OT: Racing 2017 (Spoiler Alert)

[Rodster]

The new cars look better but I'm still not a fan of the rear wheel aero kit. It's an improvement over the current cars but I'd like to see an open wheel race car with nothing protecting the wheels. That said it doesn't have any of the bulls*t aero winglets like on an F1 car so that's a plus.

[Jimmydeicide]

The cars look closer to the E series than Indy thats for sure.

[pk500]

The cars look closer to the E series than Indy thats for sure.

The Indy cars of the late 80s and early 90s were used as a base for the design.

[fletcher21]

The new cars look better but I'm still not a fan of the rear wheel aero kit. It's an improvement over the current cars but I'd like to see an open wheel race car with nothing protecting the wheels. That said it doesn't have any of the bulls*t aero winglets like on an F1 car so that's a plus.

I agree 100%. Those cars look incredible, but I don't care for the rear wheel "cover" or whatever they want to call it. All in all, it's an improvement by 1,000,000%. Now if only my beloved Honda can learn to keep an engine together, we will have something to cheer for.

[Dave]

Finally back home after a long drive from Indy. What a race, glad I'm able to re-watch after being there - realizing how much Dixon's crash shook me. I interned for his team when he was a rookie and have always rooted for him. Was scary as hell watching that wreck unfold in front of me and it took away from my ability to enjoy the race. I did text my wife to sat it was Sato's race to lose with 30 to go at least.

Alonso added to his legend this month. what an effort. Hope he comes back soon, it was a joy to follow him from orientation through the post-race ceremony. My wife and youngest kid ran into him in the airport and I will be showing Ayrton that picture for years and letting him know I'm jealous that I was driving somewhere in western Indiana at that time.

Curious to see who gets the Coyne ride for the rest of the year. Would like to see Karam get it, but Gutierrez could be an interesting choice.

[DChaps]

24 Hours of Le Mans

Amazon Prime has some great documentaries to get you ready for this weekends 24 Hours of Le Mans.

The first one in my list below is supposed to be available on Amazon Prime starting today, but I have not seen it show up there yet.

The Return - One Chance to Make History
http://autoweek.com/article/24-hours-le ... rs-le-mans

The movie is rooted in Ford's first race victory in 1901, careens through the Ford Le Mans efforts of the 1960s and lands on the podium of Le Mans. It stars a who's who of Ford Peformance and takes fans into the bunker where the car was designed and across the Atlantic and into the garages of Le Mans.

The goal was simple if not daunting -- win Le Mans in 2016 with the Ford GT, 50 years after Ford's historic podium sweep and produce a production model of the supercar by the end of the year.

Or, as Raj Nair, executive vice president and president North America for Ford Motor Company, says, "You only get one chance to celebrate a 50th anniversary."

Le Mans: Racing is Everything
https://www.amazon.com/Mans-Racing-Ever ... B072HSW166

Directed by James Erskine, the series, Le Mans: Racing is Everything, will follow six factory teams throughout their quests to claim victory at the 2015 24 Hours of Le Mans, promising more access than seen ever before.

Video teams were embedded with Porsche, Audi, Nissan, Toyota, Aston Martin, and Rebellion throughout their development processes, as well as the 24 Hour race. Big names like Mark Webber, André Lotterer, and even Nico Prost will be featured in the series.

The 24 Hour War
https://www.amazon.com/24-Hour-War-AJ-B ... B01N0IOJT4

The Ford versus Ferrari rivalry at Le Mans is one of the most famous battles in racing history. It started in 1963 when Henry Ford II tried to buy Ferrari to save the ailing Ford Motor Company, which was being crushed by GM and the Corvette on the track and at the dealerships. Ferrari was the most successful racing team in the world at that time.

Adam Carolla and Nate Adams have mastered the art of creating documentaries that are informative, interesting, and downright gripping. This documentary is based on AJ Baime's book, "Go Like Hell" (an excellent read, as is "The Arsenal of Democracy"), and the film perfectly represents Baime's work. The photography is phenomenal. The soundtrack accentuates pivotal moments.

The live, in person interviews with Ford folks like Henry Ford the third, Edsel Ford the second, Dan Gurney, and countless other team members (some well-known, some not-so well-known) keep the story interesting while providing a truly personal feel. The Ferrari camp was also well-represented by people like Piero Ferrari, Carlo Tazzioli, Brian Laban, and Moro Forghieri. Each of them had intriguing personalities; their flair and gusto came across perfectly on camera and in the story.

The editing was great as well - they did a wonderful job of merging legacy and modern footage. The film never felt choppy or disjointed.

