As predicted, the first oval race of the 2016 IndyCar season was an absolute thriller, with six cautions and almost continuous entertainment up and down the order through 250 fraught laps.
After almost a decade the sport returned to the iconic Phoenix International Raceway, with fans and drivers alike with high exceptions heading into the race.
Although overtaking proved tough around the one mile oval, the race was frenetic with thrills and spills up and down the order.
With Penske suffering identical punctures on two of its cars, the aero kits making overtaking far from a piece of cake and Scott Dixon bouncing back with victory, Grand Prix Times’ Andy Young takes a look at five talking points from the Phoenix Grand Prix.
1. Aero kit makes overtaking difficult
IndyCar completed a test at Sebring in February ahead of the start of the season, prompting several drivers and team owners to put forward ideas over what could improve the quality of racing at Phoenix.
Many ideas were submitted, but INDYCAR elected to keep the aero kit the same for Phoenix as it was for the preseason test at Sebring.
Overtaking and following another car seemed difficult throughout the test, and such complications were evident during last weekend’s Phoenix Grand Prix.
While some overtaking did take place, many drivers including oval winners Graham Rahal and Ed Carpenter mentioned postrace how difficult it was to follow in the wake of rival cars.
When you compare the settings from Phoenix to those utilised when IndyCar last competed on an oval at Pocono back in August, you notice a stark difference in the aero setup and overall appearance of the cars.
Before we go any further it is worth noting that the characteristics between Pocono and Phoenix are entirely different. Whereas Pocono is a monster 2.5 mile triangular oval, Phoenix is a much shorter oval at only 1.022 miles long.
Last season similar downforce settings were used at Iowa and Milwaukee, two ovals with very similar characteristics with Phoenix.
However, there’s no denying that potentially altering the specifications could have led to much closer racing, potentially similar to that at Pocono and Texas last season.
That said, the short nature of Phoenix could be deemed dangerous for the sort of racing witnessed at Pocono and Texas last season, where if you remember correctly they ran nine wide at one stage during the 500.
Oh well, as race winner Dixon said, we can always improve for the season.
“Can we improve on the racing here? Absolutely. And I can't wait to come back next year.”
2. Punctures for Penske
With Helio Castroneves on pole and St. Petersburg race winner Juan Pablo Montoya starting from third, Penske went into this race as favourites.
However, both Castroneves and then Montoya were struck by identical punctures, forcing them to limp back to the pits for repairs and drop down deep into the exceptionally competitive midfield.
The burning question however: why were only Castroneves and Montoya affected by punctures during the race?
Whilst it could well have just been plain coincidence that both drivers were struck by punctures, one theory suggests that an aggressive camber setup may have been applied on both cars.
For oval racing the teams usually apply a negative camber setup on their cars, with the tyres leaning in slightly.
This is more evident on the frontright tyre, where only the inside strip of the tyre makes constant contact with the track along the straights.
When a car negotiates a banked turn on a oval, the negative camber allows the full surface of the tyre to make contact with the track, therefore boosting overall grip and ultimately speed.
However if an aggressive camber setup is applied, then the amount of contact and therefore wear of the frontright tyre would be greater than usual.
Therefore it is possible that Penske applied an aggressive camber setup to Castroneves and Montoya’s cars, seeing as the punctures occurred at roughly the same time in their respective stints and on exactly the same tyre.
Interestingly the other two Penskes of Will Power and Simon Pagenaud were not affected, so the above theory isn't necessarily the culprit.
Either way, the fact that both punctures seemed identical is concerning for Penske, and ultimately ruined what could’ve been a fruitful race result, especially given Power and Pagenaud’s results.
3. All change for Ganassi at Phoenix
During the season opener at St. Petersburg Chip Ganassi Racing suffered a dreadful start to their campaign, with reigning champion Dixon only finishing seventh.
Further back Tony Kanaan and Charlie Kimball footed the top ten, with the final Ganassi driver of rookie Max Chilton coming home 17th, one lap behind the leaders.
