Simon Pagenaud’s fastest time in the Meyer Shank Racing-Honda in first practice was over two seconds faster than Colton Herta’s quickest time in the opening session of last year’s GP Long Beach – held in the fall – despite today’s temperatures hovering around the 100degF mark.
Fellow former Long Beach winner Rossi, a semi-teammate on the Andretti Autosport-Honda side, was 0.4sec slower but that was still enough to grab P2.
He believed the IndyCars benefited from the rubber laid down in two IMSA sessions, as well as other support series, which added to his surprise at the pace.
“The track was black,” said Rossi, who won here in 2018 and ’19. “There was a huge amount of grip. Not always does the rubber [on track] translate to performance for us.
“It was already very fast, despite it being over 130 degrees track temp.
Pagenaud, 2016 GPLB winner, said: “What I noticed is on track it seems like there's new sealants from Turn 1 all the way to Turn 5. I'm assuming that is what makes the tires work better. Turn 6 is actually not that grippy, but you then you go to Turn 8, really grippy.”
Rossi’s teammate Herta won last September’s Long Beach race, which served as the season finale, and said that despite the huge difference in temperature, the squad began today’s practice with much of the same setup.
“You always start with a car that you ended with if you were happy, right?” he said. “We started with a version of that based on what we expected the first session grip level to be. Obviously Andretti has been very strong here for a long time. So I don't think we were ever thinking to stray too far from the baseline.”
Despite today’s temperatures, peak temp on Friday is forecast to be only 75degF, with raceday getting no higher than 67. Asked how he expected what was learned today will be of any use, Pagenaud responded: “A lot of it is how the tires are going to suit the track, how hot the track is… When it's colder, the tire actually doesn't overheat and produces more grip for you and the downforce works better also.
“So the worst cars tomorrow are going to get better. It's going to level up the field basically. The fastest car is still going to be fast, but the margin will not be as much. You have to expect that.
“We know with temperature change what kind of aerodynamical change we need to make on the front wing versus the rear wing to adjust. But simulation program these days really help for these conditions. It's amazing the technology that goes into it, how much we can trust it.”
