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Racer magazine’s Robin Miller and Marshall Pruett are joined by Sebastien Bourdais…
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…as the three discuss the 2nd Day of Qualifying at Indianapolis. They also feature quick talks with James Hinchcliffe and Colton Herta.
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Following 2 days of qualifying, here is the grid for the 103rd running of the Indy 500…
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Row 1
P1 - Simon Pagenaud, Team Penske
P2 - Ed Carpenter, Ed Carpenter Racing
P3 - Spencer Pigot, Ed Carpenter Racing
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Row 2
P4 - Ed Jones, Ed Carpenter Racing
P5 - Colton Herta [R], Harding Steinbrenner Racing
P6 - Will Power, Team Penske
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Row 3
P7 - Sebastien Bourdais, Dale Coyne Racing w/ Vasser Sullivan
P8 - Josef Newgarden, Team Penske
P9 - Alexander Rossi, Andretti Autosport
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Row 4
P10 - Marco Andretti, Andretti Autosport
P11 - Conor Daly, Andretti Autosport
P12 - Helio Castroneves, Team Penske
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Row 5
P13 - Marcus Ericsson [R], Arrow Schmidt Peterson Motorsports
P14 - Takuma Sato, Rahal Letterman Lanigan
P15 - James Davison, Dale Coyne Racing w/ Byrd, Hollinger, Belardi
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Row 6
P16 - Tony Kanaan, A.J. Foyt Enterprises
P17 - Graham Rahal, Rahal Letterman Lanigan
P18 - Scott Dixon, Chip Ganassi Racing
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Row 7
P19 - Oriol Servia, Team Stange w/ Arrow SPM
P20 - Charlie Kimball, Carlin
P21 - JR Hildebrand, Dreyer & Reinbold Racing
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Row 8
P22 - Ryan Hunter-Reay, Andretti Autosport
P23 - Santino Ferrucci [R], Dale Coyne Racing
P24 - Matheus Leist, A.J. Foyt Enterprises
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Row 9
P25 - Jack Harvey, Meyer Shank Racing w/ Arrow SPM
P26 - Jordan King, Rahal Letterman Lanigan
P27 - Ben Hanley [R], DragonSpeed Racing
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Row 10
P28 - Zach Veach, Andretti Autosport
P29 - Felix Rosenqvist [R], Chip Ganassi Racing
P30 - Pippa Mann, Clauson-Marshall Racing
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Row 11
P31 - Sage Karam, Dreyer & Reinbold Racing
P32 - James Hinchcliffe, Arrow Schmidt Peterson Motorsports
P33 - Kyle Kaiser, Juncos Racing
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Notable:
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Good luck to all.
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Monday at Indianapolis - The full field comes out for a race practice…
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Following 2 days of exciting qualifying drama, today was spent practicing for the race on Sunday next. Ultimate top speeds are no longer the focus, but ability to pass becomes paramount and you want to pass at speed, of course, so the race set-up was now on the cars. The field of 33 cars all ran traffic simulations today in good weather, and as usual, it looked exactly like a race going on, with lines of dozens of cars all passing each other, at speed.
