I thought it was a great race today. Lots of wheel to wheel racing, without any serious contact. SB drove a Lotus in to the top 10, and Will Power comes from 9th for the win.
I'm fascinated by Dario Franchitti's problems with the new car. If anyone sees an analysis of why his style doesn't mesh with it, please post it. I'd love to understand what's going on. (FWIW the commentators said it's not which foot he brakes with, IIRC.) That was a satisfying meal of a race. Whatever the combination -- tires, fuel, aero or engines -- they have a formula that allows for passing. Hurrah! Great drive by Bourdais. I kept wondering if his Lotus engine would blow-up. Not often you cheer for a 9th place finish. But Lotus is such an underdog it's good to see it have a wee bit of success. They sure seem to have trouble changing the rear tires. Two consecutive problems with the right rear nut cost Dixon the race. And he wasn't the only one with troublesome pit stops. Good race.
it was a pretty good race. the added uncertainty of mechanical failure is contributing a bit as well. i was hoping tk would have some positive result, but rb held up well. things are looking up.
thank god yer here. maybe you could go hang out at crapwagon.com and reminisce about those fabulous champ car days.
Good crowd. And that's with little or no marketing in Atlanta, a short drive away. I'd say this year's Barber race is one of IndyCar's success stories. Great race, well-appreciated.
I watched some of the race yesterday, mostly 'cause it was at Barber (fantastic track), and there was some good racing, like Marco rubbing and making some aggressive passes. I do think these new cars are UGLY! And I thought it's interesting that now Lotus is an engine manufacturer; they've always been a chassis builder first and engine builder 2nd. Is this the first time a lotus engine went in a chassis other than a Lotus? Hopefully we'll see some Ford powered cars in the future.
Yeah, I'm not a fan of the rear wheel shroud, although for some reason it looked better at Barber than St. Pete. Maybe I'm just getting used to it. Nice to see that the car is sturdy. Speaking of which, someone waved a magic wand over these drivers and made them stop wrecking each other. St. Pete was amazingly clean. Long Beach will really tell the story. But I can't remember seeing one driver spin out another in either race. Not even Helio.
The cars are growing on me. There's a really bad front 3/4 angle that makes them look really out of balance but there's also some very good lines when viewed from other angles. I hope Barber wasn't a fluke because that was a genuinely fun race.
I'm not a huge fan of the new car's look either, but these are beauty queens compared to F1 these days. - Mark
So all the Chevy teams are being told to change engines and take a 10 spot grid penalty. Meanwhile Lotus struggled to bring just one extra engine to the track this weekend. It really puts Bourdais' achievement into perspective. I think Chevy said the engine management system was off. I wonder if that means the engines were pushed too hard in the first two races? If so, will Chevy's edge now go away?
Snafu with the Honda turbos as well. Here's hoping the race will be good in spite of all the other issues surrounding the event (and series). I wouldn't mind seeing Marco Andretti take a win at Long Beach, for old times sake. Doubtful, though.
Interesting issue. This is the kind of wrinkle that makes having multiple engine suppliers interesting. I hope the race is more like Barber than St. Pete, tho the odds are against it, being a street course. Usually the bodywork is spread all over the track here. Let's see if the drivers can maintain the admirable discipline they've shown so far this season.
yeah, i'd rather see "flip up" style body work than that large tunnel, but i think the tunnel is less drag. the wheel guard in the back isn't entirely attractive either, but it does have that prototype vibe from alms. i think the shortage of parts is helping to keep everyone somewhat calm. once the supply chain fills up it will probably return to the "festival of carbon fibre."
Yeah, you're probably right. Same with NASCAR drivers. They've proven they can race without wrecking when they need to. When they wreck, it's by choice. One Honda in the top 6 qualifiers. I think maybe IndyCar will let them switch to that mini-twin turbo dealie.
well, i guess i wasn't suggesting it was choice, but a certain level of aggression or restraint, depending upon the circumstances. they do seem to be doing an excellent job keeping the red mist in check. for now. the new nbcsports coverage really cuts quite a bit out of the qualifying rounds. three minutes here, three minutes there...
I'm just thinking out loud. The must be some reason Honda went the single route, while Lotus and the bow tie went with two.
