For the first time since 2003, the World Rally Drivers' Champion is not named Sébastien, as Ott Tänak clinched the title with a runner-up finish in Rally Catalunya. Mexico provided another intriguing Formula One race but the championship battle will continue north to the United States. Scott McLaughlin had a big accident at Surfers Paradise that slowed his championship push until Sundown next month. Super Formula has a Kiwi champion. European Le Mans Series had a championship determined after the checkered flag. NASCAR drivers keep touching each other. Here is a run down of what got me thinking.
You Might Not Want to Hear This About the Aeroscreen
Three tests are down, one in the rain and a return to Richmond has already occurred and the aeroscreen will get one more outing at Sebring next month with Sébastien Bourdais and James Hinchcliffe.
So far, so good for the aeroscreen, with Scott Dixon and Will Power giving it an outstanding mark of approval at Indianapolis Motor Speedway the first time out at the beginning of September. Ryan Hunter-Reay and Simon Pagenaud went to Barber Motorsports Park and, unexpectedly, got to run in the wet and found visibility to be optimal, even better than the current visibility levels in the wet in Pagenaud's words. Dixon and Josef Newgarden went to Richmond, which doubled as a chance to get reacquainted with the 0.75-mile oval, and both left the test with positive results.
The drivers are happy. The teams are happy. Firestone is happy. The series is happy. You mind as well be happy as well. Unfortunately, happiness is harder for some.
The critics were out at the first test about the aeroscreen. It was ugly. It was going to turn people away. It was going to confuse people. It was going to lead people to stop watching. It did not belong in IndyCar.
There were other critiques but the loudest were over the aesthetics. The aesthetics were never the point of the aeroscreen. The point of the aeroscreen was to protect a driver's cranium from debris and other outside influences that make contact with a driver while in competition.
The aeroscreen is the next evolution of an IndyCar the same way Ray Harroun introduced the rearview mirror in the 1911 Indianapolis 500, the same way the riding mechanic was eliminated in 1938, the same way seat belts became mandatory, the same way the fuel cell and maximum fuel capacity was introduced to ticking time bombs lapping the race track, the same way the engine shifted from in front of the driver to behind the driver and cars sprout wings in the 1970s.
An IndyCar has never been one look. The car Simon Pagenaud drove to victory this past May was 1,210 pounds lighter, less than a foot longer, less than a foot wider, had over five fewer liters of engine displacement and 16 inches shorter than the Marmon Wasp Harroun drove to victory 108 years ago. The closest thing these two have in common is the color. In-between these victories, many different cars of all kinds of shapes and sizes have competed in IndyCar. Some even sported a windscreen of sorts, albeit much smaller and less developed than what IndyCar will roll out in 2020.
Open-cockpit has never been a thing. It has been a rhetorical creation by a segment of the population to invalidate the introduction of the aeroscreen in order to preserve this false identity of an IndyCar. There is no definition of what an IndyCar is supposed to be. As said above, the cars have varied in looks for more than a century. If the aeroscreen is somehow a faux pas how are any of the cars of the last 25 years with the drivers firmly fixed in the car any better when for decades drivers had shoulders and elbows exposed?
Not every objector is there because of looks. Some have safety concerns when it comes to extracting a driver from a car or a driver being able to get out when the car is on fire.
When was the last serious fire in IndyCar? If you say Simona de Silvestro at Texas, realize that was in June 2010. It is a once in a decade thing now. Cars do not go boom like they did in the 1960s. The safety teams are prepared for those incidents.
As for driver extraction, it might be longer and we might be facing a scenario where a driver dies because it takes an extra three seconds to remove a driver but while the aeroscreen may take a life it may save three drivers who otherwise might have been fatally injured if it did not exist. It is a morbid way of looking at the situation and hopefully that is not the case. The safety team will work its hardest to make sure no lives are lost.
IndyCar is still going to be dangerous even with the aeroscreen. It is decreasing a possible risk the same way the HANS device decreases the risk of basilar skull fracture. Risk is still going to be there and there are always going to be those unpredictable accidents, such as Anthoine Hubert's accident at Spa-Francorchamps in Formula Two last August. We have a chance to protect drivers with the aeroscreen. Debris striking a driver in the head is preventable. There is no possible way to completely eliminate injuries and fatalities from motorsports but if we have a chance to prevent drivers from being hit in the head shouldn't we do it?