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Here was the order of speed for the IndyCars P-8 session, with times for the TOP FIVE: [R] denotes rookie
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1 - Simon Pagenaud, Team Penske - time of 00:39.3978s for a speed of 228.441mph
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2 - Josef Newgarden, Team Penske - time of 00:39.4265s for a speed of 228.273mph
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3 - James Hinchcliffe, Arrow Schmidt Peterson Motorsports - time of 00:39.4748s for a speed of 227.994mph
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4 - Scott Dixon, Chip Ganassi Racing - time of 00:39.4822s for a speed of 227.951mph
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5 - Alexander Rossi, Andretti Autosport - time of 00:39.5326s for a speed of 227.660mph
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6 - Charlie Kimball, Carlin
7 - Helio Castroneves, Team Penske
8 - Will Power, Team Penske
9 - Felix Rosenqvist [R], Chip Ganassi Racing
10 - James Davison, Dale Coyne Racing w/ Byrd, Hollinger, Belardi
11 - Tony Kanaan, A.J. Foyt Enterprises (14)
12 - Marcus Ericsson [R], Arrow Schmidt Peterson Motorsports
13 - Jack Harvey, Meyer Shank Racing w/ Arrow SPM
14 - Sebastien Bourdais, Dale Coyne Racing w/ Vasser Sullivan
15 - Ed Carpenter, Ed Carpenter Racing
16 - Matheus Leist, A.J. Foyt Enterprises
17 - Spencer Pigot, Ed Carpenter Racing
18 - Jordan King, Rahal Letterman Lanigan
19 - Marco Andretti, Andretti Autosport
20 - Colton Herta [R], Harding Steinbrenner Racing
21 - Santino Ferrucci [R], Dale Coyne Racing
22 - Takuma Sato, Rahal Letterman Lanigan
23 - Pippa Mann, Clauson-Marshall Racing
24 - Conor Daly, Andretti Autosport
25 - Graham Rahal, Rahal Letterman Lanigan
26 - Zach Veach, Andretti Autosport
27 - Oriol Servia, Team Stange w/ Arrow SPM
28 - JR Hildebrand, Dreyer & Reinbold Racing
29 - Ryan Hunter-Reay, Andretti Autosport
30 - Ed Jones, Ed Carpenter Racing
31 - Sage Karam, Dreyer & Reinbold Racing
32 - Kyle Kaiser, Juncos Racing
33 - Tony Kanaan, A.J. Foyt Enterprises (4)
34 - Ben Hanley [R], DragonSpeed Racing
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Notable:
While qualifying speeds were not important, it is still important to go fast and the TOP ELEVEN cars are all consistently fast at Indianapolis, with the exception of rookie Felix Rosenqvist, who has the benefit of advice from both Scott Dixon and driver coach Dario Franchitti.
Tony Kanaan drove both his car and the car of teammate Matheus Leist today - not to check Matheus, but because the two cars have very different set-ups and the team wanted Tony to determine which was the better set-up, so he baselined both cars.
The weather was much cooler today than is expected for raceday, so what was learned today may not apply. The better engineers will still be able to extrapolate what they learrned today and use it on raceday.
The only incident happened late in the day when Marcus Ericsson was in a big gaggle of cars going into Turn 3 and brushed the wall. He suffered no damage and simply painted his right reat tire white and the wall black, but it did bring out a yellow for a track inspection.
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left to right, Simon Pagenaud, Tony Kanaan and Marcu Ericsson
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This was the last practice until Friday - Carb Day. Between now and then the drivers will fan out across the country to help promote the race. Look for them in your town!
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Monday at Indianapolis - The Indy Lights hold a test day…
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The Lights will race the Freedom 100 on the Speedway this Friday - Carb Day - and came out today to hold two test sessions - one before the big cars ran and one after. The results were a mix of both sessions, so we will combine them, here.
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Here was the order of speed for the Indy Lights test sessions 1 & 2 COMBINED, with times for the TOP FIVE: [R] denotes rookie; time is for 1 lap; the driver’s best session is in ( )
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1 - Robert Megennis [R], Andretti Autosport - time of 00:45.5202s for a speed of 197.714mph (2)
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2 - Rinus VeeKay [R], Juncos Racing - time of 00:45.5949s for a speed of 197.390mph (2)
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3 - Oliver Askew [R], Andretti Autosport - time of 00:45.6878s for a speed of 196.989mph (2)
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4 - Ryan Norman, Andretti Autosport - time of 00:45.7591s for a speed of 196.682mph (2)
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5 - Jarett Andretti [R], Andretti Autosport - time of 00:45.8369s for a speed of 196.348mph (2)
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6 - Toby Sowery [R], BN Racing / Team Pelfrey (1)
7 - Lucas Kohl [R], Belardi Auto Racing (1)
8 - Dalton Kellett, Juncos Racing (1)
9 - Chris Windom [R], Belardi Auto Racing / Jonathan Byrd’s Racing (1)
10 - David Malukas [R], BN Racing (2)
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Notable:
Rob Megennis just WON his first Lights race earlier this month, on the road course at Indianapolis. His confidence level is high.
