‘The Toyota Grand Prix of Long Beach: A Look Back’

April 17, 2013 By Leave a Comment

Gilles Villenueve

First printed at: http://draftingthecircuits.whoobazoo.com/

As the Indycar teams begin to roll into Long Beach this week, it’s a great time to look back on the history of this fine event. The idea for a street race through the downtown Convention Center area of Long Beach was hatched by race promoter Christopher Pook nearly 40 years ago. He had a vision that essentially would make his race the United States’ version of the Monaco Grand Prix.

At the same time, Formula One was beginning to look for an alternate site for the United States Grand Prix as safety concerns were growing over the course at Watkins Glen. Pook staged a Formula 5000 race in the fall of 1974 to show that it could be done.

He was granted to go-ahead from Formula One and the circuit hosted the inaugural United States Grand Prix-West in March of 1976 with Clay Reggazoni as the winner. The race was a moderate success, but not on the level that Pook, and the F-1 organizers, would have liked.

It was the 1977 event that forever cemented Long Beach as one of the premier motorsportsevents in the United States. Mario Andretti, driving for the Lotus team, fought a spirited duel with Jody Scheckter and Niki Lauda for the entire race. In the end, Andretti was able to outbrake Schekter going into the hairpin grabbing the lead and taking the victory.  It was the first time an American driver had won a Formula One race on American soil. News of this race was featured everywhere from the front page of the New York Times to the cover of Sports illustrated. The rest, as they say, is history.

Formula One had a great run with Long Beach producing several memorable races. Who could forget Gilles Villenuve’s popular victory in 1979, Nelson Piquet’s total domination in 1980 or Niki Lauda coming back from retirement to win in 1982? Then of course, there was John Watson starting from the 22nd spot on the grid and methodically picking off cars each lap to take the win in 1983.

The cost of staging a Formula One race was increasing to astronomical proportions. Looking for a more cost-effective alternative, Chris Pook and the Long Beach Grand Prix Association opted to run the CART IndyCar Series as the headliner beginning in 1984. The series was gaining popularity at the time, and looking to add more street and road races to their schedule. The CART series was an instant success in Long Beach.

During the early years of the CART era at Long Beach, the names Andretti and Unser became synonymous with the event. Mario Andretti won three times, Michael Andretti twice, and Al Unser Jr. was able to take his car to victory an astonishing six times. Other drivers who have found considerable success at Long Beach include Paul Tracy with four wins and Sebastian Bourdias with three.

John Watson

The race stayed on the schedule through the transition of CART to ChampCar and became a part of the Izod IndyCar Series when ChampCar was absorbed by the Indy Racing League in 2008. The 2008 Grand Prix of Long Beach was the final race sanctioned under the ChampCar name.

The event remains as popular as ever today and has had a tremendous economic impact on the area. Weekend attendance regularly tops 200,000 fans. The event is held in a carnival-like atmosphere that lasts the entire week. Sports heroes, movie stars and television personalities alike can often be seen strolling around the pits, paddock, and hospitality areas. One of the weekend’s popular events is the Toyota Pro-Celebrity race. This race features professional drivers squaring off against well known celebrities in identically prepared showroom stock Toyotas. The celebs are given a thirty second head-start. Television personality and noted ‘car-guy’ Adam Corolla won last year’s event.

The Izod Indycar series will return this weekend to kick off the 39th straight year of racing at the Beach. Andretti Autosport won the first two races of this season and are coming in as the favorites. Michael Andretti must be totally stoked about returning to a circuit that has been so good to him. Andretti’s first win in the CART series came on this track way back in 1986. In 2002, his final win in the series before retiring from driving was at Long Beach. Andretti Autosport drivers have also won two of the last three races at Long Beach.

They’ll certainly get a challenge from Penske driver Will Power who won here in 2008 and 2012. While Power still seems to be finding his mojo this season, he can never be counted out at a street or road race.

Michael Andretti

Indeed, with sixteen drivers picking up top-ten finishes in the first two events, this is nearly anybody’s race. You won’t want to miss it.

Race coverage will be provided by NBC Sports and Sirius XM Radio Channel 211 beginning at 4:00 PM on Sunday April 21st. Live timing and scoring will be available through the weekend atwww.indycar.com or on the IndyCar 13 mobile app provided by Verizon wireless.

Filed Under: Top Story Tagged With: , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Auto Club Speedway Hosted Q And A With Dario Franchitti Of Target Chip Ganassi Racing

August 18, 2012 By Leave a Comment

 

Target Chip Ganassi Racing drivers Scott Dixon and Dario Franchitti unveiled culinary creations that will be available for purchase at the Drivers Cuisine Cantina during the MAVTV 500 INDYCAR World Championships at Auto Club Speedway. Image Credit: IZOD IndyCar Series


Auto Club Speedway Hosted Q And A With Dario Franchitti Of Target Chip Ganassi Racing

We are joined by four-time IZOD IndyCar Series Champion Dario Franchitti, who drives for Target Chip Ganassi Racing. After winning the IZOD IndyCar Series Championship three years in a row, posting a season leading five pole positions in 12 races of a 15 race season (second is Will Power with three), winning the Indy500, and needing one more win to become the exclusive seventh all-time winningest driver in American open-wheel racing history here during the first season of the DW12 formula chassis. Let me intorduce myself, I’m Edmund Jenks (please call me Ed), and welcome to Motorsports Unplugged.

Hello, Ed.

There have been a few changes this season in American open-wheel racing, probably more changes than most seasons, what with the chassis, additional engine suppliers, a new director at Race Control and the rules that govern on-track relationships between drivers, technology nuances like push-to-pass and its many applications … and finally, rules that govern the supply and performance of the new turbo-charged engines.

Question #1a – How has the change in attitude and management styles at Race Control – this includes Beaux Barfield and the entire staff – affected your approach and preparation to races this year? What one thing or area of race management stands out in your mind?

I don’t think anything has really changed with the race management, it’s just not any different, really. Ummm, definitely, the last group under Brian Barnhart did a good job and Beaux’s continued that, Ummm so I haven’t looked like a difference there … as you have mentioned, Ed, everything is different though, with the new cars, the DW12, the engine suppliers, the engine war between Honda and Chevy going on its really been a whole fresh start for the IndyCar Series and, its not that there have not been teething problems but has brought some great racing.

Question #1b - Yeah, it really been amazing the way, I guess, the cars have been able to mix it up over the old formula, although you did kinda’ clip the wing in this last race (at Mid Ohio). In general the chassis seems very strong.

I hope that the chassis is strong, definately with the side-to-side contact and the design of the car now with the body work its eliminated some issues, Ummm trust me, the car is far from perfect, there’s some issues with the suspension that when we put on the brakes that we definitely like to sort out but that cut in the wing at Mid Ohio was totally my fault and nothing to do with it (the suspension), the new design, just me makin’ a mistake in judgement. 

So, otherwise though, I think its performed quite well, obviously love some more horsepower from the engines if the series would allow us run more with something … but the Honda has done a great job at gettin’ some good horsepower that was fixed this year.

Question #2 – In this late season section of races, we have seen the implementation of Push-to-Pass – we have also seen its implementation take on a few technology wrinkles like 100 seconds to be used whenever as opposed to 10 second spurts – and a delay added to the reaction time when the button is pushed. Most people I talk with are confused, do you have an understanding of this tool and what would be your recommendation on how it might be used … if at all.

I think there’s a bit of a plus on that – I think the push-to-pass is a good thing, but at the same point that if both cars are on the push-to-pass, or on the overtaking, if you want to call it that, then it negates the whole thing, so we have to do something to change that, but we have to be careful not to be too gimmicky I would say. With the five second delay that is attached to it? – that when you press it you have to wait five seconds to activate, you … it will only activates when you go full throttle … we get some teething problems with that. Ummm, we can’t make it too complicated otherwise the fans will ahh won’t understand, I would say, they won’t understand the intricacies with it … the casual fan, anyway, not the hardcore fan will.

They are tryin’ stuff and I like the fact they are mixing up trying to improve the racein’ for the fans, and umm it probably needs a little bit of work but we’ll get there.

Question #3 – Your brother, Marino Franchitti, is a talented and winning driver in his own right. His latest project has him developing a new concept in a racing platform known as the DeltaWing. A little less than a week ago, word was released that the Panoz developed, Nissan-powered and supported DeltaWing joined the competition of constructors vying for the contract to supply the new 2014 Indy Lights car. What do you think of the DeltaWing? Being that it was originally developed and considered in the competition that was eventually was won by the new DW12 here in the IndyCar Series, would you have preferred driving the DeltaWing as opposed to the DW12?

It was an interesting position to be in because my boss, and Scott Dixon’s boss, the boss of the Target team, Chip Ganassi … he was the guy who put up the money to develop the DeltaWing – and ummm – when I first saw it, it was totally unbelievable, I thought this thing is not going to work. I’m really not sure about it. So when it became a project for Le Mans and Marino found out that it worked in the turns and he said it drove pretty much just like a normal car but the performance was far exceeded and umm if they really get a chance to work on that with differentials and stuff, the performance of that car with only 300 horsepower it would be really significant.

I know it was a shame that they got taken out at the 24 Hours of Le Mans, it was a real shame the way it ended there.

As far as Indy Lights, I think it would be a very interesting thing to have that as the car. The future … would that train the future IndyCar drivers in the best possible way? I don’t know.

Question #4 – How has the issues surrounding engine hours, engine changes, and the 10-spot penalty in qualifications effected your season and will it be a factor in closing out your season?

Ahh we’ve had a couple of engine issues. You know, the guys at Honda continue to absolutely improve the envelope – to get the most power, the best fuel consumption, and the possible improvement on a couple of issues since Iowa (the rest of the answer became inaudible).

I think I’m on my 5th engine, I have one engine to go (more break up).

Question #5 – You are tied with Sebastien Bourdais (the only other active four-time IndyCar open wheel champion) and Paul Tracy for seventh all-time winning-est drivers – besides wanting to hold this seventh position exclusively, what other goals do you have in IndyCar and are there other racing goals outside of open wheel racing that you would like to pursue?

Obviously I have great pride in all of those wins, and the three Indianapolis 500s and the four championships, I’d like to have more wins, absolutely, especially at Indianapolis. But eventually I would love to race the 24 Hours of Le Mans I really think that is a race I’d like to do.

Dario, thank you for your reflections on this 2012 season and we wish you great success in your Honda-powered DW12 at the GoPro Indy Grand Prix of Sonoma, Grand Prix of Baltimore, and the season ending MAV TV 500 mile race at Auto Club Speedway there in Fontana  – thanks for joining us here at Motorsports Unplugged.

… notes from The EDJE

 

 

 

** Article first published as Auto Club Speedway Hosted Q And A With Dario Franchitti Of Target Chip Ganassi Racing on Technorati **

Filed Under: Top Story Tagged With: , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Iowa Corn Indy 250 Qualifications Explored And Explained

June 24, 2012 By Leave a Comment

TrueCarRacing @TrueCarRacing – Getting corny here at the @iowaspeedway #Iowa250 waiting through the rain delay @IndyCar @emckone pic.twitter.com/sTNsfpnR

 

Iowa Corn Indy 250 Qualifications Explored And Explained

Tuned in to catch up on the #IOWA250 and this is what could be found on the average Twitter asset portal:

Breakthrough Racing @breakthruracing Aw, hell’s bells! RT @SSMIndy: We are officially in a holding pattern here at@iowaspeedway for the #Iowa250 due to a heavy rain shower.

Linda @greenfield7814Hope the rain stops quickly and we see a safe race #Iowa250 #Indycar

So, while we wait, this might be a good time to review how this group of 25 DW12′s powered with Chevy, Honda, and one lowly Lotus engine found themselves to be lined up in this order on the grid.

The IZOD IndyCar Series wanted to try something out to bring some excitement to the fans during qualifications on a small oval track like the one in Newton, Iowa represents … a banked 7/8th of a mile kidney-bean shaped oval. What the series management came up with was something that translated to be like the “Knock-Out” format that results in a “Firestone Fast Six” competition to set the first three rows of cars to start the race.

