1. This was the worst race in IndyCar history. It's not a negative. Let's embrace it. Let's laugh at ourselves. It was a terrible race. But laugh at ourselves. Instead of getting angry and pointing fingers, let's just laugh. And you can like this race! That's ok. It was nerve-racking. Could they complete two consecutive green flag laps? That doesn't sound good but that was the reality of the situation. Had the race been a week earlier, perhaps we have a great race in the dry. These things happen. Don't get down about it. The Long Beach sunshine awaits.
2. Congratulations to James Hinchcliffe and Honda. After it appeared Honda would struggle to get a victory, this one fell in their laps.
3. Hélio Castroneves had a great battle with James Jakes for second and both had to overcome adversity. Castroneves made contact with Francesco Dracone and Jakes spun on a restart. And they both finished on the podium
4. Someone get Simona de Silvestro a full-time ride. She showed speed at St. Petersburg, she kept it clean today and if it weren't for a puddle, she might have been on the podium.
5. Juan Pablo Montoya was fortunate the race was set by entrant points because I am not sure he would have been a factor if he started in the back.
6. Tony Kanaan overcame going off on slick to finish sixth. Will Power quietly finished seventh and Graham Rahal finished eighth, which I am sure he will take.
7. Really good day for CFH Racing with Josef Newgarden and Luca Filippi in ninth and tenth. CFH will win a race this year and all three of their drivers could get victories.
8. This was a rough for many teams. Got to give a shout out to Stefano Coletti for spinning, backing into the barrier and keeping the car going and finishing the race!
9. Francesco Dracone has to be parked. He shouldn't have been allowed to race in the first place but IndyCar officials don't have a backbone to try and keep the series little integrity intact.
10. You can't take much from this race since most of it was behind the safety car. I really wish we got to see a proper race at NOLA. IndyCar won't do this because they are IndyCar but they should go back later in the year, allow all fans who bought a ticket to this race to return for free, sell $10 tickets for new fans who want to attend and run a proper race and use it as a make up for Brasilia.
11. Off to Long Beach. Thank goodness.
Covering All Motorsports. From Indianapolis to Le Mans, Daytona to Monaco.
Sunday, April 12, 2015
Morning Warm-Up: New Orleans 2015
 |
| Mother Nature sets grid for IndyCar's Grand Prix of Louisiana |
Juan Pablo Montoya benefits greatly as the Colombian will start from pole position. The St. Petersburg winner was not going to advance to round two in qualifying after being seventh in round one group one. For the second consecutive race, Penske sweeps row one as Will Power will start second. The Australian was fourth in round one group one. Tony Kanaan was quickest in round one group one and quickest overall in round one. The Brazilian will start third and be joined by his fellow countryman Hélio Castroneves on row two. Like Montoya, Castroneves was not going to round two of qualifying after finishing ninth in round one group one.
Simon Pagenaud and Sébastien Bourdais starts on row three. Pagenaud was second quickest in round one group one while Bourdais would have started 23rd had qualifying been completed. Bourdais was quickest in round one group one but had his fastest time annulled after being penalized for impeding Kanaan during the session. Ryan Hunter-Reay and Jack Hawksworth make it an all-Honda row four. Hunter-Reay was second quickest in round one group two while Hawksworth was slowest in the same group. Luca Filippi and Marco Andretti round out the top ten.
Graham Rahal will start 11th while the fastest driver from round one group two, Josef Newgarden joins Rahal for an all-American row six. Takuma Sato and Carlos Muñoz make up row seven. While the likes of Montoya, Castroneves and Bourdais benefited greatly from the field being set by entrant points, Scott Dixon will suffer because of it. The New Zealander was third fastest in round one group two but will drop to 15th on the grid. James Hinchcliffe was also slated to advance to round two of qualifying but will start 16th.
Gabby Chaves has had a respectable weekend in practice but will have to start 17th just ahead of Simona de Silvestro. Like his Ganassi teammate, Sage Karam was in position to advance to round two but he drop to 19th on the grid with Stefano Coletti rounding out the top twenty. Charlie Kimball was fourth in round one group two while James Jakes was fifth in round one group one but both will comprise row 11 on the grid. The Dale Coyne Racing drivers Francesco Dracone and Carlos Huertas round out the grid on row 12.
NBCSN's coverage of the inaugural Grand Prix of Louisiana will begin at 2:30 p.m. ET with green flag pushed up to 2:45 p.m. ET due to the possibility of more heavy storms late Sunday afternoon.
Thursday, April 9, 2015
Track Walk: New Orleans 2015
 |
| IndyCar Makes History in Louisiana |
Coverage:
Time: Coverage begins at 3:00 p.m. ET on Sunday April 12th. Green flag at 3:37 p.m. ET.
TV Channel: NBCSN.
Announcers: Brian Till (Leigh Diffey is on Formula One the next two weeks. He will make his season debut at Barber), Townsend Bell and Paul Tracy are in the booth with Kevin Lee, Robin Miller, Kelli Stavast and Marty Snider working the pit lane.
Can Anyone Beat Penske?
Forget about the Chevrolet vs. Honda narrative. It's Penske vs. the field. The Captain's fleet qualified 1-2-3-4 at St. Petersburg and finished 1-2-4-5 with Tony Kanaan being the lone driver to break up the monopoly at the front of the field. Juan Pablo Montoya took victory at St. Petersburg after Will Power had a slow pit stop and failed to get by the Colombian in the closing stages. All four Penske drivers led a lap at St. Petersburg and combined to lead 105 of 110 circuits.
Besides the Ganassi duo of Scott Dixon and Kanaan, the next best team at St. Petersburg was A.J. Foyt Racing. Takuma Sato was quickest in round one group one and was the lone Honda to make it to the Firestone Fast Six. His teammate Jack Hawksworth started 21st but was sixth in first practice and over came early front wing damage to lead 5 laps. He dropped from contention for a podium because he was pitting off strategy but Hawksworth was able to come home in eighth in his first race for Foyt.
Sébastien Bourdais was another driver who was consistently quick at St. Petersburg. The four-time champion was in the top ten in every session and started and finished sixth.
The Andretti Autosport quartet lingered in the background at St. Petersburg. Ryan Hunter-Reay, Simona de Silvestro and Marco Andretti all advanced to the second round of qualifying and Hunter-Reay and Andretti both finished in the top ten with Hunter-Reay overcoming dropping outside the top fifteen after running wide in turn one lap one to finish seventh. De Silvestro's IndyCar return was marred by contact with James Jakes but she will return for NOLA. Carlos Muñoz started and finished 14th at St. Petersburg and was bumped by Andretti from making the second round of qualifying.
Speaking of Honda
The Japanese manufacture has not seen the top step of the podium since Ryan Hunter-Reay's late charge on fresh tires at Iowa. Chevrolet has won the last seven races with four different teams and six different drivers. Chevrolet has also won nine consecutive pole positions with Honda's last pole being Simon Pagenaud for Schmidt Peterson Motorsports at Houston 2.
Honda hasn't just struggled to get on the top step of the podium but on the podium in general. In the last seven races, Honda has only amassed three podiums (James Hinchcliffe at Mid-Ohio, Ryan Hunter-Reay and Simon Pagenaud at Sonoma). In the previous seven races before Chevrolet's winning streak, Honda had nine podiums.