Zachary Claman is listed as an entrant in the Freedom 100 for Belardi, but he was not scheduled to test today, and rookie Chris Windom was the only Belardi car on track.
Rob Megennis (left) and Zachary Claman
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The Lights will come back to hold a single practice and then qualify on Thursday, then come back for the Freedom 100 on Friday.
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Great news!..Aaron Telitz will be in the Freedom 100…
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It was a last-minute phone call made to Wisconsin’s Aaron Telitz, early this week that will put the Indy Lights veteran back into a Lights car for Belardi Auto Racing to contest the Freedom 100 on Carb Day.
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Aaron Telitz
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The 2016 Pro Mazda Champion spoent 2017 and 2018 driving for Belardi in the Lights. giving them 2 WINS and 9 podiums. For 2019 Aaron swithched to IMSA SportsCar driving for AIM Vasser Sullivan at both Sebring and Daytona, where his GTD-class squad captured a P2 at the Rolex 24 at Daytona in one of their Lexus RCF GT3s.
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The all-American AIM Vasser Sullivan # 12 Lexus RCF GT3 squad at Daytona, left to right, Jeff Segal, Aaron Telitz, Fankie Montecalvo and Townsend Bell.:
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Said Aaron of this opportunity, “It’s a little last minute obviously, but I can’t think of another team I’d trust more than Belardi Auto Racing to have a perfectly prepared car and the opportunity to hop in last minute and try to go win the Freedom 100. I also would not be able to make this happen without my sponsors stepping up and making this happen for me and the team."
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Welcome back to the fray and good luck!
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We love it!..The audio tells the story…
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On Friday, the 17th of May, 2017 Indy Lights Champion Kyle Kaiser for Team Juncos went out to practice for qualifying for the 2019 Indy 500. Within seconds of getting up to speed the car snapped around in Turn 3 and nearly went on it’s head, as it smashed the wall. While Kyle thankfully walked away, the unsponsored # 32 car was destroyed, a day before qualifying was to begin.
Making it all the more tragic was the fact that up to that moment Kaiser was consistently in the TOP TEN - faster than he had any right to be. But now, they were out of money, out of spares, unsponsored and looking at a ton of work.
The team decided to take on that challenge and they worked all night to take their only other chassis - a road course car - and turn it into a speedway car. They did it, using the best parts from both cars. But when the first phase of qualifying was over on Saturday, they had not made it into the show, as 5 other cars had not. They had one more chance on Sunday to be one of the 3 cars that would occupy Row 11 - the last row.
They were the last car of the six contenders to try, and as Kyle crossed the finish line this audio between him, his race engineer Tom Brown and his boss Ricardo Juncos tells the whole story. That’s Kyle who asks, “Did we make it???”
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Take a listen:
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left to right, Kyle Kaiser, Tom Brown and Ricardo Juncos
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We love it!
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Parker Thompson has been a very, very busy boy…
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Not only has the Canadian Road toi Indy ace driver been competing in the Indy Pro 2000 series this year, with 2 WINS in 5 races, and also in IMSA’s Porsche GT3 Cup Challenge USA, with a WIN and 4 podiums in 4 races, putting himself 2nd in the points, but last weekend he added TWO MORE racing series to his resume for 2019.
At Canadian Tire Motorsports Park, over the May 17-19 weekend, Parker added in IMSA’s Porsche GT3 Cup Challenge Canada series, driving the # 3 Porsche 991 Cup car for SCB Racing and he picked up a P2 and a P3, putting himself 2nd in the points, again.
But then he did even better, as on the same weekend at CTMP he joined the gang at SpeedStar Motorsport to drive their # 1 Audi R8 LMS GT4 race car in the Canadian Touring Car Championship, in the GT Sport class.
