HPD’s Helping Hand

A small and seemingly routine technical change within the IndyCar Series came out last month, but after looking into Honda Performance Development’s efforts to eliminate refueling fires, I came away mightily impressed with the initiative shown by the good folks at HPD.

Roger Griffiths (L), Kurt Antonius (M), and Jack Spurney (R) are amongst the dedicated group from HPD who deliver far beyond what their contract demands in the IndyCar Series. (LAT)

Speaking with Roger Griffiths, HPD’s technical division manager, he explained how the decision was made to tackle the problem.

“It all occurred after the incident at Mid-Ohio in 2008 with [Gil] de Ferran’s sportscar. I actually happened to be on their timing stand, standing next to [team manager] John Anderson when the car went up in flames. I saw firsthand exactly what happened. I came away from that race thinking, ‘We have to do something. This is unacceptable, and particularly with gasoline-based fuel being so volatile.’”

Griffiths said looking to the system HPD created for their Acura American Le Mans program was their first move when considering a solution for the IndyCar Series.

“We then started working on the fuel probe lockout system on our sportscar because it’s an easier system – the rules require the engine to be shut off during a pit stop. It was easy to create a starter-inhibit system where the starter wouldn’t turn until it saw the fuel probe had been removed. With IndyCars, it’s a lot harder because you don’t switch the engine off during a pit stop. We made the sportscar system work well, and began to think about how we could apply it to IndyCars. There seems to be at least one situation each year where a car pulls away with its fuel nozzle attached and inevitably, a fire starts.”

The technology to create a similar lockout system was impossible when IndyCars were shifted manually, but when the move to a paddle-shift system was made, a solution became much easier to implement.

“With the introduction of the Megaline semi-automatic gearshift system, it started to make sense that we could actually do something for IndyCar. If a driver comes in for a pit stop and the car is still in gear, once the fuel probe is inserted, it instantly depresses a sensor that will set about the electronics checking to see if the car is still in gear. If it is, the Megaline system will select neutral immediately. As long as the fuel probe is in the car, it keeps the sensor depressed and the car in neutral, preventing the driver from pulling away. Once the probe is removed, the driver can select first gear and off they go.”

I found it odd that HPD, rather than the series, the chassis manufacturer or the makers of the fuel probes stepped up to address the refueling fire problem. While their V8 engines makes use of the fuel it is supplied, HPD’s products have no direct involvement in the refueling process.

“For us, we consider it our responsibility as a partner of the series. Yes, we are a technical partner, but we consider ourselves more than that. We’re here to promote the series and to grow IndyCar racing, and if we can do something that will improve the safety for the teams we work with on pit lane, we’ll do it, even if it isn’t something that is directly related to our engines. All of this development is being done at our cost; we aren’t going to charge the IndyCar Series for something like this. We took it on and are happy to contribute where we feel we can help.”

Don’t Blame JPM or Bad Ass

The ‘blame game’ was being played rather heavily at Daytona – especially in regards to both Ganassi entries.

The #02 was looking like a surefire winner until its BMW surrendered with Juan Pablo Montoya behind the wheel. Montoya, not one of the easiest drivers for the media to work with, was on the receiving end of full blame for the engine failure. It seemed that many people’s dislike for the Columbian clouded their ability to fairly judge the root of the problem.

One English wag wrote that Montoya was winding the Dinan-tuned BMW V8 too heavily, but with a stock redline of 8500rpms, the team set the limit at 7000rpms, a standard endurance racing practice, and I confirmed the #02’s data showed its drivers stayed at the 7000rpm limit during the race.

I’m amongst the many that have found JPM less than accommodating, but that has no bearing on the #02’s engine failure. It simply wasn’t operator induced.

Justin Wilson also received a steady round of ridicule for unnecessarily pitting the #01 while contending for the win, but somewhere in the mix, some have forgotten that the Briton is hardly a sportscar neophyte. If you combine all of his experience at Sebring, Le Mans, and Daytona, ‘Bad Ass’ has been a part of 120 hours worth of endurance racing.

He heard a loud bang at the back of the car – likely a large clump of tire rubber that accumulated in the wheel well and dislodged, striking the inside of the bodywork in a violent manner – and when faced with the choice to pull straight into the pits or keep going for another lap, he wisely chose to pit.

A rookie would have kept going and risked making things worse. Wilson chose to pit, have the crew look over the car, and returned to action. A shot at the win was lost, which proved to be the sore point for most, but with Scott Pruett and Memo Rojas needing to score points toward their 2010 title bid, Bad Ass was smart not to gamble with their championship.

Wilson made what proved to be an unpopular decision, but had there been a problem and had he kept going, he would need to be enrolled in the Witness Relocation Program to avoid the wrath of his team.

As a guest driver in a full-season program, you never want to roll the dice and hope it all works out in your favor. Nobody on the team wanted to give up the win, but they agreed that Bad Ass did the right thing.

‘Nuff said.

“Get the Garden Hose. We’re going to Le Mans!"

Patron Highcroft Racing made no secret of their desire to contest the 2010 LM24, but with French advertising laws prohibiting alcohol branding, they’ve been hunting for non-Patron Tequila funding for months.

