Hello everyone and welcome to F1 Fanatic Live for the first IndyCar action of 2017. Great to see such a competitive grid and Ganassi taking the fight to Penske.
If Alonso is watching this, he must feel bolstered seeing that Honda seemingly cought up on power in the US (maybe poach some people from that program to get them to do it in F1 too)!
Looks like starting at the front was not the way to go today! Not a bad race to start the season though. Great job from Bourdais and his team. And yeah, looks like Honda has solved their Indy issues at least, good fuel economy was probably part of that win
Er I’ve just tuned in, I thought Bourdais started at the back?! What on earth have I missed, I presume he was put on some sort of funky fuel strategy and got lucky with it?
He did! Got a bit lucky with strategy when he stopped under green and then the lead of the field went in a few laps later under yellow. But he passed Pagenaud for the lead and never gave it up, even pulled away with traffic too. Deserved win
Just how close and tight the field will be. Most Indy races are good fun because of this. This is a hard race to stay clean and not be hit with bad luck from a safety car
Hello everyone and welcome to F1 Fanatic Live. Apologies in advance for being a bit quiet today as I’m on commentary duty. We’ve got a mixed-up field though so hopefully an intriguing race.
I’ve always been surprised at the quality of racing IndyCar get on this track. It’s a cracking little circuits but it’s narrow and it was built for bikes. Yet they’ve had some cracking races on it.
I don’t mind Scott Goodyear so much. But, the rest are almost as insufferable as the crawl on the bottom of the screen scrawling info for sports I don’t give a hoot about while distracting from the race I am trying to watch.
My respect and admiration for Fernando Alonso as a racer has gone up immensely. Not just because of his IndyCar experience so far, but a cumulative effect particularly over the last year or so in F1 as well. Even with a questionable car (at best) in F1 he just wants to race.
Watching the interview after his qualifying run it was impossible not to be infected by his enthusiasm and excitement for what he is doing.
Hi I´m watching the page of racecontrol at indycar.com and trying to guess what is the Att number that shows the page for each driver, for Alonso is 4120 and for example Montoya is 576, Is it about the number of laps remainig each driver is allowed to make at indianapolis?
Why should the team suffer in a teamsport you mean?
They got one spare engine for the entire team in Indycar, if more than one engine goes the drivers will surely suffer.
After today all the teams get a new race engine with updates
F1 shouldn’t be so uptight on power units. I know they are a lot of money but let the teams have a new one every other race or every race so they can push them to the max
They are being pushed to the max regardless of how long they have to last. If they get one engine per race they would just make them less durable.
Let’s hope for a safe day. I don’t know how people can say Indy is boring. It’s safer then before but it’s still life and death. I want Alonso to win this but I don’t want him pushing over the limit being new to Indy
Thats looking exactly like i expect grown up gocarts to look like. A purebred light and nimble racer and not a bathtub with billions of flaps spewed onto it like the current F1 cars.
He must have a good feeling knowing that countless F1 fans are watching the Indy purely because he is taking part, even though many of those fans are not his normal F1 fans.
Even if you start fifth. How much impact does that normally have on a 500 lap race with so much slip-streaming (from what I understand). Also, from what I understand, you can’t lead all the time due to fuel. So, is pole more immaterial in a race of this nature?
More immaterial for sure. How much, very hard to quantify. As a rookie spectator, I guess it’s more about reducing the chances of being involved in a crash.
The Pole gives you the smallest likelihood of crashing at the start, especially if there’s a gentleman’s agreement made between the top 3 guys about respecting each other’s starting position in the first 2 corners.
Also, you get a championship point for a pole. An Indy pole might perhaps give you more (have to google that).
Still really not a fan of the current qualifying format. They changed it 2-3 years ago & now both days just lack the tension & excitement you used to see with any of the previous formats.
What used to be bump day is now the 1st day rather than the last & is effectively meaningless not just because there isn’t any bumping (Needs to be more than 33 cars entered for that) but because it now effectively only sets the running order for day 2.
Also don’t like how there having to just let the #18 car start without qualifying to fill the field. Just highlights how badly they need to ensure they have more than 33 cars entered. If there was 34+ they wouldn’t have needed to do that.
Louike, I don’t know if Keith allows posting link. But Google “reddit motorsport links” thread and scroll thru the page for YouTube streams (which are the best).
It’s a party for the whole week after qualifying. There’s a tent city that’s nothing but a party all week like at a music festival
I could only join in on Saturday. I had to work the rest of the week.
Alonso looking comfortable in the pre race interviews. He is quite the superstar there now. Looking forward to him bringing his metronomic laps here. It will serve him well being consistent. Good luck!
It’s looking better then last night and this morning but they were calling for bad storms in about 3 hours. The race should be fine but last night it was looking pretty bad
Let’s all pray we don’t have 2 many hondas blow up. They don’t know if they can make race distance. Some insiders were saying as many as 50% could fall out. I hope not
I’ve been thinking for years that F1 doesn’t understand how silly it looks when it runs the Monaco GP on the same day as the 500. As much as Monaco has the challenge and prestige as a race it’s a complete farce.
A 5s lead this early isn’t really a good thing anyway. There will 100% be another full course yellow so you’re better off trying to save a bit of fuel by having someone to draft.
We criticise F1 for it so only fair to say the same for Indy – the TV director loves cutting away from overtaking moves just as they are shaping up eh!?
Three stops remaining for everyone save Helio, Power and Chilton. Expect the field to make stops around laps 115, 145 and 175. The other 3 drivers would come in around laps 100, 130 and 160. Lap 160 to the end is too long, even for a Rossi run.
That’s way people love it in America it’s just the rest of the world don’t know for the most part. It’s fast it’s competitive and life and death as we saw with Dixon
I know it’s only half way but I’m surprised non of the hondas have blown up with them having so many issues the last two weeks (they lost 8 motors so far)
Nah. Looking like his last stint will be 25 laps. Sprint race. Run the car full rich for max speed. Thing is, nearly everyone else who has chance to win is on the same strat.
It’s amazingly the 500 used to be part of the F1 championship. I think they should put it back on! Think about it buying an Indycar and running it would be a drop in the bucket for a F1 team. I know it won’t happen and not logical but one can dream
Buddy Lazier first raced in Indy in 1991. He tried to qualify in 1989 and 1990 first. Won the race in 1996 after the Indy/CART split into 2 racing series.
As I recall he’s stated that the ultimate goal is to build the team (his family owns it) up to be a competitive outfit by the time his son is ready to start racing in Indycar.
The rear floor flaps are working really good to keep the cars on the ground this year. All open wheel cars should run them to keep the car on the ground when they spin
Ah good to hear. Seems incredibly dangerous to have these parts so loosely attached to the cars that they are flying off everywhere in an open wheel series going over 200mph!
Other side of 130. Rahal, Pagenaud, several others pit. Unlike the lap 124 stoppers (Marco, Chilton, JR and Kimbal) I think Rahal and company can do it in 1 more.
Chilton, Davidson, Kimball, JR, Jones are all on a diff strat than Alonso. They are ahead of Alonso and are looking at making an extra stop compared to Alonso.
Damn. Chilton, Kimball, JR and Jones working lap 39 of their fuel stint. They’re still gonna need a ton of yellows to make it with one more stop, though.
Everyone probably made their last pit stop. So the only way to make up track position is to pass. The wrinkle is, everyone will have to save fuel. Who saves the best probably wins.
As expected. Still, at least he got to have more fun than he would have driving around in last place at Monaco. If he can get a deal to drive in Indy with a Chevy engine next year, he should go for it!
First and last time to watch such lottery racing. They love their yellows :)
Sorry but F1 is much better at rewarding deserving teams (if not drivers) and 80% predictable, unlike this 20% predictable.
Well, could it be former F1 drivers Chilton or Sato? That would be unexpected.
How about JPM? Up to 7th!
Probably Helio. Experience on how to run the finishing laps.
If nothing else, it’s been wonderful seeing Nando contending again. I want him to do IndyCar full time now, it’s criminal seeing him toiling at the back of F1 grid. i’d much rather see him at Detroit next week.
He won’t know if they are competitive until next season and by then, it’ll be too late. Providing they have Honda engines, we already know they won’t be competitive.
Brilliant job by Sato. You have to say most of the Andretti team had a chance to win that one and it was a bit of a lottery with the popping engine,s but you can’t argue with a guy who takes the chance he gets good work.
And hopefully we get to see Alonso take another crack at it one day!
It all depends on what F1 car he can get next year (or is there any chance Indy and Monaco won’t clash?). But yeah, surely Alonso will want to have another go at the 500
Where will he go in F1 though? He won’t stay at McLaren because they won’t be competitive so it’s either Bottas’ or Kimi’s seat or else he’ll do a season in Indycar.
The particular chassis for each team is to blame for the boring races in F1, Indy uses the same chassis with two constructors engines, anyone with talent can win.
Superb. Always like Taku a lot and was rooting for him so hard and so gutted for him in 2012. Also happened to genuinely pick him (with heart and head) before the race. ;)
Thanks guys for answering the questions. I used to see the indycar when I was younger and it has been a long time since I saw one of these races. You guya helped a lot getting into it and understanding it again. Thanks Keith as always!
I thoroughly enjoyed that. It must be said that I would not have enjoyed it as much had Alonso not been there representing F1. Well done. You have made fans of a lot of us. You have been humble and conducted yourself with great maturity. You have changed my mind about you from your egotistical younger years. The disappointing thing is that I smell a retirement announcement coming from this great racer.
