MotoGP returned to the United States and Marc Márquez is back on top with his second victory of the season. The pavement was an issue in Austin. Moto3 was a mess. The Road to Indy concluded its season in mixed conditions at Mid-Ohio. We are approaching "nobody wants to win this championship" territory in World Superbike. There were a few throwback winners at the SRO America weekend at Sebring. Qatar is filling out this year's Formula One calendar and returning for ten more years starting in 2023. NASCAR had a weekend at Talladega and the Cup race was rained out to Monday. A memorial service was held for Robin Miller. Here is a rundown of what got me thinking.
Clearing the Mind
This isn't going to be about motorsports as it is about catching up and reassessing after the last three months.
The last 20 months has been tough for all of us, but each time I think normalcy is setting in or returning something unexpected happens. It has been tough to make plans. I thought I would have steadiness, especially as we were getting closer to September, and I would be able to enjoy the end of the IndyCar season. Then an opportunity arose working and my Sundays were gone.
Not all change is bad, and you find ways to continue certain activities, just at different times and in different ways. Doing this was one of them.
It is hard to write about a race when you are unable to watch it in real-time or at least watch attentively while live, especially when the plan is to be timely. Even if I got a moment to catch a part of any of the final three IndyCar races this season, I was not able to write about it or follow it as closely as I would have liked. I had to jot little notes for later of moments in the race. It could not be a train of thought but reminders for later.
There are 50 ways to cook a chicken though and while I had to do something different to keep up this exercise, I could still do it. I found that something different has its perks. I might not be reacting in live time, but I could watch and then fully digest what I saw. Even I knew the result or was watching a part of a race for a second time I found there were times when I had a better idea of what I wanted to write about a certain driver or event. An immediate reaction can miss an element of decision-making you overlooked. You can get too focused on one idea that you fail to consider two or three others that make more sense.
For the final three races, watching them after the fact or watching them semi-live and then writing later had its perks. I have made this such a chore that it becomes a race to finish at times rather than an enjoyable hobby. Some races are completed, I get right into writing and all I want to do is finish writing. I was breezing over stuff or not looking at notes and reminders and at times that is ok, but other times I find something is lacking or a point comes to me later and I missed my chance to write it down.
My original thought process was to write about a race and move on. I didn't want a race to take more time than it needed. I also wanted something instant. There is nothing wrong with going with your gut. Reactions aren't a universally negative thing. They are natural. Sometimes you must get those out and you might discover you were wrong or looked at something the wrong way. Your outlook can evolve. Other times you can see something as what it is and still be right minutes, hours, days, weeks, months or years later.
However, taking time between watching a race and writing about it provided a good period of reflection. Especially at the end of a season, we are always rushing to see the championship picture after a race. We can be so frantic looking at the numbers, the championship deficit, the result, and we might not digest it well enough as the cars are still cooling on pit lane. In this case, waiting a few hours allowed the picture to be clearer and instead of immediately pronouncing a driver's chances dead or alive, waiting allowed me to see the possible outcomes such as here is what must be done, here is why it is not over or here is why it is settled.
Waiting allowed me to notice more of the midfield finishers and think about their days. It can be such a rush focusing on what a winner did right and what a few drivers did wrong that in the immediate aftermath of a race a seventh-place finish might look benign but looking closer at it could reveal the performance of the day or at least one of the top performances.
The extra time helped at Laguna Seca with Josef Newgarden, who did enough to make sure he was mathematically alive for the championship entering the Long Beach finale. Newgarden got to the exact position he needed to finish to stay above water. The extra time prevented me from instinctive tossing dirt on his grave and really allowed me to see how he ran a four-stop strategy not to win the race but to at least stay alive in the season long war. The Laguna Seca battle was going to be lost but Newgarden still had a chance at Long Beach, and he started Long Beach exactly how he needed to with a pole position. The odds were still against him, but Newgarden was at least doing all he could to position himself should Álex Palou had an issue or made a mistake.
I do want to keep up a certain level with this. I don't want this to become a disjointed, incomplete, untimely outlet. I know it is nothing major, but I want to uphold a standard for myself. I think I can find a balance should life prevent me from being the attentive viewer I want to be. The final three weeks of the IndyCar season showed me how it can be done even when faced with conflicts.
The toughest parts are the First Impressions to races. Everything else, the previews, the predictions, the reviews, additional auxiliary writing, and wacky ideas are the easy part. I can spread writing some of those over two or three days if I needed to. I keep a schedule of what I want to write and when I want to publish it. It is up to me to give myself enough time on those items, but the races are set in stone. I must work around those. Maybe I found some flexibility and instead of being in a rush I am more comfortable in taking a breather and not being instant.
It is important for me to remember that this is for fun. I want to do this because I enjoy it. I think it is good for me and it is a place of expression. I think we all need that. We need a place to have fun and clear the mind.
Champions From the Weekend
Kyle Kirkwood clinched the Indy Lights championship with a victory and a fifth-place finish in the Mid-Ohio race.
Christian Rasmussen clinched the Indy Pro 2000 championship with a victory and third at Mid-Ohio.
Kiko Porto clinched the U.S. F2000 championship with a third-place finish in the first race from Mid-Ohio.
Winners From the Weekend
You know about Marc Márquez, but did you know...
Linus Lundqvist won the second Indy Lights race from Mid-Ohio, his third victory of the season. James Roe, Jr. won the second Indy Pro 2000 race, his first career victory. Yuven Sundaramoorthy and Josh Green split the U.S. F2000 races.
Raúl Fernández won the Moto2 race from Austin, his third consecutive victory and seventh of the season. Ivan Guevara won the Moto3 race, his first career victory after results reverted back to the order after the first red flag, not after three laps of the five-lap restart was red-flagged due to an accident.
Brandon Brown won the Grand National Series race at Talladega, his first career victory. Tate Fogelman won the Truck Series race, his first career victory.
Toprak Razgatlioglu, Michael van der Mark and Jonathan Rea split the World Superbike races from Portimão. Jules Cluzel and Steven Odendaal split the World Supersport races.
Kelvin van der Linde and Lucas Auer split the Deutsche Tourenwagen Masters races from Hockenheim.
The #3 K-PAX Racing Lamborghini of Andrea Caldarelli and Jordan Pepper swept the GT World Challenge America races from Sebring. The #3 Lamborghini has won nine of 12 races this season.
The #35 Conquest Racing West Mercedes-AMG of Michai Stephens and Colin Mullan swept the GT4 America races from Sebring. Memo Gidley swept the GT America races in the #101 TKO with Flying Lizard Motorsports Bentley.
Elfyn Evans won Rally Finland, his second victory the season.
Musings From the Weekend
Turkey has washed the track ahead of Formula One's return.
NASCAR ends round two at Charlotte's infield road course.
IMSA's penultimate round is the GT-only race at Virginia International Raceway.
The Norisring concludes the Deutsche Tourenwagen Masters.
Barcelona hosts the final round of the GT World Challenge Europe Endurance Cup season.
World Touring Car Cup is back in action after nearly two months off at Autodrom Most.
