Weather
Our eyes will be towards the sky on Sunday as there’s a potential for some wet weather. As far as how much and when, well that’s up for debate. Which is why rain could play a massive role in how Sunday’s race looks.
Does it rain before the 1:53 p.m. ET green flag making the NTT INDYCAR SERIES declare this a wet start? If so, the strategy of having to use at least one set of primary as well as alternate tires is gone.
If it rains before but not during and the track dries naturally, then who pits for what tire is going to be a factor in who wins this race. Also, when they pit for slicks is too because if you pit too early, you could lose a ton of time by tip toeing around. Pit too late, you’re a lame duck. There’s a sweet spot to be had.
Then there’s the issue of what if it doesn’t rain before the race but does during. That sets up a scenario of when to pit for wets and how long to stay on slicks is a factor.
Then there’s also the worst-case scenario of too much rain falling and causing puddling for which the cars can’t race on the track with that aspect and/or lightning in the area for which also brings out a stoppage.
There’s also a possibility of this race going from green to checkered without any weather interruptions as well for which is why our eyes to the sky is something we’re watching.
“The most interesting thing is you never have a car that works in the wet and the dry,” said Colton Herta. “It’s just not possible.”
Points leader Alex Palou said it’s going to be a virtual unknown if it rains on Sunday because it’s not like they have much practice on wet tires.
I” think unfortunately we don’t really have a lot of practice on the wets, so I think everybody is, let’s say, guessing a little bit both for what the car needs and what the driver needs from a wet setup. Everybody is on the same scenario,” he says.
Palou said he’ll let the engineers decide the setup if it’s wet.
“I remember Indy GP last year where we started on wets. There were some cars that were a bit more set up for the wet conditions, and they were flying. But as soon as it dried, they started to get slower,” he noted.
The last wet race was that 2022 GMR Grand Prix. In that race, the drivers complained about the Aeroscreen in wet conditions. It was tough to see as some drivers made mention that the only way they could have a visual reference of where to drive was to look out the sides and not out front.
That’s because that the water accumulated on the Aeroscreen and stayed there on either wide of the center wicker that goes from the nose to the screen.
“I couldn’t see,” said Simon Pagenaud following his runner-up finish in the 2022 GMR Grand Prix. “I didn’t even know where he was, quite frankly. I picked a few points on the fence to know where I had to brake, but it was very difficult to see without the wiper.”
Will Power agreed. He said it was more about survival there in the end.
“At the end there, man, you could not see a thing. There was a spray in front of me. I don’t know how it was behind the one car, but just the two car, I couldn’t imagine being back in tenth, man.
“You don’t know if someone is braking early or you are kind of looking to the fence to get a reference, you kind of lift early. You don’t want to lift too early because no one can see from behind.”
Power said though that he didn’t have a lot of problems in the rain. It was when it was damp on his end.
“Actually, I didn’t have much problem with the rain,” Power continued. “The worst part for me was when it was half wet. We’re on drys, and you have kind of that gritty just dirt on top of water. That was when I struggled to see a little bit, but in the full wet, I mean, the biggest problem for me was the spray from the cars.
“There’s really nothing can you do about that with open-wheel cars. It’s just going to be a lot of spray. Honestly, it was on the edge of whether we should have been running right at the end there. It was starting to get a bit of aquaplane.”
Conor Daly said then that he had never seen anything like that before.
“It was like the water just stayed in the center of the screen, and I don’t know why, but even as you went faster, which you would hope it would clear, it didn’t,” he said.
He noted that the race then was very much a scientific test run and that they have enough data now to make adjustments because it was a challenging day.
He was grateful for his spotter who Daly said, “was literally guiding me into turn one. I couldn’t see the brake zone or the cars in front of me or the end of the pit wall, but I could look out the side of the Aeroscreen, so I was looking right and left to go straight, which was neat.
“I used to race in the rain all the time, so we had a visor that you can work with, but this is a new era, so obviously there are things that we can figure out. We go from here.
“I do think it was tough. It was definitely hard to race like that because you don’t want to, obviously, end up on the wrong side. Even under yellow. I couldn’t see the cars in front of me under yellow. I had to be guided into pit lane, and that’s concerning. Hopefully we can figure that out, but hopefully we also have very shiny weather for the rest of the year.”
As a result, INDYCAR made a mandatory safety addition of rain vanes to direct as much water as it possibly can away from Aeroscreen.
Will it work?
We may find out.
Coming into that race, there were 34 races with the Aeroscreen and none were affected by wet weather. There’s been 19 races since and no other rain races.
Does the Honda Indy 200 join it on Sunday?
Can Andretti, RLL Capitalize?
Team Penske and Chip Ganassi Racing have won 7 of the 8 races run this season as well as the last three here. In fact, they’ve gone 1-2 in the last three races on the season and the last two years here.
However, Andretti and RLL combined to have four cars qualify in the top five for Sunday’s Honda Indy 200. Can they capitalize on those starting spots and knock the “Big 2” off in the 80 lap race?
This is exactly why Andretti swapped strategists during the off week. They threw away a win in Road America with Herta on the pole and leading the race heading to the final pit stops. He was called down pit lane one lap too soon and it not only cost him a win, but a podium finish too.