—-

Angie King @angiewarholWhatever the opposite of a rain dance is! RT @BHA: Looking for ideas to pass the time… anyone have suggestions?#Iowa250 #Indycar

—-

Here is the actual edited explanation from IZOD IndyCar Series issued yesterday before the Practice 2 session and the Heat Races:

Lap times from the second 45-minute Practice 2 session will set the qualification groups for the three heat races. The heat races of 30 laps each will set the starting lineup for the 250-lap race under the lights June 23 (Ganassi Racing’s Graham Rahal, Tony Kanaan and KV Racing Technology Racing teammate E.J. Viso will incur 10-grid spot penalties for unapproved engine changes – Simon Pagenaud of Schmidt/Hamilton Racing was later added to the list). Honda requested the engine change following the initial practice. Heat Race 1 will consist of the even-numbered positions, starting with the 10th-quickest practice time overall, and determine the even-numbered positions in the starting field from 10th down. Heat Race 2 will consist of the odd-numbered positions, starting with the ninth-quickest practice time overall, and determine the odd-numbered positions in the starting field from ninth down.

Heat Race 3 will consist of drivers ranked one through eight by the practice times registered in Practice 2 session. Results of Race 3 will determine the first four rows, with the winner taking the pole position.

—-

Team Barracuda – BHA @BHANot a bad idea! RT @JorgGrayChile: How about time the jetdryers around the track with a Jorg Gray watch? #iowa250

—-

Ash (アシュー) @racingAshReady to enjoy Saturday night, short track #IndyCar racing at@iowaspeedway on @NBCSN! First up, yesterday’s heat races. #IndyCar#Iowa250

—-

The top 1 through 8 positions are kind of like the Firestone Fast Six without any of that pesky “real-time” build up and transfer process found in “KnockOut” qualifying found on closed road/street courses.

This might have been really, really cool sounding in the executive offices of the IICS (or where-ever), but from afar, like fans in Los Angeles for example, this has them wishing to have dinner a little early just so they can miss Heat Race #3 in protest. These West Coasters may have missed out on Practice #2 held hours earlier in the afternoon on Friday, a general session where the top 8 competitors were settled. The suspicion is that the fans out West may still have been at work. The Heat Races (and Practice #2) were not televised or streamed so if one wanted to get a sense as to what happened, it was back to the less than dependable IMS Radio feed (tough to find a back-up) and the Timing and Scoring panel found at RaceControl.IndyCar.Com.

—-

ICFanVillage @ICFanVillageThe LIVE @NBCSports Pre-Race Broadcasts starts at 8pm in the@ICFanVillage with guests@RyanHunterReay and@justin_wilson! #Iowa250

—-

HinchOnTrack @hinchontrack -@iowaspeedway #iowa250@Hinchtown Severe thunderstorms have shut down on track activity…race fans stand by! Race supposed to start at 9…

—-

In qualifying, it looks as though:

1 -The core of all the Heat Races were set by the speeds registered during the Practice #2 session.2 – All of the drivers that are challenging Will Power for the series points lead except for Pagenaud and Kanaan made it into the top 8 (first four rows) final Heat race tonight.

3 – The best that Kanaan will be able to qualify will be for P19 … he currently sits at P15 / The best that Pagenaud will be able to qualify will be for P9 … he currently sits at P21. These two drivers will have to out pace Barrichello, Tagliani, & Wilson to improve on their “odd-numbered” grid position. Kanaan won’t start higher than 19th because of a 10-grid spot penalty imposed for an unapproved engine change on the No. 11 GEICO/Mouser Electronics KV Racing Technology Racing car.

“I won this race starting from 15th,” Kanaan countered on a positive note.

4 – As far as the “even-numbered” grid positions are concerned – Rahal, who currently sits at P10 will be able to do no better than P20 if he is able to maintain his position. Rahal and Viso (P14) will incur 10-grid spot penalties for engine change-outs. Newgarden, Hildebrand, and Servia are the drivers expected to battle for P10.

This looks like one of these situations that one has to be in attendance in order to get into the full effect of this “Heat Race” grid battle. This has the feel that the excitement is already over because the top 8 positions have been filled … during a practice session which was probably missed by those who cared most about the importance it meant to the qualifications process – one hyphenated word … ANTI-CLIMATIC!

Christopher Estrada @estradawritingRAIN. Again. Grrr… #IndyCar #Iowa250

And ANTI-CLIMATIC this process was – Heat Race #1 everyone kept their station except toward the end of the 30 lap Heat, EJ Viso lost one position. This did not really matter to the grid because Viso wass on the list of engine change penalties.

Heat Race #1 Results – 30 LAPS:

Pos Driver Team/Car Time/Gap
1. Graham Rahal Ganassi DW12-Honda 9m00.6441s
2. Josef Newgarden Fisher DW12-Honda + 6.2134s
3. JR Hildebrand Panther DW12-Chevy + 6.5594s
4. EJ Viso KV DW12-Chevy + 7.4531s
5. Oriol Servia Panther/DRR DW12-Chevy + 8.3586s
6. Mike Conway Foyt DW12-Honda + 10.8144s
7. Ed Carpenter Carpenter DW12-Chevy + 13.4036s
8. Takuma Sato Rahal DW12-Honda + 18.5671s

Alexandra Prud @La_Lales -If the rain let us to race today… My pick for #IndyCar #Iowa250 is: 1.Andretti 2.Franchitti 3.Briscoe. Happy Sunday Night! :-)

Heat Race #2 may have been a little more exciting if this were not for the fact that this Heat also had leading drivers that were to have a grid penalty assessed to them as well. Nice to see Kanaan do the best he could – Pagenaud has a poorly set up car but these DW12′s will be at the back tonight (or tomorrow) anyway.

Heat Race #2 Results – 30 LAPS:

Pos Driver Team/Car Time/Gap
1. Tony Kanaan KV DW12-Chevy 8m59.4932s
2. Alex Tagliani Herta DW12-Honda + 3.1255s
3. Rubens Barrichello KV DW12-Chevy + 6.0818s
4. Justin Wilson Coyne DW12-Honda + 7.9310s
5. Charlie Kimball Ganassi DW12-Honda + 10.0818s
6. Katherine Legge Dragon DW12-Chevy + 13.7490s
7. James Jakes Coyne DW12-Honda + 14.0032s
8. Simona de Silvestro HVM DW12-Lotus + 1 lap
9. Simon Pagenaud Schmidt DW12-Honda + 1 lap

TrueCarRacing @TrueCarRacingGetting corny here at the@iowaspeedway #Iowa250 waiting through the rain delay @IndyCar@emckone pic.twitter.com/sTNsfpnR

Heat Race #3 did show the fan a little something since Marco Andretti, who started the race in P1 due to his fastest speed during the afternoon’s Practice #2 session, was passed on the outside twice – once by Dario Franchitti on LAP #8 and then by Helio Castroneves on LAP #16 of the 30 lap race.

Dario captured the pole position and the valuable point. This was a second best result for points leading Will Power since Dario is not the driver that poses the greatest threat at this time. If Hinchcliffe or Dixon got the extra point, this would bring either driver that much closer to start the second half of this 2012 IICS season.

Heat Race #3 Results – 30 LAPS:

Pos Driver Team/Car Time/Gap

1. Dario Franchitti Ganassi DW12-Honda 9m16.9203s

2. Helio Castroneves Penske DW12-Chevy + 1.4671s

3. Marco Andretti Andretti DW12-Chevy + 5.1884s

4. James Hinchcliffe Andretti DW12-Chevy + 5.9813s

5. Ryan Briscoe Penske DW12-Chevy + 6.5813s

6. Will Power Penske DW12-Chevy + 7.3542s

7. Ryan Hunter-Reay Andretti DW12-Chevy + 7.8433s

8. Scott Dixon Ganassi DW12-Honda + 9.2963s

Jane Ward Hamilton @jwardh Rain at #Iowa250 Meanwhile, back in Ohio it’s time to move the sprinklers.#Drought We need redistribution of rain.

Iowa Corn Indy 250 Starting Order:

1. Dario Franchitti Ganassi DW12-Honda
2. Helio Castroneves Penske DW12-Chevy
3. Marco Andretti Andretti DW12-Chevy
4. James Hinchcliffe Andretti DW12-Chevy
5. Ryan Briscoe Penske DW12-Chevy
6. Will Power Penske DW12-Chevy
7. Ryan Hunter-Reay Andretti DW12-Chevy
8. Scott Dixon Ganassi DW12-Honda

9. Tony Kanaan KV DW12-Chevy*
10. Graham Rahal Ganassi DW12-Honda*
11. Alex Tagliani Herta DW12-Honda
12. Josef Newgarden Fisher DW12-Honda
13. Rubens Barrichello KV DW12-Chevy
14. JR Hildebrand Panther DW12-Chevy
15. Justin Wilson Coyne DW12-Honda
16. EJ Viso KV DW12-Chevy*
17. Charlie Kimball Ganassi DW12-Honda
18. Oriol Servia Panther/DRR DW12-Chevy
19. Katherine Legge Dragon DW12-Chevy
20. Mike Conway Foyt DW12-Honda
21. James Jakes Coyne DW12-Honda
22. Ed Carpenter Carpenter DW12-Chevy
23. Simona de Silvestro HVM DW12-Lotus
24. Takuma Sato Rahal DW12-Honda
25. Simon Pagenaud Schmidt DW12-Honda*

* Will take 10-place engine change penalty before start
(ht: autosport.com)

—-

Michael Williamson @michaelw2000 “@curtcavin: .@michaelw2000 IndyCar runs first, then Lights. #indycar” Cool! Thanks!

—-

Motorsport @motor_racing -#irl #indycar IndyCar institutes starter camera (The Associated Press): NEWTON, Iowa (AP) The IndyCar Series is … yhoo.it/PS6M4N

—-

Harmonic Family @HarmonicFamily -track drying is complete, pre race about to begin #iowa250

—-

Andretti Autosport @FollowAndretti-As the track dries, the estimated green flag for the #Iowa250 is at 9:30PM local time.

—-

Edmund Jenks @TheEDJE - @TheEDJE Predicts a #DW12 Chevy will win#iowa250 Motorsports Unplugged Radio @rahalracing 620 WDAE – 7:15AM ET bit.ly/L1RBDu #indycar

—-

Edmund Jenks @TheEDJE-@TheEDJE predicts Hinchcliffe if no Penske #iowa250 Motorsports Unplugged Radio @rahalracing 620 WDAE – 7:15AM ET bit.ly/L1RBDu

—-

UPDATES To Follow …

Will Power Survives The Iowa Corn Indy 250

In a race that had mostly confusion mixed with anticipation before its rain delayed start due to and experiment to the qualifying process, Will Power escapes from a race that had the most attrition of any race, in this 2012 season, with the points lead.

