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Post by Placid on Jun 7, 2020 6:10:28 GMT -8
As I was saying. Ericsson will have a post-race fine. Why? Pit safety infraction.
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kidrybot
Full Member
Dr. Jerry Punch's future son-in-law
Posts: 1,456
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Post by kidrybot on Jun 7, 2020 10:02:22 GMT -8
Not sure this is the best look for Indycar (the masks add something extra).
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Post by Power Fan79 on Jun 7, 2020 10:09:22 GMT -8
I thought the race was pretty good and it was great to see actual cars on track again. Scott Dixon demonstrated that he is still the man and the wind screen doesn’t look that bad at all.
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Post by Power Fan79 on Jun 7, 2020 10:12:36 GMT -8
Not sure this is the best look for Indycar (the masks add something extra). I agree it’s probably not the best look for Indycar but people will find anything to get offended over these days. Heck, PNC bank could be a micro aggression to some.
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kidrybot
Full Member
Dr. Jerry Punch's future son-in-law
Posts: 1,456
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Post by kidrybot on Jun 7, 2020 10:19:56 GMT -8
The windshield did not turn me off, it takes getting used to. Depending on the camera angle you hardly notice it. Traction compound residue made this race shitty though.
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Post by Placid on Jun 7, 2020 11:51:06 GMT -8
Formula 1 has an iceman. NOW Indy Car has a nick-name upgrade. "CAPTAIN COLD" DIXON!!!
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Post by Codfish on Jun 7, 2020 11:57:53 GMT -8
The windshield did not turn me off, it takes getting used to. Depending on the camera angle you hardly notice it. Traction compound residue made this race shitty though. Yeah, at first I wasn't liking the windscreens, but I've changed my mind about them... The race wasn't horrible, and at least didn't turn into the crash-fest some feared it was going to be... Agree that the anti-traction residue wasn't helpful... All in all, it was much better than watching re-runs of The Lawrence Welk show on Saturday night...
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Post by montybriscoe on Jun 7, 2020 14:21:27 GMT -8
The windshield did not turn me off, it takes getting used to. Depending on the camera angle you hardly notice it. Traction compound residue made this race shitty though. Yeah, at first I wasn't liking the windscreens, but I've changed my mind about them... The race wasn't horrible, and at least didn't turn into the crash-fest some feared it was going to be... Agree that the anti-traction residue wasn't helpful... All in all, it was much better than watching re-runs of The Lawrence Welk show on Saturday night... Like seeing the helmets. What makes these cars fun to shoot photos.
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Post by Codfish on Jun 7, 2020 18:45:54 GMT -8
Like seeing the helmets. What makes these cars fun to shoot photos. Yeah, I get where you're coming from on that - when I first started going to USGP's at the Glen, the drivers didn't even wear full coverage helmets... You could easily recognize drivers like Jim Clark or Jack Brabham... On the other hand, if these windscreens protect drivers against serious head injuries or death (Justin Wilson comes to mind), then they're probably worth it...
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Post by mmi16 on Jun 7, 2020 19:17:43 GMT -8
I thought the race was pretty good and it was great to see actual cars on track again. Scott Dixon demonstrated that he is still the man and the wind screen doesn’t look that bad at all. It makes the cars look like driverless toys - at most you see the top of the helmet.
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Post by mmi16 on Jun 7, 2020 19:27:33 GMT -8
Like seeing the helmets. What makes these cars fun to shoot photos. Yeah, I get where you're coming from on that - when I first started going to USGP's at the Glen, the drivers didn't even wear full coverage helmets... You could easily recognize drivers like Jim Clark or Jack Brabham... On the other hand, if these windscreens protect drivers against serious head injuries or death (Justin Wilson comes to mind), then they're probably worth it... I don't know that the screen would have protected Justin Wilson - if the body part came down on the top of his helmet (which it looked like it did to me). Yes the screen will protect against frontal debris impact like Massa suffered, but I doubt it would have prevented the outcome of Bianchi incident in Japan. I am not against safety. However, it seems, with every advance in safety that the competitors think they can take their aggression another step further and still survive. In the Clark, Stewart days they knew the results of aggression on the track and an buried a number of their competitors. Clark was not immune to car failure. Veekay learned his IndyCar oval lessons the hard (and expensive) way.
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r60man
Full Member
Posts: 1,204
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Post by r60man on Jun 8, 2020 6:25:37 GMT -8
In retrospect, I think the rookies did very well considering that Texas is very fast, and they had next to no practice time. I felt at the beginning that they would be lambs to the slaughter, but they held up pretty well.
