Wrong tyre choice robs VeeKay of possible top-ten finish
His lap times were good enough for a top-ten finish, but a great result was not in the cards for Rinus 'VeeKay' van Kalmthout, as in the second race of the 2025 NTT IndyCar Series the Dutchman fell victim to a poor choice of tyres.
Under bright blue Californian skies, the 65-lap Thermal Club IndyCar Grand Prix got underway shortly after noon local time on Sunday as the second round of the year. On the dusty club circuit, Rinus VeeKay was allowed to start in the middle of the highly competitive IndyCar pack, as the Dutchman from Dale Coyne Racing had produced a respectable 13th place in Saturday’s qualifying.
This P13 in qualifying was a boost for Coyne and VeeKay after the free practice sessions had produced a similar picture to the season opener in St. Petersburg. Three weeks ago in Florida, VeeKay and his new employers found themselves on the back foot on Friday and it was no different in California. As in St Pete, VeeKay and his askROI.com crew in the #18 car managed to turn the tide before qualifying with a set-up change that saw them only just miss out on the Fast Twelve.
Due to the nature of the track, VeeKay knew that the Firestone tyres would play a major role on Sunday, and they did, albeit in a negative way for VeeKay. A second consecutive top-ten finish was in the offing after a fine ninth place in his Coyne debut three weeks ago. However, soon after the second pit stop the #18 askROI.com Dale Coyne Racing Honda was a shadow of the nippy IndyCar it had been in the first two stints.
VeeKay fought his way to the front in the early stages, turning his 13th position on the grid to eighth on the road and showing a strong pace. After the second pit stop, however, the Coyne driver was losing three, four, five – sometimes even seven – seconds per lap. It turned out that the Dutchman had wanted a new set of primes, or hard rubber. However, the team opted for the worn reds, which turned out to be well past their lifecycle. This tactical error robbed Coyne of another top result.
As the top ten disappeared on the horizon, the entire midfield slipped past as well, and VeeKay was forced to fight back from 24th position. After this tough but short (only 12 laps) stint, he changed to fresh red tyres. From then on, the blue and white car was noticeably quicker – up to two full seconds a lap faster than the leaders. With a rock-solid final stint, in which VeeKay even had to save fuel by running a longer final stint than originally planned, the Dutchman worked his way past seven rivals to turn a hopeless 24th place into 17th.
“A difficult race,” VeeKay said from California. “We were heading for a top-ten finish, I felt very strong in the first two stints. However, I have my doubts about the third stint – I indicated that I preferred new blacks, but my team management saw some of my rivals going out on used reds, so we did the same.”
“I don’t know what went wrong, but from the moment I left the pits I had no grip, absolutely zero. It was like doing a full stint on cold tyres! I have seen tyres fall off before and then you have to do one or two laps, but in this case it was a full stint, 12 laps. We have to look for an explanation because this shouldn’t happen. I lost a lot of time in that stint.”
“With new red tyres and some big fuel-saving because I returned to the pits earlier than planned, we limited the damage with P17. With the points from St Pete I am now 13th in the championship. It is what it is, we will learn from today and take the positives to the next race. Focus on Long Beach and pedal to the metal,” VeeKay concluded.
The 2025 NTT IndyCar Series continues on the streets of Long Beach where the third race of the season will be held on Sunday 13th April. The Acura Grand Prix of Long Beach will get underway at approximately 21:30 Dutch time.