Results - 250 laps:

Pos Driver Team/Car Time/Gap
 1.  Ryan Hunter-Reay     Andretti DW12-Chevy     1h43m39.3031s
 2.  Marco Andretti       Andretti DW12-Chevy         + 0.1103s
 3.  Tony Kanaan          KV DW12-Chevy               + 2.7245s
 4.  Scott Dixon          Ganassi DW12-Honda          + 3.0075s
 5.  Simon Pagenaud       Schmidt DW12-Honda          + 3.8468s
 6.  Helio Castroneves    Penske DW12-Chevy           + 5.3061s
 7.  Rubens Barrichello   KV DW12-Chevy               + 5.9890s
 8.  Ed Carpenter         Carpenter DW12-Chevy        + 6.9856s
 9.  Graham Rahal         Ganassi DW12-Honda          + 7.1607s
10.  Justin Wilson        Coyne DW12-Honda              + 1 lap
11.  Charlie Kimball      Ganassi DW12-Honda           + 2 laps
12.  Takuma Sato          Rahal DW12-Honda             + 3 laps
13.  James Jakes          Coyne DW12-Honda             + 5 laps
14.  Simona de Silvestro  HVM DW12-Lotus               + 6 laps

Retirements:

     Katherine Legge      Dragon DW12-Chevy            243 laps
     Alex Tagliani        Herta DW12-Honda             207 laps
     James Hinchcliffe    Andretti DW12-Chevy          195 laps
     Ryan Briscoe         Penske DW12-Chevy            178 laps
     Josef Newgarden      Fisher DW12-Honda            178 laps
     Mike Conway          Foyt DW12-Honda              123 laps
     Oriol Servia         Panther/DRR DW12-Chevy        98 laps
     JR Hildebrand        Panther DW12-Chevy            95 laps
     Will Power           Penske DW12-Chevy             67 laps
     EJ Viso              KV DW12-Chevy                 67 laps
     Dario Franchitti     Ganassi DW12-Honda             0 laps

Read MORE Here

… notes from The EDJE

Filed Under: Featured Story Tagged With: , , , , , , , ,

96th #INDY500 Tweet-By-Tweet – A Live Blog Effort

May 27, 2012 By Leave a Comment

The famous control tower IMS pagoda at dawn the day of the 96th Indianapolis 500. Image Credit: Jeff Gluck via instagram

96th #INDY500 Tweet-By-Tweet – A Live Blog Effort

This edition of the “Greatest Spectacle In Racing” will be unique due to one major overriding issue, the new Dallara DW12 is racing in its first oval race and it happens to be the biggest, most historic venue one could choose for this maiden outing.

Fans and drivers are excited to see how this platform will perform in traffic because these cars are much kinder to the cars that trail behind them due to the aerodynamic effect known as Mushroom Busting incorporated into the design of the body work. What this means is that the disturbed airflow behind the car has been directed above the racing surface much more quickly than previous designs and this allows a car riding behind another car to be more stable and be able to get a “TOW” from the car in front.

Multiple car teams like Andretti Autosport with five cars entered may have an advantage if the team drivers work together as roller-derby teammates would work together to “sling-shot” each of their drivers forward.

The additional subtext to this 500 mile race would be the durability of the new racing engine formula. Three engine manufacturers have been authorized to produce these engines and it would seem that the weakest link resides with the DW12′s powered by the Lotus/Judd turbo-charged engines. How many laps will they go before they are 1) Black-Flagged for being too slow or 2) if they will be able to complete the 500 miles still running without a failure.

Of course the final outcome will be watched by the Chevrolet and Honda engine team for their own ability to be able to complete the 500 miles still running without a failure as well.

Predictions are that either KVRT’s Tony Kanaan or defending championship team of Bryan Herta Autosport’s #98 Alex Tagliani would be the winner at the end of 500 miles. If the race is won by a multiple car team that would go to Andretti Autosport with Ryan Hunter-Raey. Fastest female now that Danica Patrick isn’t sucking the PR air out of the room goes to Andretti Autosport’s Ana Beatrix. Top former F1 driver goes to KVRT’s Takuma Sato. Highest placing former INDY500 champion would be Helio Castroneves – Motorsports Unplugged Radio.

The following entries come from “Tweet Deck” tweet-by-tweet with added comments from the author:

Matt Archuleta @indy44
What a great intro on ABC. Spotlighted Dan Wheldon on Borg-Warner trophy. “That’s what it takes to ride with Legends.” #Lionheart #Indy500

Jeff Gluck @jeff_gluck
Cool pic. RT @penskeracing: Minutes before the walk out to #Indy500 @h3lio & @12WillPower collect their thoughts. twitpic.com/9pxgn8

Indy Motor Speedway @IMS
Cars are lining up on the front stretch! Head over to get a chance to see the new DW12 cars up close and personal. #Indy500

Chris Siegle @chrissiegle
You’d think with every Dan Wheldon tribute that is shown on TV, they’d get easier to watch. But they haven’t for me. #Lionheart #Indy500

Sam Schmidt Mtsprts @SSMIndy
@simonpagenaud talks with Honda guests. Thanks to @HondaRacing_HPD for all they do. #Indy500 @IndyCar pic.twitter.com/IneJrVaz

Indy Motor Speedway @IMS
Driver introductions and pre-race ceremonies are about to begin! What’s your favorite #Indy500 tradition?

Dave Walker @reklawed
Turned on the #Indy500 only to discover that #IndyCar hasn’t honoured Greg Moore and kept his number retired. That is beyond disappointing

Craig Terrill @TerrillMusic
“When I dream about the moonlight on the Wabash, then I long for my Indiana home” #indy500

The recorded version channeling Jim Nabors seems grand and appropriate for this first race of the DW12

on Frankl @ronfrankl
In-cars on ESPN3.com just went live. #IndyCar

Brad Plummer @PlummerBrad
why do i not have the video only sound? – #indycar live on livestream.com/indycar

Mike Saverko @Msave69
Like to thank all our veterans for giving us a chance to enjoy #Indy500 and #Coke600 today!! This wknd for you!! Thanks!! #NASCAR #IndyCar

GREEN, GREEN, GREEN!

IZOD IndyCar Series @IndyCar
GREEN FLAG FOR THE 96TH RUNNING OF THE #INDY500! #indycar2012

All cars safely around for a full lap – James Hinchcliffe takes the first lap

Two laps two lead changes as Briscoe takes the position back

Steph@MoreFrontWing @99forever
Okay, guys. The only lap you need to lead is the 200th. Relax, please. #indy500

Graham Rahal’s fuel light alarm is flashing on lap 8 of 200

Wayne Willis @WayneWillisJr
These cars are racing really nice. Looks good so far. #Indy500 @JamieLittleESPN

Jay Howard @JayHowardRacing
[PIC] Seeing #dannyboy car circle @IMS is not only emotional bt special 4 all his many fans, me included #indy500 @IMS lockerz.com/s/212340109

Peter Leung @BaronVonClutch
Race Control has black-flagged Jean Alesi and Simona de Silvestro. Both cars were lapping about 10mph slower than rest of field. #Indy500

Lap 15 of 200 – Lotus/Judd cars are out of the race as predicted yesterday on Motorsports Unplugged Radio – “Wouldn’t last 25 Laps”

YELLOW Flag – Clauson spins and saves the car and doesn’t hit the wall – Pits Open

EJ Viso punts Dario Franchitti in pit lane and turns the #50 car around – nose cone change ordered by Chip Ganassi

Patti Rodisch @nascar_lugnuts
that was a frantic set of pit stops…#indycar

LAP 17 of 200 – Restart – GREEN, GREEN, GREEN!

IZOD IndyCar Series @IndyCar
Incident between Viso and Franchitti on pit lane was investigated. No action taken. #Indy500 #indycar2012

Fuel consumption may be down from expected due to the temperatures on the track

9 lead changes between three drivers by Lap 24 of 200

ABC replays the “single-file” restart and there were as many as five-wide at one point

IZOD IndyCar Series @IndyCar
Pic: The start of the 96th Running of the #Indy500. #indycar2012 pic.twitter.com/8x0Wyi8C

Ryan Brothers @renegade_3
RT @INDYracereview: . @MarcoAndretti is back in the lead. #IndyCar #Indy500

Tom Meyer Klipsch @TOMMYKlipsch
Lets go @Andretti26 #TeamRCcola #Andretti Leading the #Indy500! instagr.am/p/LIyFPuTENu/

LAP 34 of 200 - Top five – Andretti, Hinchtown, Briscoe, Tagliani, and Kanaan

GREEN Flag ptistops begin

F1 Fanatic Live @f1fanaticlive
L43 Hinchcliffe pits. #IndyCar

Doug Demmons @dougdemmons
Jean Alesi says he’ll be back next year and he won’t be driving a Yugo … I mean, Lotus #Indy500

Ron Frankl @ronfrankl
Hinchcliffe told by team they’re beating everyone on fuel mileage. Not concerned to be first to come in. #IndyCar

James Jakes @JamesJakes
4 more #Firestone tires and fuel! Fast work by the crew today! Indy500 #IndyCar

LAP 49 – Newgarden car stalls in the pits – hand pushed and restarted

Dragon Racing’s Katherine Legge two laps down in P28 – Teammate Sebastien Bourdais in P23 one lap down

LAP 50 of 200 Top 10 – Andretti, Dixon, Hinchcliffe, Briscoe, Sato, Power, Kanaan, Franchitti, Rahal, and Conway

Graham Rahal is just not up to speed – complains of too much downforce

Tagliani must have had a terrible pitstop – he’s dropped to P24 on lap 64 of 200 after running in the top 5at lap 34

Marco Andretti is showing great strength on lap 68 with a lead, running alone at .6689 ahead of Scott Dixon – lapping at 217mph

Bruno Tarulli @BrunoTarulli34
Kanaan paro otra vez en boxes. Sato es tercero. Sigue adelante Marco Andretti, nieto de Mario. #IndyCar #Indy500

Jenna Fryer @JennaFryer
Marco Andretti has now led more laps than he’d led in all his previous combined #Indy500 (31 laps led) #IndyCar

Anthony Stuart @Anthony_Stuart
#INDY500 came back into my room… definitely awake now! Some absolutely amazing driving on display @imsupdates

Dario Franchitti has worked his way up to P5 since dropping to P28 with the first pitlane incident

LAP 74 - Andretti in the pits, Hinchcliffe in the pits, RHR in the pits, 29 laps on a tank of gas

LAP 75 - all three Penske Racing cars in for fuel and tires

Dixon and Franchitti P1 and P2 before their pitstops – two Honda-powered lead the race

14 different lead changes as Charlie Kimball takes the lead on transition

YELLOW Flag – Mike Conway and Will Power in a big crash after Mike Conway pulss out of the pits. Conway on the pitstop ran into three of his crew members and was assesed a drive through penalty which he was going to serve on the next lap.

Conway’s ABC Supply AJ Foyt Racing car just spun in front of Will Power as it looked like a front wing problem that caused instability

Four cars out of the race – the two Lotus cars and now Mike Conway and Will Power – Slow motion of the accident showed the safety of the systems built-in to the cars and the track

Andretti Autosport @FollowAndretti
After dropping back with push condition, @RyanHunterReay climbing back into fray. P7. #Indy500

Tony @PopOffValve
Looks like more folks are seeking out the misting stations @IMS – worst heat of the day right now.

Allen Wedge @AllenWedge
@tonydizinno everyone ok, Conway hit wall alone Power couldn’t avoid and got under him

Bill Zahren @pressdog
As Conway gets airborne he’s all like “fabulous. this again” heart rate climbs to 49 bpm

LAP 88 0f 200 – GREEN Flag Restart of second caution period of the race

Top ten – Andretti, Dixon, Sato, Kanaan, Franchitti, Hinchtown, RHR, Briscoe, Rahal, and Kimball

LAP 89 of 200 – YELLOW Flag - Ana Beatrix hits the wall alone – backend got loose and barely brushes the wall

Pits Open with many takers – RHR decides at last moment to not go in – Hinchcliffe has a pit problem – Dixon and Franchitti stay out as well

Jim @RacingBluejay
What the hell is it with rear tires today at #IMS? #Indy500 #IndyCar

Ryan Brothers @renegade_3
Sad to see my man @12WillPower have to end his day early #Indy500 . A little momentum lost from his amazing start to this #IndyCar season.

Stephanie Flint @stephmflint
Listening to the #500 on the radio as I drive home isn’t quite the same after experiencing it as a @PrincessIndy500 last year… #indycar

Formula 1 @F1grid
PHOTO: A lot of empty seats at the Indianapolis 500 #Indy500 #IndyCar twitpic.com/9pzaod

On pit out, Ana Beatrix pulls out slowly and causes a traffic jam on the out lane

LAP 95 0f 200 – GREEN Flag Restart of third caution period of the race

All cars safely through in very tight racing quarters – this Mushroom Busting design delivers a quality racing product!

