177 replies to this topic

[Rad-oh-yeah?]

Druga sezona jedinstvenog aeropaketa koji je prosle sezone primljen sa izuzetnim entuzijazmom a svi se slazu da je i opravdao ocekivanja osim mozda na superovalima trebala bi da nam donese promene upravo na tom polju, sa novim prednjim krilom dizajniranim da otkloni uocene manjkavosti. Nekoliko promena u kalendaru sampionata, vraca se nakon dugo godina pauze Laguna Seka i po prvi put Indikar sampionat ce da vozi Ostin i to u istoj konfiguraciji staze kao i F1. Zauzvrati, izgubili smo oval u Finiksu i Sonomu.

 

Kalendar sampionata:

 

10. mart, St. Pit, ulica

24. mart, Ostin, autodrom

7. april, Barber, autodrom

14. april, Long Bic, ulica

11. maj, VN Indijanapolisa, autodrom

26. maj, Indi 500, superoval

1. i 2. jun, Detroit, ulica (dabl-heder vikend)

8. jun, Teksas, superoval

23. jun, Roud Amerika, autodrom

14. jul, Toronto, ulica

20. jul, Ajova, kratki oval

28. jul, Mid-Ohajo, autodrom

18. avgust, Pokono, superoval

24. avgust, Gejtvej, kratki oval

1. septembar, Portland, autodrom

22. septembar, Laguna Seka, autodrom

 

Ukupno 17 trka (16 vikenda), od cega 5 ulicnih trka (na 4 staze - Detroit je dabl-heder), 7 autodroma, 3 superovala i 2 kratka ovala.

 

Vozaci i timovi za sada potvrdjeni i nepotvrdjeni:

 

Andreti Autosport - Honda:

 

#26 Zak Vic - posle solidne debitantske sezone majusni momak velikog srca ce ponovo dobiti priliku u ekipi Andretija.

#27 Aleks Rosi - bivsi F1 vozac i spektakularni pobednik na 100. Indi 500 prosle sezone je bio jedan of glavnih kandidata za titulu, za ocekivati je da ce se taj trend nastaviti.

#28 Rajan Hanter-Rej - Indikar sampion 2012. i pobednik Indi 500 2014, popularni "Kapetan Amerika" imao je prilicno slabu sezonu. Moze on mnogo bolje!

 

Andreti-Herta - Honda:

 

#98 Marko Andreti - Ne samo da je prekomandovan u rezervnu ekipu, nego je jos morao i da se ucipi sa svojom lovom - Marko Andreti je sa Brajanom Hertom suvlasnik bolida u kome ce se takmiciti u ovoj sezoni.

DragonSpid - Sevrolet:

 

Novi tim poznat po ucescu u sampionatima sportskih prototipova ce ove sezone startovati na 5 trka sa 33-godisnjim debitantom Benom Henlijem. Hemli se pre 10-tak godina takmicio u FR 3.5 i GP2 serijama kao clan juniorske ekipe Renoa ali mu je karijera tada neocekivano zaslajfovala. Od onda se pojavljuje kao zvanicni tester za GP2 seriju i Pireli, uz povremene izlete na Leman. Ove godine vozio je kompletnu WEC sezonu.

 

Fojt - Sevrolet:

 

#4 Mateus Lajst - Mladi Brazilac u svojoj drugoj sezoni nakon solidnog debija nastavlja sa ekipom Fojta.

#14 Toni Kanan - Matori Brazilac u svojoj dvadeset i drugoj sezoni nakon ne bas uspesne godine nastavlja sa ekipom Fojta.

 

Ganasi - Honda:

 

#9 Skot Dikson - Aktuelni sampion sa ukupno 5 titula, pobedom na Indi 500, ziva legenda, uvek favorit.

#10 Feliks Rozenkvist - Ruki Svedjanin koji je osvojio sve sto se moglo osvojiti u nizim kategorijama ali nikad nije dobio priliku u F1 imace sansu da pokaze sta zna u Indikar sampionatu.

 

Harding-Stajnbrener - Honda:

 

#8 Pato O'Vord - Aktuelni Indi Lajt sampion debituje u Indikar sampionatu.

