takuma Sato from the Andretti stable in contention, but that was all they needed. Sato beat out three-time champ HĂ©lio Castroneves to give Andretti Autosport its second straight, third in four years, and fifth overall Indianapolis 500 victory. Sato becomes the first Japanese driver to win the classic in a race that was must-see television from start to finish.

    Then it was time to move on to NASCAR’s endurance test, Charlotte’s World 600. Not that everyone was busy all night, as an Earnhardt changed the course of this one. The Intimidator’s grandson, Jeffrey, blew up, tossing a large metal part onto the track. That collected Chase Elliott, who caught fire and slowed down to nothing. That was enough to cause Brad Keselowski to skid in at high speed to pile drive Elliott, and with that, we had three less cars to worry about. We did not have to worry about the weather, we were told. A storm was going to pass to the north of the track. They must have moved the track, because it poured during that second stage and put a red flag to proceedings for 100 minutes. It rained hard. It rained long. For a moment, I thought the action had returned to Europe for the Venetian gondola races. Honestly, if you had been thinking about mowing the lawn, you were in luck. You had the time to do so.

    Happily, the clouds parted and the track dried. Not so happily, Trevor Bayne broke an axle leaving the pits, that cost him five laps. Meanwhile, Kasey Kahne had a rear end failure, tagging the wall to end his day. As for Kyle Larson, he tagged the wall which moved things in his right front. It later gave up the ghost, went into the pearly outside fence, and his car was bound for automotive heaven. All this, and still 150 miles to go.

    As they counted down the final laps, it was fuel strategy versus performance. Jimmie Johnson and Austin Dillon looked to win it on stretching their petrol. Martin Truex Jr., who had been the best car on the night, along with Kyle Busch, were hoping their better entries would equate into victory. With 20 miles left, we still did not know how this would play out.

    With three miles to go, Johnson ran dry. Dillon had the lead. Busch got by Truex but on this day time ran out before the fuel did. Dillon took his grandfather’s team to Victory Lane. For Richard Childress, it marked the first win for his grandson. It also marked the first for the No. 3 since his friend, Dale Earnhardt, won for him at Talladega back on October 15, 2000.

    A great day for auto racing. A great way to end it.

  • The Final Word – Celebrating the Memorial Day weekend with cola, milk, wine and Bieber

    The Final Word – Celebrating the Memorial Day weekend with cola, milk, wine and Bieber

    It was the year’s greatest race day, with three major events taking place. The Monaco Grand Prix, the Indianapolis 500, and the World 600 could have meant a lot of couch time, never mind the latest episode of Game of Thrones, but I try to exercise while gazing at the tube. I mean, those sandwiches were not going to make themselves.

    The Formula One action in Monte Carlo, visually, was the best of the lot. Sure, as far as action goes, it featured the world’s worst pit stop when Daniel Ricciardo was ordered to pit for tires. Sadly, despite all the high-tech gadgetry, the engineering brainiacs upstairs failed to inform those poor wretches at track level, so no rubber was ready. The time wasted allowed Lewis Hamilton to take over the lead and that was about it. While it might have been another case of fast cars playing follow the leader, it was done at a track no one should be following anyone at such speeds, never mind attempting to pass. The narrow streets, the overlooking apartments, the tunnel under the Fairmont Monte Carlo hotel, and those Leonardo DiCaprio seducing yachts in the harbor, all combined to make this quite the spectacle.

    Then it happened. Down at track level were just a few special people. There were the teams, the top finishing drivers, Prince Albert II of Monaco…and Justin Bieber. Biebs. The man to whom Hamilton approached in celebration for high fives and back slaps. The man with whom Hamilton shared a drink from his huge bottle of champagne. Bloody Justin Bieber. My friends, the end of times are upon us.

    Next up was Indianapolis for the 100th edition of their annual classic. They had enough accidents to make one wonder if NASCAR did not institute an open wheel division. When contender Juan Pablo Montoya wrecked early, to be followed by Helio Castroneves, Townsend Bell and Ryan Hunter-Reay making contact on pit road to punt themselves out of the running, we were left wondering who might be there in the end. That proved to be the fuel saving 24-year old Alexander Rossi of California in his maiden voyage for Michael Andretti and partners. Last year he ran a handful of events in F-1, but probably bolted due to the threat of a Bieber appearance.

    Then it was time for the longest of the trio in Charlotte, North Carolina. 400 laps, 392 of them led by Martin Truex Jr. It was a lot like Monaco, with a widened track, fewer buildings and turns and no tunnel, along with some added fenders. Kevin Harvick, Jimmie Johnson, Denny Hamlin, and Brad Keselowski aided the bride in walking down the aisle. It might not have had the bang of the other two events, but it also did not have Justin Bieber. Anywhere.

    That was a good thing.