Seeing red
The digital clock displays 3 minutes left in the Firestone Fast Six session. There's a point for the pole and a sizable check awaiting the winner of the 10-minute shootout - the culmination of three knockout rounds of qualifications. Ryan Briscoe is third - a split-second behind - on the lap time chart. OK, time to break out the reds?
That's a no-brainer to the Team Penske driver.
"You need to put on what's going to be fastest," says Briscoe, the only driver to earn a spot in all six Firestone Fast Six sessions in 2008. "You want the pole and want that point. That's what qualifying is all about."
Utilizing Firestone Racing's alternate tire concept might get him - or anyone -- to the top. The red-sidewall Firehawks are identical in construction to the primary racing slicks, but feature a softer tread compound that yields more grip for ostensibly quicker overall lap times. The program makes its IndyCar Series debut at the Honda Grand Prix of St. Petersburg April 3-5.
Three sets of the reds will be provided per car, with each team required to use at least one sticker set for at least two green flag laps in the seven road/street course races. Their use in the three knockout rounds of qualifications on road/street courses is a team option. Teams are allowed to use the reds in practice sessions, providing they reserve a sticker set for the race.
"A softer tire has more grip, but they go away quicker," Andretti Green Racing veteran Tony Kanaan says. "We add another thing to the rule. Our races are so competitive already; this will make it even better."
It will be a fine line for teams in determining when to implement the alternate tire plan and its duration -- early in the race for a potentially quick advantage, the final pit stop if they're in contention for the victory or both? Bridgestone Americas Motorsports pioneered the alternate tire concept and introduced it to competition at the 2004 Toyota Grand Prix of Long Beach.
"I think it adds a whole different level of competition to the sport, because it's so different - a lot of times the engineering is a lot different," says Newman/Haas/Lanigan Racing's Graham Rahal, who rode on the reds in the 2007 Champ Car season. "For instance, in the Champ Car the handling was completely different from the reds to the blacks. It's a completely different car, completely different series. It's going to be a new challenge."
In addition to black, red and rain tires for the seven road/street course events, Firestone Racing is charged with continued development and delivery of tires for the variety of ovals on the schedule.
"It's quite a task to develop, test and approve for use a second Firestone Firehawk tire compound for seven very different racetracks," said Al Speyer, Firestone Racing's Executive Director. "But we believe, and many agree, that the alternate tires will contribute another element of excitement to IndyCar Series racing.
"The alternate tire program also gives us another forum in which we can develop and implement new tire technologies that we hope someday will improve the performance of our company's world-class street tires. Using racing to develop better passenger tires continues to be an important element of Firestone Racing's IndyCar Series program."
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