Former E driver prefers the energy of an Indy car
Gutierrez was driving electric when Dale Coyne Racing called
Esteban Gutierrez, the driver from Mexico who might be the most versatile in the Verizon IndyCar Series, had a so-so day Friday at the Honda Indy Toronto.
After setting the 17th fastest time in the first of two practice sessions at Exhibition Place Friday morning, he crashed after two laps in the afternoon but was still ahead of two other drivers when the checkers fell.
But the 25-year-old driver, who has raced in Formula One, Formula E (an all-electric series) and IndyCar the last two years, remains optimistic about reaching his goal of a top-10 finish in Sunday’s 31st renewal of the iconic downtown Toronto street race.
“I just need more time to get used to the car,” Gutierrez told the Star.
Penske driver Helio Castroneves was the quickest of 21 drivers in the morning session while teammate Simon Pagenaud set the fast time after lunch. All four Penske drivers — Josef Newgarden and Will Power are the others — were in the top five in one or both practice sessions.
When times were combined, Pagenaud came out on top, with Power second and Chip Ganassi Racing’s Scott Dixon third.
Oakville’s James Hinchcliffe was sev- enth in the morning but slipped to 16th in the afternoon, something that is not unusual as race engineers make changes in the search for more speed. Hinchcliffe usually bounces back to be among the front-runners as Saturday afternoon qualifying draws near.
Gutierrez, who raced at Canadian Tire Motorsport Park when his career was just getting going, made it to F1 in 2013 with Sauber, who employed him for two years.
In 2015, he was the test and reserve driver at Scuderia Ferrari and then drove last year for the new Haas F1 team. He planned to use this season “to experiment,” before deciding on his future.
He was racing in Formula E when Dale Coyne Racing’s Sebastien Bourdais crashed and broke his pelvis at Indianapolis. Coyne called and asked if Gutierrez was interested in taking over the seat.
“So, here I am,” said Gutierrez, who started his racing career driving for an F-BMW team from Toronto. When Coyne called, “I didn’t think twice. I’m enjoying it more than I expected.”
Gutierrez said there are distinct differences between the three types of cars he’s raced in the last year and a half. He wasn’t particularly enamored with Formula E (which will be racing through the streets of Montreal in two weeks), although he was quick to say that he thinks the series has potential.
“Formula E is a great concept,” he said. “But on the sporting side, it is not where a driver would expect it to be. It’s an electric car and the whole electric concept is about saving ener- gy, so it’s a different kind of racing. I wanted to try IndyCar because it feels like true racing. You can push. It’s what a driver really wants to do.”
Gutierrez says he is getting more comfortable in the Coyne car.
“I know the car a little bit more than I did in Detroit, where I started (a week after Bourdais was hurt at Indy),” he said. “It was pretty challenging in Detroit, particularly with the track characteristics, which are very demanding and very bumpy.
“Toronto is also very bumpy and is demanding as well but the difference is that I know the car a bit better, I understand a little bit more what to anticipate.”
IndyCar qualifying is scheduled for a little after 2 p.m. Saturday, to be followed by the headline race of the day, the NASCAR Pinty’s Grand Prix.
Andrew Ranger, a former Champ Car driver will start from the pole position beside second-place qualifier Alex Tagliani, another former Champ Car/IndyCar star. Kevin Lacroix will go off third.