We got a glimpse behind the scenes in the pits and paddock at the Honda Indy Toronto for an up-close look at what it takes to keep the IndyCars on the track.
Words and pictures by Gerry Malloy
It’s not just Toronto’s streets that suffer from traffic jams. The IndyCars had to line up waiting for access to the pits for their first practice session.
Unlike at most tracks, where crews work under tents attached to their transporters, the Toronto paddock is indoors, inside the gigantic Enercare convention centre.
Mobile workshops
The big teams, like Ganassi, park and connect their transporters together to create one big mobile office and workshop.
There’s plenty of room beside the transporters to perform all the work necessary on the cars – and to store the vast quantity of tires needed to get through a race weekend.
The pits themselves are crammed full of the tires needed for each track session as well as a fuel tank and essentials such as tools and spare wings.
Each car has its own trackside control stand where its engineers and strategists monitor data and call the shots during practice, qualifying and the race itself.
The driver’s office is a bit more cramped but almost all the controls needed are clustered on the steering wheel.
Getting into and out of that office is an athletic exercise by itself.
In addition to all the safety protection in the cars themselves, the drivers each wear their own HANS Device, attached to their helmet, to help protect them from whiplash injury in the event of a crash.
It’s hot in the cockpit so drivers typically get a fan to blow cool air in their face during prolonged pit stops.
Ultimate race winner, Joseph Newgarden, flashes past while Tony Kanaan waits for the track to ‘rubber in’ before joining first practice.
Ever wonder how the TV crews get those great shots of cars exiting the pits? This is how.
Canadian racer, James Hinchcliffe, who finished third in the race, gets a quick front spring change during practice.
The fuel hose used on race day is huge and the fuel filler, which seals tightly to the car, is complex in its construction.
The fuel receptacle on the cars is standardized so it’s the same for all and they all use the same Sunoco ethanol fuel.
The electronic number system above the fuel filler indicates running position on the track or time stopped when in the pits.
Sebastian Saavedra, subbing for Mikhail Aleshin, dives for his pit during practice. The dotted line denotes the pit entrance boundary.
Even during practice, pit stops are well choreographed with each crew member assigned specific tasks.
That’s not a light saber this crew member is holding. It’s the pneumatic starter for the car, as IndyCars don’t have their own on-board starters.
The long starter shaft is inserted through the transmission to start the engine.
Organization is key to an efficient pit operation – right down to backup air lines for the wheel-nut air guns.
Rain tires were abundant in the pits based on weather forecasts but despite threatening skies and occasional showers they were not needed while the cars were on track.
Fresh out of the mold
It was readily apparent from the mold flash on the tires that they have never been used. Note the deep, wide grooves for evacuating water.
Every tire has to be accounted for as they are rationed to teams for the weekend and every wheel and tire has a specific purpose.
The ‘soft’ red-sidewall tires used in qualifying, and at least once during the race, tend to produce better traction but don’t last as long as the primary, black-walled tires.
The front wing and nose assemblies for 2016 series champion, Simon Pagenaud’s car bring new definition to the term ‘chrome horn’.
It’s not hard to see why the front wing ends are lethal to other cars’ tires if they come in contact. Or why the wings themselves are vulnerable to contact damage. These wings are for Chevrolet-powered cars. Those for cars with Honda engines are different.
The difference in the Honda wing is apparent here.
When you hear TV commentators talking about pit crews adding or subtracting a turn of front wing, this is the adjustment they’re talking about.
The rear wing assemblies are actually multiple wings. This one is for a Chevrolet-powered car.
As is the case for front wings, the rear wings for Honda-powered cars are completely different.
The wings aren’t the only vulnerable appendages on the cars, as these vertical side-pod strakes illustrate.
In addition to each team’s own telemetry data from its own cars, IndyCar provides timing and scoring data and video to all the teams.
Helio Castroneves was fastest in the first practice session, but others overtook him as the weekend progressed.
Castroneves checked the time charts to see where others were as soon as he got of his car.
Back in the paddock, between sessions, pit crews were hard at work prepping the cars for their next time on the track.
Then the cars lined up again, this time for another tech inspection.
Beyond just a visual examination, Indycar records precise dimensions of key criteria such as wing heights.
Many drivers, like Graha Rahal, took time to chat with and sign autographs for their fans, before debriefing with their engineers.
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