INDYCAR NEWS AND NOTES – Sept. 12, 2013

Today’s IZOD IndyCar Series, Firestone Indy Lights and Mazda Road to Indy headlines:

 

1. Pagenaud eyeing title as series heads to Houston 

2. Teams allowed to increase brake cooling for Houston

3. Bumgarner to make Pro Mazda season debut at Houston

 

1. Pagenaud eyeing title as series heads to Houston: Simon Pagenaud is clear in his goal for the rest of 2013.

 

“I’m going into Houston thinking I can win the championship,” Pagenaud said. “We have a good car on street circuits so we’re going to go for it in Houston.”

 

The second-year driver from France is third in the IZOD IndyCar Series standings – 70 points behind championship front-runner Helio Castroneves – with three races remaining.

 

That goal isn’t lofty for the No. 77 Schmidt Hamilton HP Motorsports team. In the past three races, Pagenaud has vaulted two positions in the standings and outscored Castroneves by 46 points and second-place Scott Dixon by 66 points.

 

Pagenaud’s second victory of the season at Baltimore on Sept. 1, which followed a runner-up finish at Mid-Ohio and fifth place at Sonoma, fuels much of the ammunition heading into the Shell and Pennzoil Grand Prix of Houston presented by the Greater Houston Honda Dealers on the 1.7-mile, 10-turn street course at Reliant Park.

 

“I think we have a really hot car right now. We just need to keep going,” said Pagenaud, who secured his first series victory in Race 2 at Belle Isle in June. “It’s looking good. We’re actually the team that has scored the most points the past three races, so it’s interesting to be up here and for people to realize we’ve had a good season. Last year we were a lot more quiet; we were consistent and always there, but this year we’re just that much stronger.

 

“I think we’ve been very competitive though the competition is a lot stronger this year than it was last year. Our consistency, with two wins, has put us up there.”

 

Pagenaud has 11 top-10 finishes in the 16 races, including an early season streak of four in a row following a mechanical issue in the St. Petersburg opener that relegated him to 24th place. Overall on road/street courses, he has an average finish of 8.1. He’s recorded three top 10s in the five oval races, with back-to-back sixth-place finishes at Iowa and Pocono. The season comes to a head at the 2-mile Auto Club Speedway oval Oct. 19.

 

Through the initial five races of the season, Pagenaud had to roll through the field following non-advantageous qualifying results (18.8 average on four road/street courses and the 2.5-mile Indianapolis Motor Speedway oval).

 

“The start of the season was difficult because I was expecting to start as strong as I finished,” said Pagenaud, who finished fifth in the 2012 standings and claimed the Sunoco Rookie of the Year award with six top-five finishes. “It took a while to understand how the tires provided by Firestone were working, and I think we’re just scratching the surface now.

 

“The trust (race engineer Ben Bretzman) has in me and the trust I have in him is a big part of it. We know each other and we’re also good friends; we spend many hours on the phone discussing the race car and challenging each other’s mind. Plus, it’s a whole group of really good engineers here and everything combined gives good results.

 

“I knew if I had the right car I would be fighting for wins. Once we did it, it clicked.”

 

2. Teams allowed to increase brake cooling for Houston: INDYCAR officials will allow IZOD IndyCar Series teams to modify their cars for the Shell and Pennzoil Grand Prix of Houston in order to increase brake cooling.

 

A bulletin issued to teams on Sept. 12 allowed teams to trim the front end plate wicker (Dallara Part #IR12-04B023) to increase brake cooling. Teams can also modify front and rear brake ducts and brake duct backing plates to increase rotor and caliper cooling.

 

“Based on what we saw at Baltimore, where we saw the hottest temperatures of the year, and with hot temperatures expected again in Houston , we’ve decided to allow these changes to help teams improve cooling to the brakes, ” said Derrick Walker, president of competition and operations, INDYCAR.

 

3. Bumgarner to make Pro Mazda season debut at Houston:  Michele Bumgarner will run the final two Pro Mazda races of the season — the Allied Building Products Grand Prix of Houston. 

 

Bumgarner, a native of the Philippines, will enter the event as a tune-up for 2014. She plans to join the series for a full season of competition with support from Mazda Philippines.

 

 

“I am really excited that all of this has come together,” said Bumgarner, who competed in a limited Star Mazda season in 2008. “I am looking forward to getting back in the seat and getting some laps in the car.  To be able to have a race this season in preparation for next year is a real gift and I want to thank Mazda Philippines for that opportunity.”  

 

Bumgarner will race with Sonoma, Calif.-based World Speed Motorsports alongside the team’s regular driver Kyle Kaiser. She tested her car with WSM at Sonoma Raceway on Sept. 11.

 

“Michele has an impressive racing background,” noted World Speed Motorsports president 

Telo Stewart. “She has been very focused, and doing extremely well in preliminary testing in the updated Pro Formula Mazda, which is quite different from the car she raced in 2008. Michele is a consummate professional on and off the track, and we are glad to add her to our team. We are looking forward to helping her reach her goals on the Mazda Road to Indy.”

 

***

The next IZOD IndyCar Series race is the Shell and Pennzoil Grand Prix of Houston presented by the Greater Houston Honda Dealers doubleheader on Oct. 5 and 6 at Reliant Park. Both races will be televised live by NBC Sports Network (3 p.m. ET on Oct. 5 and 1 p.m. ET on Oct. 6) and broadcast by the IMS Radio Network, including on Sirius and XM Channels 211, www.indycar.com and the INDYCAR 13 App for most smartphones and tablets. The next Firestone Indy Lights race is the Grand Prix of Houston on Oct. 5 at Houston’s Reliant Park. The race will be televised by NBC Sports Network at 4 p.m. (ET) on Oct. 6

The views and opinions expressed in this article are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of SpeedwayMedia.com

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