#88 Kolton Herta - Sin Brajana Herte debituje u Indikar sampionatu.

 

Jos nije nacisto ko ce snabdevati motorima ovu ekipu, ocekuje se da ce to biti Sevrolet ali posto oni dobijaju tehnicku pomoc Andretija (Hondine "fabricke" ekipe) u zamenu za mesto u bolidima za Andretijev podmladak to komplikuje situaciju.

EDIT - Harding ce ipak koristiti Hondine motore, zvanicno potvrdjeno.

 

Junkos - Sevrolet:

 

Najmladja ekipa u Indikar sampionatu najavljuje ucesce sa dva bolida - nije jos poznato ko ce voziti i na kojim ce se tacno trkama pojaviti.

 

Karlin - Sevrolet:

 

#59 Maks Cilton - "Raketa iz Rajgejta", nekadasnji vozac Marusije u F1 nastavlja saradnju sa ekipom Karlina. Prosle sezone nisu imali nijedan top 10 rezultat zajedno.

 

Pored Ciltona, ocekuje se jos jedan Karlinov bolid za celu sezonu plus jos jedan za Indi 500 i moguce jos poneku trku. Jedan od vozaca bi mogao biti Carli Kimbal ali problem je sto je izgubio dugogodisnjeg sponzora, a bez para nije bas narocito atraktivan.

 

Karpenter - Sevrolet:

 

#20 Ed Karpenter (svi ovali) i Ed Dzons (sve ostale trke) - Gazda Ed ponovo deli sezonu u bolidu, ovaj put sa talentovanim Dzonsom.

#21 Spenser Pigot - Omladinac ponovo dobija priliku za kompletnu sezonu.

 

Karpenter-Skuderija Korsa - Sevrolet:

 

#64 Ed Dzons (samo Indi 500) - Momak sa pasosem Emirata ce dobiti priliku na najvecoj trci sezone u bolidu koji Karpenter sprema za ekipu Skuderija Korsa, Ferarijevu ispostavu u S. Americi.

 

Kojn - Honda:

 

#18 Sebastijan Borde - Cetvorostruki sampion nastavlja saradnju sa Kojnom, Vaserom i Salivenom.

#19 Santino Feruci - Nakon sto se propisno obrukao u Evropi tatin sin je nasao novi angazman u Indikar sampionatu. Videcemo koliko ce trajati.

Pored ova dva bolida moguc je i treci za Indi 500 i jos par trka.

 

Meklaren - Sevrolet:

 

Meklaren sprema povratak u Indikar sampionat kao samostalna ekipa (2017. su sponzorisali bolid Andretija), za sada se zna da planiraju da nastupe na Indi 500 sa Fernandom Alonsom, a moguce je da ce se pojaviti na jos nekim trkama. Jos nije potvrdjen koji ce motor da koriste, ali sanse da to ne bude Sevrolet prakticno ne postoje zbog dobro poznate predistorije sa Hondom.

 

EDIT - upravo je potvrdjeno, Sevrolet.

 

Penski - Sevrolet:

 

#2 Dzozef Njugarden - Indikar sampion za sezonu 2017. je i prosle godine bio jedan od glavnih kandidata za titulu, a i ove ce.

#3 Elio Kastroneves (samo Indi 500) - Trostruki pobednik Indi 500 ce ponovo dobiti priliku za cetvrti Borg-Vorner i ulazak u krug besmrtnih.

#12 Vil Pauer - Sampion za sezonu 2014. i proslogodisnji pobednik Indi 500, jedan od bez sumnje najtalentovanijih vozaca na gridu ali isto tako i sklon pucanju pod pritiskom, u svakom sludaju ne smemo ga zanemariti kada pricamo o kandidatima za titulu.

#22 Simon Pazeno - Indikar sampion za sezonu 2016. imao je za svoje standarde prilicno slabu sezonu 2018. i morace dobro da se potrudi ako zeli da nastavi da vozi za Rodzera Penskija.

