MicVelo

Totally respect the opinion, Shawn, even if it's wrong. Hahahahaha... (J/K)

I used to not be into oval racing but in the last 5-7 years have watched Indy ovals with rapt attention for the reasons you mention.... "knife's edge" (great comment, BTW), high speeds, passing, etc.

But where we differ is the street course/road course sentiment. My having grown up first into drag racing then road racing, I guess I just appreciate the "different set of abilities" that road/street racing requires. (And I should note that this is NOT intended to diminish the skills required to push an open wheel car to ungawdly speeds on an oval, NOT in the least! It's just a different skilll set where obviously, the best contenders are good on both.)

I just like the challenges presented by closed street and road courses in having to brake/shift, throw it into a corner left or right and any passes do take a certain verve. (Which probably explains why Bourdais' outside-in maneuver had me on the edge of my sofa!)

I guess my perspective can best be explained thusly: My first big time street race was the first F1 street race in Long Beach - late 70s - and as a teen watching the F1 guys do their thing on a very similar clockwise course that Indy (and all of the supporting races) now run on (with a number of tweaks to the course in the 40+ years of its running) was a magic time for me as I was just "transitioning" from drag racing to "cars that have to turn".

I also got a ride-along on the LB F1 circuit - as a perk working for Datsun Competition, then based in SoCal - and riding along with a semi-pro driver in one of the four Datsun competition-built "specials" (based on the 810 - which became the Maxima) that were built for marketing purposes, completely turned me into a street course fan. "Hairy" is about the best way I can describe it. Glad I had a change of underwear. Laff...

Anyhow, respectfully differing opinion, old man.

================

On F1 Shanghai.... I think I mentioned I woke up the night (Chicago time) the race started to watch the start, fell sleep, then woke up to see Daniel R on the podium.

Welllllllllll...... watched the race on TV last night. Grooooaaannnnnn......

Should say, "I watched the 2-some hours of coverage in about 30 minutes."

Martin Brundle's "On The Grid" pit jaunt was, to paraphrase someone else's comment earlier, PAINFUL to watch. He couldn't access people like Will Buxton used to on NBC-SN and instead spent so much time mumbling to himself.... "OK, let's see I can get to Daniel Riccardo.... oooops, he's not on grid, well, how about so and so....." And on. And on. And on. Lawdy, I shut it off and switched to the race coverage.

There I was treated to the Sky announcers go on and on about "Lewis this", "Lewis that".... groooaaaaannnnnn. (I get "national hero" and all that but c'mon...)

Then, the incessant mile-a-minute yelling commentary throughout the race. I get being excited but seriously? They were prattling off the race order and movements in trying to keep up with the action on track (which I also understand) but seriously, it was already right there on screen and it was ridiculous trying to listen to and watch the action deciphering what they were trying to say.

Maybe I'm just slow on the uptake..... ...but no thanks. I still prefer the Diffey-Hobbs-Matchett-Buxton (NBC-SN) commentary. And I know this because I switched over to the Alabama Indycar race and went, "Ahhhhhhhhh....." (Yes, while it's Diffey-Bell-Tracy covering Indy, still much better TO ME.)

Anyhow, I rant.... carry on old chaps.

MicVelo

Forgetting about the "big boys" of F1 or Indycar for a minute, if you are old Datsun fan like I am, here's a couple of YT vids from last week's Mitty where John Morton was the grand marshall. These totally took me back! Like being at the Runoffs for the C-Prod or Trans Am (under 2.5) races in the early '70s at Road Atlanta!!

Behind the wheel with John Morton AWESOME on its own.... but even better knowing the legend himself can miss a gear. I don't feel so bad any more. Don't look for it first time watching, enjoy it! Then go back and find it. Hahahahahahaha.:
Oh, and to answer that other thread about downshifting - specifically - gear skipping, look for the 4-2 downshift.

All Datsuns



"For me, seeing the old cars, the cars that I fell in love with when I was a kid, it's more interesting, really, than going to a modern race."
......................................... - John Morton ...........................................

Word dat, John!

