RaceFans Live: IndyCar

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715 comments on “RaceFans Live: IndyCar”

    1. Here’s a run-down of the grid for today’s race:

      1. Will Power
      2. Josef Newgarden
      3. Felix Rosenqvist
      4. Scott Dixon
      5. Ryan Hunter-Reay
      6. Alexander Rossi
      7. Jack Harvey
      8. Charlie Kimball
      9. James Hinchcliffe
      10. Graham Rahal
      11. Colton Herta
      12. Ben Hanley
      13. Simon Pagenaud
      14. Zach Veach
      15. Ed Jones
      16. Spencer Pigot
      17. Marco Andretti
      18. Marcus Ericsson
      19. Sebastien Bourdais
      20. Takuma Sato
      21. Tony Kanaan
      22. Matheus Leist
      23. Santino Ferrucci
      24. Max Chilton

  1. I’m glad Indycar is back on Sky as it means I can finally watch live again for the first time since 2012.

    Ad breaks can be annoying but i’d take coverage with ad’s over not been able to watch it live on TV at all.

    With the technical issues i saw it may be an issue with the international feed rather than just Sky so maybe it is not there issue.

  2. Here’s how the 24-car grid will line up for IndyCar’s first visit to COTA:

    1. Will Power
    2. Alexander Rossi
    3. Ryan Hunter-Reay
    4. Colton Herta
    5. Felix Rosenqvist
    6. Scott Dixon
    7. Josef Newgarden
    8. Patricio O’Ward
    9. Zach Veach
    10. Graham Rahal
    11. Santino Ferrucci
    12. Matheus Leist
    13. Max Chilton
    14. Takuma Sato
    15. James Hinchcliffe
    16. Marcus Ericsson
    17. Sebastien Bourdais
    18. Ed Jones
    19. Spencer Pigot
    20. Marco Andretti
    21. Kyle Kaiser
    22. Simon Pagenaud
    23. Jack Harvey
    24. Tony Kanaan

        1. I’d prefer them to stay between the lines but as long as the rules are consistent, it’s better than what F1 are doing. It has to be one or the other IMO. Free for all or rules that are enforced.

  3. so far its sort of showing that moving towards ground effects may not be the silver bullet many f1 fans seem to think it is because this has not looked any different to a typical f1 race here in terms of the racing and overtakes.

    that first stint was very static with no overtaking after the 1st lap and it was not until pit stops occurred and you had drivers on cold tyres mixing with those on hot that you saw a brief period of action. then once that settled down it is back to single file. that is pretty identical to your average f1 race at this venue.

    and from the onboard cameras on the indycar app it also seems the cars are more sensitive to dirty air than i often see people saying as cars are dropping back a lot and picking up noticeable understeer in the faster turns while behind another car just as happens with f1.

    the trackside camera angles and tv directing is poor compared to f1 as well. i also find this silly rotating onboard camera to be annoying, glad that f1 uses the static onboard cameras.

        1. it just looks really silly seeing them all not even attempting to stay on the track.

          i have no issue with the way it’s enforced in f1, yes it can be inconsistent at times but i would much rather watch them trying to stay within the white lines instead of just driving off at the corners into the runoff.
          it just looks ridiculous and is making this series look a bit amateur.

          if your going to just ignore the track limits then just redraw the track and move the white lines into the runoff. it is just really absurd looking with the way it is. the track is between the white lines, anything behind the kerbs is runoff which you should not use.

          i hope this is not giving f1 any ideas.

          1. I’d rather no track limits than the way F1 does it personally. In an ideal world, I’d like track limits to be enforced if they aren’t going to be, I’d rather the rules were clear like they are in Indycar as opposed to 50 shades of grey in F1.

  4. I’m enjoying the race but I’m finding it a bit difficult to accept that they’re allowed to to completely ignore the track limits. To quote the commentator: “…the fences are the track limits…”. A little tight on that inside pass? No problem, just barge across the run off area!

  5. You know what the biggest problem with what there doing is which nobody (Other than Karun Chandhok) is mentioning?

    The size of the runoff & way the barriers in that runoff is constructed is done so based on the speed of the corner & distance from the track.

    By ignoring track limits there making the corner faster & the ‘racing line’ is also now closer to the barriers which may result in the rest of the runoff & barrier setup no longer been as effective as it’s designed to be in the event of somebody actually going off there.

  6. if they had been enforcing track limits at t19 that likely would never have happened as they wouldn’t have been able to stay side by side while staying within the track limits through there.

    this lack of track limit enforcement really has been absurd. just looks so ridiculous & is making that part of the track less of a challenge because they can just straighten up the steering & run off rather than having to slow more & use there skill to stay within the white lines.

    amateur hour!

