IndyCar Grand Prix Discussion Thread

[Paul Jeffrey]

Welcome to the central discussion thread for the IndyCar Grand Prix at the Indianapolis Road Course configuration in Indiana.

It feels like a lifetime ago since the IndyCar field took to the streets of Long Beach last month, and this weekend marks the start of the most important month of the series schedule - the build up to the 103rd running of the famous Indy 500 this May 26th.

Before the teams and drivers begin preparation for the biggest race on the calendar, the series have the not inconsiderable challenge of taking on the road course configuration of the track to get through, with the IndyCar field taking on the IndyCar Grand Prix this weekend around the layout that remains very similar to that used for Formula One racing back in the early 2000’s.

With the season already proving to be far too close to predict, as many as 10 drivers could be in with a realistic shout of victory come Sunday afternoon.

Series veterans Scott Dixon and Ryan Hunter-Ray will be looking to kick start their campaign heading into Indy, and previous winners this year Josef Newgarden, Colton Herta,Takuma Sato and Alex Rossi all have more to prove if they want to develop a strong challenge for overall championship honors come season end at Laguna Seca in September.

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[Dann Murillo]

Crickets...lol

 

[FormulaET]

My daughter and I will be up in the Paddock Penthouse Box to watch all the races, on Saturday.
I may post pics or green flag starts.
Still miss F1, Indy cars do fine enough to see live racing.
Why they don't utilize the custom Formula One pit garages, still has me scratching my head.

 

[Slowdive]

Crickets...lol

It's not like there's any meaningful content in the F1 thread.

 

[bporion]

.....

 

[falster]

why on earth are they calling it the IndyCar " Grand Prix " ! what a joke .

erm…… probably because that's what it is....

 

[bporion]

brain fart .

 

[Motowntom]

The most competitive open wheel series on the planet, nuff said. Can't wait til June in Detroit.
Cheers

 

[FormulaET]

My clothes still smell like Ethanol...LOL.. I think this is where young Colton Herta lost it at first turn... I was 'broke' over it....

 

[FormulaET]

Here is the actual start of the race.... Cars look awesome this year and are loud as ever...

 

[FormulaET]

Finally rain racing... me and several others were screaming like kids... what a sight to see rooster tail spray down the main straight

 

[jimortality]

I'm not really a fan of the oval stuff but I enjoy the road racing but I have 2 questions
Why is the safety car out when it's raining, just let them change the tyres and get racing and secondly, how the f*** did Simon Pagenaud have that much speed compared with the rest of the cars? I don't know a lot about indycar so are these cars not restricted? Scott Dixon and Jack Harvey were powerless to stop him.

 

[michelforest]

First Indy race I was able to watch live this season (because of the crappy Canadian Indy TV deal). Great race! Pagenaud was amazing in the rain.

F1 tomorrow morning... Why do I think it won't be nearly as exciting?

 

[Slowdive]

That was a fantastic race. Pagenaud is a beast.

 

[FormulaET]

In regards to the post that was critical of Indy Car and rain tires​

I think this is where, whoever, slid out of turn 14, and grazed the wall... they were cautionary....The rain seemed to pickup. There were several stops for slicks or wets. There were four cars lagging back, so the flagman waved them on full speed, so they could catch the pack as well as seeing what the rain might do.
Haha, a lot of us were screamin to turn them loose, like F1. The Tower mentioned the stewards were seeing if would pickup.
They don't run ovals when it rains due to safety, the concrete walls and hi speed momentum of Oval racing don't mix…. too dangerous even if they ran wets at an oval.....
To witness rooster tails, finally, was NEW to IMS and we loved it. This aint F1, obviously, so...….

Pagenaud I believe had fresher tyres… I could be wrong... Simon kept a nice distance on the main straight from Harvey...… then BOOM he late brakes, ****s em up and nose dives into the first turn.
He wasn't on Harvey;s rear wing like you would expect.. Great pass

Pagenaud has won it twice before...….. so make your own assumption. It was fun to watch this year, tons of little battles as well as pit drama with fire TWICE same car. Indy car still re fuels so strategy comes into play.

 

[Fabian Balle]

This is real open wheel racing ! And I think that Indycar will become the biggest single seater series in the world.......in the future.

 

[FormulaET]

This is real open wheel racing ! And I think that Indycar will become the biggest single seater series in the world.......in the future.

Us Americans love our Indy Cars, but they still not on par with Formula One, but they are getting better.
Took forever for them to switch to sequential shifting. The cars are heavier as well.
The lap times at Austin show how they are no where as quick on a race circuit, but still fun to watch.
Seeing them rip down the straightaway of an oval up to 250 mph is unique.
They used to run even faster in the 1990's!!!
Like F1, they engine formula changed, sadly. But they still are LOUD AS HELL!!

 

[Slowdive]

Us Americans love our Indy Cars, but they still not on par with Formula One...

Let's hope they are never on par with Formula One.

 

[FormulaET]

Actually I hope they do in ways like safety, pits with gantries, more pit crew, more power to the engines. Indy cars are more robust for oval racing..... that's where they exceed an F1 car.
They, obviously, are not as thorough as the FIA in terms of rules, but are an American tradition nonetheless.
The ultra high speed 1990's was sick. At Indy, Arie set a lap average of 239mph.... so going down the straights he was doing every bit of 250-260mph.... insane to watch that rip past you. Gil de Ferran’s 241mph at Fontana back in 2000..... F1 acceleration... Indy Car top speed.

 

[Slowdive]

The ultra high speed 1990's was sick. At Indy, Arie set a lap average of 239mph.... so going down the straights he was doing every bit of 250-260mph.... insane to watch that rip past you. Gil de Ferran’s 241mph at Fontana back in 2000..... F1 acceleration... Indy Car top speed.

I don't honestly see the need to screw with an almost perfect formula that we have right now, just so you can see a higher number flash up on a screen. If you were at the track, I doubt you could tell the difference between a car going 220mph and 230mph.