IndyCar iRacing Challenge Race Preview: Montreal
March 18th, 2021 by Chris Leone
One month from today, the cars and stars of the NTT IndyCar Series will finally kick off their 2021 season at Barber Motorsports Park. For those who can’t wait that long, though, a majority of the series’ top names will hit the virtual track in tonight’s IndyCar iRacing Challenge round from Circuit Gilles Villeneuve, the first of a three-race slate set to ramp up to the real-world campaign.
From former series champions like Josef Newgarden, to former Indianapolis 500 winners like Takuma Sato, to drivers like Simon Pagenaud and Will Power who have done both, there’s a bevy of established, front-running talent set to compete in the opener. Add to that full-time IndyCar rookies with top-flight experience in other series like Scott McLaughlin and Romain Grosjean, Road to Indy drivers like Braden Eves, and 2020 IndyCar iRacing Challenge race winner Sage Karam, and the entry list showcases some of the best that American open-wheel racing has to offer.
If that’s not enough to get you going, the virtual return of IndyCars to one of North America’s premier road courses is sure to seal the deal. The Montreal-based course may be better known for hosting a different variety of open-wheel cars, but it also spent five years hosting IndyCar races from 2002 to 2006, counting champions like Dario Franchitti and Sebastien Bourdais among its winners. Known for being a high-speed road course with many long straightaways, as well as for its iconic “Wall of Champions” coming out of the final chicane, the 2.71-mile, 14-turn track should be certain to produce exciting action throughout the race.
The entry list for tonight’s IndyCar iRacing Challenge race from Circuit Gilles Villeneuve is as follows:
No. |
Driver |
Country |
Team |
Sponsor |
| 2 | Josef Newgarden | USA | Team Penske | Hitachi |
| 3 | Scott McLaughlin | AUS | Team Penske | PPG |
| 4 | Dalton Kellett | CAN | A.J. Foyt Racing | K-Line |
| 8 | Marcus Ericsson | SWE | Chip Ganassi Racing | Huski Chocolate |
| 10 | Alex Palou | ESP | Chip Ganassi Racing | NTT Data |
| 11 | Charlie Kimball | USA | A.J. Foyt Racing | Tresiba |
| 12 | Will Power | AUS | Team Penske | Verizon 5G |
| 17 | Braden Eves | USA | Road to Indy | Road to Indy |
| 18 | Ed Jones | UAE | Dale Coyne Racing w/Vasser Sullivan | SealMaster |
| 20 | Simon Sikes | USA | Ed Carpenter Racing | United States Air Force |
| 21 | Nikita Lastochkin | RUS | Ed Carpenter Racing | Sonax |
| 30 | Takuma Sato | JPN | Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing | Shield Cleansers |
| 51 | Romain Grosjean | FRA | Dale Coyne Racing w/RWR | Nurtec ODT |
| 52 | Pietro Fittipaldi | BRA | Dale Coyne Racing w/RWR | Nurtec ODT |
| 53 | James Davison | AUS | Dale Coyne Racing w/RWR | Nurtec ODT |
| 59 | Max Chilton | GBR | Carlin Racing | Carlin Racing |
| 75 | RC Enerson | USA | Top Gun Racing | Top Gun Racing |
| 98 | Sage Karam | USA | Andretti Autosport | Andretti Autosport |
Click here to view a spotter guide and links to driver streams for the event.
IndyCar iRacing Challenge action from Circuit Gilles Villeneuve will stream tonight at 6:30PM ET on IndyCar and iRacing social media channels. Next week, the three-race series continues with a trip to Homestead-Miami Speedway, which previously hosted the sport from 1996 to 2010. For more information on iRacing and for special offers, visit www.iracing.com.
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