Last year was a fantastic year for IndyCar, there’s no way to argue it. With a champion returning to the series with his exciting driving style, some impressive rookies making their way to the front and Will Power finally delivering the title which he so rightfully deserves, there is a lot of anticipation as to whether the series can produce an even more exciting season this time around. I believe it can.
2015 IndyCar Series Season Preview
The fact that a lot of young, European drivers have made their interests clear in IndyCar and the Mazda Road to Indy shows that the series and the junior categories are certainly on the up, even if the number of entrants does not reflect it. So far, no big name has made the jump across the Atlantic to IndyCar, but names including former Formula 1 star Jean-Eric Vergne has been linked to the series.
One thing which I am most excited to see, is how Andretti Autosport and Chip Ganassi Racing bounces back from the crushing defeat that they suffered to the hands of Team Penske last year. With Penske having signed the very highly-rated Simon Pagenaud, they will only be stronger this time around. Penske won five races last year, whilst Andretti, Ganassi and Ed Carpenter Racing won three, Schmidt Peterson Motorsports took two whilst Dale Coyne Racing and KV Racing Technology took a single victory each. Given the quality of the Penske squad this year, I feel that they will win more races than anybody else this year again, provided they don’t trip up over each other, but more on this later.
24 cars are registered for the whole season, with 33 expected for the coveted Indianapolis 500. I am sure that other teams will have part-time entries too.
Arguably the biggest change this season is the introduction of aero kits. Both Honda and Chevrolet will supply their teams with different aero kits and this will add a further element of intrigue as the season both starts and progresses. Speeds are expected to rise with this as well, with different kits available for different types of circuit. Another big change is the scrapping of the standing start. Standing starts clearly did not work in IndyCar, as we saw at the Indianapolis Road Course last season. I wouldn’t mind seeing them reintroduced into the series with a bit of work. Double points have been ruined nicely for this season, with only the Indianapolis 500 and the Grand Prix of Sonoma receiving double points this time around.
Team Penske
Penske are clearly the team who will be looking to take the title again this year. However, with four top drivers in the same team, it will be interesting to see how they all get along this year. There were some notable near-misses between the three team mates last year, and the introduction of Simon Pagenaud will only spice things up this time around.
No. 1 Will Power
Power finally delivered his maiden title after finishing second three times in the space of three years. A driver who has clearly become a much more balanced driver over the last few years, now boasting victories on each type of circuit, he will certainly be favourite to take a second title this season. He is certainly likely to take at least one victory anyhow, having won at least one race every year since 2007 and at least three every year since 2010.
No. 2 Juan Pablo Montoya
The popular Columbian is in his second season after his return from F1 and NASCAR. He delivered when it counted last year, having finished each of the double points races in the top five, including his brilliant win at Pocono. His qualifying was definitely an issue last year, but it did improve towards the end of the year, including a pole at Pocono. More consistent point scoring this year could see Montoya be a serious contender for the title.
No. 3 Helio Castroneves
Castroneves started the season excellently last year, but he is currently suffering a string of eleven races without a victory. In that spell, two podiums are the only top-five finishes he has. He has finished second for two years running, and always seems to be there lurking, but for one reason or another he cannot string together a run strong enough to win a championship. He has finished second, third or fourth no less than 11 times overall in his career, without a title to his name.
No. 22 Simon Pagenaud
This is the man who many are excited to see this year. In the top team which he rightfully deserves to be in, Pagenaud has a lot to prove this year. Four victories over the last two years and an outside chance at the title in both years for Schmidt Peterson Motorsports are certainly worth boasting about. His consistency on the street and road courses has been excellent in that space of time, but he has no top three finishes on an oval to date. Can Penske unlock some potential we haven’t seen from the Frenchman? He could well challenge for the title this year.
KV Racing Technology
We saw some impressive breakthrough performances from the KV cars last season. The two Sebs [Bourdais and Saavedra] both sat at the front of the field on at least one occasion each last year, whilst the team was back in the winner’s circle, despite losing the experienced Kanaan to Ganassi at the end of 2013.
