Tag: IndyCar

IndyCar Series

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;

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List of Races Affected By Coronavirus / COVID-19

The attempt by authorities to slow and contain the pandemic Coronavirus / Covid-19 has seriously affected the motor sport calendar for 2020.

As drastic as it may seem this is not the ordinary ‘flu (see this sobering tweet) and serious precautions must be taken to protect all those in society.

It may seem frivolous to talk of how it affects the motor racing calendar but at some point this will be over and the pieces will need picking up. It is getting quite hard to keep up with what has been cancelled and rescheduled for later.

This blog post attempts to note every change.

At the time of first writing (13th March) it is hard to predict how long this will last. What at first seemed like a 2-4 week interruption is fast becoming something much bigger. It is becoming clear all events will be cancelled in the rest of March, all of April, most of May and probably into June. The consequence will be a lot of rescheduled events from August to December, some later events made double-headers, but also a lot of outright cancellations with no make-up races.

I am updating IWTMR Google/iCal Calendars often.

I am in the process of relisting races here in order of their rescheduled dates with cancellations underneath.

This post will be updated.

Last updated:  Thursday 18th June 2020

Formula 1

Austrian Grand Prix – 5th July, becomes opening round behind closed doors, date unchanged..

Styrian Grand Prix – 12th July. New 2nd race at the Red Bull Ring.

Hungarian Grand Prix – 19th July. Swaps places with Silverstone to provide ease of travel for teams.

British Grand Prix – 2nd August. Swaps places with Hungaroring.

F1 70th Anniversary Grand Prix – 9th August. New 2nd race at Silverstone celebrating the 70th anniversary of the World Championship.

Spanish Grand Prix – 16th August. Originally 10th May.

–

Bahrain Grand Prix – Postponed (TBC). Originally 22nd March.

French Grand Prix – Postponed (TBC). Originally 28th June.

Australian Grand Prix – Cancelled. Originally 15th March, Postponed on race weekend. McLaren withdrew after a team member tested positive, race postponed a day later.

Vietnam Grand Prix – Cancelled. Originally 5th April.

Chinese Grand Prix – Cancelled. Originally 19th April.

Dutch Grand Prix – Cancelled. Originally 3rd May.

Monaco Grand Prix – Cancelled. Originally 24th May.

Azerbaijan Grand Prix – Cancelled. Originally 7th June.

Canadian Grand Prix – Cancelled. Originally 14th June.

Singapore Grand Prix – Cancelled. Originally 20th September.

Japanese Grand Prix – Cancelled. Originally 11th October.

 

Formula E

Some races may be rescheduled later, more likely other rounds will be made double-headers.

Berlin ePrix – Will host the entirety of the 2nd half of the season in the space of 9 days utilising 3 layouts. These will be:
Wednesday 5th August – layout 1;
Thursday 6th August – layout 1;
Saturday 8th August – layout 2;
Sunday 9th August – layout 2;
Wednesday 12th August – layout 3;
Thursday 13th August – layout 3;

Sanya ePrix – Cancelled. Originally 21st March.

Rome ePrix – Cancelled. Originally 4th April.

Paris ePrix – Cancelled. Originally 18th April.

Seoul ePrix – Cancelled. Originally 2nd May.

Jakarta ePrix – Cancelled. Originally 6th June.

New York ePrix – Cancelled. Originally 11th July.

London ePrix – Cancelled. Originally 25th & 26th July.

 

MotoGP

Qatar GP – Moto2 and Moto3 races ran as planned with teams already on site. MotoGP class cancelled.

Spanish GP (Jerez) – 19th July. Originally 3rd May.

Andalucia GP (Jerez) – 26th July. 2nd race at Jerez.

Czech GP – 9th August. No change.

Austrian GP – 16th August. No change.

Styrian GP (Spielberg) – 23rd August. 2nd race at Red Bull Ring.

San Marino GP (Misano) – 13th September. No change.

