Category: IndyCar

2026 IndyCar Calendar

The 2026 IndyCar Series season starts this weekend. There are some really interesting changes, but also a controversial one.

The 2026 IndyCar Series season starts this weekend. There are some really interesting changes, but also a controversial one.

Get your Google Calendars for the 2026 IndyCar season right here!

A Return And A Debut

After the traditional St Petersburg opener on 1st March, we see a completely revamped spring season. What used to be empty is now busy!

The first thing to spot is no more race at Thermal ‘country club’. It was only attended by a handful of rich folk at their private members club, which happens to be a racetrack. Barely any fans at all. The series was trying to make connections with some potential backers and get a pay cheque. Don’t know that a lot of sponsorship came of it. The optics of racing at an empty venue were not good, even if there was a business case. I will say the 2025 Grand Prix was a lot better than 2024’s heat races, it was more like a typical IndyCar Grand Prix at Barber or Mid-Ohio. But I don’t think many fans will be sad to see this go.

We now see two very different races fill the gap and they are in the two weeks immediately after St Pete.

The oval in Phoenix, Arizona returns with a really interesting twist in that it supports the NASCAR Cup Series. At IndyCar’s last visits in 2017 and 2018 there was poor attendance and very poor racing (no passing). Hopefully the link up with NASCAR helps the former, and pre-season testing indicates an improvement to the latter. We only have a couple of weeks before we find out. It’s also a very good thing to have an oval before Indy.

A week later there’s an exciting new race in Arlington, Texas. It is next to AT&T Stadium (Dallas Cowboys) and encircles Globe Life Field (Texas Rangers). The track map for this looks promising and I’m even hoping it might turn out to be Formula 1 grade, in the style of Miami Autodrome (which is based around the Hard Rock Stadium), rather than IndyCar’s usual collection of bumpy streets that haven’t even been resurfaced. There is a lot of promotion and potential for this one as well. I really hope it is a success.

Track map of the GP of Arlington

The only downside to Arlington is that it effectively replaces Texas Motor Speedway, north of Fort Worth and only 30 miles away from AT&T Stadium. TMS has been a staple of IndyCar for years and can be a really interesting oval race. Unfortunately, the stands have been shockingly empty the last few years, which did not reflect the quality of the on track product. Arlington sits halfway between Dallas and Fort Worth, everyone in the area should know the venue, so hopefully we see a crowd. You can see the large General Admission areas in the graphic.

Two weeks later they go to Barber Motorsports Park in Alabama. We then get a quiet 5 weeks where there’s only one race, Long Beach.

Month of May

Last year’s Month opened at Barber. This is an off week in 2026. The ‘Month of May’ opens with the IMS road course race, as per the new tradition. Then action moves to the IMS oval for days of free practice leading into Qualifications weekend. A week later on May 24th, is the 110th Indianapolis 500.

How time flies, it feels barely 5 minutes since we celebrated the Centennial Era, a whole decade ago.

A quirk of the calendar this year sees a fifth weekend in the month, we actually close out the month with the Detroit Grand Prix. I still dislike that we go to a street track the week after Indy. But we go back to the ovals a week later with the Gateway 500km.

For fans of both IndyCar and F1, as covered last week, Monaco and Indy don’t clash any more. Instead, it’ll be the Canadian GP and it’ll follow Indy. But we still get an IndyCar oval to enjoy after Monaco with the Gateway race later that day.

For the teams, going non-stop from loading in at Indy for practice on May 8th, until Gateway on June 7th, is a pretty intense month.

Summer

The next three races are in a steadier format, one week on, one week off for Road America, Mid-Ohio, Nashville. The change being Nashville Superspeedway moves to mid-July, forgoing the season-closer spot it’s held recently. That’s a real shame. It was a brilliant way to end the year. I enjoy the mix of street and road courses but it just felt right to finish on an oval.

After two weekends off, we’re into the second hectic month of the year.

From Portland on August 9th to Laguna Seca on September 9th, IndyCar will race every week and on one weekend they’ll do it twice. 6 races in 5 weekends. Great for us fans! Less good if you are a team truck driver.

From Portland (Oregon), Toronto, Washington D.C., Milwaukee (Saturday & Sunday races), then back across to Laguna Seca (California).

A smarter person than me can tell you why Oregon and California aren’t paired up. I know they are still a very long way apart North-South, but in my head the East-West journey is much longer and it makes sense to stay out West to do those races together.

After 40 years at Exhibition Place, the Honda Dealers Toronto Indy moves to Markham. When this was announced I saw a lot of complaints from Canadian fans including those who live in Toronto. I don’t know anything about the new location so I’ll take my lead from them. What I do know is Exhibition Place is both a) iconic, and b) carnage. The amount of crash damage that track has caused. It has provided a lot of fun over the years as well as some good races. I’m sure the layout there could be changed to be better.

I love that Milwaukee Mile gets two races. They are some of the best of the year, in any series.

Laguna Seca will never be my choice for a season finale. The gravel runoffs cause Safety Cars. It’s hard to overtake. The race should always be on the calendar, I would just prefer a different last race of the year. But I get it. A warm Californian weekend and some good wining and dining for the end of season banquet.

Again the season ends on the first weekend of September, purely to avoid the American sports behemoth of the NFL. NASCAR is big enough to get away with it. It doesn’t seem to trouble the US F1 races. Yet this plan seems to work for IndyCar.

Iowa does not return this year. A real shame for a super-fast short oval that often creates exciting races.

Controversy

The Freedom 250 Grand Prix of Washington is being run to ‘celebrate the 250th Birthday of the United States’. In normal circumstances under most other Presidents this might be a celebratory event. That’s not the case with this President, one of the most divisive in history whose approval rating is tanking.

