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Post by chrisb on Aug 23, 2023 18:09:04 GMT
Carl, I am reading Jack Harvey has been dropped by Rahal is this the case and where does he go from here I wonder
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Post by Carl on Aug 23, 2023 18:50:01 GMT
Carl, I am reading Jack Harvey has been dropped by Rahal is this the case and where does he go from here I wonder Chris, I hadn't heard, but Team Rahal is a struggling team apparently making changes for the sake of change. I'll be surprised if his replacement, Conor Daly, last impressive in Indy Lights, does any better on a team that needs overall restructuring. Harvey will want to stay in a top series, assess whatever offers come his way and maybe go elsewhere. Meanwhile, the musical chairs at Andretti are at a crescendo... www.autosport.com/indycar/news/andretti-confirms-ericsson-deal-grosjeans-indycar-future-in-doubt/10510614/ |
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Post by René on Aug 25, 2023 12:08:12 GMT
Gateway 500 This weekend the interesting oval of Gateway in Madison, Illinois is on the program. Interesting because it has a unique shape where each turn has a different banking. A job for the oval specialists, so a job for Josef Newgarden! Of the current generation of drivers, Josef has already won here four times against once for Scott Dixon and once for Will Power.  With three races to go, it will now be up to Dixon and Newgarden to keep Alex Palou from the title. It won't be easy, but winning is all that matters now and with two races on the schedule this weekend, something is certainly still possible. Josef Newgarden who has won all oval races this season is definitely the big favourite. 
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Post by Carl on Aug 25, 2023 20:57:32 GMT
Gateway 500This weekend the interesting oval of Gateway in Madison, Illinois is on the program. Interesting because it has a unique shape where each turn has a different banking. A job for the oval specialists, so a job for Josef Newgarden! Of the current generation of drivers, Josef has already won here four times against once for Scott Dixon and once for Will Power. With three races to go, it will now be up to Dixon and Newgarden to keep Alex Palou from the title. It won't be easy, but winning is all that matters now and with two races on the schedule this weekend, something is certainly still possible. Josef Newgarden who has won all oval races this season is definitely the big favourite. Josef Newgarden has a natural affinity for short ovals and this is one of the best. The decision by Long Beach Grand Prix founder Chris Pook, who bought Gateway in 1995 and overhauled it to make every turn unique, was damn smart.
British expatriate travel agent Pook remains one of the few to defy the poison dwarf (regarding ecclestone's demands for more sanctioning fees at Long Beach) and emerge with head held high and honor intact.
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Post by Carl on Aug 26, 2023 20:00:13 GMT
A fierce contest between cooler and barrel for the pole at Madison 
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Post by René on Aug 26, 2023 20:30:46 GMT
We’ve had this weather for days. Glad to see we’re not alone.  And the banking at Zandvoort is steeper and they still drive… |
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Post by Carl on Aug 27, 2023 1:04:45 GMT
We’ve had this weather for days. Glad to see we’re not alone. And the banking at Zandvoort is steeper and they still drive… I would be at half throttle around Zandvoort's Turn 14 even in dry weather, so to be at the limit in the rain demands awesome skill. A 1.25 mile elongated oval with a 189.7 mph record lap speed would be so challenging in the rain, I'd refuse to leave my dry grandstand seat. Chris Amon's bravery was never questioned, but he chose not to race at Indianapolis. Only the greatest can master both disciplines and Jim Clark set the bar so high that even Parnelli Jones and Rick Mears fell short. An enterprising entrepreneur could recreate the International Race of Champions (IROC) to compare drivers from different series in a format of road courses and ovals. Would Max Verstappen and Charles Leclerc be as impressive at Gateway as Josef Newgarden and Scott Dixon at Zandvoort? Roger Penske, in association with Riverside Raceway's Les Richter, was the original promoter. Mark Donohue engineered maximum equality in the first year's Porsche Carreras and the resulting success was tremendous. Maybe Penske could revive his former ingenuity and once again perform magic  |
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Post by René on Aug 27, 2023 9:42:03 GMT
We’ve had this weather for days. Glad to see we’re not alone. And the banking at Zandvoort is steeper and they still drive… I would be at half throttle around Zandvoort's Turn 14 even in dry weather, so to be at the limit in the rain demands awesome skill. A 1.25 mile elongated oval with a 189.7 mph record lap speed would be so challenging in the rain, I'd refuse to leave my dry grandstand seat. Chris Amon's bravery was never questioned, but he chose not to race at Indianapolis. Only the greatest can master both disciplines and Jim Clark set the bar so high that even Parnelli Jones and Rick Mears fell short. An enterprising entrepreneur could recreate the International Race of Champions (IROC) to compare drivers from different series in a format of road courses and ovals. Would Max Verstappen and Charles Leclerc be as impressive at Gateway as Josef Newgarden and Scott Dixon at Zandvoort? Roger Penske, in association with Riverside Raceway's Les Richter, was the original promoter. Mark Donohue engineered maximum equality in the first year's Porsche Carreras and the resulting success was tremendous. Maybe Penske could revive his former ingenuity and once again perform magic Yes of course, driving on an oval in the rain is a no go. A demolition derby would be the result!  A revived IROC series would be awesome! I am sure we would see some great racing between the best drivers of both series and probably some surprising results as well. And throw in the best WEC/IMSA drivers as well.  One thing I've learned over the years of watching motor racing is that the best drivers are also the best if you 'throw' them in another categorie. In racing, the best drivers usually end up in the best cars/teams and sometimes their skill is exaggerated by superior material (like now with Max, or in the past with Lewis or Seb or Michael) but they are still among the best of their generation. Michael and Seb won the Race of Champions many times competing against other F1 drivers, Indycar drivers, Rally drivers and Prototype drivers.  If you gave all drivers equal material, the known best drivers would still be at the front, maybe joined by a few drivers who didn't have the chance yet in a good car. Remember the Procar series with that fabulous BMW M1? It ran for two seasons (1979 and 80) and Niki Lauda won the first championship and Nelson Piquet the second. The best are simply the best. &width=1600) |
