Jim Ayello

Indianapolis Star

INDIANAPOLIS -- Trevor Carlin can’t help but beam with pride.

His team has only undergone the rigors of an Indianapolis May once. Yet despite their relative inexperience, a team with the clout of McLaren Racing believed in them enough to forge a technical and operational alliance in what will be the first true McLaren-Indianapolis 500 effort in decades.

That faith says an awful lot about how far Carlin Motorsports has come in just one IndyCar season, the team owner told IndyStar recently.

“It’s a testament to what our guys did last year,” Carlin said. “To give us enough credibility for them to trust us to help, I’m just very pleased and very proud.”

Though the results at Indianapolis weren’t spectacular -- Charlie Kimball finished 18th and Max Chilton 22nd -- there was still plenty for Carlin to hang his hat on.

For one, despite having never run at Indianapolis before, both of his cars qualified without much issue. Neither was in position to be bumped, and on the second day of qualifying, the team showed dramatic improvement with Kimball locking up a spot on Row 5 (15) and Chilton on Row 7 (20). That might not sound all that impressive, but consider that Kimball’s starting spot was better than anyone from Dryer & Reinbold, Schmidt Peterson Motorsports, Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing or Harding Racing -- all teams with more 500 experience than Carlin’s rookie squad.

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Furthermore, Carlin said, his team looked the part.

“I would say that everyone in pit lane could see our level of presentation and what we did was quite a step forward for IndyCar,” the Englishman said. “I think that’s something McLaren saw, that we were at a level that’s equal to theirs. And they had confidence we could do the job at a standard they’d be happy with.”

Carlin spoke with IndyStar in detail about the alliance between these two European-based teams, how their relationship could evolve and his goals for his own program outside of Indianapolis.

Question: We know McLaren shopped around the paddock a bit for potential partners, so how did this deal come together with Carlin?

Answer: We made it clear when we started an IndyCar team, if there’s any way we could be involved with McLaren, we’d love to. And (McLaren CEO) Zak (Brown) reached out to (Carlin co-owner) Grahame Chilton last year, saying they were looking at doing the 500. He asked if he would help with some technical support and on the logistic side of it. You really can’t underestimate what a big task it is to get everything together for IndyCar, especially the 500. The fact that’d we just done it all and it was fresh in our minds -- we know all the pitfalls and what’s needed -- so it all made sense.

Q: What’s the comfort level between these two teams?

A: Well, Chilly (Grahame Chilton) is a great friend of Zak’s.

And we’re a local team to McLaren. My house used to border the land that is now the McLaren factory, so I know a load of people who work at McLaren. I’ve got a lot of friends that work there.

So far, the (partnership) has been pretty seamless, to be honest. We know Bob Fernley (President of McLaren IndyCar). I’ve known him personally for years. And the head of strategic car build at McLaren is one of my best friends. I go have a pint with him whenever we get a chance. … So it’s really like we’re all big part of big happy family.

Q: You’ve already touched on how McLaren benefits from this partnership, but how do you see Carlin benefiting?

A: Well, it’s McLaren, and they have fantastic resources from a technical standpoint. They can add to what we’ve already got. At Indy, we’ll have two cars' worth of data, and they’ll have data, so all of a sudden, we’re in essence a three-car team, which starts to help from a data-gathering point of view. And that’s part of the strength of Andretti, running 4, 5, 6 cars, they have a massive pool of data.

So that’s what we’re hoping. They’ll benefit from what they get from us, and we’ll benefit from what we get from Fernando (Alonso). So it’s a win-win.

Q: How much data sharing will there be?

A: As far as we’re concerned, it’s wide open. I imagine we’ll be working closely together and it will be a two-way street.

Q: What about the logistical aspect of this arrangement? What does that entail? Will you be sharing garage space in May?

A: One of the main things we’re doing is helping with all of their preparation and building the second car. McLaren will have two chassis. We’re building one of them in Florida, and they’re building the primary race car in the UK. We’re building the test car and backup car. Carlin crew will build that car completely and hand it over to them when they come over to the States.

As far as Indy, I think we’re sharing space in Indy for the month of May. Most of the time, we’ll be in Gasoline Alley, and they’ll have their own space, but hopefully they’ll be near us. We’d like to be near them, but I think that’s down to IndyCar to organize that.

Q: McLaren has made no secret about potentially pursuing full-time entry in IndyCar, perhaps by 2020. Have there been discussions about an expanded relationship if that day comes?

A: I can’t speak for them in that respect. It’s like anything, though, if something works, and everyone’s happy with the relationship, then it will carry on. If it doesn’t work out, then it won’t. We’re going to do our absolute best and hope they’re satisfied with the job we do for them. At the end of the day, we’re working for them, and we’re happy to do so.

Q: Do you expect an alliance with a driver who brings the kind of star power Fernando Alonso does to be a boon for your team’s worldwide exposure during May?

A: Well, it would be fantastic if he were driving around in a Carlin blue car (laughs), but that’s obviously not the case. Fernando is of the stature, he wants to be driving for a top F1 team, and that’s what he’s doing.

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It’s good to have him attached to this and it will be nice to chat with him. I’ve never worked with Fernando, so it’ll be great to see -- I mean I’ve heard so many fantastic things about his work ethic and how good he is. It’ll be great to see it first hand. It’s very exciting. It’s a great opportunity to work with one of the greatest drivers ever.

Q: What about your IndyCar program? What are the expectations heading into Year 2?

A: Max (Chilton) is pretty fired up. We feel we’ve taken a step forward with the car, and that has Max’s confidence up. Last year, it was the most frustrating season. I think it was six or seven times we missed out on the Fast 12 by less than a tenth of a second, and that was always our target, was to get to the Fast 12 as often as possible.

I feel for sure we have made more than that tenth up in the performance on the car, and I think the confidence that will give Max, I think we can see ourselves regularly getting in the Top 12. And the next target is obviously getting in the Fast 6. That’s our mission is to be in top 12 in qualifying as often as possible and build from that.

Q: You mentioned Chilton and the No. 59 car, but what about the No. 23 car? We know Charlie Kimball will be running a limited schedule, including the opener in St. Petersburg, and that RC Enerson tested the car at Spring Training. Has any progress been made in finalizing who will be driving the car at the remaining 12 races?

A: You know what racing’s like. We’re talking to everybody, and everyone's talking to everyone else. We have to see which way the dice roll and see how things play out. We’ve really enjoyed having RC in the car. He’s got a fantastic new sponsor (Craft 1861, an Arizona-based cannabidiol company), which is keen to come into the marketplace. They’re deadly serious about joining in 2020. We’re just trying to get them to do some exploratory stuff in 2019. And we’re working very hard with IndyCar to get approval for the sponsor. So it’s a little bit complex. But everything RC’s done and team’s done has been top notch. He’s given us a taste of what’s possible. Someone like Pato (O'Ward) is in the same mold really. We’d know he would be very super quick.

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But there’s the limitation, obviously, because all he’s got is his prize money, and that’s you know, it covers a couple of races, but then makes it difficult for us for the 500 because Charlie is confirmed for us for the 500. So it’s complex.

Q: Is a three-car 500 effort possible?

A: We’re the sort of team where everything’s possible. The fact we’re even doing IndyCar is testament to that. Right? We’re not a massive, huge budget team by a long shot. Everything we’ve done, we’ve managed to do self-funded and through hard work. If we can find a way to do three cars at the 500, for the right reasons, then we’d do it.

Follow IndyStar Motor Sports Insider Jim Ayello on Twitter and Facebook: @jimayello.

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