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Post by mikael on Jul 16, 2023 18:01:32 GMT
Ref. Alex Zanardi and Michael Andretti: I recall there were some discussions some years ago whether MotoGP should also have radio communication or not, with the pits; but the conclusion was that it was infeasible - that this would disturb the riders, who needed to concentrate 100% all the time, too much.
I wonder if many single-seater drivers also don't consider it to be a nuisance? I understand that some drivers - like Lewis Hamilton - is requesting a constant stream of information; but I would imagine that many other drivers have it like Kimi Raikkonen illustrated so well in the famous incident - that they, like him, would much prefer "radio silence".
And here, in the video, it seems as if Michael Andretti's concentration was broken by unnecessary information from the pits. Immediately after the radio message, Andretti opened the door just slightly too wide - and Zanardi was past! Andretti probably knew already, instinctively, that there were less than a handful of laps left ...  |
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Post by Carl on Jul 16, 2023 18:52:43 GMT
Ref. Alex Zanardi and Michael Andretti: I recall there were some discussions some years ago whether MotoGP should also have radio communication or not, with the pits; but the conclusion was that it was infeasible - that this would disturb the riders, who needed to concentrate 100% all the time, too much.
I wonder if many single-seater drivers also don't consider it to be a nuisance? I understand that some drivers - like Lewis Hamilton - is requesting a constant stream of information; but I would imagine that many other drivers have it like Kimi Raikkonen illustrated so well in the famous incident - that they, like him, would much prefer "radio silence".
And here, in the video, it seems as if Michael Andretti's concentration was broken by unnecessary information from the pits. Immediately after the radio message, Andretti opened the door just slightly too wide - and Zanardi was past! Andretti probably knew already, instinctively, that there were less than a handful of laps left ... Good point, Mikael. Andretti had probably been shown a pitboard and could then easily count down 3...2...1. Some crew chiefs talk nervously at the worst moments and this can easily distract a driver when total concentration is needed. |
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Post by René on Jul 16, 2023 21:27:40 GMT
Great pole for Lundgaard. But what a surprise to see Palou and Herta so far back. They just missed out on their first runs so have some work to do in the race. Will be interesting to follow those two but it's not an easy track for overtaking other cars. Extremely difficult passing has never discouraged a driver with more willpower than sense, drawn by supernatural forces to crash into other cars at the first corner. Here's a pass to remember at Turn 3 in 1998: How I miss the Zanardi days! |
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Post by René on Jul 16, 2023 21:36:14 GMT
Great race and a fantastic win for Christian Lundgaard! A first win is always awesome and what a weekend for Rahal Letterman Lanigen Racing. And what an insanely good race again from Alex Palou. He is so sharp in his actions and assessments, really great. I think he is real F1 material. Also a very good race from Colton Herta to p3. He was very aggressive, especially in the beginning. Incredible by the way, that the loose nose on Palou's car didn't fall off, and that the race director approved of this. Fine, but it could also have gone wrong if that wing had come off at high speed. Anyway, a very entertaining race that I really enjoyed.  |
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Post by mikael on Jul 17, 2023 14:10:21 GMT
Happy to see that the oldest major newspaper in Denmark, "Berlingske", take notice with a nice article. But disappointing that they, apparently, are the only ones to do so. Even "Denmark's Radio" (Denmark's "BBC") don't mention Christian Lundgaard with one word. It's all about Wimbledon and Tour de France at present. But of course, these are also tough events to compete with, for attention!
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Post by René on Jul 17, 2023 16:10:47 GMT
Happy to see that the oldest major newspaper in Denmark, "Berlingske", take notice with a nice article. But disappointing that they, apparently, are the only ones to do so. Even "Denmark's Radio" (Denmark's "BBC") don't mention Christian Lundgaard with one word. It's all about Wimbledon and Tour de France at present. But of course, these are also tough events to compete with, for attention!
That's probably because it is 'only' IndyCar, an American racing series. I am sure it would have been different had Lundgaard won an F1 race or Le Mans. When Rinus VeeKay won his first IndyCar race, there was a bit more attention but only because of Max's success and the attention that racing now has in Dutch media. Before the 'Max factor', there was hardly anything in mainstream media about F1, only in specialized magazines. It was only football, cycling and skating. Now F1 is the second sport after football in the Netherlands. But Christian definitely should have gotten more attention in his home country for that win.  |
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Post by Carl on Jul 17, 2023 17:54:18 GMT
For decades, Indycar has been the assigned bridesmaid to Formula One. This was valid in the past, when Champ Car consisted of front-engined roadsters and oval tracks, but these days it's partly wishful thinking. Formula One hasn't regained the stature lost during the degradations of poisonous dwarf B.C. Ecclestone (recently charged in England with hiding $650,000,000 from the tax office) and his private equity cohorts. The grandeur and luster were both abraded and the status downgraded, not unlike Rome (on a small scale) after it had been sacked and plundered by a vandal horde.
