2013 IndyCar Series / Mazda Road to Indy discussion

Indy500 · 19 Jan 2013 at 18:41

HVM Racing (led by Keith Wiggins, formerly of Pacific F1) is working on a 2013 Indycar program: http://auto-racing.speedtv.com/article/indycar-hvm-closing-in-on-indycar-return/

“I would say we are having discussions with a couple of different entities on projects in IndyCar,” said Wiggins. “I think it’s fair to say we’ll have an [IndyCar] entry and we are working with a couple of groups talking about doing IndyCar, and it could take a couple of different forms. We’re not sure what it will be yet.”

Indy500 · 21 Jan 2013 at 18:22

Some race distances for 2013 will be altered to discourage fuel-saving strategies:

http://www.indycar.com/News/2013/01/1-21-TV-schedule-to-increase-excitement-for-fans

Four events -- St. Petersburg, Long Beach, Milwaukee and Mid-Ohio – will feature new race distances this season to discourage fuel-mileage racing. The new distances better match traditional fuel windows at each circuit.

The races with new distances:

St. Petersburg: Increase of 10 laps to 110 (198 miles total)
Long Beach: Decrease of five laps to 80 (157.4 miles)
Milwaukee: Increase of 25 laps to 250 (250 miles)
Mid-Ohio: Increase of five laps to 90 (203 miles)

“Changing the distances at these races will hopefully eliminate the strategy of saving fuel from the drop of the green flag,” said Beaux Barfield, IndyCar Series Race Director. “That will enable our teams and drivers to race hard for the full distance and improve the event’s entertainment value for the fans.”

Indy500 · 28 Jan 2013 at 22:20

Time for an Indycar news round-up:

The points system has been adjusted to scale linearly to 26th place - http://www.indycar.com/en/News/2013/01/1-23-Rulebook-aims-to-make-series-easier-to-follow

Two of the three doubleheader races will have starting starts, and FIA light systems will be used. Qualifying rules have been adjusted at these events - http://www.indycar.com/News/2013/01/1-22-Standings-starts-at-two-doubleheaders

The 250 mile Iowa race will now have points awarded for finishing positions in the qualifying heats - http://www.indycar.com/News/2013/01/1-21-New-heat-race-format-highlights-Iowa-qualifying

Alex Tagliani has re-signed with Barracuda Racing (formerly Bryan Herta Autosport) for the 2013 season, and is looking to improve on translating his fast qualifying performances into race results - http://www.indycar.com/News/2013/01/1-24-Tagliani-Back-For-More-With-Barracuda-Racing

Mike Conway has signed to race at Long Beach with Rahal-Letterman Racing, looking to follow up his win there in 2011 - http://www.indycar.com/en/News/2013/01/1-28-RLL-adds-Conway-to-Long-Beach-lineup

Indy500 · 4 Feb 2013 at 18:36

US Formula 2000's Winterfest championship will begin tomorrow at Sebring, with 23 confirmed entrants for the first of 6 races (3 at Sebring and 3 at Palm Beach). Five other drivers are part of the National class and will only run the standard season beginning at Sebring on March 15th.

Winterfest entry list: http://www.usf2000.com/results/2013/Winterfest/2013 Cooper Tires Winterfest Entry List.pdf

Winterfest results: http://www.usf2000.com/results/2013/Winterfest/winterfest points13.xlsx.pdf

Indy500 · 7 Feb 2013 at 10:20

AJ Allmendinger may be returning to the American open wheel scene after announcing a test with Penske: http://msn.foxsports.com/nascar/story/Allmendinger-gets-second-chance-with-Penske-in-IndyCar-020613

If Allmendinger signs with the team, it's expected he will replace Ryan Briscoe in the third car at selected events including the Indy 500.

Rahal-Letterman Racing will be running a second car for James Jakes this season: http://www.trackforum.com/forums/www.rahal.com/Indynews/Jakes2013

Andretti Autosport have added a 4th car with Ernesto Viso at the wheel: http://www.indycar.com/News/2013/02/2-7-Viso-to-pilot-fourth-Andretti-Autosport-entry

Rule changes that allow any amount of fuel to be used at the start of a race, and a total tyre allocation per event that can be split as teams desire between sessions, will promote differing strategies: http://www.indycar.com/en/News/2013/02/2-12-Fuel-options-for-teams

