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IndyCar
IN THE COCKPIT: Josef Newgarden, Long Beach
What does IndyCar's impressive young rookie think of how his Long Beach weekend ended? After sitting on it for a week, Newgarden lets everyone know.
Josef Newgarden has a clear opinion on the Turn 1 contact with Dario Franchitti that ended with the No. 67 Sarah Fisher Hartman Racing Dallara DW12-Honda against the wall. (Photo: LAT)
The 2012 edition of the Long Beach Grand Prix is done and in the books, and it was an eventful weekend that brought with it some lessons to take away for future events.
Our weekend started off with a lot less running than we expected as cold weather and rain affected most of the L.A. region on Friday.
Practice 1 saw us run a solo install check lap to make sure everything was good to go from the previous event tear down and re-fresh. Practice 2 was a complete wash out with only the Ganassi boys braving the torrential conditions for a few laps.
Heading into Saturday we had a feeling of comfort with what our base setup would bring for the weekend. Practice 3 rolled off on Saturday morning with very chilly ambient temps, but sunny skies above. The track temp was far from ideal and definitely caught some drivers out on their warm up laps when trying to build temp.
Lots of yellow flag periods interrupted the session, and we only ended up getting a handful of completed laps with none of them coming in succession to each other. Plenty of drivers had the same issue, and I think most ended the session without posting a representable time. It was difficult to get a true read on the car, but even with the separated single-lap runs, our initial set up direction seemed to be in the right place.
Heading into qualifying was exciting with track conditions much closer to race conditions, and the chance to see what our potential was awaiting with the Red Firestone compound tires. We got right into things in Q1, and ended up posting the fastest time of all. The car felt great to me, and I really felt like I had extracted nearly everything I could on my lap for the track conditions.
As we advanced to the second round, I found myself falling into a state of comfort, where I thought we had plenty of speed and we merely needed to post a good enough time to transfer into the Fast 6. We knew we had an advantage on the Chevy cars and were also thinking ahead for race day and what we would need from our tire allotment.
But the mental state I found myself in was not the right position, and I feel because of that I ended up posting a time that was just shy of what we needed to make it into the Fast 6. The lap was good, but in this series you can’t just post a “good” lap. You must always be improving and seeking more. The track was gripping up, and more speed was being found with each passing lap.
At the end of it all, we placed ourselves right in 7th position, and that would be further increased to a 2nd place starting position when the Chevy penalties were applied post qualifying. It was a good showing, and another big improvement from Barber. I know we had more in us and could potentially have transferred, but the progression we have had each week is crucial and shows the development of our program and our team as a whole.
This all brings us to the show on Sunday, where most people already know what took place. Before the race, all the drivers did their intros for the crowd and I talked with a couple guys, including Dario Franchitti a bit.
I had not felt nervous all morning until this point, and it started to really kick in right before we hopped in our pace car tour. The nerves you feel on race day will never go away, no matter how much experience you have or how comfortable you are in a series, those feelings are part of being a race car driver and to me show the human element of a driver.
When I got back to my car after a trip around the track, there was nearly no time to do anything but get strapped into the racecar. It was time to go, and we needed to make sure I was in and set! I actually ended up forgetting to attach my drink bottle tube to my helmet, and Nick Allen, who normally straps me in the car, just looked at me and said, “Well, I guess you won’t be drinking this race!”
As I peeled out of the pits and began the warm up laps, my nerves seemed to completely evaporate. Normally they do not leave until the green flag drops, but that day they were gone a bit sooner and found myself feeling cool and relaxed.
I had been in this position before, and I felt I had nothing but good company around me. That mindset gave me comfort, and I was more than ready to get going with the race. The warm up laps were complete and I lined up aside Franchitti heading out of the final corner. If you’re curious whether I had a plan or not, I can tell you that I didn’t.
My thoughts on first corner assessments are that they are best left open and clear-minded because trying to preset a scenario is impossible to do. There are multiple possibilities that could take place in that first corner, and the only thing you must prepare yourself for is to be able to react to the start unfolding in front of you.