It was enough to see some die-hard IndyCar fans I know decide they are not going to watch that race, and even some of them saying they will not watch the series at all this year. I have thoughts on this that may follow here in a few days.

Politics aside, there’s also the logistical challenge. The race was only announced a few weeks ago. It is scheduled for August. Streets races don’t just happen with 8 months notice. It normally takes over a year of planning, with track design, permit approvals, road closures, everything you need to get the local authorities lined up, police, medical, etc., not to mention sourcing the barriers, grandstands, food vendors and portable toilets. This guy thinks he can sign an executive order and it’ll just happen.

This is not like calling Watkins Glen or COTA where you could probably book it at a months’ notice and make a serviceable, if not perfect event out of it.

There’s a danger this event will be so rushed it could be an embarrassment. And then you wonder who will turn up. Will it be like Trump’s vanity military parade that was a ghost town?

Summary

A perfectly balanced season! 6 ovals, 6 permanent road courses, 6 temporary street circuits (if you count Arlington as such). I feel like IndyCar has wanted this ratio forever.

There’s one potentially great addition in Arlington and that should’ve been the big story. I hope Phoenix works this time.

They’ve avoided a date clash with Le Mans. Last year Gateway was on LM24 weekend. As it happens, moves in team and driver rosters are likely to mean IndyCar drivers won’t be going this year either, but it’s good to have the option and maybe there’ll be a surprise.

There are a lot of later-season changes I either don’t care for, or outright don’t like. Losing Iowa, moving Nashville out of the season finale spot.

And I just feel the whole Washington debacle has put a real downer on everything.

2026 IndyCar Calendar

You can add the 2026 IndyCar schedule to your calendars here!

DateRaceLocationComment
1 MarchGrand Prix of St PetersburgAlbert Whitted Park
7 MarchGood Ranchers 250Phoenix RacewayWith NASCAR Cup. Last raced in 2018.
15 MarchJava House Grand Prix of ArlingtonAT&T StadiumNew race.
29 MarchChildren’s of Alabama Indy Grand PrixBarber Motorsport ParkMoved from May.
19 AprilAcura Grand Prix of Long BeachLong BeachWith IMSA.
9 MaySonsio Grand PrixIndianapolis Motor Speedway – Road
24 May110th Indianapolis 500Indianapolis Motor Speedway – Oval
31 MayChevrolet Detroit Grand PrixDetroit Street CircuitWith IMSA.
7 JuneBommarito Automotive Group 500Gateway
21 JuneXPEL Grand Prix at Road AmericaRoad America
5 JulyHonda Indy 200Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course
19 JulyMusic City Grand PrixNashville SuperspeedwayMoved from August season finale.
9 AugustGrand Prix of PortlandPortland International Raceway
16 AugustOntario Honda Dealers Indy at MarkhamMarkhamMoved from Exhibition Place in July.
23 AugustGrand Prix of WashingtonWashington D.C.New race.
29 AugustMilwaukee Race 1Milwaukee Mile
30 AugustMilwaukee Race 2Milwaukee Mile
6 SeptemberLaguna SecaLaguna SecaMoved from July.

Celebrating Respect In Racing

As 2025 draws to a close, something which has struck me this year is the way competitors appear to respect each other more these days.

This is typified by the F1 title battle this year between Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri. It all seems very gentlemanly, may the best man win, but still intense. I don’t know that you can say they are the best of mates, but they seem to get on. Clearly they are both competitive and are driven to beat the other one and anyone else.

Large chunks of the F1 press have been very confused by this. They almost have an expectation that being team-mates it would automatically have the hostility of the Ayrton Senna versus Alain Prost days. Or the knife-edge intensity of Lewis Hamilton and Nico Rosberg in 2016. Or in MotoGP a decade ago when Yamaha had to build a wall in the garage to prevent Valentino Rossi and Jorge Lorenzo from even seeing each other. It’s as if they are disappointed this hasn’t manifested in the Norris/Piastri fight. At least, not yet.

And let’s be clear, I love those battles too. Because I think that’s how *I* would be in that situation – angry and petulant. Wouldn’t you be? And for the media it’s obvious isn’t it? Needle sells copy, generates clicks, gets more views. But should we be disappointed?

Continue reading “Celebrating Respect In Racing”

2021 Indy 500: Driver Achievements

You may know the names but can you remember what they have done? It can be hard to remember just what 33 drivers have accomplished.

I made some notes to refer to during the 2021 Indy 500, essentially summarising Wikipedia so I didn’t have to look them up during the race. Then I thought, why not tidy them up and post them here?

Apologies if the formatting is wonky. WordPress made a new editor and it is terrible.

Listings are team by team.

All cars are Dallara DW12 Mk.III plus Aeroscreen; Firestone tyres.

Chip Ganassi Racing

Fastest team all week through practice and qualifying, appear to be able to put their cars anywhere when others can’t, until the temperatures cooled on Friday and others found themselves able to join in. If it is hot it is Dixon’s to lose.

