Colton Herta took his second consecutive pole position at the IndyCar Detroit GP. The Andretti driver has shown blistering pace throughout the weekend. He told Pit Debrief and other media outlets about being nervous about the car’s pace on Friday, but worked with the team to put everything together for Saturday.
“Friday was pretty bad from us as far as what we’re used to on street courses, just the feel of the race car. So it kind of — Friday night to go over everything and turn everything around.
“The engineering group did a great job with that, and we saw this morning’s session felt a lot more comfortable and felt a lot more comfortable on the reds, also soft greens.”
Herta: “We need to put together Sunday”
The Andretti driver discussed how his team has had strong qualifying performances, but seem to struggle on race day. He described feeling frustrated that the results are not coming to the team.
“Ultimately we have been really strong on Saturdays and we have not on Sundays. I think that’s the goal of this team. We need to put together Sunday.
“It’s been frustrating for everybody just to have so much pace and have no results. I think our best finish is a fourth, which I think we should have the ability to have some wins this year. We have a good chance right now.“
Herta remained confident, discussing how the Detroit’s track allows for passing and strategy calls to play a greater role compared to other tracks.
“This is a place that promotes pretty good passing as far as street courses go and crazy strategy, and we’ve seen the past two years with a lot of yellows. So anything can happen.
“But I think we’re really just focused on doing the right things for ourselves, and if we get screwed some way or another, that’s the way it’s going to go. We’ve just got to put together a good Sunday from what we can do.”
Cooler temperatures may affect race performance
The weather in Detroit has been cooler compared to previous years. Teams have struggled to fire up their tyres, leading to many lock-ups and drivers bailing into the run-off area. Herta stated that temperature could factor into the results we see tomorrow.
“This is probably the most difficult street circuit and maybe the most difficult circuit to create tire temp. I think the undercut gets a little bit harder but not impossible. But it always changes in the race, so it’s hard to say exactly yes or no and that sort of thing.
“We understand what we want to do, and we have an idea. But like I said, this race is crazy. You just never know what’s going to happen.”
Chaos expected by Herta at the IndyCar Detroit GP
It’s no surprise that Herta expects an unexpected race on Sunday. Last year, there were several cautions and many overtakes. Herta discussed how the peculiarities of the track add to the chaos.
“As far as the 90-degree corners, they are proper, proper 90-degree corners, whereas you look at a place like Long Beach, and even the 90-degree corners aren’t exactly 90 degrees and the exits and everything are shaped a little bit different.
“This is definitely like a very true downtown street circuit, and the bumps, it’s very similar to where we were at in the past at Belle Isle. It definitely gives it character.”
The Detroit GP has 215 manhole covers on track, making it extremely bumpy to drive.
“Without the bumps, this place wouldn’t be as much fun, and it wouldn’t be as much of a challenge, so we kind of need those Detroit streets.”
Herta: “We need to get on top of every scenario”
Last year, Herta started the Detroit GP from pole position. He got caught up in the chaos, causing a caution in the middle of the race and falling a lap down. This year, Herta is prepared for anything to happen.
“We’ve seen these races with a whole bunch of yellows that just turn strategy upside down. So we really need to be on top of every scenario that’s going to happen and really understand that tonight.
“There’s 15 cautions in the last two years, so maybe that’s a little bit less with the hybrid from what we’ve seen this year, but maybe not, and that could definitely be a killer of races. You could get trapped in some yellows.
“So we just need to understand the best way to go about that and protect ourselves.”
