|
Alain Post posted:F1 is a good example, the laptimes from first-to-last are probably closer than they've ever been and the last two seasons have been some of the most comprehensively dominant in history. Instead of throwing money at macro problems (new engine parts/much bigger and more visible aero pieces) now F1 teams are going further down narrower and narrower alleys where they're essentially sharpening a razor blade instead of finding something new. The WEC is a better case right now for the LMPs, but that's more in power train than its in aero - but it produced a very well-done series, where the team with the smallest budget won the most races and both championships. [Edit] to say it again - the genie can't go back in the bottle, and we can't go back to the 1960s again. That world is gone. It takes too much to get a car running and competitive, never mind designing one from the ground up. I'm personally most in favor of Will Power's suggestions, partially because they are so moderated and measured - IndyCar is producing good racing, it just has a business and marketing problem. Maybe the tire suggestion would be good to improve the show, or the chassis too, but he's right that it's so much about promotion right now. harperdc fucked around with this message at 10:13 on Jan 13, 2015 |
#
¿
Jan 13, 2015 10:10
|
|
|
|
| # ¿ Apr 26, 2024 23:58 |
|
|
In other news, there's another article about Chip Ganassi's private tunnel in Pennsylvania, which is a good tale about it and worth it for Darren Manning talking about the experience of being in there.
|
|
#
¿
Jan 16, 2015 00:14
|
|
|
We were all pretty hyped up for the idea of the final race. But then, it turned out the way it did.
|
|
#
¿
Jan 18, 2015 05:58
|
|
|
Fauxhawk Express posted:But really, speculation about sprint car guys who could make it in Indycars when ICS' top feeder series can barely field 10 cars on a regular basis is really loving funny. They're gonna creep into the teens close to 20 cars this year once more chassis are out there. A good, positive change to the Lights car might wind up being a major moment we look back on in five or ten years' time.
|
|
#
¿
Jan 20, 2015 04:10
|
|
|
Dudley posted:I think they looked at it in the intake that eventually gave us Good Lotus, The Karun and Bruno show and From Russia with Love but decided that would be suicide. It was originally Wirth's Magical Computer Team brought to you by Richard Branson, but yeah. I'd imagine Indy is a slightly better option, but the real beneficiary are sports cars.
|
|
#
¿
Jan 23, 2015 09:54
|
|
|
The ABC deal literally won't allow for NBC to put other races on network TV. I love the tradition of the 500 but if that has to be on NBC in order to get more enthusiasm for the product as a whole then by all means make that move. ABC doesn't do enough to build the 500 to justify it at this point. I think the cultural shift is the important thing. Fewer people care about cars, fewer people care about sporty cars, so fewer people care about racing. And in our world now it's hard to see that passion returning en masse.
|
|
#
¿
Jan 27, 2015 00:09
|
|
|
IndyCar 2015: Pray for Power
|
|
#
¿
Jan 29, 2015 00:00
|
|
|
Interlagos is undergoing renovations, namely to the pit lane, which is why the WEC isn't going to Brazil this year but Germany instead. Work started right after the WEC finale last November. It's all so odd, I wonder if the final touches on the track just weren't done. Selling well, it's money out of pocket to the promoters, why else would they have backed out? Strange.
|
|
#
¿
Jan 30, 2015 11:04
|
|
|
The twists and turns are just keeping poo poo interesting, all the while secretly things might go kaboom at any minute. [edit] but if you don't have any financial stake in things, who cares if it goes kaboom? American sports cars have proven that on basically a ten-year cycle. Death, rebirth. The circle is unbroken, etc.
|
|
#
¿
Jan 31, 2015 06:29
|
|
|
Cygni posted:He made, and still makes, the error of thinking that the hardcore grizzled old fanbase has any idea whats best for a sport. And god save you if you make any sort of business or financial move based on fan opinions. Might be due to TV contract requirements or things like that. Possibly sponsors are going to be upset they're only at X-1 number of races now too. And considering how loving short the season is, shortening it further - though hardly by choice - isn't a great outcome. IndyCar has to at least look like it's trying at the moment.
|
|
#
¿
Feb 3, 2015 01:42
|
|
|
FuzzySkinner posted:I'm always left wondering if Scott Speed and AJ Allmendinger would have been any good had they just stuck it out in AOWR. I still believe 'Dinger could have been a RHR-like talent, and likely would have contended for a 500 or a Series title by now. It all depends. What team do they go to, what sponsors do they attract, how do certain bounces in certain races go? Who knows how different Marco would be if he'd pulled off that win. His father is held in extremely high esteem but would it be even higher had he pulled out a 500 win? Yeah it'd be nice to have an Unser on the grid, but we have a Rahal and an Andretti and both get massive amounts of stick for not being too great. If Al III was stuck at the tail of a field it'd be the same.
