INDIANAPOLIS (AP) Helio Castroneves felt an immediate difference a subtle but noticeable uptick in speed the first time he utilized the boost of horsepower offered by IndyCars novel hybrid engines around the imposing oval of Indianapolis Motor Speedway .
The question now facing the four-time Indianapolis 500 winner, along with the rest of the drivers on the 33-car starting grid for the 109th running on Sunday, is how best to capitalize on the hybrid over 200 laps spent entirely on edge.
Empty it entirely and then wait for it to recharge, which might take several laps? Save it for short bursts for passes or to defend? Perhaps use it slowly to run down the leader or build a big advantage once out front?
There is so much more that goes into this than I think people realize or recognize, acknowledged Indy 500 veteran Graham Rahal, whose father Bobby Rahal won the 1986 race. Its an interesting thing. I mean, the hybrid, its quite powerful here. On a single lap if you utilize it correctly, it does make a hell of a difference in lap time or lap speed.
The genesis of the hybridization began years ago, when IndyCar manufacturers Chevrolet and Honda wanted to better align their racing programs with a shift in consumer demand toward hybrid and electric vehicles. But the project was beset by delays as engineers struggled to fit a bespoke hybrid unit into the IndyCar chassis designed more than a decade ago, and that had to meet certain requirements for weight and safety, among other things.
The result was finally unveiled before last years Indy 500, a design based around ultracapacitors rather than heavy batteries. It provides a quick boost to the existing 2.2-liter, twin-turbocharged V-6 engines before recharging to be used again.
The system was introduced at Mid-Ohio midway through last years IndyCar season and has been in use ever since.
But it has never been used somewhere like Indianapolis Motor Speedway, where speeds at the end of each straight can hit 240 mph, and the difference between winning and losing can be measured in thousandths of a second.
Ive had some really interesting conversations with drivers about how of all places where the hybrid is going to make a huge difference, its going to be at Indianapolis, IndyCar president Doug Boles said. I asked why and they say, Well, you think about Indianapolis, how trimmed out we are especially in qualifying any incremental difference in horsepower makes a difference.
Were going to see some exciting racing, Boles continued, and the strategies that I have heard from drivers in terms of talking about how to deploy the hybrid vary wildly. Its going to be fascinating to watch how this goes.
It hasnt gone without its share of problems, either, dating to an open test last month and right through practice Monday.
For one thing, the hybrid still checks in at about 100 pounds, which is significant on a car that weighs just 1,600. And all of that weight is in the back of the car, which has dramatically altered the way they are balanced and ultimately perform.
Thats a lot of mass percentage-wise you are adding, two-time defending Indy 500 winner Josef Newgarden said. Its almost like adding 200, 250 pounds to a stock car. If you said, Hey, guys, were going to bolt 250 pounds to these stock cars, see what you think, I bet they would all go, OK, this drives differently. And now we have to counteract it.
Andretti Global driver Kyle Kirkwood is among many who believe the additional weight makes cars harder to drive, and Meyer Shank Racings Marcus Armstrong said, I do believe the window is considerably smaller, the balance window.
Armstrong crashed in practice last Saturday and had to squeeze into the field in a backup car on Sunday.
Then theres the fact that the hybrid unit while mostly reliable is still a machine, and machines can have problems. Rinus Veekays hybrid didnt work at all during his first qualifying run for the final row of the starting grid, while 2008 winner Scott Dixon had his practice Monday cut short after just six laps when a warning light blinked for an overheating issue.
Nevertheless, the hybrid technology will play a part in The Greatest Spectacle in Racing on Sunday. And if it comes down to the final laps, it could be a big part, as the leader tries to hold on and the chasers try to time their boost for a winning pass.
I think it definitely adds some variables, said Dixon, who will start on the second row. If youre sitting out front, you could be a bit of a sitting duck, especially if everybody is kind of recharged and ready to go behind you.
I think the biggest thing that weve probably all learnt so far, youve got to be ready for change, is probably the biggest thing, he added. But I think it could ultimately change how the end of the race plays out.