Sebastian Saavedra (formerly an Indycar driver for Conquest and Bryan Herta Autosport) will join Bourdais at Dragon Racing for 2013: http://www.indycar.com/en/News/2013/02/2-18-Saavedra-makes-strong-first-impression

Indy500 · 20 Feb 2013 at 02:09

Some footage from the recent Sebring test session:

Indy500 · 28 Feb 2013 at 17:04

Further testing took place at the Sonoma circuit yesterday:

http://www.indycar.com/en/News/2013/02/2-27-Six-teams-test-at-Sonoma

http://auto-racing.speedtv.com/arti...arpenter-in-sonoma-vautier-goes-fastest-again

Some trackside footage:

So far Tristian Vautier and Schmidt Motorsports have set the pace, going fastest at both the Sebring and Sonoma tests. Honda appear to have an early advantage over Chevrolet, with Honda-powered teams putting in faster lap times in most cases.

Pro Mazda's (formerly Star Mazda) 2013 season commences at Circuit of the Americas with testing today, race 1 tomorrow, and race 2 on Saturday. The reigning USF2000 champion Matthew Brabham is widely tipped as title favourite this year: http://www.indycar.com/en/News/2013/02/2-28-Pro-Mazda-season-kicks-off-in-Austin

Indy500 · 7 Mar 2013 at 13:59

Deigo Ferreira leads the 2013 Pro Mazda championship on 58 points after placing 1st and 2nd in the opening races at COTA in Austin. Title favourite Matthew Brabham is just 4 points adrift.

Full standings and race results are available here: http://www.starmazda.com/results/2013-schedule.htm

Reigning champion Jack Hawksworth receives top billing from the BRDC, after winning two consecutive titles in his first two years of single-seater formula racing: http://www.starmazda.com/news/series/2013/03-06-hawk.html

Indy500 · 12 Mar 2013 at 15:43

Dale Coyne Racing will test with Justin Wilson's younger brother Stefan at Barber Motorsports Park this week, as a likely precursor to racing in the second seat for road\street circuits. Ana Beatriz is expected to be announced for ovals and Sao Paulo.

http://www.autosport.com/news/report.php/id/105964

Guerrilla · 12 Mar 2013 at 15:58

sr4470 said:
Dale Coyne Racing will test with Justin Wilson's younger brother Stefan at Barber Motorsports Park this week, as a likely precursor to racing in the second seat for road\street circuits. Ana Beatriz is expected to be announced for ovals and Sao Paulo.

http://www.autosport.com/news/report.php/id/105964

Cool, think I'll be routing for Dale Coyne (Justin Wilson) this year

Hopefully his brother will go well too.

Indy500 · 12 Mar 2013 at 16:12

Guerrilla said:
Cool, think I'll be routing for Dale Coyne (Justin Wilson) this year Hopefully his brother will go well too.

If Penske is McLaren, and Ganassi is Ferrari, then DCR is about the level of Toro Rosso. Still, it is Justin Wilson, who's been handed junk to drive his entire F1\Indycar career and still made something out of it.

Guerrilla · 12 Mar 2013 at 16:20

sr4470 said:
If Penske is McLaren, and Ganassi is Ferrari, then DCR is about the level of Toro Rosso. Still, it is Justin Wilson, who's been handed junk to drive his entire F1\Indycar career and still made something out of it.

Always been a sucker for underdogs

Indy500 · 12 Mar 2013 at 16:47

Guerrilla said:
Always been a sucker for underdogs

Then again, we could have a 2009 Watkins Glen, where he made everyone else look second class despite the team disparity: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KWe4weVevFE

Indy500 · 17 Mar 2013 at 16:32

Indycar pre-season testing concluded with the final session at Barber Motorsports Park, with 28 car\driver combinations participating. Will Power and Team Penske topped the time sheets, breaking the track record by posting a lap (1:07.1329) that was 3 seconds quicker than last year's pole position time. James Hinchcliffe, Justin Wilson, Scott Dixon and Takuma Sato rounded out the top five.

http://www.indycar.com/en/News/2013/03/3-13-Wrapping-up-Open-Test

Official highlights:

The opening rounds of the 2013 US F2000 championship at Sebring saw Scott Hargrove finish first and then second, establishing a 14 point lead in the standings. Danilo Estrela is currently second on 44 points, with Garrett Grist third, a further two points back.

Race reports and full standings table available here:

http://www.usf2000.com/Schedule.aspx

http://www.usf2000.com/results/2013/USF2000 POINTS 2013.xlsx.pdf

Guerrilla · 19 Mar 2013 at 12:15

Didn't realise ESPN now have the rights for Indycar in the UK.

