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

You have to wonder if Franchitti will get back in a car after a crash like that.

 

Yeah, if I'm Franchitti I'm thinking that LeMans is looking pretty good right now. Obviously it has its own dangers, but if I were in his shoes, open wheel racing in an increasingly rinky-dink just wouldn't be worth it.

 

That fan video is nuts.... talk about sitting at ground zero. I agree with the sentiment that if I'm Franchitti, I take it to the house. He's got Indys, championships, nothing left to prove. His hot old lady has apparently bailed, but I'm sure he can find another.

 

Didn't Dario leave IndyCar in 2007 in part because of safety concerns? The way he's struggled the last two years (especially compared to how successful he had been in the past), which corresponds with Wheldon's passing, I wonder if he's already had one foot out the door for a while now.

 

Absolutely. Cars were going, what, 180 at that point? Disaster waiting to happen. Thank God it sounds like no serious injuries.
Chip Ganassi was having a great weekend: announces TK is joining the team, Dixon takes a commanding points lead thanks to Helio's awful weekend...and then Sunday's last lap. Kinda changes everything.

 

Just saw "Rush" this afternoon.

I may have mentioned this before, but the first F1 race I ever attended was in 1976 and I became instantly obsessive. Seeing that season recreated was very cool.

I liked the movie. The on-track scenes were terrific. Hunt came off a little one-dimensional, I thought, and Lord Hesketh seemed to be portrayed as Liberace. Daniel Bruhl was dead-on as Lauda.

They did a terrific job of recreating the tracks and the era, though the rolling hills of Monza were a bit much. One other small historical issue: the movie has Hunt winning the British Grand Prix, but in reality he was disqualified and the win went to Lauda.

 

I've been pondering this all week. Part of me feels he will look at Dan's fatal crash, realize he's survived a couple of nasty wrecks of his own (especially Sunday) and not want to push his luck anymore.
On the other hand, he absolutely loves the Indy 500 and has been so good there since 2007. He is one win away from being the first foreign-born four-time winner. Even when he stunk (by his high standards) most of last year, he still won Indy. Would he be willing to step out when he's that close to history? It would be one thing if he had "only" won Indy once or even twice, but he's won the race three of the last six times he's competed in it.

 

Well, I guess Dario won't be coming back after all. Bummer it had to end this way, if this is indeed the end. It will always leave the question open as to whether he would have become the first foreign-born four-time Indy 500 winner, or maybe even the first five-time winner.
http://sports.yahoo.com/news/doctors-tell-franchitti-no-longer-200533833--irl.html

 

Sad news -- although given the nature of that accident, if he can live a normal life from here on out he's lucky.

 

Good piece by Emmo on a fellow Brazilian legend:
http://www.mclaren.com/formula1/blog/emerson-fittipaldi/emerson-fittipaldi-ayrton-senna-from-the-heart/

Part of me has wondered for years what it would have been like if Senna had come to the U.S. to run for Penske in CART as Fittipaldi's teammate. Don't know if it would have been too much of a step down for Senna or what, but could you imagine Senna vs. Mansell for CART rookie of the year and overall championship?
The downside to that is Senna wouldn't have turned in perhaps his finest piece of driving, the amazing 1993 Donington race Emmo referenced. The upside is Senna may have not been at Imola in 1994.

 

Double points will be awarded for the F1 season finale starting next year.

http://www.autosport.com/news/report.php/id/111795

 

Hate the double points thing. Terrible move. I suspect they may rethink that.

I like the other changes -- permanent driver numbers and a budget cap. Now, if they make the numbers visible on the car it would be even better.