MicVelo

On a note regarding Formula 1 (not TV coverage of it).... Zzzzzzzzzzzzzz.... Ehh. I'm done watching F1. Well, at least that seriously. Will watch Monaco GP because that course! I get shivers watching them blast through the tunnel!

==============

On Indycar.... Any bets, win, place and show? Indycar coverage continues to be so much better than ESPN/Sky F1; plus, there's actually real competition in the series! Chevy vs Honda.... Penske vs. Rahal vs Coyne vs Foyt vs Carpenter.... and so on. No one team is totally dominant (although Penske tries to muscle everyone else out) and no driver is hand picked to be THE guy. Unlike Lewi.... oh, wait, he has fans here....

Never thought I'd hear myself say this but.... Danica Patrick at P7 on grid. Wow, that IS impressive. But last I saw on taped coverage, they were having issues with her car (then I fell asleep) so who's to say? Anyhow, I am "secretly" cheering for her. For her to win the 500 after one single win in Indy and 0 in NASCAR, well, it'd be a good way to go out on top.

==============

Still think that best coverage of motorsports goes to Fox Sports for their continue great coverage of NHRA drag racing. Commentary, analysis, driver coverage/interviews, credible announcers. All blended together into a nice package. Best, IMO.

Enjoy the long weekend!!

MicVelo

INDY 500 SPOILER ALERT IN CASE YOU DIDN'T WATCH!!!

Summed up: I CANNOT believe I just watched that finish!!

But ya, they need to rename the race the Demolition Derby 500...

Wow, cannot understand the reasoning for Indycar to have gone back 30 years to the non-aero cars that I'm sure caused most of the carnage. I mean c'mon, every one but the first incident were from cars coming unglued on exit. Every one nearly identical... rear steps out and that's all she wrote. Psh.

And, on top of all that, the first incident is the fault of race control, IMO. The Sato-Davison collision could have been avoided in my mind. Davison was WAY off pace but ON the racing line for 15 or so laps creating an obstacle and backups. Sato had NOWHERE to go coming off 3 (or was it 4?) right into the back of Davison's obviously ailing car.

C'mon, no black flag?? Not even a meatball or at least a blue?? Really??? BZZZZZZTTTTTTT!!!

But it was the ending that blew me away and caused my neighbors to question the sanity of the occupant (wife's outta town ) of my house. Cheering, yelling, and utterances of "ARE YOU F**KING KIDDING ME?!?! Did both of those guys (running 1 and 2) just pit and leave my boy out front!?!!? With only 4 laps to go?!?!?! NOOOOOOO WAY!!!!"

Whew.... I'm exhausted. Hahahahahaha.

Alexander Rossi deserves the "hard charger award" if there was one. That dude just flies. Grid last row, 4th place finish. Dayam. They (commentators) hit it on the head too... he's almost mechanical. Too bad for Ed Carpenter too. He had such a strong car/team coming into today's race. But hey, 2nd isn't terrible.

Bad luck for Takuma, Danica, TK, Sebastian, Jones, Karam, and most of all, Helio.... Booooo, was really rooting for him, back just for Indy and definitely one of the good guys of the sport. And much as I'm amazed to hear myself say it, it would have been great for Danica to finish her career in at least a Top 5 or better yet, in the wood and on podium (if not an overall win). Ah well.

OK, last chance warning!!! SPOILER ALERT

CONGRATULATIONS WILL POWER
FOR A WELL DESERVED WIN!!

Finally.

OK, time for bed.... I'll need to calm down first though. Oh, I know, I'll turn on Formula 1... Zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz......

JMII

Agree on the Davison thing. You can't have a car that slow on super speedway like Indy. Real shame since it a) took out last years winner and b) you know Hinch wouldn't have been that slow.

And yes Rossi was the easily the best & fastest car out there. Everyone said passing would be difficult but he was picking people off lap after lap.

Clearly the new aero package is hard to drive (which is good), some of the best spun themselves out. Understeer into immediate oversteer on throttle, all handling issues. At least we didn't have CRASHCAR levels of multi car pile ups or people wrecking each other. Lossing Danica, Helio, TK and Seb was a bummer since they were all top cars. However Danica was seriously off pace, she was dropping places pretty badly. Helio seemed to be just sitting back waiting for his opportunity. Wish Carpenter could have pulled it off - small team, local kid, gotta pull for him... he really needs to win the 500 one year especially after getting the pole 3 times now.

