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PHILLIPS: Helio Got It Right
Written by: David Phillips
Senior writer, RACER Magazine   http://www.racer.com/speedtv
04/08/2008
Pittsburgh, Pa.
 
Castroneves couldn't catch Rahal at St. Pete, but his view that the whole series had hit a home run looked like a winner. (LAT photo) ยป More Photos

In addition to being a celebrated dancer and pretty fair race driver, Helio Castroneves can add “seer” to his impressive resume. Last week in this space, I essentially said Castroneves was being disingenuous when he said the fact that Penske Racing won its second ever IndyCar Series race (in 2001) was an indication of how rapidly the teams “transitioning” from the Champ Car World Series would come to grips with the ICS. As I noted, this is not 2001 and IndyCar Series regulars like Penske, Andretti Green and Target/Ganassi Racing present more formidable opposition than did the likes of Bradley, Cheever and Treadway Racing.

Sunday afternoon, Newman/Haas/Lanigan Racing’s Graham Rahal stood atop the victory podium at the Honda Grand Prix of St. Petersburg, completing a roller coaster fortnight that saw him miss the opening round of the 2008 IndyCar Series after crashing heavily in testing. And who should be occupying the second step of that same podium but driver/dancer/seer extraordinaire Castroneves?

Many have asked if I was surprised at Sunday’s outcome. The answer is no, given that the HGPSP was run under the sort of changing conditions that often produce dark horse winners, where strategy and blind luck have even more to do with the results than usual. That takes nothing away from NHLR or young Mr. Rahal, who drove brilliantly, rebounding from a Will Power love tap-induced spin to take the lead then hold off and – ultimately – show a clean pair of heels to Castroneves after a late full course yellow and restart. Still, in a race that began on a wet but drying track and saw six full course yellows for 29 of 81 laps, anything could have happened.

More revealing than the race results was the fact the Champ Car-istas gave ample notice in practice and qualifying that this would not be a repeat of the Homestead race, where they were consigned to also rans by their drivers’ lack of oval-track experience and their engineers’ unfamiliarity with the Dallara-Honda speedway setups. At St. Petersburg, NHRL’s Justin Wilson set fastest time in Friday morning’s practice, KVRT’s Power set the fastest lap of the weekend in qualifying and the starting grid showed five “transitional” drivers in the top 10. In hindsight, that sort of performance was, if not expected, then is at least readily explained by the experience of the drivers and their engineers on street
circuits, particularly in “chasing” setups on a track that starts greener than Al Gore and gains grip with every passing lap.

In some respects, Saturday’s qualifying session was the highlight of the weekend, in that it gave a tantalizing preview of what may lie ahead for the IndyCar Series. It may have been on a 1.8-mile circuit where lap times were barely more than a minute long, but the fact that the top 15 drivers qualified within a second of one another bodes well for the unified series. Imagine the intensity and, with the proper promotion, attention that sort of competition will generate if it becomes par for the course in the coming months.

It won’t happen overnight, though. First comes the cumbersome dual race weekend of April 19-20 with the IndyCar Series veterans at Twin Ring Motegi and the “transitional” teams at Long Beach. Then comes the Kansas Speedway race on April 27, where the “transitional” teams will be back in largely the same situation they found themselves at Homestead, followed by the month of May at Indianapolis and four more oval-track events. On the other hand, the steady diet of ovals from Kansas through Richmond will give the Champ Car teams and their drivers ample opportunity to come to grips with their oval tracks set-ups and driving techniques.

Which isn’t to say the IndyCar Series veterans will be eating the transitional teams’ dust on the ovals any time soon. It is to say, however, that St. Petersburg gave everyone a glimpse into what the future may be once the Champ Car teams and drivers are fully up to speed. And while there will doubtless be more bumps in the road akin to those experienced by Rahal and NHLR at Homestead, it’s a future worth waiting for.

Just ask the IndyCar Series’ seer.

“This is great for motor racing,” said Castroneves of Rahal’s win. “It’s great that this name ended up winning, because it just shows that open wheel in getting stronger again. It’s getting better again and it going to be huge in the future.”

David Phillips is a Senior Writer for RACER magazine. For details about the current issue, visit www.racer.com.


The opinions reflected herein are solely those of the above commentator and are not necessarily those of SPEEDtv.com, FOX, NewsCorp, SPEED, or Haymarket Worldwide.
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