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AP auto racing: https://apnews.com/hub/auto-racing
印第安纳波利斯（美联社）——赫里奥·卡斯特罗内维斯（Helio Castroneves）在首次使用印第赛车（IndyCar）新型混合动力发动机的推力时，在印第安纳波利斯赛车场（Indianapolis Motor Speedway）的椭圆形赛道上立刻感受到了明显的差异——速度的微妙但可观的提升。
目前，这位四次赢得印第安纳波利斯500英里大赛的选手以及其他周日参加第109届比赛的33辆赛车发车阵列的驾驶员们，所面临的问题是如何在完全处于紧张状态的200圈比赛中，最好地利用混合动力技术。
完全耗尽后等待其重新充电，这可能需要几圈？为了传球或防守，是否将其留作短暂爆发？或许可以慢慢使用它来追赶领先者，或者一旦处于领先位置就建立巨大的优势？
我认为人们对此的认知和认识还不够深入。
混合动力技术的起源可以追溯到几年前，当时印地赛车制造商雪佛兰和本田希望更好地调整他们的赛车计划，以适应消费者对混合动力和电动汽车需求的转变。然而，由于工程师们努力将定制的混合动力单元安装到十多年前设计的印地赛车车架上，而该车架必须满足包括重量和安全在内的某些要求，因此该项目遭遇了延误。
去年印第安纳波利斯500英里赛前，一款基于超级电容器而非重型电池的车型设计终于亮相。在重新充电以供再次使用之前，它能为现有的2.2升双涡轮增压V6发动机提供快速的助力。
这个系统在去年印地车赛季的中途被引入到Mid-Ohio，并从那时起一直被使用。
然而，它从未在像印第安纳波利斯赛车场这样的地方使用过，那里每条直线的末端速度可以达到每小时240英里，而胜负之差可以用千分之一秒来衡量。
印地赛车主席道格·波尔斯（Doug Boles）表示，自己曾与一些司机进行过一些非常有趣的对话，讨论混合动力汽车将在所有地方中，在印第安纳波利斯产生最大的影响。我问他们为什么这么认为，他们回答说：“你考虑一下印第安纳波利斯，我们在定型时非常严格——尤其是在定级中——任何马力的微小差异都会产生差异。”
博利斯继续说道：“我们将看到一些激动人心的比赛，而且从驾驶员那里听到的关于如何部署混合动力策略的讨论大相径庭。我们将非常期待看到这个进展。”
它也并非没有遇到问题，从上个月的一次公开测试开始，一直持续到周一的练习。
一方面，这款混动版车型的重量仍保持在约100磅，这在仅重1,600磅的汽车中是一个显著的重量。而所有这些重量都集中在汽车的后部，这极大地改变了汽车的平衡方式和最终性能。
“从百分比上来说，你增加了不少质量，”两届印第安纳波利斯500英里大赛冠军Josef Newgarden说道，“这就像给一辆量产车增加200到250磅的重量。如果你告诉他们‘嘿，我们要在这些量产车上增加250磅的重量，看看你们的感受’，我敢打赌他们都会说‘好吧，这开起来感觉不一样了。’现在我们必须抵消这种影响。”
Andretti Global 的车手凯尔·柯克伍德（Kyle Kirkwood）认为，许多人都认为增加的重量让汽车更难驾驶，而迈耶·尚克车队（Meyer Shank Racing）的马库斯·阿姆斯特朗（Marcus Armstrong）则表示：“我确实认为窗口的宽度要小得多，即平衡窗口。”
阿姆斯特朗上周六在练习中发生意外，而不得不在周日乘坐备用车参赛。
还有一点是，尽管混合动力单元大多可靠，但它仍然是一台机器，而机器可能会出现问题。Rinus Veekay的混合动力车在第一次资格赛中完全无法工作，导致他只能排在起跑格的最后一位。而2008年的冠军Scott Dixon在周一的练习赛中仅进行了六圈后，就因一个警告灯闪烁表示过热问题而被迫中断。
然而，混合动力技术将在周日举行的“赛场盛宴”中发挥作用。如果比赛进入最后几圈，这可能会成为关键部分，因为领头羊试图保持领先，而追赶者则试图为超越对手的时刻进行加速。
迪克森认为这确实增加了比赛的变数，他将在第二排出发。他说：“如果你坐在最前面，就可能会有点‘待宰的羔羊’的意味，尤其是如果所有人都重新充满电并准备在你后面发车的话。
他补充道：“我认为迄今为止我们所有人学到的一点，那就是必须随时准备迎接变化，这可能是最重要的一点。‘但我认为这最终会改变比赛结束时的局面。’”
美国汽车新闻赛车专栏： [https://apnews.com/hub/auto-racing](https://apnews.com/hub/auto-racing)
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