Fernando Alonso will reunite with McLaren to attempt 2020 Indy 500

By Feb 25, 2020, 2:00 PM EST
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Fernando Alonso will return to Indianapolis Motor Speedway this May with a new team but a familiar brand.

The two-time Formula One champion will attempt to qualify for the 104th Indianapolis 500 in a third car with Arrow McLaren Racing SP, which is running full-time entries for Pato O’Ward and Oliver Askew. The team formerly known as Arrow Schmidt Peterson Motorsports picked up a new partner this year in McLaren, which fielded Alonso in Formula One in the 2007 and ‘15-18 seasons.

“It’s obviously one of the most iconic races in the motorsports calendar, and I’m extremely happy to be in the month of May again,” Alonso, who will drive the Ruoff Mortgage-sponsored No. 66 Dallara-Chevrolet, told IndyCar on NBC announcer Leigh Diffey in an interview about his Indy 500 return (watch the video above). “After last year, we had some issues, and it was not the race we were expecting. This year we go again with the aim to do well and to win the race.

“Definitely once you experience the Indy 500, it’ll remain always in your heart. The fans are amazing. The show is unbelievable, and the race itself is one of the greatest. In 2017, we had the real chance to be competitive and to feel that adrenaline.”

In his Indy 500 debut three years ago, Alonso led 27 laps for Andretti Autosport and finished 24th after an engine failure with 21 laps left.

With victories in the 24 Hours of Le Mans and the Monaco Grand Prix, Alonso, 38, is trying to win the Indy 500 and complete the “Triple Crown of Motorsport” that has been achieved only by Graham Hill.

“I think the Indy 500 is one of the most impressive races,” Alonso said. “The Indy 500 competes the big three races in motorsports and in three completely different disciplines. It makes you quite a complete driver. That’s what I’m looking for in this stage of my career.

“The Indy 500 is probably the biggest priority for me now.”

Last year, Alonso failed to qualify in a McLaren Dallara-Chevrolet that wasn’t aligned with a winning team. Carlin Racing, a midpack team that had familiarity with McLaren from its England origins and European background, was its engineering partner. As an Indy 500 one-off, McLaren wasn’t able to run Alonso in any other races.

With McLaren aligned with two full-time entries for 2020, there is the possibility this year that Alonso might run the Indianapolis Grand Prix on the Indianapolis Motor Speedway road course as a warmup for the May 24 running of the Greatest Spectacle in Racing.

“I know Helio (Castroneves) and some of the big guys are doing it as preparation,” Alonso said. “Now that McLaren is doing the full (IndyCar) championship, there’s a possibility we may think about that. Right now, it’s the Indy 500, and in the next couple of weeks, we’ll decide how the preparation will go.”

The Spaniard said he had conversations with Andretti Autosport (which reportedly was close to a deal but nixed by Honda) and other teams about racing at Indy this year. But Arrow McLaren Racing SP emerged as virtually the only competitive candidate (as reported last week by NBCSports.com).

“I already said last year I wanted to explore more options,” Alonso said. “Andretti and McLaren are the ones I feel in my heart are like family. At the end, it was the natural choice to go with McLaren, especially after last year, and give the fans something back after the disappointment of last year.”

Missing the iconic race in 2019 didn’t dampen Alonso’s enthusiasm for returning to partake in its history and tradition.

“I think the Indy 500 is on top of all the events I’ve ever participated,” he said. “The atmosphere, the adrenaline, the traditions. All the celebrations before the race. Even the milk. It arrives in a fridge Sunday morning and goes to the Pagoda.

“There are things as a driver you understand the importance of the moment and how big that race is worldwide.”

Alonso, who raced last month in the Dakar Rally, said the Indy 500 would have his full focus over the next three months. He has left the door open to returning to Formula One next year, though, and said he will decide on his 2021 racing schedule this summer.

Heart of Racing program aims to elevate new generation of women to star in sports cars

By Mar 29, 2023, 12:00 PM EDT
women sports cars
Mike Levitt/LAT Images/Heart of Racing
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(Editor’s note: This story on the Heart of Racing sports cars shootout for women is one in an occasional Motorsports Talk series focusing on women in racing during March, which is Women’s History Month.)

Heart of Racing driver and team manager Ian James says his daughter, Gabby, isn’t so interested in auto racing. But she is interested (as a New York-based journalist) in writing about the sport’s efforts and growth in gender equality

It’s a topic that also was brought up by James’ wife, Kim.

“They’re always saying, ‘Hey, you manage all these guys, and you help them, so why not a woman?’ ” Ian James told NBC Sports. “And I feel like there are a lot of women that haven’t had a fair crack at it in sports car racing.

“Our whole DNA at Heart of Racing is we give people opportunities in all types of situations where there’s been crew, personnel or drivers. And I felt like we hadn’t really addressed the female driver situation. I felt like there was a void to give somebody a chance to really prove themselves.”

During the offseason, the team took a major step toward remedying that.

Hannah Grisham at the Heart of Racing shootout (Mike Levitt/LAT)

Heart of Racing held its first female driver shootout last November at the APEX Motor Club in Phoenix, Arizona, to select two women who will co-drive an Aston Martin Vantage GT4 in the SRO SprintX Championship.

The season will begin this weekend at Sonoma Raceway with Hannah Grisham and Rianna O’Meara-Hunt behind the wheel. The team also picked a third driver, 17-year-old Annie Rhule, for a 2023 testing program.