Conwezys @Conwezys
Lap 98 #lionheartforever #LIONHEART #indy500

White sunglasses placed on the faces of everyone in the stands

James Foreman @James__Foreman
#indy500 #indycar2012 #hondaindy @girlracercouk – Dan Wheldon’s wife Susie watching the race from the pits, must be a very tough day for her

Halfway – LAP 100 of 200 - Top 10 drivers are TCGR’s Dixon & Franchitti, Andretti Autosport’s Ryan Hunter-Raey, CGR’s Graham Rahal, Dale Coyne Racing’s Justin Wilson, Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing’s Takuma Sato, CGR’s Charlie Kimball, Panther Racing’s JR Hildebrand, Dale Coyne Racing’s James Jakes, and Sam Schmidt Motorsport’sTownsend Bell

The field has settled down nose to tail in order to save fuel

LAP 112 – Pitstop by RHR after not taking fuel after the last yellow flag

Top six positions are Honda-powered DW12s

Jeff Gluck @jeff_gluck
Will Power on crash: “(Conway) said the team sent him out w/a broken wing. I don’t understand why they would do that.” #IndyCar

Taylor J. Ness @tness88
Many drivers, including seasoned veterans, seem to be having trouble with getting going out of the pit box. #INDY500

Robby Howard @robbyhoward1
Charlie Kimball, the first driver credited with racing with diabetes, has moved into the fifth position. #indy500

Dario Franchitti in and out of the pits on Lap 118 – Dixon gets one more lap after leading 34 laps – in and out

LAP 121 - Takuma Sato leads all drivers with the 18th lead change in the race and the first time in IMS history that a Japanese-born driver has led an INDY500 race

Ryan Hunter-Raey’s car is giving him troubles and comes into the pits – may be terminal – right rear upright giving way

Rubens Barrichello leads a lap at INDY500 after 33 laps between fuel stops

LAP 125 – top five are Sato, followed very closely by Franchitti, Dixon, Andretti, and Hildebrand … oops, passed by Rahal

Four Chip Ganassi managed cars in the top 10 – P2 Franchitti, P4 Dixon, P5 Rahal, P7 Kimball

Indy Star Sports @IndyStarSports
RT @indystar_hutch: Top five at Indy thru 131 (13 on lead lap): Sato, Franchitti, Dixon, Andretti and Rahal. #Indy500

Filip Cleeren @FilipCleeren
Marco still looking good to win this. #indy500

Allen Wedge @AllenWedge
Just watched Marco pick off Dixon on ESPN3, I wish they offered this to everyone

Team Chevy @TeamChevy
Total of 20 lead changes today. Most ever at #Indy500 – 29. @IMS #ChevyIndy500

Crash Gladys @CrashGladys
Turn 2 is never the hardest turn, but drivers r reporting that due to the tailwind it is increasingly difficult 2 turn there #Indy500

Mandy Valentine @Indy_Mode
Come on @TonyKanaan & @Hinchtown – U guys can do it! (well, not both of U, obviously, but U can be 1st & 2nd!) Drive boys, drive #Indy500

Vibration troubles with Marco Andretti’s car which may be the same problem with the CV Joint as Ryan Hunter-Raey’s car Marco in pitlane … and out

YELLOW Flag – LAP 145 of 200 fourth of the race – Andretti Autosport’s Saavedra stalled on pit in lane

Almost everyone in the pits – very hectic – now 12 cars on the lead lap – should be cycled forward for the restart

After pitstops by the field the top ten positions are Sato, Franchitti, Dixon, Hinchcliffe, Wilson, Kimball, Briscoe, Kanaan, Castroneves, and Barrichello

LAP 152 of 200 – GREEN Flag Restart of fourth caution period of the race

IZOD IndyCar Series @IndyCar Green green green! Sato leads on Lap 152. #Indy500 #indycar2012

Single file restart with a log jam – Franchitti takes the position away from Sato – then Dixon TCGR in P1 and P2

Hinchtown now targeting TAKU! – Everyone needs to make one more pitstop so fuel strategy is out the window

Kanaan just eclipsed Hinchcliffe – after one lap, Hinchcliffe takes the position back

LAP 159 – Dixon passes Franchitti for the lead with TAKU right behind – oops, Franchitti passes Dixon right back

Jeff Gluck @jeff_gluck
It’s official: The temperature has reached 93 degrees, making the hottest #Indy500 in the 96-year history of the event.

Hasby Díaz Colina @dernierslayer
#INDY500 VUELTA 145 1.Sato 2.Franchitti 3.Andretti 4.Dixon 5.Wilson 6.Hildebrand 7.Kimball 8.Hinchcliffe 9.Bell 10.Castroneves 24.VISO

YELLOW Flag – LAP 164 – Josef Newgarden’s car lets loose and pulls to the infield of the track – Pits Closed

Pits now open with 35 laps to go – al little long to stretch to the end – WOW all leaders in – Hinchcliffe runs over a hose and delays at getting out of pits – lost positions way down the order

Ron Frankl @ronfrankl
Hinchcliffe being told repeatedly by cc to save fuel; James acknowledges but says he” doesn’t want to lose the field.” #IndyCar

Oakley @oakley
RT @OakleyRacing1 The #Indy500 – @scottdixon9 leading followed by fellow O driver @dariofranchitti – will they hold on? #indycar2012 Lap 168

Speculation is that with leaning down, all of the leaders my be able to make it to the end – possible penalties to Rahal and Hinchcliffe

LAP 171 of 200 – 30 LAPS To Go – GREEN Flag Restart of fifth caution period of the race

Three wide and Justin Wilson gets by Sato – Franchitti takes the lead – Wilson set sights on Dixon

Kanaan in the mix with Franchitti, Dixon, Wilson, Sato and Kaanaan

Wilson slips up near the wall and losses places back to P7 – now top five is Dixon, Franchitti, Sato, Carpenter, and Kanaan

YELLOW Flag LAP 181 - Ed Carpenter spins and is in OK shape – no crash or damage, may have kissed the wall – actually no touch – white line sends the car skidding

LaMarquis Martin @LaMarquisMartin
100% skill, 200% luck there by @edcarpenter20 #indy500 #indycar

Tony @PopOffValve
Holy cow. Screw green/white/checkers, this is going to be a GOBSMACKING finish to the #Indy500.

Kendra McKinley @dance_kenny
another new record! most lead changes in a single race. 31. #Indy500

Max Papis @maxpapis
Hats off to the class act of @CLTMotorSpdwy to show #Indy500 on the giant screen #classact

LAP 176 – Franchitti back in the lead with radio commands to manage fuel at “4.3 on the dash”

Dixon sets a new lead change record ant the INDY500 with 30 lead changes for this Mushroom Buster DW12

LAP 184 of 200 – 16 LAPS To Go – GREEN Flag Restart of sixth caution period of the race

Kanaan streaks to the lead from P6 – Franchitti passes TK back – Franchitti tries to bunch the field – Kanaan takes the lead again

YELLOW Flag - up to P8 Marco Andretti hits the wall and the tires on the right side of the car are bent – inside wheels hit the white line and spins

Gregory D. Howe ‏@wood_brothers21
Oh No, Marco! Get ready for some great radio! #IndyCar #Indy500

Marco fails in his bid for his best #INDY500 finish … and possible win

Declan Brennan @TheRaceTool
Has anyone noticed how FECKING AWESOME the Indy 500 is? :) #IndyCar

Curt Cavin @curtcavin
Pretty sure @TonyKanaan wishes he hadn’t taken the lead just before that crash. He’s going to be second (or maybe fifth) by Turn 4. #indy500

T.Marc Jones @TMarcJones
Ok ladies and gentlemen; 7 lap shootout! Is this an exciting race or what! #INDY500 #indycar2012 Let’s go @TonyKanaan

Angelique @Angeliquecr
This next restart is gonna test the sphincters of every soul at the @IMS #RaceDay #indy500 #Indy500SnakePit #indycar2012

Top five before restart are Kanaan, Franchitti, Dixon, Briscoe, and Wilson

LAP 194 of 200 – 6 LAPS To Go – GREEN Flag Restart of seventh caution period of the race

Franchitti passes on restart – Oriol Servia maks a charge to the front and is in P6

Two laps to go Sato holds on to Franchitti’s tail and is in P2 – Sato tries to pass on the inside, touches the whiteline and spins – YELLOW Flag

CHECKERED Flag – Franchitti becomes a three-time winner under a YELLOW Flag. WOW!

Final top ten – Dario Franchitti (from P33 to P3 on one fuel stint), Scott Dixon, Tony Kanaan, Oriol Servia (former Lotus Legion-driver), Ryan Briscoe, James Hinchcliffe, Justin Wilson, Charlie Kimball, Toensend Bell, and Helio Castroneves

This is the first race of the season not won by a Penske Racing driver, but it still is a race win by either a Penske Racing or a Chip Ganassi Racing driver!

Ashley Judd Franchitti is absolutely beside herself as well she should be – Dario Franchitti becomes a Three-Time INDY500 Winner – dedicates the race to Dan Wheldon in post race interview (paraphrased).

“To be placed on the trophy besides Dan means the world to me.”

Dario gets an Igloo cooler full of icy water dumped on him ala winning Football Coach/Super Bowl style.

Post race interview has Takuma Sato complaining that he had taken the position but Dario pinched him down so hard that it caused him to have to be below the whiteline causing his DW12 to spin and hit the wall.

The 96th Indianapolis 500 is in the books and should be renamed the “Mushroom Buster 500″ in honor of the technology that brought together a great, competitive, and record 35 lead change race.

… notes from The EDJE

Filed Under: Featured Story Tagged With: , , , , , , , , , ,

A Rough And Tumble Round 4 Itaipava Sao Paulo Indy 300 Presented By Nestle

April 29, 2012 By Leave a Comment

 

Three in a row at Sao Paulo! Congrats @12WillPower! #saopauloindy twitpic.com/9fau1g - Image Credit Penske Racing via TWEET

A Rough And Tumble Round 4 Itaipava Sao Paulo Indy 300 Presented By Nestle 

The morning of the fourth round in the IZOD IndyCar Series in Sao Paulo, Brazil started in having the DW12 IndyCars warm-up in light showers with the drivers finding dryer areas of the track to run and post the best times. When this happens in Sao Paulo, people begin to understand why this part of Brazil is known as the “Land Of Drizzle”.

The start time was moved up about 15 minutes in order to account for the weather on the Anhembi temporary street circuit (the fourth street/road race course of the 2012 season), which has turned sunny, with the starting grid of the 26 car field to reflect this starting order:

Event: Itaipava Sao Paulo Indy 300 – Round 4

Track: Sao Paulo Street Circuit 2.536 mile(s)

Report: Starting Line Up IZOD IndyCar Series – Tire Designation for Race April 29, 2012


SP — Car — Driver — Name — C/E/T — Start Tire

1 12 Power, Will D/C/F Alternate

2 10 Franchitti, Dario D/H/F Alternate

3 9 Dixon, Scott D/H/F Alternate

4 27 Hinchcliffe, James D/C/F Alternate

5 28 Hunter-Reay, Ryan D/C/F Primary

6 38 Rahal, Graham D/H/F Alternate

 

7 14 Conway, Mike D/H/F Alternate

8 67 Newgarden, Josef (R) D/H/F Alternate

9 2 Briscoe, Ryan D/C/F Alternate

10 26 Andretti, Marco D/C/F Primary

11 11 Kanaan, Tony D/C/F Alternate

12 8 Barrichello, Rubens D/C/F Alternate

 

13 5 Viso, EJ D/C/F Alternate

14 4 Hildebrand, JR D/C/F Primary

15 83 Kimball, Charlie D/H/F Alternate

16 77 Pagenaud, Simon (R) D/H/F Primary

17 19 Jakes, James D/H/F Primary

18 3 Castroneves, Helio D/C/F Primary

19 25 Beatriz, Ana D/C/F Primary

20 20 Carpenter, Ed D/C/F Alternate

 

21 78 de Silvestro, Simona D/L/F Primary

22 7 Bourdais, Sebastien D/L/F Primary

23 22 Servia, Oriol D/L/F Primary

24 6 Legge, Katherine (R) D/L/F Primary

25 15 Sato, Takuma D/H/F Primary

26 18 Wilson, Justin D/H/F Primary

(R) Rookie

 

Pursuant to Rule 14.14.6.4.1, Cars 4, 6, 7, 18 & 19 will start on Primary Tires.

