2021 R14: Grand Prix of Portland

[MonteCristo]

Three races to go: Portland, Laguna Seca, and Long Beach - all in the space of three weeks.

The Portland race is on 12 September (local time - 13th in Aus).

Always enjoyed this track, though the racing is often ... ehhh.

This race is notable for the return of Juncos Racing under the Juncos Hollinger Racing banner. Driver still TBC - possibly Kyle Kaiser.

In case you're wondering, three time winner/four time fence climber Helio Castroneves is in for the remainder of the season at Shank.

Lastly: Mongols? Not too much Mongols activity. But rumour has it they're setting up shop in Tumalo, Oregon, so watch this space.

[John]

After three years in the series, Marcus Ericsson will finally race at Portland.

[PTRACER]

I'm a fan of the track as well. Shame it is not happening this weekend.

[MonteCristo]

We have driver action!

Oliver Askew is in for the final three races at Rahal: https://racer.com/2021/09/01/askew-to-c ... -with-rll/

But the big news is that the Juncos driver for Portland has been revealed, and it is...

Callum Ilott!

https://racer.com/2021/09/01/ilott-to-m ... -portland/

Just a one race deal at the moment, maybe extended. But we'll see.

Good luck to the lad. He'll be very interesting to watch.

[Everso Biggyballies]

Kimi > Indycar.

Make it happen noises!
(He is not shy of ovals... he did a bit of NASCAR)

[MonteCristo]

Kimi > Indycar.

Make it happen noises!
(He is not shy of ovals... he did a bit of NASCAR)

That would be ace.

Honestly, I could see him trying out a race or two. But I highly doubt he'd commit to a full season.

[MonteCristo]

Portland qualifying results:

Rank Car Driver Name C/E/T Time Speed Session
1 10 Palou, Alex D/H/F 58.7701 120.306 Round 3 / Firestone Fast Six
2 27 Rossi, Alexander D/H/F 58.8573 120.128 Round 3 / Firestone Fast Six
3 9 Dixon, Scott D/H/F 58.8673 120.107 Round 3 / Firestone Fast Six
4 7 Rosenqvist, Felix D/C/F 58.9505 119.938 Round 3 / Firestone Fast Six
5 15 Rahal, Graham D/H/F 59.0067 119.824 Round 3 / Firestone Fast Six
6 26 Herta, Colton D/H/F 59.2796 119.272 Round 3 / Firestone Fast Six
7 5 O'Ward, Pato D/C/F 58.9732 119.892 Elimination Round 2 / Top 12
8 18 Jones, Ed D/H/F 59.0247 119.787 Elimination Round 2 / Top 12
9 45 Askew, Oliver D/H/F 59.0837 119.668 Elimination Round 2 / Top 12
10 8 Ericsson, Marcus D/H/F 59.0901 119.655 Elimination Round 2 / Top 12
11 59 Chilton, Max D/C/F 59.2346 119.363 Elimination Round 2 / Top 12
12 14 Bourdais, Sebastien D/C/F 59.2419 119.348 Elimination Round 2 / Top 12
13 29 Hinchcliffe, James D/H/F 59.2537 119.324 Elimination Round 1 / Group 1
14 12 Power, Will D/C/F 59.0032 119.831 Elimination Round 1 / Group 2
15 3 McLaughlin, Scott (R) D/C/F 59.3563 119.118 Elimination Round 1 / Group 1
16 20 Daly, Conor D/C/F 59.0974 119.640 Elimination Round 1 / Group 2
17 06 Castroneves, Helio D/H/F 59.4190 118.992 Elimination Round 1 / Group 1
18 2 Newgarden, Josef D/C/F 59.1371 119.559 Elimination Round 1 / Group 2
19 77 Ilott, Callum (R) D/C/F 59.5008 118.829 Elimination Round 1 / Group 1
20 60 Harvey, Jack D/H/F 59.1463 119.541 Elimination Round 1 / Group 2
21 51 Grosjean, Romain (R) D/H/F 59.6344 118.562 Elimination Round 1 / Group 1
22 21 VeeKay, Rinus D/C/F 59.1885 119.456 Elimination Round 1 / Group 2
23 48 Johnson, Jimmie (R) D/H/F 59.7120 118.408 Elimination Round 1 / Group 1
24 30 Sato, Takuma D/H/F 59.1953 119.442 Elimination Round 1 / Group 2
25 28 Hunter-Reay, Ryan D/H/F No Time No Speed Elimination Round 1 / Group 1
26 22 Pagenaud, Simon D/C/F 59.6591 118.513 Elimination Round 1 / Group 2
27 4 Kellett, Dalton D/C/F 59.7438 118.345 Elimination Round 1 / Group 2

Report: https://racer.com/2021/09/11/palou-take ... -fast-six/

Poor from Newgarden, and meh from Ericsson. Solid enough from Ilott given the team!

And a reminder of the points:

RK DRIVER POINTS WINS POLES TOP 5 TOP 10
1 Pato O'Ward 435 2 2 8 10
2 Alex Palou 426 2 1 7 9
3 Josef Newgarden 413 2 3 6 10
4 Scott Dixon 392 1 1 7 10
5 Marcus Ericsson 375 2 0 3 10
6 Colton Herta 324 1 2 5 5

[John]

Finally FRO is finding his feet. Looking forward to the race.

[John]

Let's goooooo

[Everso Biggyballies]

What the fuck was that at the start / T1?

Amateur hour?

[Oliver Dale]

Is there meant to be a commentator on SKYF1 during the US ad breaks?

[John]

What the fuck was that at the start / T1?

Amateur hour?

Just regular Portland. The Festival Curves are dumb. The reshuffle from race control was over the top.

[Oliver Dale]

I thought SKYF1's coverage of IndyCar is meant to be uninterrupted? So why are we on an ad break?

[John]

Graham absolutely bossing it tonight. It’s been a hot minute since we could say that.

[John]

Lol jinxed it