The challenging 1.8-mile, 14-turn temporary street circuit saw the bow-tie brand put together a 1-2-3-4 sweep, led by Team Penske’s Josef Newgarden, who led 92 of 100 laps from pole to seize the victory. The outing showcased significant improvements for Chevrolet, who claimed the 2023 manufacturers’ title despite only winning five races to rival Honda’s
Month: March 2024
Was this really the best North America’s premier open-wheel championship could do? And at what cost? When the $1 Million Challenge was revealed by IndyCar roughly six months ago in a made-for-TV spectacle at a club track outside of Palm Springs, California, it came with unpleasant realities: the need to fill an extended void of
“It’s going to be tough,” states Jonny Adam. “With 19 cars in GT3, good line-ups, the quality I think has gone up another level from last year. And there’s good returning teams that know their baseline of where they should be.” With Darren Leung, one half of Century Motorsport’s 2023 victorious pairing, switching to the
Last weekend’s non-points exhibition at the 3.067-mile, 17-turn circuit featured nine hours of testing ahead of qualifying to set the field for two heat races, with the top six advancing into a 20-lap, two-segment main event. The on-track product saw zero lead changes in either the heats or the final, with a combined 39 passes
Lundqvist was the best-placed rookie in the non-championship round on Sunday, finishing sixth in the two-segment main event that had a $500,000 prize on the line after a straightforward drive – starting and finishing fourth – in the second heat race. The 2022 Indy NXT champion finished directly behind Ganassi team-mate Marcus Armstrong in the
Harper and Darren Leung took victories at Silverstone and Brands Hatch on their way to the title in 2023 and the pair will reprise their partnership in GT World Challenge Europe Sprint Cup with Century. But Northern Irishman Harper will now step into the British GT seat originally earmarked for Chris Salkeld and partner Michael
McLaughlin was the main challenger to Alex Palou in the non-championship event’s 20-lap final, which was split into two segments, but couldn’t usurp the Chip Ganassi Racing driver who had previously topped his qualifying group and won his heat race. The 30-year-old New Zealander trailed Palou by 5.792s at the flag, but still sported a smile during
Reigning and two-time IndyCar Series champion Palou controlled the non-points exhibition event, the first in IndyCar since 2008, to claim victory by 5.7929s over Team Penske’s Scott McLaughlin at the 3.067-mile, 17-turn road course. Palou started on pole in his respective heat and in the final, holding the top spot during the event’s entirety. Meyer
On the run towards Turn 1, Juncos Hollinger Racing driver Grosjean was hit by Chip Ganassi Racing’s Scott Dixon – who had already brushed wheels with a fast-starting Colton Herta (Andretti Global) as the race went green. The nose-to-tail contact with Dixon sent Grosjean spinning out of control through the dust towards the apex of the first
The #60 Meyer Shank Racing Honda of Rosenqvist vaulted to over his rivals in 1m38.5831s around the 3.067-mile, 17-turn road course to seize control of the opening group. Palou, the reigning and two-time IndyCar Series champion, continued to further establish his strong pace in the weekend’s testing after pushing a lap of 1m38.5675s to lead
Monterey County, which owns the track, signed a long-term concession agreement with the non-profit organisation Friends of Laguna Seca (FLS) in July last year to secure its long-term financial future. On 12 December last year, a group called the Highway 68 Coalition filed a lawsuit against Monterey County, the Monterey County Board of Supervisors and
The Danish driver has raced for the Rahal squad since joining IndyCar in 2021 and since then he claimed the Rookie of the Year honour in 2022 – the same year he signed a contract extension – and scored a breakthrough victory at Toronto last season en route to finishing eighth in the championship. Ahead
The event located just outside of Palm Springs in California will feature a two-day open test, group qualifying sessions, two heat races and a 12-car “all-star” battle for a purse of $1.756 million – the largest purse for an IndyCar Series race outside of the Indianapolis 500. A non-points paying event, this will mark the
Malukas has been unable to drive competitively since sustaining a wrist injury in a mountain biking accident on 12 February. He was replaced by Ilott at the subsequent tests and in the season-opening Grand Prix of St. Petersburg, where the 25-year-old Briton finished 13th. As Malukas continues his recovery, Ilott will again drive one of
The 48-year-old has been replaced on an interim basis by Rouven Mohr, who will fulfil his new responsibilities alongside his duties as chief technical officer of the overall Lamborghini organisation. The move was announced by the Italian manufacturer on Thursday in a short statement that gave no insight into the reasons for Sanna’s departure. It
