INDYCAR MEDIA DAY

February 18, 2014

Justin Wilson

THE MODERATOR:  We are joined by Justin Wilson. 
Justin, your first opportunity in the Honda-powered car yesterday.  What were your thoughts?  I assume you had a number of details and test items to get through. 
JUSTIN WILSON:  Yeah, it was great to get back in an IndyCar, get back up to speed with everything.  My first experience with the Honda twin turbo.  I was really pleased with how that performed and how that drove. 
Generally just working away on things, trying to get used to the new personnel.  Had a lot of changes at Dale Coyne Racing.  Working with Michael Cannon, my new race engineer.  He's got a lot of experience.  That's great. 
We're just comparing notes, trying things out.  Seeing what works, what didn't for each of us.  I think it was a good test.  Hopefully there's more to come tomorrow.  We'll hit the track tomorrow and try and get a bit more speed, try and be faster. 
It was actually great to see, you're driving down pit lane in one racecar that you're racing, you see your other racecar out there, as well.  Pretty cool seeing the No. 16 sitting in pit lane at the same time.  Can't wait to get out and do Sebring 12 Hours again. 
THE MODERATOR:  You finished sixth in the IndyCar Series last year.  Your thoughts about heading into 2014 and how you can take that consistency and move it up into contending for the championship. 
JUSTIN WILSON:  Yeah, I mean, last year, to finish sixth in the championship, we didn't expect that at the start of the year.  Obviously now this year we want to build on it. 
There's a lot of things that got to happen.  We have to make sure we don't make any mistakes.  Trying to get the most out of the car in qualifying, trying to get the car to work over a full stint in the race, that's just part of it. 
I'm hoping we can just pick up where we left off.  But I also know a lot of changes, like I mentioned earlier with personnel, we've got to learn each other and try and not make the usual mistakes, try and keep building on what Michael learnt from the last couple years and what I learnt from the last couple years. 
It's easy to go down a path and get trapped and lost.  That's our focus.  Hopefully we can build on that and win races.  That was the one thing last year, we came close to winning a couple races.  There were a few races that something happened and I thought, We should have won that one.  We didn't.  Want to change that around this year and at least win one, if not multiple. 
THE MODERATOR:  Questions. 

Q.  Looks like we're going to move the Pole Day to Sunday as opposed to Saturday to build the drama up.  Is that something that excites you?
JUSTIN WILSON:  Yeah.  I see what they're doing and I think it's good with the current format and the way things work out.  It has its positives and its drawbacks.  As a couple of the rookies point out, you only get one chance to qualify, one day to qualify as a rookie, make the field or not.  So I can see how that's a bit daunting.
I also like the fact that we're building up towards something.  The focus is building up towards getting the pole position. 
Yeah, it's a bit like the championship itself.  Last couple years we've gone on late in the season and things have drawn out, race once a month towards the end of the year.  This year it looks like it's going to be more intense towards the end of the season, build up to that climax.  I'm looking forward to trying that out. 

Q.  Any word on what Stefan has planned this year?
JUSTIN WILSON:  Nothing concrete yet.  I know he's working hard on things.  I'm not sure what he's going to end up doing.  I know Dale always keeps things pretty tight lipped as well.  Personally I'd like to see him make it to IndyCar full-time, if not do a few more races this week. 
I know he's working hard at it.  I think last year went pretty good for the one attempt he had with no testing.  I think he did a good job.  Definitely deserves a shot.  But it's a tough situation. 

Q.  You mentioned you can't veer off on a path.  These race weekends are so compact you have to be straight off the truck, know what you're doing.  With the experience, put you in a good stead straight off the bat in St. Petersburg?
JUSTIN WILSON:  I think so.  The key thing now is Michael has a lot of experience over the last two years with the teams he's worked with.  Then I've got my experiences.  They're quite different.  Trying to pick apart which bits to go with, not make a mess of it.  It's so easy to choose the wrong items, say, It's obvious this car needs this front spring.  It may look like it on paper, but it's not obvious. 
The car has to work with every component to work properly.  You can end up with two very different setups producing the same lap time and doing it a completely different times.  You can't say this, this and this is going to make a fast racecar. 
That's the danger we can fall into and we've got to be careful not to fall into that trap. 

Q.  After your accident last fall, did IndyCar solicit any input from you regarding the side intrusion panels?  How do you get in the car now?
JUSTIN WILSON:  Obviously they took all that data from my crash.  The folks are making the tub itself stronger.  I told them what I think as well, other areas we can work on to try and help in impacts like that. 
I think it's been positive.  It should be a lot better this year.  There's still things in the pipeline they're talking about doing.  They need more data on that before they implement it. 
I think it's only going to help.  The key is getting the car safe and safer, the safest racecar possible. 
It takes up a little bit of room in the cockpit.  It's maybe, from what I've seen, eighth of an inch each side.  Doesn't sound a lot, but it actually is.  This car is designed very straight-sided.  There's not a lot of elbow room.  When you sit in the car, your elbows come in and almost touch your ribs.  When you start bringing it in an eighth inch each side, I don't have a lot of room left anyway.  It's made it a little bit tricky, but it's a compromise you have to make. 

Q.  How do you steer? 
JUSTIN WILSON:  The seat has to wrap around you and support you, especially on the ovals.  It feels like it's loose, even when you're nowhere near the limit.  To turn the car, you have to get your elbow past your ribs.  It's a big compromise and easy to get it wrong. 
It's a little bit more weight.  IndyCar has compensated with the total weight of the car for that.  Biggest thing is it's going to be a lot stronger and hopefully a lot safer. 
THE MODERATOR:  Thank you for your time. 
JUSTIN WILSON:  Thank you.