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Srecan 42. rodjendan!

 

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- Konor Dejli potvrdjen u bolidu #25 Andreti Autosporta za Indi 500.

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- Kastroneves zvanicno potvrdjen pored Indi 500 i na VN Indijanapolisa u Penskijevom bolidu #3

Vikens:

 

https://twitter.com/...4817058818?s=19

 

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WeatherTech Racing Laguna Seca is preparing to host 23 NTT IndyCar Series entries for next week’s single-day test in Monterey.

The return to the Californian coast for testing is scheduled for February 8, a matter of days before IndyCar teams turn around and make the trek to Texas for the series’ official Spring Training test at Circuit of The Americas on the 12th and 13th.

Expected participants:

A.J. Foyt Racing Chevy (2): Tony Kanaan, Matheus Leist
Andretti Autosport Honda (4): Alexander Rossi, Ryan Hunter-Reay, Marco Andretti, Zach Veach
Arrow Schmidt Peterson Motorsports Honda (2): James Hinchcliffe, Marcus Ericsson
Carlin Racing Chevy (2): Max Chilton, TBA
Chip Ganassi Racing Honda (2): Scott Dixon, Felix Rosenqvist
Dale Coyne Racing Honda (2): Sebastien Bourdais, Santino Ferrucci
Ed Carpenter Racing Chevy (2): Spencer Pigot, Ed Jones
Juncos Racing Chevy (1): TBA
Meyer Shank Racing Honda (1): Jack Harvey
Rahal Letterman Lanigan Honda (2): Graham Rahal, Takuma Sato
Team Penske Chevy (3): Will Power, Josef Newgarden, Simon Pagenaud

The only team missing from the Monterey test is the Honda-powered Harding Steinbrenner Racing team and its drivers Patricio O’Ward and Colton Herta.

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Laguna test to introduce first of three track upgrades



By: Marshall Pruett | 4 hours ago


Friday’s NTT IndyCar Series test at WeatherTech Raceway Laguna Seca will take place with the first of a three-part circuit upgrade plan in position.

Outlined in the agreement between the series and the Monterey County-owned road course, numerous safety updates are required to be completed prior to the season-ending IndyCar race on September 20-22. Ahead of this week’s test where 23 cars are expected, the facility managed by the Sports Car Racing Association of the Monterey Peninsula (SCRAMP) has improved debris fencing at Turns 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, and 10. In those locations, additional steel cables have been affixed to the fences, and the cables have been secured to every pole.

Atop the Corkscrew, two more rows of tire bales have been added to create more cushioning and deceleration in the event of a head-on impact, and all of the circuit’s drainage ditches will be covered before the field of Chevy- and Honda-powered Dallara DW12s enter the 2.2-mile course.

Between the conclusion of the test and the race, secondary curbing will be installed at Turn 7 entering the Corkscrew, and at Turn 8 — the Corkscrew’s apex. All of the secondary ‘sausage’ curbing will have softer tapers to their leading edges.

Two-deep stacks of tire bales will be added at Turns 3, 5, 6, and 11, and more areas, if needed, and a number of corner marshal’s posts will be repositioned and raised.

The final phase of updates could come in the form of resurfacing the worn circuit as early as 2020. Subject to approval by Monterey County’s board of supervisors, resurfacing WeatherTech Raceway Laguna Seca has been a longstanding goal for SCRAMP.

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- Karlin zvanicno potvrdio Ciltona u bolidu #59 za kompletnu sezonu i Ciltona u #23 za Indi 500 plus jos nekoliko trka.

 

Potvrdjene su i trke na kojima ce Kimbal startovati - St. Pit, Indi 500, Pokono, Teksas, Laguna Seka.

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Nezvanicni rezultati testiranja na Laguna Seki, danas prepodne:

 

 

Enerson je u Kimbalovom bolidu, glasine kazu da bi mogao da se pojavi u njemu na nekoliko trka ove sezone (Kimbal ce startovati samo na pet).

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Zvanicni strim za sutrasnje testiranje na COTA:

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Sezona nije cestito ni pocela a vec imamo cirkus. Bombasticno najavljivan ulazak megamilionerske avioni-kamioni-Njujork Jenkis familije Stajnbrener u Harding Rejsing se pretvorilo u pricu tresla se gora rodio se mis - izgleda da su prilikom ulaska zaboravili da sa sobom ponesu i svoj novac. Naime, i pre nego sto je obrnuo jedan krug u bolidu aktuelni Indi Lajt sampion Pato O'Vord saznao je da za njegov angazman nece biti novca pa su tako raskinuli saradnju:
 

Ahead of this week’s pre-season test for the NTT IndyCar Series at Circuit of The Americas, Patricio O’Ward has announced that he and Harding Steinbrenner Racing have decided to part ways.

“The Harding Steinbrenner Racing team supported my decision to seek a new opportunity by releasing me from my contract and allowing me the opportunity to find a new team before the start of the 2019 season,” said O’Ward, the 2018 Indy Lights champion who strongly impressed in his IndyCar debut with HSR late last season. “Now, I am fully focused on finding the right opportunity and how I will use my scholarship from Indy Lights for 2019.”

 

Tim HSR je tako spao na samo jedan bolid u kome ce biti Kolton Herta, sin Brajanov, vicesampion Indi Lajt serije koga sponzorise Andreti Autosport (Majkl Andreti je treci "tihi" partner u Harding-Stajnbrener ekipi).

Ne mogu da kazem da nisam razocaran ovim jer od optimisticnih najava o 26-28 bolida za celu sezonu i cak 40 za Indi 500 brzo se vracamo na standardnu brojku od 20-21 i jedva navucenih 33...

