2007 IndyCar Series Preview
Written by Allan Brewer · January 21, 2007
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Photo: ShawnPayneIRL
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Danica’s Ready To Rock Your “Hello-Moto” World
Our Fastmachines’ Exclusive Introduction for the IRL Season to Come
Two months and a change of season separates this snowy winter weekend from the 2007 IndyCar Series season which boasts a record-tying 17 events between late March and early September, spanning the width and breadth of the North American continent and into the Pacific rim.
With a new year’s trend-busting reversal of its traditional oval-track mindset, the Indy Racing League calendar features super-speedways, short ovals, permanent road courses and temporary street circuits that promise to emphasize the importance of a well-rounded team and driver for the inside track to a championship.
“We have 1.5-mile ovals,” said Team Penske’s Helio Castroneves, a two-time winner of the Indianapolis 500. “We have superspeedways. We have short ovals and road and street courses. That means in 2007, the driver who wins the championship will have succeeded on a variety of tracks.”
Castroneves will once again challenge his IndyCar Series champion teammate Sam Hornish, Jr. for the overall title in the bright orange and white cars that dominated, along with Target Chip Ganassi Racing, the 2006 season. As for Hornish, he’s already eyeing a second Indy 500 victory to put himself even-steven with Helio.
The IRL season opens on March 24th with a nighttime contest at tropical Homestead-Miami Speedway and ends September 9th at the now-familiar ex-urban surrounds of Joliet, Illinois’ Chicagoland Speedway.
There’s a blend of historic and exotic with the usual month of May festivities leading up to Memorial Day’s 91st Indianapolis 500, and two weeks of lead time for the event at Twin Ring Motegi in Japan on April 21st.
Among the driver changes in the off-season was Danica Patrick’s move to the talent-laden Andretti-Green Racing team, where she’s partnered with last year’s Rookie of the Year Marco Andretti. Danica picked up primary sponsorship from Motorola with her seat-switch and looks to build on her past IndyCar success by embracing something old, something new, and something blue (and black).
“I think having diversity in the series, everything from road courses to short ovals to superspeedways, makes the series complete,” said Patrick. “It’s what attracts drivers. Back in the heyday of Indy Car racing, that’s what it was, a little bit of everything. That’s what the IndyCar Series is getting back to, and I think it will be attractive to a lot of people.”
Chief among the new performance wrinkles for 2007 is the switch to pure ethanol fuel in all of the Honda 3.5 Liter V-8’s that power the series. Subtle changes in torque, gear selection, and heat exchange issues require rethinking of technique for drivers and headaches for engineers searching for the last bit of on-track advantage.
Naturally, being mentally prepared for the unexpected and the unfamiliar is all part of the game for Target Chip Ganassi Racing’s Scott Dixon, whose steady, smooth style marks him, along with his speedy teammate Dan Wheldon, a pre-season favorite for the IndyCar championship.
“The more road races they add, the better for me because I enjoy road courses so much,” said Dixon. “The five we have now shows the series has come a long way. I’m looking forward to all the road courses and the new short oval at Iowa. Our team has struggled on the short ovals lately, but they are a love of mine. I think a step in a right direction.”
Of course the season isn’t all about the top level of IndyCar competition. There’s a supporting role for the Indy Pro Series drivers that travel to most of the same stops that the big guns do.
For example, all of the Indy Pro Series teams will participate in a two-day Open Test at Homestead-Miami Speedway February 20th thru 22nd. The teams will have one day on the road course and one day on the oval to sharpen their skills and test setups on their cars for a full season which begins March 24th with the Miami 100 and the challenges of a 1.5-mile high-banked oval.
Brian Stewart Racing, which won the 2006 entrant championship by 10 points, and Sam Schmidt Motorsports, which won last year’s driver championship with Jay Howard by a four-point margin, have already started their preparation. The two rival teams shared Sebring International Raceway for two days of preliminary testing January 16th thru 17th.
“These preseason tests are very important not only to immediately look for improvements on the cars, but also to build team chemistry,” Sam Schmidt Motorsports team manager Chris Griffis said. “All the guys can learn from each other, not just the drivers. We’ve got a couple more tests planned before the Open Test at the end of February, so we should be in good shape once the season starts.”
Schmidt Motorsports’ Alex Lloyd and Stewart’s Bobby Wilson both have their eyes set on lofty goals for the coming season and were eager to talk about how much progress is being made before the racing is for real.
“The test we had went very well,” said Lloyd. “It was a productive two days. The car was good from the outset, so we were able to spend a lot of time trying out different things. Everything we tried, we kept finding improvement, which is a very good thing. The guys are very professional, and now I know why they’ve been so successful the past few seasons. It’s great to be a part of it. I think I can learn a lot this season.”
Wilson, who competed in the final three races of 2005 with BSR, was similarly pleased. “It was kind of like putting on an old pair of shoes,” he said. “With the groundwork we laid at the end of 2005, it was like being home again. I’m really excited. It was very easy to get back into the swing of things.”
While the teams worked on their own programs in separate areas of the Sebring track’s pit lane, both were keenly aware of the other’s presence.
“They know what I was doing, and I know what they were doing,” Wilson acknowledged. “It’s very evident that we’re going to be going head-to-head all season. You’ve got two top teams, two top drivers
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At first glance it appears that the IRL has the upper hand over Champ in the on going battle. Will have to wait to see the final grid for KK’s series.