“You’re going to see more unpredictability,” Franchitti told reporters after IndyCar officials, waiting hours for the rain to let up at the City Center Airport track, called off practice at 3 p.m. local time.
The pools of water put the open-wheel cars at risk of hydroplaning.
The rain was forecast to run its course late Friday night, with clouds on Saturday but sunny and hot for the race on Sunday afternoon.
The 26 IndyCar drivers will practice once Sunday morning, once in the afternoon then run qualifying late in the day.
It will be a bigger test for the drivers in the Indy Lights development series. They will practice and qualify in the morning, then run the first of two races in the afternoon.
Canadian driver Paul Tracy said the wild card is the track, which is new to the IndyCar series this year.
The track underwent a complete change after the closure of a runway forced organizers to scramble. The race was in fact briefly canceled at one point in a dispute between the city and the event organizer, Montreal-based Octane Racing, over who would pay for it.
The drivers will now run counter clockwise on the track.
“It’s a perfect storm for a disaster,” said Tracy, referring to the weather.
“It doesn’t make it easy when the drivers don’t know the track condition, and the circuit hasn’t had a good chance to rubber in and create a line,” he said.
“The good thing about the rain is hopefully it has washed a lot of the debris and the dust from (the construction of) the track.”
Franchitti said the wet conditions help the smaller teams that only get track data off one car versus big teams such as Franchitti’s Target Chip Ganassi, which pools telemetry among four cars.
That telemetry can dictate how to set up the wings, the camber, the springs and shocks on the cars to balance downforce versus drag and find that extra tenth of a second per lap critical to victory.
“If the track is dry for practice, it gives teams the chance to develop the car and make (setup) changes,” Franchitti said.
“If it’s not dry and qualifying is the first time we see a dry track, you’re going to see the times tumble lap to lap as drivers figure (things) out and come in the pits make changes.”
Preparation or no preparation, the race is still considered Franchitti’s to lose. The 38 year-old Scotsman is going for his third consecutive points championship and the fourth of his IndyCar career.
He won two weeks ago in Toronto and has captured four of the 10 events this season.
Australian Will Power, with Team Penske, is second, 55 points back.
New Zealand’s Scott Dixon, Franchitti’s teammate, is third, 83 points off the pace in what has essentially become a three-driver contest.
Alex Tagliani of Canada, is tied for 10th, 180 points back.
Tracy is driving part time again this year, and is 29th.
Rookie James Hinchcliffe, also from Canada, is 15th, but just 35 points behind J.R. Hildebrand in the race for top rookie.
Hinchcliffe, with Newman/Haas, said the race will go to those who can adapt the quickest.
“That’s part of the excitement, seeing who’s going to maximize that, who’s going to deal with this under very challenging circumstances,” Hinchcliffe said.
“We’re supposed to be the fastest, most versatile drivers in the world.
“If that means qualifying in the wet on Saturday and racing in the dry on Sunday, it’s the same boat for everyone — no pun intended.”
