That’s what allowed him to climb through the pack from 26th to third in 2021, and had the race been the Indy 505 on that occasion, he might well have claimed his second Indy win in three years. Pagenaud is meticulous in practice, knows exactly how his car should feel for it to work in dirty air or running on its own, on a variety of lines, and in different weather and track conditions. Simon Pagenaud has become renowned for making the most of what he’s got at the Speedway, and while there must be times when he misses the nurturing of former race engineer Ben Bretzman at Team Penske, Pagenaud can feel confident in Garrett Mothersead, another engineer who has conquered the 500. Team: Meyer Shank Racing // Engine: Honda Thereafter? Both team and driver have proven over time that it can make strong progress on raceday. If the car is good enough, a couple of reacclimation runs should see him back on pace, and it would be no surprise to see the #23 DRR machine qualify in the first four rows. But his logic isn’t flawed, and nor is Reinbold’s in hiring the 2014 Indy winner. “I was incredibly attracted to the fact that DRR is a streamlined program that puts all of its energy into the month of May,” said RHR, putting a positive spin on the fact that the team will always face an uphill battle against the teams who are in the Ind圜ar Series race in, race out. Over the last few years, the thought has occurred to many – maybe to Reinbold himself – that DRR is only a proven winner away from scoring a top three… and that driver might well be Hunter-Reay. Last year, Santino Ferrucci qualified 15th and finished 10 th, meaning he started ahead of the whole Andretti Autosport team, both Meyer Shank cars, and a Penske, and finished ahead of all the Penske cars and all but one of the Andretti cars. But DRR also regularly outperforms the “Indy-only” entrants run by full-time Ind圜ar teams… and even the full-time drivers in the full-time teams! For example, in 2021, Sage Karam struggled for speed in his DRR car during qualifying yet rose from the back row to finish the race in seventh after a flawless performance from team and driver. It’s almost a self-generated cliché by this writer to describe Dennis Reinbold’s team as the best of the Indy 500 one-off squads, and it’s become increasingly meaningless since so many have dropped away over the past few years. Photo by: Barry Cantrell / Motorsport Images Team: Dreyer & Reinbold Racing // Engine: ChevroletĢ021 was Ryan Hunter-Reay 12th and final season with Andretti Autosport. But of those who have already sipped, slurped and splashed the milk in the Speedway’s Victory Circle, who is most likely to repeat on May 28th this year? Let's take them in reverse order. Recent news that Ryan Hunter-Reay and Dreyer & Reinbold Racing will unite for this year’s 500 brings the tally of former winners entered for the Memorial Day Weekend classic to nine, and perhaps more so than in 1992, all previous victors participating in 2023 have the potential to star.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |