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Post by XRF HammerPH on Aug 15, 2021 19:28:33 GMT
Managed to catch up on this seasons Indycar this week watching both Detroit races, Road America qualifying and race and Nashville race.
Fantastic racing and certainly gets me wanting to get on track again (already have at Road America, completing two practice sessions there).
Penske have certainly had it tough this season with Power and Newgarten really having some tough luck at Detroit before finally getting the win at Road America. Nashville was a bit of a nightmare for a while with so many yellows and some bad decisions by drivers but it was an exciting race once it got going and what a drive from Ericsson following up his maiden victory at Detroit with a stunning drive to hold off Herta despite immense pressure from the mega quick youngster before he overdid it and ended up in wall. That I’m sure was due to his frustration at Ericsson’s faultless driving. The Swede has really started to shine and looks like he could be a late challenger for the title with that form.
Indycar provides so much excitement and drama every race. Looking forward to catching up with Indianapolis Road Course qualifying and racing tonight.
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Post by outsider819 on Aug 16, 2021 4:24:10 GMT
This has been a really good year in a series that already stands out for its action. It's been an incredible year, really has.
A lot of people thought Nashville was a bit of a fiasco, and it kind of was, but I promise you I was watching every second of green flag racing. That was one of the most action packed races I've ever seen. I hope they make some slight adjustments to the track and procedures and have another barn-burner next year, really do. There were some overly ambitious passing attempts, and the drivers (mostly Will Power of course) took a lot of flak, but (here's my unpopular motorsport opinion) stuff like makes the show for a lot of people. If they weren't aggressive in situations like that and trying to make something work to get ahead, you'd have just another parade, and people would hate that even more. The fact Ericsson was even in a position to win was incredible, a testament to the driver and his team to get him out in front to end it, brilliant call to trim it out to be uncatchable on the long straights. Herta, man that was awful for him. I'm glad he wasn't hurt and unfortunately, some lessons can't be taught, they must be learned, and patience in the crunch is at the top of this list. He is an exciting driver to watch and I hope he stays that way.
Really enjoyed this weekends Indy race as well (not sure if Peter's watched it or not at this point so no spoiler), we had good tight and hard racing through the field, we had strategy, we had young drivers proving they were still impatient young drivers, we had team tactics, we even had a bit of a redemption story! it was actually a pretty complete IndyCar race! With very few yellows as a bonus!
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Post by XRF HammerPH on Aug 16, 2021 13:33:25 GMT
Fully agree Ryan, the series is always action packed and some of the over ambitious moves do leave us with some excciting racing as the pack comes back together. I do think the yellows sometimes come out a bit too easily with Palou's engine failure on Saturday being a case in point whereby he was off the track and in a pretty safe space but just a small criticism of a series that always appears to be very well run. I really liked the Nashville layout.. initially it felt like a Formula E circuit in places but after a bit of getting used to how the cars were around there I think it was a really fun race to watch albeit definitely too many yellow lol. Certainly there were areas like turn 6 where unexpected passes could be made and it will be inhteresting to see whether they do make any changes to it. Really pleased for Power.. he comes across a bit whingy a times and I guess that's why he isn't the most popular racer out there but I actually quite like his honesty and definitely commitment. Also, kudo's to him for taking some of the poor results on his own shoulders. Grosjean also has been impressing and apart from Detroit has run pretty well in all races. He certainly seems to be enjoying his time over in America and it's been great seeing the smile return to his face after some pretty torturous years in F1. He was such a prospect at one point and in his Lotus days looked like he could really have a strong F1 career but it never really worked for him and after that awful spell where he seemed to be at the centre or every incident and the last few years at a struggling Haas he has come alinve again in Indycar. Looking forward to the next one now.. Portland has a special place in my memories for some cracking races and none better than the late 90's event when Brit Mark Blundell beat Gil de Ferran by 0.027 seconds with third place Raul Boesel a further 0.028 seconds behind. It was a truly epic race wet/dry race with Blundell coming from a long way back to secure the win. I loved those days  |
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Post by psykotikdrummer on Aug 16, 2021 14:52:42 GMT
Fully agree Ryan, the series is always action packed and some of the over ambitious moves do leave us with some excciting racing as the pack comes back together. I do think the yellows sometimes come out a bit too easily with Palou's engine failure on Saturday being a case in point whereby he was off the track and in a pretty safe space but just a small criticism of a series that always appears to be very well run. I really liked the Nashville layout.. initially it felt like a Formula E circuit in places but after a bit of getting used to how the cars were around there I think it was a really fun race to watch albeit definitely too many yellow lol. Certainly there were areas like turn 6 where unexpected passes could be made and it will be inhteresting to see whether they do make any changes to it. Really pleased for Power.. he comes across a bit whingy a times and I guess that's why he isn't the most popular racer out there but I actually quite like his honesty and definitely commitment. Also, kudo's to him for taking some of the poor results on his own shoulders. Grosjean also has been impressing and apart from Detroit has run pretty well in all races. He certainly seems to be enjoying his time over in America and it's been great seeing the smile return to his face after some pretty torturous years in F1. He was such a prospect at one point and in his Lotus days looked like he could really have a strong F1 career but it never really worked for him and after that awful spell where he seemed to be at the centre or every incident and the last few years at a struggling Haas he has come alinve again in Indycar. Looking forward to the next one now.. Portland has a special place in my memories for some cracking races and none better than the late 90's event when Brit Mark Blundell beat Gil de Ferran by 0.027 seconds with third place Raul Boesel a further 0.028 seconds behind. It was a truly epic race wet/dry race with Blundell coming from a long way back to secure the win. I loved those days Woohoo. I love it. Peter bringing back some awesome memories. I haven't been this excited for an Indy Car season in a while. The addition of Grosjean, and even Lundergarrd (sp?) for the weekend I think has shown the regulars in IndyCar that maybe they can be a bit better than they are. When Lando Norris joined the Indy Car drivers last year in a Simulation Race he ran away with it. He also quite honestly grabbed my attention at that point. I can't wait for Scott McLaughlin to get back to form. I've been keeping track of him for obvious reasons. The youth movement in Indy car is strong. |
