OT: Racing 2011 (Spoiler Alert)

[Gurantsu]

Wouldn't it be shorter by staying in a straight line between corners, instead of weaving to the inside then back out to set up for turn one?

Whatever the reason, it must be faster, because they were all doing it.

David Hobbs seems like he is a real nice guy and a hoot. I'd love to hear his stories over dinner after I got a few beers in him!

[Rodster]

Not all is well at Ferrari land. Aldo Nova has stepped down in place of Pat Fry. Counting the days when Flabio gets appointed to run the whole operation.

http://en.espnf1.com/ferrari/motorsport ... 49525.html

[GB_Simo]

We didn't mention the final line-up for The Greatest 33, given here by some jackass. If you had these 100 drivers as a starting point, would your final 33 starters differ from the results of the fan ballot?

Reading back through this thread, particularly the bits where Grant didn't like DRS and everyone else tried to beat him away with sticks, I realised that I'd meant to tell you something a bit earlier and...well, forgot to. In the pre-qualifying coverage on BBC today, David Coulthard was in Red Bull's simulator running through a practice race start with one of the engineers, just to show some of the things a driver had to do in the opening laps. His experience, having only stepped out of F1 at the end of 2008, was that he couldn't keep up with the requests he was being given or find the time to manage them all on a lap of Monaco. I wish I'd recorded it, just to play back the next time someone tells me that without a stick shift, all the drivers have to do is push pedals and steer.

[pk500]

We didn't mention the final line-up for The Greatest 33, given here by some jackass. If you had these 100 drivers as a starting point, would your final 33 starters differ from the results of the fan ballot?

By about a third. It's unthinkable that Bill Holland, Ted Horn, Rex Mays, Sam Hanks and Frank Lockhart aren't on that list, for starters. And the entire 11th row is a joke. Dixon? Montoya? T. Bettenhausen Sr.? Come on. Even Ray Harroun is a suspect pick.

It's also criminal that Parnelli was ranked so low.

Fans have very short, selective memories.

[toonarmy]

The greatest day in racing! Already started off with an interesting race at Monaco as Red Bull encountered some confusion in the pits regarding tires and Lewis made a great pass on MS. Will be fun to see how things shake out by the end.

Cannot wait for the 500. Very historic race today. Hard to figure out who will win this one based on the starting grid.

[Gurantsu]

I'm already planted on the couch, with Monaco on the tele (Yes, I'm actually watching F1!)

Don't know what it is about the place, but I think I'd sit and watch lawnmowers race around Monaco.

ABC is having an hour long special before the 500 about the centennial. DO you guys get to see that also Adam?

[pk500]

Pre-race predictions:

Favorite: Dixon.
Dark horse: Rice. Panther and Buddy both know how to get around this joint. A very potent, underrated combination.

[F308GTB]

I'm already planted on the couch, with Monaco on the tele (Yes, I'm actually watching F1!)

Don't know what it is about the place, but I think I'd sit and watch lawnmowers race around Monaco.

Certainly no lawnmowers today. Very entertaining race.

[Gurantsu]

I must admit it was pretty exciting. Alonso was getting a bit squirly at the end trying to catch Vettel, but he just couldn't do it. I was surprised earlier how fast Button moved up to catch the first two.

[GB_Simo]

Lots of interesting strategy, plenty of luck, more passing than I can recall in a dry race at Monaco and some top-class pantomime villainy from the chap in McLaren number 3, who's just stood in front of a BBC camera and said a few things he might later come to regret. All told, a very enjoyable afternoon. I just wish we'd had the chance to see the fight at the front play itself out properly.

ABC is having an hour long special before the 500 about the centennial. DO you guys get to see that also Adam?

No. The 2011 TV deal came together very late. IndyCar is buried away on Sky Sports 3, a subscription service which I don't have. Sky Sports is a Rupert Murdoch thing, see, and my TV comes through Virgin, a Richard Branson thing, a conflict which makes getting Sky Sports through Virgin a prohibitively expensive exercise. As far as I know, they take the world feed, cutting to Keith Huewen (who famously raced IndyCars. No, hang on...motorbikes) and Johnny Mowlem (who famously raced Ind...no, that's not right either) in a studio when the host broadcaster goes to commercial. All pre and post race is handled by those two, nothing extra is broadcast.

The NASCAR deal came even later in the day. It's live on a service called Premier Sports, which is another subscription service and is only available to Sky customers. I've no idea what those broadcasts are like. I do however have 'friends' who 'let me watch at their house', so I still get to see the races...

[Gurantsu]

Well Adam, you're better off than me, as at the moment the ABC feed on DirecTV is down. So instead of the centennial program I'm watching a screen telling me service will be back up soon. I can only hope it will be restored by the time the race starts.

[toonarmy]

Pre-race predictions:

Favorite: Dixon.
Dark horse: Rice. Panther and Buddy both know how to get around this joint. A very potent, underrated combination.

If pressed, Dixon would have to be my pick as well, but I would have to be pressed hard to pick this one.

BTW, I know the IMS is pretty tight-lipped about its attendance figures, but it looks like a very large crowd today, compared to past 500s. Will this crowd be setting any records for an open-wheel race at IMS?

[Gurantsu]

I am now officially in the "pissed off" category. DirecTV still has no feed for the 500. Just crappy music and a message saying it will be up when they get their crap together.