|
|
#
¿
Feb 10, 2015 00:27
|
|
|
Cygni posted:
Unironically love this though.
|
|
#
¿
Feb 11, 2015 11:05
|
|
|
Walt Disney Speedway has the world's worst roval, holy gently caress look at that infield section. Jimmy Vasser loving owns too. Wow.
|
|
#
¿
Feb 13, 2015 00:17
|
|
|
Spaced God posted:This is going to be my second full season, so I haven't had enough time to "know" him. I do remember watching the 500's when I was younger and rooting for Helio though. Dan Wheldon was meant to have the GoDaddy-backed Andretti Autosport ride that then went to Hinch after Wheldon was killed at Vegas 2011. Guess that's what the reference is to. [Edit] behind and beaten like King Hiro
|
|
#
¿
Feb 19, 2015 09:32
|
|
|
gret posted:Loved Emerson Fittipaldi drinking orange juice instead. I remember that and loved how big an Eff You it was. All because he had business with orange groves in Brazil...
|
|
#
¿
Mar 7, 2015 06:18
|
|
|
I think that's the mistake - they didn't launch them together. Instead, Chevy gets met with questioning looks and Honda comes in and looks better. Should've been a joint thing, because the whole point is how different they are.
|
|
#
¿
Mar 10, 2015 05:07
|
|
|
Long nose and set-back side pods make it look a lil goofy sometimes, but from most angles it still looks good. Can't be any worse than the old Dallara!
|
|
#
¿
Mar 12, 2015 01:50
|
|
|
Theris posted:But it sounded great! Really stuck out in a pack of 2.65Ls (zooooom zooooooom zoooooom BRRRRRRRRRRRRT zoooooom) I laughed way too hard at this. that's kinda how sports car racing is too - I remember back in 2006 or 2007, when the diesel Audis first hit, the ALMS race was hilarious (swish swish zoom zoom zoom zoom here come the GTs BRRRRRRRRRRT WHEEEEEEEEEEEE). Gotta love it.
|
|
#
¿
Mar 19, 2015 03:04
|
|
|
Norns posted:You totally made all those noises with your mouth when posting. Cuz I know I did when reading it. and for the record, I was thinking of earlier Corvettes and the Prodrive V12 Aston Martins being in that GT battle.
|
|
#
¿
Mar 19, 2015 03:44
|
|
|
IceAgeComing posted:e: there was also Bettenhausen in the 95 500; who were using 94 Penske-Ilmors and had very similar issues to the Penske team. They rented a Reynard from someone and Stefan Johasson went out late on Bump Day and managed to qualify, bumping out Emerson Fittipaldi with less than ten minutes to go. You can find all of the qualifying from the 1995 Indy 500 on youtube; its quite interesting to see them move from "Penske aren't that confident so they'll qualify in the second weekend!" to "Both Penske drivers have failed to qualify for the Indianapolis 500..." For a few years, Bettenhausen's team used the year-old Penske chassis. If memory serves they were basically a one-car operation, so plenty of spares still around. But yeah I remember 1995 clear as a bell, it was such a shock that the mighty Penske team couldn't even get in to the race. The Forex article about the 94 car touches on that, as mentioned the power of the engines masked some of the handling and aero issues that they'd found. Pretty spectacular all around.
|
|
#
¿
Mar 19, 2015 07:46
|
|
|
go3 posted:The highest trap speeds ever recorded were from the PC23, even easily outpacing Arie's 1996 run. That the PC23's best lap is still 9mph slower than the 1996 record should tell you how lovely the handling was. Between the higher CoG and torque it had some massive understeer issues that they never got hammered out and plagued their Indy package into 1995. One of the articles or long pieces talks about that, how they'd taken the 1992 (?) chassis and continued to evolve and improve the basic idea buuuuut there were some handling problems with the route they went down. Besides the under steer I remember something about it being a really finicky design by 1996-97, hence their slide back into the pack. Great at short ovals and okay on speedways, but trouble elsewhere.
