All-purpose open-wheel (F1, IRL) racing thread

The whole thing with Red Bull is what I don't like about F1. I've never had a problem with giving up positions from second on back, but but any racer who doesn't go for the win isn't really a racer. The only team order should be not to crash one another (of which Vettel is guilty in the past). That said, I don't like Vettel, and anything he gets out of this he deserves.

 

Meh.

http://www.deadline.com/2013/04/rush-trailer-ron-howard-chris-hemsworth-formula-one-movie/#comments

 

That's the season I went to my first race and fell in love with F1.

I am shitting my pants with glee over this movie. Just seeing the old cars for 90 minutes will be enough for me.

 

Alonso sure bounced back well last weekend. And it looks like others have caught up to Red Bull. Lotus, Ferrari and Mercedes have all looked strong so far.
I feel for Mark Webber. He had the type of weekend Vettel deserved to have.

Here's my rant for the night. I'm glad NBC Sports now has F1, because I finally have access again to watching F1. And they replay the race twice. My only issue is the broadcast times. Race started so late Saturday night I wasn't staying up for it; even if I had DVR, I wouldn't have had time anyway on Sunday to watch it plus I'm out of town for work during the week. Caught the very end of the rebroadcast Sunday when I got home from church. I figured I could catch at least some early parts of the race during the third showing Sunday starting at 10 p.m.
But the third showing was the complete broadcast, including all the preview stuff. Why couldn't NBC Sports just show the race part, bypassing the 30 minute set-up? I remember back in the day ESPN did that with NASCAR races. Shortly after the live race was over, Bob Jenkins would stick around to record the "Welcome back to XX Speedway in XX. We now move ahead in the broadcast" and a shorter version of the race would air that night.

 

Takuma Sato with an historic win today at Long Beach. Nice to finally see A.J. Foyt back in the winner's circle.

 

I was really happy to see him get the win. I've been rooting for Sato going back to his F1 days. He drove a terrific race.

On a side note... there's quite a collection of genuinely crappy drivers in IndyCar these days. Someone needs to remind them you don't need to make up 5 places in the first turn on every restart.

 

Sato in a Honda winning for Foyt. Who woulda figured on that combination? Though someone needs to call the Irony Police on Bruce Martin.
It amazed me how many IndyCar drivers had front end damage yesterday. I think it was eight cars? That's nearly one-third the field. Just imagine those guys (and gal) trying to negotiate a truly tight circuit, say Monaco.
I'm glad no one was hurt, but that Vautier-Power incident was pretty funny. Vautier's LF tire changer somehow didn't see Power coming in and told his driver to go just as Power was pulling in. Then he turned around, saw the accident he caused and threw his hands on his head with a "Did I really just do something THAT stupid?" look. Hilarious.
As for F1, NBC Sports must have read my rant because I got to watch the race at a decent time last night. Perez might be a marked man after that race, but there was some great action, capped by the late Hamilton-Webber duel.

 

F1 might be coming back to Long Beach, Bernie is talking to the organizers about taking over after IndyCar's contract expires.

http://en.espnf1.com/f1/motorsport/story/106898.html

 

My aunt had a business on the 6th floor of the Ocean Center Building. In the original layout -- the one that included the climb up to Ocean, with the start/finish line and pit straight -- her office was on the outside of the turn, in the perfect spot to watch them climb the hill beneath us and turn onto the straight. The first race I ever saw was the very first Long Beach Grand Prix, hanging out of her window.

I'd love to see F1 return, although the current layout is boring as hell. I assume they'd alter it to make it longer somehow. The only feature they'd need to worry about keeping is the run around the fountain.

I can't imagine IndyCar would give it up without a fight. It's one of the only races in the series that still draws a crowd.

 

I don't see them abandoning the Texas track any time soon, so are we going to have two USGPs? I don't know that the market is there. Of course, technically there can't be two "Any Country" GPs. There would have to be a USGP and a North American GP or something.

 

The hope is for three. There's a street race in the works in New Jersey, overlooking Manhattan. It was supposed to be this summer, but has been pushed off to 2014.

They had two in the 70s and 80s, and even had 3 one year. I don't think support would be a problem. There are more than enough fans, particularly with events like Long Beach that can bring in casual fans.

Ideally Bernie wants to dramatically raise the profile in the Americas, with potentially 3 races in the US, and one each in Canada, Mexico, Brazil and Argentina. It's ambitious, but not entirely out of the realm of possibility.

 

I'd pay $250 for even just a decent seat for an F1 race in Long Beach; can't say I'd pay that much to sit and watch any other event, period.