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Parker with his new Audi for SpeedStar Motorsport
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So, how’d he do? He swept the weekend, taking pole in both races, followed by WINS in both races in class and overall. These were the first two races of the season, so he leads the points and SpeedStar has signed him for the whole season. He will next drive for them this coming weekend, where he will do Rounds 3 & 4 at Calabogie Motorsports Park.
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Thompson has now proved that he is not only great in open-wheel, but these first forays into SportsCars prove that there is nothing this guy cannot jump into and do well in.
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Ahhhh!..So, this explains everything!
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https://twitter.com/IndyCar/status/1133131011833962496
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As the WINNER of the Indy 500 Simon Pagenaud visited New York City today…
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But not without his constant companion, Norman Pagenaud…
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https://twitter.com/simonpagenaud/status/1133371308312604672
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https://twitter.com/simonpagenaud/status/1133392328234885121
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https://twitter.com/simonpagenaud/status/1133412154865061888
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https://twitter.com/simonpagenaud/status/1133435591520079872
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IndyCar and NBC have released extended race highlights from both Detroit races…
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The highlight reels for these races needs the extended versions to do them justice - especially Sunday’s Race 2 which was action-packed from start to finish. Because of the changing weather from Saturday to Sunday, the races were completely different in character and that made for a fun weekend.
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Here are the extended highlights for Saturday’s Race 1:
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And here are the extended highlights from Sunday’s Race 2:
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What a great weekend!
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Max Chilton is out and Conor Daly is in, for Texas…
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Carlin full-timer Max Chilton has made the decision to eschew all of the oval races for the # 59 Chevrolet in the 2019 season, including the up-coming DXC Technology 600 at Texas Motor Speedway, this weekend. Replacing Max at Texas will br Conor Daly, fresh off his good work for Andretti Autosport in the Indy 500.
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Conor Daly
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Max made the decision himself and hasn’t really explained why, but it is apparently a concern for safety. Chilton was just married last year and his bride certainly may factor into his decision. Chilton failed to qualify for the Indy 500 this year, so he will be missing all the ovals on the schedule but Carlin has made no announcement about his replacements beyond Texas. Possible subs include Daly, who has become a super-sub in the series, and RC Enerson, who tested very well for Carlin in the pre-season.
Chilton may return to oval racing if and when the new safety windscreen is mounted on the 2020 version of the Dallara DW-12. In the mean time he will do all the 2019 street and natural road course races in the # 59.
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Max Chilton (left) and RC Enerson
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Eight reasons to draw up tight…
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…if you know what we mean. Here are 8 in-car video moments from the race at Texas Motor Speedway, last Saturday night. Remember that none of these happened at anything less than 200 miles per hour and most of them much more than that.
Watch the hands!
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Amazing stuff.
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It’s always great to have a scanner…
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We never go to a race without taking along our scanner, so we can listen in on the conversations between the teams and their drivers, during the race. What you catch humanizes these pros like nothing else.
Here are three examples of that from the latest contest at Texas:
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https://twitter.com/IndyCar/status/1138521027468640257
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https://twitter.com/IndyCar/status/1138453672315236353
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https://twitter.com/IndyCar/status/1138470842281725952
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Lest you think it doesn’t matter, indeed the tires don’t matter. They are toast, anyway, but that Chevy engine was near the end of its life cycle before rebuild, and Josef had to make sure of that, first.
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Boy was that a great race!
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It’s time to catch up with the Power Rankings…
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The last time we took a look at the Power Ranking it was following the race at Long Beach, in post #583. So what are the Power Rankings? They are a look at the TOP TEN ranked drivers based not just on WINS and points, but also looking at things like qualifying results, on-track passes, on-track position passes and average running position throughout the race. The rankings are compiled by the IndyCar statistics gurus.
