Round 1: Honda Indy Grand Prix of Alabama, Barber Motorsports Park, April 16-18
Round 1: Honda Indy Grand Prix of Alabama, Barber Motorsports Park, April 16-18.
The long wait and the longer than usual off season are finally over, as Round 1 of the 2021 NTT IndyCar season gets underway this weekend. However, it hasn't been quiet during the off season, with some notable changes amongst the drivers.
A. J. Foyt Enterprises signed 4 times former Champ Car Champion Sébastien Bourdais, for a full season.
Andretti Autosport announced Colton Herta would switch from the 88 Harding Steinbrenner car, to the 26 car sponsored by Gainbridge. James Hinchcliffe joins full time, in the Andretti Steinbrenner Autosport car, after competing in 6 races last year.
Arrow McLaren SP signed Felix Rosenqvist, who moved from Chip Ganassi Racing, replacing Oliver Askew, who had driven the 7 car in 2020,. Juan-Pablo Montoya will drive a third car for Arrow McLaren SP at the 500.
Chip Ganassi Racing signed seven-time NASCAR Cup Series champion Jimmie Johnson but only for road courses, as well as signing Álex Palou for the full season in the 10 car. Chip Ganassi Racing also re-signed Tony Kanaan to a two-year contract to contest ovals, complementing Jimmie Johnson's road & street course schedule.
Dale Coyne Racing with Vasser-Sullivan signed Ed Jones for the full season and for the second time, having driven for them in the 2017 season.
Dale Coyne Racing with Rick Ware Racing, announced ex-F1 driver Romain Grosjean would be racing for the team, driving the 51 car on road and street courses only, while Pietro Fittipaldi will return to the IndyCar Series for the first time since 2018, driving the 51 car on ovals.
Team Penske announced three-time Supercars champion Scott McLaughlin would race full-time.
Notable part time drives include:
Hélio Castroneves, who will contest a six-race schedule in 2021 with Meyer Shank Racing.
Marco Andretti will only compete in the 500, for Andretti Herta Autosport w/ Marco Andretti & Curb-Agajanian.
Simona de Silvestro makes her first IndyCar appearance since 2015 and will drive in the 500 for Paretta Autosport.
-
This year was to be the last with the current Dallara DW12 UAK18 chassis/aero kit and the 2.2 liter twin-turbo V6 engine formula, with a new chassis and a 2.4-liter twin-turbo V6 hybrid engine, coming online next year but the effects of the pandemic have pushed this back to 2023.
-
The 2021 season opener was to take place at St. Petersburg, where it has traditionally been held since 2005. However, like last year because of the Covid-19 pandemic, St. Petersburg won't be holding the season opener
and instead the honours fall to Barber Motorsports Park, which was dropped last year from the calendar because of the pandemic. Round 2 will now be held at St. Petersburg.
-
Barber Motorsports Park is owned by George Barber, a successful businessman and accomplished driver, who raced Porsches in the 1960s and early '70s. He amassed a collection of motorcycles and after establishing a non-profit foundation in 1994, opened a museum displaying 325 motorcycles from around the world and some vintage cars. In 1998, he sold the family business and donated $54 million to the foundation in order to build a new museum and a road course, on which to run the collection.
In 2002, a 740 acre site east of Birmingham was chosen and a new museum was built, housing an expanded collection of 1,200 motorcycles, with Up to 600 on display at any one time. It's been certified by Guinness as the largest museum of its type.
The road course was designed by South African race track designer Alan Wilson, with three layouts. The main circuit, which is a 16-turn, 2.370-mile (3.70 km) road course, the short circuit and the club circuit. The venue, opened in 2003 and has hosted Grand-Am, Vintage Racing Series events and AMA Superbike. It serves as the home of the Porsche Sport Driving School and the Kevin Schwantz Suzuki School.
One feature that stands out are the series of metal sculptures around the track. The large spider alongside Turns 5-6 has lead to this section of track being nicknamed 'Charlotte's Web'.
