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Post by René on Jun 1, 2022 21:20:46 GMT
After a protracted Monaco dominated by red flags, I had little time for Indy and fast-forwarded through a very ordinary 500. The most interesting aspect throughout the whole month was the domination of Team Ganassi. Fifth fastest qualifier Marcus Ericsson drove an excellent race to a well-deserved win and the great Tony Kanaan, as fast as ever, won the duel of ancient Brazilians with Helio Castroneves. Sadly parenthetical, Rinus Veekay's crash may have resulted from tyres not fully warmed after his pitstop. He'll know better next time. Not the most exciting 500 ever and a shame for Veekay but a well deserved win for Marcus Ericsson. Nice to see him finding success in the US.  |
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Post by chrisb on Jun 3, 2022 18:43:42 GMT
A surprise to be truthful but not an unpleasant one did I hear something about him paying tribute to another Swede?
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Post by robmarsh on Jun 4, 2022 7:45:26 GMT
Yep Chris he wore a Ronnie Peterson tribute helmet.
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Post by René on Jun 4, 2022 21:46:52 GMT
A very nice film on the 1955 Indy 500. Really worthwhile watching!
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Post by Carl on Jun 5, 2022 4:09:44 GMT
A very nice film on the 1955 Indy 500. Really worthwhile watching! Thanks, René!
An excellent film! It's interesting that USAC Champ Cars had tread only on the outer 1/3 of each tyre. They knew even then that tread was not advantageous on a dry surface. The theory must have been to have the tread where a car would have most of its weight with the tail out.
Bill Vukovich was one of the greatest in the world. No-one dominated the 500 in the same way until Jim Clark a decade later.
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Post by Carl on Jun 5, 2022 4:23:15 GMT
Today's Detroit Grand Prix
The course on an island in the middle of the Detroit River, not known for scenic beauty, is nonetheless challenging with a good variety of primarily fast sweepers. The corners at Belle Isle take turns leaping out to snare Will Power, Turn 3 most often.   Qualifying results: 1st – Josef Newgarden 2nd – Takuma Sato 3rd – Simon Pagenaud 4th – Helio Castroneves 5th – Pato O’Ward 6th – David Malukas 7th – Colton Herta 8th – Marcus Ericsson 9th – Scott Dixon 10th – Scott McLaughlin 11th – Alexander Rossi 12th – Romain Grosjean 13th – Conor Daly 14th – Rinus VeeKay 15th – Kyle Kirkwood 16th – Will Power 17th – Santino Ferrucci 18th – Alex Palou 19th – Christian Lundgaard 20th – Jack Harvey 21st – Devlin DeFrancesco 22nd – Jimmie Johnson 23rd – Graham Rahal 24th – Tatiana Calderon 25th – Felix Rosenqvist 26th – Dalton Kellett |
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Post by chrisb on Jun 5, 2022 8:27:41 GMT
Managed to catch some of the qualifying on youtube, it certainly seems a circuit devoid of beauty but one of great challenges and some spectacular incidents, especially for Romain who seems to have slipped down the popularity stakes somewhat - reminds me of someone else?
Disappointed that Jack isn't doing as well as hoped, and wonder if he will be retained next year at this rate but some very good laps by some others especially Takuma and Josef - very impressive indeed, should be a good race
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Post by René on Jun 5, 2022 9:33:50 GMT
Thank you, Carl!
Yes this could be a good race. It's usually good at Belle Isle and this is the last Detroit Grand Prix at this track so definitely a must watch. Go Josef, go! 
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Post by Carl on Jun 6, 2022 1:07:04 GMT
An exciting duel at the end between Will Power and Alexander Rossi but, as in Formula One, the overall focus of attention was on pitstop strategy and tyre compound. I was rooting for Firestone's Firehawk Primary tyre because the sidewall red stripe makes the alternate tyre look promiscuous.
In the secondary contest (between drivers), I was hoping for an overdue win for Alexander Rossi, who drove beautifully and was always in contention, and another lap may have meant victory, but only 70 were scheduled. Well done by every driver in the top 10 and a very exciting last few laps! Rank Driver 1 Will Power 2 Alexander Rossi 3 Scott Dixon 4 Josef Newgarden 5 Pato O'Ward 6 Alex Palou 7 Marcus Ericsson 8 Colton Herta 9 Simon Pagenaud 10 Felix Rosenqvist
With the exception of Pagenaud (Meyer Shank Racing), all in the top ten drove either for Team Penske, Andretti Autosport or Arrow McLaren.
