It seems old habits have proved hard to kick for recent Formula 1 driver Jenson Button after the 2009 world champion was disqualified from the Ironman triathlon for going too quickly.
The Briton has been spending a lot of his free time in America, and recently entered the Ironman triathlon in California.
An accomplished triathlete, Button initially finished the race third overall, qualifying for the world championships in Tennessee later this year after the 1.2-mile swim, 56-mile cycle and 13-mile run.
However, Button learned after crossing the finish line that he had been disqualified after failing to observe a slow zone during the cycle portion of the race, with riders required to reduce their speed on safety grounds.
The team owners, drivers and engineers believed the 17-turn, 3.067-mile race course that winds and twists its way through a gated private community (about 45 minutes southeast of Palm Springs) had no relevance to any track on the 17-race schedule.
To the leaders of IndyCar, however, there was plenty of relevance to hosting its âSpring Trainingâ at a sort of motorsports country club that caters to extremely wealthy residents who also are automotive enthusiasts.
âBoth with our stakeholders and the media that covers IndyCar, we wanted them to know that we are going to do things differently,â Penske Entertainment CEO Mark Miles told NBC Sports from the private VIP viewing area that overlooks the long straights and twisting turns of the course. âThis is going to be a year when we expect our growth to go to a whole new level.
âWhat better way to send that message than to be at a place we have never been that is exceptional?
âThe quality of this place; the facilities are off the charts. The customer service, the welcoming feeling you get from the staff here. The track itself is fast. The drivers are having a great time on it.
âIt really sent a message to our other promoters and our drivers and team owners that something is up. We want fans around the country and the sports industry to know that something is going on with IndyCar this year.â
The Thermal Club is a concept driven by Tim Rogers, who made his fortune by supplying gasoline to 7-Eleven stores in 36 states. He wanted to create a private community that mixed multimillion-dollar homes and luxury villas with a high-speed race course.
The two-day IndyCar âSpring Trainingâ was the most ambitious motorsports project yet for The Thermal Club.
Rogers wants it to be the first step in a long-term goal for the community.
âOur endgame is we want to host an IndyCar Series race at The Thermal Club one day,â Rogers told NBC Sports as IndyCar hit the track again Friday morning. âThis was a good trial to see how the facility can handle it and if the facility works for them.â
Felix Rosenqvist makes laps in the No. 6 Arrow McLaren Dallara-Chevrolet during the first day of NTT IndyCar Series testing (Andy Abeyta/The Desert Sun / USA TODAY Sports Images).
The two-day test was closed to the general public. It was open only to credentialed news media, members of the Thermal Club and a limited number of their guests.
With the spectacular backdrop of the Coachella Valley that is rimmed with snow-capped mountains, The Thermal Club could provide a great setting for an NBC telecast of an IndyCar Series race (and possibly line up a big sponsor for a return on its investment with a larger than normal audience during a ripe time such as the first weekend of February).
âThat could work, but we have room where we could separate the public and the private members area, too,â Rogers said. âWe could accommodate 4,000 or so of the general public.
âThis would be a premium event for a premium crowd.â
Rogersâ dream of The Thermal Club began 11 years ago. He will talk to IndyCar about a return for Spring Training next year with hopes of getting a date on the schedule for 2025.
âWhatever fits,â Rogers said.
Miles and Penske Entertainment, the owners of IndyCar, Indianapolis Motor Speedway, and the Indianapolis 500, realize Rogers has an ambitious dream of getting a race on the schedule.
âTim and everybody at The Thermal Club have done a phenomenal job of being hosts here for this test,â Miles said. âEverybody is very happy we are here, and I expect we will find a way to continue to be here. Whether that means a race and when is really a bridge we arenât ready to cross yet.
âWe really like opening the championship season each year in St. Petersburg, Florida. Weâll have to see. But itâs a great way to start the season in this way, and right now, we are happy to be here.â
Defending IndyCar champion Will Power takes laps at The Thermal Club during the first day of the trackâs first test (Matthew Ashton â AMA/Getty Images).
On track, it was a successful two-day test session with 27 car/driver combinations that will compete in IndyCar in 2023. Itâs the largest field for IndyCar since the 1990s. There were a few spins here and there but no major incidents across 2,560 laps.
Kyle Kirkwood led the final session Friday while getting acquainted with his new No. 27 team at Andretti Autosport. Kirkwood has replaced Alexander Rossi at Andretti, whom Kirkwood drove for in Indy Lights.