This Sunday will be the 11th running of the Honda Indy Grand Prix of Alabama at Barber Motorsports Park. The race was first held on April 11, 2010 and was won by Hélio Castroneves driving for Team Penske, in a Dallara IR05-Honda. Prior to that, Barber Motorsports Park hosted a testing session in October 2007, the success of which led to a full-field, three-day testing session in March 2009. An open date became available in the 2010 season's race calendar and Barber Motorsports Park made a successful bid to hold the race, over Cleveland (Burke Lakefront Airport), Houston, Baltimore, Nashville, Charlotte and Portland.
Some trivia:
The driver with most wins: 3.
Josef Newgarden, 2015, 2017, 2018.
The team with most wins: 6.
Team Penske, 2010, 2011, 2012, 2016, 2017, 2018.
Track layout:
Length: 2.3 Miles (3.7 Km)
Turns: 15
Lap record:
Sebastien Bourdais, 23 April 2016. 1:06.60, 124.324 mph (200.080 Km/h),
KVSH Racing,
Dallara DW12-Chevy IndyCar V6.
Verizon IndyCar Series.
Previous race report:
https://www.motorsport.com/indycar/n...Bvalue%5D=2243
Pole:
Takumo Sato, 1:08.5934, 120.711 Mph (194.265 Km/h).
Rahal Letterman Lannigan Racing.
Dallara IR18-Honda HIR20R Indy-V-6
Winner:
Takumo Sato,
Rahal Letterman Lannigan Racing,
Dallara IR18-Honda HIR20R Indy-V-6
Laps: 90
Distance: 214.200 Miles (344.700 Km)
Race Time: 1:55:46.8076
Average Speed: 107.272 Mph (172.637549 km/h)
Fastest lap: Will Power, Team Penske, lap 12. 1:10.4818 sec, 117.477 mph (189.060 km/h)
Caution periods: 1
Laps 7: 58 - 64
Race Broadcast:
NBC. April 18, 3:00pm ET, 7:00pm UTC
The long wait and the longer than usual off season are finally over, as Round 1 of the 2021 NTT IndyCar season gets underway this weekend. However, it hasn't been quiet during the off season, with some notable changes amongst the drivers.
A. J. Foyt Enterprises signed 4 times former Champ Car Champion Sébastien Bourdais, for a full season.
Andretti Autosport announced Colton Herta would switch from the 88 Harding Steinbrenner car, to the 26 car sponsored by Gainbridge. James Hinchcliffe joins full time, in the Andretti Steinbrenner Autosport car, after competing in 6 races last year.
Arrow McLaren SP signed Felix Rosenqvist, who moved from Chip Ganassi Racing, replacing Oliver Askew, who had driven the 7 car in 2020,. Juan-Pablo Montoya will drive a third car for Arrow McLaren SP at the 500.
Chip Ganassi Racing signed seven-time NASCAR Cup Series champion Jimmie Johnson but only for road courses, as well as signing Álex Palou for the full season in the 10 car. Chip Ganassi Racing also re-signed Tony Kanaan to a two-year contract to contest ovals, complementing Jimmie Johnson's road & street course schedule.
Dale Coyne Racing with Vasser-Sullivan signed Ed Jones for the full season and for the second time, having driven for them in the 2017 season.
Dale Coyne Racing with Rick Ware Racing, announced ex-F1 driver Romain Grosjean would be racing for the team, driving the 51 car on road and street courses only, while Pietro Fittipaldi will return to the IndyCar Series for the first time since 2018, driving the 51 car on ovals.
Team Penske announced three-time Supercars champion Scott McLaughlin would race full-time.
Notable part time drives include:
Hélio Castroneves, who will contest a six-race schedule in 2021 with Meyer Shank Racing.
Marco Andretti will only compete in the 500, for Andretti Herta Autosport w/ Marco Andretti & Curb-Agajanian.
