IndyCar add Wickens, Dixon and “competition caution” for second iRacing round

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Robert Wickens, whose motorsport career was halted when he suffered spinal injuries in a crash at Pocono in 2018, will join in the championship’s second virtual event on iRacing this weekend.

The 31-year-old McLaren SP driver is one of four new drivers to join the series this weekend. That increases the total entry for tomorrow’s race to 29 drivers, most of which are IndyCar regulars. Ed Carpenter, Jack Harvey and five-times IndyCar champion Scott Dixon will also make their debuts.

Multiple NASCAR champion Jimmie Johnson will continue in the series along with all the drivers who participated last weekend.

The championship also confirmed Saturday’s race on the Barber Motorsport Park circuit will include a three-lap “competition caution” period beginning on lap 28. This will be followed by a single-file restart.

The first round in the new series, held on the Watkins Glen circuit, was won by Sage Karam, who was pursued throughout by Felix Rosenqvist.

While the opening event was broadcast live on streaming platforms including YouTube, Saturday’s race will be shown on NBCSN. IndyCar has not confirmed whether it will be available on other channels or platforms.

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NumberDriverTeam
1Josef NewgardenPenske
2Scott McLaughlinPenske
4Sebastien BourdaisFoyt
5Pato O’WardMcLaren SP
6Robert WickensMcLaren SP
7Oliver AskewMcLaren SP
8Marcus EricssonGanassi
9Scott DixonGanassi
10Felix RosenqvistGanassi
11Kyle KaiserJuncos
12Will PowerPenske
14Tony KanaanFoyt
15Graham RahalRLL
18Santino FerrucciCoyne
20Conor DalyCarpenter
21Ed CarpenterCarpenter
22Simon PagenaudPenske
24Sage KaramDreyer & Reinbold
26Zach VeachAndretti
27Alexander RossiAndretti
28Kyle KirkwoodAndretti
29James HinchcliffeAndretti
41Dalton KellettFoyt
48Jimmie JohnsonJJR
55Alex PalouCoyne
59Felipe NasrCarlin
60Jack HarveyMeyer Shank
88Colton HertaAndretti-Harding
98Scott SpeedAndretti

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    Keith Collantine
    Lifelong motor sport fan Keith set up RaceFans in 2005 - when it was originally called F1 Fanatic. Having previously worked as a motoring...

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    21 comments on “IndyCar add Wickens, Dixon and “competition caution” for second iRacing round”

    1. I don’t understand, what is the point of the caution on lap 28? Is it just to spice up the show?

      1. yes 🙂
        there was no cautions in last race, so it was a bit boring… serge got into the lead and executed victory without mistakes. no restarts or pit lottery. and that is the spice of indy…

      2. @paulk That’s so ridiculous. The fake ‘commercial break’ / race reset yellow flag caution is just why Indycar is rubbish to start with.

        1. What is wrong with you? That is the worst comment I have read on this site in about 15 years or so I have logged in. Your comment is the epitomy of Troll commentary. I bet you have never watched Indycar or the first virtual Indycar race. Terrible comment, please enjoy the virtual racing going on now that we don’t have real racing and realise Indycar is perhaps doing the best show of it at the moment. That first race was better than gan most f1 races.

        2. pastaman (@)
          3rd April 2020, 17:58

          @balue Sounds like you never watch Indycar, perhaps you should withhold your comments about it.

        3. @pastaman You are all wrong and the one who should withhold your comments. I was an avid fan and initially found the frequent yellow flag caution periods quite exciting and spiced up the races, but after a while found it was in reality ruining the purity of races and fair sport until it dawned on me that this was actually by design to ‘enhance the show’ after which I quit.

          Even in the virtual race now they have to put it in for godssake. It’s part of the sport.

          Lol @ kpcart

          1. pastaman (@)
            3rd April 2020, 18:20

            @balue you must be thinking of NASCAR, there are no competition yellow flags in Indycar. If you see a yellow flag, it’s because there is a caution on the track…

            1. @pastaman I’m obviously talking about full course yellow / safety car.

            2. pastaman (@)
              3rd April 2020, 18:50

              Something’s obvious all right…

        4. IndyCar has the best racing, and this is the next best thing to real racing. MUCH better than F1.

      3. @paulk because in simracing incidents don’t normally mean a safety car period. Unlike the oval side which triggers safety cars depending on the situation, the road side of iRacing doesn’t have safety cars. So if someone crashes, his car is reset and the race continues, while everyone else involved in the incident loses time and has no chance to recover, so the field spreads out even more than normal.

        This way they are trying to keep things interesting. That said, I’m sad they are not using live stewarding that could send the safety car when it’s needed. I don’t think anyone will try their hardest before lap 28, because you will always gain the time you lost, so it’s better to save tyres and be conservative…

        1. @fer-no65 When is a safety car ever needed?

          1. @balue after a massive incident that spreads the field. I mean the timing of the safety car, if they are going to allow it, maybe use it in a “realistic” way, and not just dropping the safety car on lap 28.

            1. @fer-no65 You mean to bunch up the field in order to ‘spice’ up the races, with no mind to the gaps the leaders have scratched tenth by hard-fought tenth?

            2. @balue well, that happens in real life too, don’t you think? an accident involving many drivers, with many having to take avoiding action, and losing a big chunk of time, would trigger a safety car in real life…

              i know it’s gimmicky, but if they are dropping a safety car, better do it when (and if) it’s “needed”…

          2. “When is a safety car ever needed?”
            No comment, rolls eyes.

            1. @budchekov So you didn’t get we’re talking about virtual racing here? *facepalm*

    2. It would be better if this and similar can be categorized as simracing and not gaming, Keith.

      We’ll pretend F1’s Codemaster game is a simulator until it comes to its senses and changes program, but the sport category is anyway more correctly called simracing than gaming.

    3. Excellent news, the commentators said during the last ‘race’ that the missing drivers would be hooked up, are you paying attention Liberty? When there’s a will…..

    4. James T Suel
      3rd April 2020, 20:41

      This catuition has no business being in a IndyCar race. Competition yellow? Gimmick, I know the whole thing is a computer game. But its supposed to be racing ,there is no reason for a yellow other than a dangerous situation on the track.

    5. This is the next best thing to real IndyCar, and easily the best sim racing!

    Comments are closed.