The 2 of my fave camera angles in F1 were one from the side of the rear wing looking forward and the one on the side behind the driver’s helmet. Both popular in the 90’s, now completely gone ;//
Yeah we were mystified by that in the commentary box. Bizarre. Very Rahal-centric coverage on the whole even given the fact he was leading. It was if they had to show him after every ad break.
Hello everybody and welcome to F1 Fanatic Live for this weekend’s second race from Detroit. Are we going to get our eighth different winner of the year?
It’s actually one of my favorites… Anyway didn’t see any racing yesterday so can’t comment on that. Man I wish Alonso’s IndyCar stint would’ve been extended to this weekend.
I contend your claim and counter by saying they’re two halves the series is incomplete without.
I’m watching today from a New York hotel room, live on ABC. My missus can’t believe how many advert breaks there are! She’s never experienced American TV before.
That’s why I recommend free streaming ;) Works well if your Internet connection doesn’t have a bandwidth cap. IndyCar isn’t even televised in my location so this is the only way for me to see racing.
New fastest lap for Newgarden. Its unlikely, but he’s got an outside sniff if Rahal can’t get past RHR. Then again if Rahal just isn’t bothered about RHR and can turn up the wick, then its all academical
I’ll never forget David Croft trying to spin that Bottas Vettel duel at the end of the Russian GP as exciting due to the gap closing but not letting on that a pass was unlikely. Really annoying that was
Yes! Watching F1 on NBC is excruciatingly painful and their Indy coverage isn’t much better than ABC.
As much as I want Disney to kill off their Indy coverage, I fully expect them to get the 500 next year. Because Jesus hates me. And will all the ESPN layoffs, coverage will be even worse in 2018.
This track is rather terrifying to me. There is no spot on the track to relax at all at any moment the whole race. Constantly turning, constantly jockeying, constant tension. Pack racing is the norm.
Had a IndyCar racing sim back in the day. I totally sucked at this track. Never could figure out how to drive it.
Race Control:
Once we go back to green, we will open pits and implement mandatory competition pit stops for all cars with required 4 tire change a maximum of every 30 laps. All cars will be required to stop and change tires.
Really impressed by JR Hilderbrand. Considering he’s best known for stuffing his car into the wall at the final corner of the 2011 Indy 500 and ended up being dropped mid-season in 2013, his full-time comeback has been solid so far. Impressed with how well he’s driving today considering tyre-wear has been such a factor today
Unfortunately another race at Toronto spoiled by a yellow during a pitstop cycle – disappointed as Pagenaud and Castroneves should have been fighting for the win, rather than 6-8th place
Hi everyone and welcome to F1 Fanatic Live for tonight’s IndyCar race!
For those of you watching with us on BT Sport we’ve got Chris Beatty, the man who styled the 2018 aerokit, in the commentary box tonight. You can send in questions for him on Twitter using #BTSMotorsport.
I don’t love to see F1 race here. No changing the track and making is “F1 safe” it’s fine as is and would make F1 cars look as insanity fast as the are. The bus stop would be jaw dropping
I’m on a train right now so I can’t be watching. I can see the standings on IndyCar website. Does anybody know how many laps is the race? I want to know if I can catch the end at least. If only the train wasn’t delayed, too.
Good evening all – looking forward to what could well be a very open season this year.
Hello everyone and welcome to F1 Fanatic Live for the first IndyCar action of 2017. Great to see such a competitive grid and Ganassi taking the fight to Penske.
Very excited for this one! Hoping for a cracking race.
A sprinkling of rain wouldn’t hurt, though it’s looking less likely.
Absolutely, I’m not sure on the chances, but I’m guessing you’ve got all that data to hand?
The threat’s been receding for the past couple of days.
Hello everyone. Let’s see some racing again!
Wow, they all got through the first 2 turns, first crash only in the 3rd one!
Hey, did you guys ever hear that Kimball is racing despite having diabetes? ;-)
That is new information!
I do know that his different livery this weekend is branding for a particular type of slow-acting insulin.
No kidding, what a coincidence!
No Graham, Kimball did not hit you. YOU hit him, he was all against the wall.
Yeah, I’m a fan of Rahal but Kimball can’t be blamed for that really
Honda really did improve their engine horsepower. Power and Newgarden got swallowed up on that restart.
It also had to do with a good approach by Hinch IMO
What a cracking start and restart from Hinch!
He’s got three seconds on Power now. This is all making me wonder whether some changes have gone on with Honda…
Really wish FOM would steal some tips from the IndyCar graphics. Would love to see the custom number in the F1 timing ticker.
I particularly like that they use their full names instead of an acronym.
Totally agree with you there too. They can get away with it because they don’t do the stop motion graphics F1 does.
And Power will get a penalty for that!
why?
Ran over a hose
Yep that’s a standard penalty.
that’s a shame for pigot, he was doing great!
We’re so happy that pass happened on a US ad break :-)
Missed the first 30 laps-local broadcaster pre-empted it for local church service.
Sato holding on well so far!
It would be nice if the director would show some of the mid-pack battle every once in a while.
the indycar calendar is weird. 4 weeks gap between races 1 and 2 and the last race in september. could be spread more evenly.
And now we’re missing pit stops.
I wish FOM would bring the side view driver camera shot from the rearview mirror.
Bit frustrated Dixon has passed Castroneves, Andretti and Jones and we’ve seen nothing of it.
a bit … yeah. Maybe even somewhat more than that!
Bourdais in
Yeah, just when Sato was doing well. Shame
Bourdais keps a really solid lead over Pagenaud
Super impressed with Bourdais today. A bit lucky but he’s thrashing Pagenaud.
Yeah, showing some real good speed today. I hope he keeps that the whole year, would make a great extra one in the championship
Pagenaud will certainly hope Bourdais loses time with that fighting pack ahead of him!
Once again, I like the P2P implementation in Indycars, especially with the change to a time limit per race.
There has got to be an issue with Power’s car.
maybe he is saving fuel to be able to go to hte flag without having to stop again
by now, I guess he really must have an issue though yeah
or not, seeing the commentary!
Gap to Pagenaud back up to 4 seconds after he got past that group
If Alonso is watching this, he must feel bolstered seeing that Honda seemingly cought up on power in the US (maybe poach some people from that program to get them to do it in F1 too)!
Things going really south for Power then.
Yeah, with all the sports cars experience, surely Bourdais would be pretty well tuned in getting through trafic :-)
Pagenaud has plenty of sports car experience himself.
he does. That is why it’s jojo-ing with depending on who hits traffic where :-)
Pagenaud has backed off hugely.
indeed dropped almost 2 seconds in one lap. What is that about, better fuel efficiency from Honda?
Now he is back up by almost 1,5 seconds though
Alonso needs to get himself one of those Indycar engines…
they’d be a huge amount down on power running that thing with the fuel flow limit in F1!
He’d probably still be faster and get closer the end!
Surprised Sato’s still fourth after that horrible pit stop.
another proof of the improvements made by Honda maybe? Surprised me as well though. Good to see it
Ah – Hunter-Reay got him!
aww :-( I guess 5th is still solid though
Looks like starting at the front was not the way to go today! Not a bad race to start the season though. Great job from Bourdais and his team. And yeah, looks like Honda has solved their Indy issues at least, good fuel economy was probably part of that win
Er I’ve just tuned in, I thought Bourdais started at the back?! What on earth have I missed, I presume he was put on some sort of funky fuel strategy and got lucky with it?
He did! Got a bit lucky with strategy when he stopped under green and then the lead of the field went in a few laps later under yellow. But he passed Pagenaud for the lead and never gave it up, even pulled away with traffic too. Deserved win
Fantastic, sounds like he did a great job. I love a Bourdais win
Wow don’t see Bourdais this emotional very often.
ok, bye everyone. Let’s hope for a surprise in the first F1 race too :-)
Hi guys, I’m new to IndyCar, this is the first race I’m watching. What should i look out for?
Just how close and tight the field will be. Most Indy races are good fun because of this. This is a hard race to stay clean and not be hit with bad luck from a safety car
for drivers? teams? rules?
Carnage.
Hello everyone and welcome to F1 Fanatic Live. Apologies in advance for being a bit quiet today as I’m on commentary duty. We’ve got a mixed-up field though so hopefully an intriguing race.
Castronevez rather sluggish on the start. Will Power be out of the race? not yet it looks.
Good movement from Simon Pag right now. Definitely earning his pay.
Too bad for Rossi, he was running well all race.
All 4 andretti cars out of the race.
Hello everyone! looking forward to a good race.
Hi Victor! Fernando Alonso just showed up on the broadcast
Hello everyone and welcome to F1 Fanatic Live for the third IndyCar race of the year from Barber Motorsports Park in Alabama!
Open wheel racing in the heart of NASCAR country
I’ve always been surprised at the quality of racing IndyCar get on this track. It’s a cracking little circuits but it’s narrow and it was built for bikes. Yet they’ve had some cracking races on it.
Barber has routinely produced some great races.
Dont fancy this starting on time over on ESPN. Basketball game is a close and if that over runs i guess we’ll miss the start?
Love this track! Usually produces good races with fun passing opportunities. Should be a good, fun race!
NBC interviewing Alonso now
Still can’t stand Paul Tracy
I like Paul Tracy as an announcer. Liked him as a driver too, most of the time. Sometimes though, he was crazy!
The Honda robot is giving the start command? Must be developed by another division of Honda
The robot takeover of the world is proceeding as planned.