Will's turn around is pretty impressive. I'm not Penske fan, but Will went from can't turn left to winning on the most famed oval ever.

Monaco was the typical F1 parade, but given Daniel's engine (or whatever) problem it was impressive to see him keep Vettel behind. However the onboard shot told the story, Vettel's tires were toast. Glad to see Smiley win, especially since he got screwed a few years back in Monaco with that horrible pit stop. Bummer for me was my DVR never recorded qualifying so I just got the (relatively) boring race.

MicVelo

Formula 1- France. Ho hum. 'Nuff said. Well, almost anyways.... when are they going to dump Martin Brundle?

=============

Watching NASCAR currently. NASCAR??? Yup, at Sonoma. I laugh every time I watch it. "Wait, you mean the steering wheel goes to the right as well?? Well, dayam..... I never knew that!"

Hahaha. But ya, it's actually pretty exciting to watch even though it confuses me. Watching these seemingly ungainly cars use up every inch of the track and then some, is pretty interesting to me, particularly on a track I'm highly familiar with having spent my formative years racing and learning there.

But everytime they go up the hill and then when I'm expecting them to drop out of the hill at "5" and "6" through the carousel, it's not there! Wait..... whatdya mean 4 and then 7??? Hahahahaha. Interesting, that.

But on topic, gotta say, the coverage is quite good. Good, well informed commentary, great track action calling, super in-car plus fore/aft cam views. Very informative. FS1 does a really good job, just like they do in their drag coverage.

===============

Still to watch: Indy Road America. Looks good thus far.

JMII

Whoever does that "Sky Race Control" touch screen thing is terrible, I actively mute and fast forward every time he pops up on screen. I noticed they have added the temp in F and speeds in MPH to the graphics since us Americans can't related to the metric system.

I'm really missing the old crew. F1 is predictable but Hobbs, Matchett, and Diffey made things interesting. Their post race coverage, with Buxton reporting on scene kept me tuned in after that race. Now I see the checkered flag (sometimes early!) and immediately hit delete from the DVR.

msk59

I am a hardcore fan of Formula One; MotoGP, SBK and BSB and Isle of Man TT. I watch it on live no matter what time of day or night it is. However, I miss the sound of Older F1 cars. Sound is not there in these new 1.6L hybrid engines. I don't care for ESPN coverage, too many commercials. Sky Sport is great media to watch F1. I have been a fan for many years.

SPM350Z

iTrader: (1)

Bringing this thread back from the dead rather than making a new one. So Formula 1 this year is....not great. I have been a Lewis Hamilton supporter his whole career and I'm glad to see him continue to win and all that...but honestly...the races have become so boring this year. No fans...so no crowd reaction(I know it's a thing with all sports right now but racing is the only thing I watch) and Hamilton and his car are so clearly far and away the best that every race is just a conga line with no real drama. Even when his tires were falling apart and he looked like Lighting McQueen trying to finish that last lap I never doubted he'd bring it home. And I'm just not interested in who's moving up and down between 4th and 10th or whatever...if you're not passing to WIN it's just not that exciting to me. So yeah, I know many here have been saying for years that F1 is boring but this year I'm finally agreeing with y'all.

On the OTHER hand....I am STOKED to see my man Marco Andretti on pole for the Indy 500! I've been a fan of his since his rookie year when he lost that race by a car's length to Sam Hornish Jr.(man I hated that guy...personality of a potato and never really seemed to be enjoying himself). I've always thought Marco is a solid driver but for whatever reason he couldn't get out of his own way in qualifying...I thought he was going to have a much better career til now but I'm hoping this is now the beginning of some good things for him.(he's only 33) I know being on pole doesn't make you a lock to win the race but starting in the top 10 definitely gives you a much better chance. His car is looking great so hopefully he can avoid any crashes and have a great 500 miles to get that checkered flag.

Anyway...that's my story.

