Quote from Yuri Laszlo :

Let's play this game and choose the best Ganassi driver ever, alright?

Charlie Kimball. Period

Pics of the opening testing day: http://www.beverphotography.co ... =1843771026&k=vKJQQGZ

That car looks sooo much more racy with the speedway aero package.

Check James Jakes' girlfriend on picture #74:wow:

Quote from Yuri Laszlo :

ahead of Simona, who played the *crappy Lotus engine of the day* card today.

Installation laps perhaps? Keep in mind that Alesi had a 186 best the opening day, after roughly 15 laps - same amount Simona did yesterday.

Quote from GreyBull [CHA] :

Installation laps perhaps? Keep in mind that Alesi had a 186 best the opening day, after roughly 15 laps - same amount Simona did yesterday.

Yes, because he had turbo issues, ergo, "crappy Lotus engine of the day".

Quote from DieKolkrabe :

Left bracket?

Vasser beats Pruett and Dixon. Andretti beats Wheldon (despite Wheldon getting a lot of support though, he's both more recent and more in the public's memory and Mikey's remembered for his Newman/Haas days) and JPM beats Arie, JPM advances, as does Mikey, JPM to final

Right bracket?

Dario beats Diaz, Marlin beats Rojas (consider this, Sterling was a consistent 2002 Cup contender till his injury), Jamie Mac beats Kimball, Zanardi obliterates Rahal, Zanardi advances past Jamie Mac to semis and final beating out Marlin

I thought they where going by who did the Greatest in a Ganassi?

either way if you went for Greatest Driver it would have to be Montoya, but it would be Zanardi if you went by best Ganassi driver.

Looks like more than just engine issues for poor Simona. Taken from another forum:

Quote :

As I posted in the Simona thread, they had a lot of conversation that could be heard on the scanner. It sounded like they were really struggling to find a good balance on the car. She reported on basically every run that the car was 'hopping' on entry and sometimes on exit, that it would grip, then no grip, grip, no grip, etc. At one point she said paraphrasing, "I am not trying to be a wuss, but I don't feel comfortable pushing it when it feels like this". So, I do not think she has tried at all to see what that car has. I really hope they get things figured out, but at this point, I do not believe HVM has tried to see what the Lotus engine has with their car handling issues.

E: HVM and Fan Force United sound pretty much pessimistic about the Lotus engine, too: http://www.indystar.com/articl ... 205140314/1217/SPORTS0107

Quote :

IndyCar's rule is that all cars be within 105 percent of the fastest car on the track, although new race director Beaux Barfield said after Sunday's practice that application of that is tied more to the race.

Barfield said it was "unlikely" that cars at the low end will be denied a chance to start the 500, but they'd better not lag behind after the green flag.

"It's more of a concern for the race," Barfield said of their slowness.

Based on Saavedra's lap of 221.526 mph, others would need to run about 211 mph to be within 105 percent. Alesi ran 205.265 mph on his 31st of 32 laps Sunday with Fan Force United, while De Silvestro posted her fastest lap of the weekend -- 202.179 mph -- on her final lap Sunday with HVM Racing.

Alesi got to 209.438 mph on Saturday, the opening day of official practice. Practice continues today from noon to 6 p.m. with qualifying this weekend.

"The biggest thing is we don't have enough power," said De Silvestro, the 500's Rookie of the Year in 2010. "Asking (the car) to do these speeds and it feels terrible. If we were doing speeds we're supposed to be doing, I think it would be good."

De Silvestro said the team has to be careful to take incremental steps so as to not get in trouble.

"(IMS) can bite pretty quickly," she said.

HVM owner Keith Wiggins said there is more adjustments the crew can make to help De Silvestro.

"But they're not change-the-world bits," he said. "A couple of pieces (worth) a couple of miles per hour."

At the Fan Force United garage, team officials said Alesi is delivering everything the car has to offer.

"He's flat (on the accelerator)," team co-owner and two-time 500 starter Tyce Carlson said.

http://auto-racing.speedtv.com ... its-and-concerns-at-indy/

Sounds like LFS. :o

And who said the LFS aero model was unrealistic.....?

Quote from DeadWolfBones :

http://auto-racing.speedtv.com ... its-and-concerns-at-indy/

Sounds like LFS. :o

Sounds good, with a little hint of danger hidden in the shadows . We could have guessed that the draft would have more effect though with the bigger body. Anybody with a brain might have guessed that.

I got a bad feeling before the Daytona races this year for NASCAR, and I'm already getting the same feel for Indy's ovals. I hope this one turns out like my Daytona fears did

Quote from Cornys :

Sounds good, with a little hint of danger hidden in the shadows . We could have guessed that the draft would have more effect though with the bigger body. Anybody with a brain might have guessed that.

