Man these new cars sound ****in awesome!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v ... e=player_detailpage#t=10s

They have some clever camera angles too.

And that angle is probably meant to remind of old CART...

At least on the tv the sound seems to lack the last bit of wow-effect. I'm sure a bit more revs could help, which is why I don't think it is so good indication of how F1 will sound after 2014. There's 3000 rpm difference in rev limit (12,000 (?) vs. 15,000 in F1) and 600-800 cc difference in displacement.

By the way how closely the engine specs and outputs are monitored or is there a development freeze (yearly homologations or something)? Clearly now there are some difference because everything is new but are they planning to make them as even as possible incase some manufacturer builds advantage?

Quote from N I K I :

Castraneves

Sounds like the result of Travis Pastrana and Helio Castroneves going rallying together.

Did anybody else find today's race rather boring? Seemed like they refused to race the new cars. 80% of the field wouldn't even get side by side for the restart. If they are going to start side by side actually make them do it. Would the increased car width have anything to do with the lack of agression on a street course?

I about lost it when the announcers said before they went to the first commercial that the biggest mover after 7 laps was from 14th to 11th like it was really good. I don't know, I just thought that the guys didn't want to race them. I hope that that changes and quickly. Alot of cars lost their battery and just flat died as well today. Hope that this does not continue to be an issue.

I do like the new engine sound a little bit more though . (Not what I'd like to hear still, but it is better ).

The track has essentially one passing opportunity. It's always like that.

Observations from this race:

1. Chevy, particularly Penske, are going to be tough to beat for the first part of the season at least. I expect Honda will try to strike back at Indy, but we'll have to see.
   
2. ABC's coverage sucks balls. (Example: Hildebrand retired from the top 10 with 4-5 laps to go and it was never once mentioned.)
   
3. As Cornys mentioned, the restarts need to be slowed down a bit if they want them to be exciting/a proper double-file. If they don't care, it's fine by me. Less avoidable carnage.
   
4. Conway, Hinchcliffe, and Sato (to some extent) were pretty impressive. Should be a competitive/interesting season overall.
   

Bring on Barber (aka a track where you can actually race)!

Quote from deggis :

And that angle is probably meant to remind of old CART...

Or old F1 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2c2DLssnvrY

Quote from deggis :

By the way how closely the engine specs and outputs are monitored or is there a development freeze (yearly homologations or something)? Clearly now there are some difference because everything is new but are they planning to make them as even as possible incase some manufacturer builds advantage?

IIRC development is frozen for 2012. If one manufacturer lags too far back(ie Lotus) they make changes 2 times a year.

Quote from Swiss-Spirit :

Sounds like the result of Travis Pastrana and Helio Castroneves going rallying together.

Now that would be eventful

Quote from Cornys :

Did anybody else find today's race rather boring? Seemed like they refused to race the new cars. 80% of the field wouldn't even get side by side for the restart. If they are going to start side by side actually make them do it. Would the increased car width have anything to do with the lack of agression on a street course?

I about lost it when the announcers said before they went to the first commercial that the biggest mover after 7 laps was from 14th to 11th like it was really good. I don't know, I just thought that the guys didn't want to race them. I hope that that changes and quickly. Alot of cars lost their battery and just flat died as well today. Hope that this does not continue to be an issue.

I do like the new engine sound a little bit more though . (Not what I'd like to hear still, but it is better ).

Yea, I found the race a bit uneventful too, but nothing surprising... Carbon brakes(reducing breaking zones) and suppression of the "blocking rule" was going to make passing much more difficult for 2012. And since the cars are new, spare parts are rare, and track time is still so much valuable, so the drivers were probably told by their teams to take it easy for the first few races.

Nothing new concerning restarts, on street courses they've been like that for the whole 2011 season. First few rows in double file, rest of the field single file. Maybe it looks slightly worse nowadays as people are allowed to defend their positions, so they break the formation before they even reach T1. But yea, I hope they can fix those damn restarts once for all...

The attrition wasn't that bad for a first race. Remember when they introduced the DP01 in ChampCar in 2007, for the first race there were only 6 finishers for 17 starters - several drivers retired because they binned it of course, but it was down to reliability issues also.

Quote from DeadWolfBones :

Chevy, particularly Penske, are going to be tough to beat for the first part of the season at least. I expect Honda will try to strike back at Indy, but we'll have to see.

Yea, the Honda is said to be the better engines on superspeedways, so Indy will be interresting...

Quote from DeadWolfBones :

ABC's coverage sucks balls. (Example: Hildebrand retired from the top 10 with 4-5 laps to go and it was never once mentioned.)

Watch GP3 on Eurosport France and you'll be grateful for what you have

But yea you're right, yesterday's coverage was meh... They failed to spot Bourdais' DNF too.