I’ll believe that when the Honda pace car is driver-less and self aware.
Gearbox trouble for Marco
Alonso makes his first mental note about Andretti-Honda reliability.
Crazy first lap
Switching between the race and Rockets v. Thunder game.
What? You’re catching up with the play-offs? Haha :)
When will F1 cars get on-board graphics? It would fill up that empty space on the shark fins
If they were to implement it, I doubt it would be on the fin because the fin isn’t a required part per the regulations.
We’re getting a tasty race so far. Hope we still get this action once they’re all on the primaries.
Newgarden passes Pag! and Hinch, smelling blood in the water, also passes Pag.
I’m counting on rain to bring some drama and chaos
rossi jumped a few cars by pitting early
ha, veach running in 3rd
Great to have Alonson on comms!
I missed it what was he saying or doing Keith?
do you think Alonso would want to try Indycars on a road course seeing the relative parity among the teams?
I bet he’d like to but don’t think he’d have the justification.
Alonso said the forward view out of the Indycar is much greater than F1.
Battle for the lead closing up, Power not as comfortable on the alternates, Newgarden half a second faster that lap.
Dixon is catching up on the options from 3rd
Is this where it all goes wrong for Power today then…
veach might be in a good spot now
Dixon!
It’s a good job I said I wasn’t going to jinx Power…
Tracy says don’t pit!
Sometimes I wish Leigh Diffey would just pipe down a bit
Newgarden’s toughed it out, Dixon looked really strong a few laps ago.
Exit now. Going to MotoGP at COTA.
Ouch. Not a good start.
The performance of the Hondas in this first oval race of the year does not augur well for Alonso’s chances at Indy.
I forgot how much I dislike ABC’s coverage of Indycar. Please, Mark Miles, dump them and put all the races on NBC with the next TV contract.
I don’t mind Scott Goodyear so much. But, the rest are almost as insufferable as the crawl on the bottom of the screen scrawling info for sports I don’t give a hoot about while distracting from the race I am trying to watch.
Whoever Castroneves is paying off to avoid footage of him being overtaken being shown, it’s money well spent.
Guess who forgot this was a Saturday race… :(
Oakways
Tubbs Lane, Highclere
when does alo run
Alonso is up.
Alonso has a really good run. P3 provisionally for now.
Amazing
not bad
My respect and admiration for Fernando Alonso as a racer has gone up immensely. Not just because of his IndyCar experience so far, but a cumulative effect particularly over the last year or so in F1 as well. Even with a questionable car (at best) in F1 he just wants to race.
Watching the interview after his qualifying run it was impossible not to be infected by his enthusiasm and excitement for what he is doing.
So true, hard not to feel happy!
Heavy crash for Bourdais. Hate to see that.
Massive hit there. Hope Bourdais is alright.
Hoping and praying he’s ok.
Has Alonso finished his quali run ?
Yeah he’s through to the top 9 shootout tomorrow.
… or whatever they call it over there!
Thanks. So , the top 9 guys fight it out tomorrow ? Scott Dixon –> Helio Castroneves ?
Fast1 :)
Hi I´m watching the page of racecontrol at indycar.com and trying to guess what is the Att number that shows the page for each driver, for Alonso is 4120 and for example Montoya is 576, Is it about the number of laps remainig each driver is allowed to make at indianapolis?
where can we watch ?
From where ?
In America they switched from ABC, 3pm west coast, to ESPN News.
Hi all, Im watching at the web of racecontrol.indycar.com the time laps and there is a Att number that I don´t know what it means, Any idea?
As it says on the page Attempt number – but today they will get a single attempt, I guess?
Wait, is that the number of total laps in the Indy500 practice they did?
I think it must be something about the times they have participated, because alonso has 4120 and montoya and castoneves about 500
Alonso to be fifth, you heard it here first.
If it wasn’t for the fact they just put a new motor in that will be untested I’d say 4th but I’ll call 6th
So did Alonso had an engine change, anyone knows whats up with that?
Kinda ironic if he had an Honda engine go out on him.
The turbo seals went on hit run in practice. He ran the fastest since car time before it let go
Single*
Was there a practice between yesterdays qualifying and now?
Yeah the top 9 got a half hour
They replaced the engine, and the best bit ….. no penalty, unlike in F1. Why should the driver suffer? Stupid rule!
Why should the team suffer in a teamsport you mean?
They got one spare engine for the entire team in Indycar, if more than one engine goes the drivers will surely suffer.
After today all the teams get a new race engine with updates
F1 shouldn’t be so uptight on power units. I know they are a lot of money but let the teams have a new one every other race or every race so they can push them to the max
They are being pushed to the max regardless of how long they have to last. If they get one engine per race they would just make them less durable.
Hope t
O see fan qualifying from alonso
Let’s hope for a safe day. I don’t know how people can say Indy is boring. It’s safer then before but it’s still life and death. I want Alonso to win this but I don’t want him pushing over the limit being new to Indy
Alonso has more wings on today, did he figure more downforce was the way to go or is he scared after the Bourdais crash?
Track temps are high. Alonso had the fastest single car run of the week this morning or at least the top 5 so he isn’t scares
Scared (sorry my phone hates me lol)
Tigh n.a. Fraoch
HOW TO WATCH:
Right now: Spanish broadcast: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p238cIMZ54E
When the Fast Nine starts: Official Indycar broadcast: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SCWz5fpzcuA
those cars look ugly to me
They are. But next season’s cars will be much better!
http://gp-live.hu/media/2017/04/17917632_1424242610966378_8262969641116330920_o.jpg
Thats looking exactly like i expect grown up gocarts to look like. A purebred light and nimble racer and not a bathtub with billions of flaps spewed onto it like the current F1 cars.
@keithcollantine, your doing commentary in btsports espn?! Or is it another keithcollantine?
It’s him
It is him.
Any info on what time the fast 9 actually starts?
Now?
Fair enough!
Alonso running now.
And hes blazing!
WOW! Amazing Alonso
Fantastic!!
I hope someone is shooting a documentary about this.
P1 provisional pole with 6 drivers left to run.
Much respect, this is not easy.
That’s unbelievable what he has done the last week
That will be a top 3 or 4 spot, maybe a pole. Unbelievable Fernando!
is there any other live stream with english audio? the official doesnt open in me and the spanish…. well its in spanish
sorry…. “Roto Vision”
WOW! That was the first time I’ve seen where a driver was not losing pace over 4 laps!
I don’t think Nando will remain in the 1st row, but if he improves into the 2nd row it’ll be awesome.
I think he has a shot man, he made no mistakes at all
Power won’t do it, 5 more to go
Only Alonso’s team mates can beat him in my mind
Look how happy he looks. You don’t see that in F1
I’m SOOO Happy seeing him that way!
You and me both!
He was looking like that when he handled the camera last season.
Lol he says there’s lots of fans today
He will be in shock at the 300,000 plus come Sunday. I guess this is a big crowd for an F1 race
He must have a good feeling knowing that countless F1 fans are watching the Indy purely because he is taking part, even though many of those fans are not his normal F1 fans.
Wait till he sees every seat filled with over 310 000 people next Sunday.
Wow, so he had some boost problems and lost time in the last corner (at least, from what I understood).
Rossi hit the wall????
Rossi, another driver in a car he deserves.
“Turn 2 is not hard its just easy to make an mistake” – Rossi
Aaaaaaaaaaaaaa, Hildebrand literally sliding 1 milimetre from the wall!!
Dixon is getting it on!
LIVE TIMING:
http://racecontrol.indycar.com
So 4th or 5th for Alonso
Sato next to Alonso in row 2. This isn’t the most of fortunate configurations….
Middle of row 2 for Alonso. I wouldn’t wanna start in the middle
Still better than starting further back in the pack. That can be scary.
I am really impressed with how Alonso has handled the change from F1 to Indy and genuinely hope he proves his capability next weekend…
I’m really pleased that for the first time in a very long time he gets to see the lights and have a chance for the top step.
Even if you start fifth. How much impact does that normally have on a 500 lap race with so much slip-streaming (from what I understand). Also, from what I understand, you can’t lead all the time due to fuel. So, is pole more immaterial in a race of this nature?
More immaterial for sure. How much, very hard to quantify. As a rookie spectator, I guess it’s more about reducing the chances of being involved in a crash.
The Pole gives you the smallest likelihood of crashing at the start, especially if there’s a gentleman’s agreement made between the top 3 guys about respecting each other’s starting position in the first 2 corners.
Also, you get a championship point for a pole. An Indy pole might perhaps give you more (have to google that).
200 laps, not 50.
*500
Still really not a fan of the current qualifying format. They changed it 2-3 years ago & now both days just lack the tension & excitement you used to see with any of the previous formats.
What used to be bump day is now the 1st day rather than the last & is effectively meaningless not just because there isn’t any bumping (Needs to be more than 33 cars entered for that) but because it now effectively only sets the running order for day 2.
Also don’t like how there having to just let the #18 car start without qualifying to fill the field. Just highlights how badly they need to ensure they have more than 33 cars entered. If there was 34+ they wouldn’t have needed to do that.
Does the race start at 18:00 CET?
18:21 session start
Is there a twitter commentary anywhere for the race?
I know maybe a lot of people not from the USA think it’s a little much but the beauty in this ceremony is always great before the race
We love our military as every country should
I wish I could watch the US pre-race…
They don’t show it everywhere!!??!!??
Nope, I’m watching a studio show on BTS, currently qualifying highlights.
I agree with that, Racerdude!