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Post by mmi16 on Jun 8, 2020 8:09:59 GMT -8
In retrospect, I think the rookies did very well considering that Texas is very fast, and they had next to no practice time. I felt at the beginning that they would be lambs to the slaughter, but they held up pretty well. Veekay appeared over matched - of course 1st time on an oval, let alone a high speed one. More like diving into the deep end with weights around both your arms and legs and trying to learn how to swim for the first time.
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Post by Codfish on Jun 8, 2020 8:43:28 GMT -8
I don't know that the screen would have protected Justin Wilson - if the body part came down on the top of his helmet (which it looked like it did to me). Yes the screen will protect against frontal debris impact like Massa suffered, but I doubt it would have prevented the outcome of Bianchi incident in Japan. I can't say if the new windscreen would have saved Justin either, but I believe IndyCar is using the combination of a “Halo”-like structure with the added safety benefit of an aerospace-material, canopy-like windshield... The driver's helmet appears to be below the top of the "halo" structure, thus affording some protection from the top... Justin was a tall dude, so who knows...? I realize we've beaten the "It's a dangerous sport vs. make it as safe as we can" horse to death, and am trying to avoid going there again...
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Post by mmi16 on Jun 8, 2020 11:16:45 GMT -8
I have been a race fan ever since I first saw jalopy races on local TV from Westport Speedway in Baltimore as a child of 5 or 6. The sight of a driver 'sawing' at the wheel attempting to control his steed as it bounced around and kept trying to go faster and faster (very slow by today's standards). The love of racing got reinforced by living in Indiana from the age of 12 to 14 and being immersed in the Indianapolis 500 in the days of the Indy Roadsters with Offy's and the Novi V8 - there again watching the driver working his ass off trying to get the car around the track. Living and going to school in NE Ohio and going 'out for a drive' I stumbled across Nelson Ledges Raceway outside Niles, OH and got introduced to SCCA and club racing - Mom and the kids helping Dad race his car on a road course. A few years later my next door neighbor introduced me to autocrossing (RIP Lowell) and I became hooked on driving in competition even if it was only against the clock around pylons. After a few years of autocrossing, divorce entered my world and with shared custody I had the kids every other weekend. I would take the kids along to practice autocrosses my club would hold and let them ride along for runs - one weekend we went to Hagerstown Speedway to watch the World of Outlaws Sprint Cars with Kinser & Swindel and all with the field being filled out with the Pennsylvania Posse members - entertaining through hot laps, qualifying and heat races - but mind blowing when all 24 cars of the A Main took the Green Flag and went into Turn 1 and the turning of their wings caused a 30 MPH wind to follow them down the front straight - watching the drivers sawing around on the dirt, slid jobs, rim shots and all the other moves getting made through out the field. With that I have been doing my own SCCA racing for the past 32 years - racing on tracks that as a kid I only knew of from the race stories in Road & Track, Car & Driver, Autoweek etc. So that is about 68 years of being a race fan - and it is still about the drivers - be that F1, IndyCar, IMSA or NASCAR. The essence of my race fandom is watching the driver WORK.
The aero screen doesn't let us see the driver work.
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Post by montybriscoe on Jun 8, 2020 13:24:49 GMT -8
When they start tinting those screens, them helmets gonna be harder to see.
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Post by Codfish on Jun 8, 2020 18:18:56 GMT -8
The aero screen doesn't let us see the driver work. Yup, that's a down side for sure... My pet peeve is the paddle shifters... Having to take a hand off the wheel and grab the shift lever requires more skill from the driver, and increases the possibility of driver error along with being overtaken... At least IndyCar still has decent pit stops with refueling, and they don't have the whole string section of the orchestra over the wall... In F1 there are so many crew members out there you can barely see the car, and if you blink you miss the stop entirely...
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Post by mmi16 on Jun 8, 2020 20:07:59 GMT -8
One thing that got me during the broadcast of the race was the pronouncement - that the drivers and (I guess) engineers flew on a chartered flight from Indy to Texas for the race and would return on the charter to Indy after the race. BFD!
I presume the cars and the mechanics to get them raceable were trucked from their home bases to Texas a day or more in advance of Saturday, the mechanics did their thing all day Saturday and then after the race would have to load up all the cars and equipment to truck the back home. For the mechanics and truckers it was basically same old, same old.
NASCAR can get away with shows that are a several hour drive from every teams 'home' near Charlotte - going to Darlington, Bristol, Charlotte and Atlanta. IndyCar doing a 'one day' show 1K+ miles from home is one day in tortured name only.
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Post by wilmywood8455 on Jun 9, 2020 1:11:01 GMT -8
For now, the only way these teams can afford to race is to not stay at hotels or eat at restaurants so they can greatly reduce their exposure to the outside world. And it truly WAS a one day show ... rise at 4am, drive to plane, fly to track, race, fly back, land at 2am or so, back home. 22 hours total.
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