Scott Dixon
“Iceman”		9 / Orange & Blue / PNC Bank
Chip Ganassi RacingHonda
Best 500:2008 Winner
IndyCar CV: 2003, 2008, 2013, 2015, 2018 & 2020 champion
(2nd most all-time);
51 wins (3rd all-time);
2000 Indy Lights champion;
Outside IndyCar2006, 2015 & 2020 Daytona 24 Hours overall win;
2018 Daytona 24 Hours GTLM class win;
2016 Le Mans 24 Hours GTE Pro podium;
Last Win:2021 Texas (race 1);
Alex Palou10 / Blue & White / NTT Data
Chip Ganassi RacingHonda
Best 500:28th, 2020
IndyCar CV: 2nd season;
Won opening round at Barber;
Outside IndyCar:3rd in 2019 Super Formula, winner at Fuji;
15th in 2019 Super GT GT300 class;
10th in 2017 World Series by Renault despite only doing half the season;
2 years in GP3;
Last Win:2021 GP of Alabama;
Marcus Ericsson8 / Red & White / Huski Chocolate
Chip Ganassi RacingHonda
Best 500:23rd, 2019
IndyCar CV: 3rd season;
1 podium, Detroit 2019;
12th in 2020 IndyCar;
Outside IndyCar:F1 with Caterham (2014) and Sauber (2015-2018), best year 17th in points, best race finish 8th;
GP2 Series race winner, 6th in points;
2009 All-Japan F3 champion;
2007 Formula BMW UK champion;
Last Win:2013 GP2 at Nurburgring;
Tony Kanaan48 / Blue & White / American Legion
Chip Ganassi RacingHonda
Best 500:2013 Winner
IndyCar CV: 2004 champion; 2nd in 2005, 3rd in 2007 & 2008;
17 wins;
1997 Indy Lights champion;
Completed 22 full seasons in CART/IndyCar competition until the end of 2019.
Outside IndyCar:2015 Daytona 24 Hours winner;
2007 Sebring 12 Hours 2nd overall, LMP2 class win;
Last Win:2015 Rolex 24 Hours of Daytona (DP, Ganassi Riley);

Team Penske

Strangely off the boil all week, especially in qualifying. In race trim they will be better and will work forwards, but on pace alone they won’t add to their 18 Indy 500 wins this year. McLaughlin is seriously impressing. Power on the back row will be looking to make early gains.

Josef Newgarden2 / White & Black / Shell
Team PenskeChevrolet
Best 500:3rd (2016, Carpenter Racing)
IndyCar CV:2017 & 2019 champion;
2011 Indy Lights champion;
Outside IndyCar:2nd in 2009 British Formula Ford;
2008 Formula Ford Festival win (Kent class)
Last Win:2020 St Pete (last round of season);
Will Power12 / Black / Verizon 5G
Team PenskeChevrolet
Best 500:2018 Winner
IndyCar CV: 2014 champion;
Runner-up 2010, 2011, 2012, 2016;
39 wins;
Outside IndyCar:7th in 2005 World Series by Renault, missed 4 races;
2002 Formula Holden champion;
18th in 2002 Bathurst 1000;
Last Win:2020 Harvest GP (race 2) at IMS;
Simon Pagenaud22 / Flourescent Yellow / Menard’s
Team PenskeChevrolet
Best 500:2019 Winner
IndyCar CV:2016 champion;
Runner-up 2017 & 2019;
15 wins;
Outside IndyCar:2010 American Le Mans LMP1 champion;
2nd at 2021 Daytona 24 Hours;
2nd in 2009 ALMS;
2nd overall 2009 Le Mans 24 with Peugeot;
Last Win:2020 Iowa 250 (race 1);
Scott McLaughlin3 / Canary Yellow / Pennzoil
Team PenskeChevrolet
Best 500:Rookie
IndyCar CV:Debut year;
2nd at Texas;
Outside IndyCar:2018, 2019, 2020 Supercars champion;
56 race wins;
2019 Bathurst 1000 winner;
Last Win:2020 Supercars at The Bend;

Paretta Autosport (with support from Team Penske)

75% ‘female forward’ has been respectable all month having been trained up by Penske. Being tied to a team having a bad Indy isn’t so good. Deserves better than just aiming for a finish.

Simona de Silvestro
“Swiss Missile”		16 / Red & White / Rocket Pro TPO
Paretta AutosportChevrolet
Best 500:14th, 2010
IndyCar CV:5x Indy 500 starter;
4 full seasons, best result 2nd in Houston 2013 to finish 13th in points;
Outside IndyCar:3 seasons in Supercars with Nissan, best result 7th to finish 19th in points;
13th at 2019 Bathurst 1000;
12th at 2019 Daytona 24 Hours GTD class;
Full season in 2015/16 Formula E with Amlin Andretti, best result 9th;
3rd in 2009 Champ Car Atlantic with 4 wins;
Last Win:2009 Formula Atlantic at Trois-Rivieres;

Ed Carpenter Racing

Fastest Chevy team all week, all three cars hooked up especially in race trim. The most serious threat to Ganassi. Could be Ed’s year if they can unseat Scott from the front.

Ed Carpenter20 / Red, White, Black / Sonax
Ed Carpenter RacingChevrolet
Best 500:2nd, 2018;
3-time pole sitter;
IndyCar CV:3 wins;
Usually competes on the ovals only;
Best full-season points finish 12th (2009);
Biggest achievement is being a successful owner/driver in the modern era;
Outside IndyCar:A couple of Daytona 24 Hours in the original DP era, best finish 12th in class (2008);
Raced various USAC series from 1998 to 2002;
Last Win:2014 Texas 600km;
Rinus ‘VeeKay’ van Kalmthout21 / Black & Orange / Bitcoin
Ed Carpenter Racing Chevrolet
Best 500:20th, 2020
IndyCar CV:Debut win at IMS GP in early May;
2nd season;
2nd in 2019 Indy Lights;
2018 Pro Mazda champion;
Outside IndyCar:Debut 24 Hour race at 2021 Daytona 24 Hours LMP2 class but DNF with misfire;
Last Win:2021 Indy GP;
Conor Daly47 / Silver, Yellow, Red / US Air Force
Ed Carpenter Racing Chevrolet
Best 500:10th, 2019
IndyCar CV:69 races. Nice.
Best race result 2nd at Detroit 2016.
Best season result 18th (twice, 2016 & 2017);
A lot of under-funded part-time seasons;
For 2020 and 2021 runs road courses & Indy 500 with ECR and other ovals with Carlin.
A driver needing more budget.
Outside IndyCar:8th in 2015 IMSA PC class;
26th in 2014 GP2 series with under-funded team and missing races;
3rd in 2013 GP3;
2010 Star Mazda champion;
Dabbled in NASCAR;
Last Win:2013 GP3 at Valencia Ricardo Tormo;

