Team Penske’s two-time IndyCar champion made his top-class debut in IMSA at Petit Le Mans, partnering Matt Campbell and Felipe Nasr in the factory Porsche entry which finished fourth.
When requested to elucidate how driving the 963 in comparison with an IndyCar, he replied: “It’s all fairly difficult in comparison with the place I’ve come from. The IndyCar may be very mechanical in that there’s not many methods that you just’re altering on the fly, whereas this automotive may be very technologically superior.
“It’s a formidable race automotive that calls for quite a lot of the driving force, so studying all the methods and potential requests that the workforce has at any given time, that’s the problem I’ve needed to undergo.
“On this automotive, it’s a must to respect the restrict greater than an IndyCar. An IndyCar lets you assault continuously at 100%, with minimal loss. If I overdrive a nook [in IndyCar] I can perhaps lose a tenth. On this automotive, I can lose half a second.
“It calls for a bit extra respect. There’s a excessive stage of functionality however you may overstep it simpler. It’s exhausting to search out that time initially. I can nonetheless assault on this automotive, however you achieve this with just a little extra discretion. Discovering that steadiness was probably the most troublesome half firstly.
“Then there’s small issues like [the potential for a] purple gentle at pit exit, we don’t get that in IndyCar. That’s only one instance, however the procedural variations it’s a must to get proper, and that’s the place my thoughts has been centered too.”
Picture by: Michael L. Levitt / Motorsport Images
#7 Workforce Penske Porsche 963: Matt Campbell, Felipe Nasr, Josef Newgarden, #24 BMW Workforce RLL BMW M Hybrid V8: Philipp Eng, Augusto Farfus, Marco Wittmann, #74 Riley Ligier JS P320: Gar Robinson, Felipe Fraga, Josh Burdon
Newgarden made his IMSA sequence debut within the season-opening Daytona 24 Hours in a Tower Motorsports LMP2 automotive, and says he enjoys the multi-class racing facet of sportscar competitors.
“It’s enjoyable, it’s completely totally different from what I’m used to,” he added. “You’ve obtained to be very heads up as a result of there’s a lot occurring.
“In IndyCar, everybody runs a really related tempo however right here, [the speed differences] might be very drastic. Particularly on this monitor [Road Atlanta], I feel it’s probably the most focus [of cars] you’ll see with over 50 vehicles on a two and half mile monitor.
“It’s a unique type of racing, a unique demand, however I feel that’s what I’m having fun with probably the most. It’s entertaining.”