(ht: IICS PDF Report)

NOTES: Qualifying lap times for the No. 18 Sonny’s BBQ car have been voided by INDYCAR following post-race technical inspection. Pursuant to Rule 14.4.13.3 of the 2012 IZOD IndyCar Series rulebook: As requested by INDYCAR each Car must run either the cameras or dummy equipment as supplied by BSI/INDYCAR.

Justin Wilson, who had qualified sixth in the Dale Coyne Racing car, will start from the rear.

Not exactly what you want to see between warmup and race, 2nd engine change in 12 hours! Ayayay! Our guys working hard. Image Credit: Oriol Servia via TWEET

Unapproved engine changes, which incur 10-grid spot penalties, were made to the No. 15 Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing car of Takuma Sato (did not participate in qualifying), the No. 7 Dragon Racing car of Sebastien Bourdais (qualified 19th), the No. 22 Lotus DRR car of Oriol Servia (qualified 24th) and the No. 6 TrueCar Dragon Racing car of Katherine Legge (carried over from Long Beach; qualified 25th).

 

GREEN Flag starts the Itaipava Sao Paulo Indy 300 -

Everyone gets off to a great start with Will Power maintaining the first position. On the first lap, Newgarden and Hinchcliffe battle hard with Newgarden taking the position.

End of the first lap saw Conway taking the position from Hinchcliffe and Dario Franchitti staying tight on Will Power’s wing.

The long, nearly one-mile straight-away featured on this circuit really lets these new DW12′s stretch their legs, so much so that during qualifications, Will Power, who won the two previous races here, set a new track record with a lap of 1 minute, 21.4045 seconds at about 3 minutes left in the Firestone Fast Six qualifications round.

At Lap 4 of 75 – The engine wars have been invigorated with the change to the turbo design on the Honda engines – the top six positions are Power-Chevy, Franchitti-Honda, Dixon-Honda, Newgarden-Honda, Rahal-Honda, and Conway-Honda!

Lap 7 of 75 – AJ Foyt’s Mike Conway is all over Sarah Fisher Racing’s Josef Newgarden to try at taking away the spot as KVRT’s Tony Kanaan passes team-mate Rubens Barrichello.

Announcement Note: Bryan Herta Autosport stayed behind from the race in order to prepare for the INDY500. The team has left the Lotus Legion and will be running the Honda engine the rest of the season.

Pit Stops begin on Lap 10 of 75. Pagenaud is in early and has an adjustment to his front wing for more downforce.

Takuma Sato came into the pits too hot and incurs a drive through penalty … needs a third wing replacement for the weekend.

Lap 13 of 75 – Justin Wilson is one of the big movers starting at the back of the field at P26 up to P18 – Drizzles are beginning to fall so those who waited may be able to have one less stop for rain tires.

Marco Andretti in the pits from P14 and takes on Firestone Reds – drops to P25.

TWEET – The EDJE @theedje -18 laps. 3 commercial breaks. 1 pre-taped segment. Missed passing and pits tops. Awful.

Lap 20 of 75 has Power leading the field by 3.2 seconds ahead of Franchitti, Rahal, Conway, Hunter-Reay, Briscoe, Viso, Barrichello, Carpenter, and the Lotus Dragon Racing of Bourdais.

The Lotus and team-mate to Bourdais at Dragon Racing, Katherine Legge, slaps the wall and damages the right rear of the car.

A wet spot has Ryan Briscoe bringing out the Yellow Flag while under pressure from Rahal.

Full Course Yellow Lap 23 of 75 – Castroneves at P8 is listed as the biggest mover up 10 positions from his start.

TWEET – Formula 1 @F1grid – Sonny’s BBQ car has a gearbox clogged with cornbread problem. #IndyCar

TWEET – F1 Fanatic Live @f1fanaticlive – Under caution it’s Power, Franchitti, Hunter-Reay, Dixon, Conway, Rahal, Pagenaud, Castroneves, Newgarden and Barrichello. #IndyCar

Lap 25 of 75 – Ryan Briscoe’s DW12 is on the flatbed truck and is out of the race – storm clouds are gathering with the winds stepping up a notch.

A two stop strategy seems out of the question given the potential of rain and the timing mix of yellows the race is having.

GREEN Flag – Lap 26 of 75 Side-By-Side – Franchitti spins in turn #1 as he was tapped by Mike Conway – Franchitti’s car is dead – Full Course Caution!

Andretti Autosport's Ryan Hunter-Reay was strong again (as he was in Round 3 in Long Beach) and kept toward to top of the running order all day during this very entertaining race. Image Credit: Marshall Pruett via SPEED

The shake-out has Power leading RHR, Dixon, Castroneves, Barrichello, Kanaan, Viso, Hildebrand, Hinchcliffe, and Sato round out the top 10. The cheers are going up around the track as the three favorite sons in the race are Helio-P4, Rubens-P5, and TK-P6 in the top 10.

Franchitti is able to get restarted, gets checked out in the pits, and rejoins the field.

Side-By-Side restart Lap 29 of 75 – Everyone gets through Turn 1 but several cars 4-6 collect themselves in Turn 3.de Silvestro taps Newgarden and causes a blockage – two cars are damaged and in the pits – Newgarden and Jakes.

Newgarden rejoins the race – the DW12 is a much stronger and resilient chassis and aero-package. Simona de Silvestro stalled on track.

Top six positions are Power, RHR, Dixon, Kanaan, Barrichello, and Viso. A favorite daughter Ana Beatriz occupies P7.

GREEN Flag on Lap 33 of 75. Everyone through Turn 1, 2, and 3. RHR is all over the back of Power but the string of cars seems stable.

TWEET – Donna Lingley @MissLingley – Finally, we’re racing again. Double file restarts on street circuits don’t work. #IndyCar

TWEET – Brian J. Wiggins @brian_wiggins – Aussie, American, New Zealander, Brazilian, Brazilian. #Diverse #IndyCar

Lap 37 – SeaBass goes off in the run-off area and needs assistance – a rough day for Lotus Dragon Racing.

Lap 38 – Crossed Flags signify that this race is official … no matter what happens from now on, if the race is stopped, it counts.

Franchitti is on a charge as Franchitti passed Castroneves for P8. KVRT cars are P4, P5 and P6 (TK, Rubens, and Viso).

Lap 40 of 75 – Top 10 are Power (leading all laps) by 1.6 seconds over Ryan Hunter-Reay, Dixon, Kanaan, Rubens, Viso, Beatriz, Franchitti, Helio, and Sato with the biggest move of the day up 15 positions!

Tony Kanaan goes to the pits (last stop) so everyone moves up one. Franchitti giving fits to Beatriz and loosess a couple of positions. Castroneves has damage to his front wing but continues on after passing fellow country-person, Beatriz.

Lap 45 of 75 … 30 laps to go:

TWEET – Allen Wedge @AllenWedge – ALmost all of the field is throwing down their fastest laps of the race right now #indycar

Franchitti has moved up plus 16 after restarting from the back of the field. Dario now running at P8. Team-mate Scott Dixon in the pits for his assumed last stop.

Dreyer and Reinblod’s Lotus driven by Servia in for final pit-stop, comes out at P17 … will be running Chevy for the rest of the season.

TWEET – AJFoytRacing @AJFoytRacing – How come Franchitti can improve 10 spots under yellow by ducking into pits before green & no one notices? #saopauloindy #indycar

Sounds like … sour grapes?

TWEET – F1 Paddock @Formula1Paddock – Rubens Barrichello up to 5th now! #IndyCar

TWEET – Bruno Tarulli @BrunoTarulli34 – 50 vueltas cumplidas en Brasil! #IndyCar

Twenty Laps to go – Power by 2.6 seconds over RHR, Franchitti (oh, yes), Castroneves, and Sato. Pit-stops by leaders and Power has a great stop – Power on cold tires as Dixon takes the position away from Power in Turn 11.

Franchitti – good stop … does Dixon need to come in?

Hichcliffe and Hildebrand battle with Manica taking the position. Ed Carpenter is running strong in P5 – very good.

Everyone is waiting on Dixon to see if he needs to come in.

15 laps to go and Castroneves goes off into runoff area and drops from lead to P7. The pit-stops continue as the order continues to change.

TWEET – Donna Lingley @MissLingley – Hmmmm, Brazilian tv director cuts away from Helio making a mistake. Helio is Brazilian. Useless! #IndyCar

TWEET – Magnificent Geoffrey @MagnificentGeof – Credit to the TV director, the coverage of this race has been outstanding(ly questionable) #IndyCar

TWEET – Christopher Estrada @estradawriting – Less than 20 laps to go here at #SaoPauloIndy. 9-Dixon leads 12-Power, 28-HunterReay, 5-Viso and 10-Franchitti. #IndyCar #SaoPauloIndy

Viso in the Pits – Good stop. Dixon has a 2.8 second lead but … needs a splash of fuel?!

Great track action all race long – just great racing all around. Rahal takes P12 away from the Fuzzy’s car of Ed Carpenter – big difference between Reds and Primary compound tires.

Josef Newgarden was racy throughout the event but his day came to an end when he got mixed up in a late race multi-car incident. Pictured here, he is followed by Brazilians Helio Castroneves and Tony Kanaan. Image Credit: Marshall Pruett via SPEED

TWEET – Ross Bynum @therossbynum – Newgarden with fastest lap in race so far…wow. #IndyCar #SaoPauloIndy @SFHRindy @SarahFisher

Lap 60 of 75 has Dixon by 3.1 seconds over Power, RHR, Dario, Helio, Rubens, Sato, Manica, Conway, and JR Hildebrand.

Carpenter spins – Full course caution – Pits currently closed – All cars on Lap 63 track behind caution car – Pits OPEN!

TWEET – Danielle Asphall @DannieAsphall – Man, I’m a ball of nerves right now. #IndyCar #saopauloindy

Scott Dixon in … fuel … and out in P13 which sets up a RESTART with Power, RHR, Dario Franchitti, and Helio Castroneves on the front two rows – WOW!!!!!

TWEET – F1 Fanatic Live @f1fanaticlive – Looks like a disaster for Dixon – he gambled on staying out but his lead has been destroyed now. #IndyCar

TWEET – IndyCar Mom @IndyCarMom – I have to say how bad I want @rubarrichello to win so we can gain some #F1 fans. #callmedesparate #willbegforfans #iloveindycar #IndyCar

TWEET – Tim Moran @golic_2004 – Another car hits the wall. Looks like Newgarden… Caution #Indycar

This is the 12th consecutive race that Power has led. Newgarden pulls into the pits – broken, out of the race.

TWEET  – Ivan Renko @Ivan_Renko – Is the IZOD #IndyCar Series called “Formula Indy” in Brazil? I kinda like it.

Lap 67 of 75 RESTART – GREEN  Flag – Side-By-Side – A bunch of cars get balled up in turn 2 – a ton of chassis are just a mess – Full Course Caution!!!

Eight cars involved – Conway hits the wall in Turn 2 as he runs out of room – A call for all of the flatbeds in Sao Paulo to come to the track is put out – RED ALERT In Red Corner!

TWEET  – Tom Rowell @senorsoupe – That restart is why we love banzai Takuma Sato! He seemed to use the force just to get his car slow enough to get through turn 1 #indycar

New top 10 are Power, Hunter-Reay, Sato, Franchitti, Castroneves, Hinchcliffe, Hildebrand, Kimball, Viso, and Barrichello.

