2014 Open Wheel Racing Chat

[rvrdgsfn]

Some IndyCar news

http://www.washingtonpost.com/sports/ap-sources-indycar-commits-to-new-orleans-race/2014/05/04/5e072562-d3c3-11e3-8f7d-7786660fff7c_story.html

NEW ORLEANS — IndyCar will race in the New Orleans area in 2015, Gov. Bobby Jindal confirmed through a spokeswoman Sunday.

The open-wheel race will come to the 2.75-mile road course at the private NOLA Motorsports Park in Avondale, about 14 miles southwest of downtown New Orleans.

Jindal’s office told The Associated Press that the governor plans to make a formal and detailed announcement at the track Monday.

The $60 million NOLA Motorsports Park was designed by Alan Wilson, who also designed Barber Motorsports Park in Birmingham, Alabama, and Miller Motorsports Park near Salt Lake City.

[VictoriaGooner]

Some news for the world of Formula One:

Ferrari has released a comparison video between the 2013 and 2014 car steering wheels. http://www.formula1.com/news/technical/2014/0/1180.html

With the opening flyaway leg of the season complete, the F1 paddock returns to Europe next weekend for the fifth round of the 2014 FIA Formula One World Championship, the Formula 1 Gran Premio de Espana Pirelli 2014 in Barcelona. Those involved discuss their prospects for the event. http://www.formula1.com/news/headlines/2014/5/15779.html. I still see Mercedes dominating this upcoming weekend, I don't think Ferrari and Red Bull made enough strides in the three weeks to play catch up.

On f1technical.net, there is a nice article on remembering Ayrton Senna and his best ever qualifying lap in the '88 Monaco Grand Prix. I still believe he was one of the best, if not best, drivers in Formula One history. Watching Senna gives me goosebumps! http://www.f1technical.net/news/19317?sid=813e1db4916c7eb9aae21f7dee4275ab

[rvrdgsfn]

V8 supercar news....

http://www.speedcafe.com/2014/05/07/geelong-eyes-v8-supercars-street-race/

V8 Supercars and the mayor of Geelong have thrown their support behind a plan to hold a street race in the Victorian city.

Discussions between the parties and a third-party promoter that could see an event up and running by 2016 have been revealed by Fairfax Media.

A report confirms that talks began late last year, although both V8 Supercars CEO James Warburton and colourful Geelong mayor Darryn Lyons have stressed that the project remains in its infancy.

‘I’m very keen, absolutely,’’ Lyons told Fairfax.

‘‘Very excited. I’m a bit of a car nut, so I’d love something like that. Major events are a really big thing for me. We have to bring great events here to attract people to this great city.’’

The news follows V8 Supercars’ declaration in March that it has signed Memorandums of Understanding with four circuit projects.

http://www.speedcafe.com/2014/05/07/v8-supercars-plans-manufacturer-talks/

V8 Supercars will meet with a number of automotive manufacturers in the coming weeks to discuss the future direction of its championship.

Three brands – Nissan, Mercedes-AMG and Volvo – have been added to the category’s traditional Ford and Holden mix over the last 18 months under the Car of the Future rule package.

A sixth manufacturer meanwhile continues to be touted as a possibility for next season, particularly with American giant Team Penske still deliberating over its plans for the class.

V8 Supercars CEO James Warburton confirmed to Speedcafe.com that discussions are set to take place with the category’s existing manufacturers, while “opening up dialogue” with potential future players.

“We’ll be doing an update to all manufacturers, reaching out over the course of the next month with where we’re heading, what we’re about and what the evolution is,” Warburton said.

Although dropping the tag V8 from its name is known to have been floated as a possibility, the category has shied away from suggestions that it should open up its engine regulations to other configurations.

[VictoriaGooner]

I have been a fan of V8 Supercars next to F1 and WRC. Good racing, very competitive, and some excellent courses throughout Australia and New Zealand. I think it might be good for the sport if Penske gets involved with added competition.

[Rockstar Matt]

These restarts in IndyCar are bulls***. How many times this season have we seen accidents on restarts?

[VictoriaGooner]

Another dominating qualifying session by the Three Points Motor Company...five poles in five race weekends. Vettel is falling off the groove and Maldonado is just going from bad to worse. Welcome back to the European race season!

[rvrdgsfn]

The crash that everyone is talking about...