St. Petersburg saw Chevrolet sweep the top six and only three Hondas in the top ten and only four of 12 Hondas made it through to the second round of qualifying.
A Chevrolet victory this weekend will give Honda their longest winless streak since 2003-2004 when Toyota and Chevrolet combined to win nine consecutive race, the final eight races of 2003 and the first race of 2004.
Despite the disappointing weekend at St. Petersburg, Honda leads the manufactures' championship after 11 of the 12 Chevrolet teams changed engines after a potentially faulty value spring was found. The lone Chevrolet not to change their engine was the #8 Ganassi Chevrolet of Sage Karam. Each engine change and minor repair to an engine component will result in a 20-point deduction for a manufacture; meaning Chevrolet was penalized 220 points for the 11 engine changes. Honda now leads with 72 points while Chevrolet sits on -92 heading to NOLA.
Road to Indy
Pro Mazda and U.S. F2000 join IndyCar at NOLA as Indy Lights take a break before returning for Long Beach next. Both Pro Mazda and U.S. F2000 had drivers sweep the weekend at St. Petersburg.
Neil Alberico won both Pro Mazda races and leads the championship by 20 points over Uruguayan Santiago Urrutia of Team Pelfey. Juncos Racing's Jose Gutierrez trails by 21 points with Alberico's Cape Motorsports w/ Wayne Taylor Racing teammate Canadian Daniel Burkett a distant fourth, 35 points back. JDC Motorsports' Kyle Connery and Andretti Autosport's Dalton Kellett are tied for fifth, 36 points behind Alberico.
Pro Mazda has raced at NOLA twice before during their Winterfest series. In 2014, Spencer Pigot and Garett Grist split the races. Pigot has since graduated to Indy Lights while Grist competes this weekend for Juncos Racing. This year Jack Aitken won two of the three races at NOLA with Andretti Autosport's Weiron Tan winning the other. Aitken decided to focus on European competition this season and will not be at NOLA this weekend.
Pabst Racing's Jake Eidson swept the U.S. F2000 races at St. Petersburg. The Floridan holds a 13-point advantage over Wisconsinite Aaron Telitz driving for Cape Motorsports w/WTR. Telitz's teammate, Frenchman Nico Jamin is third, 20 points behind Eidson. Australian Anthony Martin trails Eidson by 26 points while Martin's John Cummiskey Racing teammate and fellow Australian Jordan Lloyd rounds out the top five, 34 points back.
Like Pro Mazda, U.S. F2000 has run at NOLA twice for Winterfest. Victor Franzoni, R.C. Enerson and Clark Toppe split the weekend in 2014. Enerson has graduated to Indy Lights while Toppe is competing in IMSA Prototype Lites, which will also be competing at NOLA this weekend. Earlier this year Eidson won two of three Winterfest races while Franzoni won the other. Franzoni is tied for tenth in the U.S. F2000 championship on 20 points.
Both series will run doubleheaders again this weekend. U.S. F2000's first race will be at 4:30 p.m. ET on Saturday with their second race at 11:15 a.m. ET on Sunday. Race one for Pro Mazda will follow IndyCar qualifying on Saturday at 6:50 p.m. ET. Their second race will be at 1:50 p.m. ET Sunday.
Can Anyone Beat Penske?
Forget about the Chevrolet vs. Honda narrative. It's Penske vs. the field. The Captain's fleet qualified 1-2-3-4 at St. Petersburg and finished 1-2-4-5 with Tony Kanaan being the lone driver to break up the monopoly at the front of the field. Juan Pablo Montoya took victory at St. Petersburg after Will Power had a slow pit stop and failed to get by the Colombian in the closing stages. All four Penske drivers led a lap at St. Petersburg and combined to lead 105 of 110 circuits.
Besides the Ganassi duo of Scott Dixon and Kanaan, the next best team at St. Petersburg was A.J. Foyt Racing. Takuma Sato was quickest in round one group one and was the lone Honda to make it to the Firestone Fast Six. His teammate Jack Hawksworth started 21st but was sixth in first practice and over came early front wing damage to lead 5 laps. He dropped from contention for a podium because he was pitting off strategy but Hawksworth was able to come home in eighth in his first race for Foyt.
Sébastien Bourdais was another driver who was consistently quick at St. Petersburg. The four-time champion was in the top ten in every session and started and finished sixth.
The Andretti Autosport quartet lingered in the background at St. Petersburg. Ryan Hunter-Reay, Simona de Silvestro and Marco Andretti all advanced to the second round of qualifying and Hunter-Reay and Andretti both finished in the top ten with Hunter-Reay overcoming dropping outside the top fifteen after running wide in turn one lap one to finish seventh. De Silvestro's IndyCar return was marred by contact with James Jakes but she will return for NOLA. Carlos Muñoz started and finished 14th at St. Petersburg and was bumped by Andretti from making the second round of qualifying.
Speaking of Honda
The Japanese manufacture has not seen the top step of the podium since Ryan Hunter-Reay's late charge on fresh tires at Iowa. Chevrolet has won the last seven races with four different teams and six different drivers. Chevrolet has also won nine consecutive pole positions with Honda's last pole being Simon Pagenaud for Schmidt Peterson Motorsports at Houston 2.
Honda hasn't just struggled to get on the top step of the podium but on the podium in general. In the last seven races, Honda has only amassed three podiums (James Hinchcliffe at Mid-Ohio, Ryan Hunter-Reay and Simon Pagenaud at Sonoma). In the previous seven races before Chevrolet's winning streak, Honda had nine podiums.
St. Petersburg saw Chevrolet sweep the top six and only three Hondas in the top ten and only four of 12 Hondas made it through to the second round of qualifying.
A Chevrolet victory this weekend will give Honda their longest winless streak since 2003-2004 when Toyota and Chevrolet combined to win nine consecutive race, the final eight races of 2003 and the first race of 2004.
Despite the disappointing weekend at St. Petersburg, Honda leads the manufactures' championship after 11 of the 12 Chevrolet teams changed engines after a potentially faulty value spring was found. The lone Chevrolet not to change their engine was the #8 Ganassi Chevrolet of Sage Karam. Each engine change and minor repair to an engine component will result in a 20-point deduction for a manufacture; meaning Chevrolet was penalized 220 points for the 11 engine changes. Honda now leads with 72 points while Chevrolet sits on -92 heading to NOLA.
Road to Indy
Pro Mazda and U.S. F2000 join IndyCar at NOLA as Indy Lights take a break before returning for Long Beach next. Both Pro Mazda and U.S. F2000 had drivers sweep the weekend at St. Petersburg.
Neil Alberico won both Pro Mazda races and leads the championship by 20 points over Uruguayan Santiago Urrutia of Team Pelfey. Juncos Racing's Jose Gutierrez trails by 21 points with Alberico's Cape Motorsports w/ Wayne Taylor Racing teammate Canadian Daniel Burkett a distant fourth, 35 points back. JDC Motorsports' Kyle Connery and Andretti Autosport's Dalton Kellett are tied for fifth, 36 points behind Alberico.