Kyle Kirkwood drove beautifully for A.J. Foyt's team and was in the top 5 when he made a mistake on cold tyres and kissed the wall, bending the left-rear suspension. Rinus Veekay hit the tyre barriers on the last lap at Turn 6 after just clipping the apex. He may do better on road courses in one of the top teams.
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Post by René on Jun 6, 2022 10:15:05 GMT
Yep, an enjoyable race. I was hoping for Rossi to win again after such a long time but as you said Carl, he needed one or two more laps. A good result nonetheless and a good win for Will Power. With Power, Rossi, Dixon and Newgarden in the top 4, the establishment has beaten the new guard this time. It's a shame this was the last race at Belle Isle. I like the 'roughness' of this track with its bumpy concrete surface and the walls never far away. |
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Post by Carl on Jun 6, 2022 16:41:14 GMT
Yes, I really like the course on Belle Isle with its slight roughness and minor yumps! I hope the downtown street circuit is better than the Formula One layout in the 80s.
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Post by René on Jun 11, 2022 20:11:39 GMT
Road America - Elkhart Lake
 Fantastic pole position for Alexander Rossi to become the eighth different polesitter in eight races this season! Rossi snatched pole position by 0.0715s from Newgarden!  1. Alexander Rossi, Andretti Autosport, 1'44.8656 2. Josef Newgarden, Team Penske, 1'44.9371, 0.0715 3. Alex Palou, Chip Ganassi Racing, 1'45.3822, 0.5166 4. Marcus Ericsson , Chip Ganassi Racing, 1'45.4240, 0.5584 5. Colton Herta, Andretti Autosport, 1'45.5388, 0.6732 6. Patricio O'Ward, Arrow McLaren SP, 1'45.6826, 0.8170
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Post by Carl on Jun 12, 2022 0:06:10 GMT
Alexander Rossi is riding the crest of a fast wave  1. Alexander Rossi 1:44.8656 2. Josef Newgarden 1:44.9371 3. Alex Palou 1:45.3822 4. Marcus Ericsson 1:45.4240 5. Colton Herta 1:45.5388 6. Pato O’Ward 1:45.6826 Never mind the others...also rans to the last More important, returning to Indycar with Ed Carpenter Racing after 7 years, is the voluptuous Simona de Silvestro!!
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Post by chrisb on Jun 12, 2022 17:34:15 GMT
What a beautiful circuit if the race is anywhere near how good the practice was it will a tremendous race
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Post by Carl on Jun 13, 2022 1:26:22 GMT
The race win came down to the two fastest qualifiers and two restarts over the the last ten laps. Josef Newgarden's better response times gave him all the margin he needed over Alexander Rossi, who also lost a secure 2nd place to Marcus Ericsson. With no time to test her new  , Simona de Silvestro drove very cautiously, using almost none of her available Push to Pass boost. I've seen her at Long Beach in years past and she's very fast, but never in the top tier. In my opinion, the road racing strategic weakness of Ed Carpenter Racing was one reason none of its drivers did well. It's also possible that budget concerns prompted Carpenter to take on a paid driver in the first place. A talented young driver like Rinus Veekay would be better served elsewhere. Danish driver Christian Lundgaard drove very well to finish 10th for Bobby Rahal's team. Romain Grosjean is no diplomat. Only someone who enjoys living dangerously would proclaim that he doesn't like cheese from Wisconsin (the dairy state)... If he'd also said French sausages were better than Wisconsin bratwurst, he'd be swimming far from shore in Lake Winnebago. |
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, Simona de Silvestro drove very cautiously, using almost none of her available Push to Pass boost. I've seen her at Long Beach in years past and she's very fast, but never in the top tier. In my opinion, the road racing strategic weakness of Ed Carpenter Racing was one reason none of its drivers did well. It's also possible that budget concerns prompted Carpenter to take on a paid driver in the first place. A talented young driver like Rinus Veekay would be better served elsewhere.