by GRand Solutions
No. 6 TrueCar/Dragon Racing Team Continues its Development Program
LEEDS, Ala., April 1, 2012. – TrueCar is revolutionary and simple to use. And while Katherine Legge’s new Lotus Dallara DW12 is also revolutionary, it’s certainly not simple to use.
Most of Legge’s counterparts in the IZOD IndyCar Series have worked through the off-season by posting numerous days and thousands of miles of testing with their new chassis and engine packages in preparation for the 2012 racing season. Unfortunately, her Dragon Racing team hasn’t been afforded that luxury due to limited availability of Lotus engines.
So while most teams have been steadily working through their challenges through intensive testing, California-based Dragon Racing has been forced to utilize their race weekends as their testing ground to resolve any difficulties or issues.
Recently, the team was notified that they would be without engines available for testing in the immediate future, further limiting TrueCar Racing driver Katherine Legge’s development time and understanding of her IndyCar.
Today’s race at the Honda Indy Grand Prix of Alabama would yield a 23rd-place finish for the UK native, but Legge and her TrueCar team were simply trying to fill in for the critical test days that were missed prior to this weekend.
“The TrueCar/Dragon Racing team did a great job today,” said Legge, an IZOD IndyCar Series rookie. “We were basically testing today during the race, with tire pressures, bar settings, and different things. Because we were testing, we were on a different strategy than everyone else. We were having to move over [to allow others to pass] and so we were getting into the marbles, which ultimately led to my spin.”
She continued, “When I got in a gap, our lap times were pretty comparable with everybody else, which means that we’re improving. But I don’t think we are up to speed yet. We need at least two to four days of testing. We haven’t had any, so we’re learning about the car during the race and that is never a good thing. I’m still learning about the car as well. So we need more races or more testing, like everyone else out there.”
Katherine and her No. 6 TrueCar/Dragon Racing team will get their next shot at development on the streets of Long Beach during the Toyota Grand Prix of Long Beach weekend, where Legge won her first open-wheel race in North America in 2005 in the Toyota Atlantic Championship. The IZOD IndyCar Series will run 85 laps on Sunday, April 15 on NBC Sports Network.
Notes and Quotes
On Barber Motorsports Park – “I [was] really looking forward to racing here because it reminds me of a lot of European tracks – very green, very hilly and smooth,” said Legge. “It looks fantastic.”
On Long Beach – Katherine Legge said, “I’m looking forward to returning there. I’ve raced there and know the track, so at least that part won’t be an issue like it was at St. Petersburg and here at Barber where I had never raced before.”
Moving into New Digs – After two months of being on the road and working out of another team’s facility, Dragon Racing will finally get to move into their spacious new shop in Marina Del Ray this week – a beautiful 12,000-square-foot glass showcase for its two IZOD IndyCar Series entries.
Signs of Things to Come – Team owner Jay Penske beamed with pride when asked about what positives exist in this development phase. “I should show you the section times. In the corners and twisty sections, we are fast. And so far, we have had no mechanical failures on the car,” said Penske. “It’s really a sign of what a great job the team has done building these cars and basically doing development out of the trucks at the races.”
GRand Solutions | April 1, 2012 at 6:04 pm | Categories: General News | URL: http://wp.me/p1osII-bQ