No. 4 Stefano Coletti (R)
GP2 race winner Stefano Coletti joins the series with KV in what will be his rookie season. Coletti is perhaps best remembered for his dominant form in the first half of the 2013 season, only to fail to pick up points for the majority of the rest of the year. He is also the most recent winner of a GP2 race, having won the final race of last season at Abu Dhabi.
No. 11 Sebastien Bourdais
Bourdais just seemed to get better and better as the season went on last year. After finding some confidence in the car, he had an impressive second half of the season, which saw him brilliantly win from pole position at Toronto. He also managed a second place from pole at Mid Ohio. The Frenchman could well be one to watch this year, as he will be looking to add to his win tally.
Schmidt Peterson Motorsports
It is an all-new line-up for the Honda-powered team, losing star driver Pagenaud to Penske and popular rookie Mikhail Aleshin not returning for a second season. However, it does not necessarily mean that the team will struggle this year.
No. 5 James Hinchcliffe
The Mayor of Hinchtown moves on from Andretti after a very poor 2014 by his and the team’s standards. Filling in Pagenaud’s boots here will be tough, but if the very popular Canadian can find his 2013 form again, he may well stand on the top step once again. This could be a very important year for Hinchcliffe, who clearly has some very good speed and a lot of support behind him, but must iron out as many mistakes as possible.
No. 7 James Jakes
Jakes has over fifty IndyCar starts to his name, and has one podium, which was earned at Detroit in 2013. He did not race last season, and has not really impressed much with Dale Coyne Racing and Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing in the past, but he has found a seat at Schmidt Peterson Motorsports ahead of some big names.
Chip Ganassi Racing
Ganassi salvaged three victories towards the end of the season last year, with two coming from Scott Dixon and one from Tony Kanaan. However, they took way too long to find their feet last year. With the high-profile signings that Penske have made over the last couple of years, the only major one that Ganassi has made was signing Kanaan for last year after Dario Franchitti was forced to retire. A strong start to the season could see the team have a bit more of a run than last year.
No. 8 Sage Karam (R)
2013 Indy Lights champion Karam gets a seat for at least one race with Chip Ganassi. Whilst his team are working on getting him a full season in IndyCar, the young American returns to single seaters after a year out in the USCC with Ganassi, where he raced alongside Scott Dixon and Tony Kanaan at Sebring. He has one IndyCar start to his name, coming last year at Indianapolis, where he came from 31st to finish a solid ninth.
No. 9 Scott Dixon
Dixon was one of the drivers to beat by the end of the season in 2014. From Pocono onwards, he only had one finish out of the top five, and he had two very impressive victories, including coming from dead last at Mid Ohio. He also won at Sonoma, which will have double points this time around. If he can hit the ground running this year, he is likely to be a contender, but if a string of inconsistent results occur as happened in 2014, it may be trickier to win the championship.
No. 10 Tony Kanaan
Kanaan’s first season with Ganassi delivered no less than six podiums, including a victory at the season finale at Fontana. However, his results were far too inconsistent, and spent much of the season towards around the middle of the pack – or even lower than that at some events. The 2004 champ isn’t one of my favourites for the title, but he could well have an outside shot.
No. 83 Charlie Kimball
Kimball had a very unspectacular season last year, with just one podium to his name en route to 14th place in the championship – the lowest of the four Ganassi cars. There were flashes of speed, notably on the street courses, but there were races where he just seemed absolutely nowhere in comparison to the other Ganassis.
A.J. Foyt Enterprises
Foyt expands to a two-car team this year, bringing in the highly rated Jack Hawksworth. Strong potential translated into very little in 2014, but the speed is definitely there in both drivers.
No. 14 Takuma Sato
Despite two poles last year, Sato finished the season in a dismal 18th place. Six consecutive DNFs did not help, but the popular Japanese driver has been given another shot with the team. Long Beach 2013 must seem like a long time ago now.
No. 41 Jack Hawksworth
Hawksworth moves from Bryan Herta Autosport to join Sato at Foyt’s team. We will see this year how he copes with having an experienced team mate. The speed that Hawksworth showed last year was really solid, and delivered a podium at Houston, as well as having a strong run at the Indianapolis Road Course. He finished 17th last year, but I feel that he can do better this time around.
Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing
Rahal ran one full time driver and two part-time drivers last year. It would appear that this year will feature just the one driver, who I expect to be towards the rear of the field.
