A Pre-Season Conversation Novo Nordisk No. 83 IndyCar Driver Charlie Kimball

A Pre-Season Conversation Novo Nordisk No. 83 IndyCar Driver Charlie Kimball

BEGIN
Charlie Kimball is an American open-wheel race car driver who is one of eleven (11) American drivers listed of the twenty-six (26) drivers featured on the pre-season IndyCar.com website.

Charlie has been pursuing a professional racing career probably ever since he was in the womb some 32 years ago since his father, Gordon Kimball, had a career as a Stanford University trained engineer and Formula 1 race car designer.

In fact, Charlie, while being raised as a local Californian from Camarillo in Ventura County, was born in England during a time his father was designing cars for McLaren.

After High School, he had a clear chance to follow his father's college path through Stanford, but choose, instead, to focus his time on his one true passion - race car driving.

In the early 2000's, he drove in the American Formula Dodge series, SCCA's Formula Ford, then went on to England to join the UK Formula Ford winter series.

He was able to join Carlin Motorsports to compete in the British Formula 3 championship finishing P2 for the season behind Portuguese team-mate Alvaro Parente ... last year's Pirelli Wold Challenge GT Class champion, driving a K-PAX Racing McLaren.

After two seasons in Firestone Indy Lights, Charlie was offered a seat on the Chip Ganassi Racing team driving the No. 83 original IRL Dallara in 2011 ... then graduated on to driving the Dallara DW12 and its many aero configurations through Honda, then Chevy, and now back to Honda for the 2017 season.

This season, he joins team-mates Scott Dixon, Tony Kanaan, and Max Chilton coming off of a very successful pre-season test at Sebring where the Honda cars of Chip Ganassi Racing posted the four quickest times.

Welcome, driver of the Novo Nordisk No. 83 Honda Dallara, Charlie Kimball ...

1)
First, tell us a little about Novo Nordisk and some of the background behind your sponsorship since joining the Verizon IndyCar Series.

2)
A two-part question on how did you do in both the pre-season tests?  A) FIRST the oval at Phoenix and B) SECOND the road course at Sebring?

A)
Phoenix ...

B)
Sebring ...

3)
In reviewing your driving in IndyCar these last 6 years, it is a little hard to pick out tendencies except that you seem to be the most consistent at the series owners home track - both the road course - a consistent P5, and the Indiana Motor Speedway oval - where you do pretty well finishing into top 10 and top 5. Tell us why IMS seems to play to your strengths and what courses on the schedule do you like the most when they present themselves?

4)
With your association with Chip Ganassi Racing, other types of challenges have opened up for you. You were part of a championship winning Rolex 24 of Daytona in 2013 with co-drivers Juan Pablo Montoya, Scott Pruett, and Memo Rojas in a Riley MkXXVI-BMW sports car. How was it being a part of a multiple member driving squad on a single car ... then outside of IndyCar, what other challenges would you like to tackle?

5)
After an off season that feels like a year in itself, The Verizon IndyCar Series gets its first two races underway on temporary street courses. First - broadcast live March 12 at St. Petersburg - SECOND - followed in four weeks by the Toyota Grand Prix Of Long Beach, broadcast live April 9 - These courses have not been the best of venues for you since finishing consistently in the top 10 has been difficult.

What are you anticipating with the new Honda engine and aero package, starting with next weekend's race in Florida?

What are you looking forward to in the new Honda at your presumed home track next to the harbor in Southern California?

Thank you Charlie Kimball and the best of success in 2017 ...
ENDS

Firestone Grand Prix of St. Petersburg
-The 2017 Verizon IndyCar Series season opens in St. Petersburg, Fla., on March 12.
-The race will be broadcast live on ABC at 9 a.m. PT.

Toyota Grand Prix of Long Beach
-The 43rd Toyota Grand Prix of Long Beach takes place April 7-9.
-Tickets can be purchased at gplb.com
-The race will be broadcast live April 9 on NBCSN at 1 p.m. PT.

... notes from The EDJE



TAGS: Chip Ganassi Racing, Charlie Kimball, Novo Nordisk, No. 83, Honda, Dallara, Verizon IndyCar Series, St. Petersburg, Toyota Grand Prix Of Long Beach, Rolex 24, Daytona, McLaren, The EDJE

Catch A Little Roar Before The 24 From Lexus' Scott Pruett

Catch A Little Roar Before The 24 From Lexus' Scott Pruett


Five-time Rolex 24 At DAYTONA champion Scott Pruett shows us around the garage and answers questions!