Pro Mazda has raced at NOLA twice before during their Winterfest series. In 2014, Spencer Pigot and Garett Grist split the races. Pigot has since graduated to Indy Lights while Grist competes this weekend for Juncos Racing. This year Jack Aitken won two of the three races at NOLA with Andretti Autosport's Weiron Tan winning the other. Aitken decided to focus on European competition this season and will not be at NOLA this weekend.
Pabst Racing's Jake Eidson swept the U.S. F2000 races at St. Petersburg. The Floridan holds a 13-point advantage over Wisconsinite Aaron Telitz driving for Cape Motorsports w/WTR. Telitz's teammate, Frenchman Nico Jamin is third, 20 points behind Eidson. Australian Anthony Martin trails Eidson by 26 points while Martin's John Cummiskey Racing teammate and fellow Australian Jordan Lloyd rounds out the top five, 34 points back.
Like Pro Mazda, U.S. F2000 has run at NOLA twice for Winterfest. Victor Franzoni, R.C. Enerson and Clark Toppe split the weekend in 2014. Enerson has graduated to Indy Lights while Toppe is competing in IMSA Prototype Lites, which will also be competing at NOLA this weekend. Earlier this year Eidson won two of three Winterfest races while Franzoni won the other. Franzoni is tied for tenth in the U.S. F2000 championship on 20 points.
Both series will run doubleheaders again this weekend. U.S. F2000's first race will be at 4:30 p.m. ET on Saturday with their second race at 11:15 a.m. ET on Sunday. Race one for Pro Mazda will follow IndyCar qualifying on Saturday at 6:50 p.m. ET. Their second race will be at 1:50 p.m. ET Sunday.
Fast Facts
This will be the first IndyCar race at NOLA Motorsports Park and first IndyCar race in the state of Louisiana.
Louisiana will become the 39th state to host an IndyCar race. Can you name the 11 states yet to host an IndyCar race?
Two Louisianan drivers have made IndyCar starts. On July 30, 1914, T.C. Jones finished sixth at Galveston, Texas on Denver Beach, a 5-mile beach course. The race was 50 miles in length and was won by Ralph Mulford, the runner-up in the inaugural Indianapolis 500. It was the only start of T.C. Jones' career. Just under 12 years later, Tony Gulotta would make his debut in the 1926 Indianapolis 500, starting 12th and finishing 11th, completing all 200 laps. In 1927, Gulotta would finish third at Indianapolis behind rookie winner George Souders and Earl Devore and just ahead of rookie and future three-time Indianapolis 500 winner Wilbur Shaw. He would finish third in his next start that season at Altoona. Third was the Gulotta's best finish in his career. He amassed 17 starts from 1926-1939. Gulotta started all but one Indianapolis 500 in that time frame. He didn't start the 1936 race but did drive in relief for Cliff Bergere in the #42 Bowes Seal Fast Miller. Herb Ardinger also drove relief in the #42.
Team Penske has won three of the four inaugural races in the post-reunification-era. Will Power won the inaugural races at São Paulo and Baltimore. Hélio Castroneves won the inaugural Barber race. The lone inaugural event not won by Penske since 2008 was last year's Grand Prix of Indianapolis, which was won by current Team Penske driver Simon Pagenaud and Schmidt Peterson Motorsport.
This will be the third race to take place on April 12th. The first was at Phoenix and won by Roberto Guerrero. It was Guerrero's first career victory in his 48th start and he won from the 22nd and final spot on the grid. Despite starting 22nd, Guerrero led the most laps in that race at 96. Dale Coyne failed to qualify for the race. The most recent race on April 12th was Long Beach 1992. Danny Sullivan won the race after contact with his teammate Al Unser, Jr. (Notice how Unser, Jr. spins, the car doesn't stall and there is no full-course caution. The race steward waits for him to find a gap, spin it back around and get back going. Current IndyCar race stewards, take note of how it's done). It was the penultimate victory in Sullivan's career.
Possible Milestones at NOLA:
Marco Andretti needs to lead 70 laps to join the 1,000 laps led club.
Takuma Sato needs to lead ten laps to reach the 400 laps led milestone.
Simon Pagenaud needs to lead 18 laps to reach the 200 laps led milestone.
Graham Rahal needs to lead 50 laps to reach the 200 laps led milestone.
Sébastien Bourdais needs one podium to reach 50 career IndyCar podiums.
Louisiana will become the 39th state to host an IndyCar race. Can you name the 11 states yet to host an IndyCar race?
Two Louisianan drivers have made IndyCar starts. On July 30, 1914, T.C. Jones finished sixth at Galveston, Texas on Denver Beach, a 5-mile beach course. The race was 50 miles in length and was won by Ralph Mulford, the runner-up in the inaugural Indianapolis 500. It was the only start of T.C. Jones' career. Just under 12 years later, Tony Gulotta would make his debut in the 1926 Indianapolis 500, starting 12th and finishing 11th, completing all 200 laps. In 1927, Gulotta would finish third at Indianapolis behind rookie winner George Souders and Earl Devore and just ahead of rookie and future three-time Indianapolis 500 winner Wilbur Shaw. He would finish third in his next start that season at Altoona. Third was the Gulotta's best finish in his career. He amassed 17 starts from 1926-1939. Gulotta started all but one Indianapolis 500 in that time frame. He didn't start the 1936 race but did drive in relief for Cliff Bergere in the #42 Bowes Seal Fast Miller. Herb Ardinger also drove relief in the #42.
Team Penske has won three of the four inaugural races in the post-reunification-era. Will Power won the inaugural races at São Paulo and Baltimore. Hélio Castroneves won the inaugural Barber race. The lone inaugural event not won by Penske since 2008 was last year's Grand Prix of Indianapolis, which was won by current Team Penske driver Simon Pagenaud and Schmidt Peterson Motorsport.
This will be the third race to take place on April 12th. The first was at Phoenix and won by Roberto Guerrero. It was Guerrero's first career victory in his 48th start and he won from the 22nd and final spot on the grid. Despite starting 22nd, Guerrero led the most laps in that race at 96. Dale Coyne failed to qualify for the race. The most recent race on April 12th was Long Beach 1992. Danny Sullivan won the race after contact with his teammate Al Unser, Jr. (Notice how Unser, Jr. spins, the car doesn't stall and there is no full-course caution. The race steward waits for him to find a gap, spin it back around and get back going. Current IndyCar race stewards, take note of how it's done). It was the penultimate victory in Sullivan's career.
Possible Milestones at NOLA:
Marco Andretti needs to lead 70 laps to join the 1,000 laps led club.
Takuma Sato needs to lead ten laps to reach the 400 laps led milestone.
Simon Pagenaud needs to lead 18 laps to reach the 200 laps led milestone.
Graham Rahal needs to lead 50 laps to reach the 200 laps led milestone.
Sébastien Bourdais needs one podium to reach 50 career IndyCar podiums.
Predictions
Will Power makes it back-to-back victories for Team Penske. However, Power is the only Penske on the podium. A Honda finishes in the top five. Rain tires are used at least once this weekend. A rookie finishes in the top ten. Francesco Dracone fails to be within 105% of the fastest time in every dry session. There are less than four safety car periods and at least 85% of the laps will be under green flag conditions. Sleeper: Stefano Coletti.
