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IndyCar
INDYCAR: São Paulo Preview
Round 4 of the 2011 IZOD IndyCar Series championship kicks off on Saturday as 26 cars practice for Sunday’s 75-lap Itaipava São Paulo Indy 300.
The monsoon rains that caused the 2010 race to be temporarily halted added to the excitement in Brazil. With a new track surface and the possibility of more rain, anything can happen this weekend. (LAT)
Round 4 of the 2011 IZOD IndyCar Series championship kicks off on Saturday as 26 cars practice for Sunday’s 75-lap Itaipava São Paulo Indy 300.
Circuit: São Paulo, 2.6-mile, 11-turn street course located in the northern region of São Paulo, Brazil.
Entry List: Click Here
Event Schedule: Click Here
Live Timing & Scoring: Click Here
Television: Updates on SPEED Center, race broadcast Sunday, May 1st, 12 p.m. ET, Versus.
Tickets: Click Here
2010 Race Winner: Will Power
2010 Pole Winner: Dario Franchitti, 1:27.735 (abbreviated qualifying session due to safety concerns)
Event Preview:
It has been a recurring theme at the last two rounds, and it won’t change at São Paulo: Many of the drivers who were expected to be major players in 2011 championship are still trying to get their seasons back on track.
And with so many points lost through Long Beach, quite a few drivers can't afford to play it safe from Brazil through the season final at Las Vegas.
The most anxious of the lot has to be Ryan Hunter-Reay, who appeared to have a top 3 secured at Long Beach, only to suffer a shifting actuation issue late in the race that dropped him to 23rd at the finish. RHR’s harsh reality is compounded with a look at the points standings, where he sits in 22nd, tied with Dale Coyne Racing rookie James Jakes…
Graham Rahal is 21st--only two points ahead of RHR--and needs to come away from Brazil with a top 10. With a 13th (at Long Beach) as his best finish so far, cracking the top 10 isn’t out of the question, but after missing the São Paulo race last year, he’ll have very little time to learn the track and perfect his setup before going into qualifying.
JR Hildebrand’s rookie season has been rather tough so far, and with a new track to learn and Dan Wheldon’s strong fifth-place finish in the same car at Brazil in 2010, the pressure and expectation continues to build for the young Californian.
Marco Andretti has one fourth-place finish to his credit, but sitting 14th in points—tied with Takuma Sato—is hardly where he expected to be at this stage. Erase the pit lane tangle with Sebastien Bourdais at Long Beach, and he’s comfortably inside the top 10.
Bourdais’ nightmare return to American open-wheel racing could improve at São Paulo—Alex Lloyd placed the same Dale Coyne entry 15th in qualifying last year—so the team has some useful data to draw from. Of the first four races this year, and with many changes to the track surface for 2011, Brazil could be the one circuit where Seb’s talent can overcome some of the team’s technical shortcomings. Don’t expect miracles, but if the No. 19 car is anywhere near the setup window, Bourdais could shine.
Simona De Silvestro and the HVM Racing team came back down to earth rather hard at Long Beach after impressing in the first two rounds. She and her new engineer are still working out the kinks, which means predicting Simona’s weekend at São Paulo is nearly impossible. De Silvestro was quick at the track last year, but that won't influence how rapidly they get up to speed this weekend.
Hideki Mutoh did well to qualify 14th last year, giving Newman/Haas Racing a baseline setup that should be somewhat useful for Oriol Servia and James Hinchcliffe. NHR’s ability to make big leaps from session to session has been outstanding so far in 2011, and more of the same could be on the cards in Brazil.
Vitor Meira will try to repeat his third-place performance from 2010, and while he and his engineer have been more consistent in 2011, they’ve hovered around ninth or 10th in each race. Getting back to the podium will take a lot of attrition.
Alex Tagliani has been a blend of stealthy and good so far this year, as has Rafa Matos and the new AFS Racing team. Tagliani, after qualifying on the front row and running up front at São Paulo last year, is probably the biggest wildcard in the race. While he was punted into the wall by Wheldon in 2010, it wouldn’t be surprising to see the French-Canadian rounding out the São Paulo podium.
The rest of the usual suspects—Franchitti, Power, Kanaan, Dixon, Briscoe and the newly minted Mike Conway—hold the best odds to take the win, but the battle for P2 through P5 should be just as fascinating to watch.
With the track resurfacing and the ever-present threat of rain, the São Paulo Indy 300 should fit quite nicely amongst the three highly unpredictable races that have been run so far this year.