|
|
#
¿
Mar 19, 2015 16:52
|
|
|
Cygni posted:Yeah. Before his bad wreck in testing, he was actually a really good shoe. Super nice dude, too. Local Portland legend too. I don't have any memories of IMSA GTP Lights that wasn't him out front in the white Acura-Spice. I was 9 for the 1995 500 so I remember all that nonsense so clearly. Yikes. [Edit] pretty sure I've seen that 96 Reynard at historic races around Portland, pretty sure Johnstone owns a couple Honda dealers and has that car on display at one of them. harperdc fucked around with this message at 01:25 on Mar 20, 2015 |
|
#
¿
Mar 20, 2015 01:23
|
|
|
VAG has too much else happening to get involved in the U.S., and they probably don't see VW as the right brand for it. I'm not sure what other brand they have would fit. I think Hyundai should join American motorsport but considering that's circling the drain very slowly as is, that might not be the wisest decision (they've thrown their hat in the WRC ring, but to not great success as of yet I don't think since VW is the one with the Sebastian at the moment). I think Dodge or Alfa would be a good choice from Fiat-Chrysler, and the dark horse going unmentioned was Mazda. It'd be a perfect capstone to their Road to Indy, and with the upheaval in P2 (and their biodiesel being banned soon because the ACO doesn't want diesels in that division) they may want to move their eggs into that basket. Nissan coming in would be nice too but I can see how they wouldn't want to. and yeah seriously I know that's the rankings of the manufacturers by size but there are some biiiiiiiiiiig gaps in there.
|
|
#
¿
Mar 21, 2015 16:23
|
|
|
drgitlin posted:Toyota won the WEC last year spending less than half of what Audi and Porsche each spent. They are not going to spend cubic dollars on Indycar. Because it's an engineering activity and not pure marketing. So they've gotten creative with their design choices (re-purposing the Super GT V8s, partnering for the chassis). But that was still a big chunk of money. (I kind of wonder how much Nissan is spending now too...). Porsche is being moved into WEC, I don't see them moving back into American open wheel. I could see Nissan staying in sports cars thanks to the success of GT Academy...or expanding it to the open wheel ladder. I still think Cosworth will make a Mazda engine soon. I would love to see Hyundai jump in too, but that would probably require more tech and a TRD style racing arm in America.
|
|
#
¿
Mar 22, 2015 07:00
|
|
|
Honda also has its biggest presence in the United States. It's a somewhat distant third in Japan behind Toyota and Nissan - though the Fit has been the top seller in recent years and it's not like they're anonymous, it's just that they're Dodge in Japan. And since they moved quickly to America, they have created a lot more goodwill there than the other two. So catering to the American market makes a lot of sense. I wish Ford would pull their head out. And I wish Hyundai would build some motorsports cred.
|
|
#
¿
Mar 22, 2015 11:36
|
|
|
I have an old BMW that is being cared for by my parents back in the States. When I was in the boonies in Japan I had first a Daihatsu kei car and then a Subaru Legacy B4, which was awesome and I dearly miss. Now I'm in Tokyo so lol no way to afford a car here.
|
|
#
¿
Mar 24, 2015 00:32
|
|
|
VikingSkull posted:Won my first race with the DW12 in iRacing, at Motegi. These cars would be so good at Motegi too. Sad it'll probably never happen.
|
|
#
¿
Apr 1, 2015 08:35
|
|
|
Human Grand Prix posted:Autopolis. Make it happen. It's nice to dream but seriously Autopolis is in the middle of goddamned nowhere, and not just Motegi style "in the middle of nowhere but close-ish to Tokyo". I lived in Kyushu and thought about going to a couple race weekends there but timing wasn't right, it was a 3-hour drive each way and also Super GT has the nasty habit of charging like $90 for single-day tickets. Aim for for Motegi or go full fantasy booking and have Toyota return and go to Fuji Speedway (which is 90 minutes from Tokyo by car).
|
|
#
¿
Apr 2, 2015 02:31
|
|
|
Human Grand Prix posted:Fuji also isn't all that great anymore, it got tilked like a lot of older traditionally high speed tracks. Buuuuut it's high enough grade, isn't Suzuka (which is kinda no-go for non-F1 international series) and is close to major metro areas. Okayama is close enough to Osaka but would still have issues, but hey, WTCC has gone there so clearly it can be done. I guess Autopolis -> Fukuoka is about the same as Okayama -> Osaka time and distance-wise, but KIX is a bigger international airport and Osaka is a bigger city. Both are probably as bad transit-wise as Motegi is, but Motegi has very invested interests.
