Penultimate Portland ahead for King
Date: 29 / 08 / 2018
This weekend plays host to the penultimate round of the 2018 Verizon IndyCar Series as the series returns to Portland International Raceway for the first time since 2007 and Jordan King is back behind the wheel of the #20 Ed Carpenter Racing.
The Grand Prix of Portland will be Jordan’s tenth Verizon IndyCar Series race of his rookie season. Jordan’s impressive debut campaign has seen him advance out of the first round of qualifications in half of the possible races this year and this weekend he arrives in Portland with less of a disadvantage compared to the rest of the races. Portland will be only the second track this year where King will have had a full day of testing prior to the official race weekend and will join the majority of the field in having to learn the circuit after its ten-year hiatus.
“I am very much looking forward to getting back in the car this week after more than a month on the sidelines! It’s a new challenge for everyone because no one has been there for a long time so, hopefully, that levels the playing field a little bit!”
The 12-turn, 1.964-mile natural road course is relatively flat but contains several opportunities for overtaking, including a quick chicane at the end of the frontstretch, a hard-braking right-hander leading onto the sweeping backstretch, and a three-turn complex leading back onto the frontstretch. With all the teams given an official on-track test day on Thursday, Jordan and the team were able to get up to speed with the demands of the Portland circuit.
“The extra day of testing helped get us up to speed but also get everyone else up to speed so maybe it’s a good thing, maybe it’s not, but we’ll see. So far, the pace has been good and I feel like we are quick but there’s still a way to go with the car to get it running at its best but for the start of a weekend we are looking strong. It’s a long race weekend, with the extra day testing, but I’m really excited to try end the season with a couple of strong results.”
Track activity will get underway on Friday, August 31 with two practice sessions. Saturday, September 1 will feature a third practice session as well as qualifying, which will get underway later that day at 23:30 (BST) The 105-lap Grand Prix of Portland will be broadcast live on BT Sport with lights out at 20:00 on Sunday, September 2.