Rahal Letterman Lanigan

2-time winner Takuma Sato has to be considered the most serious contender even with Graham Rahal’s undoubted oval speed. As a team they are a threat and will be in the mix. Will be surprised if the other car finishes, he’s makes bold moves and it’ll bite him.

Graham Rahal15 / White & Blue / United Rentals
Rahal Letterman Lanigan Honda
Best 500:3rd, 2011 & 2020
IndyCar CV:6 wins, multiple podiums;
Best season 4th in 2015;
Outside IndyCar:3rd at 2020 Petit Le Mans with Penske Acura;
2x 4th at Daytona 24 Hours GTLM class with Rahal BMW;
A1GP;
Last Win:2017 Detroit Belle Isle (won both races of a double-header);
Takuma Sato
“Taku”		30 / Dark Blue & Orange / People Ready
Rahal Letterman Lanigan Honda
Best 500:2017 & 2020 Winner
IndyCar CV:4 other wins including Long Beach;
Best points finish 7th, 2020;
Seems to be driving better than ever.
Outside IndyCar:5 seasons in F1 (Jordan, BAR, Super Aguri), best points result of 8th
F1 podium at the USGP on the IMS road course;
2001 British F3 champion;
2001 Macau GP winner;
2001 Masters of F3;
Occasional races in Super Formula, WEC and 1 Formula E start.
Last Win:2020 Indianapolis 500;
Santino Ferrucci45 / Red and Green / HyVee
Rahal Letterman Lanigan Honda
Best 500:4th, 2020
IndyCar CV:Finished 4th four times including Indy;
Two full seasons and some one-off starts;
Outside IndyCar:Banned by the FIA for two F2 races after making deliberate contact with his team-mate, fired by Trident for allegedly making racist comments about same team-mate, failing to make sponsorship payments to the team, alleged (by Trident) to have used the money to pay Dale Coyne to race in IndyCar. An Italian court ordered him to pay Trident €502,000 plus costs.

Will enter 20 NASCAR races this year.
Last Win:2015 Toyota Racing Series at Manfield;

Andretti Autosport

Herta and Rossi looked quick and I think one or both will lead at some point. As for the rest I honestly think the armada is too big this year. Hinchcliffe and Andretti looked totally lost. Then again he has said this week they found a damaged floor, replaced it and the car was tranformed. Anyway, I think Marco should drive for Shank, an arms-length affiliated team.

Stefan Wilson25 / White & Blue / Lohla Sport
Andretti Autosport Honda
Best 500:15th, 2018
On a strategy hoping for a late yellow, had to pit with 4 laps to go
IndyCar CV:3 starts, twice at Indy;
3rd in 2011 Indy Lights;
Outside IndyCar:2007 McLaren Autosport BRDC Award;
2nd in 2007 Formula Palmer Audi;
Last Win:2011 Indy Lights at Kentucky;
Colton Herta26 / Black & Yellow / Gainbridge
Andretti Autosport Honda
Best 500:8th, 2020
IndyCar CV:4 wins including St Pete this year;
3rd in points last year;
2nd in 2018 Indy Lights;
Outside IndyCar:2019 Daytona 24 Hours GTLM class win (BMW);
3rd in 2016 Euroformula Open (F3);
Last Win:2021 St. Petersburg;
Alexander Rossi27 / Blue & Yellow / NAPA
Andretti Autosport Honda
Best 500:2016 Winner
IndyCar CV:7 wins including Indy, Long Beach, Road America;
Outside IndyCar:5 F1 starts and reserve for Manor Marussia;
Winner 2021 Daytona 24 Hours;
10th in LMP2 at 2013 Le Mans 24 Hours;
2nd in 2015 GP2 Series;
3rd in 2011 World Series by Renault;
2008 FBMW World Final champion;
2008 FBMW America champion;
Last Win:2021 IMSA Rolex 24 Hours (DPi, Taylor Acura);
Ryan Hunter-Reay28 / Yellow & Red / DHL
Andretti Autosport Honda
Best 500:2014 Winner
IndyCar CV:2012 Champion;
18 wins;
17th season;
Outside IndyCar:2018 Petit Le Mans winner;
2020 Sebring 12 Hours winner;
18th at 2019 Bathurst 1000 with Hinchcliffe;
Last Win:2020 IMSA 12 Hours of Sebring (DPi, Mazda);
James Hinchcliffe29 / Orange & White / Genesys
Andretti Steinbrenner Autosport Honda
Best 500:6th, 2012;
2016 pole sitter;
IndyCar CV:6 wins;
Best seasons 2012 & 2013, 8th in both, but still a podium contender always;
2nd in 2010 Indy Lights;
Outside IndyCar:A1GP podium finisher;
Occasional IMSA starts;
18th at 2019 Bathurst 1000 with Rossi;
Dancing With The Stars 2016 2nd place;
Last Win:2018 Iowa 300;
Marco Andretti98 / Red & Orange / Gleaners
Andretti Herta Autosport Honda
Best 500:2nd, 2006;
2020 pole sitter;
IndyCar CV:2 wins;
Best points year 5th in 2013;
Outside IndyCar:2008 A1GP podium finisher;
2008 occasional ALMS starts with Andretti Green, very fast at Sebring before a DNF;
2010 Le Mans 24 Hours with Rebellion (DNF);
1 Formula E start;
Last Win:2011 Iowa 250;

Meyer Shank Racing (with support from Andretti Autosport)

For a while it looked like these would be the fastest Andretti-affiliated cars. They still might be! Harvey has impressed all year and Helio seems to be loving being out of the pressure cooker, into the small family atmosphere here.