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Post by XRF HammerPH on Aug 16, 2021 15:58:21 GMT
Fully agree Ryan, the series is always action packed and some of the over ambitious moves do leave us with some excciting racing as the pack comes back together. I do think the yellows sometimes come out a bit too easily with Palou's engine failure on Saturday being a case in point whereby he was off the track and in a pretty safe space but just a small criticism of a series that always appears to be very well run. I really liked the Nashville layout.. initially it felt like a Formula E circuit in places but after a bit of getting used to how the cars were around there I think it was a really fun race to watch albeit definitely too many yellow lol. Certainly there were areas like turn 6 where unexpected passes could be made and it will be inhteresting to see whether they do make any changes to it. Really pleased for Power.. he comes across a bit whingy a times and I guess that's why he isn't the most popular racer out there but I actually quite like his honesty and definitely commitment. Also, kudo's to him for taking some of the poor results on his own shoulders. Grosjean also has been impressing and apart from Detroit has run pretty well in all races. He certainly seems to be enjoying his time over in America and it's been great seeing the smile return to his face after some pretty torturous years in F1. He was such a prospect at one point and in his Lotus days looked like he could really have a strong F1 career but it never really worked for him and after that awful spell where he seemed to be at the centre or every incident and the last few years at a struggling Haas he has come alinve again in Indycar. Looking forward to the next one now.. Portland has a special place in my memories for some cracking races and none better than the late 90's event when Brit Mark Blundell beat Gil de Ferran by 0.027 seconds with third place Raul Boesel a further 0.028 seconds behind. It was a truly epic race wet/dry race with Blundell coming from a long way back to secure the win. I loved those days Woohoo. I love it. Peter bringing back some awesome memories. I haven't been this excited for an Indy Car season in a while. The addition of Grosjean, and even Lundergarrd (sp?) for the weekend I think has shown the regulars in IndyCar that maybe they can be a bit better than they are. When Lando Norris joined the Indy Car drivers last year in a Simulation Race he ran away with it. He also quite honestly grabbed my attention at that point. I can't wait for Scott McLaughlin to get back to form. I've been keeping track of him for obvious reasons. The youth movement in Indy car is strong. Lundegard did really well overall. Fell away a in the second half of the race but with such limited preparation time that did an awesome job all weekend. |
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Post by XRF HammerPH on Aug 17, 2021 23:50:23 GMT
Having watched the last four Indycar races over the last week I decided to catch up on one of the F1 races that I missed last year and watched the Eiffel GP from the Nurburgring. It had some decent action in it but the thing that was really apparent was how sterile it is in comparison to the far more exciting, raw and visceral racing in Indycar. The F1 cars look pristine and beautiful and the tracks very clean and similar with huge run-off areas and smooth surfaces which gives such a different feel to what we see on the Indycar circuit where each race has a very unique feel to it. The much shorter calendar also generates much more anticipation and makes it seem like more of a special event. There’s also such a difference when watching the onboards where you can almost feel the bumps as you ride with the drivers, it feels so smooth and clean in F1. The general vibe amongst the Indycar drivers is so much better with a real sense of cameraderie which is just not there in F1 although the younger drivers like Norris, Russell and Saintz have at least started to bring that back a little. They need to forget about the gadgety fakeness they are trying to bring into F1 with false feeling addons like the sprint races and get back to the roots of the sport which is actual racing and bring back that unique and special feeling that the season used to generate. There’s just too many races these days and it creates a lack of excitement that used to be such a big part of the race weekend for me. Roll on some epic oval racing at Gateway this weekend  |
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Post by psykotikdrummer on Aug 18, 2021 16:12:30 GMT
Some good points there Peter. If it is racing on asphalt, tarmac, or concrete with 4 wheels I will most likely watch it. And F1 gives me a good opportunity to listen to Crofty on Sunday mornings.  That being said I do agree that Indy Car is a different level with competition because of the single make chassis. I have really begun to question the minds behind some of the recent decisions in F1. I will most likely pay closer attention with the new car debut next season. But that is because I expect it to be a circus the first half of the season at least. See you on the track. |
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Post by outsider819 on Aug 19, 2021 3:37:27 GMT
Single make chassis, the multiple available race strategies, and the way the cars have to be driven I think all make for some really great races. We've been really spoiled these last few years. Hope the new chassis doesn't ruin it, and the series has the good sense to stay away from gimmicky nonsense like that other series I shall not name. Don't discount the talent level in IndyCar, either, there's definitely some middling talents in there but quite a number of them would do well anywhere. I have many theories on the drivers and the machines... One of my favourite weekly things for those that haven't heard it (pretty sure at least one other person here has) is Marshall Pruett's podcasts. Pretty insightful and he generally calls it like he sees it, as long he stays on topic. Gets some great insights from drivers beyond the usual canned responses as well. Not to beat a dead horse too much but I thought this was hilarious  |
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Post by XRF HammerPH on Aug 19, 2021 7:54:27 GMT
Haha, I had to look a couple times before I noticed that lol very funny 😄
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Post by psykotikdrummer on Aug 19, 2021 14:08:11 GMT
Oh that's great.  |
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