Results from the Grand Prix of Indy

1. Pagenaud

2. Hunter-Reay

3. Castroneves

4. Bourdais

5. Kimball

6. Briscoe

7. Hawksworth

8. Power

9. Sato

10. Kanaan

It was a pretty decent race, but yeah the restarts need work. Next up, The Greatest Spectacle in Racing, the Indianapolis 500!

[rvrdgsfn]

Bump

Results from Spain:

1. Hamilton

2. Rosberg

3. Ricciardo

4. Vettel

5. Bottas

6. Alonso

7. Raikkonen

8. Grosjean

9. Perez

10. Hulkenberg

4th straight for Lewis, and the Silver Arrows are still dominating. 2 weeks until one of my favorite races, the Monaco Grand Prix.

[raysox]

With 15 left, Rosberg was over 3 seconds back. He got within a car length on the last lap. Pretty good race.

Also if you can believe it, after Maldonado crashed in qualifying, he got a stop and go for an incident with Ericsson. He is so bad.

[VictoriaGooner]

A you can say is what a dominating performance by by Mercedes so far after five races. Rosberg was so close to overtaking Hamilton but I think that lockup in the midsection of the last lap plus the racing gods not helping him out, lead to his very close chances. Excellent battle between the two of those drivers is great to see. I'm hoping the remaining 15 races are just as exciting. With that 1-2, Rosberg is 51 pts ahead of third place Alonso. Overall excellent Spanish GP but nothing like Bahrain.

As for Maldonado...Charles Pic will be getting s chance to drive the Lotus sooner than I thought. And JEV is having a difficult season with three DNF.

One of my favorite races on the F1 calendar is coming up next...Monaco, then my home race Canada

[rvrdgsfn]

Thus why I have a strong dislike for pay drivers.... You could have a Valsechi or De La Costa but nope, you have Maldonado.

Speaking of news, I got some bad news concerning Mayor Hinch....

http://www.usatoday.com/story/sports/motor/indycar/2014/05/10/james-hinchcliffe-injured-grand-prix-indianapolis/8947921/

IndyCar driver James Hinchcliffe sustained a concussion after he apparently was hit by debris during Saturday's Grand Prix of Indianapolis, and will need to be medically cleared by series doctors before he returns to racing. Hinchcliffe was taken to nearby IU Health Methodist Hospital during Saturday's race. IndyCar officials announced that he was given a CT scan and diagnosed with a concussion before he was discharged from the hospital Saturday evening.

I hope he recovers soon, I want to see him in the 500. IMO, he's a great driver & possibly one of the best personalities for IndyCar

Now some F1 news...

http://www.grandprix247.com/2014/05/10/alonso-to-leave-ferrari-newey-or-brawn-to-maranello/

The Ferrari rumour mill running at full tilt, and reports in the Barcelona paddock, during the Spanish Grand Prix weekend, thus kicking off the notorious ‘silly season’ earlier than normal.

The first report claims that Ross Brawn, the team’s ultra-successful technical director during the Michael Schumacher years, could be on the way back to Maranello full-time following a recent visit during his retirement.

The Brawn report is not the only one swirling around the Circuit de Catalunya. L’Equipe reports that Fernando Alonso is looking for a way out of his 2016 Ferrari contract in order to join Lewis Hamilton at Mercedes next year.

The publication cited “Spanish sources”, but it may also have been fueled by Toto Wolff’s recent description of Alonso as a 2014 title contender and “race monster”.

“Absolute nonsense!” Mercedes Team Chairman Niki Lauda retorted when asked about the Alonso connection. “Both of our drivers, Nico [Rosberg] and Lewis [Hamilton], have long-term contracts and we will hold to them. We see no reason to replace either of our drivers.”

[VictoriaGooner]

De La Costa would have been such a better fit for Lotus.

As for Brawn possibility of returning to Ferrari, I think that would be a huge positive for the Maranello team. Could it get any worse for them?

As for Alonso wanting to leave Ferrari for Mercedes, sounds familiar to Alonso wanting out of McLaren and going to a contending team. I'm hoping nothing but good things to happen to Alonso but Hamilton and Rosberg will not be giving up their seats anytime soon. I see Mercedes AMG being a dominant force in F1 to come.

[crashcarson15]

A few thoughts on the GP of Indianapolis having attended yesterday...