The "Formula IndyCars" get all piled up when Mike Conway runs out of room running on the outside of turn 2 and crunches the wall. One car after another had their nose cones collect under the car in front of them until eight cars were stopped and unable to continue. Image Credit: Sini Salminen via TWEET

TWEET – Sini Salminen @SiniF1 – RT @lightmasf1: ooooops! #IndyCar twitpic.com/9fagpq

Lap 71 of 75 – TWEET – Chris Tansley @ChrisTansley – Does the safety car have enough fuel? #Indycar

TWEET  – Austin Brauser @austinbrauser – What are the odds? An 8 car pile up and EJ Viso is not involved! #indycar #saopauloindy

Lap 72 RESTART – GREEN Flag Side-By-Side – Sambadrome turn 1 everyone safely through – Power out positions RHR!

Sato in the mix – tracking RHR – Castroneves being chased by Dario Franchitti. Chevy, Chevy, Honda, Chevy, Honda in top five!

2 Laps to go – Will Power looks strong and may only be beaten if he makes a mistake – no drizzles, clear track, Paul Blevin waves the White Flag!

TWEET – Dan Takyi @D4NT4KY1 – Final lap now! Sato will be third! Sadly Rubens is only 10th after being 3rd at one stage #IndyCar

Helio Castroneves was the highest placing driver of the hometown contingent at P4. He was able to hold off Dario Franchitti and survive a practice crash and a couple of on-track incidents to come back to P2 in season championship points. Image Credit: Marshall Pruett via SPEED

Checkered Flag – Will Power Three-Peats the Sambadrome!!! Wins third race on the season – Dixon, nearest in points, drops positions.

TWEET – IZOD IndyCar Series @IndyCar – It’s @12WillPower again! AAR’s Hunter-Reay and RLR’s Sato finish on podium, Sato’s first one! #saopauloindy #indycar2012

TWEET – Matt White @MattW1986 – Good recovery from @dariofranchitti to 5th #indycar

TWEET  – Dave Furst @DaveFurst – If it’s a non-oval, its Will Power. It’ll be interesting to see how the #IndyCar dynamic changes during the month of May. #Indy500

TWEET – lookingspiffy @lookingspiffy – Good stuff from the #BrazilianMafia today. Most vexed by that last restart, though. #IndyCar

Will Power jumps off of the front nose of his Verizon Team Penske #12 – in interview says he is happy that it did not really rain on the race all day.

Ryan Hunter-Reay – “Will runs such a clean race. I tried to jump him but he was able to keep the position on the restart.”

TAKU – “We had a nice race, really – I’m really excited for Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing – Fantastic. We finally got a good result going into Indianapolis.”

Helio Castroneves started in P20 and ends up P4 as the highest placing Brazilian! “In the end, Takuma made a kamikaze move and was able to hold until the end.

The Twitter, the people were supporting me saying nice things.”

Oriol Servia (#22 – for the last time – Lotus DRR): “We almost didn’t make the start of the race. The guys did an amazing job. They were working until the last second putting the engine together and we didn’t think that we were going to make it. Somehow we picked up the best result of the year and we’ll take it.”

Sebastien Bourdais (#7 – Lotus Dragon Racing): “You just need to look at the splits from the race: We have three fastest sectors (corners only : Turns 1 & 2, then T5 and T6) but it is not enough when we get in a pack of cars for a restart or a straight fight. We could have finished in the top 10 if we had not been collected in a multi-car incident that put us a lap down, but that’s racing.”

TWEET – NBC Sports @NBCSports – Will Power earns his third consecutive #indycar win, taking the Sao Paolo 300. See the stats here: scores.nbcsports.msnbc.com/nascar/leaderb… @IndyCar

IZOD IndyCar Series YouTube Race Highlights>>

Engine Wars Update: Chevy, Chevy, Honda, Chevy, Honda, Chevy, Chevy, Honda Chevy, and Chevy … Lotus just misses out of a top 10 finish with Wix Filter Dreyer and Reibold Racing’s Oriol Srevia posting up at P11 in this team’s last race for Lotus this season (will be using Chevrolet-power in their DW12 for the balance of the season). The next closest running Lotus-powered DW12 was McAfee Dragon Racing’s Sebastien Bourdais at P18.

It is now on to the season’s first oval race at the “Greatest Spectacle In Racing” with the month of May’s INDY500!

… notes from The EDJE


** Article first published as “A Rough And Tumble Round 4 Itaipava Sao Paulo Indy 300 Presented By Nestle” at Technorati **

Filed Under: Featured Story Tagged With: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Sao Paulo Indy 300 Round 4 Qualifications Notes

April 28, 2012 By Leave a Comment

The 2.536-mile, 11-turn street circuit for the Itaipava São Paulo Indy 300 presented by Nestle is challenging for drivers and teams. It features the longest straightaway on the IZOD IndyCar Series schedule at nearly a mile, which is a prime overtaking zone. Image Credit: IICS

Sao Paulo Indy 300 Round 4 Qualifications Notes

[ALERT: @curtcavin: Word to all #indycar Sunday Broadcast TV watchers: Start time is being moved up 30 minutes. Green flag now about 11:10 a.m. EDT.]

Why does IICS management insist on placing the most competitive drivers in the same group (1 or 2) during the initial rounds of “Knock-Out” qualifications?

Group 1 Qualifications – Event: Sao Paulo Indy 300

Rank        Car    Driver    Engine    Diff.    BL    LL    Gap    TL    BL#
1    25 Ana Beatriz    Chevy Logo    0    1:26.0364    1:26.0364    0    1    1
2    12 Will Power    Chevy Logo    0.0000    0    0    0    0    0
3    9 Scott Dixon    Honda Logo    0    0    0    0    0    0
4    27 James Hinchcliffe    Chevy Logo    0    0    0    0    0    0
5    18 Justin Wilson    Honda Logo    0    0    0    0    0    0
6    77 Simon Pagenaud    Honda Logo    0    0    0    0    0    0
7    26 Marco Andretti    Chevy Logo    0    0    0    0    0    0
8    8 Rubens Barrichello    Chevy Logo    0    0    0    0    0    0
9    4 JR Hildebrand    Chevy Logo    0    0    0    0    0    0
10    11 Tony Kanaan    Chevy Logo    0    0    0    0    0    0
11    78 Simona de Silvestro    Lotus Logo    0    0    0    0    0    0
12    7 Sebastien Bourdais    Lotus Logo    0    0    0    0    0    0
13    6 Katherine Legge    Lotus Logo    0    0    0    0    0    0

This situation happens more often than not and in Sao Paulo … Group 1 has the drivers that graced the podium at the Toyota Grand Prix of Long Beach (Power, Pagenaud, and Hinchcliffe), Dixon, and Barrichello – but also all three of the last remaining Lotus Legion cars of Bourdais, Legge, and de Silvestro.

Group 1 Qualifications – Event: Sao Paulo Indy 300 – Top 6 Transfer Drivers To Round 2

Power, Dixon, Hinchcliffe, Wilson, Kanaan, Andretti advance to next round. Pagenaud, Barrichello, and all Lotus Legion – OUT.

Group 2 Qualifications – Event: Sao Paulo Indy 300

Rank        Car    Driver    Engine    Diff.    BL    LL    Gap    TL    BL#
1        10 Dario Franchitti    Honda Logo    0    0    0    0    0    0
2        28 Ryan Hunter-Reay    Chevy Logo    0    0    0    0    0    0
3        2 Ryan Briscoe    Chevy Logo    0    0    0    0    0    0
4        14 Mike Conway    Honda Logo    0    0    0    0    0    0
5        67 Josef Newgarden    Honda Logo    0    0    0    0    0    0
6        5 EJ Viso    Chevy Logo    0    0    0    0    0    0
7        3 Helio Castroneves    Chevy Logo    0    0    0    0    0    0
8        38 Graham Rahal    Honda Logo    0    0    0    0    0    0
9        19 James Jakes    Honda Logo    0    0    0    0    0    0
10        83 Charlie Kimball    Honda Logo    0    0    0    0    0    0
11        15 Takuma Sato    Honda Logo    0    0    0    0    0    0
12        22 Oriol Servia    Lotus Logo    0    0    0    0    0    0
13        20 Ed Carpenter    Chevy Logo    0    0    0    0    0    0

With Group 2 it shows Oriol Servia still running a Lotus engine but this is a dead-man walking since they will run a different yet to be determined engine for the rest of the season. Takuma Sato is late to show up on the track having to penalized 10 places on an engine change. Newgarden may be the biggest news if he transfers – either that or it maybe those of the most established drivers not being able to join the Top 6 out of this Group 2.

Group 2 Qualifications – Event: Sao Paulo Indy 300 – Top 6 Transfer Drivers To Round 2

Castroneves OUT / Taku never takes a lap – Franchitti, Hunter-Reay, Newgarden, Conway, Briscoe and Rahal advance to Round 2.

Round 2 – 12 cars are able to post times with the top 6 able to compete for the Firestone Fast 6.

Qualifying – Round 2 for the Sao Paulo Indy 300 at the Sao Paulo Street Circuit

Rank        Car    Driver    Engine    Diff.    BL    LL    Gap    TL    BL#
1        2 Ryan Briscoe    Chevy Logo    0    0    0    0    0    0
2        9 Scott Dixon    Honda Logo    0    0    0    0    0    0
3        10 Dario Franchitti    Honda Logo    0    0    0    0    0    0
4        11 Tony Kanaan    Chevy Logo    0    0    0    0    0    0
5        12 Will Power    Chevy Logo    0    0    0    0    0    0
6        14 Mike Conway    Honda Logo    0    0    0    0    0    0
7        26 Marco Andretti    Chevy Logo    0    0    0    0    0    0
8        27 James Hinchcliffe    Chevy Logo    0    0    0    0    0    0
9        28 Ryan Hunter-Reay    Chevy Logo    0    0    0    0    0    0
10        18 Justin Wilson    Honda Logo    0    0    0    0    0    0
11        38 Graham Rahal    Honda Logo    0    0    0    0    0    0
12        67 Josef Newgarden    Honda Logo    0    0    0    0    0    0

The engine wars for Round 2 show that 6 Hona and 6 Chevy are able to take the Checkered Flag. The tires seem to have reduced inflation as the cars are showing a lot of sidewall flex through the corners. With less than 2 minutes left Power sits at P7 – oops, P2, Hinchcliffe catches P1 knocking Power to P3, 40 seconds remain … RHR gets to P6. Kanaan at P12, seconds remain and Checkered Flag flies – Power finishes at P1, Hinch at P2, Dixon, Franchitti, Wilson, and Ryan Hunter-Reay.

Kanaan, Rahal, Conway, Briscoe, Andretti … and Newgarden OUT.

The Firestone Fast 6 starts – Power, Hinchcliffe, Dixon, Franchitti, Wilson, Hunter-Reay. TWEET – IndyCarPR | Power’s lap of 1:21.2718 is fastest lap recorded at #SaoPauloIndy. #ItsANewTrackRecord – GREEN Flag!

Three Chevy and three Honda engines represent the FF6 so no real news except the Lotus is still nowhere to be found.

Team Penske – Power, Andretti Autosport – RHR & Manica, Target Chip Ganassi – Dario & Dixon, and breaking the template … Dale Coyne Racing – Justin Wilson are the teams represented in the FF6.

Scott Dixon does not turn in a time and runs off the track causing a local Yellow Flag.

2 minutes remain: Power, Franchitti, Hinchcliffe, Hunter-Reay (RHR), Wilson, and Dixon. Dixon and RHR improve dropping Wilson.

Checkered Flag – Will Power, Dario Franchitti, Scott Dixon, James Hinchcliffe, Ryan Hunter-Reay, and Justin Wilson finish off the Firestone Fast Six.

Tweet - IndyCar .@12WillPower with the check! Will he win his 3rd race? Find out at 11 a.m. ET on @NBCSN! #saopauloindy #indycar2012 pic.twitter.com/gQMePmgq

Chevy, Honda, Honda Chevy, Chevy, and Honda for the Firestone Fast Six.

