|
|
|
| Mon, Dec. 07 - - Mobile - RSS | |
| YOUR TOWN: Caroline | Culpeper | King George | Fredericksburg | Orange | Spotsylvania | Stafford | Westmoreland | |
|
|
RIR will be unique challenge for IRL drivers new to track
IRL drivers say RIR is still a challenge
Date published: 3/22/2008
BY JIM McCONNELL RICHMOND-- Scott Dixon is an ardent supporter of the recent merger that reunited American open-wheel racing. But that doesn't mean the Australian will offer advice to former Champ Car drivers when the new-look IndyCar Series returns to Richmond International Raceway in June."We don't want to be helping out the competition," Dixon said with a smile. "I think anybody who comes here for the first time in an Indy car, it's quite a shock. Those guys, their eyes will definitely be open for the first couple laps." Dixon was in town with countryman Ryan Briscoe on Wednesday, testing tires for series supplier Firestone in preparation for the June 28 SunTrust Indy Challenge. Briscoe, whose lone Richmond experience came in the 2005 event, knows the challenges facing IndyCar newcomers during their introduction to the series' shortest track. "It's quite a bit more physical," he said. "We run a lot more downforce here, so the steering gets heavy. When you first get out of the car, you have to catch your footing because you've been turning circles so much. It takes your eyes a little bit to adjust." Everyone will be adjusting on the fly at this year's event. Between adding 50 laps to the race--it's now a 300-lap event--and as many as 10 more cars battling for position at 180 mph around the ¾-mile oval, RIR could host one of the most interesting weekends of the 2008 IndyCar season. "At a place like Richmond you get into traffic so quick, it's going to make it really tough," Dixon said. "Last year, it was not so easy to pass lapped traffic, so that could play into maybe a few more yellows and a few more crashes and things like that." While Richmond isn't guaranteed a spot on the IndyCar schedule beyond this season, both drivers said it would be a mistake for the series to abandon such a unique track. "Richmond doesn't compare to anything we race on," Dixon said. "For one, it's under the lights. We don't get to race under the lights too often. My first impression when coming to this place, I thought it was a go-kart track, it was so small. "It's definitely the most fun I've ever had on an oval. It's a place that 90 percent of us guys love to come back to." Added Briscoe: "From a driving standpoint, it certainly is one of the most exciting ovals we go to. These cars turn very quick lap times. We can get down in the 15-second range here and it really is flying. And we still get side-by-side racing."
Jim McConnell: 540/374-5444
Date published: 3/22/2008
|
 |
|||
|
|||
