IndyCar: Carlin Racing 2018 Review

Photo: IndyCar
0 Comments

Editor’s note: Over the next two weeks, MotorSportsTalk will review how each organization in the IndyCar Series performed in 2018 and also take a look ahead to 2019. We kicked off the series Wednesday with Juncos Racing and continued on Thursday with Meyer Shank Racing. We continue today with Carlin Racing.

The addition of Carlin Racing to the IndyCar paddock is undoubtedly a boon for the series. A powerhouse in Europe’s junior categories, with multiple championships across a variety of series, and an Indy Lights championship to boot (2016, with Ed Jones), Carlin adds a lot of depth to a paddock already laden with talent.

The 2018 season, their first in the IndyCar ranks, was always going to be an uphill battle as they were starting from scratch and without a technical partnership with another team to help bolster their effort.

However, they improved as the year went on, and have a strong foundation on which to build going forward.

Charlie Kimball

Photo: IndyCar

Team: Carlin Racing
Years in IndyCar: 8
Career wins and podiums: 1 wins, 6 podiums
2018 final standing: 17th
2018 final stats: 17 starts; 0 wins, 0 podiums, 1 top five; 6 top 10s
2018 best race finish: 5th (Streets of Toronto)

SEASON WRAPUP: Charlie Kimball gave Carlin a handful of bright spots in the team’s debut season. His six top 10s were the only ones the team scored, and they all came after Detroit, highlighting the team’s improvements in the second half of the year.

A mechanical problem ended his day early at Sonoma Raceway to conclude the season, but better days are likely ahead of Kimball and Carlin.

LOOKING AHEAD TO 2019: Assuming he returns to Carlin in 2019 (he is yet to be confirmed) Kimball will look to continue to improve, with the goal of the team’s first podium in sight.

QUOTE (following Sonoma, where he finished 22nd): “It’s too bad we had a mechanical problem today. I can’t complain about the preparation of the No. 23 Tresiba Chevrolet from the team, the mechanical issue was just out of their control. All year the team has done an incredible job, even today our pit stops were on point. It was a hard day out there today. I think we’re still missing something in the grip and platform window, but now we at least have a year’s worth of data to learn from and be even better next season. A huge thanks to the whole Carlin team, Novo Nordisk, and everyone who supported us this season.”

 

Max Chilton

Photo: IndyCar

Team: Carlin Racing
Years in IndyCar: 3
Career wins and podiums: 0 wins, 0 podiums
2018 final standing: 19th
2018 final stats: 17 starts; 0 wins, 0 podiums, 0 top fives; 0 top 10s
2018 best race finish: 11th (Detroit, Race 2)

SEASON WRAPUP: Chilton had by far the worse season of the Carlin duo, without a single top 10 to his name in 2018. This comes after a 2017 season in which he scored six top 10s and battled for an Indy 500 win, with Chip Ganassi Racing.

To call the season frustrating might be an understatement, but given that this was Carlin’s debut year, the struggles can easily be classified as growing pains that any first-year team experiences.

LOOKING AHEAD TO 2019: Like Kimball, Chilton will look to improve in 2019, and get himself back into the top 10 on a regular basis.

QUOTE (following Sonoma, where he finished 21st): “We were obviously hoping for a better result this weekend for the No. 59 Gallagher Chevrolet, but I’m proud of how this team came together this weekend and really all season. This whole weekend has been tough, and the race was a difficult one, but we had much better pace in the second half of the race. That’s a big positive that we can take into next season and it’s even more data we can use here and at other road and street courses next season. Thank you to Carlin and everyone at Gallagher for making this first season such a good one.”

Follow@KyleMLavigne

IndyCar results, points after Detroit Grand Prix

0 Comments

DETROIT — Alex Palou topped the results of an NTT IndyCar Series race for the second time this season, extending his championship points lead with his victory in the Chevrolet Detroit Grand Prix.

The Chip Ganassi Racing driver, who also won the GMR Grand Prix (and the Indy 500 pole position) last month, holds a 51-point lead over teammate Marcus Ericsson (ninth at Detroit) through seven of 17 races this season.

