IndyCar Series: enthusiasm is renewed for Agustín Canapino who opens the season with a former Formula 1 player as his partner

With renewed enthusiasm, with the hope of being able to enter the top 10 in some tests and with a former Formula 1 driver as a new teammate, Agostino Canapino will begin his second campaign this weekend in IndyCar Series: it will be on the street circuit of St.Pietroburgo, in Florida, where the most important single-seater category in the United States will begin its 29th season of racing. The ranking will take place this Saturday at 4pm (visible only via Star+), while the test will begin on Sunday at 2pm (it will also be broadcast on ESPN 2).

The first year in the category was pure learning for the Reef man, who until then had never raced in a vehicle without a roof. He was 21st in the championship, with 180 points, and ranked second among rookies, surpassed only by New Zealander Marcus Armstrong (214). His best performances were the 12th places obtained on his debut, namely in St. Petersburg, then in Fort Worth and Toronto.

“Now I can think about competing“, underlined the four-time road tourism champion last week in an interview with Carburando. In any case he avoided excesses of optimism: “We have to be realistic and know where we stand. The goal is to improve compared to last year. I will look for the top ten and perform better without expecting miracles. Today it is impossible to fight for a podium or a race“.

The latest tests showed satisfactory results for the 34-year-old driver. Last week he completed 61 laps in the Chevrolet Juncos Hollinger Racing (JHR) at Sebring International Speedway and finished 13th among the men who ran there. “It was a good test. “We were able to shoot a lot, try different things, corroborate different elements and everything went well.”Canapino said.

In tune with the speech of its pilot, the team of which the engineer is part Ricardo Juncos, Argentinian and the businessman Brad Hollinger (former majority shareholder of the Williams Formula 1 team) is considering improving its performance this year, especially through its strategic alliance with the Arrow McLaren Racing team.

This wasn’t the only major new addition to JHR: the incorporated team Romain Grosjean, who will replace the Englishman Callum Ilott as Canapino’s partner. The Frenchman will begin his fourth season in IndyCar after a year with the Dale Coyne Racing team and two with Andretti Autosport (last season he finished 13th in the championship).

Before landing in the United States, Grosjean had long experience in Formula 1, in which he competed 10 seasons, competed in 181 races and stood on the podium 10 times. His name has remained etched in the memory of motorsport fans due to the serious accident suffered at the Bahrain Grand Prix in November 2020, when his Haas crashed into a containment barrier and it caught fire before completing the first lap of the race. Despite the spectacular nature of the event, the pilot only suffered burns to his hands and ankles.

The inclusion of the Frenchman in the JHR structure was another reason for satisfaction for Canapino. “I’m living a dream. It’s my second year in IndyCar, I share the team with Romain Grosjean and I can think about competing. I am full of enthusiasm. And I want to enjoy it a little, because relatively recently this was impossible for me.”highlighted Super TC 2000 champion in 2016 and 2021.

Grosjean, 37, showed himself very well sensation with his new partner, who he showered with praise: “He works a lot, he’s very involved, He is very talented and a very good driver.. She is also a very nice person, very intelligent, very kind and very honest. I like that”. And he explained how both could enhance each other in this new coexistence: “I think I can bring some of my knowledge of single-seater racing and I’m sure I can learn a lot from him thanks to his experience and all his titles”.

Canapino, Grosjean and 25 other drivers will start the championship this weekend on the St. Petersburg city circuit, a short track, 2,896 meters long, with long straights and fast, tight corners, which runs through the streets of the city center and a section of the Albert Whitted Airport runway. There, in 2023, again at the opening of the race, the Swede Marcus Ericsson won, the Argentine finished 12th and the Frenchman 18th. The first of the season’s 17 races (including one double) will take place on Sunday, bringing the number of oval races from five to seven this year (Milwaukee and Nashville are incorporated).

Spaniard Álex Palou, reigning champion and winner of two of the last three titles, is once again proving to be the rider to beat. His main opponents, a priori, will be the American Josef Newgarden and the New Zealander Scott Dixon. A step down the title contenders are Scott McLaughlin, Will Power, Pato O’Ward and Alexander Rossi.