This weekend marks – finally! – the first weekend of racing for the 2016 IndyCar Series, a season that will include the one hundredth edition of the Indianapolis 500. After a long but eventful off-season, we’re set to open a new campaign on the streets of St Petersburg in Florida.
Before the first session of the weekend, I’ve run my rule over the Class of 2016. Part One analyses championship contenders. Coming soon, the dark horses in Part Two, and the best of the rest in Part Three.
Scott Dixon (Chevrolet – Chip Ganassi Racing): The Iceman, who will sport a 90’s-era Target paint scheme this year, is the defending series champion, capping a remarkable late-season resurgence to steal the 2015 title away from hot favourite Juan Pablo Montoya on the last race of the year, in one of the best season finales – not to mention examples of grand larceny – I’ve ever seen.
Dixon, Queensland-born and New Zealand-raised, doesn’t always win a heap of races, but there’s no better driver in the IndyCar Series at notching Top 5 and Top 10 finishes, week in, week out. That, and the first-class Ganassi organisation are what allows him to be a perennial contender. 2016 should be no different.
Juan Pablo Montoya (Team Penske – Chevrolet): Admit it, you thought Montoya was well and truly cooked coming back from an uncompetitive few years in NASCAR. Well, not so much, and JPM – the only man to win the Indianapolis 500, CART/IndyCar World Series championship, the Italian Grand Prix and 24 Hours of Daytona on his first go at each – figures to be strong again, spurred on by snatching defeat from the jaws of victory at the season finale in Sonoma.
Remember, Montoya had led the championship all year long, only to fall to Dixon at the end. And there’ll be plenty out there who’ll claim that he’s too old to continue to be competitive in open wheel racing. If that isn’t enough of a double-shot of motivation for the Colombian, what is? Plus, JPM has the benefit of running Penske equipment. Keep an eye on him this year.
Will Power (Team Penske – Chevrolet): 2015 wasn't quite what Queensland’s Will Power would have wanted coming in as defending series champion. He was pipped by inches at Indianapolis by team mate Montoya, and although he was theoretically in the championship race right down to the end, it wasn't the same dominating driver as we saw a year earlier.
Most of the paddock will tell you that Power is still the gold standard when it comes to road racing in IndyCar, and we’ve seen consistent improvement on ovals, too. Watch out for him at Indianapolis – last year’s close defeat would have hurt, and he’ll be out for revenge in the one hundredth edition of the great race. His run there last May really stamped his legitimacy as an oval racer.
Helio Castroneves (Team Penske – Chevrolet): Helio, as famous emerging victorious on Dancing with the Stars as he is for his three Indianapolis 500 wins, is the sport’s most recognisable face because of his dance moves, which certainly says something about IndyCar’s national popularity.
Nothing ever seems to stop Castroneves from smiling when the cameras are on, but under that persona lurks a serious racer. He’s as hungry as they come, even after so much success, and age certainly hasn’t wearied the Brazilian. Add to that his Penske-prepared cars, and it’s hard to count Helio out.
Sebastien Bourdais (KVSH Racing – Chevrolet): the Frenchman has been asking Jimmy Vasser’s squad not to dilute it’s limited resources by running two cars each year, and in 2016, Bourdais has had his wish granted, the team parting ways with crash-prone rookie Stefano Colletti after a costly season of wrecked machines.
Whilst it's not good news for the series’ overall car count, the consolidation of the team owned by 1996 IndyCar champion Vasser, which regularly punches above it’s weight class, might be a blessing in disguise for Bourdais, who has a great nucleus of people around him. Sea Bass is fast everywhere (particularly on road and street circuits) and, with a little luck, should be right amongst the championship contenders.
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