|
|
#
¿
Apr 2, 2015 07:37
|
|
|
Were there any times when both Target Ganassi cars ran in alternate schemes? I feel like they always kept at least one red, but there might have been a night oval race where both had special liveries.
|
|
#
¿
Apr 8, 2015 13:52
|
|
|
Pretty sure King Hiro still owns and runs Swift Engineering too. And, of course, comes from Panasonic money (until recently the proper company name was Matsushita, so...yeeah...)
|
|
#
¿
Apr 19, 2015 03:01
|
|
|
I think the people saying "we need marketable Americans" crowd are missing the forest for the trees: it doesn't matter what nationality drivers are, they need marketable talents who are marketed and marketed well. Look at the history: There have been a number of Canadians who became very popular because they were driving when the sport was big and they were very good. Nigel Mansell was promoted as A Big Deal and he got mainstream notice as well. Hello is a magnetic, charming guy, and when ABC was putting him on 'Dancing With the Stars' he was a huge name. Danica is one now too, and has been for years. It doesn't matter where they come from - waving the flag is nice but that's a poor excuse. All of those drivers and more have become popular through promotion and having outsized character, not just because of their nationality.
|
|
#
¿
Apr 29, 2015 11:03
|
|
|
Cygni posted:Yeah, I think the best TV deal we can hope for is FS1/NBCSN/ESPN2/CBS Sports style channel, but with the ability to buy a separate streaming pass for the races. I'm not gonna get cable again in this life time, so NBCSN's streaming is worthless to me. If they gave me the option to pay them $50 or whatever directly, just for Indycar, I would do it in a heartbeat. Find a friend/relative who has Comcast, because the primary account can spin out extra email accounts that work as logins. I've heard it works pretty well.
|
|
#
¿
Apr 30, 2015 04:15
|
|
|
Possibly Chicken posted:2012 and 2013 probably would have been just as good if not for the yellows, but hey 2014 owned other then the wife cams. Wife cams are an ABC tradition unlike any other. I need a new Indytar for the month of May. Any recommendations?
|
|
#
¿
May 2, 2015 11:12
|
|
|
Uncle Jam posted:I'd you're going to keep speed low do it by taking away downforce and not horsepower. Cars running wide open with no struggle in the corner is boring. Ding ding ding. That's what made some of the earlier races fun and challenging to watch. That said, I'm also in favor of trying to keep the challenge high by having more power than they can manage to use flat around the track. Worried that would be dangerous, though 
|
|
#
¿
May 4, 2015 17:02
|
|
|
Cygni posted:That one was better. The first gen Eagle wasn't great. That livery on the better chassis and with the better Toyota. Yep. Also it's sports cars but there's a few really good interviews and a really good write up on the Eagle Mk III at Mulsanne's Corner. They did interviews with the designers, so if you want some insight into what made that car so insanely good, give it a read.
|
|
#
¿
May 6, 2015 11:23
|
|
|
I know it's an old line that there were racing fans and then NASCAR fans, and of course most goons posting about any motorsports don't fall in that camp, but drat was it true in the 2000s. I'm probably too removed to really say if it's still that case but I'm guessing that there's still a lot of crossover between fans of Indy, sports cars, everything else. FuzzySkinner posted:I am of the old school believe that there needs to be more cross overs, and that NASCAR v. IndyCar should be settled on the track in the vain of AL V. NL, AFC V. NFC, etc. it's a crazy idea, but...maybe...in identical cars, they could have a...a race...a race of champions! Yeah! nah, that'll never work.
|
|
#
¿
May 6, 2015 16:49
|
|
|
hell, some people will try to watch three races that day. it's a holiday weekend with a tradition for racing, it's not like say last weekend where there were a few good events and some other diehard racing fans spent probably 12+ hours watching various races from around the world. the 500 and 600 have been run Memorial Day weekend for a long drat time.
|
|
#
¿
May 6, 2015 16:58
|
|
|
Dudley posted:Airport tracks rule and we all know it. Airport track followed the next weekend by track with a drag strip for a front straight. or the other way around, it's been so long I've forgotten 
|
|
#
¿
May 9, 2015 12:37
|
|
|
|
| # ¿ Apr 26, 2024 23:58 |
|
|
Alain Post posted:Honda have disgraced themselves in all motorsport this year. They haven't poo poo the bed in Super GT yet but that's the exception I suppose. I will always be excited for Indy 500 qualifying, so hopefully I can catch some of the Saturday afternoon running when I wake up tomorrow.
|
|
#
¿
May 16, 2015 13:10
|
|