2013 IndyCar Series / Mazda Road to Indy discussion

Indycar Series Round 16 of 19: Grand Prix of Baltimore presented by SRT

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Venue: Inner Harbour, Baltimore, MD
Track length: 2.04 miles
Race length: 75 laps (153 miles)
Lap record: 1:17.5921 (Will Power, Dallara DW12-Chevrolet, 2012)

Overview: Indycar held the inaugural Baltimore Grand Prix in 2011, with the layout passing by several city landmarks. The event was deemed a success, and in 2012 the race contract was extended for a further 5 years. The American Le Mans series and Indy Lights also race on the circuit during the Grand Prix weekend.

Current points standings:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2013_IndyCar_Series_season#Driver_standings

Drivers' preview:


Entry list:

http://www.indycar.com/~/media//Files/2013/IZOD-IndyCar-Series/14-BAL/indycar-entrylist

Luca Filippi begins the second of four races in the #98 Bryan Herta Autosport entry. (http://www.indycar.com/News/2013/08/8-13-Hildebrand-Filippi-complete-season-for-Barracuda)

Stefan Wilson makes his first Indycar start in the #18 for Dale Coyne Racing. (http://motorsportstalk.nbcsports.com/2013/08/01/stefan-wilson-will-make-indycar-debut-at-baltimore/)

Oriol Servia returns to Indycar for the remaining races driving the #4 Panther car. (http://www.indycar.com/News/2013/08/8-27-Notes-Servia-rejoins-Panther-for-rest-of-season)

Spotters' guide:

http://digbza2f4g9qo.cloudfront.net...dycar-spotterguide.pdf?vs=1&d=20130828T095910

Schedule:

http://www.indycar.com/~/media//Files/2013/IZOD-IndyCar-Series/14-BAL/indycar-weekendschedule

TV coverage:

ESPN UK - 17:00 Sunday 1st September (live); 09:00 Monday 2nd September (re-run); 05:00, 09:45 and 15:45 Wednesday 4th September (highlights); 07:00 Thursday 5th September (highlights); 04:45 Saturday 7th September (highlights)
 
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Guerrilla said:
Looks good, hopefully he will have a good race... Is it a one race only thing or the remainder of the season?
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Just a one race deal. No word on who Dale Coyne has in the second seat for next year.

Edit: First practice saw Will Power top the chart with a lap of 1:20.8632, followed by Ernesto Viso (1:21.1256) and Oriol Servia (1:21.2977).

Practice 1 highlights: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OsFvTzEAGmk&feature=player_embedded

Full timesheet: http://www.imscdn.com/indycar_media/documents/2013-08-30/BAL practice1.pdf

Top three in second practice: Tristan Vautier (1:19.4792), Graham Rahal (1:19.5630), Josef Newgarden (1:19.6662).

Practice 2 highlights: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uPkq6tTuaIY

Full timesheet: http://www.imscdn.com/INDYCAR/Documents/2838/2013-08-30/indycar-results-p2.pdf

Rule changes ahead of Baltimore: http://www.indycar.com/News/2013/08/8-30-INDYCAR-reinforces-pit-lane-conduct

INDYCAR added rule 7.9.17 to the IZOD IndyCar Series rulebook to reinforce its pit stop code of conduct: Any participant who, in the opinion of the officials, positions a car, equipment, and/or personnel so as to create a hazard or disruption of the event or to interfere with the activities of another competitor may be penalized.

INDYCAR also amended its rule regarding display of the blue flag, which calls for a driver to give consideration to an approaching car attempting to overtake.

Rule 7.2.5.2: When displayed from the starters stand to a lapped car, as ordered directly by the Race Director, the blue flag is a command to immediately give way. During the race, any car failing to give way within one lap of the display of the blue flag from the starters stand will be penalized.
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Simon Pagenaud set the pace in third practice (1:18.4391), with Scott Dixon second quickest (1:18.5486) and Will Power third (1:18.5826).

Practice 3 highlights: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=apiRYcAiKpc

Full timesheet: http://www.imscdn.com/indycar_media/documents/2013-08-31/BAL IICS P3.pdf

Scott Dixon took his second pole position of 2013 with a 1:18.0838 lap; Will Power (1:18.1171) joins him on the front row. Simon Pagenaud (1:18.4307) qualified third. Josef Newgarden will start from a career-best 5th position.

