Scott Dixon has said that he has now begun looking into IndyCar’s ‘smaller’ teams for innovative inspiration to try and amend some of the big areas he believes are missing for him this season.
The five-time IndyCar champion will resume another season with Chip Ganassi Racing, an establishment in which the New Zealander has raced for since 2002.
After missing out of a sixth Indycar title last year, Dixon is looking forward to leading another Chip Ganassi charge into 2020.
“Last year was quite frustrating,” said Dixon.
“We just didn’t have the speed.
“There’s some insight that we’ve had in the offseason that hopefully will [fix that].”
Though it was evident in pre-season testing that Dixon will have his work cut out for him, as several key rivals, namely the Chevrolet powered Penske Team, have been right on the pace from day one.
Dixon was eighth fastest at the pre-season test from the Circuit of the Americas, over nine-tenths behind pace setter Will Power.
Dixon has acknowledged that many of the sport’s larger establishments may overlook on certain key technical innovation, with the Kiwi now having shifted his attention to many of Indycar’s smaller budget teams to discover how they are unlocking their potential.
“There are some things that they spend money on that we would never think of, because that’s way too expensive,” said Dixon.
“It’s been really interesting to see that twist. The level that these small teams, or so-called small teams are at. They’re not small.
“Their budgets are pretty big, pretty healthy, and you’ve got a lot of smart people working at them. Some big areas we were missing for sure.”
The opening round of the NTT IndyCar season gets underway on March 15 with the Firestone Grand Prix of St. Petersburg.