Following the Grand Prix of Indianapolis, here are the TOP TEN ranked drivers, with their ranking from the previous race at Long Beach in ( ):
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1 - Scott Dixon - Despite not WINNING the race, Scott was again on the podium and that helped to push him to the top, stats-wise. (3)
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2 - Josef Newgarden - Josef didn’t get any better following Long Beach, but he didn’t get any worse, and stays ranked at 2nd (2)
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3 - Alexander Rossi - Rossi’s race was over early when he was taken out early, and it cost him in the rankings, as he drops from the top to 3. (1)
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4 - Simon Pagenaud - Simon WON the race and that along with his other stats ( he qualified P8) has him go from 9th following Long Beach to 4th here. (9)
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5 - Takuma Sato - Taku started P11 and ended the race P14, so it’s no surprise that he slips a bit in the rankings. (4)
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6 - Graham Rahal - Graham gets his 2nd TOP TEN finish in a row so he improves a bit in the rankings. (8)
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7 - Ryan Hunter-Reay - Ryan didn’t qualify well and he finished almost where he started, so it hurt his ranking, compared to Long Beach (5)
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8 - Sebastien Bourdais - Seb started at P10 and ended at P11, so it’s no surprise that his ranking remains static. (8)
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9 - Felix Rosenqvist - Felix gets on the TOP TEN because he qualified on pole and finished P8. That all puts him on the board. (not ranked)
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10 - Will Power - The Power Ranking are only concerned with the last four races, so Will’s good showing at St. Pete doesn’t help him anymore, and he drops in the rankings a lot, as a result. (6)
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Dropping off the TOP TEN was James Hinchcliffe who just didn’t qualify well and couldn’t make many moves, going from P18 to P16 at the end. (7)
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Now, let’s see what the Indy 500 did to these numbers…
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continued…
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It’s time to catch up with the Power Rankings…(part 2)…
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Following the Grand Prix of Indianapolis was the Indy 500, a couple weeks later, and they wwre bound to shake up the Power Rankings:
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1 - Simon Pagenaud - After WINNING both the GP and Indianapolis and the Indy 500, and leading by far the most laps at the Indy 500 it is no surprise at all that Simon went right to the TOP of the Power Rankings. (4)
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2 - Josef Newgarden - Newgy had a great Indy 500, starting 8th and finishing 4th. That all helps to keep him at 2nd in the rankings.
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3 - Alexander Rossi - Rossi started P9 and finished chasing Simon for the WIN, but it wasn’t enough to move him out of a ranking of 3rd, as Josef has just been more consistent over the last four races. (3)
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4 - Scott Dixon - Scott, who was 1st after the GP of Indianapolis, was hurt by his Indy 500 finish, as he was damaged late in the race ad ended up P18. (1)
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5 - Takuma Sato - Takuma dropped all the way to 31st in the race but then rallied all the way up to finish P3, so that helped him a bunch to hold at 5th place. (5)
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6 - Will Power - Power has had a rough few races prior and almost dropped off the charts, but his P6 qualifying and P5 finish at Indy helps him get better. (10)
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7 - Ryan Hunter-Reay - The Floridian didn’t qualify well, at P22 but he made up for it by passing and ended the day P8 and that helps him stay 7th in the rankings.
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8 - Santino Ferrucci - The young driver for Dale Coyne was Rookie of the Year at the Indy 500, with a great showing of P7 from his P28 start. That puts him on the Power Rankings for the first time, and deservedly so.
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9 - James Hinchcliffe - Hinch didn’t qualify well, at P32, but he made a lot of great moves in the race and ended up P11 and that gets him back onto the Power Rankings after dropping off, following the GP of Indianapolis. (not ranked)
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10 - Spencer Pigot - Spencer was not ranked following the GP of Indianapolis but he qualified well at the Indy 500 in P3 and finished well enough, at P14, to get on the Power Rankings. (not ranked)
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Dropping out of the rankings were Graham Rahal, Felix Rosenqvist and Sebastien Bourdais, following the Indy 500, as they finished in 27th, 28th and 30th, respectively, and it hurt.
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Drop outs, left to right - Graham Rahal, Felix Rosenqvist and Sebastien Bourdais
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Now, let’s see what the Detroit races did to the rankings…
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.continued…
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It’s time to catch up with the Power Rankings…(part 3)…
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Finally, we had two races at Detroit, following the Indy 500, and they were bound to shake up the Power Rankings.