Just finished watching this one above and it is fantastic!

Finally, here are some great interviews with AJ Foyt and Dan Gurney who will be at Le Mans this weekend to celebrate the 50 year anniversary of their win in a Ford GT. AJ learned the track while he raced. Big brass ones on the racers from this era.

[DChaps]

24 Hours of Le Mans 2017 - Links and Coverage Schedule

All times below are EDT

Free Practice - Wed 14 Jun - 10:00am (4Hrs)
Qualifying 1 - Wed 14 Jun - 4:20pm (1Hr 40min)
Qualifying 2 - Thu 15 Jun - 1:00pm (2Hrs)
Qualifying 3 - Thu 15 Jun - 4:00pm (2Hrs)
Warm-up - Sat 17 Jun - 3:00am (45min)
Race - Sat 17 Jun - 9:00am (24Hrs)

http://www.lemans.org/en/24-hours-of-le-mans

http://www.radiolemans.co/

http://www.lemans.org/en/page/TimelineK ... mentary/25

http://www.roadandtrack.com/motorsports ... uide-2017/

Veteran host Bob Varsha will spearhead FOX’s Le Mans coverage with Calvin Fish, Jamie Howe, and Tommy Kendall delivering race analysis. Le Mans-winning Audi LMP1 engineer Brad Kettler will make his debut in the booth, as will I. Sam Posey also has a number of features to reveal and Justin Bell along with Andrew Marriott will be reporting from pit lane.

· June 17 – FS1 8:30 AM to 10:00 AM
· June 17 – FS2 1:00 PM to 1:00 AM (June 18)
· June 17 – FS1 1:00 AM to 9:30 AM (June 18)

The entire race is streamed live on FOX Sports GO

2017 Dunlop Le Mans Spotter Guide:
http://www.spotterguides.com/portfolio/17lm/
http://www.spotterguides.com/wp-content ... M24_v2.pdf

Welcome to the Dunlop 2017 Le Mans Spotter Guide, the most up to date and detailed visual resource to follow the 2017 Le Mans 24 Hours.

Created by Andy Blackmore Design, the Guide features all the information you need while following Le Mans, from the track or home. This version of the guide (v2) has been released following Scrutineering and the replacement of Lucas Di Grassi (Injury) by Michele Rugolo and features all the main livery updates (Change list below).

Your Guide To Enjoying All 24 Hours Of Le Mans In 2017:
http://blackflag.jalopnik.com/your-guid ... 1796136248

[DChaps]

Toyota’s Kamui Kobayashi Just Set The Fastest Lap Ever At Le Mans

https://wtf1.com/post/toyotas-kamui-kob ... t-le-mans/

Kobayashi ended up blitzing the pole position time with a staggering 3:14.791, which has proved to be a hugely significant lap in Le Mans history.

It’s not only 2.096 seconds quicker than the 2015 Circuit de la Sarthe lap record set by Neel Jani’s Porsche, but the lap’s also the best set at Le Mans since 1989.

That’s when the chicanes were added to the Mulsanne Straight. It also had the highest average speed since Hans-Joachim Stuck’s 1985 record of 251.815km/h, with Kobayashi putting in 251.9km/h.

Of course, the Toyota garage went mad after the lap, which is so much quicker than anything seen at Le Mans over the week so far.

Even more amazing to me is that this is only a second off the 3:13.90 pole position record set by Mexico's Pedro Rodríguez with a Porsche 917 in 1971. That was from when there were no chicanes.

[Rodster]

Well, Lance Stroll has certainly made many of us doubters eat some crow. He's gotten better the last few races and ALMOST finished 2nd if not for Bottas beating him at the line. The Hamilton v Vettel rivalry has just begun.

[F308GTB]

Well, Lance Stroll has certainly made many of us doubters eat some crow. He's gotten better the last few races and ALMOST finished 2nd if not for Bottas beating him at the line. The Hamilton v Vettel rivalry has just begun.

And Bottas gets drive of the day for coming back from where he was. Great to see Ricciardo take the win, and you have to love his twitter post

Well butter my butt and call me a biscuit that was a race

A very entertaining race in part because of the lack of driver patience. Ocon and Perez nearly taking each other out of the race, Vettel behaving like an ass, ... Going into the weekend I bet no one expected a Williams and Red Bull on the podium.

[Rodster]

And all of Danny's wins have been in a crap car. Imagine if he had a title contending car? Supposedly the rumor making the rounds is that Ferrari wants either Danny or Max to pair with Seb. Last time around Danny sent Seb packing.