Monday, April 6, 2015
Musings From the Weekend: Paint The Rainbow
I hope you all had a Happy Easter and didn't stuff yourselves with too much candy. Not much happened on track in the motorsports world this past weekend but we have a doozy lined-up this weekend. I would just like to note that For the Love of Indy turned three years old yesterday. It has been a blast and look forward to the future. Here is a run down of what got me thinking.
Paint The Rainbow
The state of Indiana was at the center of attention all last week after Governor Mike Pence signed the Religious Freedom Restoration Act, a law which could have allowed for discrimination against LGBT people. Many voiced their displeasure in the law and it was changed on Thursday.
Indianapolis Motor Speedway released a statement in response to the law saying the track will continue to welcome everyone to the track.
The state of Indiana has received a lot of bad press in the past week and the backlash will effect many who never supported the law. Will people decide not to go to IMS during the Month of May because of the law? Only time will tell but I think IMS can turn the month of May into a chance to show their support beyond just a statement.
This month of May should integrate the LBGT community into their festivities. Paint the outside wall in the colors of the Rainbow Flag and when I say the outside wall, I mean the entire outside wall. It should be a continuous rainbow from the start of the yard of bricks, into turn one, around the south end to the back straightway, around the north end and meeting back up at start/finish. It will be unique and a clear message where the Speedway stands on the issue. Bring in a prominent LBGT figures to the Indianapolis 500 to perform the national anthem, drive the pace car and wave the green flag.
For all of you who want people with ties to the Indianapolis 500 to drive the pace car and wave the green flag, that can wait until next year and the 100th running of the Indianapolis 500. This year is for a bigger purpose.
Shut Up Penske
Last week, we talked about the discrepancy in visions between IndyCar management (Mark Miles) and team owners (Roger Penske and Chip Ganassi).
Penske noted he was upside with the cost increase especially with the introduction of aero kits. News flash skipper: No body forced you to buy aero kits. You could have kept the Dallara kit on the car and been at the back of the field but you know as well as I know Mr. Penske that you wouldn't want that, your sponsors wouldn't want that and most importantly, you would not have any of the four drivers you currently have if you told them, "Hey, we're going to run the old kit and be a second off the pace."
And you couldn't turn down being Chevrolet's test team. You didn't give a rat's ass about the cost because you were getting an advantage. You know if you turned down Chevrolet's offer to be the test team, Ganassi would have accepted it and the script would have been flipped at St. Petersburg. Ganassi cars probably would have had four of the top five instead of your cars.
To be fair to the Dallara kit, you could get some speed out of it. In 2012, the first year of the DW12-chassis and Dallara kit, Will Power won St. Petersburg pole position with a 61.3721. That time would have put him second in group one from qualifying at St. Petersburg this year and fifth in group two this year. That time would have been 11th-fastest in the second round. The following year, Power won St. Petersburg pole position with a 61.2070, which would have been fastest in group one this year and still fifth in group two. Power's 2013 pole time would have been ninth-fastest in round two this year. In 2014, IndyCar qualifying from St. Petersburg took part partially in the wet and ended on a drying race track.
It should be noted that a new floor has been mandated for 2015, which creates less downforce and doesn't mesh well with the Dallara kit, according to Dale Coyne Racing, who tested Francesco Dracone in the Dallara kit at Barber preseason testing. However, if there is one team that could figure out to find the right balance with the floor and Dallara kit, it's Penske.
So Penske, with the evidence on the table that the old kit not only could compete with the current kit, you tell me and the rest of IndyCar why you are paying more when you easily could have taken the old kit and spent much less developing it during the offseason and possibly still made the second round and Fast Six in qualifying?
Winners From the Weekend
Nelson Piquet, Jr. became the sixth different winner in six Formula E race after he won at Long Beach, 35 years after his father Nelson Piquet won his first career Formula One race at Long Beach.
Andrea Caldarelli and Ryō Hirakawa won the Super GT race from Okayama. Yuichi Nakayama and Koki Saga won in GT300.
The Monegasque pairing of Stéphane Ortelli and Stéphane Richmeli won the Blancpain Sprint Series qualifying race from Nogaro. Maxime Martin and Dirk Müller won the Blancpain Sprint Series main race earlier today.
Coming Up This Weekend
IndyCar makes their debut at NOLA Motorsports Park for the Grand Prix of Louisiana.
MotoGP returns to Austin.
FIA World Endurance Championship kicks off their season from Silverstone.
European Le Mans Series joins FIA WEC at Silverstone.
Formula One goes to China.
Blancpain Endurance Series starts their season at Monza.
World Superbike runs their first race in Europe at Aragón.
NASCAR runs their first night race at Texas.
AMA Supercross heads to Houston.
Paint The Rainbow
The state of Indiana was at the center of attention all last week after Governor Mike Pence signed the Religious Freedom Restoration Act, a law which could have allowed for discrimination against LGBT people. Many voiced their displeasure in the law and it was changed on Thursday.
Indianapolis Motor Speedway released a statement in response to the law saying the track will continue to welcome everyone to the track.
The state of Indiana has received a lot of bad press in the past week and the backlash will effect many who never supported the law. Will people decide not to go to IMS during the Month of May because of the law? Only time will tell but I think IMS can turn the month of May into a chance to show their support beyond just a statement.
This month of May should integrate the LBGT community into their festivities. Paint the outside wall in the colors of the Rainbow Flag and when I say the outside wall, I mean the entire outside wall. It should be a continuous rainbow from the start of the yard of bricks, into turn one, around the south end to the back straightway, around the north end and meeting back up at start/finish. It will be unique and a clear message where the Speedway stands on the issue. Bring in a prominent LBGT figures to the Indianapolis 500 to perform the national anthem, drive the pace car and wave the green flag.
For all of you who want people with ties to the Indianapolis 500 to drive the pace car and wave the green flag, that can wait until next year and the 100th running of the Indianapolis 500. This year is for a bigger purpose.
Shut Up Penske
Last week, we talked about the discrepancy in visions between IndyCar management (Mark Miles) and team owners (Roger Penske and Chip Ganassi).
Penske noted he was upside with the cost increase especially with the introduction of aero kits. News flash skipper: No body forced you to buy aero kits. You could have kept the Dallara kit on the car and been at the back of the field but you know as well as I know Mr. Penske that you wouldn't want that, your sponsors wouldn't want that and most importantly, you would not have any of the four drivers you currently have if you told them, "Hey, we're going to run the old kit and be a second off the pace."
And you couldn't turn down being Chevrolet's test team. You didn't give a rat's ass about the cost because you were getting an advantage. You know if you turned down Chevrolet's offer to be the test team, Ganassi would have accepted it and the script would have been flipped at St. Petersburg. Ganassi cars probably would have had four of the top five instead of your cars.