I got a bad feeling before the Daytona races this year for NASCAR, and I'm already getting the same feel for Indy's ovals. I hope this one turns out like my Daytona fears did

If that can make you feel better, the new car seems to be really stable and safe to drive. No one touched the SAFER barrier in 3 days of open practice and 2 days of rookie orientation.

Quote from GreyBull [CHA] :

If that can make you feel better, the new car seems to be really stable and safe to drive. No one touched the SAFER barrier in 3 days of open practice and 2 days of rookie orientation.

Problem im fearing is with easy draft it can create pack racing to an extent.

Quote from Mustafur :

Problem im fearing is with easy draft it can create pack racing to an extent.

tbh drivers wouldnt even try at indy because unless you're on the racing line in the corners you're having an accident

Quote from GreyBull [CHA] :

If that can make you feel better, the new car seems to be really stable and safe to drive. No one touched the SAFER barrier in 3 days of open practice and 2 days of rookie orientation.

Yeah, but nobody's trying to get anywhere like in a race, and we've already seen that they can still use each other as lanuching pads (on a street course even).

Maybe they'll get rid of the marbles a little this year. I'd like that, but I doubt it will happen. If it would happen it might just become my favorite event of the day once again

Just watch the practice before speculating. Most of the passes are getting done well before the corner. Marbles shouldn't play a role.

Had a 8-10 car train earlier duking it out. Was actually quite fun to watch. It isn't 100% LFS drafting as people are getting runs exiting corners. The aero push is actually rather small.

Quote from PMD9409 :

Just watch the practice before speculating. Most of the passes are getting done well before the corner. Marbles shouldn't play a role.

Had a 8-10 car train earlier duking it out. Was actually quite fun to watch. It isn't 100% LFS drafting as people are getting runs exiting corners. The aero push is actually rather small.

Where are the sessions being aired? I've only seen youtube videos that showed little to nothing..

They seem to have reduced horsepower, but they're going be be adding it back Friday, Saturday and Sunday? What? http://indiana.sbnation.com/ra ... dianapolis-500-horsepower

http://racecontrol.indycar.com/

Also if you have a Verizon phone you can watch it live on there.

You can watch it all on livestream.com/indycar

Dragon Confirmed the Switch to Chevy Power With Bourdais completing his Indy 500 Rookie Test: http://www.autosport.com/news/report.php/id/99656

Quote from Mustafur :

Dragon Confirmed the Switch to Chevy Power With Bourdais completing his Indy 500 Rookie Test: http://www.autosport.com/news/report.php/id/99656

Yeah they are currently on track with the 6 car.

OT: Arie Luijendijk Jr in ABC's "Bachelorette" :chair:

Quote from DeadWolfBones :

Alesi says he "can't go o ... ot; re: Lotus Indy speeds

Kinda funny when you think he's the brand's "ambassador".

One of the popular theories is that he's lobbying in order to be allowed to run qualifying boost in the race.

But whatever happens on that front, Lotus' IndyCar future doesn't look very bright.


Considering that there has been only 1 engine blown so far, it'll be interresting to see if any Chevy/Honda team ends putting back-up engines in T-cars on Sunday, with Vitor/Howard/Pippa at the wheel, and bump the poor Lotii out.

227.540 for Marco in quali trim and with the added boost. Not bad.

Quote from DeadWolfBones :

227.540 for Marco in quali trim and with the added boost. Not bad.

With a bit of tow from TK aswell

Andretti Autosport is on fire, 1-2-4-5 so far!

Quote from GreyBull [CHA] :

Andretti Autosport is on fire, 1-2-4-5 so far!

Hey, GreyBull, I posted this on the NASCAR thread but I figured I'd refer you to this article as well: http://aol.sportingnews.com/na ... l-andretti-danica-patrick

I'd assume that they'd keep their main focus on IndyCar Racing however if it would happen.

I've always been a fan of Andretti myself, and I'll likely be pulling for their cars next Sunday

Would be a massive loss for IndyCar if the Andretti name disappears from the teamside.

Quote from TFalke55 :

Would be a massive loss for IndyCar if the Andretti name disappears from the teamside.

Indeed.. I hope that they would remain in IndyCar (and I'm sure that they would). Dodge doesn't run anything in IndyCar though, so they would be basically be running two different racing operations with two entirely different makes under the hood. I suppose that it wouldn't be too much of an issue, but I don't know.

Maybe Dodge can take the place of Lotus as the 3rd make in 2013