End of an era: Reynard’s last US open wheel win

A podium sweep, a first-time rookie winner and a crew that had not existed till weeks earlier than the primary spherical breaking by in opposition to the class’s giants. There was no scarcity of feel-good tales following American Spirit Staff Johansson driver Ryan Hunter-Reay’s victory in what turned out to be the ultimate CART race of 2003 at Surfers Paradise.

However a race that’s as we speak seen as the tip of an period because the ninety fifth and ultimate victory for Reynard in US open-wheel competitors, on the identical observe Michael Andretti gave the corporate its customary debut win in 1994, went very a lot in opposition to the run of play for a 12 months dominated by Lola.

Between 1995 and 2001, each CART champion had pushed a Reynard. Reynard’s win tally had been in double figures yearly spanning 1997 to 2001 – successful all bar three races throughout 1998-99. That performed a component in convincing Roger Penske to purchase a buyer automotive, as a substitute of utilising his personal chassis division in Poole, a choice which yielded back-to-back titles in 2000-01 with Gil de Ferran.

However Reynard’s dominant streak had led to 2002, following the corporate’s chapter earlier within the 12 months and Penske’s defection to the all-oval Indy Racing League, with Cristiano da Matta’s triumph aboard a Newman/Haas Lola. Reynards nonetheless received thrice that 12 months, however by 2003 it had became a landslide and for the minority driving Reynards it was a 12 months of toil.

“It was a season of principally ingesting from a fireplace hose for the crew, myself as properly,” recollects Hunter-Reay, who led Walker Racing’s Darren Manning and ASTJ team-mate Jimmy Vasser throughout the road on a dramatic away day in Australia earlier than Californian wildfires compelled the cancellation of the deliberate finale at Fontana.

Toyota Atlantic graduate Hunter-Reay recognised shortly what had already been obvious to a lot of the championship’s main groups: that the Lola B02/00 was a superior product to the Reynard 02I, which tended to lose downforce as ambient temperature elevated and was extra delicate to journey peak modifications. Already throughout 2002 Staff Inexperienced and Mo Nunn Racing – each would change to the IRL together with Chip Ganassi Racing for 2003 because the pull of the Indianapolis 500 continued to harm CART – had shortly ditched their Reynards for Lolas.

However a late begin to 2003 for the start-up ASTJ outfit financed by traders Chris James and Dan Benton, with ex-Formulation 1 ace Stefan Johansson as crew principal, meant a Reynard was its solely reasonable selection at such quick discover. The ex-Forsythe Racing automobiles had been duly acquired.

“The Reynard actually in comparison with the Lola was simply inadequate when it got here to bumpy street programs or bumpy avenue circuits,” explains Hunter-Reay, who for 2004 switched to a Herdez Lola. This he discovered on avenue circuits and lower-grip tracks was “a bit extra forgiving” and inspired drivers “to push a bit more durable; you may get away with a bit extra and maintain that stage of grip by the frequency of bumps”.

Solely six Reynards had been entered for 2003 in comparison with 13 Lolas. And of the Reynard contingent, solely Vasser had any earlier expertise within the sequence. Like Hunter-Reay, Manning and Walker team-mate Rodolfo Lavin, Tiago Monteiro (Fittipaldi-Dingman Racing) and Mario Haberfeld (Conquest Racing) had been all discovering their manner.

At no level had Reynard seemed more likely to get among the many winners in 2003 because the circus headed Down Underneath

“All these groups went to Lola for a motive and even once we felt we had been acting at our greatest, you may see the efficiency hole to the Lola on avenue circuits and on a number of the ovals,” displays Hunter-Reay. “I did see the Lola often being the higher automotive, and I do not assume that was simply all the way down to the vast majority of large groups being with Lola. We needed to strike on the smoother tracks, that is the place we had an opportunity at competing.”

Third for RHR at Mid-Ohio, at “probably the most stage enjoying discipline I had skilled at that time”, confirmed that the rookie had soaked up the data from 1996 champion Vasser and proved the crew was operationally strong regardless of the haste with which it had been assembled. “They threw it collectively,” the 2012 IndyCar champion confirms.

