IndyCar – A Castroneves record in Phoenix

During the IndyCar Series tests conducted yesterday at the Phoenix International Raceway, Helio Castroneves allowed himself to beat (unofficially) the track record.

Published on 27/02/2016 à 11:01

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IndyCar – A Castroneves record in Phoenix

It smells like a recovery IndyCar. This week, 21 drivers are on deck at Phoenix International Raceway, a short oval located in Avondale, Arizona. By completing a lap in 19 »5858 at an average speed of 300,9 km/h, Helio Castroneves finished the first day with the best time. The Brazilian from Team Penske even allowed himself to beat Arie Luyendyk's historic record in 1996 (19”608). It must be said that it has been 11 years since the series returned to these places. But since a time is only official during a qualification or a race, the Dutchman's name remains on the books. To see if it will be erased the weekend of March 13, during the second round of the season.

« This morning we focused on pure performance and the car was set up for that purpose, admitted the three-time Indy 500 winner at the end of the day. This afternoon we worked more on race pace. Everything seems to be going in the right direction. We looked in pretty good shape, but we still need to learn more about the evolution of the Chevrolet aero kit. » He is one of the few in the field to have already ridden in Phoenix. He even scored a victory there, in 2002, on a slightly different configuration.

In the combined standings of the two sessions, Castroneves was ahead of his Australian teammate Will Power and the American Marco Andretti (Andretti Autosport), best time of the afternoon and first representative of the Honda clan. The leading fifth is completed by the New Zealander Scott Dixon (Chip Ganassi Racing / Chevrolet) and the American Ed Carpenter (Carpenter Racing / Chevrolet).

Note the good performance of James Hinchcliffe (Schmidt Peterson Motorsports / Honda), who will make his return to competition after the terrible accident he suffered last May in Indianapolis. The Canadian ranked seventh, four places ahead of Colombian Juan Pablo Montoya (Team Penske / Chevrolet).

Sixth in the morning then eleventh in the afternoon, simon pagenaud (Team Penske / Chevrolet) finished 14th on this first day. 18th then 17th, Sébastien Bourdais (KVSH Racing Technology / Chevrolet) is credited with the 19th fastest time. Max Chilton (Ganassi / Chevrolet) is sixteenth.

The cumulative times of this first day:

1. Castroneves (Penske/Chevrolet) 19 »5858

2. Power (Penske/Chevrolet) 19”5931

3. Marco Andretti (Andretti / Honda) 10 »6038

4. Dixon (Ganassi/Chevrolet) 19" 6066

5. Carpenter (Carpenter / Chevrolet) 29 » 6764

6. Newgarden (Fischer Hartman / Chevrolet) 19 » 6810

7. Hinchcliffe (Schmidt Peterson / Honda) 19 » 6975

8. Munoz (Andretti / Honda) 19 »7492

9. Kimball (Ganassi/Chevrolet) 19”7564

10. Kanaan (Ganassi / Chevrolet) 19 »7688

11. Montoya (Penske/Chevrolet) 19 »7836