Qualifying highlights: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VCgtFcqWlyg

Post-qualifying interviews: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gXHtfEc9MjE

Full timesheet: http://www.indycar.com/News/2013/08...IndyCar-Series/14-BAL/indycar-qualresults.pdf

Starting grid

1) Scott Dixon
2) Will Power
3) Simon Pagenaud
4) Justin Wilson
5) Josef Newgarden
6) Tristan Vautier
7) Helio Castroneves
8) Ryan Hunter-Reay
9) Charlie Kimball
10) Takuma Sato
11) James Hinchcliffe
12) Graham Rahal
13) Luca Filippi
14) Tony Kanaan
15) Oriol Servia
16) Marco Andretti
17) Simona De Silvestro
18) Ed Carpenter
19) Sebastian Saavedra
20) Ernesto Viso
21) Stefan Wilson
22) Sebastien Bourdais
23) James Jakes*
24) Dario Franchitti*

*10 place grid penalty for early engine change

Top three times in the morning warm-up session: Sebastien Bourdais (1:18.4535), Will Power (1:18.7543), Josef Newgarden (1:18.8522).

Warm-up highlights: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yjV0x2BbH60

Full timesheet: http://www.imscdn.com/indycar_media/documents/2013-09-01/BAL warmup.pdf
 
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Caught up with the race this morning, was an entertaining watch. It's a good little track that, some of those corners seems to cause carnage on the restarts though :p

Another good result for Justin Wilson, pleased with that, nice to see Simona have a good finish too.

Was an incident filled back end of the race, quite a few retirements that could have a bearing on the championship.
 
Guerrilla said:
Caught up with the race this morning, was an entertaining watch. It's a good little track that, some of those corners seems to cause carnage on the restarts though :p
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First half of the race was good, the second half not so much until the last ~12 laps. Was never a fan of double-file restarts on street circuits, too easy for one bad move to stack up the field. Perhaps altering the chicane would have allowed a cleaner formation as well.

Not sure why Power moved that far right on the straight, looked worthy of penalising to me. I think banning passing before the start-finish line is another area that should be seriously considered to minimise the three and four-wide situations on one-groove tracks.

Guerrilla said:
Another good result for Justin Wilson, pleased with that, nice to see Simona have a good finish too.
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Yeah, perhaps Wilson was on to something when he extended his deal with DCR. Good to see De Silvestro be competitive again after the mid-season slump.

Guerrilla said:
Was an incident filled back end of the race, quite a few retirements that could have a bearing on the championship.
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Five mechanical DNFs is quite high (despite the restart issues in the middle portion, less cars retired from contact).
 
Indy500 said:
Not sure why Power moved that far right on the straight, looked worthy of penalising to me. I think banning passing before the start-finish line is another area that should be seriously considered to minimise the three and four-wide situations on one-groove tracks.
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Yea felt for Dixon especially as he was having a good go at closing the gap to Helio and now 2 bad finishes in a row.

Power looked like he went for a move on Bourdais (i think it was?) and wasn't looking, but then apparently apologised to his team for losing the car so not sure what happened.
 
Guerrilla said:
Yea felt for Dixon especially as he was having a good go at closing the gap to Helio and now 2 bad finishes in a row.
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Pagenaud's win has introduced him as a dark horse for the title, although it will be difficult to beat the top three teams on a superspeedway even if he runs up front at both Houston races. Dixon still has the opportunity to claw back the gap, especially if Castroneves keeps finishing 6th-10th.

Guerrilla said:
Power looked like he went for a move on Bourdais (i think it was?) and wasn't looking, but then apparently apologised to his team for losing the car so not sure what happened.
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The speed differential from the chicane didn't help, although it seemed to me that Power would have put himself in the wall had another car not been there. Strange to see him become error-prone on a track type he virtually dominated between 2010-12. To be honest though, I'd rather see the battles for the lead and racing than a Monaco-style procession where the pole sitter leads the entire race unchallenged.
 
