fletcher21 wrote:I was watching in car video my friend took of himself driving at Laguna Seca this past summer. It looks like a total thrill. He was telling me about the course, and in the discussion he mentioned that he thinks the corkscrew is one of the 10 best turns in the entire world. I mean it's a cute little turn and all, but top 10 in the world?
Absolutely one of the top 10 turns in the world. TV doesn't do it justice. I stood beside it in 1995 while working an AMA Superbike race, and the elevation change is awe-inspiring. Add in the blind crest and apex, and it's an incredible turn.
I must jump in the shower, but later I'll try to add to my list of amazing turns in worldwide racing. Off the top of my head: Turn 1 of the Indianapolis oval, Eau Rouge (Spa), Blanchimont (Spa), 130R (Suzuka), Tarzan (Zandvoort).
"You know why I love boxers? I love them because they face fear. And they face it alone." - Nick Charles
"First on the throttle, last on the brakes." - @MotoGP Twitter signature
pk500 wrote:Absolutely one of the top 10 turns in the world. TV doesn't do it justice. I stood beside it in 1995 while working an AMA Superbike race, and the elevation change is awe-inspiring. Add in the blind crest and apex, and it's an incredible turn.
Probably not a top 10 and certainly not as storied as the Corkscrew, but I love the Suzuki bridge/final turn at Road Atlanta for the same reasons. Not quite the blind and elevation change of Laguna, but still pretty cool.
pk500 wrote:We'll have to ask Adam to see what he can turn in the 2009 Williams F1 car at Laguna in iRacing. I have iRacing, too, but Simo is the alien among us.
I can provide the slowest time in an F1 car at Laguna. If I can get it around in one piece.
PK: Why turn 1 at Indy? I may be an Indy noob, but what does turn 1 have that turns 2,3 and 4 don't?
I am bad at names of turns, but here are a few I love besides the obvious ones like Eau Rouge that everyone alive loves:
1. Hairpin at Monaco... One of the most photographed turns in the world?
2. The first turn at Monaco after you exit the tunnel
3. Hairpin at Sears Point
4. That really fast sweeper at Albert Park F1 course
5. The first turn of the Daytona road course
6. The turn @ Nurburgring that is almost like driving in a half pipe.. Dunno the name of it, but it's the left hander where it's almost like concrete on the bottom and blacktop on top.. AWESOME in GT5
7. ANY of the turns in the Pike's Peak event... You need big balls to drive that course at a car's limit
Good call on Pikes Peak. Turn 1 at Monaco is Sainte Devote, which is on my list, too.
All four corners at Indy are geometrically the same. Same length, all banked at 9 degrees, 12 minutes. But grandstands line both sides of the the front straight at Indy, so the "tunnel vision" effect really plays with your depth perception while trying to find turn-in marks in Turn 1. The late-afternoon shadows also are most prevalent in Turn 1.
"You know why I love boxers? I love them because they face fear. And they face it alone." - Nick Charles
"First on the throttle, last on the brakes." - @MotoGP Twitter signature
We'll have to ask Adam to see what he can turn in the 2009 Williams F1 car at Laguna in iRacing. I have iRacing, too, but Simo is the alien among us.
You give me too much credit, mate, but it's very kind of you all the same. A little video for you to show you what I've been doing for the last little while using the Laguna Seca Fixed setup:
I shot this on my iPhone 3GS so I hope you'll forgive the dodgy quality and my patented Unsteadycam technology. The camera has nothing to do with the couple of corners I mess up - according to the splits, my potential best lap from this session was 1:04.780 but there's more time left to find from there. As it is, the unofficial F1 lap record for Laguna Seca on behalf of the DSP Racing 2010 thread stands at 1:05.114.
I don't see the old Hockenheimring represented anywhere in the lists. Let me add the first chicane (Clark?) and the double right-hander at the end of the lap.
I also don't see Monza's Ascari chicane mentioned unless it's going by an alternate name.
These turns kill me in video games but I like them.
I understand why it's necessary and I wouldn't want to see any more nasty blowover accidents in the prototype classes, but aesthetically...ick. Pretty car otherwise, though I'm still more taken by the Peugeot.
Reminds me of the mid-90s Penske-inspired fin trend in IndyCars.
Started as this
Then the fin started growing
And kept growing...
I can't find a picture of the Blundell car I have in mind, but it had a ridiculously big fin (AAA Club sponsorship filling it, IIRC) on superspeedways.
I think the Audi looks bad-ass, even with the fin.
A great-looking car from the nose to the cockpit. Hideous from the engine compartment to the tail. As Adam said, the fin -- ugh. It looks like an F-duct on an F1 car, which is a visual abomination.
Sorry, but it's no Bentley Speed 8:
It's funny you cats mentioned the fins on the old CART cars. I was the back of Ganassi's shop in Indy last night, and there are about 22 cars stacked to the ceiling on racks in the team transporter bays. Vasser and Zanardi's Lolas, without the fins, look FANTASTIC, even today. The cars with the fins are not nearly as attractive. And touring the shop also reminded me that the G Force was not a bad-looking IndyCar, with its inward-swooping sidepods.
"You know why I love boxers? I love them because they face fear. And they face it alone." - Nick Charles
"First on the throttle, last on the brakes." - @MotoGP Twitter signature
The long-awaited Ganassi satellite team was announced today - Graham Rahal and Charlie Kimball are the drivers.
HUGE opportunity for Rahal, very much looking forward to seeing what he can do in Ganassi equipement. I must admit to not knowing anything about Kimball, sounds like he solid in Lights but not great.
Six full-time Americans in IndyCar next season, with Ed Carpenter as a seventh at about half the races. And it's only Dec. 16.
There were three full-time Yanks on the IndyCar grid this season. So this is mega progress, especially when two of the three new American drivers (Hildebrand, Kimball) are products of the Mazda Road to Indy ladder system through Firestone Indy Lights. Add USAC Champion Bryan Clauson to all of the Firestone Indy Lights oval shows in 2011, and you're looking at a veritable American revolution in major North American open-wheel racing.
Everything is looking up for the INDYCAR!
"You know why I love boxers? I love them because they face fear. And they face it alone." - Nick Charles
"First on the throttle, last on the brakes." - @MotoGP Twitter signature
pk500 wrote:Everything is looking up for the INDYCAR!
Absolutely. I liked the Randy Bernard hire but never expected an avalanche of good news like the last few months has provided. He's done a hell of a job and hopefully the best is still to come.
Major thumbs up to the Andretti Autosports organization for its complete and total support of the Road to Indy program, hope it pays off in the next few years for them.
Love the Hildebrand signing by Panther as well.
PK, what do you think of Scheckter's debut blog for IndyCar?
