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IndyCar
IN THE COCKPIT: Ryan Hunter-Reay, Edmonton IndyCar
Finishing seventh was disappointing to say the least. We’re going to have to do much better than that in the final four races to win the championship.
After three consecutive wins, a seventh-place finish at Edmonton was less than Ryan Hunter-Reay had hoped for. (Photo: Marshall Pruett)
What a great streak it was for our Andretti Autosport team to win three races in a row, and though we did everything we could to make it four straight, the circumstances just didn’t come together at Edmonton to make it happen.
Finishing seventh was disappointing to say the least. We’re going to have to do much better than that in the final four races to win the championship, but it was remarkable to have qualified on the pole. With the engine change that we made prior to the start of practice, we knew we had a 10-spot grid penalty no matter where we qualified, but to win the pole was an amazing turnaround for the No. 28 DHL/Dr Pepper team. We started practice Friday morning and really struggled to find speed. We ended that first session 22nd out of 25 cars. But, the fact that we came back 24 hours later to win the pole speaks volumes about the capabilities of the team as a whole.
All three teams at Andretti Autosport have worked well together all season, and after that first practice session, all of the drivers and each of the engineers went to work to find more speed. The IndyCar field is so competitive that missing even the smallest detail somewhere can make a huge difference, so having cooperative teammates all working together helps find those things that you might not find on your own.
We would have loved to have been able to start on the pole to take advantage of our effort, but we took the penalty in stride and kept our heads down to make up the difference. It was strange to have no yellow flags during the race, and even one yellow flag would have been a huge help to make up ground. We’re not satisfied with seventh place, but qualifying as well as we did probably saved us 10 to 15 points at the end of the day. And each point is going to be critical going into the last four races of the year.
The championship is going to be a close fight all the way to (the season finale, a 500-mile race at) Fontana. I’m convinced that there will be at least three cars in the mix, if not five, to the very end. I believe we’re going to need another race win to take the championship and I can promise you we’re all 110-percent committed to making that happen. As a driver, I’m striving to work just as hard as the engineers and pit crews to do everything we can to deliver a championship for DHL, Sun Drop and Chevrolet and to bring the series title back to Andretti Autosport.
Now we head to the next race at Mid-Ohio, where we finished strong on the podium last year. I think there will be more passing this year with the new DW12 chassis. Qualifying is still a premium, but we’ve shown everywhere we’ve raced this season that this car allows for more passing. We tested at Mid-Ohio Thursday, and found the cornering speeds with the new car are much higher than before, so it will be a very physical race. Your commitment level will have to be very high to turn a good lap, which means you hold your breath and go into each corner quicker than you think the car can stand and hope that you come out the other side.
For qualifying it will take this and more, putting a great lap together at Mid-O is so difficult, for that reason it's one of my favorite race tracks. We're going to see a very tight, evenly matched field once again this weekend and to make up the difference to your competitors will take a little something extra. I’m prepared to give it everything I have for my team, my sponsors and the fans.
~Ryan
Ryan Hunter-Reay drives the No. 28 DHL-SunDrop Dallara DW12-Chevrolet for Andretti Autosport in the IZOD IndyCar Series. Follow Hunter-Reay's progress at his new site www.RyanRacing.com, his team at www.AndrettiAutosport.com and on Twitter @RyanHunterReay and @FollowAndretti.
Finishing seventh was disappointing to say the least. We’re going to have to do much better than that in the final four races to win the championship, but it was remarkable to have qualified on the pole. With the engine change that we made prior to the start of practice, we knew we had a 10-spot grid penalty no matter where we qualified, but to win the pole was an amazing turnaround for the No. 28 DHL/Dr Pepper team. We started practice Friday morning and really struggled to find speed. We ended that first session 22nd out of 25 cars. But, the fact that we came back 24 hours later to win the pole speaks volumes about the capabilities of the team as a whole.
All three teams at Andretti Autosport have worked well together all season, and after that first practice session, all of the drivers and each of the engineers went to work to find more speed. The IndyCar field is so competitive that missing even the smallest detail somewhere can make a huge difference, so having cooperative teammates all working together helps find those things that you might not find on your own.
We would have loved to have been able to start on the pole to take advantage of our effort, but we took the penalty in stride and kept our heads down to make up the difference. It was strange to have no yellow flags during the race, and even one yellow flag would have been a huge help to make up ground. We’re not satisfied with seventh place, but qualifying as well as we did probably saved us 10 to 15 points at the end of the day. And each point is going to be critical going into the last four races of the year.
The championship is going to be a close fight all the way to (the season finale, a 500-mile race at) Fontana. I’m convinced that there will be at least three cars in the mix, if not five, to the very end. I believe we’re going to need another race win to take the championship and I can promise you we’re all 110-percent committed to making that happen. As a driver, I’m striving to work just as hard as the engineers and pit crews to do everything we can to deliver a championship for DHL, Sun Drop and Chevrolet and to bring the series title back to Andretti Autosport.
Now we head to the next race at Mid-Ohio, where we finished strong on the podium last year. I think there will be more passing this year with the new DW12 chassis. Qualifying is still a premium, but we’ve shown everywhere we’ve raced this season that this car allows for more passing. We tested at Mid-Ohio Thursday, and found the cornering speeds with the new car are much higher than before, so it will be a very physical race. Your commitment level will have to be very high to turn a good lap, which means you hold your breath and go into each corner quicker than you think the car can stand and hope that you come out the other side.
For qualifying it will take this and more, putting a great lap together at Mid-O is so difficult, for that reason it's one of my favorite race tracks. We're going to see a very tight, evenly matched field once again this weekend and to make up the difference to your competitors will take a little something extra. I’m prepared to give it everything I have for my team, my sponsors and the fans.
~Ryan
Ryan Hunter-Reay drives the No. 28 DHL-SunDrop Dallara DW12-Chevrolet for Andretti Autosport in the IZOD IndyCar Series. Follow Hunter-Reay's progress at his new site www.RyanRacing.com, his team at www.AndrettiAutosport.com and on Twitter @RyanHunterReay and @FollowAndretti.
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