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1 - Alexander Rossi - Rossi has been at 3rd for a few Rankings in a row but he finished TOP FIVE in both Detroit races, with a P2 and P5 finish. He also qualified well at P1 and P2. That gets Alex to the TOP of the rankings. (3)
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2 - Josef Newgarden - Josef qualified weill, with a P1 and a P2 and he WON Race 1 of the weekend, but messed up in Race 2 and ended the day in P19, so his weekend was kind of a wash. That keeps him in 2nd for yet another Power Ranking. (2)
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3 - Will Power - Good at the Indy 500, Will wasn’t so good in Race 1 at Detroit, but was very good in Race 2, where he pulled in P3 from a P11 start, so he gets better in the rankings (6)
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4 - Simon Pagenaud - After his great Indianapolis month, Simon was a mixed bag at Detroit, where he only qualified mid-pack for both races and finished well in Race 1, with a P6, but could only pull in P17 in Race 2. That had him drop out of his number 1 ranking. (1)
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5 - Scott Dixon - Scott qualified very well in P3 and P6, and he WON Race 2, but he crashed out of Race 1 and ended dead last, so his weekend was a wash, rankings-wise. (4)
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6 - Takuma Sato - Takuma had a great Race 1, going from P9 to P3 and was poised for a great Race 2 finish, but a late tire puncture dropped him to P13 at the end and that had his rankings kinda wash, with a slight drop. (5)
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7 - Ryan Hunter-Reay - Ryan qualified well in Race 1, not so well in Race 2 and finished TOP FIVE in both races, so he kinda stayed the same in the rankings - great but not TOP performances, yet he can’t be nudged out of the TOP SEVEN in the rankings. (7)
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8 - Marcus Ericsson - The rookie qualified mid-pack in both races and finished P13 in Race 1 but passed a ton in Race 2 and finished P2 and that quickly put him on the Power Rankings for the first time.
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9 - Santino Ferrucci - the Indy 500 Rookie of the Year didn’t qualify well at Detroit, with a P22 and a P17 and didn’t finish any better than P10 in Race 2, so he stayed in the rankings, but dropped slightly (8)
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10 - Graham Rahal - Graham had a rough Indy 500 but came home P7 in both Detroit races and had to pass a ton to do it in Race 2, starting that one in P22. That had Graham get back on the rankings after dropping off. (not ranked)
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Dropping out were James Hinchcliffe (9) and Spencer Pigot (10). Both had midling performances at Detroit and they weren’t good enough to stay in the TOP TEN.
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Drop-out boys James Hinchcliffe (left) and Spencer Pigot
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We await the Power Rankings following the just-completed great race at Texas Motor Speedway, but a good bet is that Josef Newgarden regains the TOP ranking, following many rankings at 2nd for the last several races.
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IndyCar guys do well at the 24 Hours of Le Mans…
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There were a number of IndyCar drivers at this year’s great endurance classic and some of them did very well.
Coming home P2 in the top LMP1 class and overall was IndyCar driver Mike Conway in the # 7 Toyota TS050 Hybrid that he shared with Kamui Kobayashi and Jose Maria Lopez, for Toyota Gazoo Racing. This was the pole-sitting car.
Here are the three of them on the podium, with Mike on the right and Kamui on the left:
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If they look a little dour it is because this car led most of the race but had a tire problem in the last hour that caused them to have to hand over the lead to the sister car, the # 8 TS050 driven by WINNERS Kazuki Nakajima, Fernando Alonso and Sebastien Buemi.
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Coming home P3 in LMP1 and overall was IndyCar driver Mikhail Aleshin in the # 11 BR Engineering BR1 - AER non-hybrid LMP1 for SMP Racing that he shared with Stoffel Vandoorne and Vitaly Petrov.
