PREMA Racing secures season’s best result in maiden Indianapolis 500
The 109th Running of the Indianapolis 500 was a race of survival as PREMA Racing’s maiden entry into the Greatest Spectacle in Racing was a tale of two endings. Callum Ilott secured the team’s best finish of the season in 12th, while pole sitter Robert Shwartzman’s race came to a premature end.
Weather conditions meant a delayed start to the race, and after a yellow flag on the final pace lap the green flag didn’t fly until lap 5. Shwartzman made a solid start, leading the field from pole position until a caution was called after the first corner, neutralising the race almost instantly. Ilott also made a good start making up a place from his starting position of 21st.
Racing resumed on lap 10, and Robert dropped back to fourth, while team-mate Ilott made up further places to 16th. Light rain began to fall around the Speedway on lap 19 forcing another caution period.
Using the opportunity to pit under the yellow flags, PREMA Racing called both drivers in on lap 24. A slow stop saw Shwartzman drop down the field and emerge in 21st, while Ilott rejoined in 17th.
At quarter distance, Ilott was running in eighth and Shwartzman in 15th. The second round of pitstops came for Ilott and Shwartzman on lap 55 and 60 respectively, the team opting to pit them slightly earlier than other drivers. They cycled round into 13th and 19th as the field made their pit stops a few laps later.
A fourth caution prompted both drivers to pit for a third time on lap 87 along with most of the field. Ilott had a good stop and came out in 12th, but Shwartzman’s race came to an early end after an incident in the pit lane meant he was unable to continue.
Ilott was circulating well and as the halfway point of the race ticked over, he had moved into fifth position. His fourth pitstop came on lap 134 and after rejoining in 14th the British driver was able to move himself back into the top ten as the final 50 laps began to run down.
In the closing phase the team’s strategy became increasingly more important, finding the perfect moment to bring Ilott in for his fifth and final stop. This came on lap 168 for fresh tyres and more fuel to get him to the end of the race.
After rejoining 18th, Ilott’s focus was to make up further positions in the final laps. He crossed the line in 12th, securing PREMA Racing’s best result of the season on its first oval outing.
The NTT INDYCAR SERIES continues next weekend on the streets of Detroit with the Chevrolet Detroit Grand Prix on May 30 – June 1.
#83 ROBERT SHWARTZMAN
Qualifying: P1
Starting position Race: P1
“We didn’t finish the race the way we had hoped, but I’m just relieved that the crew is okay. On my third pitstop, my rear brakes failed, so I only had the front brakes available. As I came into the box both my front tyres locked up and the car went into the wall and some of the crew. Thankfully everyone is okay though. I had a solid start to the race though and after the early caution and restart I lost a few spots and settled into fourth. Our first pit stop was extremely slow, dropping me from fourth to 21st and I fought back some more places before my final stop. The Indy 500 is so unpredictable, we saw many strong drivers not finishing, but despite the result, I’m proud of our historic pole in qualifying. That was a huge achievement. Now, we need to reflect, work harder, and keep improving.”
4 Lap Average speed: 232.790 mph
Race Result: P29
#90 CALLUM ILOTT
Qualifying: P23
Starting position Race: P21
“It was a really solid day for us. We worked our way up in the first half of the race from 21st to fifth which was extraordinary. The team did an amazing job in the pits, especially on the yellow flag stops. We had some nice restarts and just started to settle in towards the end. I started to struggle a bit on the longer, faster stints with tyre wear so I think that’s where we started to lose out a bit. It was a really solid race from the team, and Team Chevy have done a good job as well to get the team on pole and on the verge of a top ten finish. A really nice result and a big thanks to everyone, we did a great job on and off the track.”
4 Lap Average speed: 230.993 mph
Race Result: P12