During the offseason, Chevrolet worked with many of its IndyCar drivers to improve performance and drivability of its engines for the new year.
There had been rumors that the manufacturer had made gains despite a lengthy stable period of regulations, and this weekend’s race from the streets of St. Petersburg seemed to prove that to be true.
Not only did Scott McLaughlin win his maiden pole and victory with his Chevy power plant, Conor Daly took the fastest lap of the race with his Chevy engine.
Outright speed was not the only gain, but also the consistency and drivability that are so critical on bumpy street courses.
“I think it’s been an absolute massive step forward Chevy is taking with our drivability in particular,” said McLaughlin after qualifying. “It’s a lot of hard work from them and working with all the teams.
“So certainly feel a lot better, and definitely some of the microsectors that we were slower in over the last couple of years were really good, and the drivability there is a lot nicer.
“To be honest, it’s starting to come into my liking a little bit not having to — yeah, I’m not going to into too much detail because there’s a Honda guy sitting next to me. But I feel a lot better, and certainly, I think, Will [Power] would say the same.”
Those sectors that McLaughlin mentioned seem to be referring to the slow corners of the temporary street circuit, which held the biggest Chevy advantage over the weekend.
In the winding section of turns 5-8, and also in the final hairpin before the start straight, Chevrolet drivers were able to get better drive out of the slow corners and logged the top four fastest sector times during the race.
Both of those sections were dominated by Honda drivers for the 2021 race, showing a marked improvement for this season.
The second race of the year takes place at the 1.5-mile oval at Texas Motor Speedway, which will have a different type of demand on the power unit. It is unknown if this year’s improvements will be noticeable on the different track type.
But the third IndyCar race in April returns to tough city streets in Long Beach, which could once again highlight the improvements Chevy has made in the offseason.