 

Rehol-Leterman-Lanigan - Honda:

 

#15 Grem Rehol - Za razliku od Marka Andretija, Grem je u zadnjih par sezona "kliknuo" i poceo da opravdava onu staru da iver ne pada daleko od klade. Ocekujemo da se trend nastavi.

#30 Takuma Sato - Popularni Japanac, bivsi F1 vozac i pobednik Indi 500 2017. puni 42 godine ali ne pokazuje znake starenja.

Spominje se mogucnost i za treci bolid, za Indi 500 i mozda jos ponesto.

 

Smit-Piterson Motorsport - Honda:

 

#5 Dzejms Hincklif - Dezurni klovn Indikar sampionata, "Gradonacelnik" Hinc nastavlja sa ekipom SPM. Proslu sezonu je obelezio izostanak sa Indi 500 koji je bacio u senku inace sasvim solidne rezultate.

#6 Robert Vikens - Bolid je spreman, prijavljen i ceka - Vikens je bio otkrovenje sezone 2018. do stravicnog udesa na Pokonu i povrede kicmene mozdine. Vikens se oporavlja ali pred njim je jos uvek dug put, no gazda Sem Smit (i sam zrtva udesa u kome je stradala kicma) je rekao da kad god Vikens bude spreman bolid #6 ce ga cekati.

#7 Markus Erikson - Jos jedan F1 "izbeglica", vozio za Zauber u F1. Videcemo koliko moze i koliko zna.

 

Smit-Piterson Mejer Senk Rejsing - Honda:

 

#60 Dzek Harvi (Indi 500 i mozda jos ponesto) - Ekipa MSR ponovo u saradnji sa SPM sprema bolid za Harvija, momka cija karijera u mladjim kategorijama je puno obecavala pre nego sto je ponestalo novaca...

 

 

Pored ovih zvanicno potvrdjenih timova i vozaca, ocekuju se i sledeci:

 

Drejer & Rejnbolt - Sevrolet: 1 ili 2 bolida na Indi 500.

 

Belardi Autosport: Indi Lajt ekipa prosle sezone je debitovala sa jednim bolidom na Indi 500 u saradnji sa Fojtom, ocekuje se opet isto.

Edited by Rad-oh-yeah?, 17 December 2018 - 18:03.

[Rad-oh-yeah?]

Fernando Alonso has agreed a deal with General Motors brands Cadillac and Chevrolet to compete in next year’s Daytona 24 Hours and Indianapolis 500 respectively

[Rad-oh-yeah?]

- Pjetro Fitipaldi potvrdio da nece voziti Indikar ove sezone zbog angazmana na mestu treceg vozaca u Has F1 timu. Pricalo se o mogucnosti da ce se pojaviti na nekim trkama koje se ne podudaraju sa F1 kalendarom, ali nije dobio dozvolu tima za to.

[Rad-oh-yeah?]

Novi snabdevac gorivom:

 

 

Hulman & Company has announced a multiyear agreement with Speedway LLC that makes the national convenience store chain the official fuel and convenience store of IndyCar, the IndyCar Series, Indianapolis Motor Speedway and the Indianapolis 500 beginning in 2019.

[Rad-oh-yeah?]

- 17-godisnji Brazilac Eduardo Barikelo, od oca Rubensa, vozice sezonu 2019. USF2000 sampionata, prve stepenice na Indikar lestvici.

[Rad-oh-yeah?]

The last laps of the 2018 season will be turned next week when Team Penske and Schmidt Peterson Motorsports head to Sebring.

Penske’s trio of Chevy-powered champions, Will Power (2014), Simon Pagenaud (2016), and Josef Newgarden (2017) will be joined on the one-day outing by SPM newcomer Marcus Ericsson in his Honda-powered Dallara DW12.

Once the December 4 run at Sebring is complete, which serves as the final test listed on the series’ calendar, a blackout period from Dec. 15 through January 6 will have teams waiting until the new year to resume on-track preparations.

[Rad-oh-yeah?]

Robert Wickens, injured IndyCar rising star, has posted another video of himself relearning to walk with his gait training device and now using crutches for support.

The Schmidt Peterson Motorsports driver suffered a spinal cord injury on August 19 when he launched off Ryan Hunter-Reay's car into the catch-fencing at Pocono Raceway.

