Q and A with Penske drivers at NOLA
JUAN PABLO MONTOYA, NO. 2 VERIZON TEAM PENSKE CHEVROLET: IS THE TRACK HOTTER OR COOLER THAN IT WAS WHEN YOU TESTED HERE? “Hotter, a lot hotter. We are sliding around a lot more. I am surprised…it felt like the track was really green. That really surprised me to be honest. If you think about it, we came here once with aero kit. Our first day ever with the aero kit was here. We had no real idea of what we needed to do or anything. Right now it is hard because the track is really slow as well. Every time we come here, it seems to be that way. I thought it would be a little better even being a green race track, and even the heat on it because people ran yesterday, we thought the track would be a little better. We were miles off. We are getting there, but it is a couple of seconds off, but it is going to keep getting quicker."
IS LOSING PRACTICE TIME DUE TO RAIN GOING TO HURT YOU ON SUNDAY? “Yes and no. We have a couple of ideas of where to go with the car. But at the same time, if it rains today it is a good thing because we will get an idea of what we need to do for the race because the biggest chance for rain is Sunday."
IT APPEARS LOOKING AT THE TIME SHEET THAT CHEVY’S REMAIN IN GENERAL AHEAD OF THE HONDAS. IS THAT THE CASE? “I would like to think that. The Hondas seem better here. They were up near the front a little bit, but at the end you don’t know who had new tires on. I feel we are okay. We are getting where we need to be."
DO YOU THINK THAT THE DIFFERENT KITS WILL BE STRONGER AT DIFFERENT TRACKS? “Setups are the same way. I think setups are going to behave different here than what we have at street courses. You look at us, after we went to St. Pete, we went to Sebring focused onm the street courses. Some teams came here focusing on road courses. We went to St. Pete we were on top of the sheet every practice. Here we have a little bit of catch up to do."
WHAT IS IT LIKE HERE? “It is a road course. The funny thing is that most of the road courses I’ve been too, they are flat. In the states you have a lot of up and down.
WILL POWER, NO. 1 VERIZON TEAM PENSKE CHEVROLET: INAUDIBLE. “Usually over the weekend if it’s dry, more and more rubber will get laid and the faster it will get. But if it rains it resets the track again and makes it difficult. The track is actually quite fast."
YOUR TEAM HAD A DOMINANT FIRST WEEK AND HAS ALWAYS BEEN STRONG. BUT DO YOU THINK IT’S STRONGER THIS YEAR NOW THAT YOU HAVE FOUR REALLY GOOD CARS AND DRIVERS? “I think it’s very, very strong. We’re always pretty good at St. Pete; I have a feeling Ganassi will be pretty strong here. So we have to see what we’ve got. It is a strong team with four very fast drivers."
HOW MUCH DOES IT HELP HAVING FOUR GUYS LIKE YOU HAVE? “It definitely helps with information. You can try four different things and find out a result."
YOU’RE DEFENDING YOUR TITLE. DOES THAT CHANGE HOW YOU APPROACH NEW RACES? “You just do your job. It’s kind of a good situation to have locked one away and not have that really annoying thing in the back of your mind wondering if you can win one. But yeah, things are more relaxed but very motivated and proactive in doing a good job."
HOW MUCH MORE STRENGTH HAS A FOUR-DRIVER TEAM ADDED? “It’s good the way we push each other and try different things. Then you have four engineers working together. I don’t think there is a stronger combination in pit lane than what we have. It’s a great position to be in. It’s a great problem to have when you have teammates battling it out on the track."
WE HEAD NEXT TO LONG BEACH WHERE YOU’VE DONE VERY WELL. WILL IT BE MUCH DIFFERENT WITH THE AERO KITS? “It’s going to be similar to St. Pete. It’s not a huge gain on the street courses because they’re a little slower. I’ve always liked the track and always have had good results there. I’m not necessarily the best qualifier around there, so getting pole there would be good for me. It’ll be interesting to see. To me, I didn’t have a very strong car there last year. I didn’t have as good a car as the people around me where I finished. That’s definitely an aim to get that right."
HOW DO YOU FEEL THE ST. PETE RACE WENT WITH THE AERO KITS? “It really wasn’t that different. Just a little better in the braking zones. The high-speed tracks are where you’ll see the bigger gains with high speeds and low grip."
ARE THERE ANY TRACKS WHERE THE TRACKS WITH AERO KITS MAY TAKE SOMETHING THAT’S BEE GOOD AND MAKE IT BAD OR VICE VERSA? “The short ovals are ruined… it’s just stupidly wide open. They have to do something different there. Milwaukee is an awesome track where you actually downshift in the corner. If they leave it as it is… they have to do something. I don’t know what it is but they have to do something."
