2013 IndyCar Series / Mazda Road to Indy discussion

[Indy500]

Time for a new thread to discuss off-season events and schedule changes for the new year.

First up, the new schedule for 2013 sees a return of Indycar racing to the Pocono tri-oval with a 400 mile race.

http://www.indycar.com/News/2012/09-September/9-30-Pocono-to-come-alive-with-IndyCars

Other highlights include standing starts at three circuits (Detroit, Toronto and Houston) and an expansion to 19 races at 16 venues, starting March 24th at St Petersburg, with the season finale at Fontana on October 19th.

http://www.indycar.com/en/News/2012/09-September/9-30-Nineteen-races-on-2013-schedule

Full schedule here: http://www.indycar.com/en/Schedule

In other news, the Mazda Road to Indy program saw Matthew Brabham - the son of four-time IMSA GTP champion Geoff Brabham and the grandson of three-time Formula One World Champion Sir Jack Brabham - win the US Formula 2000 championship in his rookie year. Scholarship funding will ensure Brabham gets a seat in the 2013 Star Mazda series, the next step up on the Indy ladder.

http://www.eformulacarnews.com/news_info.php?n=11633&sid=0b3d4ae262df463698eca271e9c87142

 

[Guerrilla]

Some pretty good changes, the standing starts should certainly be interesting. Still seems like quite a lot of the seats and drivers to be finalised also.

 

[Indy500]

Some pretty good changes, the standing starts should certainly be interesting.

Yeah, although it'd be nice to see more purpose-built road courses added to the schedule (Road America fell through for this year).

Still seems like quite a lot of the seats and drivers to be finalised also.

Yeah, the driver\team situation is still in flux right now. Be interesting to see where Rahal and Barrichello end up, as well as some of the Indy Lights drivers.

Speaking of which, Star Mazda champion Jack Hawksworth is one of the finalists for the BRDC award: http://www.indycar.com/en/News/2012/09-September/9-27-Hawksworth-nominated-for-BRDC-award

Hawksworth, who clinched the Star Mazda title Sept. 8 ago at Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca, closes out the season next month at Road Atlanta. He also is expected to participate in the Road to Indy Open Test Oct. 10-11 at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway road course.

Hawksworth’s championship run is unparalleled in series history, setting a Star Mazda record for the most wins (eight) and poles (11) in a season. His title-clinching victory comes with scholarship funding from the Mazda Road to Indy worth more than $600,000 to move up to compete in Firestone Indy Lights

 

[alexthecheese]

Do Sky show Indycar? Haven't watched a race since it used to be featured on Eurostar when we had Sky back in the early 90's!

 

[Guerrilla]

Yeah, although it'd be nice to see more purpose-built road courses added to the schedule (Road America fell through for this year).



Yeah, the driver\team situation is still in flux right now. Be interesting to see where Rahal and Barrichello end up, as well as some of the Indy Lights drivers.

Speaking of which, Star Mazda champion Jack Hawksworth is one of the finalists for the BRDC award: http://www.indycar.com/en/News/2012/09-September/9-27-Hawksworth-nominated-for-BRDC-award

Yea Hopefully some of the switches and changes will make for an exciting season, quite looking forward to it already.

Do Sky show Indycar? Haven't watched a race since it used to be featured on Eurostar when we had Sky back in the early 90's!

Yea, it's usually on one of the Sky Sports channels, but it tends to get moved between them and the times are usually different too so worth checking which channel and when.

 

[Indy500]

Yea Hopefully some of the switches and changes will make for an exciting season, quite looking forward to it already.

I'll do a piece on the teams\drivers once they're all confirmed for 2013, should help newcomers understand who's out there and the recent history of Indycar. Particularly as once Dario, Tony and Helio retire all of the 1990s generation will be gone.

 

[Indy500]

Some news updates:

IndyCar test miles and sessions in 2013 will be significantly cut back in order to reduce costs.

http://www.indycar.com/en/News/2012/10-October/10-8-Testing-curbed-for-new-season

Some key excerpts:

“In the interest of continued cost containment and with the support of the majority of the partners involved, testing is being reined in after the initial development of the new car,” said IndyCar vice president of technology Will Phillips. “We’re recovering from the cost of re-capitalizing the whole field and testing can be the most expensive part of a team’s program.”

Engine manufacturer pre-season testing in 2012 had been unlimited as Chevrolet, Honda and Lotus prepared their 2.2-liter turbocharged V6 engines for the 2012 season on the most diverse set of racetracks in motorsports.

Full-season entrants are allocated a maximum of 10,000 miles per calendar year for use in all team tests, Open Tests and race events. Excluding manufacturer test days, no full-season entrant has topped 9,000 total miles this year. Scott Dixon, driving the Honda-powered No. 9 Target Chip Ganassi Racing car, has a series-high 19 test days. The team has two additional test days scheduled (Oct. 11 at Milwaukee and Oct. 29 at Barber).

