Subscribe

Sign up for free

  • Get quick access to your favorite articles

  • Manage alerts on breaking news and favorite drivers

  • Make your voice heard with article commenting.

Motorsport prime

Discover premium content
Subscribe

Edition

Global

Daly robbed by suspension failure

Dale Coyne Racing has confirmed that it was mechanical failure that pitched Conor Daly’s car into a Road America tire wall with 10 laps to go in the IndyCar race.

Conor Daly, Dale Coyne Racing Honda

Conor Daly, Dale Coyne Racing Honda

IndyCar Series

Conor Daly, Dale Coyne Racing Honda
Gabby Chaves, Dale Coyne Racing Honda
Conor Daly, Dale Coyne Racing Honda
Conor Daly, Dale Coyne Racing Honda
Gabby Chaves, Dale Coyne Racing Honda
Gabby Chaves, Dale Coyne Racing Honda

A team statement revealed that the #18 Dale Coyne Racing-Honda “suffered a left rear suspension failure” at Turn 1 as Daly started his 40th lap in the 50-lap event.

After qualifying ninth – his highest grid position of the season – the rookie had charged hard, withstanding an aggressive move from Carlos Munoz and climbing to sixth place, ahead of Andretti Autosport’s Ryan Hunter-Reay and behind Helio Castroneves by lap nine.

He was trying to defend from Hunter-Reay’s renewed attack in the final stint when, while covering the inside line into Turn 1, the DCR-Honda skittered over the pavement and plunged through the extensive sandtrap to make contact with the outside tire wall.

Said Daly: “It just went so fast, it felt like I got clipped by Ryan but clearly that wasn’t the case. After looking at the car, we now know that there was a left rear suspension failure.

“I never had something like that happen before. Other than that, it was nice to be consistently running up front and trying to chase down the Penske cars. It’s a tough race for sure but the team gave me a good car that I could race with so that was nice.”

Daly, who has scored three top-six finishes in his last five starts, including a runner-up placing in the first Detroit race, added: “I guess these things happen; we just have to move on."

This crash came just two weeks after the postponed race at Texas Motor Speedway in which Daly crashed heavily with Ed Carpenter Racing's Josef Newgarden. That shunt came two days after teammate Gabby Chaves backed his car into the wall during practice at TMS.

Chaves too fast in the wrong place

Chaves could bring no consolation to Dale Coyne’s team at Road America, as a suspected fault with his pitlane speed limiter meant not only did he get a drive-through penalty for exceeding the limit, he then incurred a second penalty as he served his first.

The series sophomore commented: “I think I could’ve maybe saved a Top-12 finish but unfortunately it looked like we had some sort of electrical issue with our pit lane speed limiter.

“We were just getting pitlane speed violations every time we came in the pits, which is weird because it was fine in practice. I made sure every time we were at the line that we were where we needed to be and we got two in a row, so I guess these things happen.

"I just had to do it manually at the end. It hurt us though because we lost a lap and a half.”

Be part of Motorsport community

Join the conversation
Previous article Power back in title hunt and fully fit again
Next article Increasing speculation over IndyCar return to Surfers Paradise

Top Comments

There are no comments at the moment. Would you like to write one?

Sign up for free

  • Get quick access to your favorite articles

  • Manage alerts on breaking news and favorite drivers

  • Make your voice heard with article commenting.

Motorsport prime

Discover premium content
Subscribe

Edition

Global