Q: Could you expand on the ramp issue Saturday morning that launched Callum Ilott and Rinus VeeKay? From my perspective, it looks like someone really screwed up and it set back their weekend from which they never quite recovered. Any changes to the track in any form should be communicated to each sanctioning body and then to the race teams, even if it was a repair. Even a repair to the track can impact how a car running on the edge performs and therefore should be communicated so the teams and drivers know and can best determine how they will handle it.
Two other things I noticed from the weekend: RLL had better pace in qualifying and ended up with a decent finish for all three. Not a win but compared to last year and the beginning of 2023, it has to feel good for them. Second, Andretti started out the season with crashing out six of eight times. Nothing like finishing first, second and fourth to lift a team’s spirits.
John
MP: Over to Mark Glendenning, who covered the session reports last weekend:
MARK GLENDENNING: The situation with the curb seemed to be the result of twin breakdowns in communication and common sense. According to IndyCar, the track’s explanation was that it was a simple repair — the curb was there for the track walks on Thursday, there on Friday until getting smashed during an IMSA session, before IndyCar had its first practice, and then put back in place on Friday night. Accordingly, it wasn’t considered necessary to inform anyone — the series or the teams — because the curb was being restored to its “original” configuration, regardless of what it had been like when IndyCar practiced on Friday.
That might fall into line with a very literal interpretation of the relevant protocols, but it’s still mind-blowing that while the track was updating the series on overnight changes to the color of some painted lines, it didn’t occur to anyone to add, “Oh, and we’ve bolted a massive curb back onto the exit of Turn 5.”
On the other side, the argument that the teams and drivers should use the opening laps as an opportunity to make sure there aren’t any surprises out there — say, a large curb where there was no curb yesterday — isn’t entirely unfair. But it’s also easy to understand them putting some level of trust in the track to tell them about a change that significant. It bit Juncos and, to a lesser extent, ECR, but the really telling part was all the radio transmissions during the caution as teams warned their drivers that something funky was going on at the exit of that corner. It’s impossible to say if the entire grid was caught by surprise, but it’s clear that a significant chunk of it was. I don’t blame Juncos for being upset.
Q: With the use of 100% ethanol, has the fuel capacity of the Indy cars been increased due the less mpg than E85? Or have other adjustments been made to keep range the same?
Bob, WI
MP: Other than the octane rating being lower than the E85 it replaces, there has been no other changes to its use and carriage — same fuel capacity as last year.
Q: I am generally slow to anger, but that was my emotion to the several times when the GP of Long Beach was completely taken off air – for laps at a time — for full-screen commercial breaks. I know it’s not the advertisers’ fault, but whatever message they were trying to convey had an adverse effect and just created negative vibes. The courtesy of splitting the screen would have been appreciated and could have had a better chance in fostering goodwill for the advertisers.
Despite having to endure the full-screen commercial marathons, I am glad to have witnessed Kirkwood’s first IndyCar podium! It was also a joy to see the teamwork results coming from the A.J. Foyt 14 car driven by Santino Ferrucci. It hung near last for both practices, then figured some things out and qualified P18 and less than 0.2s from the Fast 12. Then, four positions were picked up in just two pit stops. Ferrucci was also able to fend off the march of Graham Rahal (who came up 12 positions), stay clean, do his advance up the field thing and end up P11. Looks like a really nice overall team effort.
My condolences to A.J. and his family and prayers for peace as they grieve the passing of Lucy Foyt.
Norm-Bob, New Bloomfield, PA
MP: I had the same reaction to Santino’s drive; it was the starring performance that went completely unnoticed. Factor in how dreadful the team’s early season has been coupled with Mrs. Foyt’s unexpected loss, and this was a delightful result that arrived at the perfect time.
Q: Why did Juncos mess up its chance at a good finish? llott coming out of the pits while his teammate was in the lead and messing him up seemed like a poor decision for the team and driver.
Tom Harleman, Carmel, IN
MP: I’d err on the side of it being a mistake rather than something intentional. They’d just gotten Ilott’s lap back and he was on the lead lap, so there was a clear motivation to get out ahead of the leader. The fact that the leader was his teammate was immaterial; Canapino was a few laps away from needing to pit for fuel, so his visit to P1 was always going to be a brief thing. If Canapino was leading because of raw speed instead of being the only driver who was kept out when everyone else pitted under caution, it would be a different story and Ilott should have moved aside. But that’s not what happened. The team held the lead for a few laps and hoped another caution would come to save them, but it didn’t work out that way.
Nonetheless, it made for a really uncomfortable situation that created stress within the team when it wasn’t needed. It’s stuff like this that makes a coveted driver like Ilott decide it’s time to go elsewhere at the end of the season.