- 421
- Kyoto Prefecture, Japan
Testing has already begun for some teams of the VRR Straight Talk IndyCar Series. Cat Devil Racing have made themselves at home at the Okayama International Circuit, where their headquarters and central garage operations are located. The team are confident that the start of the season is theirs to lose. We talked to team principal and strategist Sakura Ishiibashi on what the team's plans were for the series and how they were managing the pre-season.
News Reporter: Earlier in the week, Honda revealed that they had a three year engine contract with Cat Devil Racing, which covers the 2016, 2017, and 2018 seasons. The series is new, so what spurred that contract decision?
Sakura Ishiibashi: Cat Devil Racing and Honda have had an amazing relationship, from Formula One, to Super GT, and they are confident that success will be plentiful in the Straight Talk IndyCar Series as well. We want to have a solid foundation to work with and with Honda, you can't be much more solid than that.
NR: The team's been out testing the past couple of days here in Okayama, with Kunimitsu [Kino****a, CDR Team Founder] and Steven Gnash doing a bunch of testing and with Camyron [Jackson] running laps today. What are the team's plans as far as oval testing is concerned?
SI: Next month, the team will fly to the United States and do some testing at Michigan International Speedway before returning home to rest before the Monster Shootout in November.
NR: There is a ban on testing at race venues unless the team owns or is based at the venue. How would the team respond if Michigan made it on the calendar, which may be on the cards before everything is said and done?
SI: You would hope that VRR would finalize that soon so there isn't any debate. I think that the 2016 schedule is final, but even if Michigan made it in, we can't be barred from testing as financially, the test has already been paid for and was scheduled before changes were made.
NR: There's been confirmed talks about a race coming to Suzuka in 2017. Would another Japanese venue help the team out?
SI: Not logistically. Team management have been very vocal that there need to be more races in Asia and Oceania, and the first couple of races in 2016 will be in this region. But we'll be spending from March until October overseas or in Europe, which doesn't make the turnaround easy for us. We have a center in the United States that will aid us tremendously and that's that. For us, having more Asian venues isn't the problem. Having 24 events in 8 months is the problem we're looking at. The parts to the cars are not cheap or easy to make. Dallara have already ramped up production of those parts to meet demand. They cannot do it 24/7. Some teams I think will be ill-equipped when racing starts. That is the concern that our team has at the moment.
NR: Is Cat Devil Racing in that pocket of concern?
SI: No. We have an abundance of everything to run. Which means our team may have to pick up the deficit for the smaller teams, which doesn't help us.
NR: Last question before you. The team has expanded stateside. Stock car racing on the cards?
SI: Kuni is racing in trucks and stock cars over there to get a feel for the ovals before IndyCar gets moving. That would be her call, and she hasn't said anything about an expansion, so I would assume not. But that would be a question for her.
News Reporter: Earlier in the week, Honda revealed that they had a three year engine contract with Cat Devil Racing, which covers the 2016, 2017, and 2018 seasons. The series is new, so what spurred that contract decision?
Sakura Ishiibashi: Cat Devil Racing and Honda have had an amazing relationship, from Formula One, to Super GT, and they are confident that success will be plentiful in the Straight Talk IndyCar Series as well. We want to have a solid foundation to work with and with Honda, you can't be much more solid than that.
NR: The team's been out testing the past couple of days here in Okayama, with Kunimitsu [Kino****a, CDR Team Founder] and Steven Gnash doing a bunch of testing and with Camyron [Jackson] running laps today. What are the team's plans as far as oval testing is concerned?
SI: Next month, the team will fly to the United States and do some testing at Michigan International Speedway before returning home to rest before the Monster Shootout in November.
NR: There is a ban on testing at race venues unless the team owns or is based at the venue. How would the team respond if Michigan made it on the calendar, which may be on the cards before everything is said and done?
SI: You would hope that VRR would finalize that soon so there isn't any debate. I think that the 2016 schedule is final, but even if Michigan made it in, we can't be barred from testing as financially, the test has already been paid for and was scheduled before changes were made.
NR: There's been confirmed talks about a race coming to Suzuka in 2017. Would another Japanese venue help the team out?
SI: Not logistically. Team management have been very vocal that there need to be more races in Asia and Oceania, and the first couple of races in 2016 will be in this region. But we'll be spending from March until October overseas or in Europe, which doesn't make the turnaround easy for us. We have a center in the United States that will aid us tremendously and that's that. For us, having more Asian venues isn't the problem. Having 24 events in 8 months is the problem we're looking at. The parts to the cars are not cheap or easy to make. Dallara have already ramped up production of those parts to meet demand. They cannot do it 24/7. Some teams I think will be ill-equipped when racing starts. That is the concern that our team has at the moment.
NR: Is Cat Devil Racing in that pocket of concern?
SI: No. We have an abundance of everything to run. Which means our team may have to pick up the deficit for the smaller teams, which doesn't help us.
NR: Last question before you. The team has expanded stateside. Stock car racing on the cards?
SI: Kuni is racing in trucks and stock cars over there to get a feel for the ovals before IndyCar gets moving. That would be her call, and she hasn't said anything about an expansion, so I would assume not. But that would be a question for her.