Emilia Romagna GP (Misano) – 20th September. 2nd race at Misano.

Catalan GP – 27th September. Originally 7th June.

French GP – 11th October. Originally 17th May.

Aragon GP – 18th October.

Teruel GP (Aragon) – 25th October.

European GP (Valencia) – 8th November. 2nd race at Valencia, ahead of the ‘primary’ Valencia GP.

Valencia GP – 15th November. Back on its original date.

–

Thailand GP – TBC

US GP – TBC

Argentina GP – TBC

Malaysia GP – TBC

Italian GP (Mugello) – Cancelled.

German GP – Cancelled.

Dutch GP – Cancelled.

Finland GP – Cancelled.

British GP – Cancelled.

 

World SBK

Jerez – 24/25 October. Originally 28/29 March.

Aragon – 29/30 August. Originally 23/24 May.

France – 3/4 October. Originally 26/27 September. Moved to avoid MotoGP’s new schedule.

Misano – 7/8 November. Originally 13/14 June.

–

Assen – Postponed. Originally 18/19 April.

Qatar – Cancelled. Originally 13/14 March.

Imola – Cancelled. Originally 9/10 May.

 

BSB

Silverstone – Postponed. Originally 12th April.

Oulton Park – Postponed. Originally 3rd May.

Donington Park – Postponed. Originally 24th May.

Snetterton – Postponed. Originally 21st June.

 

IndyCar

The entire Indy Lights season has been cancelled for 2020.

Revised dates for IndyCar:

Texas – 6th June. Season scheduled to begin here, race date unchanged.

Indy GP – 4th July. Originally 9th May. Postponed to 4th July NASCAR Cup weekend. NASCAR Xfinity will also race the road course.

Road America x2 – 11th & 12th July double-header. Delayed from 21st June with a make-up race added on the Saturday.

Iowa x2 – 17th & 18th July double-header. Second race added on Friday 17th.

Mid-Ohio – 9th August. Rescheduled by one week from 16th August to make way for Indy 500 qualifying.

Indy 500 – 23rd August. Originally 24th May. Qualifying will be 15th/16th August.

Gateway – 30th August. Originally 23rd August, delayed to make way for Indy.

Portland – 13th September. Originally 6th September.

Laguna Seca – 19th & 20th September double-header. Second race added on Saturday.

Harvest Grand Prix – 3rd October. New event at IMS road course on the bill with the inaugural SRO Intercontinental GT 8 Hours of Indianapolis.

St Pete – 25th October. Originally 15th March.

–

Barber – Cancelled. Originally 5th April.

Long Beach – Cancelled. Originally 19th April.

Detroit Belle Isle Double-Header – Cancelled. Originally 30th & 31st May.

Richmond – Cancelled. Originally 27th June.

Toronto – Cancelled. Originally 12th July.

 

NASCAR Cup, Xfinity and Trucks

NASCAR has set up a plan to race at tracks local to most of the teams, starting with races at Darlington and Charlotte. The Coke 600 remains in place. The Darlington races will have no effect on the September race. Many of these are replacement races.

Darlington 400 – Cup – Sunday 17th May.
Darlington 200 – Xfinity – Tuesday 19th May.
Darlington 500km – Cup – Wednesday 20th May.

Charlotte Coco-Cola 600 – Cup – Sunday 24th May. This is the original date.
Charlotte 300 – Xfinity – Monday 25th May. Originally 17th May.
Charlotte 200 – Trucks – Tuesday 26th May.
Charlotte 500km – Cup – Wednesday 27th May.

Bristol – Xfinity – Saturday 30th May. Originally 4th April.
Bristol – Cup – Sunday 31st May. Originally 5th April.

Atlanta – Trucks – Saturday 6th June. Originally 13th March.
Atlanta – Xfinity – Saturday 6th June. Originally 14th March.
Atlanta – Cup – Sunday 7th June. Originally 15th March.