According to my fortune teller, a marriage analogy for the near future has Ecclestone and Roger Penske betrothed in a civil ceremony in order to dominate the world economy with their combined billions, live forever and have young wives. Ecclestone has a secret intention to consign Penske to pasture and have all the young wives.
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Post by Carl on Jul 17, 2023 20:05:29 GMT
Christian Lundgaard has been impressive all year and is already the best driver on his team as a rookie! He drove a nearly perfect race to a well deserved win. A young driver already so smart, smooth and fast can invite comparisons to past greats. The sky is the limit, but ground level is a better place for focus when young.
He should stay in Indycar for a year or two rather than accept any low-hanging fruit that may soon come his way elsewhere. Better offers will come as he proves himself further.
Will Power proved me wrong by avoiding the first turn melee, albeit only by accident of placement. More surprising was the team's mistake that forced him to make a last lap stop for fuel and drop from 4th to 14th.
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Post by René on Jul 17, 2023 21:35:28 GMT
For decades, Indycar has been the assigned bridesmaid to Formula One. This was valid in the past, when Champ Car consisted of front-engined roadsters on oval tracks, but these days it's partly wishful thinking. Formula One hasn't regained the stature lost during the degradations of poisonous dwarf B.C. Ecclestone (recently charged in England with hiding $650,000,000 from the tax office) and his private equity cohorts. The grandeur and luster were both abraded and the status downgraded, not unlike Rome (on a small scale) after it had been sacked and plundered by a vandal horde. According to my fortune teller, a marriage analogy for the near future has Ecclestone and Roger Penske betrothed in a civil ceremony in order to dominate the world economy with their combined billions, live forever and have young wives. Ecclestone has a secret intention to consign Penske to pasture and have all the young wives. Haha, brilliant Carl. Shall I invite Bernie and Roger to our table? We could have some spicy conversations and maybe Bernie brings his young wives.  |
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Post by René on Jul 17, 2023 21:39:37 GMT
Christian Lundgaard has been impressive all year and is already the best driver on his team as a rookie! He drove a nearly perfect race to a well deserved win. A young driver already so smart, smooth and fast can invite comparisons to past greats. The sky is the limit, but ground level is a better place for focus when young. He should stay in Indycar for a year or two rather than accept any low-hanging fruit that may soon come his way elsewhere. Better offers will come as he proves himself further. Will Power proved me wrong by avoiding the first turn melee, albeit only by accident of placement. More surprising was the team's mistake that forced him to make a last lap stop for fuel and drop from 4th to 14th. Yes, Lundgaard has been impressive and a couple more years in Indycar is surely the way to go. Just look at Palou how he has developed. Or stay in the US and become an IndyCar great like Scott Dixon. Nothing wrong with that. |
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Post by Carl on Jul 17, 2023 22:38:23 GMT
For decades, Indycar has been the assigned bridesmaid to Formula One. This was valid in the past, when Champ Car consisted of front-engined roadsters on oval tracks, but these days it's partly wishful thinking. Formula One hasn't regained the stature lost during the degradations of poisonous dwarf B.C. Ecclestone (recently charged in England with hiding $650,000,000 from the tax office) and his private equity cohorts. The grandeur and luster were both abraded and the status downgraded, not unlike Rome (on a small scale) after it had been sacked and plundered by a vandal horde. According to my fortune teller, a marriage analogy for the near future has Ecclestone and Roger Penske betrothed in a civil ceremony in order to dominate the world economy with their combined billions, live forever and have young wives. Ecclestone has a secret intention to consign Penske to pasture and have all the young wives. Haha, brilliant Carl. Shall I invite Bernie and Roger to our table? We could have some spicy conversations and maybe Bernie brings his young wives. Yes, conditional on a young wives to fossil ratio of 5:1 |
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Post by René on Jul 21, 2023 9:00:09 GMT
Iowa I&II - Iowa Speedway
  After a series of beautiful road courses and a street circuit, we have now arrived at an oval again. The fast track in Iowa offers opportunities for Dixon and Newgarden in particular to regain ground on Palou. And there are two races this weekend, so double chances. Newgarden has won every oval race so far this season and don't forget Marcus Ericsson who is also very good on ovals. But Alex Palou is driving very strong this season so will not be put away just like that. A double oval race, for the connoisseur. 
