An Idea to Fix Sonoma for IndyCar
I was going to write about sports cars on the eve of the FIA World Endurance Championship season opener and how series could avoid clashes that way drivers could run in multiple series and not have to worry about missing key events and lose money but to be honest that seemed boring to me and I wanted to write about IndyCar instead.
Sonoma sucks. IndyCar has been racing there since 2005 and none of the races have been good and the memorable moments have been Dario Franchitti running into Marco Andretti and the 2015 season finale because Will Power and Juan Pablo Montoya got together, Scott Dixon ended up in the lead and ended up winning the championship with a race victory giving him the tiebreaker over Montoya who could only recover to finish sixth. I guess you could add the time Dixon made contact with one of Will Power's pit crew members but once again, not an on-track pass or battle we are remember.
There are few standout moments from the racing at Sonoma and the track layout is one of the reasons to blame. There is one passing zone, the turn seven hairpin at the end of the drag strip. All the other areas on the racetrack do not allow for a car to make a run on the car in front of it. It is difficult to make a move in turn one and uphill to turn two. The run to turn four is too short. The esses keep any momentum from building up and prevent a pass from taking place in turn nine and on top of that turn nine remains too tight even after it was widened. IndyCar doesn't run the full hairpin at Sonoma and though the alternate hairpin the series now runs is further down the track than the original it hasn't provided much more passing. It has provided a bit more passing but I don't think as much as the full hairpin would allow.
Sonoma isn't falling off the schedule anytime soon and it doesn't appear any other track will usurp the honor of hosting the season finale from the Northern Californian road course. If Sonoma is going to host the finale because it is a location that sponsors like then make the layout appealing to racing. After the past 13 IndyCar races at Sonoma I am willing to give the NASCAR layout a try. It can't be worse than any iteration IndyCar has raced on. The carousel can be lost. If it is not making the racing better than drop it.
However, if the NASCAR course does not tickle your fancy than how about a layout that has not even been considered? With the multiple layouts and a drag strip, Sonoma has a lot of tarmac and it allows for many possible new concepts. After looking at an aerial of the racetrack, something came to mind:
Instead of making a right-hand turn at turn four and heading toward the carousel the cars would follow the NASCAR course to the chute. However, this track would make a right-hand turn where turn seven is currently located and the cars would run in the opposite direction of the drag strip before making a hard left-turn in a new section of the track that will have to be constructed followed by a right-hand turn re-entering what is currently turn ten of the IndyCar course. From there the cars would run the full hairpin and then proceed back to the start/finish, completing a 1.971-mile lap.
What do I like about this layout? I think there could be three and maybe four passing areas. The first would be turn four, the second could be the right-hand turn onto the drag strip, the third would be the left-hander at the end of the drag strip and the final passing zone would be the hairpin. The other nice thing is it would provide a passing zone right in front of the main grandstand. It would kind of be like Barber with cars crisscrossing back and forth.
A couple issues with this layout. For starters, it currently isn't practical because the left-right section at the end of the drag strip does not exist and it would cost money to create. It isn't impossible but my first concern would be is it possible and still have the drag strip be up to standards for the NHRA? A large portion of the wall would have to be demolished to make a left-hand corner for an IndyCar and for drag racing you need a wall there. I would hope there is an alternative, temporary wall that could be constructed for drag racing but easily be removed and allow for that left-right section to exist.
The second concern is that open section where the left-right section would be is used on race weekends. It doesn't sit empty. I think the television compound is set up there and the stage for driver introductions is stored there. If you make that racetrack then those trucks and structures would have to be moved and there isn't much area available around Sonoma. It is a pretty tight squeeze for everything outside of the racetrack. I am not sure where all that equipment could be moved.
I think the layout above is something to be excited about and in its current form Sonoma isn't all that exciting. You are probably thinking, "just wait until the universal aero kit gets there" and you could be right but I have seen Sonoma with the previous Dallara chassis, the original DW12, aero kits and with different configurations of turn seven, turn nine and the hairpin and nothing made a damn difference. The universal aero kit will help in areas but it would not be wise to expect it cause significant change.
We are in a rough place with Sonoma. The crowd isn't great, the racing isn't great but the location is what everyone seems to get drunk on. It is a destination for the series and sponsors and I get it is a sexier place than ending at Fontana, Kentucky, Phoenix or Madison, Illinois but Sonoma is uninspiring. The finale has to grab you. It is closure but also says, "see you next year" and it has to give people a reason to come back. It has to leave people itching for another hit as a five-month withdrawal is about to start.
If IndyCar wants to end at Sonoma primarily to schmooze corporate sponsors then it at least owes the fans to make the racetrack suitable for better racing.
Winners From the Weekend
You know about Lewis Hamilton but did you know...
Joey Logano won the NASCAR Cup race from Talladega. Spencer Gallagher won the Grand National Series race.
Alexander Albon won the Formula Two feature race from Baku. George Russell won the sprint race.
The #3 K-PAX Racing Bentley of Rodrigo Baptista and Maxime Soulet won the first Pirelli World Challenge GT SprintX race of the weekend at Virginia International Raceway. The #80 Lone Star Racing Mercedes of Mike Skeen and Scott Heckert won the second GT SprintX race. The #77 VOLT Racing Ford of Trent Hindman and Alan Brynjolfsson won the first GTS SprintX race. The #14 GMG Racing Audi of Alex Welch and James Sofronas won the second GTS SprintX race.
Jean-Éric Vergne won the Paris ePrix.
Ott Tänak won Rally Argentina.
Yann Ehrlacher, Rob Huff and Gabriele Tarquini split the WTCC races from Hungaroring.
Marvin Musquin won the Supercross race from Salt Lake City while Jason Anderson finished 18th after a pit stop for a tire change and Anderson's gap is only 14 points heading to the finale next week at Las Vegas.
Coming Up This Weekend
Super GT will race on Friday at Fuji.
The FIA World Endurance Championship opens its 14-month season at Spa-Francorchamps.
Deustche Tourenwagen Masters opens its six-month season at Hockenheim with a farewell to Mattias Ekström.
MotoGP has its first European round of the season at Jerez.
IMSA returns to Mid-Ohio for the first time since the merger.
NASCAR will be at Dover.
Brands Hatch hosts the Blancpain Sprint Series.
Supercars will be at Barbagallo Raceway.
Supercross closes out the season in Las Vegas.