In other news, six young drivers will be participating in a two-day test at the Indianapolis road course layout as part of the Mazda Road to Indy program.

http://www.indycar.com/en/News/2012/10-October/10-8-Mazda-Road-To-Indy-Test-Preview

Jake Eidson has made a rapid rise of the racing ladder in the last few years, ascending from beginning karter to Skip Barber Racing Series champion in just five seasons.

On Oct. 10-11, the 17-year-old from Littleton, Colorado, will take the biggest step of his young career when he tests a Cooper Tires USF2000 National Championship car on the Indianapolis Motor Speedway road course as part of his reward for winning the Skip Barber Winter Series and clinching the Skip Barber Summer Series at Lime Rock on Oct. 6.

“Just being (at Indianapolis) will be a huge honor,” Eidson said. “To drive a race car there, not many 17 years olds get to do that. I’m very thankful for the opportunity, but I’m more excited than anything else. I’m absolutely looking forward to it.”

...

Eidson is one of six drivers awarded test days at the Chris Griffis Memorial Mazda Road to Indy Open Test thanks to the Mazda Road to Indy’s partnerships with the Skip Barber Racing School in the U.S., and international series such as the British Formula Ford Championship, Mexico’s LATAM Challenge Series and the Quebec and Ontario F1600 Championship in Canada.

...

Finland’s Antti Buri, the champion of the British Formula Ford championship, will join Eidson and Canadian F1600 champions Nathan Blok (Quebec) and Michael Adams (Ontario) in the US F2000 portion of the two-day test.

Three of the top four drivers in the LATAM Challenge Series -- points leader Francisco Cerullo, Andre Sulano and Jose Carlos-Sandoval – are also scheduled to participate in the Star Mazda Championship portion of the test. Burri is also scheduled to drive a Star Mazda car.

Interviews with some of the young drivers:

2012 Indycar champion Ryan Hunter-Reay will be participating in the Race of Champions in Thailand this winter:

http://www.indycar.com/en/News/2012...-Series-champ-to-compete-in-Race-of-Champions

"After a career-best season culminating in an IndyCar Series championship, I could see no better way to cap off 2012 than representing the USA and IndyCar, competing against the best drivers from other top-level championships around the world at ROC" said Hunter-Reay, the first American to win the IndyCar Series crown since 2006.

Held every year since 1988, the Race Of Champions brings together drivers from Formula 1, IndyCar, world rally, touring cars, sports cars and the X-Games to compete head-to-head in identical cars on a temporary track with two parallel lanes.

Drivers pair up for the ROC Nations Cup on the first day and the individual Race Of Champions takes place on the second day. The events will be contested at Rajamangala National Stadium in Bangkok.

 

[Guerrilla]

Enjoy the Race of Champions it's good fun, hopefully it'll be a good one this year too

 

[Indy500]

Narain Karthikeyan to Indycar?

http://auto-racing.speedtv.com/article/indycar-f1s-karthikeyan-pondering-indycar-switch/P1

Can't be any worse than Ed Carpenter on the road courses I guess NK seemed to have a lot of followers during his Nascar run (to the point of being voted the most popular Trucks driver in 2010) so it'll be interesting to see what happens if he does make the switch.

In other news, there have been talks regarding a possible entry for Mugello to the 2013 calendar:

http://auto-racing.speedtv.com/article/indycar-series-talking-with-mugello-circuit-about-2013-date/

IndyCar CEO Randy Bernard admitted the series has had talks with the principals at the 3.2-mile, 15-turn Italian circuit, along with other potential sites.

"We've had discussions with a variety of potential promoters and that includes initial, exploratory discussions with Mugello," said Bernard on Tuesday afternoon.

In the past Bernard has met with Fiat officials about the possibility of building an Indycar engine. Fiat owns Ferrari, among other brands.

 

[Indy500]

Nine Indycar drivers will participate in the Gold Coast 600 V8 Supercars event at Surfers Paradise this weekend. The 2011 winner Sebastian Bourdais, Will Power, Ryan Briscoe, Simon Pagenaud, Graham Rahal, Marco Andretti, James Hinchcliffe, Justin Wilson and Mike Conway will co-drive with V8 series regulars.

http://www.indycar.com/en/News/2012/10-October/10-17-Nine-drivers-compete-in-Australia

Testing footage and driver interviews:

 

[Indy500]

Mikhail Aleshin (2010 World Series by Renault champion) has considered a move to Indycar: http://italiaracing.net/notizia.asp?id=37743&cat=3

It'd be interesting to have a competent Russian driver in the sport. Since Aleshin's been unable to secure an F1 role, then had to step down to RFR in the series he previously won it's sensible for him to consider other options.