  7. I really feel like everyone came on here to complain rather then watch what was a pretty good race with some surprises and passing. It was nice not seeing drivers randomly penalized while others arnt for the same moves. The rules were the same for everyone so I don’t see the issue. Same with the yellows and pit road. It sucks that the leaders got caught out but again the rules were the same for everyone and they were gambling and lost out. I do wish they would change the pit road closed rule tho. All in all I don’t get the hate bc Indy puts on way better races then F1 most weekends yet people wanna hate. This is my feeling to why motor sports in general are getting less popular and it’s bc no ones happy no matter what with it. All in all it wasn’t the best race but it was still fun to watch these guys push at 100% on the edge most of the race and not ride around like F1. These cars are much harder to drive which makes them fun to watch

    1. +1

      Shame about the pit road rule indeed. Seems theres a few races every year someone gets screwed by the lottery.
      I liked the no track limits at the start but given that it caused that yellow I hope they police it at the penultimate corner next year.
      All in all an entertaining race and looking forward to more Indy at COTA

    2. There were lot of tire and fuel saving there. To claim it was full-throttle from start to finish is just lying.

      It was a good race, but this series really needs some stricter rules regarding track limits and collisions. For me Formula E is probably the most entertaining series, followed by F2. But I also love to follow both F1 and Indy. They all have their own charms.

      1. This is the only track where Indycar has track limit issues, and guess what its the only track they share with F1. Pretty much every other track they race on is old, school where you don’t have track limit issues, because there isn’t 500m of paved runoff.

        I do hope Indycar and Cota can make some changes to turn 19 and turn 9 to a lesser extent before next season.

  8. The first Indy race I’ve watched. TV coverage very different from F1. Helmet cams are awesome. I like the red/black scuffed/stickers tyre terminology. Otherwise…I don’t know. Is this a dull track? Very little action. A few overtakes but nothing exciting. Doesn’t make me want to stay up late to watch till the end!

  9. Hello everyone and welcome to today’s sixth and final RaceFans Live, for this evening’s IndyCar race. We’ve got a chance of rain at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway and some inexperienced drivers at the sharp end of the field, so this could be an exciting one…

      1. That was of the dumbest moves I’ve seen by any racing driver in a while! Sato just drove straight into the side of Rossi and RHR. Indycar should seriously consider making him sit out the next race. There’s a reason why my sister calls Sato “Wreckin-Ralf”.

    1. I had a lot of fun when I attended this race the two years ago, when they first came back to St Louis. It seems like the promoter has listen to fan feedback and added even more things to before the race starts. And yes the cars look awesome under the lights with the Arch in the background.

  10. Seems this traction compound has reduced the track to a single line which has seemingly killed the racing.

    And the mandatory 35 lap stint limit has killed all the strategy.

    Race has been terrible so far.

          1. I know right, I live on one of the Great Lakes and they opened movie theatres up but the race tracks which happen to be outside still not allowing fans in, figure that one out

        1. They have that with Indy car also. I’m just scared if you are hurt and on fire you arnt getting out or being pulled out. I still feel the same about F1. They can maybe get out a little faster but not by much and it’s done in a perfect situation the minimum extraction time test

          1. I’m not concerned about that because I expect the marshals would arrive in sufficient time – exactly as with the Halo in F1.

            What concerns me more in IndyCar is the possibility fuel could enter the cockpit during a refuelling stop, but that was potentially a problem before as well.

          2. It’s definitely slower though I’ve seen plenty of F1 drivers spring out of the car quickly with the halo. So far it’s two for two with Indycar with the drivers literally needing assistance to get out of the car. Very worrying.

    1. They move away from the walls to reduce buffetting off the side of the cars which would slow them. But then they often have drivers close behind and come further to the inside to defend. In IndyCar you have to defend ‘proactively’, you can’t move ‘reactively’.

      1. He didn’t do a single bad thing that makes a ‘second chance’ relevant.

        He is a racist. He is a Trump supporter. He and his father bullied a brown racer sustainably over a period of time. He used his car as a weapon. He texted and drove. He responded to it with petulance and arrogance. He races consistently irresponsibly including basically trying to kill Newgarden at Gateway last year. He showed himself to be a petty cheat in the iRacing.

        He is objectively, demonstrably and obviously a nasty awful disgusting human being and it shouldn’t be difficult for a sensible person to see that.

          1. This is par for the course – usually 6+ cautions per day, mainly 1 car accidents. Spencer’s crash is clearly the worst of the day but to say they’ve been lucky isn’t fair – it’s the reason we now have the aeroscreen and the cars are built to withstand the impacts that are typical on any oval.

      1. Yeah, that occurred to me too @mazdachris. Instead of trying to make emergency repairs and risk anything just to have a nice finish – especially when we know that cautions all too often bring new cautions, I think that was a good call.
        Withouth the caution Sato had almost a second in the lead, I don’t think Dixon had it to fight back, maybe Rahal would have gotten Dixon though.

      1. He so unlikeable though. But yeah perhaps having a villain would be a good thing. On the contrary I really like Kyle and his win-it-or-bin-it attitude, it’s like a reduction of what NASCAR is all about. Haven’t watched it in a few years though because the chase is so dumb

    1. O’Ward really marking himself out as a star of the future. Makes you wonder what went so badly wrong in Japan than RB dropped him as quick as they picked him up.
      VeeKay too looking like a top tier driver I remember him embarrassing Dan Tickum in the Asian Winter Series a few years back