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Post by Carl on Jul 23, 2019 16:27:52 GMT
An excellent quality 30 minute highlight of the race can be found on YouTube:- Thanks! I knew the end result but it was still worthwhile watching. Very close racing!  Highlights are cool! |
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Post by chrisb on Jul 24, 2019 7:49:02 GMT
excellent,
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Post by Jamie on Jul 25, 2019 6:50:28 GMT
I really think that Indycar has turned the corner now and it’s a brilliant series once again. I’ve enjoyed it immensely this year, particularly the stand out performances of Colton Herta. Also great to see Dixon (probably my favourite) mixing it as well.
I’d dearly love to attend an Indycar race at some point, something I’ll seriously look into combining with a family holiday to the west coast in the next few years.
I love American motorsport in general, with IMSA at the top for me. Such a shame that IMSA and the ACO can’t get there regulations to align so we see some global SportsCar interaction like the Group C / IMSA GTP glory days.....oh well, that would be far to sensible....
The Americans know how to paint a race car as well, love the brightly coloured Indycars!
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Post by chrisb on Jul 25, 2019 8:45:45 GMT
hear hear Jamie, I have loved the USA racing since I became aware of it in the 60's, the colourful characters and the sheer speed and professionalism was always a deep joy to me, like European racing it went through its good times and poor times, but when the European press were a bit haughty towards it I always bridled in irritation, the racing was simply great and many an American driver would have been very successful had they been tempted, especially in the 70's.
the combined holiday is a great idea Jamie, good luck with that, I have been so fortunate to have seen several Indycar races, but would love to go to Long Beach and several other circuits as they are REAL circuits that test man [and woman] and machine to their limits, but the one I always wanted to go to was the Daytona 500, Nascar at its's finest for me,
Those great days of IMSA and Group C, were just it! I always loved sports cars and lament the current situation and would love to see the excellent Japanese series link with the Europeans and the Americans to have a great international series, but as you say, that would be far to sensible,
the spectacle and the brilliant paint jobs, just brilliant, I managed to watch a bit last night and it is just such a spectacle -
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Post by Jamie on Jul 25, 2019 18:06:42 GMT
Are you going to WEC Silverstone Chris? I think I’ll be going this year as the family holiday is in October instead of July/August.
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Post by chrisb on Jul 26, 2019 5:48:30 GMT
sounds good Jamie, I will have to check and get back to you mate but looks likely - cheers
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Post by Carl on Jul 27, 2019 22:55:37 GMT
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Post by charleselan on Jul 28, 2019 10:24:57 GMT
I must try and watch this as Mid Ohio is a wonderful circuit right up there with Elkart Lake. I have discovered that Indycar races are shown live in Free To View Canal+ here in France, so will give that a shot. |
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Post by Carl on Jul 29, 2019 1:46:26 GMT
God deliver me from broadcast network braintrust decisions! I suspect network pressure caused the announcers at Mid-Ohio to obsess about tyre and pit-stop strategy rather than actual racing. When the last pit stops were done, you could sense the relief as they focused on the very exciting last thirty laps. There were great passes and inspired attempts. Most impressive were Scott Dixon on lap 33 and his teammate Felix Rosenqvist on lap 55 dueling side by with the hapless Will Power, into Turn 4 and through 5 and 6. Great stuff.
Dixon narrowly finished ahead of Rosenqvist, with Ryan Hunter-Reay third. The top three teams combined for 7 of the top 8 finishers, but each allows hard racing among their drivers.
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Post by René on Jul 29, 2019 11:10:19 GMT
Fantastic race again at the beautiful Mid Ohio sportscar track! What a great racing sunday!
Several drivers seemed in contention for the win at different stages in the race. Dixon drove very well but so did Rosenqvist. The last part of the race was super exciting and the last lap was crazy! I actually though Scott was going to be angry at Felix for that contact and possibly throwing it all away but Dixon actually apologized for slamming the door on Felix!
And Josef Newgarden. Ouch ouch ouch. He drove another strong race but that move on Hunter-Reay in the last lap for third was over ambitious. If he wins the championship this will only be an anacdote, quickly forgotten. But if he loses it he knows where it really went wrong. He immediately admitted this was his mistake but it could be a very costly one.
