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After consulting with state and UI officials, IndyCar has established a regulation under which team members must leave the IMS paddock until 7:30 p.m. every night to combat possible exposure to COVID-19 by reducing the number of other people on the site as temporarily as reasonable.
However, extensive damage to the McLaren SP-Chevrolet RuOff Arrow 66 after Alonso hit the wall of Turn Four at the end of today’s practice consultation led the team to seek out and unload a repair waiver.
Tomorrow is Fast Friday, when all the turbos of BorgWarner cars are programmed to produce a flavor of 1.5 bars, above the “normal” test/race point of 1.3 bars, in order to prepare for the qualifying weekend. Alonso’s team is expected to work until it at least fixes the damage to the car.
Taylor Kiel, the team’s general manager, told Motorsport.com that the team can simply take responsibility in its wake, having had to repair Robert Wickens’ car after a referral in 2018 (the year James Hinchcliffe did not rate the other team from the team). full season. entry), and last year when Hinchcliffe deviated the first day of qualifying.
“It’s true or false, this is the third year in a row that we have to do something like this in Indy,” Kiel said, “so we’re smart enough to fix those things!
“It’s a shame: they all started to go down on turn four because of the way the wind was blowing and because they were understorling at the beginning of the curve, so they were spinning a little earlier. low and out. But well, those things happen.
Describing the damage, Kiel said: “The total right look wants to be repaired: front right corner, right rear corner, gearbox, auxiliary wing, body, that sort of thing.
“But the vital thing is that Fernando is fine, and fortunately we didn’t have a moment of contact with the pit lane attenuator, we saw it once or twice and it didn’t happen very well. So yes, things can have the engine. it’s smart – Chevy came here to check it out and they’re happy.
“They gave us a special exemption from IndyCar. They’ve limited track hours, but they sense the cases in this case, and we’ll be there as long as we want to face this challenge, probably around midnight. Our purpose is to build the car and prepare it for the morning generation ».
Kiel said he hoped the accident would have an effect on Alonso’s confidence.
“What last year was a guy who crashed hard and then went out and immediately deflated looking for his car to get into the race,” Kiel said, “so I think he’ll get back in the car and close his visor. And move on.
Kiel admitted that, although he is fully aware of Alonso’s pedigree and ability, he has been inspired by the two-time Formula One world champion. The 66th car finished fifth overall and the Chevrolet fastest in day 1 workouts, and Alonso’s most productive lap today was smart enough to be eighth fastest, though he missed the last forty-five minutes of the session.
“Yes, it’s very strong, but impressive from the beginning on this show,” Kiel said. “When we concluded the agreement at the beginning of the year, we expected to have a day of verification in Texas, an open check on Indy, maybe up to seven or 8 days of simulation, and then a full week of practice. Instead, due to coronavirus restrictions, we had a simulation day and were on the right track! Then, just 3 days of verification before qualifying.
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“So what he could do is very impressive, however, that’s what you get when you join a guy like Fernando. Someone who can get into a car he’s not very familiar with and don’t delay the pace. He did it. a very smart job.
”Don’t take anything away from the team, although I think our fundamental package here has been forged because we spend a lot of time on it, but by combining Alonso and this car, I think we can feel very confident.
Kiel said that seeing Alonso’s engineering reports with Arrow McLaren SP full-time drivers, Duck O’Ward and Oliver Askew, had been instructive.
“It’s very attractive because, of course, Duck and Oliver are very new to this,” he said. “They know the car, they know the Speedway, however, until this week, Oliver had never assembled the car and track, and Duck had a difficult first year.
“So in each and every lap, they are informed of any news about the car’s habit and the main points of the Speedway, whether they run alone or in platoon. And each and every one of the times we communicate to them and debrief, we will inform ourselves of any news of them as well
“Or they are very professional and fortunately have similar driving styles, so they will already give us a smart direction, however, they and we, as a team, must pay attention to Fernando’s direction and this aligns, but he must also locate the focus Knows exactly what he wants and what he thinks is right.
“It’s the most experienced of the 3 right now, so for Oliver and Duck, having this opportunity to paint with him at this level of their careers is huge. They will be informed until the 200 round of the race.”
Craig Hampson, arrow’s new technical director for 2020, in the past at Dale Coyne Racing, is also a racing engineer for Alonso, a role similar to the one he played at Andretti Autosport when he controlled the additional car at Indy in 2014. for NASCAR star Kurt Busch. And Kiel says Alonso and Hampson turn out to be the best match.
“Fernando is a high caliber driving force and Craig is a high caliber engineer, so they are already accepted as true to each other even if they haven’t worked together for a long time.”
So when Craig says, ‘That’s great, but I’d like to see this,’ Fernando says’Okay, I’m giving you up,’ and when Fernando says, ‘Hey, I think we want to do it in this or that.’ ” ‘Craig says, ‘Okay, great, let’s do this.’
“There is an inherent acceptance as true based on their two resumes that allows everyone to accept each other as true and continue, which is vital because time is limited.”