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Indy 500 Practice - Monday, May 14, 2012 - Final
Posted on 5/14 • Full Article
What an interesting Happy Hour for Day 3 at Indianapolis Motor Speedway.
For the first time this month, packs of cars toured the track in step, learning if passing is indeed possible -- and it certainly seems to be -- and how fast the drivers can turn their cars. Josef Newgarden finished as the top speed at 222.486 mph with Andretti Autosport drivers Ryan Hunter-Reay (221.639) and Marco Andretti (221.519) second and third, respectively.
At least seven drivers held the top spot on the speed chart at some point in the day, with six of them in the final hour.
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The month's first engine failure came when Graham Rahal lost a Honda engine. But it's tough to blame Honda for that. That was the engine that went in the Ganassi Racing car at the start of the season, and it was about 75 miles from being changed out at the start of the day. Rahal turned 25 laps, which means he was only 10 miles from the scheduled change.
Also noteworthy was the passing of the third phase of the Rookie Orientation Program by Jean Alesi. He ran a top lap of 211.516 mph, although that lap and several others were aided by the tow off three Team Penske cars working together late in the day.
May 16 - Quotes - Lotus
Posted on 5/16 • Full Article
Quotes from Lotus driver Jean Alesi and Fan force united Team
Jean Alesi (#64 - Lotus Fan Force United) : "Right now, I feel very unsafe, being quite slow in the middle of the track. So I am quite concerned for my fellow drivers, if we are not able to get the speed that we need. I am flat out and I have reached 205 as the maximum that I can see. So it is not a comfortable position right now. "
Lotus FFU Team Manager Ted Bitting: "Today was just another day of learning boundaries, learning what the car does in different scenarios, and trying to keep the driver comfortable in those scenarios. We created a baseline for tomorrow, and tomorrow's program will be very similar to today."
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IndyCar - Turbogate fuels Indy car unrest - ESPN (May 8, 2012 13:59)
The troubling common denominator is the amount of discontent and rancor already present between the competitors just four races into Indy car racing's latest manufacturer era. History has shown that manufacturer participation can make and/or break a racing series; the prestige and marketing support they bring are critical to any series' credibility and financial health. CART's mismanagement of the participating manufacturers in the early 21st century -- both on a technical and a political level -- was perhaps the biggest contributing factor to the series' rapid downfall. Though the IRL rules were stricter and the series tried to regulate them, Honda and Toyota still carried on much as they had in CART. But within three years, Honda dominated to the point that Chevy and Toyota withdrew at the end of 2005, relegating the IZOD IndyCar Series to the level of a Honda-powered spec-car series. Bringing back manufacturer competition was a key part of INDYCAR's commercial business plan moving forward. Yet almost from the get-go, the series is facing the kind of technical/political controversy that ultimately doomed CART. No matter what Justice Boehm determines Wednesday, how INDYCAR handles the manufacturers in the aftermath of the decision is critical for the future harmony of the sport. Whichever manufacturer loses out (and the common wisdom is that Chevrolet is unlikely to win its appeal) must move on quickly and quietly from the verdict and get back to building engines to whatever specifications are deemed legal.Gordon Kirby - Auto Racing - The Way It Is (May 7, 2012 08:22)
One day in 2008 Steve Newey chose exactly the right moment to pitch Herta on the idea of starting an Indy Lights team. "Steve Newey approached me one day when we were together at a kart track and said, 'Let's start a team together.' He asked me just at the right time and the right day. If he had asked me two weeks later or earlier I probably would have said no and it never would have happened. But it just hit me at the right time and I thought, 'Why not? Let's do it.' "We started really small with an Indy Lights team and tried to learn the business from the bottom up again from that side of it and it's been a really rewarding experience. I really feel fortunate to be able to continue to participate in the IndyCar series no longer as a driver but as an owner. If somebody walked up to me with a $100 million check and said, 'Bryan, here's a $100 million. Go do whatever you want.' Well, I'd still do what I'm doing. Fans get answers from Kentucky Speedway GM | Shifting Gears (May 1, 2012 14:17)
One of the first questions: when will the IZOD IndyCar Series return to Kentucky Speedway? The speedway was an annual stop for the series for 12 years, but dropped off the schedule after last season. “I don’t know when IndyCar is coming back. The door is obviously wide open,” Simendinger said. “But we’re in business here. As much as I love what I do, and it’s a fun job, at the end of the day we’re here to make money. And, so, from an economic standpoint it’s got to make sense for us and them, both. “I think they’re kind of working on their schedule a little bit and seeing how ovals fit into their schedule and what their business model is going to be on ovals. I think that when the time comes and they get that squared away, I would think they would want to come back here. But, you know, quite candidly, we had some financial issues related to that race….I’m a big IndyCar fan and I’d love to have them come back. It’s just got to work for everybody.”Andretti at 72: Crowds, compliments never get old to original Super Mario - Sports - ReviewJournal.com (Apr 29, 2012 06:35)
But he once was pulled over in Santa Monica, Calif., during the Long Beach Grand Prix weekend, and you know where this is going. When the cop asked if he thought he was Mario Andretti, he said, as a matter of fact, yes. And then the cop thought he was being a wiseguy. When he showed his driver's license, the cop still didn't believe him. And so the great Mario Andretti, the only driver to have won the Indianapolis 500, the Daytona 500 and the Formula One World Championship, also had to produce his FIA license, which is what one must have to drive in Formula One. He was let go with a stern warning. Apparently, this cop must have been an A.J. Foyt fan.IndyCar Advocate: Off Course: An Interview With Randy Lanier (Apr 10, 2012 11:00)