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Post by charleselan on Jul 29, 2019 18:23:58 GMT
Mid Ohio provided a truly superb spectacle on last Sunday evening. The circuit is fantastic and "old school" with truly spectacular surroundings that illustrate what circuit racing should be. I always liked this track from when CART raced there in the 1990's and one could watch recordings of the races in the UK the following evening. Unfortunately my idea that the French provider Canal + was Free to View was misplaced. I tuned into the beginning of the German GP courtesy of this station and watched their excellent pre race build up, but just as the race was about to begin up popped an alert saying I hope you enjoyed the short trial, here's how to subscribe, in French of course....b*gg*r  Fortunately there was a great free stream of both the F1 and Mid Ohio, so all was well with the world (as Jenks would say) considering the dire times. For me the only downside of the Indycar event at Mid Ohio was the truly terrible commentary provided by NBC, I honestly am mystified as to believe that at times they were actually watching the same race as me. One of the most mindless interludes happened when they thought it better to talk about future driver placements in 2020 while a fantastic scrap and change of race places were happening in front of our eyes, truly diabolical, come back Leigh Diffey all is forgiven  . A brilliant and quality drive by Scott Dixon backed up by his post race apology to his charging young Swedish team mate for a very brutal last lap chop. All credit to Ganassi for allowing his drivers to compete even with it being in their interest to focus on Scott Dixon in the championship. One final thought that crossed my mind as I watched the race was how in blazes can the US GP take place at a highly painted place like COTA when we have tracks like Road America and Mid Ohio. |
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Post by Carl on Jul 29, 2019 21:50:38 GMT
Mid Ohio provided a truly superb spectacle on last Sunday evening. The circuit is fantastic and "old school" with truly spectacular surroundings that illustrate what circuit racing should be. I always liked this track from when CART raced there in the 1990's and one could watch recordings of the races in the UK the following evening. For me the only downside of the Indycar event at Mid Ohio was the truly terrible commentary provided by NBC, I honestly am mystified as to believe that at times they were actually watching the same race as me. One of the most mindless interludes happened when they thought it better to talk about future driver placements in 2020 while a fantastic scrap and change of race places were happening in front of our eyes, truly diabolical, come back Leigh Diffey all is forgiven . A brilliant and quality drive by Scott Dixon backed up by his post race apology to his charging young Swedish team mate for a very brutal last lap chop. All credit to Ganassi for allowing his drivers to compete even with it being in their interest to focus on Scott Dixon in the championship. One final thought that crossed my mind as I watched the race was how in blazes can the US GP take place at a highly painted place like COTA when we have tracks like Road America and Mid Ohio. John Charles, The best thing about the track with the ridiculous name is its proximity to Austin. At first I thought it was pretty cool, with several dramatic corners, but my enthusiasm was short-lived. It's a clumsy creation of mismatched sections made worse by severe colors similar to Paul Ricard. Good point about why the hell the Grand Prix is there. The reason is the demand of nearly everyone in F1 for 5 star accommodations, which Mid-Ohio, Road America and even Watkins Glen fail to provide. What can they expect if all they have to offer is great racing? There was a sea change in the commentary at Mid-Ohio with, as you noticed, the racing being secondary, I believe at network command. The lengthy focus on Alexander Rossi's signing with Andretti Autosport was emblematic, as was the constant mention, whenever anyone pitted, of "Speedway" as the fuel. Speedway has replaced Sunoco as not only the official fuel of IndyCar (trademark registered) but also the official convenience store! In America, most gas stations now have a convenience store where nachos and donuts are sold.   The two normally excellent commentators, Townsend Bell and Paul Tracy, were strangely subdued. Nearly all seemed uncomfortable with what I believe to be a new format. I'd like to think Leigh Diffey will elevate the commentary, but he's a natural shill and more subservient than Kevin Lee, who replaced him at Mid-Ohio. I hope this broadcast was an aberration...