Since being transferred to the Craig Hospital in Englewood, CO, the 29-year-old Canadian has been learning to transfer himself from bed to wheelchair and also walk with the aid of physiotherapists and machines.

Wickens' last Instagram video, 10 days ago, showed him using the gait trainer and the support of a ‘table-top’-style machine to lean on, as two physios aided his foot movement.

The latest video shows him taking bigger steps, with just one physio pushing his calves forward and with Wickens now able to use crutches as his arm supports.

SPM-Honda co-owners Sam Schmidt and Ric Peterson have vowed to leave the #6 car available to Wickens as and when he wishes to try an IndyCar again.

Despite his rookie status in 2018, Wickens lay sixth in the IndyCar championship with three rounds to go when the fateful accident occurred.

 

https://www.instagra.../p/Bq0k_mLnLK0/

 

[Rad-oh-yeah?]

Hinc i Viki:

 

https://twitter.com/...353245150072833

[Rad-oh-yeah?]

Ericsson's first test takes him 'back to the passion of racing'

By Jeff Olson | Published: Dec 4, 2018



SEBRING, Florida – When the first car came to life Tuesday morning at Sebring International Raceway, Marcus Ericsson, still dressed in street clothes, stood and smiled broadly while watching it leave the pits.

“I’d never seen these cars live before,” Ericsson said after watching Team Penske’s three-car fleet begin a day-long test. “It was cool to see the other guys go out. The car looks really cool. I’ve watched a lot of clips on the internet to prepare myself for this. To be here today and also have Penske here is a perfect spot for me.”

Nine days ago, Ericsson was competing in the Formula One season finale in Abu Dhabi. On Tuesday, he was writing the latest episode of his racing career, far from the opulence of F1, deep in the shopworn charm of Sebring, and enjoying every lap of his first test with Schmidt Peterson Motorsports.

“This sort of gets me back to why I fell in love with racing,” Ericsson said after his first few hours of testing an SPM Honda. “F1 is always going to be F1, you know? But it’s sort of a bit artificial in some ways. You always go to these perfect places, and that’s not racing, I would say. This takes me back to the passion of racing.”

After spending the last four seasons of his racing career with Alfa Romeo Sauber F1 Team, Ericsson signed in late October to drive the Schmidt Peterson Motorsports No. 7 Honda for the 2019 IndyCar Series season. Much of Tuesday’s test -- which also included Team Penske’s Josef Newgarden, Simon Pagenaud and Will Power -- served as an ease-into-it starter project for Ericsson.

His immediate thoughts? It’s as far from F1 as Sebring is from Abu Dhabi.

“As a driver, you have to work this car a lot more,” Ericsson said. “F1 always starts from perfection, whereas here you have to deal with the car you have and then sort of perfect it. It’s a lot more work from the driver. That’s the biggest difference.”

In five years in F1, the 28-year-old Swede competed in 97 races, with a top finish of eighth in the Australian Grand Prix in 2015. He will remain with Sauber as a reserve driver in 2019 but is scheduled to compete in all 17 IndyCar races in 2019 for Schmidt Peterson.

As for Monday’s initial test, his team was as impressed as Ericsson.

“I’m totally impressed with his outlook on this test,” said Taylor Kiel, SPM’s general manager. “It’s difficult for a driver to come into a test and not be focused on the lap times, right? Just to get in the car, understand it, really take the time to understand the nuances: how you come into pit lane, what you do when you’re in pit lane, and what you do when you leave pit lane -- all of the things we’re going to ask him to do on track. He’s responded very quickly to that.”

When he arrived at the track Monday evening to join the team in its preparation for the test, Ericsson repeatedly told his new teammates how he couldn’t wait to get started. Even before the first engine fired and brought him to his feet, Ericsson emanated enthusiasm.

“I feel like I definitely have stuff that I can bring from my F1 experience to help us as a team to move forward, but I also think the team is really at a high level,” Ericsson said. “I’ve been impressed with the way they work and the preparation they do before a test with all the prep on the setup side. That’s been quite impressive.”