I guess not everyone wants to show the U.S. military tribute and respect we show
I think for a race this big/important/unique this is as much as needed to make it even more special! I love it! Greets from Poland :)
How they were able to synchronize the singer with the airplanes is amazing. Takes so much organizational perfection!
Lots of practice bc the military works with lots of sporting events for fly overs
Starting in a few minutes
Does anyone have a nice livestream to share?
It’s against the rules to post. Try searching Reddit.
Louike, I don’t know if Keith allows posting link. But Google “reddit motorsport links” thread and scroll thru the page for YouTube streams (which are the best).
Could this be the F1 of the future?
In what way?
The festival leading to the race. They hype.
It would be cool but after awhile it would lose effect. Gotta only do it every so often I think
I was there last year and the streets around the speedway are nothing but a big party.
It’s a party for the whole week after qualifying. There’s a tent city that’s nothing but a party all week like at a music festival
I could only join in on Saturday. I had to work the rest of the week.
Alonso looking comfortable in the pre race interviews. He is quite the superstar there now. Looking forward to him bringing his metronomic laps here. It will serve him well being consistent. Good luck!
Huge crowd today with the fear of really bad storms in the next few hours. Still over 300,000 people
I saw the clouds. Hope it doesn’t get too interesting. There is enough drama without rain.
and yet the attendance is probably down from last year and not because of the weather.
“On a scale from 1 to 10, this one goes 500” Ahahahaha!!
Woah, Racerdude – what’s the weather forecast????
Still sun, but there are a few clouds. Nothing looks too threatening but anything is possible.
It’s looking better then last night and this morning but they were calling for bad storms in about 3 hours. The race should be fine but last night it was looking pretty bad
I read a weather report this morning saying they weren’t expecting storms and showers until about 4. The race should be all right.
Rain during Indy500 doesn’t create drama as on road tracks, it creates a red flag. So it better not happen.
Great tenor
Start your engines!
Let’s all pray we don’t have 2 many hondas blow up. They don’t know if they can make race distance. Some insiders were saying as many as 50% could fall out. I hope not
this aint F1
Ik but they are having issues this month. They have had 8 blow. They know why but can’t fix it till after the 500
They have limited all the Honda track time on the race motors
The front view on the main straight is so EPIC.
Alonso starting the F1 way. Not doing a burnout, saving those tyres.
Amazing cam!
Nerves!
To all the European viewers, I can only hope you do not have to listen to Eddie Cheever or Scott Goodyear in the broadcast commentary.
Worst part of the 500
This is going to be awesome. Really hope there isn’t some stupid shunt which takes Alonso out at the start.
I think he’ll be alright. He’s around experienced guys up there.
This should be interesting. Driving in this traffic is always crazy.
Hoping for JPM, Alonso & Dixon to do well!
hi everyone.
I’m so ready for this
I am really interested to see how the 2 visor cams turnout. If you’re in the USA you can watch Newgarden and Rahal’s feeds on ESPN3 online.
Or if you have a blocker anywhere like I do with sky for F1 ;)
Grand Sport? Not a Z06 Vette?
Wow Alonso very cautious at the start. Sensible!
Definitely, it’s a long race.
Fernando Alonso leads the Indianapolis 500! Must. Keep. Expectations. Under. Control
500 starts scare the hell out of me everytime
Will Power got off to a good start.
Even at 300k, it’s a smaller crowd than during CART’s peak years.
You are right. Other then last year it’s never been the same
Last year was the first sellout with seats added
1st USGP at Indy drew 230k
How many last year?
They never say numbers but it was at the 350,000 area
Alonso moving to front.
Good to be back.
How much time this race takes?
around 2.5h
Dang. Commercials during the race are the worst.
I wonder how much Alonso misses power steering
Live Timing Link.. http://racecontrol.indycar.com/
Rossi’s damn impressive..
Top 5 Alonso on the outside
Great pass. Held my breath there
He was peddling the car hard
That helmet cam from Newgarden is awesome!
Bet Alonso feels awesome having a car he can really race
Alonso taking no prisoners! But he’s ruining his tyres steering so absruptly into turns 2 and 4!!
He’ll be pitting soon.
think he is happy that he actually RACE other people :)
Alonso is doing a phenomenal job pacing himself but moving forward. He’s definitely adapted well to these cars.
Nice measured stop. Bravo Fernando !
No pace car yet
Loved watching Rossi come off the corner at 200 mph with one hand on the wheel and the other making an adjustment on the wheel.
Alonso in P1 … from P9 after the start. Wow
Alonso is leading !!!
Alonso is leading the Indy 500!!
Bravo Alonso!
Alonso in the lead,gogo Nando!!
If he don’t crash he could win this
Theres a bit more to it but sure.
Alonso leading for the first time since Hungary 2014!
Incredible stat
Wow it was looong ago.
:)
Man, I’m so rooting for Alonso. Haven’t been so excited in a long time. And that’s coming from a Hamilton fan
+1
I would like to see Alonso in Indy Car next year. I bet he would have more success than in F1
Can’t remember when I last felt this excited about a motor race, it’s been far too long since Alonso fans have had anything to be excited about.
I wouldn’t even call myself an Alonso fan but my heart is pumping twice than it was at any point during the GP earlier….
same here
Right now I reckon every F1 fan’s rooting for him and Alex ……
I know I am..
Good job sharing the draft. Dunno if it’s team orders yet but if it is that’s good team work
It was team orders to save fuel
They do it all the time in Indycar. It benefits both of them to work together and save fuel
Got to be impressed with Rossi too. Only his second 500.
The (R) next Alonso’s name is for technicality reasons, right?
(r)ookie
He’s not driving like one.
Neither did Rossi last year!
oic. lol !
Also Keith what is with these green flag adverts on BT? So annoying to see Bt break from their norm.
Allonso opening gap. 1.5 sec.
Big one
Hate to see that! Dixon, I think
Dixon and Howard crash, both appear okay.
Wow the whole rear end is missing from Dixon’s car!
Omg!
Howard was way too high. Want to know why.
Understeer and got way off the line, couldn’t turn in. Glad he’s OK too. Dixon couldn’t do a thing about it.
So the pass from RHR posted him out. Thought it was something like that.
Holy crap! Glad Dixon is OK
WWWOOOOOOWWWWW! He’s lucky to be walking away from that!
damn glad Dixon is ok he was damn lucky
Thank God these Indycars are as safe as they are that was a horrifc crash.
That was incredible to watch. It wasn’t that long ago that he wouldn’t have walked away from that. I’m happy to see that they’re both ok.
Red flag. That photographer got a good shot I hope.
WOAH!! That looked incredible. Somewhat like LeMans24 at the “jump” a few years back by Mercedes GTR
That’s the worst crash I’ve seen where the driver walks away after
“a little bit of a bump”
His head was so close to the wall
Really scary. A few inches one way or the other and it could have been game over.
This will be over an hour to fix that
Need a stronger fence.
If the fence is too strong then it rips the car to shreds, did exactly what it’s supposed to
Yes. Cables held. The chain link ruptured meaning it didn’t contain all the debris.
Moto GP and Indycar are the most dangerous sports out there
How is the restart procedure?
I’m pretty sure single file but I could be wrong
Rolling behind the pace car of course
Helio is pretty damn lucky also.
I’d love to see the onboard from his car.
That will be a tough fix. Its over the tunnel to the museum.
Suspect this won’t be the only red flag we see. Looks less likely they’ll get the race run before the storms hit.
Does Fernando have a deck chair handy? :)
how did fernando get to be leading???
drove faster than everyone else
any overtakes?
on team mate, yes
Yes, made plenty from 8th to 1st
yup. not all on team mates
Also pit cycling.
team orders completely morally acceptable, si, good nobody’s moaning XD
He passed the leader on the track.
When they were 1/2 Michael told them to save fuel…
Although the fence got ripped apart, I’m very impressed the horizontal wires holding it did not.
1/4 turn more and Dixon’s not merely walking away from this accident.
quick ! enclose the cockpits ! someone could get hurt !
Nah remove the rear pods. They’ve never worked as designed and may be damn ramps in accidents.
I think the ramp may have been Dixons nose over Howards left front in this case.
Are cars allowed to change tyres/ refuel under red flag? I’m guessing not
Are cars allowed to change tyres/ refuel under red flag? I’m guessing not
Nope, commentators mentioned that just now.
And some people were saying Alonso should’ve do Monaco GP…. YEAH RIGHT….
I’ve been thinking for years that F1 doesn’t understand how silly it looks when it runs the Monaco GP on the same day as the 500. As much as Monaco has the challenge and prestige as a race it’s a complete farce.
I think its opposite, this clearly shows what F1 drivers are made off and how “hard” Indy500 really is.
we watched whole C4 coverage,still caught most of ABC coverage
Per IMS radio network, Howard blames Hunter-Reay for pushing him up the track as both were going into 1.
Did fernando had 5.6s lead over rossi when the race got red flagged?
doesn’t matter now, but it was after he backed off for the full course yellow
Yeah but it’s lap 53 out of 200 on a superspeedway with pit stops forthcoming. 5.6 seconds a mere 1/4 of the way through the 500 isn’t much.
A 5s lead this early isn’t really a good thing anyway. There will 100% be another full course yellow so you’re better off trying to save a bit of fuel by having someone to draft.
Cars being refired.
Apparently 3 laps of yellow before the restart. Didn’t hear when pits reopen. Everyone is going to need to pit within the next few laps.