Dario, who started on pole, had a good jump on me and to the 2nd row, but that was fine. This enabled me to tuck in and tow up to him down the straight, while separating him and I from the group behind. He chose the inside lane, and I waited momentarily to see how he would hold his choice into the brake zone. As we approached, he stayed middle to inside and I made my intent to pop to the outside lane.
Our weekend started off with a lot less running than we expected as cold weather and rain affected most of the L.A. region on Friday.
Practice 1 saw us run a solo install check lap to make sure everything was good to go from the previous event tear down and re-fresh. Practice 2 was a complete wash out with only the Ganassi boys braving the torrential conditions for a few laps.
Heading into Saturday we had a feeling of comfort with what our base setup would bring for the weekend. Practice 3 rolled off on Saturday morning with very chilly ambient temps, but sunny skies above. The track temp was far from ideal and definitely caught some drivers out on their warm up laps when trying to build temp.
Lots of yellow flag periods interrupted the session, and we only ended up getting a handful of completed laps with none of them coming in succession to each other. Plenty of drivers had the same issue, and I think most ended the session without posting a representable time. It was difficult to get a true read on the car, but even with the separated single-lap runs, our initial set up direction seemed to be in the right place.
Heading into qualifying was exciting with track conditions much closer to race conditions, and the chance to see what our potential was awaiting with the Red Firestone compound tires. We got right into things in Q1, and ended up posting the fastest time of all. The car felt great to me, and I really felt like I had extracted nearly everything I could on my lap for the track conditions.
As we advanced to the second round, I found myself falling into a state of comfort, where I thought we had plenty of speed and we merely needed to post a good enough time to transfer into the Fast 6. We knew we had an advantage on the Chevy cars and were also thinking ahead for race day and what we would need from our tire allotment.
But the mental state I found myself in was not the right position, and I feel because of that I ended up posting a time that was just shy of what we needed to make it into the Fast 6. The lap was good, but in this series you can’t just post a “good” lap. You must always be improving and seeking more. The track was gripping up, and more speed was being found with each passing lap.
At the end of it all, we placed ourselves right in 7th position, and that would be further increased to a 2nd place starting position when the Chevy penalties were applied post qualifying. It was a good showing, and another big improvement from Barber. I know we had more in us and could potentially have transferred, but the progression we have had each week is crucial and shows the development of our program and our team as a whole.
This all brings us to the show on Sunday, where most people already know what took place. Before the race, all the drivers did their intros for the crowd and I talked with a couple guys, including Dario Franchitti a bit.
I had not felt nervous all morning until this point, and it started to really kick in right before we hopped in our pace car tour. The nerves you feel on race day will never go away, no matter how much experience you have or how comfortable you are in a series, those feelings are part of being a race car driver and to me show the human element of a driver.
When I got back to my car after a trip around the track, there was nearly no time to do anything but get strapped into the racecar. It was time to go, and we needed to make sure I was in and set! I actually ended up forgetting to attach my drink bottle tube to my helmet, and Nick Allen, who normally straps me in the car, just looked at me and said, “Well, I guess you won’t be drinking this race!”
As I peeled out of the pits and began the warm up laps, my nerves seemed to completely evaporate. Normally they do not leave until the green flag drops, but that day they were gone a bit sooner and found myself feeling cool and relaxed.
I had been in this position before, and I felt I had nothing but good company around me. That mindset gave me comfort, and I was more than ready to get going with the race. The warm up laps were complete and I lined up aside Franchitti heading out of the final corner. If you’re curious whether I had a plan or not, I can tell you that I didn’t.
My thoughts on first corner assessments are that they are best left open and clear-minded because trying to preset a scenario is impossible to do. There are multiple possibilities that could take place in that first corner, and the only thing you must prepare yourself for is to be able to react to the start unfolding in front of you.
Dario, who started on pole, had a good jump on me and to the 2nd row, but that was fine. This enabled me to tuck in and tow up to him down the straight, while separating him and I from the group behind. He chose the inside lane, and I waited momentarily to see how he would hold his choice into the brake zone. As we approached, he stayed middle to inside and I made my intent to pop to the outside lane.
INDYCAR BRAZIL
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