Randy Lanier was one of the first drivers I can remember seeing run in person at Indianapolis; my father took me to a day of time trials in 1986, and I remember Lanier's #12 machine as if it were yesterday. I had heard of his fate in the years since then, but on a whim, decided to write a man who had figured so prominently in one of my earliest in-person 500 memories. I sent a few questions to him, hoping he'd be willing to answer them. I was slightly surprised and pleased to receive a lengthy response to my letter. I'm not in a position to judge whether or not justice has been done by Randy Lanier, but I can share a bit of his story with you, in his own words...VIDEO: IndyCar Single Turbo Tech Talk (Apr 9, 2012 06:31)
SPEED's Marshall Pruett talks turbos and Indy cars with BorgWarner, makers of the new single- and twin-turbo units used by the series.INDYCAR: Series Moves Texas Open Test To May 7th (Mar 3, 2012 08:15)
INDYCAR informed its teams on Friday that the planned March 13th oval test at the 1.5-mile Texas oval has been pushed back to May 7th after a significant portion of the paddock raised concerns over its timing, and critical shortage of spare parts from chassis supplier Dallara. The March test, which the series intended to use more than a half-dozen cars on track at the same time to test another round of aero options to reduce pack racing, caused major concerns due to its close proximity to first race of the season at St. Petersburg. With practice set to start on just 10 days later on March 23rd, and an unproven 1.5-mile aero specification (plus the recent spate of engine failures in testing), teams deemed the risks to be too high--especially with most of their spare chassis being delivered with major components missing--to recover from a multi-car crash. Any accidents during the Texas test would have likely reduced the car count for St. Petersburg, which the series acknowledged.Racin’ Today » IndyCar Moves Test, Angers TMS President (Mar 3, 2012 08:01)
“I’m really disappointed and don’t know why IndyCar drivers feel the need to constantly damage the sport,” Gossage said at a NASCAR promotion this week in Dallas. “You know, engineers have told us over and over that the current fence design is the best that technology provides us today. But if you were a sponsor, if you were a fan, if you were a TV network – why would you get involved with IndyCar racing if they can’t tell you today where they’re going to race tomorrow? And the drivers – the spokespersons for the sport – are tearing it down? “So, it’s absolutely irresponsible of those drivers, and they deserve – because of the way they conduct themselves sometimes – they deserve where they stand now in the food chain of motorsports.”AUTO RACING - INDYCAR: Team Penske’s Briscoe, Power Lead Saturday Sonoma Test (Feb 26, 2012 08:08)
Outside of the surprisingly fast lap times set on Saturday, the most impressive aspect of the test centered on the estimated 1500 fans who showed up to watch the free test day, courtesy of Infineon Raceway. Despite frigid temperatures in the morning and again late in the day, the Bay Area’s open-wheel fans got a first look at the new Dallara DW12 chassis and got to listen to the 700 HP from Chevrolet’s twin-turbo V6 engine echo off the hills. The track also held a packed public Q&A session with all six drivers in victory lane. “I think there’s a lot of buzz about the new cars,” Briscoe explained. “I think everyone was really excited. It was the first chance where we’ve tested where the fans can come out, have a look, get close and see everything. The cars sound great, and hopefully we made a good impression. And everyone got to see Rubens Barrichello, which was a treat, and we did a Q&A session at lunch, so I think it went really well.”The Daly Planet: Danica's Violent Moment TV Gold (Feb 24, 2012 09:24)
Danica Patrick's car got turned in a bad way at a bad place on a fast track. Headed toward the SAFER barrier at top speed, there was only one thing the TV director of SPEED's telecast of the Gatorade Duels wanted to do. That was to show her in-car camera live on national television as she hit. The backstretch camera on the air zoomed-in to Patrick's car as it hurdled toward the inside wall at the Daytona International Speedway. Seconds later, just as the car made contact, the picture was changed to Patrick's in-car camera. The angle used was the view out the front from the roof cam. Viewers saw twisted sheet metal and moisture on the camera lens as the car continued to slide. But for SPEED even that wasn't enough. The director then switched live to the in-car camera angle showing Patrick inside the car. It was impossible to know her condition at this moment in time. On a big track surrounded by SAFER barriers, tucked tightly into her custom-made seat and firmly strapped into her HANS device, Patrick was moving. What if it had been different? What if the pictures sent nationwide live by SPEED showed the dark side of racing? What if the woman driver who this week spoke at the DC Press Club, appeared on ESPN's PTI show and has been the focus of a national media frenzy was injured. What if she was unconscious. What if the situation was even worse. The single reason the SPEED director used that shot was because he knew that was what the network expected and his boss wanted. There was no better example of how SPEED has come to view NASCAR racing as nothing more than a reality TV product to be exploited for ratings than this moment. After the director showed the camera live, there was silence. Then Darrell Waltrip jumped-in after seeing Patrick move around in the car. "Glad we got that camera in there with Danica to see that she is fine," he said. What would he have said about that camera if she was not? Of all people, Waltrip knows all too well the tragic side of the sport and how it happens in a flash. .... SAFER barrier or not, TV skated on thin ice Thursday by going live to the in-car camera of a Sprint Cup Series driver after a high-speed accident before that driver's condition was known.