Alonso is known for starting well in F1, but let’s hope he nails the restart.
Looks like every pit crew is laid out for the next time by. Going to be 25+ cars on pit road next time by.
A single file pace/safety-car restars is sth more familiar to Alonso.
Kudos to the Andretti pit mechanics, nailed that pit stop :O
LOL TK pit crew.
go for restart
Rossi passing Alonso?
to save fuel by drafting.
Now Sato and RHR. Alonso could be saving fuel.
Sato passes Alonso for the first time since 2007
is ALO dream over ?
I think Ed Jones rear ended Newgarden on that last round of pit stops. Will have to see if Newgarden’s car is affected.
Michael Andretti needs to tell his top 4 drivers to knock it off before they wreck.
Daly got into the marbles. Can’t 2 or 3 wide at those speeds. AJ won’t be happy.
No idea why they’re being so aggressive on Lap 66.
Looks like some air came off the car. That was a big wiggle.
Harvey out too ! Boo !
Not at all surprised that Kimball was involved.
Ever racing series needs a safe crew like Indy. They are amazing how fast and how good they are
You do not simply overtake seńor Montoya on the outside.
The safety truck is a little bit lucky Harvey didn’t collide with it.
Power and Hinch off strat.
Oh come on Helio…
are these ugly oversized Wayfarer knock-off sunglasses standard issue for every driver in the series?
Darker skies over the track, but the storms aren’t within 100km of Indy. https://radar.weather.gov/radar.php?rid=ind&product=N0R&overlay=11101111&loop=no
OMG those guys go at it!!!
I’m loving how Alonso is right in the thick of this.
We criticise F1 for it so only fair to say the same for Indy – the TV director loves cutting away from overtaking moves just as they are shaping up eh!?
You can at least listen to the call for the lead: https://beta.tunein.com/radio/IMS-Radio-Network-s269629/
IMS Radio network. Way better than ABC.
During caution, laps are not counted?
Of course they are, why wouldn’t they!
This isn’t dirt track sprintcar racing where yellows don’t count. If you are interested and never heard of them look up 410 sprint cars.
4 tires and out
To those in the USA, the ESPN smartphone app has 12 in-car cameras and not ABC’s irritating commentary audio.
IMS Radio: https://beta.tunein.com/radio/IMS-Radio-Network-s269629/
Three stops remaining for everyone save Helio, Power and Chilton. Expect the field to make stops around laps 115, 145 and 175. The other 3 drivers would come in around laps 100, 130 and 160. Lap 160 to the end is too long, even for a Rossi run.
What happened to Marco Andretti?
Sam Hornish said hi.
After all the Alonso hype (which I freely admit I’ve had a hand in!) it would be hysterical if Max Chilton won this.
LOL!
Ganassi B team needs to find Andretti pace.
Well theres a great Alonso Chilton battle now ;)
HELIO!
And ABC is in commercial for a 0% APR Honda deal…
Alonso restores the balance of the universe by overtaking Chilton XD
LOL
I want Chiltom and Palmer on the same team one day. That would be something
Would it be as bad as when Grosjean and Pastor drove for Lotus?
It would be as when Stroll and Massa drove for Williams
Quite worse actually. But cheaper
So many ads on ABC, oh god.
This is such a contrast to Monaco. This is brilliant.
That’s way people love it in America it’s just the rest of the world don’t know for the most part. It’s fast it’s competitive and life and death as we saw with Dixon
ISN’T IT!!!
Even if nothing happens, an end plate falls from the sky
Racing gods?
I know it’s only half way but I’m surprised non of the hondas have blown up with them having so many issues the last two weeks (they lost 8 motors so far)
This is great camera coverage.
I love static cameras… why they don’t do that in f1?
Damn Chilton and Power are on lap 35 on their current pit strat. Rossi run strat?
Alonso is doing so well. I’m mega-impressed. He looks like he’s been doing this for years.
Alonso may have killed the ghost of Nelson Piquet at Indy memories.
Lapping cars on the short straights is NERVE WRECKING.
Always makes me think of 2011 and Hildebrand.
I make a weird grunting sound everytime that’s out of my control lol
There’s no team radio here?
There is occasionally with the onboards
You get team radios if you use the Indycar/Verison app
Is that available outside the US?
Maybe if you goto Indycar.com but I’m not sure
Probably not.
Alonso lost out a tad there due to lapped traffic :/
So typically how many pit stops do they need to make now that the race is half run? They will do it during the caution periods I guess ?
Pit window is 30-35 laps. Current leaders are working lap 29 of their pit window.
Beat me to it
If you’re not first you’re last :-D.
Pits around 114. So next pits for Alonso and the main strategy will be around 144 and 174. 2 stops remaining.
Thanks guys
They need to stop on average ever 30 laps
So they can’t extend the stints beyond 35 laps??
If they ran real lean maybe but it’s pushing it
But then you’re running Lazier style laps, lol.
Any reason why everytime they change gear it sounds like the hunting season? Is it something related with the I imagine long gear ratios?
A hick-up at Alonso’s right fron wheel!
Lucky with refueling they have time to make little mistakes
So Alonso’s last stint will have to be a long one, no?
If there are no cautions
Unless we get yellow yeah
Nah. Looking like his last stint will be 25 laps. Sprint race. Run the car full rich for max speed. Thing is, nearly everyone else who has chance to win is on the same strat.
Montoya 10th, Andretti only 18th
Loose front wing!
It’s amazingly the 500 used to be part of the F1 championship. I think they should put it back on! Think about it buying an Indycar and running it would be a drop in the bucket for a F1 team. I know it won’t happen and not logical but one can dream
Buddy Lazier can get back in the plane to Vail.
Ahahaha\!\! It paid of not to go in with that broken front wing!
There goes his plan to run the race just to get money for his sons racing program
Buddy Lazier first raced in Indy in 1991. He tried to qualify in 1989 and 1990 first. Won the race in 1996 after the Indy/CART split into 2 racing series.
What’s the story with Buddy Lazier? He ran almost no prac and is miles slower than everyone else. What’s the point of his running?
He was running it just to get the prize money for his son. The less you run the motor the less you pay for it
Get pity money.
So it is possible to run Indy with getting more money than you have to pay for the car/seat/team?
Idk but I think last pays $200,000
He’s only in the race, so they can have 33 cars. Everyone assumes he’s getting some money from Indycar.
As I recall he’s stated that the ultimate goal is to build the team (his family owns it) up to be a competitive outfit by the time his son is ready to start racing in Indycar.
Different take on paydrivers :)
You are 100% correct
The rear floor flaps are working really good to keep the cars on the ground this year. All open wheel cars should run them to keep the car on the ground when they spin
This yellow helped Fernando massively
Why ?
Look at the gap Hunter-Reay pulled before then
and most of the front runners
Fuel mileage
Helped Helio and Power. Those 2 Penkses were a few laps short if they wanted to do a 2 stopper.
Seems a shame that Alonso’s going to go back to fighting with Saubers and breaking down…
“the Rossi thing from last year”=fuel conservation to the finish
I don’t get it. From when Marco and company pitted, even if you get 2 35-lap stints, you get to lap 194.
They’re now saving fuel running on yellow flag mode.
Oh I know. I’m accounting for that.
What I’m saying is trying to pit at 124 is justttt a few laps too early. But this current yellow changes a lot.
May the strategic fuel war begin!
How many stops has Nando done?
must’ve been… 4?
Alonso back in the lead. Strategy in play
That was one hell of a restart!
Another yellow – more debris. They need to buy some stronger glue for these little winglets!
No more winglets next year so that will be a non issue
Ah good to hear. Seems incredibly dangerous to have these parts so loosely attached to the cars that they are flying off everywhere in an open wheel series going over 200mph!
If Seb went to Indy:
“Yellow flag, yellow flag. MOVE IT”
Really? He is not that sort of guy
He would ask for the blue ones, and why don’t this lapped cars move out of the way during SC
Nando really likes going on the outside
The number of ads they play in the race is killing me o.O
Other side of 130. Rahal, Pagenaud, several others pit. Unlike the lap 124 stoppers (Marco, Chilton, JR and Kimbal) I think Rahal and company can do it in 1 more.
They need to let more F1 drivers come over and race the Indy 500. It’s way more fun to watch when someone like Alonso comes over and does well!
RHR, the 1st Honda engine blows up!
There is the smoking Honda
First Honda BLOWOUT!!
No wonder RHR was getting passed, motor…
Oh dear…
You know it’s not an F1 race when the first Honda engine blows up at lap 138.
And there’s the first Honda engine blowup. I doubt it is the last.
Alonso not only can win this, I’d say he’s increasingly looking like the favourite to do it.
Alonso really is looking good.
Indeed his composure is quite impressive given the fact it’s his first every indy race
Honda may pull a Hilldebrand on ALonso on the last lap :(((
There’s no escape from Honda. None.
I bet Fernando hates yellow flags now.
I want Alonso to win but because I can’t have nice things he won’t
This is quite familiar after all.
Why the caution though? A honda blowing out shouldn,t even be news?
Possibility of fluids on the track.
150mph/240kph speed difference and possible fluids.
Did not knew about the speed difference thing. Thanks
the other Honda drivers have to be concerned about their engines
One of the most common sights in motorsport – a driver stood next to a smoking car with a Honda badge on the side….
Fernando right now – ‘Nother one.
#9 Honda this 2 weeks
More and more likely for:
Alonso to win
Honda to blow up
Hope it’s the first…
Ayyyyy Zedd’s at the Indy 500
Alexander Rossi’s race just went downhill.
