NZ Herald
  • Home
  • Latest news
  • Herald NOW
  • Video
  • New Zealand
  • Sport
  • World
  • Business
  • Entertainment
  • Podcasts
  • Quizzes
  • Opinion
  • Lifestyle
  • Travel
  • Viva
  • Weather

Subscriptions

  • Herald Premium
  • Viva Premium
  • The Listener
  • BusinessDesk

Sections

  • Latest news
  • New Zealand
    • All New Zealand
    • Crime
    • Politics
    • Education
    • Open Justice
    • Scam Update
  • Herald NOW
  • On The Up
  • World
    • All World
    • Australia
    • Asia
    • UK
    • United States
    • Middle East
    • Europe
    • Pacific
  • Business
    • All Business
    • MarketsSharesCurrencyCommoditiesStock TakesCrypto
    • Markets with Madison
    • Media Insider
    • Business analysis
    • Personal financeKiwiSaverInterest ratesTaxInvestment
    • EconomyInflationGDPOfficial cash rateEmployment
    • Small business
    • Business reportsMood of the BoardroomProject AucklandSustainable business and financeCapital markets reportAgribusiness reportInfrastructure reportDynamic business
    • Deloitte Top 200 Awards
    • CompaniesAged CareAgribusinessAirlinesBanking and financeConstructionEnergyFreight and logisticsHealthcareManufacturingMedia and MarketingRetailTelecommunicationsTourism
  • Opinion
    • All Opinion
    • Analysis
    • Editorials
    • Business analysis
    • Premium opinion
    • Letters to the editor
  • Politics
  • Sport
    • All Sport
    • OlympicsParalympics
    • RugbySuper RugbyNPCAll BlacksBlack FernsRugby sevensSchool rugby
    • CricketBlack CapsWhite Ferns
    • Racing
    • NetballSilver Ferns
    • LeagueWarriorsNRL
    • FootballWellington PhoenixAuckland FCAll WhitesFootball FernsEnglish Premier League
    • GolfNZ Open
    • MotorsportFormula 1
    • Boxing
    • UFC
    • BasketballNBABreakersTall BlacksTall Ferns
    • Tennis
    • Cycling
    • Athletics
    • SailingAmerica's CupSailGP
    • Rowing
  • Lifestyle
    • All Lifestyle
    • Viva - Food, fashion & beauty
    • Society Insider
    • Royals
    • Sex & relationships
    • Food & drinkRecipesRecipe collectionsRestaurant reviewsRestaurant bookings
    • Health & wellbeing
    • Fashion & beauty
    • Pets & animals
    • The Selection - Shop the trendsShop fashionShop beautyShop entertainmentShop giftsShop home & living
    • Milford's Investing Place
  • Entertainment
    • All Entertainment
    • TV
    • MoviesMovie reviews
    • MusicMusic reviews
    • BooksBook reviews
    • Culture
    • ReviewsBook reviewsMovie reviewsMusic reviewsRestaurant reviews
  • Travel
    • All Travel
    • News
    • New ZealandNorthlandAucklandWellingtonCanterburyOtago / QueenstownNelson-TasmanBest NZ beaches
    • International travelAustraliaPacific IslandsEuropeUKUSAAfricaAsia
    • Rail holidays
    • Cruise holidays
    • Ski holidays
    • Luxury travel
    • Adventure travel
  • Kāhu Māori news
  • Environment
    • All Environment
    • Our Green Future
  • Talanoa Pacific news
  • Property
    • All Property
    • Property Insider
    • Interest rates tracker
    • Residential property listings
    • Commercial property listings
  • Health
  • Technology
    • All Technology
    • AI
    • Social media
  • Rural
    • All Rural
    • Dairy farming
    • Sheep & beef farming
    • Horticulture
    • Animal health
    • Rural business
    • Rural life
    • Rural technology
    • Opinion
    • Audio & podcasts
  • Weather forecasts
    • All Weather forecasts
    • Kaitaia
    • Whangārei
    • Dargaville
    • Auckland
    • Thames
    • Tauranga
    • Hamilton
    • Whakatāne
    • Rotorua
    • Tokoroa
    • Te Kuiti
    • Taumaranui
    • Taupō
    • Gisborne
    • New Plymouth
    • Napier
    • Hastings
    • Dannevirke
    • Whanganui
    • Palmerston North
    • Levin
    • Paraparaumu
    • Masterton
    • Wellington
    • Motueka
    • Nelson
    • Blenheim
    • Westport
    • Reefton
    • Kaikōura
    • Greymouth
    • Hokitika
    • Christchurch
    • Ashburton
    • Timaru
    • Wānaka
    • Oamaru
    • Queenstown
    • Dunedin
    • Gore
    • Invercargill
  • Meet the journalists
  • Promotions & competitions
  • OneRoof property listings
  • Driven car news

Puzzles & Quizzes

  • Puzzles
    • All Puzzles
    • Sudoku
    • Code Cracker
    • Crosswords
    • Cryptic crossword
    • Wordsearch
  • Quizzes
    • All Quizzes
    • Morning quiz
    • Afternoon quiz
    • Sports quiz