Martinsville – Cup – Wednesday 10th June. Originally 10th May.

Homestead – Trucks – 13th June. Originally 20th March.
Homestead – Xfinity – 13th June. Originally 21st March.
Homestead – Xfinity – 14th June. New race.
Homestead – Cup – 14th June. Originally 22nd March.

Talledega – Xfinity – 20th June. Originally 25th April.
Talledega – Cup – 21st June. Originally 26th April.

–

Texas – Cup/Xfinity/Trucks – Postponed. Originally 27-29 March.

Richmond – Cup/Trucks – Postponed. Originally 18-19 April.

Dover – Cup/Xfinity/Trucks – Postponed. Originally 1-3 May.

Martinsville – Cup – Postponed. Originally 9th May.

All-Star – Cancelled. Originally 17th May.

FIA WEC

1000 Miles of Sebring – 20th March – Cancelled.

Le Mans Test Day – 31st May – Cancelled.

6 Hours of Spa-Francorchamps – 25th April – Postponed to 15th August.

24 Hours of Le Mans – 13-14 June – Postponed, rescheduled for 19-20 September (originally the weekend of Spa ELMS).

Bahrain 8 Hours – 5th December – Rescheduled to 21st November and becomes the season finale of the current 2019/20 season. Effectively replaces 2020 Sebring and maintains 8 rounds.

2021/2022 Season – Silverstone, Monza, Fuji and Kylami – All cancelled.
Bahrain moved to current season. Season will start in March.

A new 2021 schedule will be announced a later time and will run in a calendar year as it used to.

 

IMSA WTSC

Daytona 2h40m – 4th July. New race.

Sebring 2h40m – 18th July. New race.

Mosport is cancelled.

Road America and VIR are unchanged.

Laguna Seca – 6th September. Originally 13th September.

Mid-Ohio – 27th September. Originally 3rd May.

Watkins Glen – 4th October. Originally 28th June

Petit Le Mans – 18th October. Originally 11th October.

Lime Rock – 31st October. Originally 19th July.

12 Hours of Sebring – 14th November. Originally 21st March.

Long Beach – Cancelled. Originally 18th April.

Detroit Belle Isle – Cancelled. Originally 30th May.

 

ELMS and Le Mans Cup

4h Paul Ricard – 19th July – No change. Becomes Round 1 with pre-season testing at the same venue the week before.

4h Spa-Francorchamps – 9th August. Originally 20th September.

4h Barcelona – 29th August. Originally 5th April.

4h Monza – 11th October. Originally 10th May..

4h Silverstone – Cancelled. Originally 6th September.

 

Asian Le Mans Series

4h Buriram 1 – 9th January 2021. No change.
4h Buriram 2 – 11th January 2021. New race added just 2 days later.

4h Sepang 1 – 23rd January 2021. No change.
4h Sepang 2 – 26th January 2021. New race added just 3 days later.

4h Suzuka – Cancelled. Originally 29th November 2020.

4h Shanghai – Cancelled. Originally 13th December 2020.

 

DTM

New schedule released in the first week of June, it is totally different all versions released previously and is as follows. All other previously-announced rounds are cancelled.

Spa – 2nd August.

Lausitzring – 16th August.

Lausitzring – 23rd August.

Assen – 6th September.

Nürburging GP – 13th September.

Nürburging Sprint – 20th September.

Zolder – 11th October.

Zolder – 18th October.

Hockenheimring – 8th November.

 

Super GT

New 8 round schedule released in the first week of June.

Fuji – 19th July.

Fuji – 9th August.

Suzuka – 23rd August.

Motegi – 20th September.

Fuji – 4th October.

Suzuka – 25th October.

Motegi – 8th November.

Fuji – 29th November.

 

Super Formula

Suzuka – 14th November (Saturday). Joins the weekend of the existing final round on 15th November for a double-header. Originally 5th April.

Fuji – Postponed, date TBC. Originally 19th April.

