Photo Credit: Shawn Gritzmacher
Ryan Hunter-Reay performed well throughout last week’s season-opener, the Firestone Grand Prix of St. Petersburg for the Verizon IndyCar Series en route to finishing third.
Hunter Reay stated this track is always physical and takes a lot out of the drivers so finishing the race in third place is an awesome way to kick start his 2016 season and a good omen for the No.28 team. It took all he had, though, as he said after the race ended there was nothing left in the car as he had used it all up to get around Helio Castroneves at the end for third.
Hunter-Reay added that the podium finish was a small victory for him, crediting his crew for all their hard work especially with the pit stops. He felt they were able to have the success they did as going into the weekend they learned about the new aero kit and what set up worked for him. They hope this is a good sign of the future with the new aero package. St. Pete is considered to be Hunter Reay’s home track where he has four podiums and no wins.
When asked how the new aero kits compare to last year’s aero kits he stated that he thought it was better.
“I don’t think we are where we want to be yet,” he commented. “We were half a second off the Penske’s in qualifying. That’s not acceptable. But last year I think we qualified 10th or 12th or something. I’m not even sure. It was a side note. This year we made the Fast Six. It’s definitely better. But we need to find what works with that package. I’m encouraged by how the race went today. This car, the new package, what it does best is it doesn’t surprise you. Last year’s package, it was constantly trying to throw you under the wall. You couldn’t really get on top of it. You always had to stay at 90%. This one you can drive at 100%, at least you know what it’s going to do. Somewhat predictable.”
He went on add that the current set-up puts a lot of pressure on the nose. Last year when he would attack the corner and then come off the brake pedal, the car would snap loose. If he caught it, it would go into a big understeer. No matter what he did he couldn’t get rid of it so he would have a dead front end and understeering car. Now this year he says you can dial the kit more towards how you like the car set up.
Honda’s goal going into the race weekend with the new aero kit was to widen their set up window to which he said downforce is how they achieve that goal. He states the added downforce on the car makes it more predictable and therefore easier to drive and to set up to suit how you drive.
While Hunter-Reay and Honda faced their challenges with their new aero kit, their competitors also faced some challenges of their own. Penske lost Will Power right before the race and they had to use a backup driver in his car which was previously on the pole. However, Penske was still have to have their drivers Juan Pablo Montoya and Simon Pagenaud finish the race first and second, respectively.
“That’s why they don’t want to repave it. They’re really good,” he said. “They have been. They just have it sorted out. Penske, the team and the drivers within the team, are some of the best in the sport. When you combine a lot of talent behind the wheel with a car that’s dialed in, you get that result. I mean, they obviously have found something nobody else has. That’s how you make runs for championships, having certain races like that. We’ll probably see some more like that from them. They’ve done a very good job with it. They’re very consistent.”
Penske’s final driver Castroneves finished fourth because on the last lap Hunter Reay fought to take that position away. Castroneves made the move inside on turn one and Hunter Reay gave him room, raced him side by side through two corners and would get the position. Castroneves would dive bomb Hunter Reay going into four leading him to believe he would take out the whole field. He did hit Scott Dixon but kept going with no wing damage. Hunter Reay kept going and caught Castroneves later where he finely passed him.