His time of 1 minute, 38.827 seconds (111.721 mph) around the 3.067-mile road course was the fastest of the fourth and final session. But the fastest speed over two days was defending Indy 500 winner Marcus Ericsson of Chip Ganassi Racing in the Friday morning session (1:38.4228, 112.182 mph in the No. 8 Honda).
Callum Ilott of Juncos Hollinger Racing was second in the final session at 1:38.8404 (111.707 mph) in the No. 77 Chevrolet. Rookie Marcus Armstrong of New Zealand was third at 1:38.8049 (111.707 mph) in the No. 11 Honda for Chip Ganassi Racing. Alex Palou of Chip Ganassi Racing was fourth at 1:38.8718 (111.672 mph) in the No. 10. Defending NTT IndyCar Series champion Will Power of Team Penske rounded out the top five at 1:38.9341 (111.602 mph) in the No. 12 Chevrolet.
Ericsson was the fastest in combined times followed by Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racingâs Christian Lundgaard at 1:38.5682 in the No. 45 Honda, Kirkwood, Ilott and Armstrong. Positions 3-5 speeds were from the final practice session on Friday.
With membersâ houses in the background, Romain Grosjean navigates the turns of The Thermal Club in his No. 28 Dallara-Honda (Matthew Ashton â AMA/Getty Images).
Drivers didnât know what to expect before hitting the track. After the two-day test was over, NBC Sports asked several drivers what they learned from The Thermal Club.
âI think itâs a first-class facility, no doubt,â two-time NTT IndyCar Series champion Josef Newgarden of Team Penske said. âI think the entire facility here at Thermal really rolled out the red carpet for us. They did a tremendous job.
âIt was a fairly flawless test, I would say, for two days. I think the great thing about this was we had a two-day test, which was fantastic. You got to have this warmup; this preseason build. That was the biggest positive for me, is that we were here, we were running cars. It was a great facility to do it at.
Josef Newgarden said his No. 2 team (which has a new lead engineer) used The Thermal Club test as an opportunity for building cohesion (Matthew Ashton â AMA/Getty Images).Josef Newgarden (Matthew Ashton â AMA/Getty Images).
âI think the track was a lot more fun than we anticipated. It was challenging, definitely technical. I donât know how relevant it is. For us, it wasnât really relevant to anywhere weâre going, but thatâs OK.â
But even though the track has no sector particularly similar to any road or street course on the schedule, there still were benefits.
âIn a lot of ways, it is relevant,â Newgarden said. âFor us it was relevant for building the team up, trying to work in a competitive environment, be competitive together. Thatâs everything. So regardless of is the setup going to apply to a certain track or another, (it) doesnât really matter.
âFor us, it was applying the principles of how weâre going to work together. From that standpoint, it was very productive for everybody. Raceability-wise, itâs hard to say. It was chewing tires up. Big drop-off from run one to two. I think from a race standpoint, that would be quite positive. Youâd have big tire deg here.
âYouâd have to do more work on runoff areas if we wanted to race here, but itâs possible. I donât think it would take much effort to do the things to run an actual race.â
Will Power (Matthew Ashton â AMA/Getty Images)
Kirkwood found speed in his Andretti Autosport machine, but he used the test to create a smooth working relationship with his new crew.
âI wouldnât say that we found something here that is going to translate to anywhere, right?â the 2021 Indy Lights champion said. âThis is a very unique track, although it was a lot of fun to drive, and it kind of surprised me in the amount of grip that it actually produced.
âIt was quite a bit faster than what we expected.â
Many of the NTT IndyCar Series teams will test later this month at Sebring, Florida, as they prepare for the Firestone Grand Prix of St. Petersburg to kick off the season March 5.
âItâs a very nice facility, a nice area, itâs pretty cool to have two days of testing here with a lot of high-profile people,â two-time NTT IndyCar Series champion Will Power of Team Penske told NBC Sports. âItâs a very technical, tough track.
âItâs pretty good.â
IndyCar drivers turns laps on the second day of testing at The Thermal Club, which is nestled in the Coachella Valley that is ringed by mountains in Southern California (Matthew Ashton â AMA/Getty Images).
The Thermal Club received rave reviews, welcomed IndyCar and provided exposure to the movers and shakers of the business community that own the luxury villas and homes in this ultra-rich community.
Could it be a venue of the future for a series that sells lifestyle as much as on-track competition?
âThis is a fantastic facility and the circuit is a fast circuit,â team owner Bobby Rahal told NBC Sports. âItâs pretty exciting to watch the cars run around here. I think it would be attractive to people.
âIâll leave that up to Mark Miles and (IndyCar President) Jay Frye and everybody else whether we have a race here, but why not?