What he found Tuesday was a vehicle more difficult to control and completely different than an F1 car, but something he welcomed. His new team noticed it, too.

“To the layman, this car looks similar to an F1 car, but it’s such a different animal,” Kiel said. “There’s no power steering, there’s way less downforce and the brakes coupled with the downforce are not as good in an Indy car. So there are a lot of things that he needs to get used to and that he’s working on doing today. So far, so good. The learning curve is going to be steep, but he’s very well-prepared mentally to attack that right now.”

Kiel said Ericsson will test again after the first of the year in preparation for the 2019 season-opening Firestone Grand Prix of St. Petersburg on March 10 at St. Petersburg, Florida.

[Rad-oh-yeah?]

 

Srecan 32. rodjendan Gradonacelnice!

Edited by Rad-oh-yeah?, 05 December 2018 - 17:40.

[Rad-oh-yeah?]

[Rad-oh-yeah?]

- U neocekivanom obrtu, ekipa Harding-Stajnbrener ce umesto ocekivanih Sevroletovih motora koristiti Hondine za sezonu 2019. Ovo pojednostavljuje njihov neformalni odnos sa Andretijem ("fabricka" ekipa Honde) ali komplikuje situaciju Meklarenu (koga Honda nece ni stapom za pecanje da dira) jer se ocekivalo da ce asistencija Andretija dolaziti preko Hardinga.

 

Inace Meklaren Indikar tim se odnedavno uselio u nekadasnje prostorije Brajan Herta Autosporta (Hertina ekipa je fuzionisana sa Andredijem).

[Rad-oh-yeah?]

Karli Vuds, Vikensova devojka:
 

What It’s Like Sharing Spinal Cord Injury On Social Media



As many of you already know my fiance Robert Wickens was in an IndyCar accident back in August of this year. He suffered many orthopaedic fractures as a result of the crash, but the worst injury he suffered was a spinal cord contusion. We’ve mentioned briefly on our social media pages what a spinal contusion is, but I’ll go into a bit more detail on my blog because we can! I am not a doctor, but I have learned a hell of a lot about SCI during this whole process, so bare with me while I do my best to explain this. After the crash I worked with our PR team to write up a press release listing out all of Rob’s injuries. He was in an induced coma, but I knew he’d want to be as transparent as possible online about his injuries, so that’s what we did. Here is the list of Rob’s injuries after the crash in Pocono on August 19th.

• Thoracic spinal fracture
• Spinal cord injury
• Neck fracture
• Tibia and fibula fractures to both legs
• Fractures in both hands
• Fractured right forearm
• Fractured elbow
• Four fractured ribs
• Pulmonary contusion

We announced the spinal cord injury pretty early on, but SCI is so rare that I guess people did not understand what it meant when we said he had a thoracic spinal fracture AND a spinal cord injury. Essentially what that means is that he broke his back (his T5 mainly) and pieces of his broken bone hit his spinal cord which caused the contusion which results in swelling of the spinal cord. Swelling of the spinal cord results in paralysis because the nerve signals cannot run from the brain past the level of injury. It’s like there is something in the middle of the spinal cord blocking the nerves to run down. However, because Rob’s injury is incomplete that means over time his spinal cord swelling will go down, and there is potential for the nerves to learn a new path through the spinal cord. To be completely honest I had no idea what all this meant until finally a doctor broke it down for me in layman’s terms. I knew he was paralyzed but I didn’t understand why. I didn’t take it very well either when the first doctor told me when I arrived at the ER. 









Fast forward 3 months later! Now we are starting to share the spinal cord rehab on social media which brings me to this blog post. We want to share the road to recovery, but let me tell you it is not easy. Both Rob and I think it’s important to share the recovery for a number of reasons. First of all, it keeps all of you in the loop! The people who have cared and cheered for him all these years. Second, it’s educational. We have been told since day one not to compare his injury to others because each SCI is different. You can have two people with the same level of injury but one may recover more than the other and thats just how it goes. Some of the reasons for that could be age, health, and simply its just your body is different and heals differently than others. But we can’t lie to you, every person we meet in rehab we ask about their injury and recovery. It’s hard not to compare, and for that reason just sharing his recovery online could mean so much to someone who is going through this themselves. Rob was told he’d never have feeling below his injury or walk again, and look at him now! He’s got a lot of feeling & sensation back, plus he’s been up walking on the vector machine 5 times now. Heavily assisted, but he’s moving! I couldn’t be more proud of him, and for him to share his recovery and be a positive light for someone out there is such an amazing feeling. 

