Renault anticipating tough Canadian GP weekend - MotorSportsTalk

Renault Sport director of operations Remi Taffin has admitted that the French engine supplier is expecting a tough Canadian Grand Prix weekend due to the power-intensive nature of the Circuit Gilles Villeneuve.

Renault’s power units have been lagging behind those of rivals Mercedes and Ferrari so far in the 2015 season, prompting Red Bull to issue a quit threat over the quality of its engines.

The Montreal circuit is perhaps where any weaknesses in engine performance will be exposed the most, raising concerns about how the Renault-powered teams will fare this weekend.

“We are realistic ahead of this race,” Taffin said. “We’ve put in a great deal of work on reliability and have improved our record in the last two races, but we know that Montreal will be tough for us performance-wise.

“Knowing that power is critical, we have to try to repeat our Monaco approach, which was to optimize each sector individually. Unlike Monaco, however, we also need to assess the right drag/downforce compromise to allow good performance in qualifying and the race.

“We are getting there, and hope we can be closer yet again in Montreal.”

Renault’s main customer team, Red Bull, scored its best result of the season in Monaco two weeks ago by finishing fourth and fifth, but may struggle to beat Williams and Ferrari at a circuit that should suit both teams well.

To make matters worse for Renault, Ferrari and Honda are reported to have used some of their development ‘tokens’ to update their engines for the race weekend in Montreal.

That said, Renault appeared to be in just as bad shape at this time last year when Daniel Ricciardo claimed a shock victory for Red Bull, suggesting that all hope may not be lost.

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Ryan Hunter-Reay was named to replace Conor Daly in Ed Carpenter Racing’s No. 20 Dallara-Chevrolet, starting in the NTT IndyCar Series event next week at Road America.

Hunter-Reay is the 2012 series champion and 2014 Indianapolis 500 winner. He finished 11th for Dreyer & Reinbold last month in the 107th Indy 500, his first start since the 2021 season finale. He drove full time for Andretti Autosport from 2010-21.

“We need to improve our competitiveness and I wanted to add a fresh perspective from a driver like Ryan who has a massive amount of experience and success as well as a reputation as a team leader. I am excited to welcome Ryan to the team,” team owner Ed Carpenter said in a team release. “We have worked together in the past as teammates and he tested for ECR at Barber Motorsports Park in October 2021, where he made an immediate impact as we were able to qualify one of our cars on the pole following that test. I am confident that his experience and technical abilities will be an asset to ECR as we move forward toward our goals as a team.”

Hunter-Reay has 18 IndyCar victories, most recently in 2018. He also is a winner in the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship, having been a part of winning entries in the 2020 Twelve Hours of Sebring and 2018 Petit Le Mans. Last year, he was an endurance driver for Cadillac Racing while being on standby for Chip Ganassi Racing.

He replaces Daly, whose departure was announced a day earlier in what the driver and team said was a mutual decision.

“I was surprised when I got the call from Ed,” Hunter-Reay said in a team release. “He described how frustrated he was that his team has not been able to realize its potential despite their efforts, investments, as well as technical and personnel changes over the past few years and asked for my help. Ed and I are very close friends and have been for a long time. I’ve worked with the team in the past and they are a very talented group with high expectations and a committed partner in BITNILE.COM.

“This will certainly be a challenge for me as well. It’s a tough situation jumping in a car in the middle of the season without any testing in what I believe to be the most competitive series in the world. Certainly, part of my motivation in saying ‘yes’ to Ed is the great challenge ahead. The last time I turned right driving an NTT IndyCar Series car was in October of 2021 with this team at Barber. However, I remain very confident in both my driving and technical abilities and believe by working with the talented people at ECR and Team Chevy, while representing BITNILE.COM, we will make progress. I am going to do everything I can do to help the team achieve its long-term objectives.”

Said Milton “Todd” Ault, the chairman of sponsor BitNile.com: “It is great for BitNile.com to be aligned with an Indy 500 Winner and an NTT IndyCar Series champion. I have followed Ryan’s career for years and I am confident he will challenge the entire ECR team to perform at higher levels. I wish everyone luck at Road America.”