Regions

  • Northland
    • All Northland
    • Far North
    • Kaitaia
    • Kerikeri
    • Kaikohe
    • Bay of Islands
    • Whangarei
    • Dargaville
    • Kaipara
    • Mangawhai
  • Auckland
  • Waikato
    • All Waikato
    • Hamilton
    • Coromandel & Hauraki
    • Matamata & Piako
    • Cambridge
    • Te Awamutu
    • Tokoroa & South Waikato
    • Taupō & Tūrangi
  • Bay of Plenty
    • All Bay of Plenty
    • Katikati
    • Tauranga
    • Mount Maunganui
    • Pāpāmoa
    • Te Puke
    • Whakatāne
  • Rotorua
  • Hawke's Bay
    • All Hawke's Bay
    • Napier
    • Hastings
    • Havelock North
    • Central Hawke's Bay
    • Wairoa
  • Taranaki
    • All Taranaki
    • Stratford
    • New Plymouth
    • Hāwera
  • Manawatū - Whanganui
    • All Manawatū - Whanganui
    • Whanganui
    • Palmerston North
    • Manawatū
    • Tararua
    • Horowhenua
  • Wellington
    • All Wellington
    • Kapiti
    • Wairarapa
    • Upper Hutt
    • Lower Hutt
  • Nelson & Tasman
    • All Nelson & Tasman
    • Motueka
    • Nelson
    • Tasman
  • Marlborough
  • West Coast
  • Canterbury
    • All Canterbury
    • Kaikōura
    • Christchurch
    • Ashburton
    • Timaru
  • Otago
    • All Otago
    • Oamaru
    • Dunedin
    • Balclutha
    • Alexandra
    • Queenstown
    • Wanaka
  • Southland
    • All Southland
    • Invercargill
    • Gore
    • Stewart Island
  • Gisborne

Media

  • Video
    • All Video
    • NZ news video
    • Herald NOW
    • Business news video
    • Politics news video
    • Sport video
    • World news video
    • Lifestyle video
    • Entertainment video
    • Travel video
    • Markets with Madison
    • Kea Kids news
  • Podcasts
    • All Podcasts
    • The Front Page
    • On the Tiles
    • Ask me Anything
    • The Little Things
  • Cartoons
  • Photo galleries
  • Today's Paper - E-editions
  • Photo sales
  • Classifieds

NZME Network

  • Advertise with NZME
  • OneRoof
  • Driven Car Guide
  • BusinessDesk
  • Newstalk ZB
  • Sunlive
  • ZM
  • The Hits
  • Coast
  • Radio Hauraki
  • The Alternative Commentary Collective
  • Gold
  • Flava
  • iHeart Radio
  • Hokonui
  • Radio Wanaka
  • iHeartCountry New Zealand
  • Restaurant Hub
  • NZME Events

SubscribeSign In

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.
Home / Motorsport

Kiwi star looks to overtake the gremlins

Eric Thompson
By Eric Thompson
NZ Herald·
22 Mar, 2013 04:30 PM5 mins to read

Subscribe to listen

Access to Herald Premium articles require a Premium subscription. Subscribe now to listen.
Already a subscriber?  Sign in here

Listening to articles is free for open-access content—explore other articles or learn more about text-to-speech.
‌
Save

    Share this article

He had a bad run last season, but Scott Dixon and his team boss are confident he will produce the goods this year. Photo / Getty

He had a bad run last season, but Scott Dixon and his team boss are confident he will produce the goods this year. Photo / Getty

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.
Kiwi star looks to overtake the gremlins

As the IndyCar circus arrives in St Petersburg, Florida, for the start of this year's championship series, one of New Zealand's top professional motor racing drivers, Scott Dixon, is again a favourite to take the title.

He's finished in the top three every year since 2007, the standout being 2008 when he won the series and became the first New Zealander to win the Indianapolis 500.

Dixon has been at the Ganassi outfit since the 2002 CART season, and for the fifth year in a row, his teammate will be Dario Franchitti.

Between them, they have won six championship titles in 10 years and as Ganassi said, "How do you bet against these guys going into the season?"

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.
Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

Last year, Dixon finished second at St Pete's and early on in the season looked to be on track for his third IndyCar title until the mechanical gremlins struck.

The Kiwi had more DNFs in that season than he's probably had in his entire career and was either at the front of the field or parked up.

With so many non-point-scoring races it is even more remarkable the Kiwi still finished in third place in the championship.

"We were quick at times last year but a few things went wrong," said Dixon. "It seems we're always in the hunt, but we've only got one championship."

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

"It's frustrating, but it goes to show just how good the competition is. If you keep knocking on the door eventually it'll open. It's hard to swallow, though, that at times it's the smallest of things that get in the way.

"If reliability was better last year and we didn't get that silly call at Milwaukee, we could have been there instead of 35 points off the championship. That's frustrating."

This is the second year of the new Dallara DW12 car, and the niggling problems of last year should have been sorted. The only drawback is that not all the teams have had the same amount of testing available to them before the opening race in St Pete's.

"We didn't have as much time in the car in the off season as we did last year," said Dixon. "The last test [just over a week ago] at Barber didn't go too badly and we were top of the sheets for a while.

