Testing SpeedwayMedia.com

Tag: Panther Racing

  • IndyCar: Chevrolet Teams Change Engines For Long Beach, Incur Penalty

    IndyCar: Chevrolet Teams Change Engines For Long Beach, Incur Penalty

    [media-credit name=”INDYCAR/LAT USA” align=”alignright” width=”300″][/media-credit]Following the tear down and inspection of an engine, the majority of the Chevrolet team changed their motors on April 12th.

    “We are still learning the limitations of the new engine controls calibration,” Chris Berube, Chevrolet Racing’s IZOD IndyCar Series program manager, says. “Through our testing in Sonoma, as indicated by an engine issue, we uncovered a problem that we believe could affect all engines. So, as a result, we feel it is prudent to change all engines prior to the start of the on-track activities this weekend.”

    As a result, the following drivers are effected by the decision:  Penske Racing’s three-some (Helio Castroneves, Will Power and Ryan Briscoe), Andretti Autosports’ three-some (Ryan Hunter-Reay, James Hinchcliffe and Marco Andretti), KV Racing Technology’s threesome (Rubens Barrichello, Tony Kanaan and E.J. Viso), Ed Carpenter, and Panther’s Racing JR Hildebrand.

    As per the IndyCar rulebook, each driver will be given a 10-grid position penalty prior to the start of the Toyota Grand Prix of Long Beach. The event is set to take on April 15th on the 1.986-mile, 11-turn temporary street circuit.

    “We intently discussed the situation with our partners and our teams prior to determining that this was the best course of action to preserve the integrity of the racing in the IZOD IndyCar Series,” Berube continues.

    The engine inspected was that of Hinchcliffe’s No. 27 GoDaddy.com car of Andretti Autosport after it had an issue during a test on April 9th at Infineon Raceway.

    “I was already penalized the 10 spots before the decision to change out all Chevy engines,” Hinchcliffe says. “It’s a bummer, but now at least I’m not alone. There will now be some good racing happening mid-pack. The engine mileage rule is a tremendous engineering challenge and ultimately helps improve technology for the automotive industry.”

    Teams are allowed to change engines if they have reached a minimum of 1,850 miles. However, if they choose to change them before, they are subject to penalty on rules 15.3.1 and 15.6.1.1.

    Hinchcliffe says he’s proud to wear the bowtie (Chevrolet’s logo).

    “It would be easy to complain about how harsh (the penalty) is, but I think the attitude of everyone on the Go Daddy crew is that when the going gets tough, it’s time to nut up, buckle down and push hard for the best result possible,” he adds.

    Team owner and driver Carpenter says it’s going to make things interesting heading into this weekend.

    “It’s obviously not ideal, but we’re all playing by the same rules,” he says. “It’s the safest choice and, even though we’re starting at a disadvantage from the get-go, it’s better than potentially having an issue later on. It’s a learning process for all of us, and it’s not a decision they made lightly.”

    Despite the issues, Chevrolet has had success this year as they have recorded two wins and two poles in the first two races with Castroneves and Power scoring one each. Castroneves leads the points, two points over Target Chip Ganassi Racing’s Scott Dixon, who is running a Honda powerplant.

    Along with the issues for Chevrolet, the No. 7 Lotus Dragon Racing car driven by Sebastien Bourdais will also suffer the same penalty due to engine change.

  • IZOD IndyCar Drivers Continue to Prepare For 2012 Race Season

    IZOD IndyCar Drivers Continue to Prepare For 2012 Race Season

    [media-credit name=”indycar.com” align=”alignright” width=”258″][/media-credit]In an effort to try to figure out the new IndyCar chassis the quickest, many drivers are chose to take part in the test session on March 13th and 14th at Barber Motorsports Park. The test at Barber was a private test, so therefore data will not be available for viewing.

    It is hard to tell which team has an advantage this early in the season looking at test, as some are working on aerodynamics while others are working on race set-ups.

    “Any track time that we get is so valuable,” Ryan Briscoe says. “As we get closer to St. Pete, every bit of mileage gets more and more important. From getting used to all the new features on the car like the brakes or the clutch and other things like that, those are things that we will have to have mastered before the first race. I did a fair bit of testing during the winter and I feel quite acclimatized to the car, but you can never have too much running time.”

    Despite this being in consideration, drivers do pay attention to how their fellows competitors are running.

    “It’s super important to do tests days like these where there are other cars out because you do have to get a feel for how quickly other people are figuring things out,” JR Hilderband says. “At the same time, when (Sebring) gets gripped up, it’s like no place else. It’s rough like a street course and super grippy like a road course. We try to take it for what it is, but it’s great to do this much running this close to the season.”

    So far, it looks like two-time IndyCar Series Champion Scott Dixon has the advantage as he led the Open Test at Sebring International Raceway.

    The Chevrolet teams testing at Barber test were all three Team Penske drivers (Briscoe, Helio Castroneves and Will Power), Panther Racing’s Hilderbrand, all three cars from KV Racing Technology (E.J. Viso, Rubens Barrichello and Tony Kanaan), Ed Carpenter Racing’s entry driven by Ed Carpenter and all three cars for Andretti Autosport (Andretti, James Hinchcliffe and Ryan Hunter-Reay).

    The Honda teams testing at Barber were both entries from Dale Coyne Racing (Justin Wilson and James Jakes), Service Central Chip Ganassi Racing’s Graham Rahal, Sarah Fisher Hartman Racing’s Josef Newgarden and Nova Nordisk Chip Ganassi Racing’s Charlie Kimball.

    Elsewhere, Dario Franchitti and Dixon were testing at Homestead-Miami on March 14th.