CALLUM ILOTT, No. 6 Arrow McLaren Chevrolet, met with the media on Indianapolis 500 Media Day at Indianapolis Motor Speedway. Press Conference Transcript:
THE MODERATOR: Good afternoon. We’ll begin our afternoon sessions here for media day news conferences 2024 with Row 5 for Sunday’s 108th running of the Indianapolis 500 presented by Gainbridge. Starting 15th, making his third Indy 500 start, driving the No. 6 Arrow McLaren Chevrolet, is Callum Ilott there on the far right.
Callum, starting number three. What have you learned in the first couple starts that you’re now applying to this start?
CALLUM ILOTT: Little patience. First year was a good couple of weeks, but ended a bit on the wrong side and a big learning curve when you hit the wall here. Second year was tough from the get-go and managed to finish strongly, so the opposite of the first year. Then yeah, this year has been very, very promising. We’ve had a lot of speed. It was a shame we didn’t get a bit more out of qualifying, but yeah, it’s been a lovely couple of weeks back in the States.
Q. Callum, we don’t necessarily know what the plan is for you in INDYCAR after this start, so how do you approach this?
CALLUM ILOTT: Same as every other race, one step at a time. Yeah, there is no plan after this. So this could be my last event for a while or ever. Yeah, I’m just here to have fun and do the best job I can, and like every driver, win.
Q. What’s the overall experience been to this point? Do you feel like this is a true opportunity for you to showcase what you’re fully capable of?
CALLUM ILOTT: Yeah, no, of course. It’s been great. Arrow McLaren have been awesome and it’s the team I’ve been working with earlier in the year, as well, so it’s been super familiar.
Of course like anything, you have to work hard to improve and get the most out of it. Like I said, we struggled a little bit in qualifying, more than I expected, but the race car is very good, and we’ve been working hard to improve that, and Monday it felt great. Hopefully we can continue that tomorrow and on Sunday.
Q. This could be for any of the three to answer this, but does it feel like there’s a real prohibitive favorite this year heading into the race? People have been fast at different times. Obviously I know the Penske cars were super fast in qualifying. Do you feel like this is a little bit more wide open of a race this year maybe than in the past?
CALLUM ILOTT: There’s a couple really strong cars, but I have to say the number of cars that look impressive this year seems higher than the last two years that I’ve done it, as well. It does look like a very competitive field, and like the others have said, anything can happen. Yeah, I think there’s a lot of guys who are expecting to do well.
Q. For Callum, is there a sense of urgency knowing nothing is promised for you past this? How do you keep that in mind and keep everything in focus?
CALLUM ILOTT: Yeah, there’s no sense of urgency. Like, of course the race is super long, and there’s a lot of strategy to that. I think the people who try to push too early on make some crucial mistakes.
So no, I’m well aware of what is needed in this race to move forward, and I’ve got a very good team around me to help that. So yeah, I’m as relaxed as ever. I’m probably even in a better space of mind than I have been before.
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