For the Rolex 24 and the entire IMSA season, Pruett will be joined by former Indy Lights champion Sage Karam in the No. 14 Lexus RC F GT3 of 3GT Racing, which is being tested this week in the Roar By The Shore.

This will be the brand’s first team partnership in North America since 2009, when Pruett won two Rolex 24s and 22 total victories with Grand-Am Road Racing. The 24 hour race starts Saturday, January 28th. 3GT Racing will field two cars in the GTD class — the No. 14 car with drivers Sage Karam and Scott Pruett, and the No. 15 car with Robert Alon and Jack Hawksworth.

The 3GT Racing organization led by team managing director Paul Gentilozzi. Additional drivers for both cars, for the twice-around-the-clock Rolex 24 endurance classic, have yet to be announced.
(ht: Todd Lewis)

... notes from The EDJE



TAGS: Lexus, Scott Pruitt, Daytona, Roar Before The 24, Testing, Rolex 24, Todd Lewis, Paul Gentilozzi, Sage Karam, Scott Pruett, Robert Alon, Jack Hawksworth, The EDJE

Bring your own Brembo is the rule at inaugural TUSCC's Rolex 24 at Daytona

The No. 99 Red Dragon crosses the stripe as the pole sitter for the 52nd Annual Rolex 24 At Daytona. Image Credit: GAINSCO Bob Stallings Racing via FB

Bring your own Brembo is the rule at inaugural TUSCC's Rolex 24 at Daytona

After an incredible 2013 race season with championships in F1, IndyCar, Le Mans, the inaugural World Endurance Championship and both classes of the Grand-Am Rolex Series, Brembo will provide braking systems for more than half of the field this coming Saturday for the inaugural race of the TUDOR United SportsCar Championship (TUSCC) - 52nd Annual Rolex 24 At Daytona..

In the Prototype class, Brembo will equip 15 of the prototypes, including the Corvette DP owned by 2013 Grand-Am Champion Wayne Taylor Racing. Brembo is the only manufacturer to supply all three different chassis running in the class.

 

Today is the 1st official test day before Daytona 24h! ESM Patron car looking shiny! Very excited for this year Daytona! Image Credit: Simon Pagenaud via FB

Of special interest is the use of carbon-carbon rotors on the prototypes, the first such use since the days of the World Sports Cars. The benefits of carbon brakes are reduced weight, as much as a third of cast iron, and more reliability.

In the GT class, Brembo will support 23 cars, including all of the Aston Martins, Audis, Ferraris, factory Porsche 911 RSRs and SRT Vipers. The cars will be equipped with two-piece cast-iron racing discs with 6-piston front and 4-piston rear aluminum calipers. The GT brake system is essentially the same brakes used at Le Mans with lightweight, shape-optimized calipers with billet monobloc construction.

 

Tommy Milner and Corvette return to Daytona this weekend. Image Credit: TAG Heuer Eyewear via FB

Another Brembo innovation, the BRP34 and BRP35 pads, will also offer additional benefits for many of the teams, guaranteeing a high level of friction at working temperatures decidedly lower than other pads.  This helps ensure prompt and steady pedal response. BRP34 was the first pad to ever complete a 24-hour race without needing to be changed.

Whether four-wheel or two, open-wheel or prototype, Brembo, the Italian manufacturer of high-performance braking systems, has won more world championships at more great venues than any other competitor since it first began racing with Ferrari in 1975.

Racing teams and manufacturers such as Ferrari, Porsche, Mercedes-Benz AMG and Lamborghini, who demand the best, turn to the experts in braking technology and performance: Brembo.  The strong support and trusted relationships that Brembo has with more than 31 original equipment manufacturers and hundreds of championship-winning race teams in F1, IndyCar, NASCAR and sports cars, is based on the fact that Brembo is the industry benchmark.  There is no other company or product line on the market that can match Brembo's level of technology and performance.

Coverage of the Rolex 24 at Daytona will start on Fox at 2:00 pm Eastern Time on January 25^th and continue on Fox Sports 1 & 2 plus live streaming at IMSA.com.