Drivers have a right to make sure they have the best work conditions. The drivers know the risk but if they have a chance to protect themselves and their livelihood they should seek it. Drivers are no different for any worker. Motorsports is dangerous and there are risks that come with it but the same is true for construction workers, factory workers and firefighters. All are risky jobs but each profession does all it can to make sure every worker has the most protection from possible injury.
What should be remembered is people will get used to the aeroscreen the same way the halo is accepted as a part of a Formula One car. We got used to the SAFER Barriers around every racetrack. We got used to the safety car being deployed at every caution. This will soon just be what it is and if you do not get used to it then the next generation will get used to it.
Sports change. The American League has had the designated hitter since 1973. Helmets were made mandatory in the NHL in 1979 and there hasn't been a helmet-less player in a game since Craig MacTavish in 1997. A three-point arch has graced the hardwood in the NBA since 1979. The NFL has been taking extra point attempt from the 15-yard line since 2015. We adjust. It looks different but it is the same. The aeroscreen in IndyCar will be no different.
Champions From the Weekend
You know about Ott Tänak but did you know...
Lorenzo Dalla Porta clinched the Moto3 world championship with a victory at Phillip Island. It was Dalla Porta's third victory of the season.
Nick Cassidy won the Super Formula championship with a runner-up finish in the finale at Suzuka.
The #28 IDEC Sport Oreca-Gibson of Paul-Loup Chatin, Paul Lafargue and Memo Rojas won the European Le Mans Series LMP2 championship with a victory in the 4 Hours of Portimão.
The #11 Eurointernational Ligier-Nissan of Mikkel Jensen and Jens Petersen won the European Le Mans Series LMP3 championship with a sixth place finish at Portimão and a nine-lap penalty to the #13 Inter Europol Comeptition Ligier-Nissan of Martin Hippe and Nigel Moore after bronze-rated Martin Hippe did not complete the minimum drive time. The #13 Ligier had finished second on the road and would have won the class championship had the result stood.
Randy Krummenacher clinched the World Supersport championship with a fifth place finish in Qatar.
Winners From the Weekend
You know about a handful of race winners and champions but did you know...
Lewis Hamilton won the Mexican Grand Prix, his tenth victory of 2019 and the 83 victory of his Formula One career.
Marc Márquez won MotoGP's Australian Grand Prix, his fifth consecutive victory and his 11th victory of the season. Brad Binder won the Moto2 race, his third victory of the season. Moto3 race.
Martin Truex, Jr. won the NASCAR Cup race from Martinsville, his seventh victory of 2019. Todd Gilliland won the Truck race, his first career victory.
Tomoki Nojii won the Super Formula race from Suzuka, his first victory since Sportsland SUGO in 2014.
Esteban Guerrieri, Norbert Michelisz and Johan Kristoffersson split the World Touring Car Cup races from Suzuka.
The #6 360 Racing Ligier-Nissan of James Dayson, Ross Kaiser and Terrence Woodward won the LMP3 class at the 4 Hours of Portimão. The #51 Luzich Racing Ferrari of Fabien Lavergne, Nicklas Nielsen and Alessandro Pier Guidi won the GTE class, the team's fourth victory of the season.
The #888 Triple Eight Race Engineering Holden of Jamie Whincup and Craig Lowndes and the #97 Triple Eight Race Engineering Holden of Shave Van Gisbergen and Garth Tander split the Supercars races from Surfers Paradise.
Jonathan Rea swept the World Superbike races from Qatar, giving him five consecutive victories to close the season and a record-tying 17 victories in 2019. He ties the record Doug Polen set in 1991 for a second consecutive season. Lucas Mahias won the World Supersport race, his second victory of 2019.
Thierry Neuville won Rally Catalunya, his third victory of the season.
Coming Up This Weekend
Formula One returns to Austin for the United States Grand Prix.
NASCAR returns to Fort Worth for a race weekend at Texas Motor Speedway.
MotoGP has its penultimate race of 2019 at Sepang.
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