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Santiago Urrutia @Santi_Urrutia

What an unprofessional team is @FollowHSRacing !!This should not happen IndyCar. They have done the same with me last year. Mike Harding shake my hand at the end of 2017 and say " welcome to the team, your team mate will be @GabbyChaves" I hope I found a ride soon @PatricioOWard
11:32 AM - 11 Feb 2019

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MILLER: Harding Steinbrenner, Herta, O’Ward and harsh realities

 

By: Robin Miller | 14 hours ago


The feel good story of 2019 doesn’t feel too good right now. The terrific teenage tandem of Pato O’Ward and Colton Herta won’t be teammates in the NTT IndyCar Series after all.

It basically boils down to the fact there isn’t enough money for Harding Steinbrenner Racing to field two cars for the 2018 Indy Lights champ and second-generation talent. O’Ward saw the handwriting on the wall and asked to be released from his contract with Mike Harding, which was granted earlier today. Herta (pictured above at Sonoma last fall) is at Circuit of The Americas for spring training Tuesday and Wednesday and appears set to continue with the team.

Now, this isn’t a good guy/bad guy story as much as it is a field of dreams and the realities of big time motorsports.

Harding came into IndyCar in 2017 with one car, Gabby Chaves as a driver, no sponsor, a small crew and big hopes of blossoming into a two-car operation. That first year was an anomaly as Chaves finished ninth at Indianapolis, fifth at Texas and qualified eighth fastest at Pocono without putting a scratch on his car. That’s not how new teams usually start out.


Early success for Gabby Chaves at Harding Racing didn’t last.

Last year was more of the norm because, other than qualifying eighth in the season opener at St. Pete, Chaves struggled with no teammate, older suspension parts and a lack of engineering until Gerald Tyler was hired as technical director. Conor Daly was brought in to pinch hit for three races and moved the team in the right direction with his chassis feedback and pace.

Then, in the season finale at Sonoma, Harding (with help from Andretti Autosport mechanics and engineers) fielded cars for O’Ward and Herta as Chaves was parked and given a buyout (he had 2019 remaining on his contract).

In qualifying, O’Ward gave a jaw-dropping display of his ability by posting the fifth-fastest time of out 25 drivers! He then ran ninth in his IndyCar debut while little Herta soldiered home 20th after starting 19th.

They were a few days away from being introduced as IndyCar teammates in a dazzling video scoreboard presentation at Yankee Stadium. Then the New York media, which doesn’t recognize auto racing as a sport, did the unthinkable and busted out positive stories on George Michael Steinbrenner’s advancement into IndyCar. It was a feel good story complete with headlines in the Post, Daily News and Newsday. Having Hank Steinbrenner and his son in the IndyCar family was one of the biggest catches since Paul Newman jumped in 35 years earlier.
 
But as the calendar crept into 2019 we began hearing stories. Harding had laid off all but a couple people. Nothing was happening in the shop on Main Street in Speedway because money was tight, to be kind. And Steinbrenner had yet to announce any sponsorship.

The understanding was that Steinbrenner would take care of Herta, while Harding handled O’Ward – in terms of finding money.

All through January I kept putting off calling Harding Racing president Brian Barnhart because I was hoping things would get turned around by spring training. I finally called O’Ward a couple weeks ago and he was distraught because he didn’t have a car or crew, from what he could gather. He was told to be patient but he wanted Harding to release him ao he could take his $1 million Lights championship bonus to another team and try to salvage something for 2019.

And that’s where we stand today. It appears little Hertamania is going to be a one-car band with Steinbrenner/Harding while O’Ward shops for five or six races (maybe with Andretti?).


Colton Herta

Now fans of our Mailbag at RACER.com are writing in and wondering how this could happen? How could a team make all these grandiose plans without having the funding in place? Best I can guess is that Hank Steinbrenner is about as well-connected as any sportsman in this country and he’s got people looking and he will eventually find sponsorship but he’s got the wherewithal to get things rolling. And partner Sean Jones is doing everything possible for his pal, George Michael. Mike Harding also has people looking for money but, to date, hasn’t found any in three years.

And you can’t field two Indy cars on the come.

I’ve done this for 51 years and I remember a press conference with James Garner announcing his IndyCar team and it never turned a wheel. Cedric the Entertainer was going to help find millions for the old Tony Bettenhausen team but never raised a penny. It happens.

But this is a funny business. Everybody wants to hear the truth until they’re involved. The IndyCar fraternity has been whispering about this story for months yet some of us chose to tread lightly in hopes things turned around.

The Harding Steinbrenner camp is understandably bumpy about people questioning their viability. But Marshall Pruett and myself have championed this pairing since it was first hinted last summer and we purposely kept it under wraps until the press release went out. Then we stalled in reporting what was really going on this winter until recently because we wanted to give this team the benefit of the doubt. Hell, everybody wanted this team to work because it was such a cool story with a couple of great kids and two gung-ho owners.

While I tip my hat to Harding for agreeing to release Pato, I wish he’d been more up front with him a few months ago. And I don’t think Mike would have given up on this kid if there were any chance to salvage things. Unless IndyCar steps in to help with a free engine or some money, not sure this 19-year-old phenom will be in more than a handful of races in 2019. And that sucks.

The Steinbrenners are revved up about IndyCar and hopefully they can pull things together and be around a long time. Ditto for Harding.

It was a great story — O’Ward and Herta — and it still can be but just not as teammates.

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Strim za popodnevni test na COTA: