INDYCAR season finale awaits JHR at Laguna Seca
Monterey, CaliforniaSeptember 7, 2023
Juncos Hollinger Racing (JHR) will tackle the final round of the 2023 NTT INDYCAR SERIES at WeatherTech Raceway Laguna Seca this weekend (September 8-10) when the Firestone Grand Prix of Monterey comes to town.
After seven months of open-wheel action spread across the USA, Callum Ilott and Agustín Canapino’s racing seasons will reach their conclusion on Sunday. Both men will be determined to showcase the ‘Power of Possibility’ for the final time this year – but Laguna Seca’s unique layout will pose a tough challenge.
Monterey’s 2.2-mile road course features a Turn 8 corkscrew which helps to create a 300-feet elevation change during the course of a lap, offering a unique experience for the drivers. The 11-turn track boasts more than 60 years of racing heritage close to California’s stunning central coast.
JHR showed strong road course pace last time out in Portland, but the 16th round of the season didn’t return the results the team wanted. After Callum achieved his best qualifying result of 2023, the Briton was unfortunate to receive hefty contact from a rival on lap one and finished P15. Agustín meanwhile, showed solid speed all weekend but retired from the race with 18 laps remaining.
Ahead of this weekend’s final round, Callum has already bettered his 2022 points total in the drivers’ championship and sits P17 overall. Meanwhile, Agustín’s battle for the Rookie of the Year title will go down to the wire at Laguna Seca. The Argentine is currently P22 in the points.
“It’s an exciting track, it should be super fast and hopefully we can match that with a super fast car.”
Callum Ilott said:
“This weekend will be my third race at Laguna Seca. The last time here we were having a great run; I started second and was battling inside the top-five before an unfortunate mechanical failure. That shows we’ve had great speed at this track before.
“There has been a resurfacing of the track which will make it a little bit of a challenge to get to grips with the set-up of the car this weekend, but luckily we have the test day on Thursday to work with that.
“It’s an exciting track, it should be super fast and hopefully we can match that with a super fast car.”
“We want to end the season strongly and will battle hard to finish within the Leaders Circle.”
Agustín Canapino said:
“As it’s the last race of the season this weekend, I’m really proud to look back on my first year in INDYCAR. Thank you to everybody in the team for all of their hard work this season, and especially to Ricardo and Brad for giving me this opportunity.
“We want to end the season strongly and will battle hard to finish within the Leaders Circle. Despite different situations costing us points during the year, we have shown the pace to end with a Leaders Circle spot. I’ll try my best this weekend to try and achieve this goal, and will give 100% as always.
“Laguna Seca is another new circuit for me which will be tough, especially as it’s a really tricky track. But I will prepare well to end the season in the best possible way.”
Juncos Hollinger Racing’s INDY NXT campaign concludes with a sensational Laguna Seca double-header this weekend (September 8-10).
Victor Franzoni and Matthew Brabham will qualify for both INDY NXT by Firestone Grand Prix of Monterey races on Saturday, before racing on both Saturday and Sunday for 35 laps each.
Both drivers have enjoyed previous success at Laguna Seca; Victor won both races of the 2016 USF2000 double-header while Matthew earned a podium with his P3 result in last year’s Indy Lights visit.
“Laguna Seca is one of my favourite tracks, so I’ll be super happy this weekend and will enjoy every lap while trying to earn a good result.”
Victor Franzoni said:
“I’m confident going into this weekend’s double-header. We had good pace at Portland and I believe that we can keep it up in the final rounds.
“Laguna Seca is one of my favourite tracks, so I’ll be super happy this weekend and will enjoy every lap while trying to earn a good result. The new asphalt will be a surprise for everybody, but hopefully it will be a good weekend for the team.”
“If we can capitalize on the great potential that we showed in Portland, then we will be looking strong in this weekend’s double-header.”
Matthew Brabham said:
“I’m looking forward to bouncing back from a tough time last weekend to finish off the season as best as I can. Hopefully the new surface at Laguna Seca will be kind to us and we can be fast straight out of the box. If we can capitalize on the great potential that we showed in Portland, then we will be looking strong in this weekend’s double-header.”