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Author Topic: ANDRETTI AUTOSPORT HONDA INDY GRAND PRIX OF ALABAMA RACE REPORT 04.23.18  (Read 606 times)

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HONDA INDY GRAND PRIX OF ALABAMA
RACE REPORT
04.23.18
The ninth annual Indy car race on Barber's 2.3-mile permanent road course began Sunday in rainy conditions that grew progressively worse and substantially limited driver visibility. A pair of full-course cautions preceded the first of two red-flag stoppages for declining track conditions on Lap 19.


Following a 37-minute delay, engines were restarted and the field completed four laps under caution behind the pace car before they were ordered into the pit lane once more. After nearly 90 minutes waiting out the rain, INDYCAR deemed the track lost for the day and announced postponement of the completion until Monday - with 75 minutes remaining on the race clock.

Sunday's continuation began on Lap 24 with formation laps starting the time clock until the green flag flew on Lap 27. Rain late in the race threw strategies for a loop and it was DHL driver Ryan Hunter-Reay coming out on top for Andretti Autosport.

From here the Verizon IndyCar Series heads back home again to Indiana to being preparations for the Grand Prix of Indianapolis and the 102nd Running of the Indianapolis 500-Mile Race.
 
 No. 28 DHL HONDA
•STARTED 4th // RESTARTED 3rd // FINISHED 2nd
•CHAMPIONSHIP: 6th (113 pts.)
•OF NOTE: Earned his third podium at Barber Motorsports Park, his 39th IndyCar career podium finish
 
“It was a good race, it was tough getting the fuel number and trying to keep the pace up, but it was a lot of fun when it started raining, trying to find the grip again and searching around. I was almost worried that I was going to burn the front [tires] off. We came in early for the wet [tires]. I stayed out there as long as I could but, on the slicks, I was a lot quicker, and it was that inconsistent snap that you have. When you have one of those [snaps] with the slicks you can absolutely loose it completely, so we thought that was the best time to come in and grab the Firestone wets. It was good from there. I just needed a little bit more time to cut in on Newgarden’s lead. Congratulations to Team Penske and [Josef] Newgarden. Great job by the DHL guys this weekend. We rolled off the truck, we weren’t that happy with the car and we kept working on it methodically, chipping into it and everybody just executed it – so a good weekend overall.”
 
 No. 98 KERAUNO / CURB HONDA
•STARTED 7th // RESTARTED 14th // FINISHED 10th
•CHAMPIONSHIP: 9th (88 pts)
•OF NOTE: Spun in Turn 9 on Lap 3 of Sunday's race attempt dropping the 98 from P7 to P21... Pitted on Lap 13 with the hopes of advancing via strategy with red flags looming... Returned to the pits on Lap 33 and worked his way into the top eight before rain came, evening out the field's race strategy
 
“It was a lot of fun out there, but I think finishing 10th is the worst we should’ve finished. I think myself and the guys earned a third-place finish. We beat [James Hinchcliffe] out in the end – so we had third locked up until the rain made all the one-stoppers work. We were looking really good for a podium; the Kerauno team was way better than what the race results showed, but we know we have the pace, so we’ll keep digging and move on to Indy.”
 
 No. 27 KERAUNO / MILITARYTOMOTORSPORTS.COM HONDA


•STARTED 8th // RESTARTED 4th // FINISHED 11th
•CHAMPIONSHIP: 2nd (145 pts.)
•OF NOTE: Ran steadily in the top five before track conditions changed to wet... The No. 27 took a detour off track at Turn 9 on Lap 75 while entering the pits for rain tires
“It definitely wasn’t our best day. We initially went into the race with the plan of doing a two-stopper, then we switched to a one-stop strategy once the race started because of the extra formation laps. Once the race got going, we were on the wrong tire for the one-stop plan, and couldn’t make the fuel work, so we switched back to a two-stop strategy. It was looking okay, but we tried to survive the rain probably one lap too long and we lost time to guys that had already switched to rain tires. We ended up 11th. It wasn’t a great day from a performance or strategy standpoint. It’s a day that we’ll certainly be putting behind us as soon as possible and look forward to Indy GP where we had a really strong test a couple weeks ago.”
 
 No. 26 GROUP ONE THOUSAND ONE HONDA
•STARTED 11th // RESTARTED 6th // FINISHED 13th
•CHAMPIONSHIP: 13th (77 pts.)
•OF NOTE: Worked his way inside the top 10 before mechanical issues resulted in loss of car adjustments for the rookie... sits second in the Rookie of the Year standings
“The weekend overall was good for us, confidence wise – advancing to the top 12 in qualifying and getting up to position sixth yesterday for the first part of the race. Today, I think we definitely had the pace to finish inside the top 10, but we had a few mechanical issues during the race. I lost all of my adjustments inside of the car, so once that happened I was a sitting duck. Extremely thankful for my Group One Thousand One crew for the job they did this weekend. We held on the best we could to come home 13th. Hopefully we can improve for the Grand Prix of Indianapolis and of course build on everything in time for the Indianapolis 500.” 
 
 
MEDIA CONTACTS

Ryann Rigsby
Vice President, Communications
ryann.rigsby@andrettiautosport.com
+1 610.909.7312 

Britni Allen
Senior Manager, Communications, INDYCAR
britni.allen@andrettiautosport.com
+1 740.816.2748

Phil Zielinski
Manager, Communications, Formula E
phil.zielinski@andrettiautosport.com
+1 317.373.9549

Amber Stevenson
Associate, Communications
amber.stevenson@andrettiautosport.com
+1 574.361.4325

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