No. 15 Graham Rahal
It was a pretty unexciting season for Rahal in 2014, except for a really strong podium at Detroit. Having scored exactly one second place as his best result in every year with the DW12, I wouldn’t be massively surprised if that was what he achieved again this year. Victories look unlikely, especially as he has just one over the last eight years.
Dale Coyne Racing
Coyne achieved a race win once again last season. However, with veteran Justin Wilson no longer in the team, their hopes rest on their winner from last year and an Italian who returns to IndyCar.
No. 18 Carlos Huertas
One of the more surprising race winners from last season was Carlos Huertas. He has been retained by Coyne for a second season as he hopes to continue to make an impression on the series. Somewhat consistent in the first half of the season last year, finishing in every race, he tailed off towards the end of the year, retiring from the race more often than not. If he can deliver that awesome drive at Houston more regularly, he could well challenge for podiums this year more often than just the once.
No. 19 Francesco Dracone
Replacing Wilson (for at least the first four races) is the relatively unknown Francesco Dracone. Dracone drove for Conquest for two races back in the 2010 season and it was safe to say that he didn’t leave much of an impression, being significantly off the pace. Since then, he has raced in the Auto GP series, where he failed to impress there. His best result in four seasons was a sixth place (out of a staggering 13 starters) at his home tracks of Monza and Imola. One of his many team mates won the championship last season. It’s safe to say that I do not expect a massive amount from the Italian.
CFH Racing
This is what a lot of the talking has been about during the off-season: how will the new CFH team perform? The two strongest one-car teams have joined forces and have formed a two-car attack on the big teams. They also have some very impressive drivers.
No. 20 Ed Carpenter [Ovals only]/Luca Filippi (R) [Road & Street courses only]
Carpenter will run the ovals as he always does, and where he clearly performs best, whilst the team has brought in 2009 GP2 Series runner up and most experienced GP2 driver Luca Filippi to replace Mike Conway who has joined the World Endurance Championship. The 20 car delivered as many victories as anybody last season, so there is the pressure to repeat that feat this year.
No. 21/67 Josef Newgarden
The popular Newgarden really came of age last year. Impressive runs at Long Beach, Iowa and Milwaukee really raised some eyebrows. I feel that the young American will only perform better with his team mates giving him advice.
Andretti Autosport
The top Andretti car finished just sixth last season. For a team with four cars, that is a bit disappointing. There are some changes in the line-up, and they will be looking to bounce back after a pretty hit-and-miss 2014.
No. 25 Simona de Silvestro
Often regarded as the best female driver around, de Silvestro returns to IndyCar for at the very least the first round of the season, having failed to secure a Formula 1 seat with the Sauber team. We know that she is very quick, and it will be nice to see what she can do with a top team like Andretti.
No. 26 Carlos Munoz
Last year’s Rookie of the Year ended the season with three podiums. The youngster clearly has a lot of pace, but he also made numerous errors. Ending the year ahead of the experienced Andretti and James Hinchcliffe is certainly worth shouting about though. There is certainly potential for him to knock up his first victory this season.
No. 27 Marco Andretti
Andretti had a pretty decent run on the ovals last year, as well as certain times on the road courses, but his results were very few and far between, and he even finished behind his rookie team mate last year. Given his name, his place in the team is pretty secure, but he will need to start producing some stronger results.
No. 28 Ryan Hunter-Reay
Hunter-Reay spent 2014 either winning brilliantly or by causing controversy. His victory at Indy was superb as well as his two other wins at Alabama and Iowa. However, other results were far too infrequent – not helped by no less than five DNFs. He will need a far more consistent year to challenge the Penskes this time around.
Bryan Herta Autosport
BHA continues to run a single car full-time in IndyCar, although they will expand to a two-car team for the 500. They will run a rookie for the second season running.
No. 98 Gabby Chaves (R)
Chaves, who won the Indy Lights series last year jumps up to IndyCar in 2015. The Columbian 21-year old has also raced in the GP3 series in Europe and also has experience driving the DeltaWing in the USCC. He has a very realistic shot at clinching the Rookie of the Year honours.
The first IndyCar race of the season will be at the Streets of St. Petersburg on March 29th.
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