News and Notes
Written by Douglas Brown · April 11, 2005
IndyCar Series teams gear up for Infineon testing as Kanaan and Wheldon earn First-Quarter Driver of Year nominations. Read on for more.
Infineon Testing News
Dario Franchitti has been approached with the question so often he’s hearing it in his sleep. “What’s the course like at Infineon Raceway?”
Infineon Raceway: Official Site
Sonoma News: IRL race preview slated for Infineon Raceway April 12-13
San Francisco Chronicle: IRL testing set at Infineon
IndyCar Series drivers and teams will have their first opportunity to get acclimated with the rolling terrain and sweeping corners of the 2.2-mile, 12-turn course during an Open Test on April 12-13. The first road-course event in the 10-year history of the IndyCar Series will be hosted by the facility in the scenic Napa Valley on Aug. 28.
Franchitti is the only driver with open-wheel experience at Infineon Raceway, having completed 70 laps in an Indy Racing League compatibility test in November.
“I’ve never seen a track with elevation changes like this,” said Franchitti, who finished third in the inaugural Honda Grand Prix of St. Petersburg on April 3. “This place is going to be a challenge for drivers. It’s a fun, quick track.”
Teams will use the same brake and aerodynamic package that worked so well over the three days of practice, qualifying and racing in the Honda Grand Prix of St. Petersburg.
“You hear a lot of the horror stories around street circuits, and I think that’s a testament to our technical staff, the car that’s been put together, and the quality of our teams and drivers that everything went off so well,” IRL president and COO Brian Barnhart said. “They put on what I think in terms of street racing was one of the best street races I’ve seen. Our ability to do that in our debut event is a great testimony to our technical staff and teams, and I’m proud of them.”
IRL senior technical director Les Mactaggart said the smooth transition of the package from oval racing to the street course (and now road course) is a product of development over the past two years. Road-course radiators and sidepods mandated as part of the 2004 update kits helped eliminate any cooling issues associated with taking cars from high-speed to low-speed circuits. Suspension and braking changes also were addressed during off-season testing.
“I don’t think I was surprised really because of the testing we had done from December all the way up to the race at St. Petersburg,” Target Chip Ganassi Racing driver Darren Manning said. “The car’s actually been driving and cornering probably better than the Champ car. You know how many years of development they’ve had for putting them on a road course. But the IRL did a great job of seeing what we needed to put a competitive race out there. The cars are fun to drive.”
Mactaggart, with driver feedback and telemetry data available, said development of the package is on-going.
“We did have one mechanical failure, but in motor racing you expect some level of that,” he said. “Regardless of series, you want to make the parts as reliable as possible, but you also want to make it as light as possible. Until you get that aspect right, you expect mechanical issues. There are a number of things that cause the failure to occur. So for the very few we faced, we were pleasantly surprised.”
Race fans will be admitted free to the test sessions (12:30-4:30 p.m. local time April 12 and 9 a.m.-4 p.m. April 13). The main grandstand at the start-finish line will be open, and there will be a driver Q&A session with fans at 11:30 a.m. April 12.
First-Quarter Driver of Year Nominations
Reigning IndyCar Series champion Tony Kanaan and his Andretti Green Racing teammate Dan Wheldon are among the first-quarter nominees for the Speed Channel Driver of the Year.
Speed TV: 2005 Driver Of The Year Award
Wheldon, driver of the No. 26 Klein Tools/Jim Beam Dallara/Honda/Firestone and current series pointsleader, recorded two victories in the first three IndyCar Series events of the year to earn his nomination, while Kanaan, driver of the No. 11 Team 7-Eleven Dallara/Honda Firestone, recorded three top-three finishes.
Wheldon and Kanaan are joined on the fan’s online ballot by NASCAR NEXTEL Cup drivers Jeff Gordon, Carl Edwards, Jimmie Johnson and Kevin Harvick and World of Outlaws standouts Steve Kinser and Craig Dollansky. The ballot, however, is not limited to the drivers nominated for the fan’s ballot.
An 18-member panel will select the winner of the award. Fans can participate in voting via an online ballot, located at Speed Channel’s web site, www.speedtv.com, through April 20. Results will be released on April 23.
At the end of the year, a special separate vote will be held for the Speed Channel 2005 Driver of the Year.
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