Hélio Castroneves
“Spiderman”		06 / Black & Pink / Sirius XM
Meyer Shank RacingHonda
Best 500:2001, 2002 & 2009 Winner;
4x pole sitter;
IndyCar CV:20 year full-time career 1998-2017, including 18 years with Team Penske;
30 wins;
2nd in points 4 times;
Outside IndyCar:3 further years with Penske in IMSA;
2020 IMSA champion;
2021 Daytona 24 Hours winner;
2008 Petit Le Mans winner;
2007 Dancing With The Stars winner;
Last Win:2021 IMSA Rolex Daytona 24 Hours (DPi Acura);
Jack Harvey60 / Pink & Black / Sirius XM
Meyer Shank Racing Honda
Best 500:9th, 2020
IndyCar CV:2nd full-time season after 2 part seasons;
4x Indy 500 starter;
Best race finish 3rd at 2019 Indy GP;
Runner-up in Indy Lights both years entered, Freedom 100 winner;
Outside IndyCar:5th in 2013 GP3;
2012 British F3 champion;
2010 F.BMW Europe runner-up;
Last Win:2015 Freedom 100 (Indy Lights);

Arrow McLaren SP

Just shy of ECR’s pace and better than a bunch of Andrettis. O’Ward was quick at Texas so will factor. Rosenqvist seems to have struggled more this year. JPM is JPM, strangely off the pace but putting the car in places only JPM could put a car, he’ll move forward have no doubt.

Patricio ‘Pato’ O’Ward5 / Orange & Black / Arrow
Arrow McLaren SP Chevrolet
Best 500:6th, 2020
IndyCar CV:2nd full season with Arrow McLaren SP following a part season with Carlin;
1st win at Texas this year;
Multiple podiums in 2020;
2018 Indy Lights champion winning 9 of 17 races;
Outside IndyCar:2017 IMSA PC class champion winning 7 of 8 races;
3x Super Formula starts;
2x F2 starts;
Last Win:2021 Texas (race 2;
Felix Rosenqvist7 / Tiger Pattern / Vuse
Arrow McLaren SP Chevrolet
Best 500:12th, 2020
IndyCar CV:3rd full season;
2 years with Ganassi including 1 win;
Best result this year is 12th at St Pete;
Outside IndyCar:Extremely versatile;
3x Formula E wins;
11th in 2018 Daytona 24 Hours P class;
10th in 2018 Super GT points;
3rd in 2017 Super Formula points;
12th in 2017 Le Mans 24Hr LMP2 class;
3rd in 2016/17 Formula E points;
7th in 2016 Blancpain GT Sprint (GT3);
Half-season in 2016 DTM;
2015 Formula 3 European champion;
2014 & 2015 Macau GP winner;
2011 & 2013 Masters of F3 winner;
Last Win:2020 Road America (race 2);
Juan Pablo Montoya86 / White & Orange / Arrow
Arrow McLaren SP Chevrolet
Best 500:2000 & 2015 Winner;
IndyCar CV:1999 CART champion beat Dario Franchitti on tie-break;
2nd in 2015 IndyCar Series lost to Scott Dixon on tie-break;
15 wins;
Outside IndyCar:94 F1 starts with Williams & McLaren;
255 NASCAR Cup starts with Ganassi;
7 F1 wins including 2003 Monaco;
2 NASCAR Cup wins (Sonoma, Watkins Glen);
2007, 2008 & 2013 Rolex 24 Hours of Daytona winner and twice runner-up;
2018-2020 full IMSA seasons with Penske Acura, 3 wins;
3rd in 2018 Le Mans 24 Hour LMP2 class;
1998 Formula 3000 champion;
Record-holder fastest F1 top speed (231.5mph, Monza);
Last Win:2019 IMSA Laguna Seca (DPi, Acura);

AJ Foyt Enterprises

Hell of a struggle just to get their cars qualified and one of them, Kimball, didn’t get in. Kellett qualified on the first day against everyone’s predictions! Can’t doubt the quality of Hildebrand and Bourdais but it could be a long day for this team.