[toonarmy]

Here is a link to the remarks GB_Simo alluded to:

http://www.autosport.com/news/report.php/id/91854

I would post the more inane comments, but then I would be posting virtually the entire article. I like McLaren and I like Lewis, but playing the race card on this one is simply f***ed up and uncalled for. Lewis seems to do no wrong in his mind and wrongly points the finger in today's incidents. Yes, Lewis, we want passing and we want a good show, but not when it involves wrecking other cars due to reckless and impatient behavior. I will be interested to see what sort of fines Hamilton receives, if any. I'm all for drivers not merely being automatons during interviews, however Lewis showed a lot of immaturity today in his interview.

As for the race, it was one of the more exciting races at Monaco I can remember. It sucks that Petrov wrecked late in the race because that three-way battle at the top was getting interesting and Sebs had tires to worry about with Alonso all over him. The break was bound to have helped him.

[toonarmy]

Viso out of the race already due to a crash. Why is this guy allowed to drive anywhere other than his driveway?

[Rodster]

Here is a link to the remarks GB_Simo alluded to:

http://www.autosport.com/news/report.php/id/91854

I would post the more inane comments, but then I would be posting virtually the entire article. I like McLaren and I like Lewis, but playing the race card on this one is simply f***ed up and uncalled for. Lewis seems to do no wrong in his mind and wrongly points the finger in today's incidents. Yes, Lewis, we want passing and we want a good show, but not when it involves wrecking other cars due to reckless and impatient behavior. I will be interested to see what sort of fines Hamilton receives, if any. I'm all for drivers not merely being automatons during interviews, however Lewis showed a lot of immaturity today in his interview.

As for the race, it was one of the more exciting races at Monaco I can remember. It sucks that Petrov wrecked late in the race because that three-way battle at the top was getting interesting and Sebs had tires to worry about with Alonso all over him. The break was bound to have helped him.

Absolutely uncalled for, too bad he had to go Al Sharpton. His biggest mistake in his F1 career was firing his dad because HE thought it was all him and his skills that got him his McLaren seat. His new manager has had little effect on his brain dead decisions.

I watched the replay of the Massa incident and every time I saw the contact I couldn't help but say it was Lewis' fault. The pass on Massa in the tunnel OTOH was brilliant and classic Lewis.

[GB_Simo]

When asked why he thought stewards had been paying attention to his driving this year, he joked: "Maybe it's because I'm black. That's what Ali G says. I don't know."

Not a particularly good joke, nor a particularly sensible one, and his interviewer plainly had no idea at all of how to respond to him. All the same, I don't think he was being serious there.

Massa did have a little jink to the middle of the road as Lewis came at him, but the move was never going to work and the McLaren shouldn't have been there, in my view. I don't think Lewis has any real grounds to complain about Maldonado's driving either, to be honest. A couple of bad moves, for which he should probably accept responsibility. He's been given a retrospective drive-through for his last crash, which has no impact on his final race position.

[toonarmy]

Target cars looking very strong with only 71 laps to go. Franchitti looks real good right now.

[miget33]

Wow, what an ending...have to feel bad for JR

[GB_Simo]

Wow, what an ending...have to feel bad for JR

JR's Corn Flakes will have milk substitute on them for some while. I've seen people win the Indianapolis 499.7 before, but I'm struggling to recall anything quite like that.

A tremendous run from Wheldon, though. There can't be many in the field who race Indy any better or more consistently than Dan.

[toonarmy]

Holy smokes, what a finish! I thought for sure he had it until he started to go outside on the last corner. You could almost smell that coming as soon as the overhead shot showed he had little margin for error if he hit marbles, and then it happened. I feel bad for him and am sure he's going to be kicking himself in the butt for blowing the centennial Indy 500. I have nothing against JR but I will admit I was happy that a great driver like Wheldon won the 100th Indy 500.

Franchitti was visibly pissed (for him at least) and did all he could to not throw his team under the bus. He had the best car on the track. Kanaan was also impressive. Very exciting racing today with several mishaps in the pit and overall good clean driving.

[XXXIV]

Wow, what an ending...have to feel bad for JR

JR's Corn Flakes will have milk substitute on them for some while. I've seen people win the Indianapolis 499.7 before, but I'm struggling to recall anything quite like that.

A tremendous run from Wheldon, though. There can't be many in the field who race Indy any better or more consistently than Dan.

Grats to Wheldon but thats as tough a way as there is to come in second.

Cue Ricky Bobby. If you aint first, you're last.

[F308GTB]

And for something completely different, Ben Spies still can't hit the podium this year, and this time in bike racing:

http://txbra.org/forum3/message.asp?for ... gID=162380

14 Spies Ben ELBOWZ RACING
Gets 14th in the Texas crit championship today in the 2nd highest racing category.

[Jackdog]

ABC get's the middle finger for not interviewing AJ Foyt on AJ Foyt day. Also ignoring the pre race ceremonies with all the great drivers of the past is inexcusable. That being said,what a wild finish.One more left turn and it would have been the biggest upset in Indy history.

[DChaps]

Awesome Indy 500 today. Seemed like it went by very fast. I still don't understand how one of the Target cars did not win. They clearly had the machines to beat. From the coverage it was hard to understand what went wrong, especially when they were stating that Dixon was the fastest car in the field over the final laps. I guess their pit strategy was just that bad. Those double-file restarts need to go. Yes it was exciting, but not in a good way (for me at least). One question: If the yellow had been thrown before Wheldon passed JR, would JR have won?