Autopolis – Postponed, date TBC. Originally 17th May.

Sugo – Postponed, date TBC. Originally 12st June.

 

GT World Challenge Europe

Imola 3H (Endurance) – 26th July. New race on the original date of the Spa 24 Hours.

Misano (Sprint) – 9th August. Postponed from 6th July. 3rd 1-hour race added.

Nurburgring 6H (Endurance) – 6th September. Race extended to 6 hours from 3.

Magny-Cours (Sprint) – 13th September. New race.

Zandvoort (Sprint) – 27th September. Postponed from 28th June and replaces the Hungaroring round.

Barcelona (Sprint) – 11th October. 3rd 1-hour race added.

Spa 24H (Endurance & IGTC) – 24th-25th October. Postponed from 25th-26th July.

Paul Ricard 1000km (Endurance) – 14th November. Postponed from 30th May.

–

Monza 3H (Endurance) – Cancelled. Originally 19th April.

Brands Hatch (Sprint) – Cancelled. Originally 3rd May.

Silverstone 3H (Endurance) – Cancelled. Originally 10th May.

 

GT World Challenge America

Virginia – 11/12 July  – Moved. Was 6/7 June.

Sonoma, Road America, Watkins Glen, Indianapolis – No change and will run on original dates.

Mosport – Cancelled. Was 16/17 May.

GT World Challenge Asia

Sepang – 12/13 September. Rescheduled from March.

Shanghai 888 – 18 October. GTWC Asia’s first 3-hour race.

China – 31 Oct / 1 Nov – New round added, venue not announced.

Sepang – 5/6 December.

–

Fuji – Cancelled. Was 23/24 May.

Suzuka – Cancelled. Was 21/22 June.

Autopolis – Cancelled. Was 11/12 August.

 

24H Series

12H Monza – 28th March – Postponed, rescheduled for 11th July.
A replacement race at Estoril scheduled for 28th March was itself cancelled.

12H Paul Ricard – 11th July – Cancelled and replaced with Monza.

 

GT Open

Paul Ricard – 26th April – Postponed to 23rd August.

 

Supercars

Sydney – 27-28 June. Moved forward from August and made a day race – the SuperNight format will be used at this venue in December.

Winton – 18-19 July. Originally 6-7 June.

Hidden Valley – 8-9 August. Originally 18-19 July.

Townsville – 29-30 August. Originally 27-28 June.

Sandown – 19-20 September.

Bathurst 1000 – 11 October, no change.

Perth – 31 Oct – 1 Nov. Was 16-17 May.

Symmons Plains – 21-22 November. Originally 4-5 April.

Sydney SuperNight – 5-6 December. New race to replace Newcastle, using the night racing format originally scheduled for August.

Melbourne – Cancelled. Originally 13-15 March.

Hampton Downs – Cancelled. Originally 25-26 April.

The Bend – Cancelled. Originally 19-20 September.

Newcastle – Cancelled. Originally 5-6 December.

 

WTCR

Salzburgring – 13th September. 2 races.

Nurburgring Nordschliefe – 26th September. 2 races alongside N24.

Slovakiaring – 11th October. 3 races.

Hungaroring – 18th October. 3 races.

Aragon – 1st November. 3 races.

Adria – 15th November. New venue, 3 races.

Vila Real – Cancelled. Originally 21st June.

Ningbo – Cancelled. Originally 20th September.

Macau – Cancelled. Originally 22nd November.

Sepang – Cancelled. Originally 13th December.

 

BTCC

Season due to begin at Donington in August. One Silverstone meeting dropped.

Donington Park – 2nd August. Originally 29th March.

Brands Hatch (Indy) – 9th August. Originally 12th April.

Oulton Park – 23rd August. Originally 14th June.

Knockhill – 30th August. No change. Becomes rounds 10/11/12.

Thruxton – 20th September. Originally 17th May.