Discover more

New Zealand

Former boy racer rallies for drag strip

19 Mar 03:09 AM
Motorsport

V8 Supercars: Kiwis show the way in Melbourne

19 Mar 04:30 PM
Motorsport

Motorsport: Malaysian heat beckons teen driver

19 Mar 04:30 PM
Sport|motorsport

Motorsport: Wizard of Oz king of speed freaks

21 Mar 04:30 PM

"It was okay for the most, but we spent a lot of time trying to get the engine right because towards the end of the day the Chevy engines seemed to dominate the top 10."

The consensus appears to be that the team is doing all right, but needs to get a better handle on the Honda engine. There were reliability and driveability issues last year, and although improvements have been made, it looks as though the Chevy-powered cars have the edge.

But it should never be forgotten testing and practice is just that. Racing is another ball game.

"It's hard to tell exactly how you're going until you get to the race and the lights go out," said Dixon. "The formula is so restricted these days that it's almost like going spec racing.

"You can change the aero package a little as well as changing the dampeners, but that's about all. With all the different disciplines [short tracks, super speedways, road courses and street courses] there's a lot going on.

"It's going to be as tough as hell but the racing is going to be really good. It's the best series for watching racing but the TV deal is rubbish."

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

An added difficulty is that this is the last year on the current engines, so it wouldn't be too long a bow to draw to suggest Honda may not be keen to put a lot of energy into further development of the power plant.

Couple this possible factor with rumours that Honda may be making a comeback in Formula One would suggest a bigger push in the development of smaller turbo charged engines, as both categories will be using a similar type of engine in the future.

"What makes it interesting is that the engine we used at Barber we have to use for the first four races," Dixon said. "Because we're locked in for so long with the same engine the development cycle is that much slower. You're not just giving up on one or two races but three or four now if you're behind the others. Honda seem to think they can help the engine going into St Pete's, so we'll just have to wait and see.

"I'm not sure it's going to be the amount we would really like, but I'm optimistic it'll be all good."

Dixon was on the track in January during the Grand-Am Series 24 hour auto race at Daytona, driving the Ganassi Racing BMW Riley car. He is still at the peak of his career, and has the peace of mind of having signed a contract extension with Ganassi, so he can be counted on to be a contender for this year's title.

He's also one of three active IndyCar drivers with an Indy 500 win to his name, and with an average 500 finish of 3.8 in the past five years, he could add another likeness of himself to the Borg-Warner Trophy.

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.
Save

    Share this article

Latest from Motorsport

Premium
OpinionAlex Powell

Alex Powell: Why Lawson's F1 future is about more than just results

Formula 1

Exclusive: Liam Lawson likely to keep Racing Bulls seat for 2026

Motorsport

Kiwi driver Van Gisbergen dominates with third win of the Nascar season


Sponsored

Solar bat monitors uncover secrets of Auckland’s night sky

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

Latest from Motorsport

Premium
Premium
Alex Powell: Why Lawson's F1 future is about more than just results
Alex Powell
OpinionAlex Powell

Alex Powell: Why Lawson's F1 future is about more than just results

OPINION: The Kiwi is likely to be retained by Red Bull for 2026.

14 Jul 06:00 PM
Exclusive: Liam Lawson likely to keep Racing Bulls seat for 2026
Formula 1

Exclusive: Liam Lawson likely to keep Racing Bulls seat for 2026

14 Jul 02:13 AM
Kiwi driver Van Gisbergen dominates with third win of the Nascar season
Motorsport

Kiwi driver Van Gisbergen dominates with third win of the Nascar season

13 Jul 11:13 PM


Solar bat monitors uncover secrets of Auckland’s night sky
Sponsored

Solar bat monitors uncover secrets of Auckland’s night sky

06 Jul 09:47 PM
NZ Herald
  • About NZ Herald
  • Meet the journalists
  • Newsletters
  • Classifieds
  • Help & support
  • Contact us
  • House rules
  • Privacy Policy
  • Terms of use
  • Competition terms & conditions
  • Our use of AI
Subscriber Services
  • NZ Herald e-editions
  • Daily puzzles & quizzes
  • Manage your digital subscription
  • Manage your print subscription
  • Subscribe to the NZ Herald newspaper
  • Subscribe to Herald Premium
  • Gift a subscription
  • Subscriber FAQs
  • Subscription terms & conditions
  • Promotions and subscriber benefits
NZME Network
  • The New Zealand Herald
  • The Northland Age
  • The Northern Advocate
  • Waikato Herald
  • Bay of Plenty Times
  • Rotorua Daily Post
  • Hawke's Bay Today
  • Whanganui Chronicle
  • Viva
  • NZ Listener
  • Newstalk ZB
  • BusinessDesk
  • OneRoof
  • Driven Car Guide
  • iHeart Radio
  • Restaurant Hub
NZME
  • About NZME
  • NZME careers
  • Advertise with NZME
  • Digital self-service advertising
  • Book your classified ad
  • Photo sales
  • NZME Events
  • © Copyright 2025 NZME Publishing Limited
TOP