To be fair to the Dallara kit, you could get some speed out of it. In 2012, the first year of the DW12-chassis and Dallara kit, Will Power won St. Petersburg pole position with a 61.3721. That time would have put him second in group one from qualifying at St. Petersburg this year and fifth in group two this year. That time would have been 11th-fastest in the second round. The following year, Power won St. Petersburg pole position with a 61.2070, which would have been fastest in group one this year and still fifth in group two. Power's 2013 pole time would have been ninth-fastest in round two this year. In 2014, IndyCar qualifying from St. Petersburg took part partially in the wet and ended on a drying race track.
It should be noted that a new floor has been mandated for 2015, which creates less downforce and doesn't mesh well with the Dallara kit, according to Dale Coyne Racing, who tested Francesco Dracone in the Dallara kit at Barber preseason testing. However, if there is one team that could figure out to find the right balance with the floor and Dallara kit, it's Penske.
So Penske, with the evidence on the table that the old kit not only could compete with the current kit, you tell me and the rest of IndyCar why you are paying more when you easily could have taken the old kit and spent much less developing it during the offseason and possibly still made the second round and Fast Six in qualifying?
Winners From the Weekend
Nelson Piquet, Jr. became the sixth different winner in six Formula E race after he won at Long Beach, 35 years after his father Nelson Piquet won his first career Formula One race at Long Beach.
Andrea Caldarelli and Ryō Hirakawa won the Super GT race from Okayama. Yuichi Nakayama and Koki Saga won in GT300.
The Monegasque pairing of Stéphane Ortelli and Stéphane Richmeli won the Blancpain Sprint Series qualifying race from Nogaro. Maxime Martin and Dirk Müller won the Blancpain Sprint Series main race earlier today.
Coming Up This Weekend
IndyCar makes their debut at NOLA Motorsports Park for the Grand Prix of Louisiana.
MotoGP returns to Austin.
FIA World Endurance Championship kicks off their season from Silverstone.
European Le Mans Series joins FIA WEC at Silverstone.
Formula One goes to China.
Blancpain Endurance Series starts their season at Monza.
World Superbike runs their first race in Europe at Aragón.
NASCAR runs their first night race at Texas.
AMA Supercross heads to Houston.
Thursday, April 2, 2015
2015 Long Beach ePrix Preview
The sixth round of the inaugural FIA Formula E Championship takes place on the streets of Long Beach this Saturday, April 4th. This is the the second round to take place in the United States.
Through the first five races there have been five different winners. Three weeks ago at Miami, e.dams driver Nicolas Prost took his maiden victory and in doing so took the championship lead. Prost is the only driver to score points from all five races and has 67 total. Seven behind the Frenchman is the winner of the inaugural Formula E race, Lucas di Grassi. The Brazilian Audi Sport ABT driver had finished on the podium in the first three races but retired at Buenos Aires and finished ninth at Miami. Virgin Racing's and Putrajaya winner Sam Bird is third in the championship, 15 points behind Prost. The Brit salvaged points at Miami after nearly not having enough power to make it make to the pit lane while leading. Nelson Piquet, Jr. has yet to win but is fourth in the championship driving for China Racing. Piquet, Jr. finished second at Punta del Esta and third at Buenos Aires and is 18 points behind Prost.
Prost's e.dams teammate and Punta del Esta winner Sébastien Buemi trails by 24 points while Buenos Aires winner, Aguri driver António Félix da Costa is 30 points back, sixth overall.
Long Beach is the second home race for Los Angeles-based Dragon Racing and Indianapolis-based Andretti Autosport. Dragon's Jérôme d'Ambrosio is seventh in the championship and has finished in the points in four of the five races with the Belgian scoring his best finish (fourth) at Miami. He will be joined for the second consecutive race by FIA WEC World Champion, Le Mans winner, Formula Nippon champion and Super GT champion Loïc Duval. The Frenchman finished seventh on debut. Scott Speed returns with Andretti Autosport for his second race. Speed finished second on debut. Jean-Éric Vergne will be making his fourth start with Andretti has won pole position for two of his first three starts and in each of those starts he failed to finish.
Virgin Racing's Jaime Alguersuari and Audi Sport ABT's Daniel Abt are eighth and ninth in the championship. The Spaniard has 26 points while the German sits on 19 and finished third at Miami, his first career podium. Mahindra Racing's Karun Chandhok and Bruno Senna each have 18 points. Senna has won the fan boost in four of five races. Trulli GP returns with an all-Italian driver line-up. Jarno Trulli will be joined by Vitantonio Liuzzi for the second consecutive race. The team's only finish in the points came at Punta del Esta when Trulli finished fourth. Venturi Grand Prix drivers Nick Heidfeld and Stéphane Sarrazin have only combined for eight points through the first five races. Heidfeld was a corner away from being the inaugural winner in Formula E history before being taken out by Prost. The team's best finish is eighth.
Charles Pic and Salvador Durán round out the entry list for Long Beach. Pic is driving for China Racing. He finished fourth in Beijing driving for Andretti. Durán has run the last three races, all for Aguri. He finished tenth at Miami, securing his first points in Formula E competition.
In the Teams' Championship, e.dams has 119 points and leads Audi Sport ABT by 31 markers and Virgin Racings by 32 points. The American teams are fourth and fifth with Andretti having 62 points to their name and Dragon Racings sitting on 56 points. China Racing has 49 points with Aguri nine behind them. Mahindra has 36 points while Trulli GP has 12 and Venturi sits on eight.
Long Beach will mark the first time Formula E will have an unchanged driver line-up from the previous race. As well as having five different winners from the first five races, there have been five different drivers to have set fastest lap in the five races. Takuma Sato took the inaugural fastest lap at Beijing. Alguersuari, Abt, Bird and Piquet, Jr. took fastest lap in the subsequent races. Every Formula E race has had at least one driver score their first career podium. The driver to lead the first lap of a Formula E race has never won a Formula E race. Miami marked the first Formula E race to not feature a safety car period.
The Long Beach race will take place on a modified course compared to the one IndyCar will use a fortnight afterward. The Formula E course is 7 turns and 1.302 miles in length. The cars with have a chicane on the front straightaway before making a right hand turn at what is normally the IndyCar, left-hand turn six. The course is identical to the IndyCar one from that point forward as the cars will run the famed turn nine (which is turn five on the Formula E circuit) and hairpin sections of the course.
Qualifying will take place at 3:00 p.m. ET with the race starting at 7:00 p.m. ET. Fox Sports 1 will have live coverage starting at 6:30 p.m. ET. A replay of the race will be aired on Fox Sports 1 the next day at 11:00 a.m. ET, Easter morning. The race is scheduled for 39 laps.
Through the first five races there have been five different winners. Three weeks ago at Miami, e.dams driver Nicolas Prost took his maiden victory and in doing so took the championship lead. Prost is the only driver to score points from all five races and has 67 total. Seven behind the Frenchman is the winner of the inaugural Formula E race, Lucas di Grassi. The Brazilian Audi Sport ABT driver had finished on the podium in the first three races but retired at Buenos Aires and finished ninth at Miami. Virgin Racing's and Putrajaya winner Sam Bird is third in the championship, 15 points behind Prost. The Brit salvaged points at Miami after nearly not having enough power to make it make to the pit lane while leading. Nelson Piquet, Jr. has yet to win but is fourth in the championship driving for China Racing. Piquet, Jr. finished second at Punta del Esta and third at Buenos Aires and is 18 points behind Prost.