HELIO CASTRONEVES, NO. 3 HITACHI TEAM PENSKE CHEVROLET
WHAT DO YOU HAVE TO DO MENTALLY WHEN YOU HEAD TO A NEW TRACK? “The good news is that when you have three other drivers, you can collect information. Since it’s a new track, you just have to try other things with the car and with your line. I feel that I’m a little behind because this is the first time I’m trying the new aero kit (at NOLA??). In going to a new place, there are always areas where you are better than the others and areas where others are better than you. That’s the toughest part to understand – what are you to do to combine everything."
WITH NEW AERO KITS, A NEW VENUE AND RAIN ON THE WAY, WHAT CHALLENGE DOES THAT PRESENT? “No one has tried the wet setup in these conditions. Out of the drivers, with some maybe their setup is not so good but they feel comfortable in the wet and vice versa. That’s just another element out of our control that makes IndyCar very competitive."
WE LEAVE HERE AND GO TO LONG BEACH. DO YOU THINK IT WILL BE DIFFERENT OR SIMILAR? “We don’t know. The field is always very tight and very close, as it is every time at a street course. Maybe after St. Petersburg there will be a little more give and take."
HOW COOL IS IT TO EXPERIENCE A NEW TRACK WHEN YOU GET THE CHANCE? “It’s great to come to a place like this, explore new areas and being welcomed to a place like New Orleans. For us from the get go, people have been really excited to have us here and that’s why I like being at a place where we are welcomed."
AVERAGE SPEEDS THIS MORNING WERE SIMILAR TO THE INDY ROAD COURSE. IS THAT A COMPARABLE TRACK? “I think we will continue to go faster. The weather is different. It’s a little humid, so that may take a little power away but I still think we still go a little faster especially with the red tires. It’s going to be interesting to see."
ARE YOU CONCERNED ABOUT THE RAIN WITH THE RUNOFF AREAS AND DRAINAGE? “The drainage could be a problem depending on the volume of water. But rain doesn’t destroy everything so we just make sure that we’re able to put rain tires on and keep going."
DO YOU LIKE RAIN RACES? “It brings (talent) out in a different way. Right now I’d love for it to be rain. When you don’t have the combination that feels right, it can level out the field."
SIMON PAGENAUD, NO. 22 PENSKE TRUCK RENTAL CHEVROLET
DOES NOLA FEEL AS FAST AS THE INDY ROAD COURSE? “It feels fast. We’re 190 mph at the end of the straight. Then the braking into Turn 1 is late and you’re throwing it in there. Then adding into the aero kits, it’s a lot of fun."
ARE YOU CONCERNED MORE ABOUT THE RAIN OR THE RUNOFF AREAS? “I don’t think about. If you think about tripping down the stairs, then you’ll trip! I love driving in the rain. It would be a good opportunity to have some fun in the car. The car is already pretty well-tuned so I’m not really concerned with the weather. I would welcome a rain race but want the fans to have a good time."
WHEN YOU GO TO A NEW VENUE, WHAT ARE SOME OF THE THINGS YOU LOOK FOR? “Braking points, hitting the curbs and using the curbs to turn the car, how fast can you go into the pits, seeing how grippy the tarmac is in the pits to see how grippy it is for your stops. Where you can take chances for passing and where there is runoff. If you want to make a pass and you miss it or a late braking zone, then you need to make sure you have some room to get back on the track without damaging the car."
WITH THE TRACK BEING FLAT, IS IT MORE DIFFICULT TO PICK UP BRAKING POINTS? “No, not really. IndyCar does a great job of bringing brake markers too, so there’s no problem there."
THERE WERE SOME EARLIER COMPLAINTS FROM DRIVERS WHO WENT OFF AT THE TEST COMING BACK THAT THE RUNOFF WAS VERY ROUGH AND THERE WAS CAR DAMAGE. ARE YOU HAPPY WITH THE CHANGES THAT HAVE BEEN MADE? “Yes this is a good place for IndyCar with good standards. It’s only the first year so we all have to work together to elevate it to where we want it to be. So far, it’s fantastic. The gravel is in good places. I feel this place is very safe."
ARE THERE ANY PLACES WHERE YOU’D BE WORRIED ABOUT GOING OFF? “No. I’m not concerned at all with that or any safety issues. The pit lane is great. They’ve done a good job at the entry of putting tires against the wall."