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IndyCar
INDYCAR: 2012 Season Preview, Pt. 3
Marshall Pruett wraps up his three-part IZOD IndyCar Series preview with a look at car Nos. 26 through 98.
Dark horses, title contenders and drivers with something to prove are contained in Pruett's final preview for the IndyCar season, which starts this weekend at St. Petersburg. (Photo: Mike Levitt/LAT)
(Marshall Pruett wraps up his three-part IZOD IndyCar Series preview with a look at car Nos. 26 through 98.)
INDYCAR: 2012 Season Preview, Pt. 1
INDYCAR: 2012 Season Preview, Pt. 2
Car No.: 26
Driver: Marco Andretti
Team: Andretti Autosport
Engine: Chevrolet
Crew Chief: Jeff Grahn
Engineer: Eddie Jones
2011 Driver’s Championship Finish: 8th
Pruett Says:
It’s hard to believe the series’ most enigmatic driver is entering his seventh season of IndyCar competition.
Marco finished eighth in the championship last year. He finished eighth in 2010. And 2009. He was seventh the year before that, 11th in 2007 and kicked things off with seventh as a rookie.
Add them all together and what do they average? Eighth.
If you put stock in numerical analysis, Andretti has proven that he’s the eighth-best driver in series.
But is that all he’s got?
If you’ve gotten a taste of Marco in-person recently, or seen him drive, you might feel he’s better than an eighth-place guy, and I’d have to agree with you, but getting to the finish line on a more regular basis would certainly strengthen that argument.
With Helio Castroneves’ car acting as the spatula, Marco was flipped on his lid at St. Pete. He was sent into Sebastien Bourdais on pit lane at Long Beach, was the meat in a Kanaan and Scheckter crash sandwich at New Hampshire and was hit and sidelined at Baltimore. Throw a few of those missed points back on his plate, and Andretti’s fifth or sixth in the championship.
So, like theoretical lap times—the ultimate lap time the on-board data acquisition systems generate based on the best sector times from individual laps—Andretti should have scored his best championship position to date, but they don’t let you drop a few bad finishes because you weren’t at fault.
It’s a generalization, and doesn’t apply to all of the mishaps that befell him, but Marco’s odds of getting caught up in crashes would surely be reduced if he and the No. 26 team find a solution to their qualifying issues.
Andretti started 14th or worse in 12 out of 17 races last year, which is like putting a big “Hit Me” sign on his rear wing.
As we saw at Iowa, he’s always capable of storming to the front, but Andretti’s finishing average—and finishing record—would drastically improve if most races weren’t an uphill battle.
With Ryan Hunter-Reay and James Hinchcliffe as teammates, Marco seems happier than ever, and with the third-generation driver, mindset means everything. If the atmosphere stays light, Andretti’s competitive side—something that’s hard to find at times—could ratchet up a notch or two.
He’s been doing this long enough to be farther along than he actually is, but leaving the past behind, the chemistry and timing is now right for Marco to get more out of himself.
Earning his third career victory is within reason in 2012, but becoming a regular visitor to the top 10 would be the most impressive accomplishment for Andretti.
Consistency is the elusive target Marco needs to start hitting, and if he can make that happen, the wins might happen on a more regular basis.
Car No.: 27
Driver: James Hinchcliffe
Team: Andretti Autosport
Engine: Chevrolet
Crew Chief: Dave Sharpley
Engineer: Tino Belli
2011 Driver’s Championship Finish: 12th
Pruett Says:
Danica Patrick is gone and her detractors will now get the chance to see just how good she was.
The incoming James Hinchcliffe, 2011 IndyCar Rookie of the Year, inherits Patrick’s team from top to bottom. From her crew chief to her engineer, Hinch has been dropped into the system that shepherded Danica to 10th-place in the championship last year, which should also give a good representation of how much DP had to work with.
If the young Canadian excels, as he’s expected to do, the anti-Danica contingent have their answer. If Hinch struggles, Danica could come out smelling like a rose.