Simona de Silvestro makes her first IndyCar appearance since 2015 and will drive in the 500 for Paretta Autosport.
-
This year was to be the last with the current Dallara DW12 UAK18 chassis/aero kit and the 2.2 liter twin-turbo V6 engine formula, with a new chassis and a 2.4-liter twin-turbo V6 hybrid engine, coming online next year but the effects of the pandemic have pushed this back to 2023.
-
The 2021 season opener was to take place at St. Petersburg, where it has traditionally been held since 2005. However, like last year because of the Covid-19 pandemic, St. Petersburg won't be holding the season opener
and instead the honours fall to Barber Motorsports Park, which was dropped last year from the calendar because of the pandemic. Round 2 will now be held at St. Petersburg.
-
Barber Motorsports Park is owned by George Barber, a successful businessman and accomplished driver, who raced Porsches in the 1960s and early '70s. He amassed a collection of motorcycles and after establishing a non-profit foundation in 1994, opened a museum displaying 325 motorcycles from around the world and some vintage cars. In 1998, he sold the family business and donated $54 million to the foundation in order to build a new museum and a road course, on which to run the collection.
In 2002, a 740 acre site east of Birmingham was chosen and a new museum was built, housing an expanded collection of 1,200 motorcycles, with Up to 600 on display at any one time. It's been certified by Guinness as the largest museum of its type.
The road course was designed by South African race track designer Alan Wilson, with three layouts. The main circuit, which is a 16-turn, 2.370-mile (3.70 km) road course, the short circuit and the club circuit. The venue, opened in 2003 and has hosted Grand-Am, Vintage Racing Series events and AMA Superbike. It serves as the home of the Porsche Sport Driving School and the Kevin Schwantz Suzuki School.
One feature that stands out are the series of metal sculptures around the track. The large spider alongside Turns 5-6 has lead to this section of track being nicknamed 'Charlotte's Web'.
This Sunday will be the 11th running of the Honda Indy Grand Prix of Alabama at Barber Motorsports Park. The race was first held on April 11, 2010 and was won by Hélio Castroneves driving for Team Penske, in a Dallara IR05-Honda. Prior to that, Barber Motorsports Park hosted a testing session in October 2007, the success of which led to a full-field, three-day testing session in March 2009. An open date became available in the 2010 season's race calendar and Barber Motorsports Park made a successful bid to hold the race, over Cleveland (Burke Lakefront Airport), Houston, Baltimore, Nashville, Charlotte and Portland.
Some trivia:
The driver with most wins: 3.
Josef Newgarden, 2015, 2017, 2018.
The team with most wins: 6.
Team Penske, 2010, 2011, 2012, 2016, 2017, 2018.
Track layout:
Length: 2.3 Miles (3.7 Km)
Turns: 15
Lap record:
Sebastien Bourdais, 23 April 2016. 1:06.60, 124.324 mph (200.080 Km/h),
KVSH Racing,
Dallara DW12-Chevy IndyCar V6.
Verizon IndyCar Series.
Previous race report:
https://www.motorsport.com/indycar/n...Bvalue%5D=2243
Pole:
Takumo Sato, 1:08.5934, 120.711 Mph (194.265 Km/h).
Rahal Letterman Lannigan Racing.
Dallara IR18-Honda HIR20R Indy-V-6
Winner:
Takumo Sato,
Rahal Letterman Lannigan Racing,
Dallara IR18-Honda HIR20R Indy-V-6
Laps: 90
Distance: 214.200 Miles (344.700 Km)
Race Time: 1:55:46.8076
Average Speed: 107.272 Mph (172.637549 km/h)
Fastest lap: Will Power, Team Penske, lap 12. 1:10.4818 sec, 117.477 mph (189.060 km/h)
Caution periods: 1
Laps 7: 58 - 64
Race Broadcast:
NBC. April 18, 3:00pm ET, 7:00pm UTC