Takuma Sato (C.Owens) When I tweeted @IndycarUK early last week, asking about TV times, and explaining that I was new to IndyCar, Adrian asked me if I would be interested in writing a guest article for the site, about my experiences watching my first ever IndyCar race. I said I'd be delighted to, and so here I am! I've decided to do this in two parts - my thoughts before the race, and my thoughts after the race. But to start with, I'll introduce myself.
I'm Jake Kilshaw (@jakekilshaw - yes I know, a very creative username), and 15. I'm currently in my GCSE year at school, and my goal is for a career in motorsport journalism. I'm a fan of a wide variety of motorsports: bikes; touring cars; sports cars; endurance; F1; rally; NASCAR, you name it. But I've never watched IndyCar. I've known what it is, and had a rough idea of how it works, just never followed it. I decided after having seeing some IndyCar drivers in other categories such as Formula E, and discovering that some of the NASCAR teams like Penske are also in the series, that I should give it a go.
So what do I know about IndyCar already? Looking at the entry list, I can see some familiar names: Takuma Sato, Sebastien Bourdais and Juan Pablo Montoya will all, of course, be known to any F1 fan from a few years back. And the latter, from NASCAR, too. There are some Formula E names as well: Simona de Silvestro, for example. And then, there are some people that I seem to know, but from where, I'm not sure. Will Power, and Ryan Hunter-Reay - perhaps I have just seen their names on motor sports news websites.
I'm Jake Kilshaw (@jakekilshaw - yes I know, a very creative username), and 15. I'm currently in my GCSE year at school, and my goal is for a career in motorsport journalism. I'm a fan of a wide variety of motorsports: bikes; touring cars; sports cars; endurance; F1; rally; NASCAR, you name it. But I've never watched IndyCar. I've known what it is, and had a rough idea of how it works, just never followed it. I decided after having seeing some IndyCar drivers in other categories such as Formula E, and discovering that some of the NASCAR teams like Penske are also in the series, that I should give it a go.
So what do I know about IndyCar already? Looking at the entry list, I can see some familiar names: Takuma Sato, Sebastien Bourdais and Juan Pablo Montoya will all, of course, be known to any F1 fan from a few years back. And the latter, from NASCAR, too. There are some Formula E names as well: Simona de Silvestro, for example. And then, there are some people that I seem to know, but from where, I'm not sure. Will Power, and Ryan Hunter-Reay - perhaps I have just seen their names on motor sports news websites.
Josef Newgarden / CFH Racing (C.Owens) From some quick research, I've learned that the cars all use the same Dallara chassis, but with either Honda or Chevy engines. Honestly, I'm not sure how I feel about that. I usually prefer series where the cars look different to each other and each have their upsides and downsides. That doesn't mean it will be bad though, perhaps it makes the racing closer.
I like the idea that there is a variety in the types of tracks: ovals, street circuits, 'road' courses. The NASCAR Watkins Glen and Sonoma road course races are often some of the best races in the season. But the fact that the races aren't all normal tracks, and that some are just four left corners, would surely add a new and more interesting challenge.
Sunday's race will be at St. Petersburg. I've never been to St Petes, but I've been on holiday many times to Sarasota, a town only 30 minutes or so away, and so I know that this part of the world is fantastic. The track map shows the layout to be quite interesting. Some street circuits can be very boring and simple, but this looks like the shape of a normal track, which is good.
Now it's time to wait for Sunday...
You can follow Jake on Twitter and check out his Blog - On2Wheels
I like the idea that there is a variety in the types of tracks: ovals, street circuits, 'road' courses. The NASCAR Watkins Glen and Sonoma road course races are often some of the best races in the season. But the fact that the races aren't all normal tracks, and that some are just four left corners, would surely add a new and more interesting challenge.
Sunday's race will be at St. Petersburg. I've never been to St Petes, but I've been on holiday many times to Sarasota, a town only 30 minutes or so away, and so I know that this part of the world is fantastic. The track map shows the layout to be quite interesting. Some street circuits can be very boring and simple, but this looks like the shape of a normal track, which is good.
Now it's time to wait for Sunday...
You can follow Jake on Twitter and check out his Blog - On2Wheels
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