Chilton still in the game :D
Woah not a good restart for Alonso. He’s back in the pack.
So 3 strats:
Lap 124 stoppers: Yellows helping massively and probably need more yellows to make the finish
Marco, Kimball, Jones, Chilton, JR
Lap 133 stoppers: Yellows helping and might make it without more yellows
Rahal, Pagenaud, Davison
Lap 139 stoppers: Should make it without yellows and rich
Alonso, TK, Sato, Rossi, Helio, JPM
Good summary, thanks!
Omg this is getting old
I wish Eddie Cheever stop talking over the radio transmissions or just stop talking!
IMS radio network: https://beta.tunein.com/radio/IMS-Radio-Network-s269629/
How bad is this for FA?
He can make it on 1 more stop. Gonna depend a ton on the final round of pit stops. Of the 11 cars in front of him, 8 cars might not make it on fuel.
Good that yellow came out, Alonso can take a breather
What the? I just went for a wee
Alonso next to Montoya, how cool :)
I don’t understand what happened with Alonso. He was first, is he on a different strategy, is he back because of the pitstop?
Wow
If you don’t like this – you don’t like motorsport!
Chilton leading but he needs to save fuel to even hit lap 165 to give the Rossi strat a chance.
how do you pronounce that? Reigate.
/rai-geit/
Thanks!
I just have a feeling that Helio is going to pull the win out somehow.
I think he has the best shot at the moment
Davidson told he’s on a 2 stopper.
What happened to Alonso? Poor restart? Different strategy? Botched pitstop?
Different strategy along with everyone behind him.
A combination of different strategies and a poor restart.
I think, he needs to stop once only while *most* those in front of him will have to stop twice.
Ok, thanks, I think I missed that part.
Chilton, Davidson, Kimball, JR, Jones are all on a diff strat than Alonso. They are ahead of Alonso and are looking at making an extra stop compared to Alonso.
Alonso losing to Castroneves and Kannan. He is on same strategy as them
SATO is a time bomb…. tickin away
Damn. Chilton, Kimball, JR and Jones working lap 39 of their fuel stint. They’re still gonna need a ton of yellows to make it with one more stop, though.
I don’t think either Chilton or Kimball can make it w/out another stop.
No way Chilton saves enough being out front like that.
Chilton, Kimball, JR and Jones working lap 39 of their fuel stint. They’re still gonna need a ton of yellows to make it with one more stop, though.
Helio coming in on lap 172, per IMS radio and Penske radio.
can they do 34 laps without refueling?
Yes, but on a saving mode.
I’d like one more yellow period, so everybody doesn’t need to save fuel and goes full throttle to the finish.
Another Honda bites the dust. Charlie Kimball Jr.
There’s the 2nd Honda engine failure.
Chilton is a lucky SOB.
#10
I just hope a Honda engine doesn’t die with someone in the middle of a turn leading to a huge wreck.
Why FCY for an engine blow up off track ?
Well this puts Chilton ahead but the others will have a little extra fuel in what could be a tight run to the end.
This will be a crazy fuel saver till the end
I don’t understand anything, everything seems so chaotic :)
Everyone probably made their last pit stop. So the only way to make up track position is to pass. The wrinkle is, everyone will have to save fuel. Who saves the best probably wins.
I really want to hear Alonso’s response when he’s asked to save fuel :D
So everyone pretty much on the same fuel strat now. Chilton and Jones pitted 2 laps earlier, though.
dont get it. why is there a yellow ? car blew up, pulled off, no danger ?
Oil are 220 mph is no good
At*
Chilton better not win bc he might get delusional and think he is a good race car driver lol
Who are the favorites now?
max!
Helio. I wouldn’t wanna lead right now. Draft to save gas.
Right this weekend Honda decided to give the reliable engines to McLaren
Think Chilton is good to go now. 2 laps more on a tank but they’re 2 laps at caution speeds…
tense wheel to wheel action
In F1 you would say that Max is controlling the race
ON the outside!
SATO!
8 leads 19.
The 8th prime is 19 :)
It happened! Alonso’s Honda gave up the ghost!
MCLAREN LUCK. >:(
Alonso blew
Damn…
Alonsos Honda blew up
Will Alonso ever drive another Honda after this?
WHAT THE
Honda strikes again…
Doesn’t matter where he goes. Honda is following him…
awww c’mon really??? Alonso had such a great performance
Sad to see this
I say alonso packs it in and goes to Detroit for next weeks race
He probably had more fun in this one race then in the entire F1 season this year.
Salud to Alonso! Great drive, better than I could have imagined when this was announced.
Alonso at the press conference : “I drove the best race of my life, but I’m used to this happenin now.”
I can’t even. I’m trying not to laugh, but Honda makes it very difficult not to
Well it was nice while it lasted.
As expected. Still, at least he got to have more fun than he would have driving around in last place at Monaco. If he can get a deal to drive in Indy with a Chevy engine next year, he should go for it!
The McLs had opportunities today though. Still made me see this
So, that’s ALO out of McL for next year then ? In disgust ?
I had a bad feeling that would happen. Nothing new for Alonso then. Such a shame as he was really climbing through the field at the time.
bummer
Amazing race from him
And everyone in F1 is breathing a huge sigh of relief…
WHY?
Who would do that? This is such a bummer.
Alonso’s worst nightmare? A Honda
Not everyone… Zak Brown should be lining up driver replacements…
Well I’m going to sleep.
Fake racing fan… Go away.
Oh well that was grimly inevitable, come on Takuma!
I swear like I said a few mins ago he should race in Detroit next weekend
Wow. The fastest was home may have been to stop earlier on your penultimate stop…
How crushingly predictable.
Ok F1 Fanatics, time to cheer for Max Chilton :D
What a travesty if he wins
JPM in P7. JPM!
That’s 3 out of 3 McLaren Hondas that didn’t finish today. Ironically this is the only one that retired due to engine problems.
plenty of Honda’s not gone bang yet!
doh when you said that all the hondas crashed lol
This is so sad :/
Holy cow!
They finally did, wad them up on a restart.
The never ending 500
oh, no. Carnage.
OMG the drama……………………………………
Wo!
Well there goes my pick (Power).
Surely it’s not going to be Chilton? It’s got to be Castroneves now.
They might need a red here to get a finish under green.
I rooting for Sato.
What would zak brown do next?
Hide in a hole and become a woman to hide his identity lol
My wife says “another wreck? But but that never happens!”
Me: “This is Indy darling, not F1”
Drivers have been in the cars for 2.5 hours now. Exhausted and desperate
Track positions mean nothing here… soo many crashes
First and last time to watch such lottery racing. They love their yellows :)
Sorry but F1 is much better at rewarding deserving teams (if not drivers) and 80% predictable, unlike this 20% predictable.
The unpredictability makes it more exciting.
It certainly makes it a great viewer sport. Not necessarily a great competitive one though. I guess it’s all about what you value the most.
I want Hildebrand to win it. Only that could bring some sweetness and a sense of redemption into my heart.
Dude, LIFE is unpredictable. This race is reality.
Deserving teams? Only teams have won F1 races this season. What about the other 8?
Better engineering, hence more deserving. heliwave
And another Coyne car into the wall. That team won’t have any cars left for Detroit at this rate.
Well, could it be former F1 drivers Chilton or Sato? That would be unexpected.
How about JPM? Up to 7th!
Probably Helio. Experience on how to run the finishing laps.
A real shame for Alonso. He had a shot for a top 3 and his Honda engine let him down again.
If he stays with mchonda next year he may come back. I say he needs to just run a full time Indy program if he can’t find a better car next year in F1
Heartbroken for Alonso, I bet he hates Hondas by this point.
I too would love to see him do Detroit but will never happen.
We would love that
Hoping for no more crashes now, just flat out racing.
Alonso interview: “We deserved at least to finish.”
If nothing else, it’s been wonderful seeing Nando contending again. I want him to do IndyCar full time now, it’s criminal seeing him toiling at the back of F1 grid. i’d much rather see him at Detroit next week.
Annoyed I only put £2 on Jones at 66-1, theres a chance I’ll do quite well out of it!
Sato is a nutcase!
Another GP2 engine.
I’d love Hildebrand to win it. Only that could bring some sweetness and a sense of redemption into my heart.
I have absolutely no doubt at all that Alonso will do the Indy 500 again next year.
wont be doing f1
Depends if McLaren is competive.
gave them a chance already.
Its not about giving them a chance. If they are competive thats where he wanna be.
He won’t know if they are competitive until next season and by then, it’ll be too late. Providing they have Honda engines, we already know they won’t be competitive.
Depends if he stays at mclaren
But with a Chevy
Sato starting to practice lines.
lol nvm. HELIO
heliwave dot com :)
Should have stayed with my first one, lol. SATO!
Chilton doing a masterful job
Helio
Great passes by Castroneves but he’s not shaken Sato off yet.
SATO!
This could end in tears
Helio such a boring winner, if…
Go on Sato!!!
TAKUMA!!!
Congrats Sato! What a race
Congratulations Takuma Sato and Japan :)
Jesus, wow. What a race! Gutted about Alonso but delighted Sato got redemption for 2012
Well that was much better than a Monaco procession!
Awesome! Delighted Sato has won! Well done Takuma!!
TAKUMA SATO!!!
slow first 100, but then all kicked off
Great job Takuma. Honda can be happy afterall :-) First Japanese win in the Indy 500
Sato wins! What a race
Helio is gutted. He could have been a 6 time winner.
