Rob Buckner, Chevrolet's IndyCar Series director, explained that four different problems led to the retirements of the two McLarens, Tatiana Calderón's Foyt and Callum Ilott's Juncos Hollinger
The Mid-Ohio Gp had four Chevrolet cars break down. McLaren's Felix Rosenqvist and Pato O'Ward, Foyt's Tatiana Calderón, and Juncos Hollinger's Callum Ilott had their races compromised due to mechanical problems. Rob Buckner, Chevrolet's Indy director, explained that none of the problems were the same, and revealed that the engines were already at the end of their useful life.
"It was a surprisingly messy day. The weird thing for me was that we ran Friday and Saturday with virtually no failures, and then the race started and it was just continuous problems. I guess the good and bad news is that each car's problem was unique, so it's not like we had a series of failures over a certain mileage," Rob told the Racer website.
"All of these engines were supposed to come out after Mid-Ohio, so they were all in the 2,000-mile range (approximately 3,200 kilometers) or so, so initially you start thinking, 'do we have any major problems around the 2,000-mile mark?' but they were all pretty unique," the American manager explained.
Rosenqvist abandoned the race early on as smoke billowed from the engine of his #7 car. Pato struggled with mechanical problems for much of the race, until his #5 car broke down for good. Buckner apologized to McLaren, and confirmed that Chevrolet was to blame for Felix's breakdown.
"The #5 car had a fuel supply problem. That engine was fixed from a problem at Road America, but what happened on Sunday was just the fuel supply, something out of Chevrolet's control, and really out of the team's control as well. The fuel system has some specific suppliers and parts, so that was just an unfortunate incident. It was very painful, because that car was destined to have a very good day," the Chevrolet principal lamented.
"The #7 was something totally different, definitely our fault. It was a quick engine failure. We still don't know the cause, we need to take it apart this week and see what failed. We take great pride in not having engine failures on the track and Felix was having a good day, so we let him and his team down. So we definitely need to do better for McLaren," Rob pointed out.
The American also commented on the problems of Calderón and Ilott, who were further back on the grid: "The #11 car had a gearbox problem from the team that ended their day prematurely, and the #77 car had a strange engine event that led to a failure and abandonment," he said.
Even with four breaks, two of them in two cars that were in the top five, Chevrolet came away with a result to celebrate. The team's Scott McLaughlin of Penske held off Alex Palou at the end to win the Mid-Ohio Grand Prix for his second win of the 2022 Indy season.
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"But at the same time, we came out with the trophy, so if you have a bad day and you can still come out with a win, I think everyone in our group will accept that. We just need to iron out some loose ends before the next four race weekends in July and kind of hit the start button again after Mid-Ohio," Buckner concluded.
In the IndyCar Series constructors' race, Chevrolet currently has an 81-point lead over Honda, with seven wins to Honda's two. The series returns on July 17 for the Toronto GP, with full coverage by GRANDE PRÊMIO.