Here they are on the podium, with Mikhail on the right and Stoffel on the left:
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Finally, the WINNERS of the LMP2 class were Nicolas Lapierre, Pierre Thiriet and IndyCar driver André Negrão in the # 36 Alpine A470 - Gibson for Signatech Alpine Matmut. Andre is an Indy Lights alum and these guys are the 2018 LMP2 Endurance Trophy WINNERS, with 2 WINS and 8 podiums in 8 races.
Here they are on the podium, with Andre on the left and Pierre on the right:
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Just missing a podium finish was current IndyCar driver Sebastien Bourdais, who came in P4 in the LMGTE Pro class in the # 68 Ford GT for Ford Chip Ganassi Team USA. He shared the car with Joey Hand and Dirk Mueller.
Sebastien Bourdais
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Other IndyCar guys in the race included Nico Jamin, Ben Hanley, Scott Dixon, Will Owen, Ryan Briscoe and Luis Felipe “Pipo” Derani - Congrats to all our drivers for a splendid effort!
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Aaron Telitz will be racing at Road America…
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The Wisconsin native will get the chance to ply his trade in front of hometown folks, this weekend, as Belardi Auto Racing will put Aaron in the # 4 IL-15 for both Indy Lights races in support of the IndyCars.
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Aaron Telitz
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The 2016 Champion of the Pro Mazda - now Indy Pro 2000 - series drove two seasons for Belardi in 2017 and 2018. For 2019 Aaron has driven in the first two endurance rounds of the MSA WeatherTech Championship in the AIM Vasser Sullivan team’s GTD class Lexus, earning a podium at the Rolex 24 at Daytona. Belardi also put him in their car for the 2019 Freedom 100, but the car suffered a mechanical at the start, robbing Aaron of any hope to compete.
Said Aaron, “I couldn’t be more excited to get a chance to drive in my home race with Belardi Auto Racing! I love Road America, all my friends, family, and fans that come out will have a car to cheer for. I’m looking forward to a fun weekend and putting my # 4 root canal Belardi Auto Racing car on the top step of the podium.”
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All three of the Road to Indy series will be racing at Road America - their first outings since the Freedom races on Carb Day for the 2019 Indy 500.
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Parker Thompson has been a very busy boy…
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Not only has the Road to Indy ace driver been running the full season of Indy Pro 2000 for Abel Motorsports, and the IMSA Porsche GT3 Cup Challenge USA and Porsche GT3 Cup Challenge Canada series, where he is 2nd in the points in both series, but since the beginning of May he has also taken on the full slate of the Canadian Touring Car Championship, driving the # 1 Audi R8 LMS GT in the GT Sport class, for SpeedStar Motorsports.
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Parker Thompson
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The opening two rounds for the season were at Canadian Tire Motorsports Park in early May. Parker waxed 'em with WINS in class and overall, both rounds. The next two rounds were at Calabogie Motorsports Park in early June and the Red Deer, Alberta native did it again, with another two WINS in class and overall. That’s 4 for 4!!
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Parker in his SpeedStar Audi
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Not only is this kid great in an open-wheel car, but now he’s proving to be just as formidable in SportsCars. Parker will be at Road America this weekend, driving his # 8 Abel Motorsports PM-18 in both rounds of Indy Pro 2000 racing, supporting the IndyCars.
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Let’s catch up with Road to Indy TV…
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…as they covered the three “Freedom” races that were held in Indianapolis over the Indy 500 weekend - the Freedom 75 of the USF2000 series, the Freedom 90 of the Indy Pro 2000 series and the always-exciting Freedom 100 of the Indy Lights - typically, one of the best open-wheel races of every year.
We also get a chance to meet with Indy Pro 2000 veteran Nikita Lastochkin and Indy Lights driver Chris Windom - a superb USAC Champion driver. Indy Lights driver Dalton Kellett visits the Dallara facility in Speedway, Indiana, where he looks at “the Spider” - the great Dallara simulator which allows anyone to drive any Dallara race car at all the major race tracks in the world - without leaving the building. Then, we meet USF2000 ace Darren Keane.
Finally a quick look at the points chase as we head to Road America.
Take a look:
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