One of the best races I’ve ever seen. Oh my oh my!!
I’m happy I waited for this one.
How many leadling laps did he have? 4-5 at the end? Amazing!
I’d love to see a rate the race on that. I’d give that a 9/10. Edge of the seat stuff.
My thought exactly as well!! 9.5/10 if not a 10 from me!
Brilliant job by Sato. You have to say most of the Andretti team had a chance to win that one and it was a bit of a lottery with the popping engine,s but you can’t argue with a guy who takes the chance he gets good work.
And hopefully we get to see Alonso take another crack at it one day!
I’d be extremely surprised if “one day” isn’t “next year.”
It all depends on what F1 car he can get next year (or is there any chance Indy and Monaco won’t clash?). But yeah, surely Alonso will want to have another go at the 500
Where will he go in F1 though? He won’t stay at McLaren because they won’t be competitive so it’s either Bottas’ or Kimi’s seat or else he’ll do a season in Indycar.
Quite the gentleman Castroneves. Happy for Sato
TAKU!!!! I’m so so happy
Ahahah! Sato didn’t feel like sharing the milk with anybody :D:D:D
ohhh milk? no champane???
As is tradition: https://www.indianapolismotorspeedway.com/events/indy500/history/indy-500-traditions-faqs/traditions
Its been milk since the 1930’s. One of the winners then needed something to drink and somebody had some milk on hand. Tradition was born.
Until Emmo drank OJ :)
thx didnt knew that.. cool
Lol. Alonso blew the engine.
Time to drop Monaco and send most of the F1 drivers to Indy for the race instead.
Or consider ovals for F1
Completly different spetacles on their own right. I can appreciate both. And qualy there os amazing
The particular chassis for each team is to blame for the boring races in F1, Indy uses the same chassis with two constructors engines, anyone with talent can win.
Superb. Always like Taku a lot and was rooting for him so hard and so gutted for him in 2012. Also happened to genuinely pick him (with heart and head) before the race. ;)
This race should be the Olympics of motor racing. All F1 drivers should attempt qualifying and racing this. Not Monaco on this weekend.
What a great race, flawless Takuma, i feel it for Alonso, great job, but he was pushing too hard trying to overtake everyone, the engine gave up.
Thanks guys and thanks Keith for experiencing this brilliant race together!!
I hope those of you who only follow F1 will join in for Le Mans 24.
Thanks guys for answering the questions. I used to see the indycar when I was younger and it has been a long time since I saw one of these races. You guya helped a lot getting into it and understanding it again. Thanks Keith as always!
Japanese broadcast commentators reaction to Sato finish:
https://twitter.com/yuzuzu1018/status/868920720016855040
+1
I thoroughly enjoyed that. It must be said that I would not have enjoyed it as much had Alonso not been there representing F1. Well done. You have made fans of a lot of us. You have been humble and conducted yourself with great maturity. You have changed my mind about you from your egotistical younger years. The disappointing thing is that I smell a retirement announcement coming from this great racer.
Is detroit on tv? U.K.
Oh, so the race starts at 22:00 CET. Nice.
Detroit qualifying starts in 35 minutes!
Hi guys, ready for today’s race! Finally a win for Castroneves?
Joined the race late. Is Esteban still in it?
Yep!
Not sure if I can endure the broadcast’s commentary team for 2 hours
Unfortunately, Belle Isle has not produced great racing in the past. Could be a fuel/tire procession
I will be happy to see these ugly high downforce aero kits go into the garbage can
Yeah looking forward to the new aero packages next year.
The Houston race used to be a 2-race weekend. I can imagine of howls of protests if Liberty suggested something similar for F1.
Josef has been putting in fastest laps for almost the last 10 minutes.
Whatever happened to the side mirror camera aimed at the driver in F1? We saw so much of it during the Schumacher Ferrari years.
Will Power really forced the issue there!
The 2 of my fave camera angles in F1 were one from the side of the rear wing looking forward and the one on the side behind the driver’s helmet. Both popular in the 90’s, now completely gone ;//
The director should be fired for not showing the battle between Bunch & Josef for the last podium spot.
Hinch & Newgarden
Yeah we were mystified by that in the commentary box. Bizarre. Very Rahal-centric coverage on the whole even given the fact he was leading. It was if they had to show him after every ad break.
Hello everybody and welcome to F1 Fanatic Live for this weekend’s second race from Detroit. Are we going to get our eighth different winner of the year?
Quite possibly – I think the winner today will be the person who wins the “yellow flag” strategy.
Keith, what commentary box are you involved with? I’m not up to date with things…
Taking a page out of the American F1 broadcasts: “let’s explain the tire rules to our viewers…” Just irritating.
Indycar blocking rules remains as opaque as they were in the CART days
More passing than yesterday’s race
Amazing stuff once again by IndyCar when they get to the proper racetrack. So much better than Indy500..
you missed yesterday’s race, right?
Yes I did, because of Champions League final.
Because it was as processional and generally boring. Detroit is not a great street circuit.
It’s actually one of my favorites… Anyway didn’t see any racing yesterday so can’t comment on that. Man I wish Alonso’s IndyCar stint would’ve been extended to this weekend.
I contend your claim and counter by saying they’re two halves the series is incomplete without.
I love the rear view onboard shots to see the rear suspension motions.
Especially at this circuit. What a bumpy ride!
Keith commentating?!? Oh wow, good for him :)
Afternoon all. Good race so far. Much better than yesterday.
almost time for the 1st round of pit stops
This is shaping up very nicely indeed! Unless your name is Helio…
haha, yeah Helio and RHR have had a bad day!
I’m patiently waiting for 1) Sato’s engine to blow or 2) Sato to make a silly mistake.
I’m watching today from a New York hotel room, live on ABC. My missus can’t believe how many advert breaks there are! She’s never experienced American TV before.
It’s partially ABC, they don’t treat Indycar with much respect.
I can’t say that NBC are much better from what I’ve seen tho!
Very true!
As irritating as it is, the ads keep the race free to air for everyone(for this race). Most Indycar races are on cable
Yeah, but usually you pay for cable and STILL get adverts mid race!
Esteban running 8th? Not bad
That was close
Good strategy for Rahal
Very nice stop
If this genuinely stays green it could be very interesting with the 2 stop vs 3 stop
Anyone got track of those on the 3 stop?
Helio, Dixon, Newgarden
Cheers
Hinchcliffe, Jones
the field is now spread out. we’ll see less car to car action
If Newgarden can put another 5 of these laps in before he has to pit, he could be in a very good position
spoke too soon!
Last race on ABC free to air.
Watching BT Sport from Acestream. No ad breaks.
Unless you have the Verizon Indycar phone app, we don’t have that luxury.
That’s why I recommend free streaming ;) Works well if your Internet connection doesn’t have a bandwidth cap. IndyCar isn’t even televised in my location so this is the only way for me to see racing.
And you get to hear Keith commentating
That would be nice because I can’t stand the ones we’re stuck with the domestic broadcast.
We hear the ABC team too, we only get Keith when ABC go to ads. And yes, Ed Cheever and co are awful
Newgarden in 5th after that stop, but still driving faster than those ahead even on a full tank. He could be on for a podium
No yellow flags yet. Race going down at a pretty fast rate
A bit messy, that!
Quite a careless lunge from Jones
Rahal now 13 seconds ahead of Sato and still widening the gap on every lap.
Rahal could be the 1st winner of both races at Detroit
Sure is looking that way at the moment…
Consistently fast laps from Newgarden, Dixon, Rahal
Will be a miracle if we get FCY-free race…
In the old CART days, officials would throw up a mysterious “debris on track” yellow flag caution to bunch up the cars again.
Too true
Is that a conspiracy theory to fix races?
No, just to keep action on the track for drama
Newgarden still the only driver consistently turning 1:14’s
Actually, wrong stat…
sparse crowds around the track today.
Newgarden could be as good as 2nd after these stops…
Seriously adverts now???
Commercial segments for the local stations
That’s must suck at such a crucial point
without http://racecontrol.indycar.com/ I’d be livid!
Only wanted to see if Newgarden beat Power out!
I can remember back in the mid 2000 when ITV had UK coverage for Formula 1 and Jesus it was so frustrating with adverts mid race
Too right, I nearly gave up on F1 back then!
Good stuff for Newgarden after all that. 3 stop worked well.
Someone fix bug cam.
Why can’t those mechanics just be considerate to viewers and clean the visor cam during pit stops? :)
I can’t imagine how hard it is to steer those high downforce monsters w/out power steering.
So Rahal has won the 1st 2 stages. Will he finish out the race? #NASCABrules
What that “nascab” deliberate because that’s quite funny
;) Heard it years ago. Never forgot it.
New fastest lap for Newgarden. Its unlikely, but he’s got an outside sniff if Rahal can’t get past RHR. Then again if Rahal just isn’t bothered about RHR and can turn up the wick, then its all academical
Newgarden within 10 seconds. 10 to go.
10s behind, 1s faster a lap, 10 laps left.
To quote Murray Walker, catching is one thing, passing is another…
Exactly, he’ll catch him, but…
Can’t argue with the great Murray. Eddie Cheever might, though. ::eyeroll::
I’ll never forget David Croft trying to spin that Bottas Vettel duel at the end of the Russian GP as exciting due to the gap closing but not letting on that a pass was unlikely. Really annoying that was
So between RHR, Rahal and Josef, what is the push to pass scenario?
