British racing driver, Ben Hanley says he is "aware" of the challenge that lies ahead as he prepares for the 5 races his team will participate in, including the Indy 500.
Speaking to the official IndyCar website, Ben Hanley said that, “We have no illusions – it’s going to be extremely tough this year,”
“There are positive points, but for us the goal is to make the first collective test and be able to be on track with the rest of the guys at the same time to judge where the weaknesses are and where we most need to improve."
"We’ve got no experience in Indy cars from an engineering or driving point of view, so it’s going to be an uphill task. We’re viewing it as a long-term project, which is the correct way to do it," said the veteran British driver.
Hanley, who is a a well adept racing driver and boasts a considerable amount of experience in the open wheel formula categories, has previously raced in GP2 (Now Formula 2), Renault Formula 3.5, Le Mans 24 Hours as well as the Rolex 24 at Daytona.
The 33 year old British driver was announced to be the driver for DragonSpeed earlier this week. Dragon Speed will be participating in 5 races over the course of the 2019 IndyCar season. The deal includes the 103rd running of the Indianapolis 500 as well.
“The intent has been there for quite a while, but obviously it’s not an easy thing to do,” said Hanley.
He further added, “It all takes time. It takes a lot of negotiation and dialogue from the team’s point of view. It was a lot of work behind the scenes. I’ve just been trying to get prepared physically."
"I’ve been catching up on videos of the races and trying to judge how they pan out strategy-wise and what the racing is like. Obviously, we’ll need pace in the car, which is the main job when we hit the track.”
DragonSpeed Racing founder, Elton Julian earlier revealed the long term plans that included a 5 race entry for the 2019 season with a full time IndyCar entry for the 2020 season. Hanley will be racing a Dallara chassis powered by a Chevrolet engine.
“IndyCar is the toughest series we’ve ever contested, with the world’s biggest race as its centerpiece,” said Elton Julian in a statement.
“On the other hand, we didn’t go from club racing a decade ago to a Pirelli World Challenge title in 2015 to prototypes at Le Mans without climbing a few mountains, and I take a lot of confidence from the talent and spirit of the people we’ve put together for the next summit.”
Regarding his experience in motor racing and him being an IndyCar rookie, Hanley stated, “I’ve never stopped being in single-seaters,” and that, “I’ve done quite a lot of testing mileage and development mileage, so it’s not like I’m jumping back into something I haven’t done for a number of years. … It’s all mileage and laps. You’re always learning when you’re in the car.”
DragonSpeed also plans to expand its presence in other motorsports disciplines including a full time entry in the World Endurance Championship (including the Le Mans 24 Hours), Sebring 1000 Miles as well as the Rolex 24 at Daytona.
Elton Julian further mentioned that,“It’s a matter of our growing experience catching up to our ambitions,”
“The last few seasons of endurance racing have given us an intensive platform for developing our preparation, race engineering, pit-stop and strategy skills."
"There are some impressive open-wheel credentials up and down the team, and Ben’s pace and exceptional detail feel for setup and tires should be a great asset.” added Julian.
Hanley seemed totally cheered up and mentally well prepared. He said that, “I’m massively fired up,”
“Now that we’ve decided on the engine deal and which races we’re going to do, it’s much more of a reality. I’m really looking forward to it. It seems like it’s a long time away, but actually it’s not long before we’ll be on track.”
The team will begin its challenge at the season opening race in St. Petersburg on March 10th. It will then be followed by the Barber Motorsports Park on April 7th, the Indianapolis 500 on May 26th, Road America on June 23rd and finally the Mid-Ohio on July 28th.
The original article featured on official IndyCar website. Click here
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