Trent Hindman is one of the lucky ones who holds the privilege of saying that he has claimed a win at one of the most famous tracks in the world – Indianapolis Motor Speedway. Last year, he co-drive the Wright Motorsports Pro class entry to victory in the 2023 edition of the Indy 8 Hour, and he’ll be aiming to do it again, this time with RS1.
With a great deal of experience under his belt, he knows what to expect coming into the event, but a little extra preparation never hurts.
“This one is a little bit different because the Intercontinental GT Challenge teams also join us on the grid,” Hindman explained. “It creates a mix of rules that we’re accustomed to, and the rule set that they bring over with them. The biggest thing for us is studying the rule book and understanding what we can or can't get away with in terms of fuel strategy, driver stint length, maximum drive times, minimum drive times, things along that line.”
Hindman is a big believer in adequately doing his homework and brushing up on his knowledge, as the execution itself is the more standard component of endurance racing.
“It’s just a longer version of our races, it doesn't change too much,” he stated. “Having a good grasp of the rule set and the marriage of what we have here and what IGTC brings, that's where the difference really lies.”
“You can never be too prepared,” he continued. “You can never start studying this stuff too soon, in my opinion. I've been caught out in the past in situations where we’ve just assumed that we could figure it out on the fly, but it will never work out with that approach. Never.”
However, he also stressed the importance of flexibility and being able to adapt when circumstances change, which they often do over the course of a long race such as the Indy 8 Hour.
“There’s a balance to be had,” he said. “You have to stay open minded and be able to overcome whatever is being thrown at you. So many things can happen, whether it be in the form of a safety car, a puncture, or you unexpectedly need to cut your stint a little short. You can’t stay too rigid in your plan.”
For some, the colder temperatures that begin to sweep into Indiana in early October are an extra element to contend with, but Hindman gladly welcomes the cool climate as it favors the Porsche.
“We’re never going to complain about that,” he joked. “Last year, it was relatively cold, and I think that's where a lot of our success came from. Ultimately, the car is going to perform well in all sorts of temperature ranges, but it really does seem to respond well to cooler temperatures.”
When recalling his time behind the wheel nearly one full year ago, the unpredictability of the race is still what remains top of mind, going on to say that “the Indy 8 Hour is already a pretty wild event just in terms of the time of the year. You can have really quick shifts in weather in Indianapolis that happened very quickly. You could be running smoothly, and then all of a sudden you’re caught in the middle of a rainstorm, and it might clear up quickly or it may not, you really have no way of knowing.”
Of course, the night portion of the race is the real kicker, adding an extra component of chaos as the sun dips below the horizon. Hindman described the evening portion as a fun yet challenging aspect, as it is an added element in a long list of variables that are not necessarily in the driver’s control. Circling back to the importance of being prepared, he noted that it requires many questions to be asked, and hopefully answered.
“Where do you want your car to perform? Do you want it to perform early in the day, in the heat of the day, in the afternoon and at night? How does the weather look? Is it going to rain? Do we have to compromise our setup to be good across all conditions? It’s a long race and it means that you could be covering all sorts of different conditions, so you just have to be ready for anything.”
On top of all that, Hindman shared an insider perspective into his analysis of the track itself, highlighting some features that may otherwise go unnoticed or be overlooked.
“You’ve got long straightaways and a bunch of hard braking zones with very tight corners that follow,” he detailed. “Some cars will be more well suited for that kind of layout than others, but for the most part it can be surprisingly hard on your equipment. The Speedway is a very smooth track, and the curbing is very friendly. It’s totally unlike something like Sebring, where you’re just getting rattled the whole time, but it does have a heavy impact on the car because you spend so much time going between full throttle and maximum braking efforts, with big swings in either direction.”
With only a couple of more weeks to go before he gets to take another stab at winning the Indy 8 Hour, Hindman is hopeful that he will be able to return to victory lane and kiss the bricks once again.
“It’s so special,” he exclaimed. “Winning here is something I had the opportunity to experience last year. It was a class victory, but nonetheless still a victory. Obviously, you want to come back and compete for the overall win, and that’s not only because of the racetrack we’re at, but because of the level of competition and the gravity of the event itself. The fact that it’s in Indianapolis just adds to it all, but it’s the championship and the people in this series that make this such a great occasion.”
To watch Trent Hindman take on the Indy 8 Hour, purchase your tickets now and join us trackside from October 4th to 6th for the grand finale event to conclude the 2024 Fanatec GT World Challenge America powered by AWS championship.