Just had a look and it seems the first race is live on Sunday at 4:15pm.

Indy500 · 19 Mar 2013 at 18:49

Indycar Series Round 1 of 19: Honda Grand Prix of St Petersburg

Track length: 1.8 miles
Race length: 110 laps (198 miles)
Lap record: 1:00.928 (Sebastien Bourdais, Lola B02/00 Ford-Cosworth, 2003)

Schedule

Friday, 22 March

08.00-08.30: USF2000 practice 1
08.35-09.05: Pro Mazda practice 1
10.10-10.55: Indy Lights practice 1
11.10-11.55: Indycar practice 1
13.40-14.25: Indy Lights practice 2
14.40-15.25: Indycar practice 2
15.40-16.10: USF2000 practice 2
16.25-16.55: Pro Mazda practice 2

Saturday, 23 March

08.00-08.30: USF2000 qualifying
08.35-09.05: Pro Mazda qualifying
09.25-10.10: Indy Lights qualifying
10.25-11.10: Indycar practice 3
12.15-12.55: USF2000 race 1
13.10-13.50: Pro Mazda race 1
14.05-15.15: Indycar qualifying
15.40-16.40: Indy Lights race

Sunday, 24 March

8.45-9.15: Indycar warm-up
9.30-10.10: USF2000 race 2
12.33: Parade lap
12.40: Honda Grand Prix of St Petersburg race start
15.00-15.40: Pro Mazda race 2

Entry list

Team Penske - #3 Helio Castroneves, #12 Will Power
Ganassi - #9 Scott Dixon, #10 Dario Franchitti, #83 Charlie Kimball
Andetti Autosport - #1 Ryan Hunter-Reay, #25 Marco Andretti, #27 James Hinchcliffe
Rahal Letterman - #15 Graham Rahal, #16 James Jakes
Schmidt Motorsports - #55 Tristan Vautier, #77 Simon Pagenaud
Dragon Racing - #6 Sebastian Saavedra, #7 Sebastien Bourdais
Bryan Herta Autosport - #98 Alex Tagliani
Dale Coyne Racing - #18 Ana Beatriz, #19 Justin Wilson
KV Racing Technology - #11 Tony Kanaan, #78 Simona de Silvestro
Panther - #4 John Hildebrand
Dreyer & Reinbold - #22 Oriol Servia
AJ Foyt Enterprises - #14 Takuma Sato
Fisher-Hartman Racing - #67 Josef Newgarden
HVM Team Venezuela - #5 Ernesto Viso
Ed Carpenter Racing - #20 Ed Carpenter

Flibster · 22 Mar 2013 at 23:24

Just spent 15 minutes looking for the first race on Sky Sports only to find it's on ESPN.

Sorry... Not paying extra for ESPN. Especially when it may not be around for the whole year - their main draw, the football, the contract for that expires the end of May.

So, probably not watching Indycar this year. Shame.

Indy500 · 22 Mar 2013 at 23:26

Flibster said:
Just spent 15 minutes looking for the first race on Sky Sports only to find it's on ESPN.

Sorry... Not paying extra for ESPN. Especially when it may not be around for the whole year - their main draw, the football, the contract for that expires the end of May.

Didn't BT take it over?

Flibster said:
So, probably not watching Indycar this year. Shame.

Schedule on indycar.com mentions a "live stream", I'll look into whether they're actually putting the races on it (it was a feature in 2010/11).

Flibster · 22 Mar 2013 at 23:47

sr4470 said:
Didn't BT take it over?

Apparently. But with BT's own pay tv service coming on now, what's the chance that they'll keep it on sky as well?

sr4470 said:
Schedule on indycar.com mentions a "live stream", I'll look into whether they're actually putting the races on it (it was a feature in 2010/11).

I'm also wondering if I can watch through their android app, if I can manage to push it to the tablet.

Indy500 · 22 Mar 2013 at 23:53

Flibster said:
Apparently. But with BT's own pay tv service coming on now, what's the chance that they'll keep it on sky as well?

Their channel range isn't as comprehensive as Sky so I think that would be a mistake.

Just waiting for the official practice highlights to go up, looks like Will Power, Ryan Hunter-Reay and Simona de Silvestro are setting the early pace. Track record is likely to be broken in qualifying, despite the reduction in horsepower from the CART days, and few driving aids (no power steering here).