He was initially run by ex-TWR and Arrows engineer Graham Taylor, who then grew to become technical director with former Williams and Jordan man David Brown taking up engineering duties. 

“What a lucky scenario I needed to work with each of them in a single season,” Hunter Reay provides, noting that working with the Englishmen performed a giant half within the technique of “moulding who I grew to become as a driver”.

Mid-Ohio favoured the Reynard and allowed Hunter-Reay to complete third, however the automotive had not seemed like successful in 2003 previous to visiting Surfers Paradise

Photograph by: Dan R. Boyd / Motorsport Photos

But at no level had Reynard seemed more likely to get among the many winners in 2003 because the circus headed Down Underneath. Between them, eventual champion Paul Tracy (Forsythe), his nearest rival Bruno Junqueira (Newman-Haas Racing) and the Brazilian’s rookie team-mate Sebastien Bourdais received 12 of the primary 17 races. Whereas Michel Jourdain Jr (Staff Rahal), Tracy’s team-mate Patrick Carpentier, proprietor/driver Adrian Fernandez and Mario Dominguez (Herdez) took turns at disrupting the 12 months’s protagonists, Reynard runners largely collected the scraps.

However what Hunter-Reay describes as a day of “absolute chaos” created the chance for him to grow to be CART’s first American rookie winner since 1983 with John Paul Jr. at Michigan in spherical 18.

“Surfers was like probably the most epic end to a season, that race had every thing,” the 2014 Indy 500 winner says. “It had its dry patch, it had the purple [flag], it had champions making errors, spinning and hitting the wall, and we had occasions once we had been on slicks within the moist on the market, on a avenue circuit, particularly a quick one like Surfers. It threw every thing at me in a single race, and to return out on high was top-of-the-line recollections of my profession.”

When Bourdais crashed and heavy rain fell, the race was halted and resumed with a shorter 47-lap distance. Hunter-Reay ran eleventh at this stage however a well-timed change to slicks, recognising the window for a ultimate pitstop had opened up, vaulted the ASTJ automobiles to first and second when a warning was referred to as and caught out the erstwhile leaders.

Hunter-Reay recollects having “too many shut moments” as he tried to get his Bridgestone slicks as much as temperature on the greasy floor, whereas avoiding the destiny of Rocketsports driver Alex Tagliani – who as the primary adopter of slicks would have benefited most from the warning had he not been its trigger by spinning and stalling the engine.

“It was like working on an ice rink in sneakers, a really effective line between hero and 0,” recollects Hunter-Reay. “You are attempting to get laptime out of it, you are attempting to push in your outlap as a result of you realize that might be the distinction, however one tyre lock, one little little bit of throttle utility over a kerb or simply on the fallacious time over one of many crosswalks, the paint…

“Road circuits have so many extra variables than a daily street course might need and it truly is an artwork to get round them within the rain. That was only a baptism by hearth, counting on pure intuition.”

Following the restart, Manning handed Vasser for second – the end result boosting the Briton to ninth within the ultimate classification because the 12 months’s greatest Reynard runner – however he may do nothing about Hunter-Reay, who says the breakthrough win “opened up doorways for me and obtained me speaking to the groups that I actually wished to be with”.

Effectively-timed change to slicks proved essential in elevating Hunter-Reay to victory at Surfers

Photograph by: Dan R. Boyd

By 2004, solely Walker and Conquest had been nonetheless working a Reynard, however its days of combating for wins had been actually over. Fourth for Haberfeld in Toronto, benefiting from Carpentier giving Hunter-Reay a puncture late on of their battle for third, was an remoted final hurrah earlier than all the grid used Lolas in 2005.

For Hunter-Reay, the importance of being the final Reynard winner isn’t misplaced. He’s in talks with present proprietor Jerry Forsythe to amass his successful chassis.

“That was the automotive I watched my heroes drive after I was simply stepping into karting and beginning my endeavour into motorsports,” he says. “To assume that I used to be the ultimate [CART] winner in a Reynard, which has a lot historical past to it – it is an enormous honour.”

First win for Hunter-Reay, latterly the 2012 IndyCar champion and 2014 Indy 500 winner, was additionally the ninety fifth and final for Reynard

Photograph by: Mark Horsburgh / Motorsport Photos