The Official Memorial Day Racing Thread

[buzzcut]

McLaren investigated for practicing "Team Orders"

This may get interesting, if you know what I mean.

[Sir Donald]

Aboslutely riducluous. Ferrari do it and they turn a blind eye.

[spyboy1]

The Indy was ok but still suffers badly because of the split leagues.

That "suffering" because of the split leagues is getting to be less and less and less. Seriously, out of all the ChampCar drivers, who would you want to see at Indy. Bourdais and Tracy. That's pretty much it now that Allmendinger went NASCAR.

OK, maybe Justin Wilson too, but the anonymous Europeans have had so much turnover in the last couple of years that I, a die hard race fan, have no idea who any of these guys are. Yea, I think I've heard some names before here and there, but know nothing about them and won't notice if they get replaced by some other guy when their money runs out.

JeffB

[DEAD!]

The Indy was ok but still suffers badly because of the split leagues.

That "suffering" because of the split leagues is getting to be less and less and less. Seriously, out of all the ChampCar drivers, who would you want to see at Indy. Bourdais and Tracy. That's pretty much it now that Allmendinger went NASCAR.

OK, maybe Justin Wilson too, but the anonymous Europeans have had so much turnover in the last couple of years that I, a die hard race fan, have no idea who any of these guys are. Yea, I think I've heard some names before here and there, but know nothing about them and won't notice if they get replaced by some other guy when their money runs out.

JeffB

Thing is though, the Europeans don't often look to the US for driving experience. Their goal is to make F1. There are Alex Tagliani and Graham Rahal as well. Imagine a Rahal racing at an Indy again. One interesting though, about Champ Car, is that their races can be seen on the three major networks, CBS, NBC, ABC. Also, Champ Car has been looking internationally rather than simply focusing on the US/Canada market. This year, they have races in Belgium, Holland and China.

[harperdc]

yeah, looking at their season calender back in February in an issue of the Sports Biz Journal (actually in an ad...), I was most surprised by the fact that all of the races except for the one at Zolder in the Netherlands are on ESPN on cable or over the air. And that one at Zolder is on ESPN Classic, which isn't exactly that deep into the channels either.

I want nothing more than for the open-wheel and sports car racing series in the US to re-consolidate and take back popularity from NASCAR. Nothing would make me happier. I want to see ALMS turn back into IMSA of the old glory days (and take back some of the teams and drivers from Grand Am, that bastard child of the France's), and I want to see IRL/Champ Car reunite and pick back up where they left off in 1995. That's all I really, really want...

[-Helix-]

yeah, looking at their season calender back in February in an issue of the Sports Biz Journal (actually in an ad...), I was most surprised by the fact that all of the races except for the one at Zolder in the Netherlands are on ESPN on cable or over the air. And that one at Zolder is on ESPN Classic, which isn't exactly that deep into the channels either.

I want nothing more than for the open-wheel and sports car racing series in the US to re-consolidate and take back popularity from NASCAR. Nothing would make me happier. I want to see ALMS turn back into IMSA of the old glory days (and take back some of the teams and drivers from Grand Am, that bastard child of the France's), and I want to see IRL/Champ Car reunite and pick back up where they left off in 1995. That's all I really, really want...

I've never really been a fan of American Sports Car racing. I occasionally watch an ALMS or SCCA event, but I get my fix from FIA GT and the European Le Man series which is much better than it's American counterpart. (More cars). Grand Am is pretty boring to me mostly because of the lack of variety in the Prototypes. Daytona Protos are cheap imitations in my eyes. I do occasionally watch to cheer on the GTOs though (I'm a Pontiac driver myself, what can I say)

As for Champ Car/IRL I used to HATE the IRL with a passion and have always been a big Champ Car fan but lately I've been leaning towards the IRL since they've moved away from their "oval only" stance. (and I'm also moving right down the street from an IRL track) And now Champ Car is doing the road/street course only thing. I like variety in tracks like CART used to have, so IRL right now reminds me more of the good old days. But I still have SOME hope in Champ Car. They do have the sexier cars and still have some pretty good tracks on their schedule.

But yes, Reunification would definitely be best. A unified series could compete with NASCAR, and maybe even F1. Both of which are declining in popularity and have fans that want an alternative.

The A1GP is another good Open Wheel Series. It's nation based instead of team based. It's known as the "World Cup of Motorsport" and is raced in the winter instead of the summer. I enjoyed the races I have seen of it, and it's an interesting series. I think it has promise. (Team USA has been doing horribly though. I think they're trying to get Buddy Rice to be the new driver next season.)

