The Alessandro Zanardi IndyCar Thread

Bleu · Post by **Bleu** » 24 Mar 2013, 19:28

ROTR for J.R. Hildebrand. Twice overtaking under yellows and then smashes into Power during the caution period.

Salamander · Post by **Salamander** » 24 Mar 2013, 19:34

Also a shout-out to Tristan Vautier, who was driving very solidly in about 5th or 6th when his car broke down.

Dj_bereta · Post by **Dj_bereta** » 24 Mar 2013, 20:29

I give my ROTR to Helio Castroneves. He is one of most experienced drivers in the grid, but made a rookie mistake that cost him the victory.

nome66 · Post by **nome66** » 24 Mar 2013, 21:15

mines 'Chitti, for that pit exit gaff.

Cynon · Post by **Cynon** » 25 Mar 2013, 02:03

Dj_bereta wrote:I give my ROTR to Helio Castroneves. He is one of most experienced drivers in the grid, but made a rookie mistake that cost him the victory.

Pardon me, WHAT?!

Dario Franchitti took the cake for rookie errors. Let's not forget that Dario ran like crap all weekend long and threw it away doing one of the most basic things in U.S. open wheel racing -- running on cold tires!!

Bleu wrote:ROTR for J.R. Hildebrand. Twice overtaking under yellows and then smashes into Power during the caution period.

Even better, it meant that the whiny bastards at Panther Racing have a big repair bill. I like J.R. Hildebrand, but it's hard to cheer for him when he drives for Panther. Easy ROTR for Hildebrand for doing his best Dan Clarke impersonation since Milka Duno was around.

Salamander · Post by **Salamander** » 25 Mar 2013, 02:26

Cynon wrote:
Dj_bereta wrote:I give my ROTR to Helio Castroneves. He is one of most experienced drivers in the grid, but made a rookie mistake that cost him the victory.

Pardon me, WHAT?!

Dario Franchitti took the cake for rookie errors. Let's not forget that Dario ran like crap all weekend long and threw it away doing one of the most basic things in U.S. open wheel racing -- running on cold tires!!

Meanwhile, Scott Dixon was driving like an absolute boss and just beat Simona de Silvestro to 5th from 20th on the grid. There's a reason the commentators were talking up his title chances and not Franchitti's. ROTR for Franchitti from me.

Aerospeed · Post by **Aerospeed** » 25 Mar 2013, 21:56

Hinchcliffe won? How do I even....?

Salamander · Post by **Salamander** » 26 Mar 2013, 01:29

JeremyMcClean wrote:Hinchcliffe won? How do I even....?

He was well on the pace through qualifying and the race, took advantage of a mistake from Castroneves, and then absorbed Castroneves' pressure all the way to the flag. It was a brilliant drive for Hinchcliffe.

F1000X · Post by **F1000X** » 26 Mar 2013, 02:13

I was really sad when Simona missed out on the podium, but she did a hell of job this weekend. Good race.

dr-baker · Post by **dr-baker** » 26 Mar 2013, 11:00

F1000X wrote:I was really sad when Simona missed out on the podium, but she did a hell of job this weekend. Good race.

She did well not to be taken by Viso at the end. It was very close between her, Viso and Dixon. Hoping she has a good season. Seems promising after round 1...

johnnyCarwash · Post by **johnnyCarwash** » 26 Mar 2013, 13:28

Franchitti's pit exit was pretty rejectful but J.R. Hildebrand managed to beat it by crashing during caution period... at least he K.O. Will Power from contending the win

Jocke1 · Post by **Jocke1** » 31 Mar 2013, 10:35

I miss Milka (Duno), I dunno.

Jocke1 · Post by **Jocke1** » 31 Mar 2013, 10:57

I just realized that Oriol Servia was Indy Lights champion in 1999 with 0 wins.
He beat runner-up Casey Mears to the title by 14 points. And Mears didn't have any wins either! :roll:

The first driver in the final standings to have at least one win was Philipp Peter with 3. But he was still 29 points behind Servia.
Talk about a season from the Twilight Zone.

Oh, and the winning margin in the season finale at Fontana was .049 sec.
Philipp Peter finished 10th. O_o

FMecha · Post by **FMecha** » 31 Mar 2013, 11:59

Jocke1 wrote:I just realized that Oriol Servia was Indy Lights champion in 1999 with 0 wins.
He beat runner-up Casey Mears to the title by 14 points. And Mears didn't have any wins either!

