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IndyCar
MILLER: Plenty Of Positives In St. Pete
The new Indy car had its first street fight and took a good punch instead of a beating.
There weren’t engine parts scattered all over the pit lane and the bumpers didn’t liter the track.
Nobody’s wheels fell off and no cars burned up because of some sinister combustion. And there were still 18 of the 26 starters running at the finish.
Sunday’s christening of the new car and engines for the IZOD IndyCar Series wasn’t a disaster or even an embarrassment.
Sure, there were a few glitches with a battery, some software and a gearbox or two but, for the most part, it was a pretty damn good debut all the way around for Dallara, Chevrolet and Honda.
"Overall I’d give things a very good grade,’’ said runner-up Scott Dixon. "I was expecting 16 of us to pit together and only two or three cars come back out because we had some trouble in pre-season and nobody knew what to expect.
"But I thought the performance of the cars and engines was quite good for their first time. It was a success.’’
Ryan Briscoe, who finished fifth and was the highest finisher of the three-stop strategy, raved about his DW12-Chevrolet afterwards.
"I’d give the new package an A-Plus,’’ he replied when asked to give a grade on the new equipment. "The cars were amazingly reliable and fun to drive. Yeah passing was difficult but possible and really made you earn it. It was real racing.
"My Chevrolet ran flawlessly and the twin turbos were a handful but it was cool to work with the engine mapping and the throttle response.’’
For the most part it was a typical street race. Some mixed strategy kept things interesting for a while and Helio Castroneves managed a nifty outside pass of Dixon in Turn 1 for what proved to be his first victory in more than a year.
A few drivers complained that was it was tough to pass or that a few people blocked a little more than should be allowed but the deepest field of talent since the late ‘90s in CART did a good job collectively and drove like professionals.
They didn’t crash into each other in Turn 1 and they gave each other some respect on the 2-by-2 restarts.
"I was proud of everyone,’’ said Ryan Hunter-Reay, who earned third place for Michael Andretti’s team. "We took care of each other and still raced hard. That’s how it’s supposed to be.
"The restarts were wild but guys gave each other some room.’’
Of course the first impression is that General Motors owns the upper had since it swept the first five spots in qualifying and four of the top five in the race.
And there’s little doubt that the twin-turbocharged motor gives its teams a little more torque off the slow corners at a place like St. Petersburg. Roger Penske is the master of orchestrating good combinations and Ilmor and Chevy were a winning team before he reunited them.
But Simon Pagenaud, who charged from 16th to sixth in his HP Honda for Sam Schmidt, doesn’t feel like the underdog.
"Not at all,’’ said the talented Frenchman after overcoming a 10-spot penalty for an illegal engine change. "We were only a couple tenths off of them in qualifying and I might have been able to contend for the win if I had been able to start where I qualified (sixth).
"I didn’t get the optimum out of my car in qualifying so I think Honda is very close to Chevrolet. And don’t forget, we’re a little team and that’s Penske and Andretti we are battling. I’m very encouraged.’’
What shouldn’t be overlooked is a lot of hard work from INDYCAR tech chief Will Phillips, who in between writing the new rules and riding herd on engines was also trying to help solve the weighty problems of the new car. He deserves a well done for helping make the debut a success.
And give some props to Dallara for putting out what was ordered by INDYCAR, having it done on time and showing up with plenty of spares.
There’s no doubt the Lotus/Judd has a lot of catching up to do and it was painful to watch it try and leave the pits most of the weekend because of its software/clutch problems.
It was 3-4 mph slower down the straightaway than Chevy and Honda yet Sebastien Bourdais managed to maintain fifth place for a lot of laps before his car quit and Alex Tagliani and Oriol Servia soldiered home only one lap behind.
All in all, it was a B-plus. The car is still kinda tough to look at sitting still but grows on you at speed and it’s quicker than the old model (as it should be). The engines need another 100 HP to really get everyone’s attention but they performed admirably given the time frame.
The new package emerged from its first street fight with a few scratches and bruises but took a good punch instead of a beating.
Robin Miller brings 40 years of experience to his role as SPEED.com's senior open-wheel reporter, and serves as a frequent contributor to SPEED Center and Wind Tunnel with Dave Despain.