[Sir Donald]

The A1GP is another good Open Wheel Series. It's nation based instead of team based. It's known as the "World Cup of Motorsport" and is raced in the winter instead of the summer. I enjoyed the races I have seen of it, and it's an interesting series. I think it has promise. (Team USA has been doing horribly though. I think they're trying to get Buddy Rice to be the new driver next season.)

A1GP is a great Winter Series - I just hope they can hold out (financial woes). I think loosing Sheik Makhtum hurt them a little as he was so envolved, but it wasn't a bad thing either as it was able to expand a little.

They just need to ditch the Beijing race for next season and go back to America.

[DEAD!]

The A1GP is another good Open Wheel Series. It's nation based instead of team based. It's known as the "World Cup of Motorsport" and is raced in the winter instead of the summer. I enjoyed the races I have seen of it, and it's an interesting series. I think it has promise. (Team USA has been doing horribly though. I think they're trying to get Buddy Rice to be the new driver next season.)

A1GP is a great Winter Series - I just hope they can hold out (financial woes). I think loosing Sheik Makhtum hurt them a little as he was so envolved, but it wasn't a bad thing either as it was able to expand a little.

They just need to ditch the Beijing race for next season and go back to America.

I first heard about A1 a year and half ago while on vacation. I think it's a great concept and it is good for countries or areas that don't have an F1 race. I would like to see an American or Canadian race.

[Sir Donald]

They should definatly go to Canada - but where and when?

[Sir Donald]

Glorious news!!

McLaren cleared over team order charges

Wednesday, 30, May, 2007, 14:52

Motorsport?s governing body has cleared McLaren of any improper conduct during the Monaco Grand Prix.

After launching an investigation on Monday into whether the team?s tactics had breached F1?s sporting regulations banning team orders, the FIA concluded that McLaren?s actions were ?entirely legitimate?.

Team principal Ron Dennis admitted after Sunday?s race that Fernando Alonso and Lewis Hamilton had been instructed to ease off and protect the team?s second 1-2 result of the season rather than risk retirement by racing each other to the finish.

Dennis? comments sparked a backlash in the British press, which claimed Hamilton had been unfairly shackled.

But in a statement issued on Wednesday afternoon the FIA said McLaren had done nothing wrong.

?Having studied the radio traffic between Vodafone McLaren Mercedes and its drivers, together with the FIA observer?s report and data from the team, it is clear that McLaren?s actions during the 2007 Monaco Grand Prix were entirely legitimate and no further action is necessary,? the statement read.

In setting out the reasoning behind its decision, the FIA drew attention to the fact that Alonso and Hamilton were on different fuel strategies because of the high likelihood of a safety car deployment.

?It is clear from FIA measurements taken after qualifying that McLaren fuelled Hamilton for five more laps than Alonso,? the statement continued.

?This allowed Hamilton the option of a one-stop strategy should the safety car have come out during his first stint.?

The FIA said McLaren?s decision to pit Hamilton earlier than planned was fully justified to insure against the danger that the Briton would be caught behind the safety car.

?With no safety car during Alonso?s first stint, there was a small but finite risk that it would come out during the five laps before Hamilton had to refuel,? the FIA said.

?This would have put him behind the field and at a significant disadvantage to any car on a full (as opposed to optional) one-stop strategy.

?For similar reasons Hamilton was called in early for his second pit stop, thus assuring his second place, with or without a safety car.?

The governing body pointed out that the fact McLaren was unchallenged at the front of the field not only allowed it to pursue a conservative pit strategy, but made it entirely sensible to do so.

?Had the car in front of Hamilton not been his team-mate, McLaren might (probably would) have decided to risk the safety car and let Hamilton run for as long as his fuel load allowed in the hope that he would come out of the pits in the lead after one of his pit stops,? the statement read.

?There is, however, no obligation on them to take this risk in order to overtake their own car.

?Indeed it would be foolish to do so.?

Finally the FIA concluded that McLaren was perfectly entitled to curb its drivers' pace to ensure that both the team's cars made it to the finish.

?It is standard procedure for a team to tell its drivers to slow down when they have a substantial lead,? the statement said.

?This is in order to minimise the risk of technical or other problems.

?It is also standard practice and entirely reasonable to ask the drivers not to put each other at risk.

?McLaren were able to pursue an optimum team strategy because they had a substantial advantage over all other cars.?

The FIA?s closing judgement on McLaren?s actions was unambiguous: ?They did nothing which could be described as interfering with the race result.?

from itv.com/f1