I could talk about this all day. There is so much we could cover, from our journey, how I reacted to the accident, how I’ve dealt with things, the major struggles we’ve faced, being a caregiver, to adapting to our new life. We can’t cover it all today, so we are going to stick to the social media topic!

As I mentioned earlier there are so many reasons we want to share the recovery process online, but the last thing I will mention is the positivity & inspiration all of your comments bring to both of us. Even after a hard day at rehab when we are feeling down, we can post a video and read all of your amazing comments. You would be surprised how just reading a small comment online can lift our spirits so much. Knowing how much support we have from this wonderful online & IndyCar community is incredible. That being said it’s also really hard at the same time. Most of the time we post videos and photos showing us extremely happy, and how well rehab is going. On the flip side, you don’t see how extremely difficult it is at the same time. That’s just the magic of social media right? We just want to showcase how glamorous and perfect our lives are, but in reality everyone has their struggles. That’s why we decided to post a video last week of Rob walking, and towards the end of the video he starts to cry. We want to show everyone that things aren’t always perfect over here, and we are going through some of the biggest challenges of our entire lives. Sometimes reading all those positive comments makes us angry because it seems people can just say “you’re doing great, keep it up you’ll be back in a car in no time!”. It’s almost jealousy that they can write those comments and then just go back to their normal life, and we have to go back to our reality. Most of the time seeing those comments puts smiles on our faces, but other times after a bad day it can be frustrating for that reason. We’ve seen therapists throughout this entire process, and we’ve learned all these emotions are normal. There are just so many emotions running through us all day every day we don’t know how to feel sometimes. For example, when Rob cried in that video he was confused. Just after I stopped filming he told me he didn’t know why he started crying. He said, “I’m not sure if I’m happy I made it to the end, or if I’m upset because it’s so hard to walk”. 

We will continue to share this journey online, but it is difficult at times because we are sharing such a personal part of us. We hope you will continue to support us, and understand that social media is not all it is made out to be. We hope you understand that we do struggle each and every day, but we will try to be as transparent as possible throughout this journey. 

Thank you again and again for all of your continued support! xx

Edited by Rad-oh-yeah?, 09 December 2018 - 17:24.

[Rad-oh-yeah?]

MILLER: Rounding out Will Power



By: Robin Miller | 48 minutes ago


I’ve been around IndyCar racing long enough to have witnessed:

Jim Hurtubise refuse to give up on his beloved roadsters; Johnny Rutherford’s rise from crasher to three-time Indy winner; Mike Mosley’s decision to keep driving hard even though he didn’t like racing anymore; Phil Krueger keep getting knocked down before becoming the best story of the 1988 Indianapolis 500; Dario Franchitti go from being apathetic about Indianapolis to embracing the race and its history like few Indy winners before him; watch Scott Dixon blossom as a racer but also go from a boring, two-word quote to one of the best sound bytes in all of motorsports.

And I recall how much Will Power despised ovals but now he loves them.

This past season we got to watch Power exorcise his Indy demons and finally become comfortable in his own skin. Or, as my RACER compatriot Marshall Pruett put it so perfectly: “Will is now at peace with himself.”


Image by Phillip Abbott/LAT

Now, it’s hard to imagine how a racer with 35 victories and 54 pole positions who’s led 3,870 laps could be anything but cocky or at the very least, satisfied. In his 10 years with Roger Penske, he’s become The Captain’s all-time winner — ahead of Donohue, Bettenhausen, Mears, Sneva, Sullivan, Tracy, Montoya, Pagenaud, Fittipaldi and the Unser family. That in itself is a major accomplishment and badge of honor.

But none of that really mattered to Power because he hadn’t won Indy. It was the only race that really matters to Penske and, therefore, the only race that truly mattered to Willy P.

