Juncos Hollinger Racing is competing in its first full season of IndyCar this year, and the team is finding out just what it means to compete in the top level series.
Finding performance within narrow margins and the having the ability to quickly adapt to changing conditions are difficult skills to master, but are also the key to success in the nearly-spec series.
Three races into the season, JHR is perhaps a bit lower on the scoreboard than it had hoped it would be, and every race result has been considerably worse than the raw pace shown at other points throughout the weekend.
The rookie team’s rookie driver Callum Ilott gave some insight as to what the team is focusing on most in the early part of the year, and where they are still lacking.
“I think the problem in Texas was we didn’t adapt as quickly as maybe we should,” explained Ilott. “The race, I was really held back in the beginning by my experience, but also with the car.
“We adapted it as much as possible. After that weekend there was a lot we could learn from. We’re definitely trying to be more on top of it.
“Texas was a big learning curve, but also my rookie oval. Yeah, it’s something to learn from. It’s a very different environment.”
Ilott’s assessment bears out in the numbers as well. In both Texas and Long Beach, the 23-year-old rookie started the weekend off really strong, pointing to a solid foundation regarding starting setups.
It was on the second and third day of the race weekends that the team began to show more signs of struggle to keep up with the changing conditions, especially in Long Beach where the temperature changed nearly 30°F from one day to the next.
Ilott was in the top 10 on the timesheets for the first practice for both of the most recent races, then failed to put anything meaningful together in qualifying when the rest of the teams were able to adapt and pull ahead.
He does see progress within the team already, however, and feels that as the season progresses both he and his crew will be able to do a better job at quickly improving as the weekend goes on.
“The engineering side, it’s good to have some consistency and continuity,” continued Ilott. “Yeah, it’s good to get there and just build the relationships.
“They have to understand what I want as a driver. I have to understand what we can get as a team. We just need time.
“I would love another half of the team with a teammate to compare to, but we’re pushing ourselves. We’re in a tough spot, but we’re making it work, I think.”