Indy500 said:
Pagenaud's win has introduced him as a dark horse for the title, although it will be difficult to beat the top three teams on a superspeedway even if he runs up front at both Houston races. Dixon still has the opportunity to claw back the gap, especially if Castroneves keeps finishing 6th-10th.
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Yea, could become a close run thing by the end :)

Indy500 said:
The speed differential from the chicane didn't help, although it seemed to me that Power would have put himself in the wall had another car not been there. Strange to see him become error-prone on a track type he virtually dominated between 2010-12. To be honest though, I'd rather see the battles for the lead and racing than a Monaco-style procession where the pole sitter leads the entire race unchallenged.
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Definitely, I'd much rather see them go for it and have close racing.
 
Baltimore race results

1. Simon Pagenaud Schmidt Motorsports-Honda 2hrs 16mins 32.3443s/75 laps
2. Josef Newgarden Fisher-Hartman Racing-Honda +4.1592s
3. Sebastien Bourdais Dragon-Chevrolet +7.9588s
4. Justin Wilson Dale Coyne Racing-Honda +10.7598s
5. Simona de Silvestro KV Racing Technology-Chevrolet +11.6017s
6. Charlie Kimball Ganassi-Honda +21.416s
7. James Hinchcliffe Andretti Autosport-Chevrolet +22.8422s
8. Sebastian Saavedra Dragon-Chevrolet +25.5377s
9. Helio Castroneves Penske-Chevrolet +29.3117s
10. Marco Andretti Andretti Autosport-Chevrolet +40.5499s
11. Tristan Vautier Schmidt Motorsports-Honda +1 lap
12. Oriol Servià Panther-Chevrolet +1 lap
13. Ernesto Viso Andretti Autosport-Chevrolet +1 lap
14. Ed Carpenter ECR-Chevrolet +1 lap
15. Tony Kanaan KV Racing Technology-Chevrolet +2 laps/Collision
16. Stefan Wilson Dale Coyne Racing-Honda +3 laps
17. Graham Rahal Rahal-Letterman-Honda +7 laps/Collision damage
18. Will Power Penske-Chevrolet +8 laps

Retirements

Scott Dixon Ganassi-Honda +23 laps/Collision damage
Ryan Hunter-Reay Andretti Autosport-Chevrolet +33 laps/Electrical
Dario Franchitti Ganassi-Honda +53 laps/Brakes
Luca Filippi Bryan Herta Autosport-Honda +63 laps/Engine
James Jakes Rahal-Letterman-Honda +70 laps/Gearbox
Takuma Sato AJ Foyt Enterprises-Honda +71 laps/Engine

Fastest lap: 1:19.9419s by Sebastien Bourdais on lap 8

Race highlights: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h_Bmw5xzMCw

Post-race interviews: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qI6mRFPJgIE

Championship contenders interviewed: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n5EtiETxWHo

Championship standings: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2013_IndyCar_Series_season#Driver_standings

News updates:

Indy Lights driver Jack Hawksworth will test for the Rahal-Letterman Indycar team at Sebring - http://www.indycar.com/News/2013/09/9-3-Hawksworth-to-test-with-RLL

Drivers gave positive feedback after testing various configurations of the Indianapolis road course - http://www.indycar.com/News/2013/09/9-4-IMS-road-course-gets-positive-feedback

Testing footage and interviews: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dXLYXinirnA

Jack Hawksworth took his third Indy Lights win at Baltimore, leading every lap from pole position. Sage Karam moved into the points lead with his second place finish. Championship standings: Karam 373, Munoz 371, Chaves 369. (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yWP8xprv1x8)
 
Rounds 11 and 12 of the USF2000 championship at Laguna Seca saw debutant Alex Baron (2012 French Formula 4 champion) take a surprise win and 3rd place finish respectively. Scott Hargrove extended his points lead by winning round 12, while his closest rival Neil Alberico was 2nd and 4th. Two rounds at Houston will decide the series title. (http://www.indycar.com/News/2013/09/9-9-Hargrove-strengthens-points-lead)

Points standings: Hargrove 269, Alberico 225, Grist 195.
 