The first driver in the final standings to have at least one win was Philipp Peter with 3. But he was still 29 points behind Servia.
Talk about a season from the Twilight Zone.

Oh, and the winning margin in the season finale at Fontana was .049 sec.
Philipp Peter finished 10th. O_o

Servia won once in ChampCar (2005 Molson Montreal) though. He finished the year in second place.

And who the guy in your avatar is?

Jocke1 · Post by **Jocke1** » 31 Mar 2013, 12:11

FMecha wrote:And who the guy in your avatar is?

No guy. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yuffie

TomWazzleshaw · Post by **TomWazzleshaw** » 03 Apr 2013, 08:57

Conor Daly to drive second Foyt car at Indy: http://www.autosport.com/news/report.php/id/106484

Good on the kid, I say. And if Sato's form is anything to go by, the #41 could be right up there come the month of May.

nome66 · Post by **nome66** » 03 Apr 2013, 20:37

or Sato might hurl his car into a banzai move against 'Chitti a second time

F1000X · Post by **F1000X** » 04 Apr 2013, 21:46

nome66 wrote:or Sato might hurl his car into a banzai move against 'Chitti a second time

If he takes Dario with him the next time, I'll hardly be upset.

Dj_bereta · Post by **Dj_bereta** » 07 Apr 2013, 21:49

IIDOTR so far for Charles Kimball and that overtake.

ROTR... no idea.

SeedStriker · Post by **SeedStriker** » 07 Apr 2013, 22:36

How about the rolling start? That first launch was lame, and took Hinchcliffe out of the equation.

F1000X · Post by **F1000X** » 08 Apr 2013, 12:22

Dj_bereta wrote:IIDOTR so far for Charles Kimball and that overtake.

ROTR... no idea.

Kimball was seriously impressive all race. I've always written him off as a driver who's only major accomplishment was competing at the top level with diabetes. He showed some real brilliance. So did Tristan Vautier; that guy isn't going anywhere but up.

Power did a good job of salvaging a pretty terrible first half of the race.

Hunter-Rhey drove like a defending champion should.

Sadly, Simona was nowhere.

Another great race. I hope long beach isn't a snooze.

FloProAct · Post by **FloProAct** » 08 Apr 2013, 13:42

Dj_bereta wrote:ROTR... no idea.

I'd be tempted to give it to KV. Qualifying wasn't great, and both drivers were almost entirely anonymous in the race.

Bleu · Post by **Bleu** » 08 Apr 2013, 16:24

Hinchcliffe staying his car for an hour or so is ROTR-worthy.

Onxy Wrecked · Post by **Onxy Wrecked** » 08 Apr 2013, 20:01

Bleu wrote:Hinchcliffe staying his car for an hour or so is ROTR-worthy.

The track marshals were reject of the race for that farce.

Wallio · Post by **Wallio** » 11 Apr 2013, 14:54

A few drivers tyre-tested at Pocono yesterday. They were running both the Indy spe wings and the same compound tyres as last years 500. Now since its a test INDYCAR posted no official times but NBCSN is reporting laps in the 41 second rand at an average of 215 with drivers hitting turn 1 well over 220! These times would be well under the prior tracks record (based on a 211 average). Keep in mind too that no one did any banzai laps and the test was cut short due to rain with the times still dropping, so a pole speed average of 217-218 is certainly possible. Not bad for a bunch of drivers who never saw Pocono before!

Ferrarist · Post by **Ferrarist** » 11 Apr 2013, 17:35

Wallio wrote:Not bad for a bunch of drivers who never saw Pocono before!

But bad for a series that almost ran 240mph at Indy...once upon a time.

Wallio · Post by **Wallio** » 11 Apr 2013, 17:39

Ferrarist wrote:
Wallio wrote:Not bad for a bunch of drivers who never saw Pocono before!

But bad for a series that almost ran 240mph at Indy...once upon a time.

True, but they never ran that fast at Pocono.All these Indy-to-Pocono comparsions I keep seeing are unfair. Yes Indy and Pocono are both 2.5 miles. Thats it. Otherwise they're TOTALLY different. Pocono has nowhere near the banking, and has three separate turns, not one turn four times. I'll go out on a limb and say that by the time this contract is up with Pocono (it has an option for a fourth year IIRC) they'll be flirting with 220 as a pole speed.

