Roger Penske has the solution to IndyCar’s standing start woes
IndyCar, IndyCar commentary — By Steph Wallcraft on May 13, 2014 8:43 amIndyCar drivers have appeared to struggle with getting away on standing starts, the most notable and recent example being the incident in Saturday’s Grand Prix of Indianapolis in which Sebastian Saavedra stalled from pole and was hit savagely from behind by Carlos Munoz and Mikhail Aleshin.
Roger Penske knows why. And, as tends to be the case, he also has the solution.
“There was a point there where you wanted to run a long first gear (for the Grand Prix of Indianapolis),” Penske said during an event yesterday at the Penske Racing shop in Mooreville, North Carolina. “It would be advantageous during the race. If you’ve ever tried to start your car in third gear, that’s what they were trying to do.
“Juan (Montoya) stalled, the other driver (Sebastian Saavedra), and that was primarily from running too long a first gear, I think, if you went back and looked at the situation.
“(INDYCAR needs) to tweak that a little bit. We’ve talked to them about it. There are some things that they can make better. But it’s unfortunate when people get wrecked.”
A potential scenario for the coming weeks is therefore to see gearing regulations altered for races involving standing starts.
Tags: Roger Penske, Verizon IndyCar Series - Administration
Is the launch protocol for starts the same as for exiting a pit box? Are there many stalls in the pit lane?
In pit stops the rear tire changers almost always help push the car out of the box. It’s a small change, but prevents the large majority of engine stalls. They still happen from time to time though.