Throughout the St. Petersburg weekend Kanaan in particular struggled immensely, only qualifying 21st on the grid.
This became 20th after Power’s replacement Oriol Servia started from the back, with Kanaan making the most of the caution periods to rise through the order on an alternate strategy to the majority of the field.
During the St. Petersburg race all of the Ganassi drivers were struck with overheating issues, plaguing their overall speed and preventing Dixon from an almost certain top three finish.
Fast forward three weeks and Ganassi seemed like a different team altogether in Phoenix.
Kanaan managed to qualify second on the grid for the race and spent the majority of it at the front, whilst Dixon powered through to victory after the Penskes’ tyre issues.
Meanwhile Chilton amazed many with his ability to remain competitive in his first IndyCar oval race, finishing seventh with Kimball 12th after spinning following contact with Josef Newgarden.
Last season Ganassi was notoriously competitive on ovals, with six top four finishes throughout 2015 a one-two finish at Texas.
With oval veterans Dixon and Kanaan racing for the outfit, expect Ganassi to remain strong on the remaining oval races this season.
The major litmus test, so to speak, for Ganassi will be Long Beach in two weeks. The iconic street course has many similar characteristics to St. Petersburg.
If the team can conquer their overheating issues from the season opener, then Dixon could be a formidable allround opponent. More of that later.
4. Chilton shines under the floodlights
Those who watched the GP2 Series in Europe when Chilton competed with the likes of Ocean Racing Technology and Carlin will be fully aware of the Briton’s ability, where he picked up two victories in his three years in the main series.
Although he never clinched the championship crown and ultimately failed to make a major impact in Formula 1 with Marussia, Chilton certainly caught the attention of many in North America when he won at Iowa last season in the Indy Lights Series with Carlin.
Despite a frustrating IndyCar debut at St. Petersburg where overheating was an issue, Chilton showed his true competitiveness during his official IndyCar oval debut at Phoenix.
The Briton masterfully managed to compete alongside the likes of oval veterans Ryan Hunter-Reay and Graham Rahal, holding his own within the midfield pack and eventually finishing a strong seventh and gaining 39 points for his troubles.
Although Chilton entered the year with oval experience courtesy of Indy Lights, there’s no denying the differences between the Indy Lights car and an Indy car are vast, especially when it comes to speed and downforce.
This therefore makes Chilton’s efforts stand out even more so, particularly when you consider the calibre of the drivers he was directly competing against.
The result clearly shows that IndyCar is a tremendous form of motorsport for allowing drivers to show just how competitive they can be in relatively equal machinery, and will be a breath of fresh air for Chilton who spent three seasons in F1 stuck towards the back of the order with Marussia.
5. Championship battle hots up early
After the opening two rounds of the 2016 season, Pagenaud surprisingly leads the drivers’ championship, four points ahead of Phoenix race winner Dixon and nine clear of St. Petersburg race winner Montoya.
Although it is exceptionally early days in the season and practically pointless discussing the championship battle, particularly due to IndyCar’s competitive nature, there’s no denying we could be in for a barnstorming championship battle at the front.
As expected last year’s title contenders Dixon and Montoya are already at the sharp end of the order, but very few would’ve predicted Pagenaud to lead the championship heading to Long Beach, particularly with the Frenchman yet to win a race this year!
So far Pagenaud has been very consistent with two second place finishes at St. Pete and Phoenix, whilst both winners Dixon and Montoya have suffered both good and relatively poor results.
With the likes of Power and Castroneves expected to blossom as the season continues, as well as Ganassi racer and oval expert Kanaan, we could find ourselves with more than two drivers fighting for supremacy at the top.
All Pagenaud requires is a victory, and not necessarily straight away. If the Frenchman can finish in the top five at Long Beach and then enjoy a competitive month of May, then he could reach Detroit well engrossed in a fierce battle at the top with Dixon and Montoya!
Discussion about this post