Prost's e.dams teammate and Punta del Esta winner Sébastien Buemi trails by 24 points while Buenos Aires winner, Aguri driver António Félix da Costa is 30 points back, sixth overall.
Long Beach is the second home race for Los Angeles-based Dragon Racing and Indianapolis-based Andretti Autosport. Dragon's Jérôme d'Ambrosio is seventh in the championship and has finished in the points in four of the five races with the Belgian scoring his best finish (fourth) at Miami. He will be joined for the second consecutive race by FIA WEC World Champion, Le Mans winner, Formula Nippon champion and Super GT champion Loïc Duval. The Frenchman finished seventh on debut. Scott Speed returns with Andretti Autosport for his second race. Speed finished second on debut. Jean-Éric Vergne will be making his fourth start with Andretti has won pole position for two of his first three starts and in each of those starts he failed to finish.
Virgin Racing's Jaime Alguersuari and Audi Sport ABT's Daniel Abt are eighth and ninth in the championship. The Spaniard has 26 points while the German sits on 19 and finished third at Miami, his first career podium. Mahindra Racing's Karun Chandhok and Bruno Senna each have 18 points. Senna has won the fan boost in four of five races. Trulli GP returns with an all-Italian driver line-up. Jarno Trulli will be joined by Vitantonio Liuzzi for the second consecutive race. The team's only finish in the points came at Punta del Esta when Trulli finished fourth. Venturi Grand Prix drivers Nick Heidfeld and Stéphane Sarrazin have only combined for eight points through the first five races. Heidfeld was a corner away from being the inaugural winner in Formula E history before being taken out by Prost. The team's best finish is eighth.
Charles Pic and Salvador Durán round out the entry list for Long Beach. Pic is driving for China Racing. He finished fourth in Beijing driving for Andretti. Durán has run the last three races, all for Aguri. He finished tenth at Miami, securing his first points in Formula E competition.
In the Teams' Championship, e.dams has 119 points and leads Audi Sport ABT by 31 markers and Virgin Racings by 32 points. The American teams are fourth and fifth with Andretti having 62 points to their name and Dragon Racings sitting on 56 points. China Racing has 49 points with Aguri nine behind them. Mahindra has 36 points while Trulli GP has 12 and Venturi sits on eight.
Long Beach will mark the first time Formula E will have an unchanged driver line-up from the previous race. As well as having five different winners from the first five races, there have been five different drivers to have set fastest lap in the five races. Takuma Sato took the inaugural fastest lap at Beijing. Alguersuari, Abt, Bird and Piquet, Jr. took fastest lap in the subsequent races. Every Formula E race has had at least one driver score their first career podium. The driver to lead the first lap of a Formula E race has never won a Formula E race. Miami marked the first Formula E race to not feature a safety car period.
The Long Beach race will take place on a modified course compared to the one IndyCar will use a fortnight afterward. The Formula E course is 7 turns and 1.302 miles in length. The cars with have a chicane on the front straightaway before making a right hand turn at what is normally the IndyCar, left-hand turn six. The course is identical to the IndyCar one from that point forward as the cars will run the famed turn nine (which is turn five on the Formula E circuit) and hairpin sections of the course.
Qualifying will take place at 3:00 p.m. ET with the race starting at 7:00 p.m. ET. Fox Sports 1 will have live coverage starting at 6:30 p.m. ET. A replay of the race will be aired on Fox Sports 1 the next day at 11:00 a.m. ET, Easter morning. The race is scheduled for 39 laps.
Monday, March 30, 2015
Musings From the Weekend: One Vision
IndyCar got underway, Formula One season got a little more interesting, MotoGP did what it always does and NASCAR did 500 laps at Martinsville. Here is a run down of what got me thinking.
One Vision
Mark Miles got blasted this weekend. Roger Penske blasted aero kits, the idea of racing outside the United States and doesn't want a new car until 2020. Chip Ganassi said the six-month offseason is killing IndyCar. The two most prominent team owners took shots at IndyCar brass and it's time everyone in IndyCar got on the same page.
Segmentation has been the way too long in IndyCar. The team owners are no longer in charge of IndyCar but that doesn't mean they should lay down to Miles. It seems the overwhelming majority of those within and around IndyCar hate the six-month offseason. There are plenty of tracks within the United States IndyCar should go to (Phoenix, Road America, Laguna Seca, Michigan, Richmond, Austin) but they aren't lining up to host an IndyCar race any time soon and Formula One is greedily abandoning Europe to chase the money from every authoritarian government imaginable and as much as IndyCar needs to expand their profile in the United States and North America, it wouldn't hurt to become more popular around the globe.
Mark Miles isn't entirely right and the team owners aren't entirely right (If Penske doesn't want to spend money then he mind as well get out of motorsports). There needs to be a compromise in this vision. If the team owners are struggling to get or maintain sponsor because of the six-month offseason, then it should probably be changed. If a respectable, international promoter is going to pay IndyCar $25 million a year to host a race and the likes of Phoenix aren't interested in hosting a race, you need to take the money, not wait for Phoenix to change their mind.
I find it ironic Ganassi is now complaining about the six-month offseason considering Randy Bernard, the man who expanded the schedule length by pushing Fontana to October, a race date the track wanted, was run out of town thanks to Ganassi and John Barnes. Not looking so smart now hey there Floyd? When Fontana moved to October it created a massive gap in September. IndyCar only need to add a race or two and then the problem would have been solved but I digress. We can't fix it now.
Everyone within IndyCar, from the drivers to the team owners to Mark Miles need to come up with a common vision for the series. Otherwise another executive will be fired and the series will be stuck in upheaval once again.
Ticket Price: Revisited
Back in October after seeing the massive crowd for the MotoGP Malaysian Grand Prix I looked at ticket prices for that race and decided to compare them to the Formula One Malaysian Grand Prix. To no surprise, the Formula One prices are ungodly. For MotoGP, the most expensive ticket was $110. For Formula One, it was $2,108.84. To sit in the main grandstand for MotoGP it cost $49. For Formula One, the cheapest main grandstand ticket was $203.58. Hillside tickets for Formula One were responsible, $24.47 but the MotoGP hillside ticket was $12.
It is clear why Sepang was so empty on Sunday. But Bernie made money and signed a new three-year deal for Malaysia to stay on the calendar so what does he care about the exorbitant amount of empty seats?
Other Thoughts
Why not invert the grid of the second races for the Road to Indy doubleheaders? All three series had a driver sweep the doubleheaders. Maybe make it a little more interesting. With only 13 cars in Indy Lights and the cars being close in time, I would suggest inverting the entire field but for Pro Mazda and U.S. F2000, which feature slightly larger grids and "expert" class drivers, maybe invert only the top six or eight from race one. Maybe the second race could have a different points system. I suggest 9-6-4-3-2-1 with no bonus points for laps led or fastest lap.
