IT’S ALL JUST A BLUR THIS WEEKEND
Canada’s Hinchcliffe turns in fifth-fastest practice time at Honda Indy,
Trying to get racing drivers to speak with one voice is like trying to herd cats.
Even if something is terribly wrong, you’re always going to find some driver who’s going to say, “Hey, no problem.”
Such was the case Friday afternoon at the Honda Indy Toronto.
After four drivers had crashed at a certain part of the course — drivers the calibre of F1 and NASCAR/IndyCar star Juan Pablo Montoya among them — there was grumbling from all corners of the paddock.
But Verizon IndyCar Series points leader Simon Pagenaud told a media conference he thought the corner in question was terrific and he was enjoying the challenge.
Oakville native James Hinchcliffe, the only Canadian in the field who went fifth-fastest in the second practice Friday and who was sitting beside Pagenaud when he made that statement, rolled his eyes.
Even before the 30th anniversary Honda Indy Toronto turned a wheel Friday, there was concern about the last corner of the 11-turn circuit at Exhibition Place.
Because hotel construction forced organizers to move pit lane from the south side of Princes’ Blvd. to the north side, corners10 and 11 had been tightened up considerably. What had once been a pretty fast ‘S’-type series of turns was now much slower and more difficult to manoeuvre.
After two support-series drivers ran into the wall, to be followed by Montoya and fellow IndyCar driver Charlie Kimball, Helio Castroneves was asked what he would do.
“If I had a say I would make a change, for sure,” he said. “For me, the pits are very tight; I don’t see people coming. On the track itself, it is going to be tough to have two-bytwo restarts. I think we can make the track wider by removing the light poles that we have there.”
Pagenaud, Castroneves, Will Power, Scott Dixon and Hinchcliffe were the top five in Friday afternoon practice.
There will be another practice session Saturday morning before final qualifying on Saturday afternoon — a knockout format that will leave just six of 22 cars entered running for pole position — just in advance of the feature race of the day, the NASCAR Pinty’s Series for stock cars.
Meanwhile, both Pagenaud and Sebastien Bourdais, a native of Le Mans, France, expressed regret and revulsion over the terrorist attack in their country on Bastille Day.
Pagenaud spoke of going to watch fireworks with his parents when he was a child and the fun and excitement everyone experienced.
“We must pray for the victims.”