Onxy Wrecked · Post by **Onxy Wrecked** » 11 Apr 2013, 19:45

Wallio wrote:A few drivers tyre-tested at Pocono yesterday. They were running both the Indy spe wings and the same compound tyres as last years 500. Now since its a test INDYCAR posted no official times but NBCSN is reporting laps in the 41 second rand at an average of 215 with drivers hitting turn 1 well over 220! These times would be well under the prior tracks record (based on a 211 average). Keep in mind too that no one did any banzai laps and the test was cut short due to rain with the times still dropping, so a pole speed average of 217-218 is certainly possible. Not bad for a bunch of drivers who never saw Pocono before!

This suggests based on the 1989 pole speed of Rick Mears at 223.885 and the old Pocono track record that the pole speed for this year's 500 should be around the 228 to 230 mp/h range at Indianapolis. The differences of design are that great between the two tracks.

nome66 · Post by **nome66** » 11 Apr 2013, 20:07

are there any figures on how the downforce of the cars is affecting turn 1 exit speeds?

Wallio · Post by **Wallio** » 11 Apr 2013, 20:11

nome66 wrote:are there any figures on how the downforce of the cars is affecting turn 1 exit speeds?

Nothing official, but I'd say not much, as a few drivers reported taking the corner flat out. Will Power told our local paper he thinks the Indy-wings are actually giving them TOO MUCH downforce, so again, I'd expect times to drop come July.

nome66 · Post by **nome66** » 11 Apr 2013, 20:22

ah. then in that case they should reduce the downforce somehow, as pocono really isn't pack-friendly no matter how much nascar says it is.

F1000X · Post by **F1000X** » 14 Apr 2013, 23:50

nome66 wrote:ah. then in that case they should reduce the downforce somehow, as pocono really isn't pack-friendly no matter how much nascar says it is.

I can't imagine pack racing at Pocono is possible no matter what they do to the car. If you can't go flat all the way around (which you can't, period), how would they make it happen?

It won't happen, but I wish they would give them crazy power for this race, to force them to brake going into turn 1. I don't see how there will be much overtaking unless people get really reckless on the backstretch.

Onxy Wrecked · Post by **Onxy Wrecked** » 18 Apr 2013, 04:19

F1000X wrote:
nome66 wrote:ah. then in that case they should reduce the downforce somehow, as pocono really isn't pack-friendly no matter how much nascar says it is.

I can't imagine pack racing at Pocono is possible no matter what they do to the car. If you can't go flat all the way around (which you can't, period), how would they make it happen?

It won't happen, but I wish they would give them crazy power for this race, to force them to brake going into turn 1. I don't see how there will be much overtaking unless people get really reckless on the backstretch.

I would say any pack racing would be halted by the Tunnel Turn. The banking elsewhere on the track may allow it, but turn two is a lane and a half wide at best.

Dj_bereta · Post by **Dj_bereta** » 21 Apr 2013, 22:06

Sato is the leader and there's only a few laps to the end! :twisted:

Post by **Londoner** » 21 Apr 2013, 22:26

Dj_bereta wrote:Sato is the leader and there's only a few laps to the end!

10 laps to go, and he's apparently starting to pull away from the field. Could it really be a victory? 8-)

Post by **Londoner** » 21 Apr 2013, 22:38

HE'S DONE IT! :mrgreen:

ADx_Wales · Post by **ADx_Wales** » 21 Apr 2013, 22:39

GLORY!!!

RealRacingRoots · Post by **RealRacingRoots** » 21 Apr 2013, 22:44

SSSSSAAAAATTTTOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!

Salamander · Post by **Salamander** » 21 Apr 2013, 22:44

YEEEEEEEEEEEEEESSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSS

Awesome drive from Taku, he really deserved that. Barely put a foot wrong all day.

Dj_bereta · Post by **Dj_bereta** » 21 Apr 2013, 22:51

IIDOTR! Very impressive drive of Sato. Also, giving to A.J Foyt the first victory in almost 11 years.

I didn't watch the entire race, but I give the RoTR for late-braking guys: RRH crashed while trying to overtake Bia, Kimball crashed while trying to unlap himself and T.K throws a solid 6th in a crash with Oriol Servia in the last laps.