Pirelli World Challenge has great racing but both races this weekend were behind the safety car for over half of the 50-minute duration. The first race had a massive accident on the start after a car stalled. Maybe using rolling starts for the street courses where there is less room to avoid a sitting duck. The second race had another big incident, which blocked the track but was clean up quickly. However, there was another car stopped further along on the course and officials decided to pick that car up and tow it back to the paddock. Why not just push the stranded car behind the barrier and pick it up after the race is over? It would have shortened the safety car period in race two immensely and allowed for more on-track action for the fans.
Winners From the Weekend
You know about Juan Pablo Montoya but did you know....
Sebastian Vettel won at Malaysian Grand Prix in his second start with Ferrari.
Valentino Rossi won the MotoGP season opener from Qatar.
Denny Hamlin won the NASCAR Cup race at Martinsville.
Craig Lowndes swept the V8 Supercar races from Symmons Plains on Saturday. His Red Bull Racing teammate Jamie Whincup won the race on Sunday and took the championship lead.
Ryan Eversley and Olivier Beretta split the PWC GT races from St. Petersburg. Dean Martin and Spencer Pumpelly split the GTS races.
Three Mazda Road to Indy doubleheaders at St. Petersburg and three sweeps. Ed Jones swept the Indy Lights races, Neil Alberico swept the Pro Mazda races and Jake Eidson swept the U.S. F2000 races.
Jonas Folger won the Moto2 race from Qatar. Alexis Masbou won in Moto3.
Ryan Dungey won the Supercross race from St. Louis.
Joey Logano won the NASCAR Truck race from Martinsville.
Coming Up This Weekend
Formula E heads to the Long Beach for their second race in the United States.
Super GT has their season opener from Okayama.
Blancpain Sprint Series heads to Nogaro for their annual Easter Monday race.
One Vision
Mark Miles got blasted this weekend. Roger Penske blasted aero kits, the idea of racing outside the United States and doesn't want a new car until 2020. Chip Ganassi said the six-month offseason is killing IndyCar. The two most prominent team owners took shots at IndyCar brass and it's time everyone in IndyCar got on the same page.
Segmentation has been the way too long in IndyCar. The team owners are no longer in charge of IndyCar but that doesn't mean they should lay down to Miles. It seems the overwhelming majority of those within and around IndyCar hate the six-month offseason. There are plenty of tracks within the United States IndyCar should go to (Phoenix, Road America, Laguna Seca, Michigan, Richmond, Austin) but they aren't lining up to host an IndyCar race any time soon and Formula One is greedily abandoning Europe to chase the money from every authoritarian government imaginable and as much as IndyCar needs to expand their profile in the United States and North America, it wouldn't hurt to become more popular around the globe.
Mark Miles isn't entirely right and the team owners aren't entirely right (If Penske doesn't want to spend money then he mind as well get out of motorsports). There needs to be a compromise in this vision. If the team owners are struggling to get or maintain sponsor because of the six-month offseason, then it should probably be changed. If a respectable, international promoter is going to pay IndyCar $25 million a year to host a race and the likes of Phoenix aren't interested in hosting a race, you need to take the money, not wait for Phoenix to change their mind.
I find it ironic Ganassi is now complaining about the six-month offseason considering Randy Bernard, the man who expanded the schedule length by pushing Fontana to October, a race date the track wanted, was run out of town thanks to Ganassi and John Barnes. Not looking so smart now hey there Floyd? When Fontana moved to October it created a massive gap in September. IndyCar only need to add a race or two and then the problem would have been solved but I digress. We can't fix it now.
Everyone within IndyCar, from the drivers to the team owners to Mark Miles need to come up with a common vision for the series. Otherwise another executive will be fired and the series will be stuck in upheaval once again.
Ticket Price: Revisited
Back in October after seeing the massive crowd for the MotoGP Malaysian Grand Prix I looked at ticket prices for that race and decided to compare them to the Formula One Malaysian Grand Prix. To no surprise, the Formula One prices are ungodly. For MotoGP, the most expensive ticket was $110. For Formula One, it was $2,108.84. To sit in the main grandstand for MotoGP it cost $49. For Formula One, the cheapest main grandstand ticket was $203.58. Hillside tickets for Formula One were responsible, $24.47 but the MotoGP hillside ticket was $12.
It is clear why Sepang was so empty on Sunday. But Bernie made money and signed a new three-year deal for Malaysia to stay on the calendar so what does he care about the exorbitant amount of empty seats?
Other Thoughts
Why not invert the grid of the second races for the Road to Indy doubleheaders? All three series had a driver sweep the doubleheaders. Maybe make it a little more interesting. With only 13 cars in Indy Lights and the cars being close in time, I would suggest inverting the entire field but for Pro Mazda and U.S. F2000, which feature slightly larger grids and "expert" class drivers, maybe invert only the top six or eight from race one. Maybe the second race could have a different points system. I suggest 9-6-4-3-2-1 with no bonus points for laps led or fastest lap.
Pirelli World Challenge has great racing but both races this weekend were behind the safety car for over half of the 50-minute duration. The first race had a massive accident on the start after a car stalled. Maybe using rolling starts for the street courses where there is less room to avoid a sitting duck. The second race had another big incident, which blocked the track but was clean up quickly. However, there was another car stopped further along on the course and officials decided to pick that car up and tow it back to the paddock. Why not just push the stranded car behind the barrier and pick it up after the race is over? It would have shortened the safety car period in race two immensely and allowed for more on-track action for the fans.
Winners From the Weekend
You know about Juan Pablo Montoya but did you know....
Sebastian Vettel won at Malaysian Grand Prix in his second start with Ferrari.
Valentino Rossi won the MotoGP season opener from Qatar.
Denny Hamlin won the NASCAR Cup race at Martinsville.
Craig Lowndes swept the V8 Supercar races from Symmons Plains on Saturday. His Red Bull Racing teammate Jamie Whincup won the race on Sunday and took the championship lead.
Ryan Eversley and Olivier Beretta split the PWC GT races from St. Petersburg. Dean Martin and Spencer Pumpelly split the GTS races.
Three Mazda Road to Indy doubleheaders at St. Petersburg and three sweeps. Ed Jones swept the Indy Lights races, Neil Alberico swept the Pro Mazda races and Jake Eidson swept the U.S. F2000 races.
Jonas Folger won the Moto2 race from Qatar. Alexis Masbou won in Moto3.
Ryan Dungey won the Supercross race from St. Louis.
Joey Logano won the NASCAR Truck race from Martinsville.
Coming Up This Weekend
Formula E heads to the Long Beach for their second race in the United States.
Super GT has their season opener from Okayama.
Blancpain Sprint Series heads to Nogaro for their annual Easter Monday race.
Sunday, March 29, 2015
First Impressions: St. Petersburg 2015
1. This could be a long season. Juan Pablo Montoya won the race but Will Power dominated and Hélio Castroneves and Simon Pagenaud finished fourth and fifth and they started 1-2-3-4. Montoya took advantage of a pit lane mistake by Power's crew and won the race. Power made a hard charge, even made contact with the Colombian late. I knew Penske was going to be quick and were going to be at the front. I didn't know they were going to unleash an ass-whooping.
2. Nice job by Tony Kanaan breaking up the Penske party with a third place finish but he was not a factor at all. He stayed at the front all day and it worked out in his favor.
