by Alex Johnston
Another day, another '10 Questions'! This time, I was delighted to have a conversation with Indy Lights race winner and Indy 500 race finisher Zach Claman DeMelo!
The 25 year old Canadian most recently raced in Indy Lights in 2019 but brings a wealth of experience to this interview!
During his Indy Lights career he raced against big, well known names like Felix Rosenqvist, Colton Herta, Pato O'Ward and Rinus VeeKay, while his IndyCar career so him go wheel to wheel with a mass of top names including Takuma Sato, fellow Canadians James Hinchcliffe and Robert Wickens, and a host of others.
📸 On track.
In his one and only entry to the prestigious Indy 500, he qualified a respectable 13th, ending the race 19th overall having led the race for seven laps on his rookie outing, more than Scott Dixon, Simon Pagenaud, Alexander Rossi and Ryan Hunter-Reay managed in that race combined(3)!
📸 Zach at Indianapolis.
Onto the interview!
1. Hairpins or chicanes? Chicanes all day, specifically Monza chicanes.
📸 Monza chicanes, just different to the rest.
2. Long straights or slow corners?Slow corners. Driver can make more of a difference.
3. Understeer or oversteer? Oversteering car is a fast car. So oversteer.
4. Fast circuits or technical circuits? Technical circuit.
📸 Junping out.
5. Wet race or wet/dry race? Dry all day, I don’t like being wet and cold…
6. Favourite circuit you've raced? Pau, legendary street track.
📸 "Legendary" Pau.
7. Favourite you've NOT raced? Monaco.
📸 Yet another legendary circuit.
8. Your favourite F1 livery ever? Red Bull test livery.
📸 One of the Red Bull team's various test liveries.
9. Your favourite helmet design ever? My own helmet that I used in the Indy 500. Has a lot of things on it that are special to me.
📸 Up close.
10. Who's the best driver you've raced against? Marijn Kremers, just a really complete driver, lots of experience. Gets the job done even when the kart is slow. Real recognizes real.
📸 High praise indeed from Zach for Marijn.
Thanks to Zach for his time, let's hope we can see more of him again sometime!
📸 Image credits: Zach Claman DeMelo, NTT IndyCar Series, Euroformula Open Series, Sky Sports, Marijn Krejmers.
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