Chaves: “I’ve never seen such a huge draft effect at Indy”
Gabby Chaves says he has never witnessed IndyCars create such a big tow, with cars getting a draft when almost 20seconds apart.
Photo by: Michael L. Levitt / Motorsport Images
The 2014 Indy Lights champion, about to enter his fourth Indy 500, and his second with Harding Racing-Chevrolet, ended Fast Friday 11th overall (229.135mph) but only 28th on the no-tow rankings (226.541), when the team attempted qualifying simulations.
Chaves told Motorsport.com: “Two cars on track, far apart, and they can run a 227, and then they go out on their own and they’re only running 225s. I’ve never seen it like this, where there’s such a huge draft effect when the cars are 20 seconds apart. The cars really pull so hard in the tow, it's incredible.
“So I don’t know how we are for running alone in quali tomorrow. I think we’re probably…maybe… midfield in quali. And I don’t know where we find more speed because we’re at maximum trim. There’s no more wing angle to go!”
Chaves also said he believed that Chevrolet cars may have a slight advantage.
“I was looking at that earlier and it’s very close,” he remarked, “but I think Penske and Carpenter [both Chevy] are a couple of tenths of mile-an-hour quicker than the Andrettis and the Ganassis [both Honda]. Hey, I hope that’s the case – it would be nice to be on the right end of the deal for once.”
Be part of Motorsport community
Join the conversationShare Or Save This Story
Subscribe and access Motorsport.com with your ad-blocker.
From Formula 1 to MotoGP we report straight from the paddock because we love our sport, just like you. In order to keep delivering our expert journalism, our website uses advertising. Still, we want to give you the opportunity to enjoy an ad-free and tracker-free website and to continue using your adblocker.
Top Comments