This weekend’s eighth annual Chris Griffis Memorial Test on the Indianapolis Motor Speedway road course marks the unofficial start of the 2019 season for all three levels of the Mazda Road to Indy development ladder.
The two-day event set for Saturday and Sunday comes just three weeks removed from the 2018 season finale weekend at Portland International Raceway.
Simply put, it’s a chance for rookies and veterans alike to share the 14-turn, 2.439-mile IMS circuit and get a feel for competing at any MRTI level: the introductory Cooper Tires USF2000 Championship powered by Mazda, the middle-rung Pro Mazda Championship presented by Cooper Tires or the top level, Indy Lights presented by Cooper Tires. All three levels are geared to develop the next generation of drivers, mechanics, engineers and teams to one day compete in the Verizon IndyCar Series.
CHRIS GRIFFIS MEMORIAL TEST: Entry list
While there is a list full of offseason items to tackle for Dan Andersen, CEO of Andersen Promotions that operates MRTI under INDYCAR sanction – including replacing nine-year title sponsor and scholarship advocate Mazda – the focus, for this weekend at least, returns to the racetrack.
“It's an opportunity for teams to get an immediate jumpstart on the following season, so it's a very important series open test,” Andersen said. “All three Road to Indy levels are represented there and it often involves drivers testing with more than one team. (Some drivers) will do a day on Saturday with one team and another day on Sunday with another team. That doesn't happen that often, but it does happen. Drivers are searching for the team they want to run with the following year; teams are looking for the drivers they want on their squad.
“It's a good opportunity to get everybody together and kick the 2019 season off early … Teams make a lot of announcements. They make changes, they try different engineers, they try different setups.
“And the Indianapolis Motor Speedway is a fantastic place to do it. It's the heart of who we are and we're very happy to do it every year.”
The Griffis test entry list counts at least 31 drivers and 13 teams participating throughout the three levels. Some drivers will get to enjoy the Tatuus PM-18 chassis, which was new to Pro Mazda in 2018 and a favorite amongst its pilots.
Andersen said his group has taken extra measures to address any issues uncovered in the chassis’ debut season.
“The major teething issue was engine concerns,” Andersen said. “The engine is a fabulous powerplant that had a frail piece, the crankshaft. We resolved to fix it and we did. We had a plan in place that, after St. Pete (the season-opening weekend), I don't know that we had a crank failure, but it took some effort to get through the year.
“We're now in the process of taking all of the stock cranks out of the engines and putting a racing billet cranks in, which will permanently end any concerns about engine longevity.”
The PM-18, which is the evolutionary sister to the USF-17 used in USF2000 for the past two seasons, shattered records in qualifying and races at seven of the nine tracks on this year’ schedule.
“It's such a natural progression from USF2000 because it's basically the same tub,” Andersen said. “A bunch more downforce and 100 more horsepower (in the PM-18). It takes the kid who's done well in USF2000 and gives them a certain level of comfort, but a lot of additional tools to play with and power to deal with, and it accelerates his/her training. So I'm very happy with it.”
Anderson also bolstered MRTI infrastructure the recent addition of Jonny Baker as the new series development director. One of the most highly-respected individuals in the paddock, the Englishman’s diverse background includes being a former driver to team manager at Team Pelfrey. He is also co-founder of CoForce – a consulting, marketing and digital agency working with a number of MRTI and IndyCar Series teams.
“He has his hand in a lot of worldwide series, has the experience of being a young driver coming into the Road to Indy on the first step and the second step and has a good way about him with parents of drivers, too,” Andersen said.
“His job, which started immediately after our closing weekend at Portland, is to reach out and connect with drivers on all of the major open-wheel series worldwide and in North America and basically preach the gospel of Road to Indy – what it is, what value it delivers for a driver.
“We have a great story to tell. We have to do a better job of telling it.”
The concept provides a boost to what many view as the best ladder system around. Andersen said Baker will be an asset to making it even stronger.
“If Jonny is successful, he will be directing interested prospective drivers to the various teams on my three levels and we'll be filling empty seats,” Andersen said. “It's basically a team job to fill their seats, but we've decided that we can be very effective in helping them do that by doing things like getting an ambassador out there and going to Europe, going to New Zealand, going to Australia, hitting the hotspots in the offseason.
“Now, there's still a lot of racing going on in Europe, and New Zealand and Australia heat up a lot in the winter, so we'll direct some people back towards the States.”
Each MRTI series is scheduled to receive a total of six 45-minute practice sessions over the course of the weekend. Testing runs from 9 a.m.-6 p.m. ET both days, with live timing and scoring available at RaceControl.IndyCar.com.