3. Sébastien Bourdais finished sixth, his first career top ten at St. Petersburg. Like Kanaan, he wasn't a factor at all but was at the front all race.
4. Ryan Hunter-Reay was the top Honda in seventh. Every team will be going back to the drawing board to try and figure out how to beat Penske but Honda has to go back and try to figure out how to become a contender for a podium.
5. Great drive for Jack Hawksworth. Started 21st, had to change his front wing early, was on a completely different pit strategy, had to pit from 3rd, fell out of the top ten but charged to eighth in his debut with A.J. Foyt Racing. I expect big things from his this year.
6. Luca Filippi finished ninth after starting 19th. He brought the car home and that is the one thing Mike Conway struggled with in 2014. Conway might have won two races but his next best finish was 13th. Not a bad debut for Filippi at CFH.
7. Marco Andretti rounded out the top ten. He had a solid day. Damaged in front wing once but overcame the adversity.
8. Graham Rahal's orange livery is fantastic. That should be his full-time livery. Just replace the Mi-Jack stickers with Steak & Shake and Maxim when necessary. Rough break for Rahal on the penalty for contact with Charlie Kimball, who had a tire rub and was smoking heavily. He would have had a top ten if it wasn't for the penalty and could have been the top Honda.
9. Watching Scott Dixon get manually jacked on pit stops while everyone else was using the pneumatic jack is like seeing the one dog at a doggy day care wearing a sweater. You just feel bad for him and want to give him a hug.
10. Simona de Silvestro had a great qualifying session but rough race. I hope she gets a few more starts this season. Can't base everything off one race.
11. Dale Coyne Racing hired a crap driver and a driver who won a race with an illegal fuel cell and they finished 23rd and 24th respectively. You are right Dale, there is no way Justin Wilson, Conor Daly or Ryan Briscoe could have done better than that. Good choice.
12. IndyCar needs to adopt local yellows or code 60 because it shouldn't take five laps to pick up two or three pieces of debris that are next to barriers. You can't throw a full course caution for every bit on a debris. Major, big piece, of course but if you are going to throw it for every little piece of debris, you are going to have 66% of the race under caution and people aren't going to tune in to watch caution laps. IndyCar needs to work on this before the next race.
13. I am sure Eddie Cheever and Scott Goodyear love IndyCar but I don't think they are ABC's best options as color commentators. Allen Bestwick and Dario Franchitti would be a dream pairing. This year the Monaco and Germany Formula E races conflict with both Indianapolis races but I am sure they could work around those in the future. Gil de Ferran would be another guy to consider. He did a really good job a few years ago when he work with NBCSN on their Indianapolis 500 coverage. Alex Lloyd would also be another great option.
14. Jon Beekhuis was a great addition to the ABC team. He is probably the best pit lane reporter across both IndyCar television partners (No offense Kevin Lee and Robin Miller). He should be the go to guy come the month of May when the likes of SportsCenter and other ESPN/ABC shows want to talk about the Indianapolis 500 and IndyCar.
15. I love St. Petersburg. I wish that Green Savoree Promotions could work on extending the straightaway to turn four to create another passing zone but other than that the track does produce some good racing, the crowd looked good, it looked like a beautiful day. I hope to get down there at some point in my life.
16. Not the greatest race ever but let's give aero kits some time. Hopefully the racing will become more competitive as the season goes on. Off next week due to Easter but then off to New Orleans for the inaugural Grand Prix of Louisiana from NOLA Motorsports Park. Perhaps the racing will be a little better and there will be less cautions on a natural-terrain road course.
2. Nice job by Tony Kanaan breaking up the Penske party with a third place finish but he was not a factor at all. He stayed at the front all day and it worked out in his favor.
3. Sébastien Bourdais finished sixth, his first career top ten at St. Petersburg. Like Kanaan, he wasn't a factor at all but was at the front all race.
4. Ryan Hunter-Reay was the top Honda in seventh. Every team will be going back to the drawing board to try and figure out how to beat Penske but Honda has to go back and try to figure out how to become a contender for a podium.
5. Great drive for Jack Hawksworth. Started 21st, had to change his front wing early, was on a completely different pit strategy, had to pit from 3rd, fell out of the top ten but charged to eighth in his debut with A.J. Foyt Racing. I expect big things from his this year.
6. Luca Filippi finished ninth after starting 19th. He brought the car home and that is the one thing Mike Conway struggled with in 2014. Conway might have won two races but his next best finish was 13th. Not a bad debut for Filippi at CFH.
7. Marco Andretti rounded out the top ten. He had a solid day. Damaged in front wing once but overcame the adversity.
8. Graham Rahal's orange livery is fantastic. That should be his full-time livery. Just replace the Mi-Jack stickers with Steak & Shake and Maxim when necessary. Rough break for Rahal on the penalty for contact with Charlie Kimball, who had a tire rub and was smoking heavily. He would have had a top ten if it wasn't for the penalty and could have been the top Honda.
9. Watching Scott Dixon get manually jacked on pit stops while everyone else was using the pneumatic jack is like seeing the one dog at a doggy day care wearing a sweater. You just feel bad for him and want to give him a hug.
10. Simona de Silvestro had a great qualifying session but rough race. I hope she gets a few more starts this season. Can't base everything off one race.
11. Dale Coyne Racing hired a crap driver and a driver who won a race with an illegal fuel cell and they finished 23rd and 24th respectively. You are right Dale, there is no way Justin Wilson, Conor Daly or Ryan Briscoe could have done better than that. Good choice.
12. IndyCar needs to adopt local yellows or code 60 because it shouldn't take five laps to pick up two or three pieces of debris that are next to barriers. You can't throw a full course caution for every bit on a debris. Major, big piece, of course but if you are going to throw it for every little piece of debris, you are going to have 66% of the race under caution and people aren't going to tune in to watch caution laps. IndyCar needs to work on this before the next race.
13. I am sure Eddie Cheever and Scott Goodyear love IndyCar but I don't think they are ABC's best options as color commentators. Allen Bestwick and Dario Franchitti would be a dream pairing. This year the Monaco and Germany Formula E races conflict with both Indianapolis races but I am sure they could work around those in the future. Gil de Ferran would be another guy to consider. He did a really good job a few years ago when he work with NBCSN on their Indianapolis 500 coverage. Alex Lloyd would also be another great option.
14. Jon Beekhuis was a great addition to the ABC team. He is probably the best pit lane reporter across both IndyCar television partners (No offense Kevin Lee and Robin Miller). He should be the go to guy come the month of May when the likes of SportsCenter and other ESPN/ABC shows want to talk about the Indianapolis 500 and IndyCar.
15. I love St. Petersburg. I wish that Green Savoree Promotions could work on extending the straightaway to turn four to create another passing zone but other than that the track does produce some good racing, the crowd looked good, it looked like a beautiful day. I hope to get down there at some point in my life.
16. Not the greatest race ever but let's give aero kits some time. Hopefully the racing will become more competitive as the season goes on. Off next week due to Easter but then off to New Orleans for the inaugural Grand Prix of Louisiana from NOLA Motorsports Park. Perhaps the racing will be a little better and there will be less cautions on a natural-terrain road course.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)