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Post by René on Aug 27, 2023 9:52:04 GMT
Almost as expected, Josef Newgarden will start from pole!  A big crash at the end of the session involving Will Power, Marcus Ericsson and Scott McLaughlin who was the cause of the mayhem (at 11.40 in the video). |
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Post by Carl on Aug 28, 2023 16:30:25 GMT
I would be at half throttle around Zandvoort's Turn 14 even in dry weather, so to be at the limit in the rain demands awesome skill. A 1.25 mile elongated oval with a 189.7 mph record lap speed would be so challenging in the rain, I'd refuse to leave my dry grandstand seat. Chris Amon's bravery was never questioned, but he chose not to race at Indianapolis. Only the greatest can master both disciplines and Jim Clark set the bar so high that even Parnelli Jones and Rick Mears fell short. An enterprising entrepreneur could recreate the International Race of Champions (IROC) to compare drivers from different series in a format of road courses and ovals. Would Max Verstappen and Charles Leclerc be as impressive at Gateway as Josef Newgarden and Scott Dixon at Zandvoort? Roger Penske, in association with Riverside Raceway's Les Richter, was the original promoter. Mark Donohue engineered maximum equality in the first year's Porsche Carreras and the resulting success was tremendous. Maybe Penske could revive his former ingenuity and once again perform magic Yes of course, driving on an oval in the rain is a no go. A demolition derby would be the result! A revived IROC series would be awesome! I am sure we would see some great racing between the best drivers of both series and probably some surprising results as well. And throw in the best WEC/IMSA drivers as well. One thing I've learned over the years of watching motor racing is that the best drivers are also the best if you 'throw' them in another categorie. In racing, the best drivers usually end up in the best cars/teams and sometimes their skill is exaggerated by superior material (like now with Max, or in the past with Lewis or Seb or Michael) but they are still among the best of their generation. Michael and Seb won the Race of Champions many times competing against other F1 drivers, Indycar drivers, Rally drivers and Prototype drivers. Yes, of course! It was the same eventual rise of the best in IROC. Even so, it's fascinating to see the best prove themselves in equal cars. This phenomenon is why I have challenged the whole round table to a series of races on Road America's excellent go-kart track!
Kart track is adjacent to Turn 8 (at top / right of center ) 
Several Hawaiian Tropic ladies are eager to appear on the condition that deluxe rooms at Siebken's are included
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Post by Carl on Aug 28, 2023 20:12:19 GMT
With the race almost won, Josef Newgarden drifted high for no reason and hit the wall! One of the most talented Indycar drivers, he's too willing to intimidate other drivers with an unsubtle bump when challenged, as he did earlier to Patricio O'Ward, sending him offline and forced to lift.
When Newgarden inexplicably hit the wall with victory in sight and no-one even challenging, it must have seemed like poetic justice to O'Ward, because hitting the wall is an unpleasant alternative for those shoved offline.
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Post by Carl on Aug 28, 2023 23:40:50 GMT
We’ve had this weather for days. Glad to see we’re not alone. And the banking at Zandvoort is steeper and they still drive… Roger Penske, in association with Riverside Raceway's Les Richter, was the original promoter. Mark Donohue engineered maximum equality in the first year's Porsche Carreras and the resulting success was tremendous. Maybe Penske could revive his former ingenuity and once again perform magic Most knowledgable fans felt that the first year's IROC cars weren't perfectly equal. Damn close, yes, but with an unintentional bias in favor of the preferences of lead development engineer, Mark Donohue, who won the series.  |
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Post by René on Aug 29, 2023 9:05:02 GMT
Several Hawaiian Tropic ladies are eager to appear on the condition that deluxe rooms at Siebken's are included
If you arrange that, I will start packing my bags! |
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Post by René on Aug 29, 2023 9:09:44 GMT
With the race almost won, Josef Newgarden drifted high for no reason and hit the wall! One of the most talented Indycar drivers, he's too willing to intimidate other drivers with an unsubtle bump when challenged, as he did earlier to Patricio O'Ward, sending him offline and forced to lift. When Newgarden inexplicably hit the wall with victory in sight and no-one even challenging, it must have seemed like poetic justice to O'Ward, because hitting the wall is an unpleasant alternative for those shoved offline. I couldn't believe that Josef lost that race the way he did! So uncharacteristic. But hey, Scott Dixon... how does he do it? He's a bit like Alonso, been there for ages but never losing his sharpness as a racer. Fantastic driver. |
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Post by René on Sept 2, 2023 10:04:02 GMT
Grand Prix of Portland We're back at another beautiful track, this time at Oregon's Portland International Raceway. A short, fast course in beautiful surroundings. Christian Lundgaard was fastest in FP1 ahead of Kyle Kirkwood and Alex Palou. 
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