New Tatuus USF-17 runs first public test at Road America - MotorSportsTalk

ELKHART LAKE, Wis. – After private tests at the NCM Motorsports Park (Bowling Green, Ky.) and Barber Motorsports Park (Birmingham, Ala.), the new Tatuus USF-17 rolled out Monday at Road America (Elkhart Lake, Wis.) for its third road course test and first where the public could view it.

There were plenty of interested onlookers, both drivers and teams currently in the Cooper Tires USF2000 Championship Powered by Mazda series and potential new interested parties, to watch as Joel Miller drove the car around the 4.014-mile road course.

Times were never going to be representative because it’s a testing program, but they’re well within range of record-setting times once more than a testing setup gets dropped and the car gets in hands of their teams.

Also, because the tire size is different and there’s other new components on the Tatuus compared to the venerable Van Diemen chassis, such lap time comparisons are not “apples to apples.”

Sales of the new car are going quite well though. Per a series release, to date, orders for 24 USF-17 chassis have been placed among 14 teams – nine of which are new to the series – with the first delivery of 15 cars scheduled in September. Delivery of the second batch of 15 cars is scheduled for December. An initial two-day series test is slated for October 8/9 at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway as part of the annual Chris Griffis Memorial Mazda Road to Indy test with a second series open test to be scheduled in January.

“I heard all about the testing that happened previously and now that I have seen it first hand, I am in love with this car,” said Dan Andersen, Owner and CEO of Andersen Promotions. “It has a lot of mechanical grip so it’s going to race very well – perhaps even better than the current car. Our quick time bested this past weekend’s fastest lap in Race 2, and with more setup work I have no doubt this car will be breaking our USF2000 records. The component usage is fantastic – brake wear is better by far than the current car as is the tire wear.

“The teams all love it. Some teams are thinking about adding to the orders they have already made, and we have more serious potential buyers than we have cars left in the first order of 30. I couldn’t be happier with our next generation car.”

Key members of the new car project staff were on hand, in the form of Andersen, car project manager and USF2000/Pro Mazda race director Scot Elkins, Steve and Logan Knapp of Elite Engines and a number of both Tatuus and other partner members, who worked on the car’s setup.

“We took care of all the new car gremlins at the first test and since then things have been going very well,” said Elkins, who also oversaw the creation and development of the Swift .016 Formula Atlantic chassis (debuted in 2006) and Panoz DP01 Champ Car chassis (2007).

“It was great to have teams and drivers at the test and to have them finally see the car in action. They have all said the same thing – they can’t believe how much of a car they are getting for the price. We have over-braked the car so the car has much bigger brakes than the current car and we have over-cooled the car – two trouble areas with the current car. We did over 1,000 miles on the same set of rotors and we only changed brake pads today. We are making an effort in reducing the operating costs to teams which is what everyone wants.”

16C_9068-1-L — Miller and Elkins. Photo: Indianapolis Motor Speedway, LLC Photography

Added Mazda factory ace Miller, who drives one of the team’s Mazda Prototypes and is also a USF2000 steward and driver coach, “I am very privileged to have been chosen to do the R&D work on the USF-17. It’s a great car. We made some setup changes early in the day and did a race simulation run and the car was within a tenth of a second on each lap for the entire run. We even did our quick time on the last lap.

“The car reacted very well to the changes and the teams that were here were able to see the lap times decrease which is what we wanted. The car feels much stiffer, much more connected. You can attack the corner and, while it may move around, it is very catchable rather than just sliding off. It makes its speed in the mechanical grip corners.”

The USF-17 will next head to Lucas Oil Raceway at Indianapolis on June 30 for the oval portion of the development program with 2012 USF2000 and 2013 Pro Mazda champion Matthew Brabham behind the wheel. Brabham recently made his Verizon IndyCar Series debut in the Angie’s List Grand Prix and 100th Indianapolis 500.