The most likely scenario has the Go Daddy Dude thriving and struggling, thanks to the DW12 understeer-mobile. Hinch is fast on the steering wheel—he likes sharp inputs on corner entry—which the DW12 just won’t accept at this stage of chassis development.
Maybe he and engineer Tino Belli will shape the car’s handling closer to what he wants after a few rounds go by, but for now, things aren’t quite adding up.
The kid was a revelation as a rookie, and we’ll see more of that in his sophomore season, but how often will those flashes of brilliance appear?
It’s becoming a rote response in this preview, but the secret to success for Hinch in 2012 will be found in adapting his driving style to suit what Andretti’s DW12 will give him.
Rather than fight the car and search for a mythical setup that not even the best teams have been able to find, modifying his approach to driving the car—which isn’t easy, no matter how young he is—will keep Hinch’s momentum going.
Whether that will translate into poles and wins is entirely up to him, and as a kid who thrives on pressure, something tells me it won’t be long before the lad has a breakthrough.
Car No.: 28
Driver: Ryan Hunter-Reay
Team: Andretti Autosport
Engine: Chevrolet
Crew Chief: Josh Freund
Engineer: Ray Gosselin
2011 Driver’s Championship Finish: 7th
Pruett Says:
If Andretti Autosport has designs on winning the title this year, Ryan Hunter-Reay is the only one who's ready to get the job done.
The first half of RHR’s 2011 season plain sucked; let’s not sugarcoat it. If he wasn’t being hit, he was doing the hitting or, when things hit rock bottom, failed to qualify for Indy. His average finishing position through the first eight rounds was 17th, yet he rallied to take seventh in the final standings.
I won’t bother going through the “he would have finished better without the bad races factored in” routine, but the RHR that closed 2011 like a beast has marched into 2012 with even bigger plans to kick some tail.
In pre-season testing, the No. 28 car has been the class of the Andretti team, and occasionally the class of the field. RHR and engineer Ray Gosselin work well together and although the DW12 doesn’t necessarily complement the American’s preferred driving style, he’s adapted better than most to make it work for him.
He’s yet to win more than one Indy car race per year, but I think RHR will end that streak in 2012. The crystal ball says as many as three wins for the 31-year-old, and a career-best fourth-place finish in the championship.
After two years of being a team player, RHR should establish himself as the team leader this year.
INDYCAR: 2012 Season Preview, Pt. 1
INDYCAR: 2012 Season Preview, Pt. 2
Car No.: 26
Driver: Marco Andretti
Team: Andretti Autosport
Engine: Chevrolet
Crew Chief: Jeff Grahn
Engineer: Eddie Jones
2011 Driver’s Championship Finish: 8th
Pruett Says:
It’s hard to believe the series’ most enigmatic driver is entering his seventh season of IndyCar competition.
Marco finished eighth in the championship last year. He finished eighth in 2010. And 2009. He was seventh the year before that, 11th in 2007 and kicked things off with seventh as a rookie.
Add them all together and what do they average? Eighth.
If you put stock in numerical analysis, Andretti has proven that he’s the eighth-best driver in series.
But is that all he’s got?
If you’ve gotten a taste of Marco in-person recently, or seen him drive, you might feel he’s better than an eighth-place guy, and I’d have to agree with you, but getting to the finish line on a more regular basis would certainly strengthen that argument.
With Helio Castroneves’ car acting as the spatula, Marco was flipped on his lid at St. Pete. He was sent into Sebastien Bourdais on pit lane at Long Beach, was the meat in a Kanaan and Scheckter crash sandwich at New Hampshire and was hit and sidelined at Baltimore. Throw a few of those missed points back on his plate, and Andretti’s fifth or sixth in the championship.
So, like theoretical lap times—the ultimate lap time the on-board data acquisition systems generate based on the best sector times from individual laps—Andretti should have scored his best championship position to date, but they don’t let you drop a few bad finishes because you weren’t at fault.
It’s a generalization, and doesn’t apply to all of the mishaps that befell him, but Marco’s odds of getting caught up in crashes would surely be reduced if he and the No. 26 team find a solution to their qualifying issues.