Both drivers are under contract until 2018 but Max might be an easier get because of the noise he and his dad are making, trying to get out from their Red Bull contract.

[GB_Simo]

Well, Lance Stroll has certainly made many of us doubters eat some crow. He's gotten better the last few races and ALMOST finished 2nd if not for Bottas beating him at the line. The Hamilton v Vettel rivalry has just begun.

It's important not to over-egg the pudding too much re: Stroll. He kept his head, and indeed his headrest, when many around him did not, and it's certainly true that he was much closer to the ultimate pace than we've become accustomed to. We should also consider, though, that Raikkonen, Verstappen, Hamilton, Vettel, Perez, Ocon and Massa hit various forms of trouble, without which we could conceivably have watched Lance come home 10th. This isn't to take anything away from him on what was without doubt his most assured weekend of the season, in which we saw him performing consistently at the level of his car for the first time in 2017, but it's still very much one swallow at this stage. Summer is yet to come.

Ultimately, he did a good job of playing the hand he was dealt, which is all you can do. Nelson Piquet Jr, that friend of petrolheadblog.com, did exactly the same at Hockenheim in 2008, which is probably as much of a note of caution as we need to sound at this stage.

Had his team mate been dealt a kinder hand, he could conceivably have won it, as Hamilton assuredly would have done had the Force India boys practiced brotherly love. (Or Raikkonen had he not lost his aero parts, or Verstappen had he not lost his motor, or Vettel had he not completely lost his sh*t.) That Force India tussle is a lovely little scrap about to bubble up, as is Kvyat vs Sainz.


Re: Ferrari, I would agree, based upon absolutely nothing at all, that you're more likely to see Max there than Danny Ric. That'd be a nice little shake-up, actually: Max to Ferrari, Sainz to Red Bull and Gasly to Toro Rosso would give the grid an interesting shape in 2018 even if everyone else stayed put. The spanner in the works, of course, would be the need to figure out how any of that accommodates the wishes and desires of one S. Vettel...

[DChaps]

Did anyone see the interview Will Buxton did with Vettel after the race? I have not been a big fan of Vettel, but that interview sealed the deal. I know most top tier racers rarely see themselves at fault in any incident, but Vettel's inability to even admit his wrong doing, let alone apologize for it is shocking, even in this day and age of F1.

[Rodster]

If in fact which according to Ted Kravitz from Sky Sports is that Ferrari are targeting both Red Bull drivers which are still under contract until 2018. I see one of them leaving perhaps Max because of the recent noise regarding his car and his dad telling Marko that the needs a better car. Which if one of the two drivers left it would allow for Sainz who according to Martin Brundle is a future superstar to slot right into one of the vacant seats.

Ferrari has to be concerned about either option.

1) Seb does not want Danny as a teammate based on what happened at Red Bull.

2) Ferrari will have to deal with a volatile Verstappen clan especially the father if Ferrari fails to produce a winning car. Max's personality is comparable to that of Alonso. As far as preference they'll probably target Max because of what he's already done and he's only 19. Danny is championship caliber but 28.

I actually would take Danny first with the chance he'll outperform Vettel again and bring in Max in 2019.

[pk500]

For all of the hubub about the F1 race yesterday in Baku, the MotoGP race at Assen was far more exciting from start to finish -- as usual.

Balls' out racing from lights out to checkered, not a Safety Car, that created excitement.

Rossi is a marvel. The most impressive, charismatic motorsport athlete on Earth. The GOAT, without question.

[Rodster]

I love the headline on this article which is something F1 can learn from, at least you would hope. Beautiful car btw, looks like Indycar has a winner here, no pun intended.

IndyCar chooses simplicity as progress

http://en.f1i.com/images/274424-indycar ... gress.html

[pk500]

Initial reports I have received from co-workers at the test today indicate the car looks as good at speed as it does in pictures.

[Dave]

It sure was fun while it lasted, but it looks like it is time to pour one out for the LMP1 class as Porsche plans to exit after this season.

Love the look of the new IndyCar, so much cleaner than any previous Dallara Indy chassis.

[pk500]

It sure was fun while it lasted, but it looks like it is time to pour one out for the LMP1 class as Porsche plans to exit after this season.

Love the look of the new IndyCar, so much cleaner than any previous Dallara Indy chassis.

Global sports car racing -- namely the WEC -- is in trouble after Porsche's pullout. But one S. Atherton in Daytona Beach will have a wry smile, as the wisdom of the cost-effective-yet-still-sexy DPi formula for prototypes in IMSA is looking smarter with each passing day.

[Rodster]

It sure was fun while it lasted, but it looks like it is time to pour one out for the LMP1 class as Porsche plans to exit after this season.

