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[h=2]2018 IndyCar 'a very different animal' - Bourdais[/h] Wednesday, 10 January 2018


RACER staff / Images by Marshall Pruett



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Team testing of the new 2018 IndyCar aero kit got underway Tuesday at Sebring International Raceway, with teams permitted five hours of testing per day. Dale Coyne Racing and Andretti Autosport tested their Honda-powered cars Tuesday, with Chip Ganassi Racing joining in on Wednesday. For DCR's Sebastien Bourdais, however, time in the car was limited by a variety of electrical gremlins.


"New-car problems – new data system, new everything on the car, new aero – just got to work out the kinks of everything," Bourdais told RACER's Marshall Pruett. "The guys did a really good job on the car – everything functions, the dash works, we're just not really getting values and stuff like that. So it's just calibration – which unfortunately you can only start working on once you hit the track, hence the extra five hours that we're getting from IndyCar."

• RACER video: IndyCar testing Day 1 at Sebring

Bourdais could tell from the laps he did run, though, that there would be a lot of work ahead for him and his team to get the car to his liking.
"It's definitely a very different animal from what we've had the last three years. We're going to have rethink a lot of setups – it's very rear-ride height sensitive, so as soon as you hit the brakes and the rear gets up you lose a lot of rear downforce and the thing starts moving around. It's just going to be something different and that's always an opportunity to rethink and re-invent the wheel. I've got Olivier [Boisson] and Craig [Hampson, engineers] thinking and working hard at it, so we'll find solutions, it's just going to take a little bit of time.


"Hopefully we get through as much as we can so the next time we hit the track on one of our three private test days, we can really start getting data and start analyzing what's going on. Because these days, as fine as the cars are, if you don't get data you know you can rely on, it makes things very difficult. The driver's feel isn't really enough – I can only tell them what the car is doing but you need to understand why it's doing that, and it's related to the aero map and everything. So it's going to be exciting, but it's going to be a lot of work."
Andretti rookie Zach Veach doesn't have Bourdais' considerable IndyCar experience to draw upon in his acclimatization process to the new car, but the Ohio native told RACER's Pruett that might be a positive.


"It's some of the most fun I've ever had," enthused Veach of his first day of running with his new team. "Just being here at Sebring, obviously, but the aero kit, I'm lucky 'cause I've got to drive both the older kit and the new but I didn't have that much time to kind of create habits with the older kit. The car feels like a proper racecar again – it feels much closer to what we had in Indy Lights. The car's constantly moving under you. On the entry to the corner you find yourself doing two or three little catches before you find the middle and off. It's a little tough to get used to because the IndyCar breaks away a little quicker than the Lights car, but for everything we wanted to accomplish today, we checked all the boxes and more.


"For me it's just good to have that data set of what I need to improve on. Luckily I had [Alexander] Rossi running today and he's extremely quick, so I had an awesome target to shoot towards. This is the first time I really got to run three sets of new tires in a five-hour window on a road course, so I got to understand the new tire process a little bit, and just getting laps in this car as far as understanding the aero kit, how deep these cars can brake again – because compared to the Lights car it's night and day, a whole marker and a half further into the corner – and the important thing honestly is just slowing everything down. The first outing for me, I was like, "Wow, IndyCars are quick!' Mentally we'd been out of a racecar since May, basically, so it takes a few runs for your mind to take 180mph and braking at the 200 mark, just to slow it all down and say, 'OK, this is nothing new, I know what to expect now.' It was like being shot out of a cannon that first run, but it was a good cannon to be in!"


At the request of the team, RACER didn't photograph Veach in his own car, the livery of which will be revealed at a later date, but the driver was eager to relate how much he likes the look his Group One Thousand One sponsors.


"The guys at Group One Thousand One are great to work with, just 'cause they understand making a racecar look good," the 23-year-old said of the U.S.-based insurance holding company that will back his efforts this year. "Their [color] scheme is going to be new to IndyCar – I think the color combination's something that we haven't seen that often. It's similar to one or two cars but it's definitely going to stand out. We're going to have different schemes throughout the year, but I think people are gonna love it. They should – I love it, it's my favorite car that I've had, and that's not just because it's an IndyCar!"

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[h=2]Claman De Melo to test with Coyne[/h] Monday, 08 January 2018


By Marshall Pruett / Image by IMS Photo




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Canada's Zachary Claman De Melo will test with Dale Coyne Racing on Wednesday at Sebring and is in the frame for a race seat alongside Sebastien Bourdais.

"I'm doing the test with Coyne and it's also looking more like I'll be racing with them this year, but nothing's done," the Mazda Road To Indy graduate told RACER.


The French Canadian made his first Verizon IndyCar Series start at the end of the season with Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing in Sonoma. The former Carlin Racing driver set a string of impressive laps during 2017's finale as teammate to Graham Rahal, and has been searching for a ride throughout the offseason.

Having changed management teams, Claman De Melo will rely on Stefan Johansson, who also looks after four-time IndyCar champion Scott Dixon, to finalize a deal with the Honda-powered DCR team.

The primary question facing the 19-year-old from Montreal is whether he will be the sole occupant of the No. 19 Honda. RACER has learned former Bryan Herta Autosport and A.J. Foyt Racing driver Jack Hawksworth is a heavy favorite of the Japanese manufacturer, and could end up sharing the seat with Claman De Melo this season.

After parting ways with the Foyt team at the conclusion of a fruitless 2016 season, the Briton turned his attention to IMSA and sports cars, where he became a factory driver for Lexus on its introduction to the GT Daytona category. Hawksworth is set to compete at the Rolex 24 at Daytona with the Paul Gentilozzi-owned 3GT Lexus program, but if he is given a second chance in IndyCar with Coyne, it's unclear how much juggling would be required between sports car and open-wheel responsibilities.
Provided one or both drivers steps into the No. 19 Honda, the last full-time entry for the 2018 season will be filled.
Coyne and Andretti Autosport will be testing Tuesday at Sebring, marking Zach Veach's first laps with his 2018 car and new team. Chip Ganassi Racing's Scott Dixon and Ed Jones will join them on Wednesday.

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RACER's Marshall Pruett and Andretti Autosport Chief Operating Officer Rob Edwards break down the start of 2018 IndyCar testing at Sebring and what's in store for teams this week in Florida.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?time_c...&v=NEuso7VJBns

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by Lanky Turtle
Andretti and Ganassi teams testing at Sebring International Raceway to prepare for the 2018 Verizon Indycar Series. Follow my twitter at https://twitter.com/LankyTurtle and subscribe to my channel for more HD racing videos!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=csOIfjtNSYw

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RACER's Marshall Pruett reports from Day 1 of 2018 Verizon IndyCar Series testing at Sebring with some help from Sebastien Bourdais and Zach Veach.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZUZI41_sdLw