by Alex Johnston
The IndyCar season is in full flight now and plenty has happened. Driver changes, controversy on and off track, an interesting non-championship round and the small matter of the ‘Greatest Spectacle in Racing’, the Indy 500, already in the history books. I’m delighted to have been joined once again by Tom Gaymor to go through it all!
1. Let’s start with the season so far: who has been your surprise star? I was going to say (Colton)Herta first, but I’m gonna say Felix Rosenqvist in the Meyer Shank. He’s been consistently at the front and looks very stable and like he’s enjoying himself.
📸 Felix Rosenqvist has enjoyed a consistent start to the season.
At McLaren he was one of a number of good driver and maybe had to fight for the attention next to Pato(O’Ward) and Alexander Rossi but now he’s much more comfortable.
2. Who hasn’t quite lived up to expectation yet? Pato. Before the 500 he came an inherited win, failed to qualify at Thermal, a 16th, a 23rd and a 13th. He’s certainly got a lot to make up for.
📸 O’Ward has struggled for strong results and mistakes have tripped up the Mexican’s progress.
On top of that, I’d say Marcus Ericsson. He got the big move to Andretti but he hasn’t been able to piece it together yet. He almost missed the 500…for someone who won the thing so recently, there’s improvement needed.
3. We had the Million Dollar Challenge at The Thermal Club would you describe it as a success? No. But…it was very forward thinking of the series to try something different. It showed a lot of desire to help fans enjoy the series - good on them for trying but they’ll need to tweak things if it’s to become a permanent thing.
📸 As seen here, The Thermal Club previously hosted testing for IndyCar.
4. Alex Palou was the first driver to win more than one race this season do you think he’s on course for another championship? It’s early yet, and there’s ovals to come and of course the introduction of the hybrids to come which could rip up the form book, but he’s certainly in a good position just now.
📸 Defending IndyCar champion, Alex Palou on track.
5. Scott Dixon, Will Power and Pato O’Ward are the closest drivers to him - which of those do you think will be the biggest challenge to Palou’s early charge? I would add Newgarden certainly with ovals to come. Pato’s needing some good results but he’s definitely in the mix, and I’ll never discount Scott Dixon. The result of the 500 can boost a number of drivers’ confidence going forward.
📸 2 Indy 500 victories in as many years for Newgarden.
6. We’ve had a handful of driver changes, I guess the first one to touch on is David Malukas: he lost his seat after an apparently quite serious wrist injury - what did you make of the situation of him being dropped? It was always a bit of a surprise he was there but he’s hugely talented. Obviously it’s not worked out for him the way he wants but there’s still opportunities for him.
📸 A wrist injury cut short Malukas’ stint - and he never raced for Arrow McLaren in IndyCar.
7. He impressed last year, there’s bound to be a way back in for him isn’t there? Dale Coyne Racing!
📸 Since Tom and I spoke, Malukas has since been announced to be driving for Meyer Shank for the rest of the season - replacing Tom Blomqvist.
8. Theo Pourchaire has been announced to replace Malukas for the rest of the season - do you think he’s got a long term future in IndyCar or is his future maybe F1 based? The results show he’s good enough, he came in nice and calm, no worry and has done well. It’s maybe too early to see what’s next for him. Just look at how Lundqvist did last year and you’ll see where good results can lead a driver.
📸 Pourchaire’s level headed racing has seen him impress in the Arrow McLaren car.
9. With the exception of Kyle Larson, who I’ll circle back to, and the other guest Indy 500 runners, we’ve had a couple others appear; Luca Ghiotto, Nolan Siegel, Callum Ilott and Colin Braun - any of those you think we’ll see again on an IndyCar grid soon? Ilott was very unlucky about everything, I do hope he gets a chance again. Timing is absolutely everything, but knowing him he’ll probably go win Le Mans now.
📸 Outwith his control, Ilott found himself without a full time IndyCar drive for 2024 but stepped in when Malukas was injured before Pourchaire arrived.
10. Kyle Larson; obviously his weekend didn’t pan out as planned, but he showed incredible pace and also adaptability to step into IndyCar - do you think he could return not only to the 500 but full time? He’s a ‘wheel man’! All weekend he was strong, fast and calm and did a wonderful job. It would be great to see him have another go, and to come back for more than just the 500 too!
📸 Kyle Larson - ‘wheel man’.
11. We’ll touch quickly on the 500 - Josef Newgarden became the first driver to win back to back 500’s since Helio Castroneves in the early 2000’s and just the second since the 70’s - is he just IndyCar’s ‘Oval Master’ now? It takes tremendous skill and courage to be as good as he is. He is very, very good at it and the oval package Penske have brought is very good too.
📸 Newgarden celebrates with his Penske team.
12. Scott McLaughlin will feel a little hard done by, he ran a very good race until late on - how did you rate his race? He was awesome. Pole is great but also tricky, because you can only ever go backwards which he eventually did but his previous best was 14th so he’s taken a huge step up and really improved.
📸 McLaughlin started from pole for the Indy 500.
13. We had a wait for the race to start, sat with Mark Blundell and Simona De Silvestro for coverage - did you learn a lot being sat with them? Mark brings lots of knowledge and some anecdotal chat too. With Simona, she knows all about the modern side of things - it was a privilege to share that time with them both.
14. Looking forward a little: any guess who Dale Coyne will put in the 51 for the coming rounds? Malukas! I don’t think anyone would have predicted who they’ve had in the car so far!
📸 FIA Formula 2 cult hero Luca Ghiotto has featured in IndyCar with Dale Coyne this season.
15. Who do you think will be IndyCar’s next first time champion? I think any of Herta, Scotty Mac, Lundgaard or O’Ward will be right up there.
📸 Christian Lundgaard, currently with Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing.
16. Before we finish…PREMA announced they’ll be joining in 2025 with a two car entry - what will they bring to the series? Two cars hahaha! They’ll have a lot of learning to do, not least the technical side of things but also with their drivers. They don’t want to be another Carlin who disappear very quickly. I do hope they’ll stay around longer, they’re a big name.
📸 PREMA have a strong reputation as winners in European racing, can they uphold that in America?
17. They say they’ll run a line up with one driver with IndyCar experience and another they’ve helped on the road to F1 - any prediction who that’d be or who you’d like to see? Rossi would be good…Could be a route back in for Ilott but they’ll talk to anyone who’s interested and brings good experience.
📸 Could 2016 Indy 500 winner Alex Rossi be the man to lead PREMA?
18. IndyCar popularity is probably now at an all time high - they’ve raced at Brands Hatch in the past - would this be a good time to try race in the UK for one round again? Whatever they want to do, they’ll do for the fans, the championship is still rebuilding after covid. Whatever comes next will be done from a commercial standpoint, whether that be going to South America, the UK, or wherever. There’s a lot money involved in international racing. Although…I’d love to see them at Oulton Park!
📸 IndyCar hasn’t raced outside of North America since 2013, in Sao Paolo. They’ve not raced in the UK since 2003 at Brands Hatch.
Thanks to Tom Gaymor for his time, I look forward to our catch up at the end of the season! Plenty more in store!
📸 Image credits: NTT IndyCar Series, ESPN Brazil, Meyer Shank Racing, Arrow McLaren, PREMA Racing, Team Penske, Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing, Dale Coyne Racing, Chip Ganassi Racing.
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