 

[Indy500]

An Italian consortium claims to have reached an agreement to hold an Indycar race: http://www.racer.com/report-indycar-set-for-a-race-in-italy-next-year/article/265403/

AUTOSPORT magazine reports that the IZOD IndyCar Series will host its first race in Italy next year, with Monza, Imola and Mugello vying for the race.

...

Commenting on the report, an IndyCar spokesperson said: "While we have had discussions with promoters who desire to stage a race in Italy, all such discussions have been preliminary and there are no current plans to stage an INDYCAR event in Italy."

 

[Skeeter]

Why Italy I wonder?

 

[Guerrilla]

Why Italy I wonder?

Not quite sure, a race in Europe would be nice though.

Plus...

IndyCar released a schedule of 2013 events last month that left a month open between the Baltimore street race on Sept. 1 and the double-header rounds at Houston on Oct. 5-6.

With Monza on 8th September (at the moment), what an epic Italian holiday there could potentially be

 

[Indy500]

Why Italy I wonder?

Rumoured involvement from Fiat/Chrysler and a private consortium.

 

[Indy500]

Simona de Silvestro expected to drive for KV in 2013:

http://www.autosport.com/news/report.php/id/103750

Simona de Silvestro will join Tony Kanaan at KV Racing Technology for the 2013 IndyCar Series. Swiss driver de Silvestro, who has spent the past three years with the single-car HVM squad, is expected to make her debut with KV in testing at Barber on Monday.

As well as giving the 24-year-old a team-mate for the first time in her IndyCar career, the deal will also allow de Silvestro access to Chevrolet engines after having been the only driver to run the entire 2012 season with Lotus equipment. She will continue to be backed by Nuclear Clean Air Energy.

Should be interesting to see how she matches up against Tony Kanaan, a veteran with an IRL championship and 15 wins in his Indycar career. A big step up from HVM in any case.

Edit: confirmation - http://www.indycar.com/en/News/2012/10-October/10-30-Simona-de-Silvestro-Joins-KVRT-for-2013

 

[Indy500]

Esteban Guerrieri (runner-up in Indy Lights twice and 3rd in Formula Renault 3.5 in 2010) being considered for a 2013 seat at Schmidt Motorsports:

http://www.samschmidtmotorsports.com/qa-with-sam-schmidt-on-esteban-guerrieri/

I think it'd be good to see him get a chance in IndyCar, especially after that unfair disqualification in FR3.5 (he missed 4 races, but still had the most wins and competed for the title). That said he's been a little erratic in Lights and Vautier beat him to the 2012 championship.

 

[Guerrilla]

Simona de Silvestro expected to drive for KV in 2013:

http://www.autosport.com/news/report.php/id/103750



Should be interesting to see how she matches up against Tony Kanaan, a veteran with an IRL championship and 15 wins in his Indycar career. A big step up from HVM in any case.

Edit: confirmation - http://www.indycar.com/en/News/2012/10-October/10-30-Simona-de-Silvestro-Joins-KVRT-for-2013

That's potentially a really good move for her, if she can learn from TK and prove herself she could be on to a good thing.

 

[Indy500]

Sebastien Bourdais to remain with Dragon Racing for 2013:

http://auto-racing.speedtv.com/article/indycar-bourdais-to-return-with-dragon-racing/

One of the most compelling underdog entries from the 2012 IZOD IndyCar Series season will return in 2013.

The Jay Penske-owned Dragon Racing outfit has re-signed 4-time Champ Car champion Sebastien Bourdais to lead the Chevy-powered team in what should be its strongest competitive effort to date.

“It’s a privilege to have Seb once again piloting the No. 7 Dragon Racing entry” said Penske. “2012 was a challenge for us on so many levels, but despite that, towards the end of last season we demonstrated that with the right equipment and strategy, Dragon Racing is a force to be reckoned with. I am truly excited about what can be achieved this coming season and with Seb at the wheel – the best is yet to come.”

...

“It is with great pleasure and excitement that I will return for a second season at the wheel of the Dragon Racing/McAfee/Chevy entry," said Bourdais. "To kick things off that early is a great boost for 2013 after all the obstacles we had to go through in 2012. With the stability of the staff, the sponsors and the experience we amassed this year, I am very confident we can achieve great results next season!”

No word yet on whether Katherine Legge has the second seat at Dragon.

 

[Indy500]

Graham Rahal will be moving from Ganassi's B-team to race for his father's team, Rahal-Letterman:

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/huff-wires/20121113/car-indycar-rll-graham-rahal/

Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing will formally introduce Graham Rahal as its new 2013 driver at Indianapolis Motor Speedway.

The 23-year-old driver will be paired with his father, Bobby, the team's co-owner and winner of three championships along with the 1986 Indianapolis 500. Father and son paired together only once before in IndyCar, for a 12th-place finish in the 2010 Indy 500.