Sebastien Bourdais14 / Black & White / ROKit
AJ Foyt Enterprises Chevrolet
Best 500:7th, 2014
IndyCar CV:4x Champ Car World Series champion;
37 wins across CCWS & IndyCar;
Best post-merger standings 7th in 2018;
Outside IndyCar:2008 & 2009 F1 with Toro Rosso;
14 participations at Le Mans 24 Hours;
2016 GTE Pro class win (Ford);
2007, 2009, 2011 2nd place LMP1 (Peugeot);
13 participations at Sebring 12 Hours:
2021 overall winner (Cadillac DPi);
2015 overall winner (Corvette DP);
2009 & 2010 2nd place LMP1 (Peugeot);
2006 GT2 class winner (Panoz);
12 participations at Daytona 24 Hours;
2014 winner overall (Corvette DP);
2015 P class runner-up;
2017 GTLM class win;
2009 & 2010 part seasons Superleague Formula;
2002 Formula 3000 champion;
1999 French F3 champion;
Last Win:2021 IMSA Sebring 12 Hours (DPi, Cadillac);
Dalton Kellett4 / White & Cyan / K-Line
AJ Foyt Enterprises Chevrolet
Best 500:31st, 2020 (rookie)
IndyCar CV:Part season in 2020 became full season this year;
Best finish 18th at Barber and Texas 1;
7th in Indy Lights points in 2018 & 2019;
Outside IndyCar:Won 2 IMSA LMP2 races from two starts, although only two cars participated in the class;
Last win:2019 IMSA LMP2 Laguna Seca;
JR Hildebrand1 / White & Red / ABC Supply
AJ Foyt Enterprises Chevrolet
Best 500:2nd, 2011
Seems his role in life is to never better the most famous 2nd place in motorsports history, a tragedy;
IndyCar CV:10 Indy 500 starts;
65 IndyCar races;
Only 3 full seasons, always finds an Indy program, often under-funded;
Best finish is 2nd at Indy and Iowa;
2009 Indy Lights champion;
Outside IndyCar:2nd in LMPC class of 2010 Sebring 12 Hours;
2nd in class at 2018 Pikes Peak Hillclimb (Porsche GT4);
Last Win:2009 Indy Lights Sonoma;

Dale Coyne Racing

Jones should be able to get it well into the top 20. I think just scoring a finish would do for Fittipaldi’s Indy debut, he’s running the car of Grosjean on the ovals.

Pietro Fittipaldi51 / White & Red
Dale Coyne Racing
with Rick Ware Racing		Honda
Best 500:Rookie
IndyCar CV:8 starts. Best finish 9th at Portland 2018;
Outside IndyCar:2 F1 starts in 2020 with Haas;
15th in 2019 DTM, best finish 5th (Audi);
2017 World Series by Renault champion;
2011 NASCAR All-American Series champion;
Scheduled to compete at Le Mans & IndyCar in 2017 but broke his legs at Spa;
Last Win:2017 WSbR FR3.5 at Mexico City;
Ed Jones18 / Black & Yellow / Sealmaster
Dale Coyne Racing
with Vasser-Sullivan 		Honda
Best 500:3rd, 2017
IndyCar CV:4th season;
Best points result 13th (2018) with Ganassi;
Best race finish 3rd (x3);
2016 Indy Lights champion;
Outside IndyCar:14th at 2021 Daytona 24 Hours GTD class;
2013 European F3 Open champion;
Last Win:2016 Indy Lights at IMS road course;

Carlin

Chilton has big aims after leading in the past but I don’t think he’ll reach such heights this time, perhaps mid-pack, he got 17th with the team last year.

Max Chilton59 / Blue / Gallagher
CarlinChevrolet
Best 500:4th, 2017
IndyCar CV:68 starts;
Best finish 4th at 2017 Indy 500;
Has led the 500 on pace;
Failed to qualify for 2019 Indy 500;
5th in 2015 Indy Lights, missed some races to do LM24;
Outside IndyCar:2013 & 2014 F1 seasons with Marussia;
4th in 2012 GP2 Series (2 wins);
2015 Le Mans 24 with the ill-fated Nissan GTR-LM;
Last Win:2015 Iowa Indy Lights;

Dreyer & Reinbold Racing

Karam qualified last row and I think he’ll move forward to the mid-pack.

Sage Karam24 / Blue & White / AES Indiana
Dreyer & Reinbold Racing Chevrolet
Best 500:9th, 2014
IndyCar CV:7 Indy 500 starts, usually one of only a few ICS races he does each year;
Best race finish is 3rd at Iowa 2015, the only year he ran most of the season;
2013 Indy Lights champion;
Outside IndyCar:6th at 2014 Sebring 12 Hours P class (Ford Ganassi); 2nd at IMS the same year;
2017 with Lexus in IMSA GTD class, best result 5th;
6th in Americas Rallycross 2019 only competing in 5 of 9 rounds, finishing 1st or 2nd in those attended;
Last Win:2019 Americas Rallycross Mid-Ohio;

Races Watched (2019 Week 15): F1 Shanghai, IndyCar Long Beach, FE Rome

Week 15:  8-14 April 2019

In what was a busy weekend both in racing and personally, I found time to watch two live races and one recorded race (OK, so this was after the weekend). I also got one done before the weekend started.

It was annoying that my live picks were the most boring races I’ve seen in ages. I hope you fared better.

Formula 1 – R4 – Chinese Grand Prix
Shanghai International Circuit, Jiading, Shanghai, China
Seen live, 14th April

Bottas pole, Hamilton, Vettel, Leclerc, Verstappen, Gasly, Ricciardo, Hulkenberg.

This race sums up the worst tropes of F1:  lots of hype, not a lot of action.

The PR machine has been in overdrive about “the 1000th race” for a year. Yet when it came to it there seemed little happening at the track, a small handful of old F1 cars and very few dignitaries. They didn’t even get Bernie. What a waste.

The 1000th? Add the “World Championship for Drivers” since 1950, including those championship-counting Indy 500s and those races run to F2 rules, to the successor “Formula 1 World Championship” from 1981 onwards, then it is the 1000th race. This is not the same as the “1000th F1 race”, which doesn’t include Indy or those F2 races but does include all the non-championship F1 races back to 1948.

The Chinese GP is actually pretty good on a regular basis, Tilkedromes have this reputation of being terrible but Shanghai has been a great track over the years with overtaking and strategy. But not this year. This year was tedious.

Very little happened after lap one. I’ve seen many F1 GPs like this and I thought its type had been banished.