Driving São Paulo:
“It’s a fun track!” said Dreyer & Reinbold Racing’s Justin Wilson. “I like what I hear about the track being smoother because it was pretty violent last year. You had a hard time seeing because of it, actually. It was a challenge, but they’ve spent a lot of time and money on resurfacing. I can only go off of last year where, for example, the bumps under braking would make the back of the car dance and come around on you. It was a challenge to focus and have trust that the car wouldn't take off when you hit a bump and it would land you in enough time to turn. It was that way for everybody where you just had to deal with the bumps and how far they’d throw you. I hope we’re past all that and can just get down to racing.”
Wilson also says the São Paulo circuit is one of the more rewarding street tracks on IndyCar's calendar.
“If it’s smoother, it would be one of the best street courses. I think the layout itself is great. There are a lot of challenging, technical corners, and if you can manipulate the car in the technical sections you can get a lot out of the car for a lap time. It has the longest straight in all of motorsports,” he said with a laugh. “You get halfway down the back straight and want to brake, and then realize you have another couple of miles to go… Overall, I think it has great potential.”
Engineering São Paulo:
“Based on last year, you had to do everything you could to maintain grip over the bumps” said David Faustino, Will Power’s engineer at Team Penske. “Last year, we were limited on acceleration in fifth and sixth gear because the bumps were so bad that the rear wheels spent a lot of time in the air. I expect it to be better this year with the re-paving, but without running there since the re-paving, you don’t know exactly what you’ll find until you get going in the first practice session.
“For this year, I think you’ll see teams playing more with the aerodynamic efficiency if the straights are actually smoother. We needed all the downforce possible last year to keep the car on the ground, but if the track surface is better, you might see some people experimenting to see if they can go faster with the car trimmed out. But then you’ll need to monitor for how long, and if the tires will last. This is one track where you have good opportunities to pass, so less downforce could help passing in the race, but not if the tire degradation is too high.
“You’re also at altitude in São Paulo, so you’re losing downforce right away. You’re lacking overall aero grip compared to most other tracks we race at, so it puts an even bigger emphasis on mechanical grip. And it’s the same for everybody, but with only two days of running, and really just the Saturday where you have two short practices and then go into qualifying, it’s a lot different than the normal three-day weekend. You don’t have the luxury of trying things on Friday, thinking about it overnight and trying something else on Saturday. The best guys at Brazil will be the ones who are fast right away or adapt really quickly to find their speed.”
Circuit: São Paulo, 2.6-mile, 11-turn street course located in the northern region of São Paulo, Brazil.
Entry List: Click Here
Event Schedule: Click Here
Live Timing & Scoring: Click Here
Television: Updates on SPEED Center, race broadcast Sunday, May 1st, 12 p.m. ET, Versus.
Tickets: Click Here
2010 Race Winner: Will Power
2010 Pole Winner: Dario Franchitti, 1:27.735 (abbreviated qualifying session due to safety concerns)
Event Preview:
It has been a recurring theme at the last two rounds, and it won’t change at São Paulo: Many of the drivers who were expected to be major players in 2011 championship are still trying to get their seasons back on track.
And with so many points lost through Long Beach, quite a few drivers can't afford to play it safe from Brazil through the season final at Las Vegas.
The most anxious of the lot has to be Ryan Hunter-Reay, who appeared to have a top 3 secured at Long Beach, only to suffer a shifting actuation issue late in the race that dropped him to 23rd at the finish. RHR’s harsh reality is compounded with a look at the points standings, where he sits in 22nd, tied with Dale Coyne Racing rookie James Jakes…
Graham Rahal is 21st--only two points ahead of RHR--and needs to come away from Brazil with a top 10. With a 13th (at Long Beach) as his best finish so far, cracking the top 10 isn’t out of the question, but after missing the São Paulo race last year, he’ll have very little time to learn the track and perfect his setup before going into qualifying.
JR Hildebrand’s rookie season has been rather tough so far, and with a new track to learn and Dan Wheldon’s strong fifth-place finish in the same car at Brazil in 2010, the pressure and expectation continues to build for the young Californian.
Marco Andretti has one fourth-place finish to his credit, but sitting 14th in points—tied with Takuma Sato—is hardly where he expected to be at this stage. Erase the pit lane tangle with Sebastien Bourdais at Long Beach, and he’s comfortably inside the top 10.