Photos and quick videos are linked below. (Photos: Indianapolis Motor Speedway, LLC Photography)

Figure one more morning in paradise couldn't hurt. @USF2000 @roadamerica #MRTI pic.twitter.com/n4k1BgEBSy

— Tony DiZinno (@tonydizinno) June 27, 2016

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FORT WORTH, Texas – Defending series champion Will Power’s name is off the board of potential IndyCar free agents, but there’s still much to be settled in the field – starting with the reigning Indy 500 winner.

Marcus Ericsson is waiting on a contract offer to remain with Chip Ganassi Racing beyond the 2023 season (his fourth with the team). The Swede said he’s made it clear to car owner Chip Ganassi that he wants to stay in the No. 8 Dallara-Honda, which has four victories since June 2021.

“Yeah, it’s up to him, basically,” Ericsson said Friday at Texas Motor Speedway. “He needs to give me an offer for ’24 onward. The ball is in his corner. I really enjoy it at Ganassi, and we’ve done a lot of great things together and would love to continue, but the ball is in his corner. He knows very well what I want.”

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Two days before Ericsson won the Grand Prix of St. Petersburg season opener March 5, Ganassi sang the praises of the emerging star driver to a small group of reporters.

“I want him here beyond this year,” Ganassi said of Ericsson. “He seems to have gotten more out of winning the Indy 500 than anyone else has of recent time, which is a good thing. He did a good job. He’s been everywhere. It’s been a really positive thing for Marcus, the team, the series. He’s grown with that as well.”

Ericsson didn’t sew up his current deal until late in his breakthrough 2021 season (after a memorable victory in the inaugural Music City Grand Prix). So he isn’t necessarily anxious about it but conceded he “was thinking a bit about it over the winner in the offseason and talking about it

“But now that the season has started, I told my managers and everyone I want to focus on the driving. They focus on those things. Now the season is on, and I want to try to win races, win another 500 and championship. That’s where my focus is. (A new contract) is one of those things that happens when it happens. But I’m happy where I am, and I want to do well.”

IndyCar’s two best teams, Team Penske and Chip Ganassi Racing, tend to be very tight-lipped about their drivers’ contract status.

Power confirmed Friday to journalist Bruce Martin that his new deal was for multiple seasons. That means all three of Penske’s drivers are in multiple-year contracts (unlike Power’s deal, Scott McLaughlin’s extension was announced by the team last year).

But there is more uncertainty at Ganassi’s four cars aside from Ericsson. While Scott Dixon has a ride for as long as he wants (and the six-time champion has given no indication of retiring), Ganassi’s other two other seats have yet to be solidified beyond 2023.

The No. 11 is being split this year by rookie Marcus Armstrong and veteran Takuma Sato this season. In the No. 10, Alex Palou is believed to be in his final year at Ganassi before heading to Arrow McLaren.

That expected move would cast doubt on the future of Felix Rosenqvist, who returned to Arrow McLaren when the team was unable to bring in Palou (who was embroiled in a contract dispute with Ganassi).

Aside from Penske, virtually every other IndyCar team (including Andretti Autosport, Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing and Meyer Shank Racing, which has Helio Castroneves in a contract year) has seats that potentially could open for next season, and even drivers who appear to be under contract for next year still could be on the move (via buyouts and option years).

Though Juncos Hollinger Racing announced a “long-term, multiyear contract partnership” last July with Callum Ilott, but the second-year driver was cagey Friday when asked about how long the extension ran.

“It’s for whatever I want it to be,” said Ilott, who finished a career-best fifth at St. Petersburg. “I’ll say that.”

Before returning to JHR, Ilott turned enough heads as a rookie to draw interest from several teams, and he indicated Friday that he still would be listening.

“I’d love to talk to some other big teams,” Ilott said. “Nothing stops me from talking. Look, you’ve got to be fair. I agreed to (the deal), but it’s pretty obvious that I’m quite interested as people are interested in me as a driver, but I need to focus on the job I’ve got here.

“I’m confident whether it’s in one year, two years, three years, four years, that if I’m wanted now, I’ll always be wanted. I’m a good enough driver that I don’t need to lack confidence in that side. … I’m not worried.”