"What? No...this Bruichladdich logo is to promote our new line of water, not our whiskey..." (LAT)

More than a few people suggested they go the Bruichladdich route. (Bruichladdich, a Scotch whisky brand, circumvented the laws by bottling and promoting ‘Bruichladdich Water’ on their LMP2 Radical-AER. Whether their line of water went beyond someone on the factory floor going behind the shed and filling up a single bottle with water from a garden hose remains to be seen.)

I think the folks at Patron are too smart to waste time printing up labels to slap on top of ‘Dasani’ water bottles, and rather than wait for the complete funding puzzle to be solved, it looks like PHR team owner Duncan Dayton has given the green light and made a firm commitment to send the team to France.

Some people only race for money, but in Dayton’s case, he reminds us that the romance of racing at Le Mans is well worth the hefty price tag.

We Might Find Jimmy Hoffa First

Want to know how almost every conversation I’ve had with ALMS drivers or team owners has gone in the past two months?

MP: “How’s it going?”
The collective ALMS paddock: “Personally, I’m fine. If the ALMS would release their effing plans on how they’re going to balance P1 and P2 cars, I’d be even better. We’re (insert the ever-diminishing amount of time) away from the first race and we’re all clueless. We need to pull the trigger on wings, or restrictors and then test those items immediately, and that’s going to cost a lot of money to do in such a short amount of time.”

OK, I’m paraphrasing a bit on the response, but whether it was in the paddock at Daytona, by email or by phone since December, the level of frustration amongst the ALMS entrants is greater than I’ve seen in, well, ever.

I’m told the ALMS will finally post their 2010 rules this week, and some items were revealed on Monday, but they didn’t address the P1/P2 issue.

Let the next wave of calls and emails begin…

MISC:

• Look for the ALMS to announce a title sponsor in the coming weeks.

• Thanks to those of you that logged on for our Live Online Chat during the Rolex 24. We had over 1000 people at the peak, and at least from the Daytona side of things, it was hilarious. It’s a good thing we don’t have microphones on us, otherwise the real chatter from the guests would have the FCC levying some heavy fines in our direction…

(I love this photo. David Hobbs is hatching his escape plan; Bob Varsha is either praying for the Lord to take him or waiting for that cartoon anvil he's always talking about to fall from the sky, and Dario is looking to see if Allan McNish has chimed in from afar with an inappropriate question.)

SPEEDtv.com's Rolex 24 Live Chats are becoming legendary -- if nothing else, the behind-the-scenes antics are worth the price of admission. (John Dagys)

• Dario, an anorak of the highest order, pointed out that my phone number ends in ‘917’, something only Porsche-philes like him would notice. As a serious fan of the 917 myself, I’m not sure how I managed to miss this in the 14 years I’ve had the number…

• Speaking of Dario, with Simon Pagenaud obligated to Peugeot for Le Mans, could we see the Franchitti Fratellos sharing Patron Highcroft’s HPD-01c together at La Sarthe? With Dario’s strong relationship with the team and a vacancy in the roster, it would be a dream Le Mans debut for the two-time IndyCar champion. Provided the rules allow it (I find Sudoku easier than interpreting the LM24 regulations -- only two pro drivers might be allowed, as Risi's Fiona Miller reads it), it would make for an incredible line-up.

• The ALMS is expecting 25 to 26 cars for their Winter Test later this month at Sebring. They also expect 5-6 LMPC cars for the race. A 7th has been sold but isn’t expected to arrive in time to run the 12-Hour classic.

• With so many teams leaving WC for the ALMS and GRAND-AM, not to mention two of the biggest WC team bosses prowling the Rolex 24 paddock, can the series make their curtain call in 2010 with anything more than a bare-bones entry list? If the folks I saw at Daytona leave WC, almost half of the remaining field would be gone. Let’s hope they get a windfall of entries ASAP – the series still holds an important place in the touring car and GT market.

• Racecar Engineering’s Sam Collins attended his first Rolex 24 and came away a major fan of the Continental Tire Sports Car Challenge series. “I’ve just witnessed 81 cars take the green flag and then race for the better part of three hours. It was simply mad. I’ve never seen anything like it before in my life.” I’m just happy that Collins wasn’t allowed to participate in the race. A human wrecking ball in a crash helmet, that boy is…

• Thanks to Robb Holland and Eric Wildt for their invaluable assistance during our Rolex 24 coverage.

• Daytona was absolutely freezing overnight. The ambient wasn’t too bad, but with heavy winds, it was downright unpleasant once the clock crept past midnight. The only other crazy person to venture out in the pre-dawn hours was ace photographer Regis Lefebure. The majority of the media and photographers had all gone back to their hotels to stay warm and get some sleep, but Lefebure, an artist always on the lookout for a unique shot, braved the chilly conditions and came away with his usual assortment of stellar images. It was nice to see Lefebure employing the same dedication to his craft that the men and women bring to their roles on pit lane for a 24-hour race.

As always, thanks for reading and be sure to send your thoughts or questions to .

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

Marshall Pruett is SPEEDtv.com's Auto Racing Editor, and covers IndyCar and sportscar racing for the site. Pruett grew up at ‘Pruett's Olde English Garage,’ his father's shelter for abused foreign cars, and spent his childhood being dragged across the West Coast to help with his dad's amateur racing exploits.

Pruett spent 20 years working in the IRL, CART, IMSA, and most of the known open-wheel feeder series before retiring from active duty in 2001. And in case you were wondering, no, he isn’t related to Scott Pruett.

Marshall lives in Northern California with his wife Shabral.