Bourdais’ nightmare return to American open-wheel racing could improve at São Paulo—Alex Lloyd placed the same Dale Coyne entry 15th in qualifying last year—so the team has some useful data to draw from. Of the first four races this year, and with many changes to the track surface for 2011, Brazil could be the one circuit where Seb’s talent can overcome some of the team’s technical shortcomings. Don’t expect miracles, but if the No. 19 car is anywhere near the setup window, Bourdais could shine.
Simona De Silvestro and the HVM Racing team came back down to earth rather hard at Long Beach after impressing in the first two rounds. She and her new engineer are still working out the kinks, which means predicting Simona’s weekend at São Paulo is nearly impossible. De Silvestro was quick at the track last year, but that won't influence how rapidly they get up to speed this weekend.
Hideki Mutoh did well to qualify 14th last year, giving Newman/Haas Racing a baseline setup that should be somewhat useful for Oriol Servia and James Hinchcliffe. NHR’s ability to make big leaps from session to session has been outstanding so far in 2011, and more of the same could be on the cards in Brazil.
Vitor Meira will try to repeat his third-place performance from 2010, and while he and his engineer have been more consistent in 2011, they’ve hovered around ninth or 10th in each race. Getting back to the podium will take a lot of attrition.
Alex Tagliani has been a blend of stealthy and good so far this year, as has Rafa Matos and the new AFS Racing team. Tagliani, after qualifying on the front row and running up front at São Paulo last year, is probably the biggest wildcard in the race. While he was punted into the wall by Wheldon in 2010, it wouldn’t be surprising to see the French-Canadian rounding out the São Paulo podium.
The rest of the usual suspects—Franchitti, Power, Kanaan, Dixon, Briscoe and the newly minted Mike Conway—hold the best odds to take the win, but the battle for P2 through P5 should be just as fascinating to watch.
With the track resurfacing and the ever-present threat of rain, the São Paulo Indy 300 should fit quite nicely amongst the three highly unpredictable races that have been run so far this year.
Driving São Paulo:
“It’s a fun track!” said Dreyer & Reinbold Racing’s Justin Wilson. “I like what I hear about the track being smoother because it was pretty violent last year. You had a hard time seeing because of it, actually. It was a challenge, but they’ve spent a lot of time and money on resurfacing. I can only go off of last year where, for example, the bumps under braking would make the back of the car dance and come around on you. It was a challenge to focus and have trust that the car wouldn't take off when you hit a bump and it would land you in enough time to turn. It was that way for everybody where you just had to deal with the bumps and how far they’d throw you. I hope we’re past all that and can just get down to racing.”
Wilson also says the São Paulo circuit is one of the more rewarding street tracks on IndyCar's calendar.
“If it’s smoother, it would be one of the best street courses. I think the layout itself is great. There are a lot of challenging, technical corners, and if you can manipulate the car in the technical sections you can get a lot out of the car for a lap time. It has the longest straight in all of motorsports,” he said with a laugh. “You get halfway down the back straight and want to brake, and then realize you have another couple of miles to go… Overall, I think it has great potential.”
Engineering São Paulo:
“Based on last year, you had to do everything you could to maintain grip over the bumps” said David Faustino, Will Power’s engineer at Team Penske. “Last year, we were limited on acceleration in fifth and sixth gear because the bumps were so bad that the rear wheels spent a lot of time in the air. I expect it to be better this year with the re-paving, but without running there since the re-paving, you don’t know exactly what you’ll find until you get going in the first practice session.
“For this year, I think you’ll see teams playing more with the aerodynamic efficiency if the straights are actually smoother. We needed all the downforce possible last year to keep the car on the ground, but if the track surface is better, you might see some people experimenting to see if they can go faster with the car trimmed out. But then you’ll need to monitor for how long, and if the tires will last. This is one track where you have good opportunities to pass, so less downforce could help passing in the race, but not if the tire degradation is too high.
“You’re also at altitude in São Paulo, so you’re losing downforce right away. You’re lacking overall aero grip compared to most other tracks we race at, so it puts an even bigger emphasis on mechanical grip. And it’s the same for everybody, but with only two days of running, and really just the Saturday where you have two short practices and then go into qualifying, it’s a lot different than the normal three-day weekend. You don’t have the luxury of trying things on Friday, thinking about it overnight and trying something else on Saturday. The best guys at Brazil will be the ones who are fast right away or adapt really quickly to find their speed.”
2013 INDY 500 Practice
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