The opinions reflected herein are solely those of the above commentator and are not necessarily those of SPEED.com, FOX, NewsCorp, or SPEED
Nobody’s wheels fell off and no cars burned up because of some sinister combustion. And there were still 18 of the 26 starters running at the finish.
Sunday’s christening of the new car and engines for the IZOD IndyCar Series wasn’t a disaster or even an embarrassment.
Sure, there were a few glitches with a battery, some software and a gearbox or two but, for the most part, it was a pretty damn good debut all the way around for Dallara, Chevrolet and Honda.
"Overall I’d give things a very good grade,’’ said runner-up Scott Dixon. "I was expecting 16 of us to pit together and only two or three cars come back out because we had some trouble in pre-season and nobody knew what to expect.
"But I thought the performance of the cars and engines was quite good for their first time. It was a success.’’
Ryan Briscoe, who finished fifth and was the highest finisher of the three-stop strategy, raved about his DW12-Chevrolet afterwards.
"I’d give the new package an A-Plus,’’ he replied when asked to give a grade on the new equipment. "The cars were amazingly reliable and fun to drive. Yeah passing was difficult but possible and really made you earn it. It was real racing.
"My Chevrolet ran flawlessly and the twin turbos were a handful but it was cool to work with the engine mapping and the throttle response.’’
For the most part it was a typical street race. Some mixed strategy kept things interesting for a while and Helio Castroneves managed a nifty outside pass of Dixon in Turn 1 for what proved to be his first victory in more than a year.
A few drivers complained that was it was tough to pass or that a few people blocked a little more than should be allowed but the deepest field of talent since the late ‘90s in CART did a good job collectively and drove like professionals.
They didn’t crash into each other in Turn 1 and they gave each other some respect on the 2-by-2 restarts.
"I was proud of everyone,’’ said Ryan Hunter-Reay, who earned third place for Michael Andretti’s team. "We took care of each other and still raced hard. That’s how it’s supposed to be.
"The restarts were wild but guys gave each other some room.’’
Of course the first impression is that General Motors owns the upper had since it swept the first five spots in qualifying and four of the top five in the race.
And there’s little doubt that the twin-turbocharged motor gives its teams a little more torque off the slow corners at a place like St. Petersburg. Roger Penske is the master of orchestrating good combinations and Ilmor and Chevy were a winning team before he reunited them.
But Simon Pagenaud, who charged from 16th to sixth in his HP Honda for Sam Schmidt, doesn’t feel like the underdog.
"Not at all,’’ said the talented Frenchman after overcoming a 10-spot penalty for an illegal engine change. "We were only a couple tenths off of them in qualifying and I might have been able to contend for the win if I had been able to start where I qualified (sixth).
"I didn’t get the optimum out of my car in qualifying so I think Honda is very close to Chevrolet. And don’t forget, we’re a little team and that’s Penske and Andretti we are battling. I’m very encouraged.’’
What shouldn’t be overlooked is a lot of hard work from INDYCAR tech chief Will Phillips, who in between writing the new rules and riding herd on engines was also trying to help solve the weighty problems of the new car. He deserves a well done for helping make the debut a success.
And give some props to Dallara for putting out what was ordered by INDYCAR, having it done on time and showing up with plenty of spares.
There’s no doubt the Lotus/Judd has a lot of catching up to do and it was painful to watch it try and leave the pits most of the weekend because of its software/clutch problems.
It was 3-4 mph slower down the straightaway than Chevy and Honda yet Sebastien Bourdais managed to maintain fifth place for a lot of laps before his car quit and Alex Tagliani and Oriol Servia soldiered home only one lap behind.
All in all, it was a B-plus. The car is still kinda tough to look at sitting still but grows on you at speed and it’s quicker than the old model (as it should be). The engines need another 100 HP to really get everyone’s attention but they performed admirably given the time frame.
The new package emerged from its first street fight with a few scratches and bruises but took a good punch instead of a beating.
Robin Miller brings 40 years of experience to his role as SPEED.com's senior open-wheel reporter, and serves as a frequent contributor to SPEED Center and Wind Tunnel with Dave Despain.
The opinions reflected herein are solely those of the above commentator and are not necessarily those of SPEED.com, FOX, NewsCorp, or SPEED
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