LEXINGTON, Ohio – Not necessarily nostalgic, Luca Filippi’s thoughts nonetheless drifted to August 2013 as he turned on Steam Corners Road and neared Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course.
“Two years is a short time but still a little while and things change,” said Filippi, whose first Verizon IndyCar Series start came on the 2.258-mile, 13-turn road course in a Bryan Herta Autosport-prepared car.
“My first memory is it was all new to me and I was somewhat a little scared because you want to deliver a good result but everything is new. You have a lot to learn. I made a mistake that was crucial, but I was competitive (gained eight positions relative to his starting spot to finish 16th). This is where it all started and having raced here I feel we have a big opportunity.”
Filippi, who will make his ninth start of the season in the No. 20 Fuzzy’s Vodka Chevrolet for CFH Racing, is coming off an Indy car-best second-place finish at Toronto in mid-June. He competes on road/street circuits, while team co-owner Ed Carpenter drives the No. 20 entry on ovals.
“It’s been a few weeks that I’m waiting, watching the oval races and cheering for the team and thinking about this race because it’s important to me personally,” Filippi said. “It feels great to come back to the same place and I have the knowledge and the mileage and now the results to fight for a good result this weekend.”
Mid-Ohio and Toronto are the only circuits on the 2015 calendar that are familiar to Filippi, who competed in four races with BHA in 2013 and four races with Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing in 2014.
“It makes a massive difference, as Toronto can show,” added Filippi, who turns 30 on Aug. 9 and became a first-time father a few weeks ago. “This series is so competitive, you have to be right there from the beginning of the first session because it’s difficult to make up the ground if you are behind. You improve, but everybody else is.
“It feels great to come back to the same place and I have the knowledge and the mileage and now the results to fight for a good result this weekend. I have the confidence behind the wheel with a team I know now very well and we’re getting better and better every race.”