Love the look of the new IndyCar, so much cleaner than any previous Dallara Indy chassis.

Global sports car racing -- namely the WEC -- is in trouble after Porsche's pullout. But one S. Atherton in Daytona Beach will have a wry smile, as the wisdom of the cost-effective-yet-still-sexy DPi formula for prototypes in IMSA is looking smarter with each passing day.

....and Mercedes just announced they are leaving the DTM and instead joining the Formula E series so as to develop electric technology for their passenger cars. In the UK they just passed a law that will ban petrol and diesel cars by 2040 to be replaced by electric vehicles. The FIA is also pushing for more environmental awareness, where that eventually leads is a question for another day. Motorsports in 20-30 years could be totally different from what we have today. I'm not predicting the end of gas powered race cars but the world as a whole seems to be moving towards electric transportation and the motorsport world is listening.

[F308GTB]

Oh Max...

[GB_Simo]

Considering how infrequently we see one car hit another's sidepod in exactly the right place to immediately burst a radiator, you'd have to say he did a pretty strong job. I worry a bit that his penalty was based largely around the consequence rather than the action, though. It seems a bit odd that Max was free to give Raikkonen a choice between lifting or landing in the trees at Spa last year, but should receive a time penalty for locking up and inadvertently hitting another car in the slow stuff.

The test session in midweek was more interesting than the Hungarian race. Charles Leclerc enhanced his reputation by putting on quite a show in the Ferrari, which matters because there's a suspicion that his GP2 equipment is very, very good for what is a spec series, and because his opposition in GP2 isn't really up to much. Lando Norris, who has looked a bit special for some time in the junior classes, produced some stunning headline lap times in the McLaren, though it's hard to reconcile the idea of the 2017 cars being hard-to-handle beasts with the pace shown by a 17 year old who can barely see over the wheel. What I was most interested in, though - me and the rest of the watching world, come to that - was figuring out how long it'll be before Robert Kubica races a Renault. Is this feeling like the end of Jolyon Palmer's F1 career to anyone else?

[Rodster]

From the rumor mill, it appears Ferrari has a special deal in place for Sauber as it wants to turn it into its junior team much like Torro Rosso is to Red Bull. And both Leclerc and Giovinazzi would be in line for those two seats BUT that would replace Marcus Ericsson who so happens to be a Swede driving for a Swedish team.

I've been of the opinion that Jo Palmer would not be in Formula 1 next year and with Kubica's impressive testing in a current spec car, he might not make it to the end of the season. I'm not rooting against him but I haven't seen one race where I would say he's better than Lance Stroll. There are a few of those on the grid, Mr Stroll included.

[GB_Simo]

From the rumor mill, it appears Ferrari has a special deal in place for Sauber as it wants to turn it into its junior team much like Torro Rosso is to Red Bull. And both Leclerc and Giovinazzi would be in line for those two seats BUT that would replace Marcus Ericsson who so happens to be a Swede driving for a Swedish team.

I've been of the opinion that Jo Palmer would not be in Formula 1 next year and with Kubica's impressive testing in a current spec car, he might not make it to the end of the season. I'm not rooting against him but I haven't seen one race where I would say he's better than Lance Stroll. There are a few of those on the grid, Mr Stroll included.

I don't think there's a shred of doubt that Jo will be gone for 2018, mate. I'm starting to think there is a shred of doubt that he'll make it to Spa. There's a whisper that a settlement agreement has already been offered to him, though it's not a particularly strong whisper at present. We shall see.

Ericsson's position at Sauber is, theoretically, even stronger than that, since his personal backers are also involved in the financing and ownership of the team. If the Ferrari junior idea gains traction, though, and an acceptable sum of money changes hands, that could all change in a heartbeat. An equally intriguing question is where all of that would leave Wehrlein. Force India were quite vocal last season about not wanting him, he's too young to meet the sponsorship requirements at Williams assuming Stroll stays (which he surely will, although he ought to be a little embarrassed at how close Paul Di Resta got to him in qualifying last weekend on what were his first ever laps in the car), there's no room at the Mercedes inn and they won't have a DTM car to drop him into either. He says Formula E isn't on his radar, but that assumes he has options elsewhere, which isn't the given it might seem.

[Rodster]

So it appears according to the latest rumors that Ferrari wants to sign Vettel for 3 years while Seb wants only a 1 year deal, supposedly to jump to Mercedes in 2019 if Lewis retires. If I were Ferrari I would take it because that's when both Ricciardo and Verstappen are available from their Red Bull contracts.