MicVelo

Welcome to the Dark Side, Shawn! Hahahaha. Yeah, watching F1 is a real drag. But, I still watch it because, well,NOTHING else good for a motorhead to watch! The Motor Trend network is the biggest joke (just like the magazine was growing up).. At least when it was Velocity, they had some quality shows on. Now they're all carbon copies of a bunch of loser builds and recklessness in cars. F'n lame.

Max is the man in F1. Lewis and Valteri have the financial backing of over 3/4s of a BILLION dollars so they'd better win. But the still well funded (but nothing close to Petronas AMG) Red Bull team has one helluva driver in Max. His first 2-3 years I regarded him as being too cocky and too "young" (not age but in his "charge like a bull" style of driving). But now, he's seasoned, cool and level headed and one hell of a driver.

Indy 500. Wow.... yeah, Marco on pole. 'Bout dang time he got a break. Frankly tired of seeing Dixon (or any of the Penske guys) up front. I respect all of them but.... In any event, yes, still enjoy IndyCar more than watching the theatrics of F1. Only because they actually swap positions on track once in a while! Hahahaha.

Thanks for bringing this back to life!!

g356sp

Love Max's jokes and banter on team radio, on top of him being the only real challenge for the Mercs. Of course you can't change the past, but I like to think what would've been different this season had Lewis not taken Alex out in Austria ("He's such a sore loser!"). The talks about how Albon can't handle the seat may never have gotten started, and Lewis may not have been totally running away with it.... yet. Either way, I'm still enjoying watching and rooting for the midfielders, especially with all the Pink Merc drama giving McLaren and Renault someone else to battle. Impressed by how well Leclerc is muscling his neutered Ferrari around as well. Overall still enjoying the season, though I am having to put a fair amount of effort in to enjoy it haha.

MicVelo

NOTE: Spoiler Alert Indy500 2020!!





Congrats to my boy Takuma on his second Indy 500 WIN!!! Yeah yeah, it was under caution but he still ran a great race staying in the top 5 all day long.




And a great finish for Graham Rahal, his team mate. Too bad their third team player Pigot crashed out. Still a great race for RLL and Ganassi/Dixon.

Sure were a lot of crashes! Good to see that those horrid windshields/canopies helped to save Pigot's life. Paul Tracy made the comment about the tire bouncing up and without the new structure in place, good possibility that it might have hit the driver. And the Conor Daly, Oliver Askew crash was pretty frightening. But again, the new design Dallaras really stood up to the test as every driver checked into the the infield hospital and were giving reporters their comments minutes later. That's good engineering.

Good coverage of the event. One thing I like about IndyCar versus F1. Up close and personal with the drivers. I feel all the F1 guys are strangers whereas the Indycar guys are brought clearly into the viewers perspective; almost to the point of feeling we know them personally. I met a few at the Indycar finale last year (Laguna Seca) and they are a lot more down to earth for sure.

thekinn

iTrader: (18)

So.. this happened in F1 today.

Drivers credit racing’s safety advancements in social reaction to fiery Grosjean F1 crash

https://www.yahoo.com/sports/drivers...154543662.html

MicVelo

Hell yes! This morning I looked up stats to see who won. Picked up with 2 laps left. Hamilton in lead. OK, guess I'll watch this one in 3x or 4x speed. (I do this cuz Hamilton wins are boring when he goes flag to flag).

But I see an article about the Haas/Grosjean crash. So for next hour, watched the start and the replays simply amazed he made it up out and over the fence!! Apparently everyone (and Romain himself) are attributing a lot to the halo. I've been kind of a nag about that but, OK, I'm convinced. But F1 is taking a lot of flack for the "Hollywood replays" during the Red flag stoppage. Oh well, what're ya gonna do if you're Sky Sports?

When Grosjean was hired to be the lead driver for Haas F1, I had my doubts. But he's quite a driver. Too bad the Haas cars just aren't that competitive. But gotta cheer on the ONLY US F1 team!!

MicVelo

Just gonna leave this here.

Since beginning of their respective seasons, the following results (not including Monaco F1 today.... no spoiler but it looks obvious where its going).