Two days of tyre testing at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway saw 7 drivers complete over 8,000 miles to evaluate various Bridgestone compounds. The primary objective is to improve mechanical grip levels for future Indy 500 races, supporting the aim of breaking the 237.498mph lap record set by Arie Luyendyk in 1996. (http://www.indycar.com/News/2013/09/9-12-Tire-test-concludes-with-more-than-1500-laps-run ; http://www.indycar.com/News/2013/09/9-11-Test-teams-benefit-from-track-time-at-IMS)

The Indycar series' technical rules have been updated to allow improved brake ducts to cool both front and rear brakes, as well as front wing modifications. (http://www.indycar.com/News/2013/09/9-12-Part-modification-for-Houston-aims-to-help-brake-cooling)

Michael Andretti, owner of the 4-car Andretti Autosport team, is reportedly closing in on a deal to sign Juan Pablo Montoya for 2014. The team's marketing officer stated that there is significant sponsor interest in the Colombian driver, who is currently racing for Ganassi's Nascar Sprint Cup operation.

http://www.racer.com/andretti-making-progress-on-budget-for-montoya-indycar-deal/article/310820/

Andretti Autosport owner Michael Andretti has made it clear that he wants to add 1999 CART champion Juan Montoya to his ranks next season, and as RACER has learned, significant progress has been made in finding the budget to bring the 37-year-old into their fold.

“We're at about 50 percent of what's needed to run Juan,” said John Lopes, the team's senior VP and chief marketing officer. “There's been a lot of interest in him, and with his success in Indy car racing – winning the 2000 Indy 500, his wins in F1, and everything he's done in NASCAR, companies sit up and take notice if you have a chance to work with him.”
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In a shock development, Juan Pablo Montoya has been confirmed as part of Team Penske's 2014 Indycar line-up.

http://www.indycar.com/News/2013/09/9-16-Montoya-joins-Team-Penske-for-2014

"I am really excited to join this legendary team beginning next year," said Montoya.

"I have had the opportunity to drive for some of the best racing teams in the world and I have always admired Roger Penske and his organisation.

"I consider it an honour to be offered the opportunity to drive for Team Penske."

...

"Juan is a proven winner at all levels of motorsport," said Penske.

"He has won a lot of races and championships and he has an extremely passionate fan base.

"We look forward to building on his successes together and we believe he will be a great addition to Team Penske."
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Seems quite a few racing drivers (and ex-drivers) concur with us.

http://www.indycar.com/News/2013/09/9-17-Drivers-react-to-Montoya

A few quotes:

Paulie Harraka @paulieharraka

@jpmontoya to Indy. He's gotta be one of the most, if not THE most, versatile drivers in the world. Would love to see him win @IMS again.

Dario Franchitti @dariofranchitti

Welcome back @jpmontoya , @IndyCar 2014 is getting more interesting by the minute!!

Emerson Fittipaldi @emmofittipaldi

Congrats @jpmontoya @IMS @IndyCar

Brad Keselowski @keselowski

Yes welcome @jpmontoya to team penske indycar program
 
Pre-race testing at Auto Club Speedway, Fontana commenced today with Honda rolling out their twin-turbo design in preparation for 2014. All Indycar teams were present with the exception of Bryan Herta Autosport. (http://www.indycar.com/News/2013/09/9-11-Auto-Club-Speedway-test-open-to-public)

Next year's event at Texas Motor Speedway will see the race distance extended to 600km, bringing the lap count to 248 at the 1.5 mile oval. (http://www.indycar.com/News/2013/09/9-23-Laps-added-to-2014-Texas-Motor-Speedway-race)
 
It has been reported by the Associated Press that Indy 500 winner Tony Kanaan will be in Ganassi's fourth car for 2014. (http://espn.go.com/racing/indycar/story/_/id/9733121/tony-kanaan-moving-ganassi-racing)

Conor Daly returns to Indy Lights for the Houston race, in between his GP3 commitments. (http://www.autosport.com/news/report.php/id/110190)

Peter Dempsey will join Daly at Team Moore: http://openpaddock.net/2013/09/27/indylights-conor-daly-returns-indy-lights-team-moore-racing/

Cooper Tires have been confirmed to replace Firestone as the tyre supplier for the Indy Lights championship starting in 2014. Initial tests of the new spec have been ongoing this month. (http://motorsportstalk.nbcsports.co...-firestone-as-new-indy-lights-tire-from-2014/)
 
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