I think one of the most annoying problem with IndyCar coverages in general is the announcers' lack of excitement. Don't get me wrong, they all seem to be great, passioned and knowledgable chaps. But it seems like they're commentating golf or snooker all race long. Show some emotion FFS. It's allright to quit your monotonous voice tone when something happens.

Quote from DeadWolfBones :

Conway, Hinchcliffe, and Sato (to some extent) were pretty impressive. Should be a competitive/interesting season overall.

Pagenaud and Bourdais too. Also Viso, it was good to see the guy make a clean and mature race for a change, and get a nice little top 10.

Quote from DeadWolfBones :

Bring on Barber (aka a track where you can actually race)!

I don't know... Barber is a fantastic little track with lots of elevation changes and challenging corners... But passing opportunities wise it's not better than St Pete.

Quote from Swiss-Spirit :

Sounds like the result of Travis Pastrana and Helio Castroneves going rallying together.

heheheh, I'm so bad at spelling that I could fit in perfectly if I moved to America.

Anyone know what the deal is with push-to-pass?

I'd heard earlier that there was going to be a 100hp boost this season, but I can't find anything about if/when it's going to be implemented now.

Quote from DeadWolfBones :

Anyone know what the deal is with push-to-pass?

I'd heard earlier that there was going to be a 100hp boost this season, but I can't find anything about if/when it's going to be implemented now.

It has been canned because of possible reliability issues. I think the plan was to implement it later in the season, but the league has been very silent on that front recently. It might be on hold until 2013, who knows.

Lotus is going to have its handsful trying to get its units to work the whole race it seems.

Either way im enjoying the engine race going on in indy, it reminds me of the joys F1 is lacking.

Houston confirmed for 2013
http://www.autosport.com/news/report.php/id/98448

Sucky track IMHO, but one more race is always good to take in IndyCar's situation.

Now the exciting part of the news is, Randy Bernard is also in talks with great tracks such as Road America, Pocono, Phoenix, Portland or Richmond, and hopes for 19 or 20 races in 2013
http://auto-racing.speedtv.com ... 3-schedule-set-to-expand/

Quote from GreyBull [CHA] :

Pocono

wow :hippy:

Wouldn't Pocono be like scary fast?

and i hope to god they get Phoenix, that is probably the most missed oval for indy car ATM.

not really, they would run the indy wings there, but you would need to run them as high as they go to get through the corners.

Front straight would definitely be some epic speed, though.

wasn't there a plan of repaving Pocono? If it is realised, immagine IndyCars on a baby-skin-flat like Pocono

Interesting article re: Bourdais' race in St. Pete:

http://auto-racing.speedtv.com ... t-fighter-sector-times/P1

Quote from TFalke55 :

wasn't there a plan of repaving Pocono? If it is realised, immagine IndyCars on a baby-skin-flat like Pocono

Its already been repaved im going there in june for nascar should be smooth
New phoenix is kinda meh could be good for indy

Practice 1 results from Barber:



Honda/Chevy battle seems a lot closer on a proper circuit.

Nice to see Sato, Newgarden, Barrichello doing well.

Quote from GreyBull [CHA] :

Bernard is also in talks with great tracks such as Road America

Katherine Legge won't like that at all... they might have to do something about the outside wall on the kink if they want IndyCar speeds to be safe there

holy crap i may never look into this thread again with all the loltacular remarks on safety here

btw the wall at the kink is fine, there is no room for run off and if there was, it would be pointless and just increases the risk of the car hitting at a 'bad angle'.

Quote from JackDaMaster :

btw the wall at the kink is fine, there is no room for run off and if there was, it would be pointless and just increases the risk of the car hitting at a 'bad angle'.

I go to that track almost every year... I'm well aware of the lack of renovation space. And I've also seen the remnants of several very bad accidents from the kink, usually single seaters.

My dad's friend had a small touch in his formula ford in that corner last year, car was completely ruined when he backed into the wall hard. We saw him go through turn 5 from the hill, then he didn't come back around and he wasn't answering his radio. It's just a bit more scary and when it's happened to a close friend I guess.

I wasn't advocating runoff area anyways. That would destroy the character of the corner, and I love how challenging it can be. I was suggesting SAFER barriers... there's absolutely no reason to not have them there that I can think of. It wouldn't change the corner at all, it would only make it safer in the event that one of the really fast cars had a big moment there. It's a very high velocity track, and I think the safety measures should match that.

Quote from DeadWolfBones :

Interesting article re: Bourdais' race in St. Pete:

http://auto-racing.speedtv.com ... t-fighter-sector-times/P1

Bourdais still has that skill which makes him Senna when it comes to north american open wheelers.

I got a big feeling with this many road courses this year he will be able to snag a victory in that heap of a lotus(on a tight stret track most likely).