Conor Daly, one of the two Americans with a shot at breaking into Formula 1 in the near future, makes his next step by testing a GP2 Series car for the new Hilmer Motorsport team.
Daly has tested an F1 car for the Force India team before, and this offseason, he had his first test of IndyCar machinery with A.J. Foyt Racing at Sebring International Raceway in December. Daly is hopeful of putting a deal together to make his debut in this year’s Indianapolis 500.
Daly has raced in the GP3 Series the last two years, and has wins in IndyCar’s ladder system prior to that. He won one Firestone Indy Lights race in 2011 and won the Star Mazda series championship in 2010.
Daly tweeted a picture of the car’s nose (right). This news comes a few days after Alexander Rossi confirmed his plans as reserve driver for the Caterham F1 Team.
Besides these two, fellow American Jake Rozensweig, 23, has a deal to race for the Barwa Addax team in GP2 this year. He’d be the first American to race in this series since Scott Speed in 2005. Speed made his Formula 1 debut in 2006 with Scuderia Toro Rosso, and is the last American to have raced in F1.
Seattle Supercross by the numbers: Three riders separated by 17 points
Three riders remain locked in a tight battle with 17 points separating the leader Cooper Webb from third-place Chase Sexton and these are only a few Supercross numbers to consider entering Seattle.Chase Sexton made a statement in Detroit with his second win of 2023. – Feld Motor Sports
Webb and Tomac won the last four championships with two apiece in alternating years, but they were not one another’s primary rival for most of those seasons. On the average, however, the past four years show an incredible similarity with average points earned of 21.0 for Webb and 21.3 for Tomac. With five wins so far this season, Tomac (23 wins) leads Webb (19) in victories but Webb (43) edges Tomac (41) in podium finishes during this span.
Tomac has won two of the last three Seattle races and those two wins in this stadium are topped only by James Stewart. Fittingly, if Tomac gets a third win this week, he will tie Stewart for second on the all-time wins’ list. Tomac tied Ricky Carmichael for third with 48 wins at Oakland and took sole possession of that spot with his Daytona win.
Sexton still has a lot to say and after winning last week in Detroit, he is speaking up. The Supercross numbers are against him entering Seattle, however, because a points’ deficit this large after Round 10 has been erased only once. In 1983 David Bailey was 47 points behind Bob Hannah, and like Sexton he was also in third place. Bailey took the points’ lead with one race remaining.
The seven points Sexton was penalized last week for jumping in a red cross flag section in Detroit could prove extremely costly.
In fact, it has been a series of mistakes that has cost Sexton the most. In the last two weeks, he lost 10 points with a 10th-place finish to go with his penalty. Erase those, and all three riders hold their fate in their hands.
Plessinger’s heartbreak in Detroit is still fresh, but the upside of his run is that was his best of the season and could turn his fortunes around. Prior to that race, he led only seven laps in three mains. He was up front for 20 laps in Detroit with five of those being the fastest on the track.
Last week’s win by Hunter Lawrence tied him with his brother Jett Lawrence for 17th on the all-time wins’ list. With the focus shifting to 250 West for the next two rounds, Jett has a great opportunity to pull back ahead. The real test will be at the first East / West Showdown in East Rutherford, New Jersey on April 22.
Last Five Seattle Winners
450s 2022: Eli Tomac
2019: Marvin Musquin
2018: Eli Tomac
2017: Marvin Musquin
2014: Ryan Villopoto