In St. Pete, Romain Grosjean crashed with 29 laps-to-go while battling for the lead. In Barber, Grosjean was unfortunately on the wrong end of strategy from the pole. It wasn’t his fault though but rather an ill-timed caution.
In Detroit, Grosjean ruined his front row starting spot with a spin then later a crash.
Between eight races run, Andretti has had a car on the front row in six of them. They have one win to show for the previous five. Can they at least go 2-for-6 in the ninth race run?
What about RLL?
In Indy, they had 2 cars in the top four and had just one finish in the top five. In fact, it was the pole sitter dropping to fourth while being on the wrong tire strategy.
Between four combined Andretti-RLL cars, you have to think 1 of them gets it right.
Newgarden, O’Ward’s Climb
Mid-Ohio is known for its hills. Well, both Pato O’Ward and Josef Newgarden have tall hills to climb on Sunday afternoon. O’Ward spun in qualifying early and as a result, will starts 25th. Newgarden, in the same group in Round 1 as O’Ward, also didn’t advance out and will roll off 15th.
By comparison, the guy they’re chasing in points, Alex Palou, starts fourth. Marcus Ericsson is also one spot ahead of them in points and rolls off ninth.
O’Ward and the entire Arrow McLaren Racing team were after redemption this weekend at Mid-Ohio for how last year went when he started on the pole but saw a mechanical failure while leading. Felix Rosenqvist started fourth and finished last after a similar issue.
“Last year, Mid-Ohio brought heartbreaks with our two cars suffering reliability issues after qualifying on pole and running up front,” said racing director of McLaren, Gavin Ward. “You could say that this year we’re looking for redemption.
“We’ve had the pace to fight at the front everywhere this year, so we’re quietly confident coming back here with a focus on continual improvement and enjoying the process of building a better race team week-in, week-out.”
Rosenqvist’s troubles ended his day on Lap 8. He’d finish last in the 27-car field. O’Ward led the opening 28 laps but towards the end of the first stint, he began to feel troubles with his car. They called it quits after 52 laps which left him 24th.
“Mid-Ohio is the exact halfway point of the season. As a team, I feel like we have some unfinished business there because of what happened last year with our cars,” O’Ward said. I can’t wait to get back and keeping building our momentum.”
He finished 24th. With starting now 25th, can he flip the script on Sunday?
“It was my mistake. I just feel for the team,” O’Ward said. “We had a really fast car, but that doesn’t mean we can’t go forward tomorrow, right? It was all on me. I just lost the rear. It got to an angle where I couldn’t save it, and I stalled it as soon as I got into the grass. It sucks. You’re taking these cars to the limit, and sometimes these things will happen.
“It’s probably not going to be the last time it happens, so you just have to look forward. At least this isn’t a race; this is just qualifying. The race is super long, so we can make a lot of spots when you have a comfortable car underneath you. We’ll go forward tomorrow; I have no doubt in my mind.”
Outside of his pole, O’Ward has qualified 15th, 21st, and 20th here. This is the first time all season he hasn’t started in the top 10 as seven of his previous eight tries, he qualified in the top 3 rows.
For Newgarden, this is the third time in the last five races he qualified 13th or worse. He did win from 17th in the Indy 500, but he also only finished seventh from starting 13th on the Indy road course too.
Alex Palou
With Marcus Ericsson starting 9th, Josef Newgarden in 15th and Pato O’Ward 25th, I’m curious on if Alex Palou tries to change his approach on how to attack Sunday’s race? He said earlier this week that it’s far too early to points race. However, with only three cars in front of him and none of which a rival to take the title from him, how does he play it out?
4 of the 6 races this season on road courses were won from the second row. Marcus Ericsson started 4th in St. Pete, Scott McLaughlin fourth in Barber and Palou from third at Indy and Road America. 1 of the 2 ovals were too with Josef Newgarden rolling off fourth in Texas.
Palou starts fourth on Sunday…
Colton Herta and his team have thrown wins away this year which is why they took the approach to change hit race strategist. Graham Rahal is just hopeful of a podium. Kyle Kirkwood is just hopeful to make it out of the first turn (he’s been punted 2 straight races now).
Palou could benefit and extend this points lead even further on Sunday.
He was third in 2021 here and runner-up last year. He’s won 3 of the last 4 races on the season including two straight.
Sophomore Drivers
Last year, rookie drivers David Malukas (8th), Kyle Kirkwood (9th) and Callum Ilott (10th) all started up front. Now that they’ve raced here, what can they do in their second NTT INDYCAR SERIES go around?
Malukas qualified 12th on Saturday, a year after finishing ninth. Christian Lundgaard starts fifth. He qualified sixth and finished there in Barber. He did the same with a seventh place effort in Road America. He was on the pole and finished fourth in Indy.
Then you have Kyle Kirkwood (starts 3rd).
In the Road to Indy, Kirkwood won all three times in USF2000 competition in 2018, won both times in Indy Pro 2000 in 2019 and won three of his four Indy Lights starts here in 2021 including a fifth place finish at the end.
That’s 8 wins in 9 tries…
Race Review Online 