Hamilton passed Bottas at the first corner and ran off to win. To his credit, Bottas stayed within 7 or 8 seconds, the Mercedes pair basically cruising in team formation for the entire race. They even pitted together at the 2nd stops, choreographed beautifully, Bottas arrived just after Hamilton left and didn’t have to wait. This was done to protect against a Safety Car, with Ferrari and Verstappen having stopped already.

Ferrari played the strategy call. Vettel and Leclerc were switched but Leclerc was no faster, so he was put on the long game strategy and Vettel mirrored Mercedes. Running Leclerc long had put him behind Verstappen, he was able to close down the gap but not overtake, so this strategy was a net loss of 1 place. Gasly had a better day, close to Leclerc, the results sheet shows he was miles behind but he pitted near the end to successfully go for the fastest lap bonus point.

Renault won ‘best of the rest’ with Ricciardo. Alexander Albon had a fantastic run from a pitlane start to finish 10th. Kvyat and the two McLarens collided on lap one, two of the three retiring 40 laps later from the damage. I’ve no idea what happened elsewhere. TV direction seemed off par.

The Mercedes pair already have a significant points advantage over the field having finished 1st & 2nd in the first 3 GPs, the first time this has happened since Williams in 1992. This is starting to look a lot less close than pre-season testing suggested.

Next up is the Azerbaijan Grand Prix in a couple of weeks.

  1. Hamilton (Mercedes)
  2. Bottas (Mercedes)
  3. Vettel (Ferrari)
  4. Verstappen (Red Bull)
  5. Leclerc (Ferrari)
Driver Team CHI TOTAL
Lewis Hamilton Mercedes 25 68
Valterri Bottas Mercedes 18 62
Max Verstappen Red Bull 12 39
Sebastian Vettel Ferrari 15 37
Charles Leclerc Ferrari 10 36
Pierre Gasly Red Bull 9 13
Kimi Raikkonen Alfa Romeo 2 12
Kevin Magnussen Haas 8
Lando Norris McLaren 8
Nico Hulkenberg Renault 6
Constructor PU CHI TOTAL
Mercedes Mercedes 43 130
Ferrari Ferrari 25 73
Red Bull Honda 21 52
Alfa Romeo Ferrari 2 12
Renault Renault 6 12
Haas Ferrari 8
McLaren Renault 8
Racing Point Mercedes 4 7
Toro Rosso Honda 1 4

NTT IndyCar – R4 – Grand Prix of Long Beach
Long Beach, California, USA
Seen live, 14th April

Rossi, Dixon, Power, Newgarden, Pagenaud, Rahal, Hunter-Reay, Sato.

This one promised a lot. I thought the hard-to-handle aero package would create a lot of sideways moments and overtakes, maybe some sliding into walls. Didn’t happen.

We don’t have any idiots at the back these days, the ones at street tracks who used to cause a bit of chaos that perhaps wasn’t always welcome, gave the series a bad name for weird accidents, but made it all fun. Those days are mostly gone.

Nobody told the back of the field. Lap 2 Pigot slowed, as everyone braked Ericsson ran into Harvey. We finally saw a car in the flowers at the fountain!

It was then a long green flag run at a race where strategy choices aren’t available. Unlike Barber you don’t get the mix of 2-stoppers versus 3-stoppers. The difference here was between those starting on red soft tyres and black hard tyres, and vice versa later, but it turned out not to make a lot of difference anyway. The reds were durable on the streets.

Rossi and Dixon raced hard into turn one on the original start and again on the restart. Each time the pair pulled a gap on the field.

At about lap 34 of 85, Power overshot turn 1 with dust pouring out of his left front brake duct. He spun it around and continued only losing a few places. Ferrucci had previously stalled in a runoff and the series recovered him under local yellow.

After pit stops, Newgarden was 2nd ahead of Dixon, but Rossi had him covered as well. Looked like he extended his lead in every stint. The battle for second was on between Newgarden, Dixon, Rahal, Hunter-Reay.

On the last lap Dixon made the move on Rahal, who defended stoutly and got a penalty for it. Dixon was awarded 3rd. This caused half of Twitter to erupt in anger at Rahal blocking Dixon and half of Twitter to erupt in anger at the stewards for penalising racing!

Watching live it looked like Rahal made a harsh move but a fair one, he left space for Dixon. I was against the penalty. But on review it became clear Rahal made a second move right and then returned to his racing line. I’m okay with picking one of two lines and sticking to it into the corner, I’m not so okay with weaving. And I also remembered if it had been Michael Schumacher I’d have been all over it, clamouring for a penalty, so I can’t argue otherwise for someone else!

Rossi wins by over 20 seconds, the highest for something like 25 years. With this he moves to 2nd in the points standings.

Newgarden extends his points lead as Dixon drops to 3rd. Hunter-Reay gains a few spots. Rahal is a big points mover into the top ten. Colton Herta the big loser, just 7 points after sliding into the wall and out with steering damage.

Next up is the GP of Indianapolis in a couple of weeks.

  1. Rossi (Andretti)
  2. Newgarden (Penske)
  3. Dixon (Ganassi)
  4. Rahal (Rahal)
  5. Hunter-Reay (Andretti)
Driver Team Eng LB TOTAL
Josef Newgarden Penske Chevy 41 166
Alexander Rossi Andretti Honda 54 138
Scott Dixon Ganassi Honda 35 133
Takuma Sato Rahal Honda 25 116
Ryan Hunter-Reay Andretti Honda 30 96
James Hinchcliffe Schmidt Honda 22 93
Will Power Penske Chevy 27 93
Sebastien Bourdais Coyne Honda 19 91
Graham Rahal Rahal Honda 32 90
Colton Herta Harding Honda 7 88

ABB Formula E – R7 – Rome E-Prix
Rome, Italy
13th April, watched 16th April

Lotterer, Evans, Lopez, Vandoorne, Gunther, Buemi, Mortara, Frijns.