... notes from The EDJE

Mazda Burnishes New Mazda6 Clean-Diesel Reputation

Mazda announces its participation in the 2013 Grand Am racing series in front of the media crowd gathered at the LA Auto Show during Press Days. Image Credit:Edmund Jenks (2012)

Mazda Burnishes New Mazda6 Clean-Diesel Reputation

Mazda North American Operations, in a move to further enhance its reputation as a company that builds cars that are fun to drive, announced that the new, redesigned Mazda6, Mazda's flagship mid-sized car, will be entered into the Grand Am series running on Mazda's SKYACTIV technology clean-diesel.

The 2014 Mazda6 will make its motorsports debut at the Rolex 24 endurance race on January 26-27, 2013 in Daytona Beach, Fla. The Mazda6 racecar will be powered by a Mazda SKYACTIV-D Clean Diesel engine (video) and is being developed to compete in the new GRAND-AM GX class.

This announced entrant marks the first time a diesel-powered vehicle of any type will have ever raced at the Rolex 24. Mazda will be seeking their 24th class win in the American endurance classic, having most recently won in 2008 and 2010.

John Doonan, Motorsports Director, Mazda North American Operations noted that:

“We have been eager to announce this car for months, but had to wait until the production car was revealed. The SpeedSource engineering team, working with the Mazda engineers, have been flat out for months on engine development. We’re happy to report that the engine is meeting the performance targets for both power and endurance. That means 400+ hp for over 50 hours, with an engine that includes a very long list of production Mazda parts. This is not a pure race engine; it is a production block SKYACTIV-D. We’re excited about having our newest engine powering our newest car.”

A few of the Mazda Young Guns 2013 - Kenton Koch, Elliott Skeer, Gustavo Menezes, Joey Jordan, at LA Auto Show. Image Credit: Edmund Jenks (2012)

The Mazda6 was one of the first models declared eligible for the GX class, along with Lotus Evora GX and Porsche Cayman. The class will help nurture emerging technologies such as alternative fuels.

When one first sees the redesigned Mazda6, one is struck at the overall upgrade to the styling, primarily with the front end grille and rear tail light configuration. The front impresses the eye with a look similar to a blending of a Mercedes and a Volvo (not bad styling company), with the rear leaving one with the feel of a high-end Lexus without the ridging jut of the tail-light ... the Mazda6 being smoothed and rounded, say sophisticated.

Strongly influenced by the TAKERI Concept, the Mazda6 makes no excuses for its style, safety and spunk – qualities usually absent in a mid-size sedan. Image Credit: Edmund Jenks (2012) 

The GX racing version of the Mazda6 is being developed by SpeedSource and Mazda engineers. The challenge expects to have two factory entries ready to compete at Daytona.

GX will join the Daytona Prototype and GT classes in events sanctioned by Grand-Am Road Racing in 2013, the last year before Grand-Am and the American Le Mans Series merge in a single organization that has yet to be named.

Models eligible for GX besides the Mazda6, Evora and Cayman include the Audi TT, BMW 1 Series, Chevrolet Cruze, Ford Focus sedan, Hyundai Genesis, Subaru BRZ, Scion FR-S, Nissan 370Z or Altima, and Volkswagen Eos.

The KODO "Soul of Motion" design language commands and creates every facet of the vehicle's handsome sheet metal, from its alluringly swept elongated hood and cab-forward proportions to the chiseled steel shaping its frame, the Mazda6 suggests power and elegance before the gas pedal is even floored to go. Image Credit: Edmund Jenks (2012)

In making its North American debut at the Los Angeles Auto Show, the highly-anticipated mid-size sedan will go on sale in January 2013 and be equipped first with a SKYACTIV-G 2.5-liter gasoline engine.  The SKYACTIV-D-equipped version will follow suit during the second half of the year, making Mazda the first Asian manufacturer to offer a modern-technology clean-diesel engine in a non-commercial vehicle. The 2014 Mazda6 also will be the first production vehicle to feature Mazda's capacitor-based brake energy regeneration system called i-ELOOP.

... notes from The EDJE


** Article first published as Mazda Burnishes New Mazda6 Clean-Diesel Reputation on Technorati **