Detroit Grand Prix: The science behind preparing to race in bad weather

DETROIT – Thunderstorms in the Sunday forecast could make for some tricky decisions by the Grand Prix drivers and their crews. 

I spent part of my Thursday with Team Penske star driver Helio Castroneves and Team Penske Technical Director Ron Ruzewski to get the inside story about how they plan for the weather and develop their race strategies around it. 

This is a fascinating story ...

The Chevrolet Detroit Grand Prix presented by Lear returns to the Motor City June 2-4, 2017. 

WHEN:

Friday-Sunday - June 2-4, 2017

WHERE:

The Raceway at Belle Isle Park street circuit

TRACK LENGTH:

2.3 miles

WHAT:

The Chevrolet Detroit Grand Prix presented by Lear returns to the Motor City June 2-4, 2017. The event will feature the cars of the Verizon IndyCar Series, the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship, the high-flying trucks of the SPEED Energy Stadium SUPER Trucks and the Trans Am Series presented by Pirelli. The weekend collectively is referred to as the Chevrolet Detroit Grand Prix presented by Lear and it will feature the Chevrolet Dual in Detroit IndyCar doubleheader.

WHEN:

Friday-Sunday - June 2-4, 2017

WHERE:

The Raceway at Belle Isle Park street circuit

RACE HISTORY:

The first Detroit Grand Prix was in 1982 and it started as a Formula One race through the streets of downtown Detroit before becoming a CART-sanctioned race in 1989. The race moved to Belle Isle in 1992 continuing under the CART/Champ Car banner until 2001.

After the success of the Super Bowl in Detroit in 2006, Roger Penske and the Downtown Detroit Partnership (DDP) teamed up to bring an annual national sporting event to the city of Detroit and spearheaded the return of the Grand Prix in 2007 on Belle Isle.  After challenging economic times delayed the event after the 2008 season, the Grand Prix returned in 2012 with the current promotional group as a subsidiary of the DDP.