Champ Car/Indy/F1 running thread II (Montreal, Turkey, IRL to RACE Daytona?!?)

Re: Champ Car/Indy/F1 running thread II (dateline Budapest)

Exactly - it's almost always the worst race of the year. It's an awful track. This one was remarkably entertaining.

 

Re: Champ Car/Indy/F1 running thread II (dateline Budapest)

Schumi just can't help himself, his sense of entitlement is incredible. I have to believe that Ross Brawn was on the radio telling him to cool it, that 6 points is better than none. I hope he loses the title by 5 points or less.

I loved PDLR's comments to his crew on the radio during the in lap. "Take it easy guys, I knew what I was doing."

I hope this race puts to bed some of the bullsh*t about how cars are unable to pass in modern F1. Not the case, it's that drivers/teams are unwilling to take any chances on the track.

 

Re: Champ Car/Indy/F1 running thread II (dateline Budapest)

That's simply not true. Hungary was the result of the weather and tire situation. The aerodynamics of the cars make it extremely difficult to maintain speed when a car in front is disrupting the airflow, so passing becomes much more difficult. That's why the FIA was kicking around the idea of mandating a split rear wing. It would have cleaned up the air behind the car and made passing much easier. It also would have eliminated a key advertising spot on the car, so it isn't going to happen.

All Hungary showed us is that you can pass in F1 -- if you're about 3 or 4 seconds a lap faster than the guy you're trying to pass.

 

Re: Champ Car/Indy/F1 running thread II (dateline Budapest)

And a Hungary addendum...

JV is now officially out at BMW. Robert Kubica takes over the seat. Canada mourns.

 

Re: Champ Car/Indy/F1 running thread II (dateline Budapest)

Jacques to NASCAR! It was a rumor making the rounds this weekend at Indy.

JPM and Jacques in NASCAR? Let the preening begin! Though I hate to admit it, but me being so antithetical to NASCAR's fan base, I'll root for them just to spite the Dale Jr./Git-R-Done crowd.

I hate the fact that Dale Jr. is the hillbillies' choice, he seems like a good guy. Why can't they all adopt fucktard Stewart?

 

Re: Champ Car/Indy/F1 running thread II (dateline Budapest)

I'd root like hell for Jacques in NASCAR, but I really have a hard time seeing that. I'm guessing he retires. It's not like he needs the money. If he just wants to keep racing I would think something like ALMS would be a better fit.

I'm probably seriously underestimating the money thing.

 

Re: Champ Car/Indy/F1 running thread II (dateline Budapest)

PC - there was lots of passing going on, not just between cars with 3 or 4 second differentials in lap times. Yes it is easier to pass when conditions separate the cars more, but at least today we saw guys taking some risks and trying things that are usually not done. PDLR and Heidfeld going around Schumi as an example. Usually a car in third wouldn't take a chance on throwing it all away, so they just follow behind. It's not easy, but passing can be done if the driver wants to take a chance.

F1 is too focused on playing it safe. I remember Ralf following Michael for 20+ laps at Brazil a few years ago without ever even showing the nose. Could he have pulled it off, maybe, but Williams wanted to play it safe and collect the second place points.

Every race we hear that there is only 1 good overtaking spot on a track, yet once in a while someone has the guts to try where the conventional wisdom says it's impossible. JPM going around Michael at the bus stop chicane at Spa is an example. No one thought a pass could happen there, so no one tried, until JPM pulled it off. A few laps later someone else tried it at the same spot. They failed, but they took a shot.

F1 is plagued by teams wanting to collect some points and pass only in the pits, not by taking risks on the track.

 

Re: Champ Car/Indy/F1 running thread II (dateline Budapest)

There was a story in Sunday's Toronto Sun quoting a number of NASCAR teams as saying they have no interest in Villeneuve. Just a smokescreen maybe?

 

Re: Champ Car/Indy/F1 running thread II (dateline Budapest)

Probably, but a fascinating smokescreen to ponder.

 

Re: Champ Car/Indy/F1 running thread II (dateline Budapest)

Yeah, but again, those passes were happening because the weather situation was causing huge differences in tire performance. De La Rosa was being held up horribly by Schumacher before he got around him. When Michael pitted a few laps later his tires looked like the surface of the moon.

As for JPM at the bus stop in 2004... much as I loved that pass, it was a borderline foolish move -- and it was JPM who tried it again a few laps later. He knocked Trulli into a spin and was investigated for reckless driving. (It's not a bad passing spot - you just can't do it on the outside. It's astounding he pulled off the first pass without a crash.)

The problem is a simple one - when so much of your performance is based on aerodynamic downforce, you lose speed when the airflow over the car is disrupted. You can pass someone if your car is suddenly slower once you get close to him. To create more passing they need to either reduce that downforce or find a way for the airflow to be less disrupted. The FIA was working on that, but it's not easy to do.

Either that, or they could hose the track down for two hours before the start of each race. It would certainly up the entertainment factor.

 

Re: Champ Car/Indy/F1 running thread II (dateline Budapest)

IRL Kentucky ... the chick fight Kentucky Speedway (and the IRL) have been touting will be rather intriguing, given Danica Patrick will start on the same row as Sarah Fisher. Both are back in the field -- 11th and 12th. A good run for either would be *big* for the IRL.

Penske in the front row (Castroneves-Hornish). Kanaan in-between the Ganassi cars in positions 3-5. Should be an interesting start with the top four in points right next to each other, with a bull-in-a-china-shop stuck in-between.
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Meanwhile, in Denver, da Matta's team has chosen not to put a replacement driver in his car, so just 16 cars will roll off the line in the CCWS race.

In the bad planning department, both the IRL and CCWS races are going to be opposite each other again this week, both starting at 3:30 p.m. EDT.

 

Re: Champ Car/Indy/F1 running thread II (dateline Budapest)

Hate to pander to this sexist doofus notion, but the best thing that could happen to the IRL would be if Danica and Sarah Fisher wrecked each other, which is entirely possible given Fisher's acumen, triggering a feud between the two.

And a feud wouldn't be hard to trigger -- remember a few years back when the emerging Patrick slammed the then-IRL regular Fisher, I think it was in a FHM interview?

I imagine an auto racing cat fight would get good ratings and would simultaneously demonstrate how far domestic open-wheel racing has fallen.