christopher deharde Tag

 By Christopher DeHarde, IndyCar & Road to Indy Writer INDIANAPOLIS — McLaren-Honda-Andretti Honda’s Fernando Alonso had never driven on an oval before his private test on May 3rd. Some people would expect the two time world champion to have an easy time learning to drive the Indianapolis Motor Speedway. After all, with only four corners, one would expect it to be an easy track to learn on. “Not at all, not at all,” Alonso said. “This is a place that we didn’t repeat the same lap at any time in theRead More

By Christopher DeHarde, IndyCar & Road to Indy Writer INDIANAPOLIS — Several drivers in the Indianapolis 500 only run that race as a part of the Verizon IndyCar Series schedule. Many do it by choice, many do it by circumstance, some have done both. J.R. Hildebrand is one that has done both. The 2009 Indy Lights champion drove for Panther Racing in the 2011-2013 Indianapolis 500s, earning Rookie of the Year in 2011 and nearly winning. After the 2013 race, Hildebrand was unceremoniously fired from his ride and resorted to doingRead More

By Christopher DeHarde, IndyCar & Road to Indy Writer INDIANAPOLIS — Ed Jones finally hit the big time. After moving his racing aspirations to the U.S. and racing in Indy Lights for two years, he won the Indy Lights championship in 2016, securing the Mazdaspeed Scholarship and parlayed that into a full time ride in the Verizon IndyCar Series with Dale Coyne Racing. But how has his first season been on the IndyCar side of the fence compared to his expectations? “This is always what I was aiming for eventually soRead More

By Christopher DeHarde, IndyCar & Road to Indy Writer INDIANAPOLIS — Chip Ganassi Racing driver Max Chilton grew up road racing all over the world before coming to race in Indy Lights in 2015. By racing in Indy Lights, the British native was exposed to something he hadn’t driven: ovals. Chilton did not start in the 2015 Freedom 100 because of a technical failure on his car but his first start on an oval was at Iowa Speedway that same year. He won that race on one of the more physicallyRead More

By Christopher DeHarde, IndyCar & Road to Indy Writer INDIANAPOLIS — Alexander Rossi was trying to secure a drive in Formula One when Michael Andretti reached out in February 2016 with a possibility of a ride in the Verizon IndyCar Series. To that point, what might have been his crowning achievement was winning the 2008 Formula BMW World Final over future Formula One driver Esteban Gutierrez, Macau Grand Prix and European F3 champion and Masters of Formula 3 winner Daniel Juncadella, as well as fellow Indianapolis 500 competitor Gabby Chaves. ThreeRead More

By Christopher DeHarde, IndyCar & Road to Indy Writer INDIANAPOLIS — For Zach Veach, people doubting him is nothing new. “When I first got to Indy Lights everybody was saying ‘There’s no way Veach is going to be able to finish races,’ and by the end of our career in Indy Lights we were running off ten second leads in Indy Lights and had pretty dominant campaigns,” Veach said. Looking at Veach, it’s easy to see why. When seeing him for the first time, many might assume the Ohio native isn’tRead More

By Christopher DeHarde, IndyCar & Road to Indy Writer INDIANAPOLIS — Verizon IndyCar Series Rookie Ed Jones has a lot to be proud of in his 2017 season so far. The Brit, born in the United Arab Emirates, finished tenth in his debut race on the streets of St. Petersburg followed by a sixth in Long Beach for Dale Coyne Racing. Heading to the Indianapolis 500, Jones was the only rookie out of the three yet to complete rookie orientation that actually finished the program within the initial time allotted onRead More

By Christopher DeHarde, IndyCar & Road to Indy Writer INDIANAPOLIS, Indiana — In the last complete day of practice before the 101st Indianapolis 500, Chip Ganassi Racing’s Max Chilton was the fastest car on track. The former Formula One driver turned a fastest lap of 228.592 mph in a day that saw more laps turned than any other day of practice so far with 2,705 laps completed. Chilton knew that this wasn’t a full six hour session like what was had during the week and had to get in the carRead More

By Christopher DeHarde, IndyCar & Road to Indy Writer INDIANAPOLIS, Indiana — In eight laps, James Davison was already over 217 mph. The Australian was drafted overnight to replace the injured Sebastien Bourdais after a savage accident left the 2017 St. Petersburg winner on the sideline with multiple pelvic fractures and a fractured right hip. Davison was got back up to speed quickly during Mondays’s post qualifying practice and turned 44 laps within the first 80 minutes of practice. His fastest lap to that point was 223.670 mph, good enough forRead More

By Christopher DeHarde, IndyCar & Road to Indy Writer INDIANAPOLIS, Indiana — Following Sebastien Bourdais’s accident in qualifying for the 101st Indianapolis 500, James Davison has been selected to replace the Frenchman in the No. 18 GEICO Honda for Dale Coyne Racing. Bourdais suffered a fractured right hip and several fractures to his pelvis after hitting the wall during his third lap in qualifying. Bourdais had posted the two fastest laps of the day before losing traction in Turn 2, hitting the wall. “It’s never easy when you have to replaceRead More