Pos — Driver — Team/Car — Time — Gap

1. Will Power Penske DW12-Chevy 1m21.4045s
2. Dario Franchitti Ganassi DW12-Honda 1m21.4485s + 0.0440s
3. Scott Dixon Ganassi DW12-Honda 1m21.8545s + 0.4500s
4. James Hinchcliffe Andretti DW12-Chevy 1m21.9956s + 0.5911s
5. Ryan Hunter-Reay Andretti DW12-Chevy 1m22.2408s + 0.8363s
6. Justin Wilson Dale Coyne DW12-Honda 1m22.2681s + 0.8636s

7. Graham Rahal Ganassi DW12-Honda 1m23.0972s Round 2
8. Mike Conway Foyt DW12-Honda 1m22.7082s Round 2
9. Josef Newgarden Fisher DW12-Honda 1m22.7301s Round 2
10. Ryan Briscoe Penske DW12-Chevy 1m22.4404s Round 2
11. Marco Andretti Andretti DW12-Chevy 1m22.8320s Round 2
12. Tony Kanaan KV DW12-Chevy 1m23.1766s Round 2

13. EJ Viso KV DW12-Chevy 1m22.1404s Group 2
14. Charlie Kimball Ganassi DW12-Honda 1m22.1973s Group 2
15. James Jakes Dale Coyne DW12-Honda 1m22.3840s Group 2
16. Rubens Barrichello KV DW12-Chevy 1m22.3939s Group 1
17. Helio Castroneves Penske DW12-Chevy 1m22.4143s Group 2
18. JR Hildebrand Panther DW12-Chevy 1m22.4321s Group 1
19. Simon Pagenaud Schmidt DW12-Honda 1m22.4354s Group 1
20. Ed Carpenter Carpenter DW12-Chevy 1m22.9424s Group 2

21. Sebastien Bourdais Dragon DW12-Lotus 1m23.1331s Group 1
22. Ana Beatriz Andretti DW12-Chevy 1m23.2692s Group 1
23. Oriol Servia Dreyer & Reinbold DW12-Lotus 1m23.4509s Group 2
24. Simona de Silvestro HVM DW12-Lotus 1m23.6762s Group 1
25. Katherine Legge Dragon DW12-Lotus 1m24.6042s Group 1
26. Takuma Sato Rahal DW12-Honda Group 2
(final grid ht: autosport.com)

Photo Caption In Home Page Display Banner: A hard hit for Helio Castroneves on the exit of turn 2 after jumping across the kerbing into a concrete wall put paid to the Brazilian racer’s participation just 20 minutes into the the hour-long second practice session in Brazil ahead of the Sao Paulo Indy 300. Castroneves managed to do heavy damage to his front wing and suspension, and it took the race officials some ten minutes to collect up the pieces before running could resume. The incident was the second red flag stoppage of the session, after an early brief pause following Castroneves’ Penske team mate Ryan Briscoe going for a spin on the exit of turn 11. Image Credit: Marshall Pruett

… notes from The EDJE

Filed Under: Featured Story Tagged With: , , , , , , , ,

Post Dan Wheldon Tragedy Reaction Review To Safety On Banked Ovals

October 19, 2011 By Leave a Comment

A memorial to Dan Wheldon is displayed at Las Vegas Motor Speedway, where the British-born driver was killed in an accident on Sunday [click image to launch video of three-abreast lap salute to Dan Wheldon in his passing at LVMS]. Image Credit: Robert Laberge/Getty Images via guardian.co.uk

Post Dan Wheldon Tragedy Reaction Review To Safety On Banked Ovals

The safety debate centers on the fact that IndyCar Dallara vehicles, which all have the same bodies and engines, can not avoid pack racing at very high speeds on a circuit as small and banked as the Las Vegas track, and this sets up a condition that is dangerous with open-cockpit, Indy-style cars. The wide track bed combined with steep banking and the mushroom shaped vortex wash that comes out from behind the cars, set up a very unstable mix.

Driving the Go Daddy No. 7, Andretti Autosport Dallara, Danica Patrick posted the fastest practice time with a staggering 224.719 mph on Oct. 13. After learning her time, Patrick’s reaction proved prophetic.

“It’s friggin’ fast here,” said Patrick. “Almost a 225 lap is like Indy speeds. The track is nice and smooth and we’ll be three-wide out there, which will be exciting. The race is going to be crazy and the crashes will be spectacular.”

Danica, who will be driving in NASCAR next year, was not the only driver talking up the danger of the course in the days before the race.

“It’s so fast and you’re so close to each other, it’s exciting,” veteran driver, and IMS Radio commentator, Hewlett-Packard sponsored Davey Hamilton told the Las Vegas Review-Journal, also noting that he expected four wide racing. “There’s really no room for error.”

Driver comments after the Wheldon tragedy where 15 cars were collected in a fiery mess confirmed the fear of this unstable mix.

“We all know this is part of the sport,” driver Oriol Servia said of the danger. “We all had a bad feeling about this place in particular just because of the high banking and how easy it was to go flat” out on the throttle.

“Within five laps people started to do crazy stuff,” Dario Franchitti said immediately after the accident. “I wanted no part of it. I love hard racing, but that to me is not what it’s about. I said before, this is not a suitable track. You can’t get away from anybody. One small mistake and you have a massive wreck.”

“Now we need to rethink the way we’re doing things,” said Tony Kanaan, who started on the pole.

The Dallara IR-05 was built specifically to be driven in excess of 230 mph and protect its driver in the event of an accident at those speeds. Its carbon fiber chassis was designed to break apart during a collision and absorb the forces of a series of massive impacts while keeping the cockpit surrounding the driver intact.

Since its introduction in 2005, only one driver, Paul Dana, had died behind the wheel of the Dallara before Sunday. In a freak accident during practice for the 2006 season opener in Homestead, Fla., Dana lost control of his car and hit a damaged vehicle that had come to a stop on the track in front of him head-on, at an estimated speed of 176 mph. In a bit of irony, Dan Wheldon went on to win that race. Since then, the cars had been used in 100 races and covered more than 500,000 miles in competition without any loss of life, and few major injuries.

But one thing the vehicles can’t do is prevent an accident like the 15-car pileup that took the 33-year-old Wheldon’s life.

Driver James Jakes, whose car was damaged in the incident, added that “unfortunately, it’s something I think a lot of us thought might happen. We practiced with no more than five or six cars in a group and now we’ve got 34 … there was going to be some trouble.”

During the 15 car collection in turn #2, Wheldon’s car got airborne and came into contact with the catch fence above the wall. The metal mesh fence is designed to keep vehicles and debris from leaving the confines of the track, but can cause additional damage in the process.

“It is one of those things that when you are racing you are always aware that there are risks,” Dan Weldon teammate, Alex Tagliani said. “But you never think it is going to come to that.”

“I am very sad and angry,” expressed Alex. What angered the 38-year-old was that no one listened to the drivers’ fears over the conditions before the race. Tagliani felt that, like NASCAR, when it revolutionized driver safety after the death of Dale Earnhardt in 2001 at Daytona International Speedway, IndyCar must look at doing the same in its series.

“If we are going to come back to these (1 1/2-mile banked ovals) we are going to have to change the aero packages to slow the cars down,” continued Alex. “It is just not right that some one has to die to make those changes.”

One thing that Tagliani proposes is that drivers, team owners, track owners and IndyCar bosses get together in the off season to talk about what can be done to make racing both better and safer.

“There is definitely things that need to be discussed and things to look at,” Tagliani concluded. “We for sure have to talk to the series bosses. Right now my mind is so confused. We have to talk about racing these types of cars on these types of race tracks. I don’t think tracks like the mile and a half at Las Vegas is the right thing for us.”

On Friday, IndyCar President and CEO Randy Bernard announced that the series plans to return to Las Vegas for its finale in 2012, and the organization has not yet said if it is reconsidering that decision.

In an interview with Fox Sports in the wake of the crash, former CART/ChampCar driver and current NASCAR star A.J. Allmendinger said, “obviously, with the new car coming in, it needs to be safer, but there are tracks that they don’t need to race at.”

A template situation that IndyCar could have learned from as it relates to high-banked mile and a half ovals happened in 2001. CART/ChampCar, one of the two open-wheel racing series that later combined to form IndyCar, was forced to cancel a race at the Texas Motor Speedwayafter drivers complained in practice about getting dizzy and blacking out from the g-forces created by the high speeds that their cars were capable of on the steeply-banked 1.5-mile oval. In this case the rules were changed to slow the cars down through downforce and engine set-ups at subsequent events held at the track.
(ht: various news services – FoxNews/Huffington Post/Toronto Sun – for quotes and background on the Dallara IR-05)

The two biggest words that stand out the most, if one were to read between the lines, in all of these post Dan Wheldon tragedy driver reactions to safety on banked ovals – Race Control.

Upon reflection … Race Control has been the overriding story (race call miscues effecting championship points standings, recommended car set ups, and venue management) for the 2011 IZOD IndyCar Series World Championship season and the last season of the Dallara IR-05.

… notes from The EDJE

 

[Article was first published as Post Dan Wheldon Tragedy Reaction Review To Safety On Banked Ovals at Technorati]

Filed Under: Top Story Tagged With: , , , , , , , , , , ,

Dan Wheldon Killed: The First and Final Laps, Tweet by Tweet

October 16, 2011 By Leave a Comment

Will Power and Dario Franchitti as they wait to start engines and begin the race to decide who will be 2011 IZOD IndyCar Series champion. Image Credit: Edmund Jenks (2011)

Dan Wheldon Killed: The First and Final Laps, Tweet-By-Tweet

The season finale of the 2011 IZOD IndyCar Series gets played out here in the land where gambling is king and glitz is the salve that makes everything work. This is the last official race with the old Dallara chassis that helped to establish the Indy Racing League (IRL) and was the equipment used to secure the merger between the ChampCar World Series (CCWS) and the IRL through the last three years.

Thirty-four cars will take to this short 1.5 mile oval for 300 miles and every effort has been made to field all the equipment that can roll and race because this will be the last time these Dallaras will be used by this racing series.

One example as to what can happen when one works hard to take old parts and stitch together a car to race happened when James Jakes had to exit the second practice session on Friday early in a fiery smash in turn #2 due to suspension failure. These 200mph Dallara cars are not supposed to do this.

James Jakes driving for Dale Coyne Racing as he coasts to a stop as fuel flairs up along the wall. Image Credit: Yahoo.Sports.Com

CGRTeamsChip Ganassi Racingby LVMotorSpeedway – We’re about an hour away from the green flag here @LVMotorSpeedway for the @IndyCar season finale! Catch the action-packed race LIVE on ABC!

NewmanHaas Newman Haas Racing – @OriolServia with friends @MichelJourdain and @AdrianF007 yfrog.com/o0211ruj

Green! Green! Green!

Everyone gets off without a hitch – the field of 34 cars are up to speed at over 200 mph

Dario Franchitti moves ahead of Will Power to put him a few more points down.

Cars go three wide in most of the corners around the track … very close racing

Lap 10 of 200

SBPopOffValve Tony – Danica in the middle, three-wide. She’s thinking, “I can’t wait until I’m doing this at half the speed.”

Crash Crash Crash – YouTube LINK>> – Lap 12 of 200

Eight cars involved, one car flies in the air, one on its lid

Dale_Nixon Dale Nixon – Holy crap this does not look good..

99forever Steph@MoreFrontWing – Can’t breathe. #indycar

Red Flag after 12 laps

kart58 Paige – God… that looked like Indy 1973 carnage. Not good. #indycar

UPDATE – 15 cars collected in the mess on turn #2

DRRIndyCar DRRIndyCar – Bia says she’s sure she hit debris at slow speed.

toomuchracing Pat W – Will Power’s car is involved and he’s out of the race, Dario Franchitti is champion

Verizon Penske Racing’s car driven by Will Power. Image Credit: Edmund Jenks via broadcast image (2011)

Sebastian Saavedra touches a car next to him with left wheel as he seeks to get out of the top groove and this sets off the chain reaction

DRRIndyCar DRRIndyCar – Assessing the damage to the 24 and 11. Both drivers say their cars are probably going to be able to continue.

pressdog Bill Zahren – RT @rosslancaster: @pressdog RT @f1fanaticlive: Rice, Power, Mann, Lloyd, Wheldon, Viso, Tracy, Kimball, Schec… (cont)

PantherRacing Panther Racing – Appears JR is out of car and OK.