Finally earning that first IndyCar championship in 2014 eased some of his anguish but losing Indy by 0.1 of a second to Montoya the next May almost neutralized that accomplishment.

“You come so close and fall a fraction short and you wonder if you’ll ever be in that position again,” said Power the other evening at the unveiling of his likeness on the Borg-Warner Trophy. “I can’t tell you how many times I replayed that last lap in 2015 and Turn 2 when I was trying to pass Montoya and pushed and had to lift.

“You start wondering, did I blow my chance? Will I have another one? It gets harder and harder as you get older.”

Nobody can beat Power on the IMS road course (he’s won three of the four contested) but those Indy triumphs meant little or nothing compared to the reason May is special. And as crazy as it sounds, despite all that success in the past decade, it’s like his career was incomplete.

“That’s true, that’s how I felt,” he responded. “Roger has 17 Indy wins and pretty much every one of his drivers had won Indy except myself, (Ryan) Briscoe, Simon (Pagenaud) and Josef (Newgarden).

“I put a lot of pressure on myself and to have won so many races and a championship but not the 500 was weighing on me. If you don’t win the Speedway, all those other wins don’t mean so much.

“It meant so much to me and that’s why I was so excited in Victory Lane.”


Image by Michael Levitt/LAT

A number of people seemed to think the 37-year-old Aussie was kind of aloof or unemotional before his celebration last May. But there’s no finer person in the IndyCar paddock and Power made a lot of new fans because it was so obvious this was the greatest day of his racing life and the joy radiated for 20 minutes. The road racer who used to hate turning left wanted to savor the moment — and his emotions were as real and raw as they come.

And a guy who can always pull out a pole lap on a street or road course when qualifying is winding down now embraces a shocking reality, if you knew him back in 2008.

“My oval game is now better than my road course game,” he declared. “ I love them and it’s so satisfying when you get them right.”

Especially that last Sunday in May.

[Rad-oh-yeah?]

Penske IndyCar team making progress on 2018 'deficiencies'
By David Malsher
Published on Monday December 10th 2018


 
Josef Newgarden says his Penske IndyCar team has made a step in the right direction to solve the "deficiencies" it had in 2018.

Newgarden could not defend his title last season, as he and team-mate Will Power failed to wrestle the crown from Chip Ganassi Racing's Scott Dixon.

The 2017 IndyCar champion was part of Penske's three-car test at Sebring last week, running alongside Power and Simon Pagenaud.

Penske struggled across the board on IndyCar's street courses and also had races, such as Texas, where it could not maximise tyre life or fuel saving in the same way as Dixon and Andretti's Alexander Rossi.

Asked what the main problem was for Penske in 2018, Newgarden told Autosport: "The big thing we're trying to achieve is finding a bigger operating window with this aerokit.

"With the manufacturer aerokit, the cars were so pinned down and we shone because the way Penske cars are set up really suited it.

"Strip that downforce off like we did with the new kit and you expose or emphasise certain characteristics of the car.

"If it doesn't have the right characteristics from a comfort level, then it's sometimes hard to reach a high level of confidence.

"So making the car more comfortable, expanding the operating window, giving us more scope to attack and feel OK with having it on the edge because we're confident we know what it's going to do.

"That was what we were looking for.

"We need to get the car talking to us better, on street courses specifically, and I think we made a lot of headway in that regard during that test."

Newgarden aded that the test helped him feel more confident about his prospects in 2019.

"To be honest, I felt like we had some deficiencies at all tracks this year," Newgarden said.



"And yeah, certain street courses were not incredibly kind to us. We need to be faster.

"When you look at our qualifying performances we were pretty good but it was our outright pace in the race that needed to be lifted.

"I think we did a really good job of getting together very soon into the off-season, so we'd got some really good ideas because we have some of the best guys working on our team.

"All the engineers and all the drivers collaborated to come up with ideas of what we need to be really strong next year.

"This test was a really good opportunity to put those ideas into action, and check we're heading in the right direction and I think we are. It was a good step.

"We turned a lot of laps - I think I did about 120 myself, five sets of tyres - and all three groups left feeling really positive."