Cheers, Carl
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Post by chrisb on Jul 30, 2019 4:52:44 GMT
now that is what I would call a motor race, brilliant circuit with its twists and falls, brilliant, and exciting racing but so impressed by the winner's comments with his blocking of his team-mate, oh for it to be live on terrestrial TV again- I only watch the highlights on utub but they were really great, bring it on,
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Post by charleselan on Jul 30, 2019 13:52:12 GMT
Mid Ohio provided a truly superb spectacle on last Sunday evening. The circuit is fantastic and "old school" with truly spectacular surroundings that illustrate what circuit racing should be. I always liked this track from when CART raced there in the 1990's and one could watch recordings of the races in the UK the following evening. For me the only downside of the Indycar event at Mid Ohio was the truly terrible commentary provided by NBC, I honestly am mystified as to believe that at times they were actually watching the same race as me. One of the most mindless interludes happened when they thought it better to talk about future driver placements in 2020 while a fantastic scrap and change of race places were happening in front of our eyes, truly diabolical, come back Leigh Diffey all is forgiven . A brilliant and quality drive by Scott Dixon backed up by his post race apology to his charging young Swedish team mate for a very brutal last lap chop. All credit to Ganassi for allowing his drivers to compete even with it being in their interest to focus on Scott Dixon in the championship. One final thought that crossed my mind as I watched the race was how in blazes can the US GP take place at a highly painted place like COTA when we have tracks like Road America and Mid Ohio. John Charles, The best thing about the track with the ridiculous name is its proximity to Austin. At first I thought it was pretty cool, with several dramatic corners, but my enthusiasm was short-lived. It's a clumsy creation of mismatched sections made worse by severe colors similar to Paul Ricard. Good point about why the hell the Grand Prix is there. The reason is the demand of nearly everyone in F1 for 5 star accommodations, which Mid-Ohio, Road America and even Watkins Glen fail to provide. What can they expect if all they have to offer is great racing? There was a sea change in the commentary at Mid-Ohio with, as you noticed, the racing being secondary, I believe at network command. The lengthy focus on Alexander Rossi's signing with Andretti Autosport was emblematic, as was the constant mention, whenever anyone pitted, of "Speedway" as the fuel. Speedway has replaced Sunoco as not only the official fuel of IndyCar (trademark registered) but also the official convenience store! In America, most gas stations now have a convenience store where nachos and donuts are sold. The two normally excellent commentators, Townsend Bell and Paul Tracy, were strangely subdued. Nearly all seemed uncomfortable with what I believe to be a new format. I'd like to think Leigh Diffey will elevate the commentary, but he's a natural shill and more subservient than Kevin Lee, who replaced him at Mid-Ohio. I hope this broadcast was an aberration...
Cheers, Carl
Carl, I believe that a lot of folk became entranced with COTA (stupid name indeed), but as you say it plagiarised so many things from other circuits and that gaudy paintwork is just plain ostentatious. Of the modern tracks it is one of the better ones granted, but when you compare it to tracks like Mid Ohio and Road America and Watkins Glen it makes one walk away shaking of the head in disbelief. Your knowledgeable comment about the lack of facilities for the corporate morons that prevail at F1 level is understandable, those blighters should be made to slum it like the rest of the punters  . I bet the drivers would much rather ply their trade at places like Mid Ohio than on tedious desert venues that offer zilch in the way of challenge or spectators. I have read recently that Lewis Hamilton and Valterri have both said that many of these newer venues should not be given preference to the traditional homes, good fro them. I did begin to wonder what had happened with regard to the NBC commentary team last weekend, and the way it descended into such a poor show really amazed and angered me. Aside from my previous observation another glaring example of their ineptitude was early in the race when the comms' team were mindlessly going on about Power and Rossi being the main contenders for the win, but in front of us we had Felix Rosenquist flying away from them, and on the same strategy. After about 10 minutes it finally dawned on them that the young Swede was in fact on the same race pattern and looking strong, complete fools. To be honest I didn't ever have much time for Paul Tracey as a driver, the use of his grey matter wasn't that profound at times, and it seemed to be the case in the comms' box last weekend also. Al Unser Jnr maybe a troubled man these days but he had much more race awareness back in the day. I must say that Indycar is looking so good these days, they may well be eight seconds a lap slower than a contemporary F1 truck but I defy anyone to say that the did not look impressive at Mid Ohio. It just goes to show what can be done with intelligently designed rules and the application of them. |
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Post by Carl on Jul 30, 2019 16:37:26 GMT
John Charles, Paul Tracy always had more natural speed than smarts, curiously not the only Penske driver over the years with that imbalance. When Tracy drove for Team Kool Green in CART alongside Dario Franchitti, his childish need to pass his teammate would often spin both cars in synchronized harmony. He's still a buffoon, but often can describe what's happening without hitting anything. Al Unser Jr. was a great driver, although never as great or as personally composed as his father, and, as you say, a troubled man. The Unser family through the generations are a strange group you wouldn't necessarily want as neighbors.
-Carl
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The two normally excellent commentators, Townsend Bell and Paul Tracy, were strangely subdued. Nearly all seemed uncomfortable with what I believe to be a new format. 
. I bet the drivers would much rather ply their trade at places like Mid Ohio than on tedious desert venues that offer zilch in the way of challenge or spectators. I have read recently that Lewis Hamilton and Valterri have both said that many of these newer venues should not be given preference to the traditional homes, good fro them.