Ganassi, which placed all four of its drivers in the top 10 at Detroit, has three of the top four in the championship standings with Scott Dixon ranked fourth after a fourth at Detroit.

FLAVOR FLAV POWERS UP: Iconic rapper hangs out with Team Penske

Indy 500 winner Josef Newgarden is third in the standings after taking a 10th at Detroit. Pato O’Ward slipped to fifth in the points after crashing and finishing 26th

Here are the IndyCar results and points standings after the Chevrolet Detroit Grand Prix:


RESULTS

Click here for the official box score from the 100-lap race on a nine-turn, 1.645-mile street course in downtown Detroit.

Lap leader summary

Full lap chart

Best section times

Full section data

Event summary

Pit stop summary

Here is the finishing order in the Chevrolet Detroit Grand Prix with starting position in parentheses, driver, engine, laps completed and reason out (if any):

1. (1) Alex Palou, Honda, 100, Running
2. (7) Will Power, Chevrolet, 100, Running
3. (9) Felix Rosenqvist, Chevrolet, 100, Running
4. (4) Scott Dixon, Honda, 100, Running
5. (13) Alexander Rossi, Chevrolet, 100, Running
6. (12) Kyle Kirkwood, Honda, 100, Running
7. (2) Scott McLaughlin, Chevrolet, 100, Running
8. (11) Marcus Armstrong, Honda, 100, Running
9. (6) Marcus Ericsson, Honda, 100, Running
10. (5) Josef Newgarden, Chevrolet, 100, Running
11. (24) Colton Herta, Honda, 100, Running
12. (17) Devlin DeFrancesco, Honda, 100, Running
13. (8) Simon Pagenaud, Honda, 100, Running
14. (20) Agustin Canapino, Chevrolet, 100, Running
15. (15) Conor Daly, Chevrolet, 100, Running
16. (18) Christian Lundgaard, Honda, 100, Running
17. (25) Jack Harvey, Honda, 100, Running
18. (14) Rinus VeeKay, Chevrolet, 100, Running
19. (23) Helio Castroneves, Honda, 100, Running
20. (19) Benjamin Pedersen, Chevrolet, 97, Running
21. (22) Santino Ferrucci, Chevrolet, 97, Running
22. (26) Sting Ray Robb, Honda, 97, Running
23. (21) David Malukas, Honda, 85, Contact
24. (3) Romain Grosjean, Honda, 80, Contact
25. (27) Graham Rahal, Honda, 50, Contact
26. (10) Pato O’Ward, Chevrolet, 41, Contact
27. (16) Callum Ilott, Chevrolet, 1, Contact

Winner’s average speed: 80.922 mph; Time of Race: 02:01:58.1171; Margin of victory: 1.1843 seconds; Cautions: 7 for 32 laps; Lead changes: 10 among seven drivers. Lap Leaders: Palou 1-28; Power 29-33; O’Ward 34; Palou 35-55; Power 56-64; Palou 65; Rossi 66; Newgarden 67-68; Kirkwood 69; Ericsson 70-76; Palou 77-100.


POINTS

Click here for the points tally in the race.

Here are the points standings after the Chevrolet Detroit Grand Prix:

Drivers

Entrants

Engine manufacturers

Pit stop performance

Top 10 in points: Palou 273, Ericsson 222, Newgarden 203, Dixon 194, O’Ward 191, Rossi 176, McLaughlin 175, Power 172, Herta 149, Rosenqvist 148.

Rest of the standings: Grosjean 145, Kirkwood 142, Lundgaard 136, Ilott 116, VeeKay 108, Ferrucci 105, Armstrong 101, Rahal 99, Malukas 91, Daly 88, DeFrancesco 81, Castroneves 80, Harvey 78, Canapino 77, Pagenaud 72, Pedersen 61, Robb 55, Takuma Sato 37, Ed Carpenter 27, Ryan Hunter-Reay 20, Tony Kanaan 18, Marco Andretti 13, RC Enerson 5, Katherine Legge 5.

Next race: IndyCar will head to Road America for the Sonsio Grand Prix, which will take place June 18 with coverage starting at 1 p.m. ET on NBC and Peacock.