Andretti started 14th or worse in 12 out of 17 races last year, which is like putting a big “Hit Me” sign on his rear wing.
As we saw at Iowa, he’s always capable of storming to the front, but Andretti’s finishing average—and finishing record—would drastically improve if most races weren’t an uphill battle.
With Ryan Hunter-Reay and James Hinchcliffe as teammates, Marco seems happier than ever, and with the third-generation driver, mindset means everything. If the atmosphere stays light, Andretti’s competitive side—something that’s hard to find at times—could ratchet up a notch or two.
He’s been doing this long enough to be farther along than he actually is, but leaving the past behind, the chemistry and timing is now right for Marco to get more out of himself.
Earning his third career victory is within reason in 2012, but becoming a regular visitor to the top 10 would be the most impressive accomplishment for Andretti.
Consistency is the elusive target Marco needs to start hitting, and if he can make that happen, the wins might happen on a more regular basis.
Car No.: 27
Driver: James Hinchcliffe
Team: Andretti Autosport
Engine: Chevrolet
Crew Chief: Dave Sharpley
Engineer: Tino Belli
2011 Driver’s Championship Finish: 12th
Pruett Says:
Danica Patrick is gone and her detractors will now get the chance to see just how good she was.
The incoming James Hinchcliffe, 2011 IndyCar Rookie of the Year, inherits Patrick’s team from top to bottom. From her crew chief to her engineer, Hinch has been dropped into the system that shepherded Danica to 10th-place in the championship last year, which should also give a good representation of how much DP had to work with.
If the young Canadian excels, as he’s expected to do, the anti-Danica contingent have their answer. If Hinch struggles, Danica could come out smelling like a rose.
The most likely scenario has the Go Daddy Dude thriving and struggling, thanks to the DW12 understeer-mobile. Hinch is fast on the steering wheel—he likes sharp inputs on corner entry—which the DW12 just won’t accept at this stage of chassis development.
Maybe he and engineer Tino Belli will shape the car’s handling closer to what he wants after a few rounds go by, but for now, things aren’t quite adding up.
The kid was a revelation as a rookie, and we’ll see more of that in his sophomore season, but how often will those flashes of brilliance appear?
It’s becoming a rote response in this preview, but the secret to success for Hinch in 2012 will be found in adapting his driving style to suit what Andretti’s DW12 will give him.
Rather than fight the car and search for a mythical setup that not even the best teams have been able to find, modifying his approach to driving the car—which isn’t easy, no matter how young he is—will keep Hinch’s momentum going.
Whether that will translate into poles and wins is entirely up to him, and as a kid who thrives on pressure, something tells me it won’t be long before the lad has a breakthrough.
Car No.: 28
Driver: Ryan Hunter-Reay
Team: Andretti Autosport
Engine: Chevrolet
Crew Chief: Josh Freund
Engineer: Ray Gosselin
2011 Driver’s Championship Finish: 7th
Pruett Says:
If Andretti Autosport has designs on winning the title this year, Ryan Hunter-Reay is the only one who's ready to get the job done.
The first half of RHR’s 2011 season plain sucked; let’s not sugarcoat it. If he wasn’t being hit, he was doing the hitting or, when things hit rock bottom, failed to qualify for Indy. His average finishing position through the first eight rounds was 17th, yet he rallied to take seventh in the final standings.
I won’t bother going through the “he would have finished better without the bad races factored in” routine, but the RHR that closed 2011 like a beast has marched into 2012 with even bigger plans to kick some tail.
In pre-season testing, the No. 28 car has been the class of the Andretti team, and occasionally the class of the field. RHR and engineer Ray Gosselin work well together and although the DW12 doesn’t necessarily complement the American’s preferred driving style, he’s adapted better than most to make it work for him.
He’s yet to win more than one Indy car race per year, but I think RHR will end that streak in 2012. The crystal ball says as many as three wins for the 31-year-old, and a career-best fourth-place finish in the championship.
After two years of being a team player, RHR should establish himself as the team leader this year.
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