Halfway in the season. 6 races done before this one, 6 races to go after this one.

As clean a start as you can manage here and on a damp track, a bit of bumping but okay. Guenther had a huge slide and loses parts of his front wing. At the end of the lap Bird gets hit, car damaged, apparently out for the second race in a row.

Chaos on lap two!

Red Flag. Lopez broadside across the track and Paffett under his car. Lopez hit the kerb and spun by himself and caused a complete track blockage. Luckily for those caught in the melee it was just in front of pit entry, so everyone once released was recovered and the race order restored. Replays showed Sims in the wall as well. And Sam Bird managed to get his car to the pits so it was repaired under the red and restarted last.

On the restart half the field activated Attack Mode, although it didn’t seem to achieve anything. Frijns got alongside Buemi for 4th but couldn’t make the move.

Lopez got a penalty for contact with Bird on lap one. Reliability trouble for Mortara and Massa so we had FCY in which JEV overtook Da Costa as they braked.

Evans passes Lotterer for the lead! Tense move! Very forceful into a chicane, elbowed his way through, got a warning from the race director but only a wag of the finger. Lotterer was fine with it, good hard racing.

Fairly strung out field but the pace was hot, unlike Rome 2018. Everyone pushed all the way, not a lot of energy saving except in the last lap or so, this is what we want to see. I don’t mind a lack of passing when the cars are visibly flat out.

Bird got up to 11th at the end, excellent recovery, great work by team and driver.

  1. Evans (Jaguar)
  2. Lotterer (Techeetah)
  3. Vandoorne (HWA)
  4. Frijns (Envision Virgin)
  5. Buemi (Nissan e.Dams)
Name Team Rome Points
Jerome d’Ambrosio Mahindra 4 65
Ant Felix da Costa BMW Andretti 2 64
Andre Lotterer DS Techeetah 21 62
Mitch Evans Jaguar 25 61
Lucas di Grassi Audi Sport 6 58
Robin Frijns Envision Virgin 12 55
Jean-Eric Vergne DS Techeetah 54
Sam Bird Envision Virgin 54
Eduardo Mortara Venturi 52
Daniel Abt Audi Sport 44
Team PU Rome Points
DS Techeetah DS 21 116
Envision Virgin Audi 12 109
Mahindra Mahindra 5 102
Audi Sport Abt Audi 6 102
BMW Andretti BMW 2 82
Venturi Venturi 67
Nissan e.dams Nissan 19 65
Jaguar Jaguar 25 62
HWA Racelab Venturi 15 22
NIO NIO 6

European Le Mans Series – 2017 R4 – Le Castellet
Circuit Paul Ricard, Le Castellet, France
26th August 2017, watched 10th April 2019

18 months behind! This one felt like ticking an item off a list. A shame, I really like the ELMS as a good way to while away an afternoon or evening

This time they used the chicane on the Mistral Straight so the only interesting thing about the track, the super-fast balls-out run into Signes, was lost

ELMS catches you out because when you think things are settled with huge gaps after the first hour – it changes. After three hours the order can be completely different. This catches me out because I tend to put endurance races on in the background while I get other stuff done.

Teams put their rated drivers in at different times. Early you see a Platinum or Gold driver racing away to a healthy lead while a Silver or Bronze driver loses loads of time. At the driver change it switches, the lead teams put in their Bronze driver and the distant cars suddenly get a Platinum at the wheel chasing them down. It converges.

In LMP2 Ben Hanley gave Dragonspeed a huge lead which was lost when Bronze driver Henrik Hedman faced the likes of Nic Minassian and Felipe Albuquerque chasing him. And the same principle applies in LMP3 and GTE. Niki Thiim brought the TF Sport Aston up from last to 2nd. You have to pay attention throughout.

Unfortunately this featureless track is a hard watch, I lost the thread in the middle as my mind drifted and got hold of it again in the last hour.

At least the mountains in the distance look nice.

But will I get the 2017 and 2018 seasons done before the 2019 Le Mans 24 Hours?

LMP2:

  1. SMP Racing (Dallara P217) – Isaakyan / Orudzhev;
  2. G-Drive Racing (Oreca 07) – Rojas / Roussel / Minassian;
  3. Graff (Oreca 07) – Guibbert / Petit / Trouillet;

First ELMS win for the SMP Dallara and their young driver pairing. A 4th straight podium for G-Drive.

LMP3:

  1. United Autosports (Ligier JS P3) – Falb / Rayhall;
  2. Inter Europol (Ligier JS P3) – Hippe / Smiechowski;
  3. M.Racing YMR (Ligier JS P3) – Cougnard / Jung / Ricci;

A second win in LMP3 for United.

GTE:

  1. Spirit Of Race (Ferrari 488) – Cameron / Griffin / Scott;
  2. TF Sport (Aston Martin Vantage) – Hankey / Thiim / Yoluc;
  3. JMW Motorsport (Ferrari 488) – Fannin / Smith / Cocker;

Second straight win for SOR, 4th straight podium for TF.

Next Week

15th to 21st April, Easter Weekend so much quieter than usual.

  • British GT at Oulton Park on Holiday Monday.
  • 24H Series at Spa.
  • Super Formula at Suzuka.
  • British Superbikes at Silverstone (on the National layout).

It might be a good time to catch up on past races but I’ll be using it to start, yes, start, watching Game of Thrones! Now I’ve got Sky I can watch it On Demand so I’ve already downloaded them to the box.

And if it is wet weekend and I can’t get outside I’ll see if I can squeeze in a WEC race or something.