F1, four races, TWO winners (3 of which were Mercedes and Hamilton; the other, Red Bull/Verstappen)

Indycar, five races, five different team/drivers winning including a couple of first time winners.

Tell me which is more exciting and worth watching. I still watch F1 because it IS the top road racing sport but rather watch some other less predictable events.

Just sayin’, er, ranting as usual. Laff.....

EDIT: I am loving the infusion of many “new” names (who will win) in Indycar too. “New” names like Jimmie Johnson (7x champ from NASCAR), Romaine Grosjean from Team Hass, F1, and, one of the hottest racers who will also win in Indy, Scott McLaughlin, who drove for Penske in the V8 Supercar series in Australia! That is some of the hottest Touring car racing in the world. Note the diversity of backgrounds. You’ll never see that in F1. Usual.... F3==>F2==>F1

dkmura

iTrader: (64)

Formula 1 has typically had one or i(f we're lucky) two teams competing for wins and the season titles. So there's no debate on which series holds more surprises. It's a wonder that in IndyCar, the mighty Penske race team is being forced to double overtime (last chance qualifying) to make the 500. As Tim Cindric , Penske Racing President, said: "If we knew what was wrong, we'd have fixed it already." But that's racing--just when you think you know it all--it beats you down to your knees.

Speaking of which, the real drama at the Monaco GP today may have been Charles LeClerc's Ferrari being unable to take pole position after winning it yesterday. LeClerc, who had never before even finished his home GP, went for a faster time and ended up shredding his Ferrari against one of the Armco barriers that line the track. You can bet the whole Ferrari team went to work Saturday night to repair the car, but sadly found out the diff?gearbox?axles? was a no-go. In a heartbeat, LeClerc dreams were shattered, and even though Monaco made a great return in 2020, one Ferrari was out.

Watch the in-car video of ANY of the F! racers at Monaco and that's the essence of why I still watch F1. Amazing that these cars can even make it around such an antiquated, but challenging circuit!

MicVelo

Was still watching Q2-Q3 as of this morning. Thanks for lack of spoiler. Although pretty sure know winner having glanced at standings 3/4 way through.

Home shortly to watch that and Indy q-sessions.

LexD

It was widely advertised that this season would offer little in the way of surprises due to the continuation of existing rule set by FIA.

Next year, I really hope the upcoming changes mix up the pack.
A return to ground-effect formula.
Barge boards replaced by 'wheel bodywork'
A move to an 18-inch rim for 2022
Customers now must have the option of equal-spec equipment
Fuel pumps will also be standardized
lots more too,

I'm looking forward to the redesigned cars for 2022 and hope for a very competitive season, as well as a thrilling finish to 2021

MicVelo

Agreed!! If I recall correctly, those changes were supposed to occur this year but with the pandemic, that changed things a lot.

Will this be the final year of Mercedes-AMG's domination? We shall see.

Nowhere in motorsports does "the car give the edge" than F1. Case in point, yes, Lewis Hamilton IS a great driver (yeah, you just heard me say that) but would he still win if he were put into a "less competitive car"? I don't think so. Here's why I say that... Valtteri Bottas wasn't competitive until he joined Mercedes-AMG, Seabass (Sebastian Vettel) was good at Ferrari but not so good at Aston Martin this year. Then there's Max who was a good driver at Toro Rosso but put him in the big league Red Bull car and he's now a major competitor for the championship. And so on....

Based on that last one alone, it's clear that the cars themselves are pretty much the competitive difference even among the common brands, Red Bull/Alphatauri, Mercedes/McLaren, with the latter teams in the pairing not as competitive as the former.

So yes, welcome all the changes and hopefully we'll see more podiums that don't just include the names Hamilton/Bottas/Verstappen on them. Haha.

MicVelo

[Spoiler Alert: Indy 500 Results]














Helio, FTW!!! The “has been old man” just threw it in Roger Penske’s face after his “demotion” (psh on that, he won the 2020 IMSA sports car championship and 2021 Daytona 24 Hours while “demoted”!)

And this Indy win at Penske’s own track and race!

Old guys rule!!

(Late comment cuz I just watched it last night.) 🤡