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Post by René on Jul 22, 2023 10:51:23 GMT
FP1: 1. JOSEF NEWGARDEN - Team Penske - 18.2420 - 176.428 2. SCOTT MCLAUGHLIN - Team Penske - +0.0477 - 0.0477 - 175.968 3. MARCUS ERICSSON - Chip Ganassi Racing - +0.0572 - 0.0095 - 175.877 4. COLTON HERTA - Andretti Autosport - +0.0943 - 0.0371 - 175.521 5. PATRICIO O'WARD - Arrow McLaren - +0.0996 - 0.0053 - 175.470 6. TAKUMA SATO - Chip Ganassi Racing - +0.1186 - 0.0190 - 175.288  |
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Post by Carl on Jul 22, 2023 20:07:09 GMT
Team Penske and Ganassi Racing, with their vast experience, had the right set-up and maybe the best midsized oval drivers, each with three in the top ten, most of whom, including Ganassi drivers Dixon, Palou and Ericsson, were Honda powered, so for Penske to take the first three positions with Chevrolet power is impressive.
Iowa Speedway (.894 mile)
NTT INDYCAR SERIES
Qualifications - Race 1
Rank Car Driver Name Time / Speed
1. 12 Power, Will 17.7395 181.426
2. 3 McLaughlin, Scott 17.8469 180.334
3. 2 Newgarden, Josef 17.8720 180.081
4. 9 Dixon, Scott 18.0091 178.710
5. 5 O'Ward, Pato 18.0414 178.390
6. 26 Herta, Colton 18.0535 178.270
7. 10 Palou, Alex 18.0601 178.205
8. 28 Grosjean, Romain 18.0786 178.023
9. 18 Malukas, David 18.0808 178.001
10. 8 Ericsson, Marcus 18.0880 177.930
11. 11 Sato, Takuma 18.0998 177.814
12. 29 DeFrancesco, Devlin 18.1288 177.530
13. 15 Rahal, Graham 18.1653 177.173
14. 06 Castroneves, Helio 18.1671 177.155
15. 21 VeeKay, Rinus 18.1826 177.004 0.4431
16. 20 Hunter-Reay, Ryan 18.2062 176.775
17. 30 Harvey, Jack 18.2095 176.743
18. 27 Kirkwood, Kyle 18.2133 176.706
19. 33 Carpenter, Ed 18.2237 176.605
20. 45 Lundgaard, Christian 18.2450 176.399
21. 7 Rossi, Alexander 18.3005 175.864
22. 6 Rosenqvist, Felix 18.3109 175.764
23. 60 Daly, Conor 18.3249 175.630
24. 77 Ilott, Callum 18.3334 175.548
25. 78 Canapino, Agustin (R) 18.3862 175.044
26. 14 Ferrucci, Santino 18.4367 174.565
27. 51 Robb, Sting Ray (R) 18.7725 171.442
28. 55 Pedersen, Benjamin (R) No Time No Speed
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Post by Carl on Jul 22, 2023 20:28:52 GMT
With a half second differential over twenty positions and less than a second separating first through twenty-eighth, track conditions (temperature / prevailing wind) are crucial for maximum speed. The grid, as always, is somewhat shuffled between qualifying sessions, but Penske maintains an essential advantage.
Iowa Speedway
NTT INDYCAR SERIES
Qualifications - Race 2
0.894 mile(s)
Round 11 & 12
Rank Car Driver Name Time / Speed
1 12 Power, Will 17.7246 181.578
2 3 McLaughlin, Scott 17.9163 179.635
3 18 Malukas, David 18.0191 178.610
4 33 Carpenter, Ed 18.0595 178.211
5 26 Herta, Colton 18.0783 178.026
6 15 Rahal, Graham 18.0851 177.959
7 2 Newgarden, Josef 18.0948 177.863
8 06 Castroneves, Helio 18.1094 177.720
9 9 Dixon, Scott 18.1129 177.686
10 8 Ericsson, Marcus 18.1134 177.681
11 5 O'Ward, Pato 18.1608 177.217
12 10 Palou, Alex 18.1699 177.128
13 11 Sato, Takuma 18.1830 177.000
14 21 VeeKay, Rinus 18.1904 176.928
15 60 Daly, Conor 18.1911 176.922
16 6 Rosenqvist, Felix 18.1991 176.844
17 27 Kirkwood, Kyle 18.2137 176.702
18 7 Rossi, Alexander 18.2176 176.664
19 29 DeFrancesco, Devlin 18.2284 176.560
20 28 Grosjean, Romain 18.2463 176.386
21 45 Lundgaard, Christian 18.2536 176.316
22 30 Harvey, 18.3033 175.837
23 78 Canapino, Agustin (R) 18.3319 175.563
24 77 Ilott, Callum 18.3331 175.551
25 20 Hunter-Reay, Ryan 18.4026 174.888
26 51 Robb, Sting Ray (R) 18.4379 174.554
27 14 Ferrucci, Santino 18.6701 172.383
28 55 Pedersen, Benjamin (R) No Time No Speed
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