RHR 1:10 p2p remaining. I know Graham has under 1:00.
For the 1st time ever, Indycar tries its hardest NOT to throw a full course yellow!
RHR moves over
He gonna be madddddd.
here’s our full course yellow caution!
HINCHTOWN BRINGS THE YELLOW
couldn’t make it up!
RAHAL WILL BE ANGRY
An engine just blew!
not a honda!
Chevy exploded
Finish under yellow probably
RED FLAG
Ok, this could be interesting…
RED!
Red flag!
Does that mean the race is over?
Nah. They’re stealing a page from NASCAR to get the infamous “green white checkers”
JFC. 3 to go. Green white checkers. #NASCAB
oh dear, after such a good race, this is gonna end in a farce and that will be the only thing that people will remember…
As a member of the crapwagon forums, it’s been a farce since Tracy lost in 2002.
lol
4 lap demolition derby to the checkered flag
could be just 1 lap! After warm up, etc
Pretty much. Rahal is not going to want to give up P1 and Newgarden has the faster car. Hmmm…
So I’m not good on the rules so they will restart the race with 2 laps to go or will they finish under safety car?
Restart prolly with 1 to go. Maybe 2.
they will re-start the race with the remaining laps
In theory this will be a restart. No other reason they would have red flagged it. They don’t like ending under yellow.
On cold tyres? That will be manic.
Oh good. The Tigers won at home. So all the people in Downtown Detroit can Uber over to Belle Isle to see the end. Maybe Marco can drive them.
Somebody is cleaning the helmet cam!
TAKE THAT, BUGS!
Yes!!!
We’ll really appreciate that as Newgarden passes him!
Why is ABC so bad at this??
It’s their last Indycar broadcast-they don’t care and they know only NBC can do a worse job than them.
You’re saying NBC is even worse? Haven’t watched a race on there yet…
Yes! Watching F1 on NBC is excruciatingly painful and their Indy coverage isn’t much better than ABC.
As much as I want Disney to kill off their Indy coverage, I fully expect them to get the 500 next year. Because Jesus hates me. And will all the ESPN layoffs, coverage will be even worse in 2018.
Taku gonna get eaten.
PPP Rahal vs. Newgarden anyone?
Rahal 1 min, Newgarden 30s (roughly)
Thanks. Could be enough for Rahal to stay ahead
Power with 42 secs, approx. Taku has like 25 seconds.
So cold tyres + everyone on the P2P on the run to turn 1 = another crash = finish under yellow
As much as everyone is salty over Lewis throwing shade, it’s moments like this that give Lewis some backhanded credit.
GRAHAM YOU HAVE PRIDDY HANDS!
Crustier than dried out bread
Taku causing a monumental pile up into T1?
Going by so far this year, unlikely.
This fish will rot from the head down. Rahal will not let anyone get by no matter what.
Kimball doesn’t brake into T1. #KimballgonnaKimball
“high speed Chess game”-Eddie Cheever. I hate him!
The John Madden school of commentary.
He is Mr. Obvious
Good job IndyCar for not wadding up the field.
So far, no incidents.
Keeping it clean, everyone a bit apprehensive
Anti-climax finish!
Rahal did a good job on the restart
Can’t take it away from Rahal, that was astonishing
Graham Rahal definitely Driver of the Weekend, but possibly Newgarden Driver of the Day for coming from 13th?
Good job F1 Fanatic chat crew. Great job.
I’m moving on to RedBull Global Rallycross.
Graham to 5th in Points. COME ON RLL!
Thanks everyone, see you later
Double chat weekend upcoming! Canada and Texas!
is there anyone out there?
Nope
NBC. So much better.
ROSSI BINS IT.
THE MAYOR RUINS EVERYTHING
This track is rather terrifying to me. There is no spot on the track to relax at all at any moment the whole race. Constantly turning, constantly jockeying, constant tension. Pack racing is the norm.
Had a IndyCar racing sim back in the day. I totally sucked at this track. Never could figure out how to drive it.
Texas is either fun b/c scary or scary b/c someone gets into the fence. See Bräck crash. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Hy8fgGiI1WA&ab_channel=ArieLuyendyk
Scary to me because I’d rather see racing than crashing.
HINCH RUINS EVEN MORE RACES.
That was a disaster. You could see it happen from the onboard as it happened. With the pack racing on this track it could happen on nearly every lap.
Another red flag.
Down to 11 cars, half the field out.
So who we blaming? TK or Hinch? Looks like TK made the move b/c mirror driving.
Dale Coyne looked like Steve Bannon there. I now dislike him.
“Honestly. What are we doing here?” Sebastian Vettel radio to his spotter.
Race Control:
Once we go back to green, we will open pits and implement mandatory competition pit stops for all cars with required 4 tire change a maximum of every 30 laps. All cars will be required to stop and change tires.
STAGE RACIN’
Entertaining race, glad I stayed up!
NO ATTACK. NO CHANCE.
Back to business as usual for Sato!
I wanted TK to win. Troll winner for troll race. TK being interviewed now. This is great.
Oh boy did I miss A RACE :((((
Let’s hope this race is as good as Baku, but I doubt it!
I wouldn’t bet on it (being worse than Baku)!
The F1 race was lively to say the least.
Road America is one of the best IndyCar road courses ever. Hopefully the race is good.
How long until the race start?
Green flag!
Lovely defending from Power
JoNew!
That was a nice outside pass.
Come on NBCSN… Stop having so many ads.
I can’t believe NBC chose to show America’s Cup sailing over the IndyCars race on its prime over the air channel.
Indycar’s contract with ABC doesn’t allow NBC to show races over the air. That should change with the next TV contract that starts in 2019.
Sato is a very lucky bunny.
What’d I miss?
Oh TK being 2017 TK.
TK has crashed in the same are of the track as Sato.
Great race so far! I so wish IndyCar raced Spa as well…
ED JONES THE CARPET REMOVER
I’d love to see F1 run here. Way better then Austin. I love Austin but this old school fast track would be amazing. Great race so far
Agree, love this race course.
Go Dixon!
How much push to pass does JoNew have?
Dixon 40. JoNew 50.
JAYSUS RHR and Rahal.
On side by side with ads at 5 laps left. Sigh…
RHR incident not being shown?
Damn. Stumbled upon the IndyCar Radio feed on the indycar timing and scoring webpage. Way more fun to listen to than NBCSN. And NBCSN isn’t half bad.
This might have turned out to be a bit better than Baku after all!
I wish there were at least 2 more laps for a good’ol fight for the win :)
Really impressed by JR Hilderbrand. Considering he’s best known for stuffing his car into the wall at the final corner of the 2011 Indy 500 and ended up being dropped mid-season in 2013, his full-time comeback has been solid so far. Impressed with how well he’s driving today considering tyre-wear has been such a factor today
Unfortunately another race at Toronto spoiled by a yellow during a pitstop cycle – disappointed as Pagenaud and Castroneves should have been fighting for the win, rather than 6-8th place
That sure was on the edge of blocking by Rahal on Power.
Hello my fellow hard rockin’ pedal-to-the-metal kickin’ IndyCar amigos!
Hi everyone and welcome to F1 Fanatic Live for tonight’s IndyCar race!
For those of you watching with us on BT Sport we’ve got Chris Beatty, the man who styled the 2018 aerokit, in the commentary box tonight. You can send in questions for him on Twitter using #BTSMotorsport.
Keith! Do you mean THIS commentary box?
Well, that was an entertaining race. Good night, and thanks for the commentary Keith!
Hi everybody/anybody! The race about to start :)
Almost 4 AM here, but waiting for the Mayweather vs McGregor boxing fight anyway
Paul Tracy 20 yrs ago: NO ATTACK NO CHANCE
Hi there. Anybody?
Evening folks! Hopefully a soggy Glen can give us a more eventful race than Monza!
We’ll have a rainy race after all :)
The weather site I use says drizzle starts in about 55 minutes.
Great news!
Well this certainly doesn’t look very wet right now! Those tyres wont last long…
I don’t love to see F1 race here. No changing the track and making is “F1 safe” it’s fine as is and would make F1 cars look as insanity fast as the are. The bus stop would be jaw dropping
Id*
Those twisty yet fast sequences of turns are fantastic.
HOW AWESOME IS THIS RACE!! WEEEEEWAAAH!!
The commentators are talking about rain a lot, therefore it’s definitely staying dry.
I’m on a train right now so I can’t be watching. I can see the standings on IndyCar website. Does anybody know how many laps is the race? I want to know if I can catch the end at least. If only the train wasn’t delayed, too.
The race is 60 laps. And it’s a GREAT one. If I was you, I would wait for the whole race video IndyCar will post on their YT channel, John.
Rossi! :)
Perfect race, driving and strategy..pity he’s not good enough for F1
@Sarcasm..
Nice and tight at the top, proof again that IndyCar does NOT need double points to make a good title fight.
Cheering for Castroneves this year, since he’s almost certainly switching to Penke’s new prototype program. It’d be nice to see him go out on a high.
Let’s hope the first corner doesn’t look like this morning’s first corner :)
Hi guys, thanks for joining us today, this should be a cracker!
Why are they doing numerous warm-up laps? How many exactly?
Too bad for Rossi
Do my ears deceive me or is Paul Tracy paying Marco Andretti a compliment?
I wandered away for a second, but 🤣
Great drive by Pagenaud for the win but a fully deserved championship victory for Newgarden.
Concur. Well it was a quiet “live”, but still useful with the twitter feed going by. Thanks Keith!