IndyRacingNut Tony Wittrien – Anyone with word on Wheldon’s condition? Please?

SBPopOffValve Tony – Oh shit. The yellow tarp is on Wheldon’s car.

shagers Shane Rogers – That tarp is a major, major concern. #indycar

99forever Steph@MoreFrontWing – Bad. RT @JennaFryer WTF is the yellow tarp? #indycar

toomuchracing Pat W – Out of the race per ABC: Power, Cunningham, Hildebrand, Howard, Bell, Scheckter, Meira, Kimball, Mann, Rice, Viso, Lloyd, Mann, Rice

specutainment Midweek Motorsport by radiolemans – 12 cars out in huge shunt at Vegas. Power involved,Dario made it thru. Red Flag. Press room very quiet.

Replay of video taken from Will Power’s car camera … Will takes off and gets launched airborne and turns 180 degrees and lands tail first

toomuchracing Pat W – Hoping the yellow tarp on the car is just a yellow tarp on a car and not a sign of something bad

Dale_Nixon Dale Nixon – That in-car footage on @12WillPower is frightening. That wheel almost came right into his camera

IndyRacingNut Tony Wittrien – Just felt compelled to give my 2yr old son a big hug…..#PrayForWheldon

UPDATE – Dan Weldon taken by heliocopter to University Hospital … all other drivers are under their own power.

pressdog Bill Zahren – Decisions made immediately post-trauma are not usually sound. RT @DriveAvailable: @SBPopOffValve That’s racing. Don’t over-react please.

colinsato Colin Sato by toomuchracing – Paul Tracy says there are a lot of younger drivers who don’t know how to react. He was around for G. Moore and J. Krosnoff. #indycar

specutainment Midweek Motorsport by radiolemans @ @nellietellie another one of those creepy moments at the track when everything goes quiet – even the press room were shocked…..

Will Power has been resubmitted to the field infirmary for further observation

This posting will become updated when more information is available – cars out (13) are #17 Wade Cunningham, #4 JR Hildebrand, #22 Townsend Bell, #15 Jay Howard, #57 Tomas Scheckter, #83 Charlie Kimball, #8 Paul Tracy, #59 EJ Viso, #77 Dan Wheldon, #19 Alex Lloyd, #30 Pippa Mann, #12 Will Power, #44 Buddy Rice.

Two cars are damaged but may continue are #14 Vitor Meira and #18 James Jakes.

END

Randy Bernard, President and CEO of the IZOD IndyCar Series announces in the Media Center that Dan Weldon passes away from unsurvivable injuries. Pippa Mann, Will Power, and JR Hildebrand were transported to the hospital for injuries and observation.

GRAND PRIX ASSOCIATION OF LONG BEACH STATEMENT
REGARDING DAN WHELDON

JIM MICHAELIAN, PRESIDENT & CEO, GRAND PRIX ASSOCIATION OF LONG BEACH:

“Our hearts are saddened to hear the news of the passing of Dan Wheldon. He was a great representative of our sport and personified what the IZOD IndyCar Series is all about. Our thoughts and prayers go out to his wife, Susie, his children and family. He will be missed.”
-TGPLB-

STATEMENT FROM ANDRETTI AUTOSPORT ON PASSING OF DAN WHELDON

“It is with extreme sorrow that we have lost one of our champion drivers today. Dan was an Indy 500 champion and IndyCar Series champion with Andretti Autosport-and one of our closest competitors. Dan brought such enthusiasm and passion to the sport not often seen in motorsports. We will remember Dan’s tremendous racing accomplishments with our team as well his infectious personality. We would like to express our deepest sympathy to Dan’s family, racing team and friends today. Dan is one of IndyCar’s greatest champions.”

… notes from The EDJE
Filed Under: Top Story Tagged With: , , , , ,

A Virtual Lap At The 1.5 Mile Kentucky Speedway Tri-Oval

September 29, 2011 By Leave a Comment

Kentucky Speedway is a 1.5-mile (2.4 km) speedway located in north-central Kentucky, near the community of Sparta, Kentucky; approximately halfway between Louisville, Kentucky and Cincinnati, Ohio, and is additionally 70 miles (113 km) from another fairly sizable market, Lexington, Kentucky  Image Credit: lessthanjake.wikia.com

 

A Virtual Lap At The 1.5 Mile Kentucky Speedway Tri-Oval

Check out what it’s like to be leading the field while driving an IZOD IndyCar Series car at Kentucky Speedway. Find out what the challenges are as one drives this unique, banked tri-oval and what one has to do to keep the competition behind them.

Power has recaptured the season points lead in the IZOD IndyCar Series (ICS) championship with only two races left with an 11 point margin over the second-place, and potential repeat ICS champion, Dario Franchitti, who drives for the Target Chip Ganassi Racing team (2 race anaylsis here).

The Verizon Penske Racing driver is confident he may maintain this lead because he’s had another year of experience navigating oval speedways, which included his first oval win at Texas Motor Speedway in June. The 30 year old Power has six wins overall this season.

The series’ last two races are Sunday at Kentucky Speedway and Oct. 16 at Las Vegas Motor Speedway, both 1.5-mile oval tracks.

“I really didn’t have the experience” on ovals a year ago, Power revealed in a telephone interview with the LA Times, “I’m just going to focus on the job and the things I can control.”

And if the championship slips away again? “All we can say is that we did everything we could do to win it, that’s all we can do,” concludes Will Power.

Tune in Sunday, October 2, 2011 to see the IZOD IndyCar Series Kentucky Indy 300 – 200 Laps – Broadcast TV, Versus Live @ 2:45 ET.
(ht: LA Times / Immersion Media for the video http://www.imsports.com)

… notes from The EDJE

Filed Under: Top Story Tagged With: , , , ,

The Willpower Of Will Power Vaults Driver To Championship Lead At Motegi

September 21, 2011 By Leave a Comment

Verizon Penske Racing’s Will Power as he accepts his second consecutive Mario Andretti “King Of The Road” trophy for racking up the most championship points on a road/street circuit during the course of an IZOD IndyCar Series season. Image Credit: IZOD IndyCar Series

The Willpower Of Will Power Vaults Driver To Championship Lead At Motegi

It was just a few short races ago when all looked as if the IZOD IndyCar Series championship was coming down to a one-man race to re-crown Dario Franchitti as its best driver for a fourth time … third time in a row.

Penske Racing’s Will Power lost the title on the last race of the season last year after leading the points race most of the year … but was unable to maintain the lead when ever he had to race on an oval track.

Nearly out of reach of a surging series points leader Dario Franchitti a little over a month ago, Power not only has erased a 62-point deficit in only four races (New Hampshire – oval, Sonoma – road, Baltimore – street, and Motegi – road/normally oval), he used his focus and will power to vault to the top spot by 11 points with two oval races to go (Kentucky and the season closer at Las Vegas).

Say what one will, but the season for Will Power comes down to one thing, has he learned to win on an oval enough to out pace his chief nemesis, Dario Franchitti?

Target Chip Ganassi Racing’s Scott Dixon as he leads Will Power through the track overpass section on the road course at Twin Ring Motegi in Japan. Image Credit: IZOD IndyCar Series

This excerpted and edited from Sports Illustrated -

Not so fast: Dixon makes it 3-way race for title
(AP)

Just when it looked like Dario Franchitti and Will Power would run away from the field in the race for the IndyCar championship, Scott Dixon got back in the mix with a win at the Indy Japan 300.

Dixon’s victory in the last IndyCar event to be held in Japan moved the Target Chip Ganassi driver to within 59 points of Power with two races to go.
—-
Power and Franchitti (48 points ahead) still have a large advantage, but Dixon, who won the championship in 2003 and 2008, isn’t about to concede anything just yet.

“Dario and Will have both had strong seasons, but we have been creeping up and staying within striking distance,” Dixon said. “I think sometimes that gets overlooked. We want this to be a three-horse race for sure.”

It wouldn’t be the first time a driver came from third place to win the championship with two races to go. Sam Hornish Jr. was third with two races left in 2002 and went on to win the championship, winning the last two events.

Dixon is hoping for a similar scenario this year.

“Hopefully everyone will continue to focus on those other two and we can sneak in under the radar and get to the front in these final two races,” Dixon said. “The Target cars have been strong on ovals this season and we’re looking forward to finishing 2011 on a high note.”
—-
While Dixon’s win in Japan kept his title hopes alive, it was who finished second and eighth at Motegi that threw the championship race wide open.

Franchitti went into the race with a slim five-point lead over Power. But a poor qualifying effort put the No. 10 Ganassi Racing Dallara on the fifth row. The Scotsman’s chances of holding onto the points lead took a major hit when he made contact with the right-rear of Ryan Briscoe’s Team Penske car entering Turn 1 on the 26th lap.

Race officials levied an avoidable contact penalty on the reigning series champion, sending him to the rear of the field before he worked his way back to finish eighth.

“It was a stupid move on my part,” said Franchitti. “I did a lot of hard work to get from ninth to fifth, and I’d been saving fuel the whole first stint. I thought there was a gap and Ryan was going wide on the entry and that was that.”

Power, who started from the front row, couldn’t catch Dixon but was able to do the next best thing by finishing ahead of Franchitti.

“I just need to keep finishing in front of (Franchitti) the rest of the way and we’ll be fine,” Power said. “We’ll keep chipping away like we have been.”

The last two races of the season are on 1.5-mile ovals. Franchitti has two wins on ovals this season compared to one for Power. But the Australian driver, who is bidding for his first championship, is confident about his chances at the last two tracks.

“Ovals, that’s what I enjoy the most racing, mile-and-a-half racing, Chicagoland last year, Texas this year,” Power said. “Even Kentucky last year we were really strong, just didn’t end up with the result. We’re pretty focused on that this year.”

Franchitti held a 47-point advantage before Power won the Indy Grand Prix of Sonoma on Aug. 28, and the gap narrowed further at the Baltimore Grand Prix on Sept. 4, where Power captured the pole and led for 70 of 75 laps in a runaway victory.

Whatever happens at Kentucky Speedway on Oct. 2, Dixon figures the championship will come down to the last race in Las Vegas on Oct. 16.

“The championship, I think going back to every year since 2006, has been decided in the last race so I don’t think it’s fair to count anyone out until the last lap of the season,” Dixon said.
[Reference Here]

Ok, fine … for fan interest, we’ll just say it’s a three-man race – RIGHT! It becomes a three-man race when Franchitti and Power take each other out … of BOTH races.

Just as it was in 2010 for Verizon Penske Racing driver, does Will Power have the willpower to stick it to Dario Franchitti and finish ahead in the points on oval tracks? The ChampCar World Series (CCWS) faithful believe this is the year he can.

Motegi By The Numbers - highlights:

6 – Finishing position for Sebastien Bourdais, who finished sixth for the fourth time in the past six races.

7 – Consecutive races led by Will Power, who led the only one lap not led by Scott Dixon at Motegi.

12 – Positions gained by JR Hildebrand, Danica Patrick and Simona De Silversto, who finished seventh, 11th and 14, respectively, most of any driver in the field.

14 – Points separating Sunoco Rookie of the Year point leader JR Hildebrand (284) and James Hinchcliffe (270) with two races remaining.

49 — Consecutive races running at the finish for Danica Patrick, extending her series record.

147 — Consecutive starts for Tony Kanaan.

1,903 – Laps completed (of 1,911) by fifth-place finisher Oriol Servia, most of any driver this season.

Uncountable — Autograph requests of Takuma Sato over the race weekend.
… notes from The EDJE

 

[Article first published as The Willpower Of Will Power Vaults Driver To Championship Lead At Motegi on Technorati]

Filed Under: Featured Story Tagged With: , , , , ,
« Older Posts
Developed by JMS Web Services