The Phoenix audition included 10 finalists who were selected from 130 applicants to the program, which has been fully underwritten by Heart of Racing’s sponsors.

“We didn’t want it to be someone who just comes from a socio-economic background that could afford to do it on their own course,” James said. “We can pick on pure talent. We’re committed to three years to do this and see if we can find the right person. I’m very hopeful.”

So is Grisham, a Southern California native who has been racing since she was 6 in go-karts and since has won championships in Mazda and Miata ladder series. She has several victories in the World Racing League GP2 (an amateur sports car endurance series). The last two years, Grisham has worked as a test driver for the Pirelli tire company (she lives near Pirelli’s U.S. headquarters in Rome, Georgia, and tests about 30 times a year).

Starting with Sonoma during SprintX event weekends (which feature races Saturday and Sunday), she will split the Heart of Racing car with O’Meara-Hunt (a New Zealand native she got to know at the shootout).

“It’s huge; the biggest opportunity I’ve had in this sport,” Grisham, 23, told NBC Sports. “Now it’s up to me to perform how I know I can. But I’m super lucky to be with such an amazing team and have a good teammate. The Heart of Racing has a family vibe and energy to it that’s really amazing. It’s super exciting. It’s hard to put into words.”

Grisham is hopeful that a strong performance eventually could lead to a full-time ride with Heart of Racing. The team has full-time entries in the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship and won the GTD category of the 2023 Rolex 24 at Daytona with the No. 27 Aston Martin Vantage GT3 piloted by James, Darren Turner, Roman DeAngelis and Marco Sorensen.

James said “there’s no guarantee” of placement in an IMSA entry for Grisham and O’Meara-Hunt, but “if they prove themselves, we’ll continue to help them throughout their career and our team. The GT3 program is an obvious home for that. If they get the opportunity and don’t quite make it, we’ll be looking for the next two. The next three years, we’ll cycle through drivers until we find the right one.”

Grisham described the two-day shootout as a friendly but intense environment. After a day of getting acclimated to their cars, drivers qualified on new tires the second day and then did two 25-minute stints to simulate a race.

Hannah Grisham reviews data with Heart of Racing sports car driver Gray Newell during the team’s shootout last November (Mike Levitt/LAT).

“Everyone was super nice,” she said. “Once everyone gets in the car, it’s a different level. A different switch gets turned on. Everyone was super nice; everyone was quick. I feel we had an adequate amount of seat time, which is definitely helpful.

“It’s always cool to meet more women in the sport because there’s not too many of us, even though there’s more and more. It’s always cool to meet really talented women, especially there were so many from all over the world.”

IMSA has celebrated female champions and race winners, notably Katherine Legge (who is running GTD full time this season with Sheena Monk for Gradient Racing). The field at Sebring and Daytona also included the Iron Dames Lamborghini (a female-dominated team).

The Heart of Racing’s female driver shootout drew interested candidates from around the world (Mike Levitt/LAT).

James believes “a breakout female driver will be competing with the best of them” in the next five years as gender barriers slowly recede in motorsports.

“It’s been a male-dominated sport,” James said. “It’s still a very minute number of women drivers compared to the guys. I’m sure back in the day there were physical hurdles about it that were judged. But now the cars are not very physical to drive, and it’s more about technique and mental strength and stuff like that, and there’s no reason a girl shouldn’t do just as well as a guy. What we’re just trying to achieve is that there isn’t an obvious barrier to saying ‘Hey, I can’t hire a guy or a girl.’ We just want to put girls in front of people and our own program that are legitimate choices going forward for people.”

“There’s been some really good female drivers, but a lot of them just haven’t been able to sustain it, and a lot of that comes from sponsorship. I think (with the shootout), there’s no pressure of raising money and worrying about crash damage. We’ve taken care of all that so they can really focus on the job at hand.”

Funding always has been a hurdle for Grisham, who caught the racing bug from her father, Tom, an off-road driver who raced the Baja 1000 several times.

“I don’t come from a lot of money by any means,” she said. “So since a young age, I’ve always had to find sponsorships and get people to help me, whether it was buying tires, paying for entry fees, paying for the shipment of a car to an actual race. Literally knocking on the doors of people or businesses in my town.

“So yeah, it’s definitely something I’ve always struggled with and held me back because the sport revolves so much around money. So again to get this opportunity is insane.”

Rianna O’Meara-Hunt was one of two women selected by the Heart of Racing to drive in the SRO SprintX Championship this year (Mike Levitt/LAT).

Grisham credits racing pioneer Lyn St. James (an Indy 500 veteran and sports car champion) as a role model who has helped propel her career. She initially was hooked by the sights, smells and sounds of racing — but also its competitive fire.

“There’s a zone you get in, that subconscious state of mind when you’re driving,” Grisham said. “It’s like addictive almost. I love it. Also I’m just a very competitive person as I think most race car drivers are.

“For sure I want to stay with the Heart of Racing. Obviously, I’m still getting to know everyone, but it’s a super family vibe. That’s how I grew up in the sport with just my dad and I wrenching on the cars. That’s what I love about this sport is all the amazing people you meet. And I think this is one of the most promising teams in this country. For sure, I want to learn as much as I can from them and hopefully continue. I feel so lucky and grateful to be one of those chosen.”