Although no one appeared to have the pace to keep up with Josef Newgarden, who led 92 of 100 laps en route to a Team Penske 1-3-4, O’Ward’s No. 5 Arrow McLaren was lurking for the majority of the race before fading late to finish 7.9121s at the checkered flag. The 24-year-old Mexican, who now
Newgarden had dominated the early stages in his Chevrolet-powered Team Penske car from pole position, but an early caution period – caused by Marcus Armstrong’s crash – led to a round of pitstops under yellow during which he dropped to third after a slow rejoin from his pitbox. He subsequently charged back to the front, passing Colton
Bell, who advanced to the Championship 4 last season with a chance to win the series title at Phoenix, blew a brake rotor early in the race and never was in the fight. But this time around Joe Gibbs Racing driver Bell rallied to win Stage 2, then drove from 20th to first after the final pit
The 30-year-old New Zealander started ninth for the 100-lap contest that opened the 2024 season for the IndyCar Series. However, it didn’t take long for the No. 3 Team Penske Chevrolet to quickly move forward. Just moments after the start, entering Turn 1, he vaulted to sixth after going elbows out with an inside pass
Newgarden led 92 laps, losing the lead after a slow first pitstop but battling back to quickly reaffirm his dominance. He started from the pole, using the harder primary tyres versus the softer alternates of fellow front-row starter Felix Rosenqvist (Meyer Shank Racing), and led the field to the first green flag of the season.
On the streets of St. Petersburg on Saturday, it was a great battle for pole between Team Penske’s Indy 500 winner Josef Newgarden and Felix Rosenqvist, who moved to Meyer Shank Racing from Arrow McLaren in the winter. Rosenqvist set a new track record in Q2 on his fresh alternate tyres, having also set the
Newgarden, a two-time series champion and defending Indianapolis 500 winner, executed a stout lap of 59.5714s around the 1.8-mile, 14-turn temporary street circuit to claim the top spot by 0.0058s over Meyer Shank Racing’s Felix Rosenqvist. “It’s an elevated level when you start out the year,” said Newgarden, who now has 17 career poles. “I
Herta lapped the 1.8-mile, 14-turn street circuit in his Honda-powered machine in 1m00.1331s, recording the fastest time of the weekend so far. This was a regular format session after yesterday’s trial of quickfire multiple split-format sessions, with all cars running throughout the 45 minutes this time. Kyle Kirkwood set the early pace for Andretti Global
Rosenqvist lapped his Honda-powered MSR machine in 1m00.339s, almost half a second quicker than his rivals after his off-season switch from Arrow McLaren. The rest of the top 10 were covered by less than three tenths, which moved fourth-fastest driver Power to state that “Felix is on another planet out there”. “Kinda surprised,” reflected Rosenqvist. “We were
Running the softer alternate tyres, the Swede dropped a lap of 1m00.3390s around the 1.8-mile, 14-turn temporary street circuit to head the leaderboard in the final segment of the session. The lap from Rosenqvist, who joined MSR from Arrow McLaren over the off-season, put him 0.4722s ahead of former team-mate Pato O’Ward. Deployed on a
The new IndyCar season commences on Sunday with its traditional St. Petersburg season-opener. And all eyes will be on Alex Palou, as he seeks to defend the title he won in imperious fashion last year with Chip Ganassi Racing. The Spaniard had been expected to line up this season with Arrow McLaren SP, but a
My first ideas for the top 10 female race and rally drivers of all time included entries from all over the world, maybe with one or two unsung heroines and some historical pioneers. However, looking at the cold, hard statistics of the best and fastest women of their day gave a different picture. Motorsport has
Although new seasons introduce different challenges, Graham Rahal is about to embark on an unprecedented experience. This weekend’s IndyCar Series season opener in St. Petersburg will coincide with the debut of his newly-created MotoAmerica team which is simultaneously competing at Daytona. The 35-year-old announced the formation of Rahal Ducati Moto nearly six months ago, with
The 29-year-old tested Aston Martin’s AMR21 at the Hungaroring last year as she became the first female since 2018 to drive a modern F1 car. Hawkins, who has been appointed Aston Martin’s head of racing for F1 Academy, previously took a podium in the now-disbanded W Series when the championship supported F1 at the Miami
Romain Grosjean has developed a knack of fast starts to the season during his short time in the IndyCar Series. Four of his five runner-up results have come before June, after all. The Swiss-born Frenchman is simmering any early expectations of winning with his new team, Juncos Hollinger Racing, but believes all the ingredients are