Silverstone (National) – 27th September. Originally 26th April. The date at the International track has been rescheduled to the National track. There will only be one visit to Silverstone.

Croft – 11th October. Originally 16th August.

Snetterton – 25th October. Originally 26th June.

Brands Hatch (GP) – 15th November. Originally 11th October.

 

British GT

Oulton Park – 13th April (Easter Monday) – Postponed.

Snetterton – 17th May – Postponed.

Silverstone 500 – 7th June – Postponed.

Donington Park – 21st June – Postponed.

 

VLN NLS

VLN 1 – 21st March – Cancelled.

VLN 2 – 4th April – Cancelled.

VLN 8 – 26th September – Date taken by the rescheduled N24. I’ve not yet seen whether VLN8 will be rescheduled.

 

WRC World Rally Championship

Currently only three rounds have not been altered, two have been postponed but not yet rescheduled and five have been cancelled. There is talk the WRC may join the European Championship at some events.

No change:

Turkey – 24-27 August.

Germany – 15-18 October.

Japan – 19-22 November.

Postponed TBC or Cancelled:

Argentina – Postponed. Was 23-26 April.

Italy – Postponed. Was 4-7 June.

Portugal – Cancelled. Was 20-24 May.

Safari – Cancelled. Was 16-19 July.

Finland – Cancelled. Was 6-9 August.

New Zealand – Cancelled. Was 3-6 September.

Great Britain – Cancelled. Was 29 Oct – 1 Nov.

 

European Rally Championship

Roma-Capitale – 24-26 July, no change.

Liepāja – 14-16 August, was 29-31 May.

Czech – 28-30 August, no change.

Azores – 17-19 September, was 27-29 March.

Cyprus – 16-18 October, delayed by one week.

Hungary – 6-8 November, no change.

Canary Isles – 26-28 November, was 8-10 May.

Poland – Cancelled.

 

World Rallycross

Sweden – 22-23 August, was 5 July.

Finland – 29-30 August, new round.

Latvia – 19-20 September, no change.

Belgium – 2-4 October, was 17 May.

Portugal – 9-11 October, was 3 May.

Spain – 16-18 October, was 19 April.

UAE – 30-31 October, no change.

Germany – 11-13 December, was 2 August.

Norway – Cancelled.

France – Cancelled.

South Africa – Cancelled.

 

NHRA

GatorNationals – 15th March – Postponed.

Las Vegas – 5th April – Postponed.

 

Other

Nurburgring 24 Hours – 26-27 September. Originally 23-24 May.

N24 Qualifying Race – Cancelled. Originally 25th April.

Goodwood Festival of Speed – Cancelled. Originally 10th-12th July.

Isle of Man TT – Cancelled.

Motorsport UK has cancelled all organising permits until the end of June, meaning no motorsport can take place in the UK until after that date.

2020 Race Schedules for Google Calendar & iCal

In order to watch too much racing you will need to know when it happens.

In order to watch too much racing you will need to know when it happens.

Keep up with your favourite racing series by adding my Calendars to your Google Calendar, Apple iCal, Microsoft Outlook, or other service which supports ICAL or HTML format.

Just click the link for the race schedule you want to import and it will appear in your calendar in your browser or on your phone.

Screenshot_20181124-212802

Go here for details:

www.toomuchracing.com/calendar

Lastly, I would like to say a huge thank you to the people who have kindly donated!

I have a Paypal tip jar on the top right of the blog which is aimed at covering my site hosting fees and domain name registrations for the year. These aren’t big, just a basic WordPress.com blog plus some domain names.

I’m astonished people pay at all, let alone anything more than £2, I know acutely there are far more worthy causes than this. It does encourage me to put in the work through a dark dingy autumn and winter, so thank you.

I’m pleased to say thanks to you I’ve covered my fees and enough to keep me in cups of tea for the year as well.

[This is a pinned post on the main blog to direct traffic, please click through to the Calendar page for more details including upload schedule.]

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.