Pilots fear Phoenix

THEIndyCar will make his return this weekend to the Phoenix International Raceway (Arizona) for the first time since 2005. Among the drivers entered, only Ed Carpenter, Helio Castroneves, Scott Dixon and Tony Kanaan drove on this one-mile IndyCars oval. The Brazilians have distinguished themselves since Castroneves won the event in 2002 while Kanaan has two consecutive successes in 2003 and 2004.

With the new aero packages from Chevrolet Honda, drivers are preparing to face a particularly demanding event both physically and competitively.

“It will be one of the most physically demanding races of the season and we will have to be ready to take a lot of G over many laps (250)”, notes Graham Rahal who saw his father Bobby Rahal win there in 1992. “I have the feeling that this race could influence our entire season. Our opponents will be at their best and it will be very important to be as well if we want to get back into the points. »

“Phoenix will probably be one of the biggest challenges of the year”, confirms Conor Daly, driver of Dale Coyne Racing. “There is a lot to learn because you have to adopt a different driving style. The cars are really at the limit there. The track requires an enormous physique and a lot of patience. It's hard to know the best place to overtake when every corner is different. »

The weekend will be even more complicated for Max Chilton, Luca Filippi and Alexander Red who have never competed in an IndyCar race on an oval before.

“We tested at Phoenix International Raceway before the start of the season and it will be one of the only tracks on the calendar that I will already know”, underlines the resident of Chip Ganassi Racing. “I spent a lot of time with the engineers, my teammates and Dario Franchitti (team advisor), as well as with the spotters. I was also able to study the different trajectories. »

“I'm really looking forward to my first race on an oval, especially in IndyCar. It’s going to be different from anything I’ve ever experienced in competition.”, adds the Dale Coyne Racing driver. “It's difficult to have goals in this situation, but I will have to go through the learning stage to progress. My preparation is slightly different because we will have little time to learn the many things to know about this type of event. In particular, I will have to keep in mind not to exceed the limits because there will be no margin for error. »

The Phoenix race will be broadcast on Canal+ Sport on Sunday April 3 from 21 p.m.