1. I had a hell of a lot of fun. I was dead-set against the idea when it was announced but now I'm completely sold.

2. Standing starts are awesome but damnit, Sebastian, just admit you :censored:ed it up. Please.

3. Was sitting in T7 and saw Hinchcliffe coming straight at us. That was certainly weird and makes a hell of a lot more sense now that we've got an explanation.

4. Really happy that a car owned by someone other than Roger or Chip won.

5. Hawksworth was really, really impressive early on. It was painfully obvious that on the reds he easily had the best car. Him and Pagenaud completely checked out there for the second quarter of the race or so. Completely.

All in all, a great start to the best month of the year.

[VictoriaGooner]

In F1 news, Marussia’s Max Chilton was the surprise leader in Spain on Tuesday, as this week’s two-day test session began at the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya. All I can say is WOW! Marussia on top of the time charts with the likes of Mercedes, Red Bull, Ferrari and all the heavy hitters taking part in this mid-season testing.

Unofficial Tuesday times from Barcelona:
1. Max Chilton, Marussia, 1m 26.434s, 60 laps
2. Charles Pic, Lotus, 1m 26.661s, 70 laps
3. Lewis Hamilton, Mercedes, 1m 26.674s, 79 laps
4. Kimi Raikkonen, Ferrari, 1m 26.965s, 21 laps
5. Jean-Eric Vergne, Toro Rosso, 1m 27.724s, 52 laps
6. Nico Hulkenberg, Force India, 1m 27.727s, 53 laps
7. Felipe Massa, Williams, 1m 27.756s, 55 laps
8. Jenson Button, McLaren, 1m 28.333s, 74 laps
9. Kamui Kobayashi, Caterham, 1m 30.101s, 72 laps
10. Sebastien Buemi, Red Bull, 1m 31.440s, 54 laps
11. Giedo van der Garde, Sauber, 1m 31.783s, 86 laps

Day two and final day of testing at Barcelona concludes tomorrow. All the reaction from testing can be found here.

http://www.formula1.com/news/headlines/2014/5/15828.html

Again: WOW Marussia!

[raysox]

Somewhat related, my 102 year old Great Aunt did a hot lap in a 2 seat Indy car with Mario Andretti.

http://www.thestarpress.com/article/20140514/NEWS01/305140006/Mario-Andretti-drives-Muncie-s-Edith-Pittenger-102-years-old-around-IMS-180-mph?nclick_check=1

[crashcarson15]

Somewhat related, my 102 year old Great Aunt did a hot lap in a 2 seat Indy car with Mario Andretti.

http://www.thestarpress.com/article/20140514/NEWS01/305140006/Mario-Andretti-drives-Muncie-s-Edith-Pittenger-102-years-old-around-IMS-180-mph?nclick_check=1

So that's your great aunt that's been all over the local news?

Sweet!

[wonderbread]

Hey I'm just wondering if anyone plays forza 5, if so id like your xbox live names so I can compete with you guys

[Rockstar Matt]

Hey I'm just wondering if anyone plays forza 5, if so id like your xbox live names so I can compete with you guys

I play, and I'm one the top R class (top 200 on a lot of tracks and top 400-500 on the rest) and GT drivers (top 100) in the world. Gamer tag is the same as my username here.

[wonderbread]

Hey I'm just wondering if anyone plays forza 5, if so id like your xbox live names so I can compete with you guys

I play, and I'm one the top R class (top 200 on a lot of tracks and top 400-500 on the rest) and GT drivers (top 100) in the world. Gamer tag is the same as my username here.

Ok your probably kill me then i thought I was pretty good being top 3000-5000 on most tracks, got down to 1500 on one that I know of

[VictoriaGooner]

In F1 news, Pastor Maldonado capped a promising test for Lotus by going fastest on the second and final day of this week's test at the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya. Yes that isn't a misprint. I can't believe it either. Maldonado received his fourth FIA super license penalty point of the season (drivers only get 12 total), only after five races, for him running into the back of Kobayashi during the Spanish GP after he started on the back of the starting grid for crashing out of qualifying.

As well Susie Wolff, female test driver for Williams, finished with a 1'27" after completing 55 laps. Things are looking promising for the young driver for a seat next season.

http://www.formula1.com/news/headlines/2014/5/15830.html