Gutierrez satisfied with IndyCar debut, seeks more from Race 2
Dale Coyne Racing’s stand-in for Sebastien Bourdais, ex-F1 driver Esteban Gutierrez, says he would be looking for greater performance in tomorrow’s race at Detroit now that he has more experience of car and track.
Photo by: Art Fleischmann
The Mexican outqualified his DCR teammate Ed Jones by 0.2sec in this morning’s qualifying session to start 19th, and was within 1.7sec of polesitter Graham Rahal.
In the race, the Mexican kept his nose clean, backed out of situations that looked likely to end with a damaged car, and came home 19th, one lap behind winner Rahal.
Said Gutierrez: “I’m very pleased and very grateful with the support I got from the team. It’s been very important for me to get into a rhythm. Obviously, it was a very big challenge to throw ourselves into a weekend at Detroit. A very difficult track and not knowing the car.
“This race was basically to get the rhythm, to find the speed and to complete the 70 laps and that goal today was achieved.
“We’re going to look for more for tomorrow’s race but we’re taking it step by step. It was a good day and a positive one because I could find more speed, more pace, I was more comfortable and more consistent.
“I feel very grateful with how everything went today.”
The Mexican’s withdrawal from racing for Techeetah’s Formula E team has paved the way for him to become Bourdais’ full-time stand-in. However, should IndyCar be unable to fit in a test day at Texas Motor Speedway to provide Gutierrez his first oval test, Motorsport.com understands that Oriol Servia will get the nod to sub for his ex-Newman/Haas teammate Bourdais.
Teammate Jones, meanwhile, scored his fourth Top-10 finish of the season in Detroit’s opening race and has moved to seventh in the championship.
IndyCar’s only fulltime rookie said: “I started off not driving well enough earlier this weekend but I made big steps every session and I feel like finally we were quite comfortable with the track, so I was able to attack more.
“The car was really good and it allowed me to overtake some people and keep consistent lap times throughout the stints and we ran a good [two-stop] strategy.
“All in all, everything worked together well and it gives me confidence for tomorrow.”
Be part of Motorsport community
Join the conversationShare Or Save This Story
The long evolution of Dallara's Indy 500 winner
IMSA Laguna Seca: Ganassi Cadillac holds off Porsche for victory
O’Ward, Rossi impressed by McLaren’s “massive step forward”
Vasser-Sullivan considering “all options” to escape IndyCar slump
Grosjean to make his oval IndyCar debut at Gateway
Dale Coyne picks the Top 10 drivers in his giant-slaying team
Dale Coyne Racing tabs Jack Harvey for GP of Long Beach
Katherine Legge lands Indy 500 ride with Dale Coyne Racing
Bourdais on the mental and physical fightback after a 118G shunt
Full-time IndyCar move “an option” says supersub Pourchaire
When Senna broke his F1 duck by walking on water
Josh Berry "not necessarily panicked" over tough 2024 season
Greg Biffle among new 2025 NASCAR Hall of Fame nominees
The apprenticeship that will aid Ilott's IndyCar to WEC switch at Jota
The long evolution of Dallara's Indy 500 winner
Nigel Mansell’s greatest F1 and Indycar drives
Ranking the top 10 IndyCar drivers of 2021
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