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Milwaukee was one of my favourite races when it was on the calendar, I’d love to see it back. And such a historic race venue should be preserved… unfortunately we (as motorsport fans) are a minority and our voices are rarely heard.
It’s an interesting choice given the legal minimum is also 18 in Australia, as well as many other countries. Maybe the Japanese have a stricter view on this? For example, in Australia it is no issue to be consuming alcohol on private property under 18 years old, as long as permission of a parent/guardian is given. Maybe a similar exemption doesn’t apply in Japan and the USA.
If we assume that Massa has got neither better nor worse, then it’s interesting to look at where the two Williams would have been this season with last year’s line-up.
This is the key assumption here. We can never know for sure, but supposedly Felipe is much more suited to this year’s cars than those of more recent years. The cars, and in particular the tyres, are supposed to drive more similarly to the 2008 cars when he was on top of his game.
Like I said though, without putting Bottas back in the Williams we can’t really be sure whether or not Felipe has “got better”.
Source: http://www.motorsport.com/f1/news/massa-s-style-perfect-for-f1-2017-cars-smedley-881374/
But I only count two non-European rounds – Bahrain and Abu Dhabi. All the others are in Europe so they could have just had another flyaway for three total?
The furthest away of those I can see is Baku, but that must be in Europe because it hosted the European Grand Prix last year!
(sarcasm, in case it wasn’t clear)
I’m disappointed that Montoya won’t have a full time ride in Indycar next year. My understanding is he doesn’t want to retire yet, though he wasn’t keen on dropping to a lower class team just to keep a full time ride. He’s still a very talented driver – yes he didn’t have a great season this year, but every driver has bad seasons and in 2015 he was well in the hunt for the championship – tied on points and finished second only due to a count-back. If it hadn’t been for the double points at Sonoma or his tangle with power, he would have been champion.
Hopefully his talents get put to use elsewhere throughout next year (it would be cool to see him come and run the enduro races for DJR-Penske in Supercars, for example) and maybe he’ll return full time in 2018 – perhaps he and Penske are thinking that by keeping him with the team, then they’ve got him ready to go if one of their other drivers departs (although I think that’s unlikely).
Very interesting. Rear wheel guards at superspeedways only is an interesting move – speaking purely from a safety point of view, I don’t think we need them on road courses because it’s a part that gets easily damaged, and a rear puncture on a road course is not as dangerous as on a superspeedway. However, I do think keeping them at the lower speed (but still very fast) ovals (Iowa, Gateway, Phoenix, Milwaukee if it came back) would be a good idea. A cut tyre there is still very dangerous.
Safety aside, I actually sort of liked the look of the rear wheel guards because they put the numbers on them (so you could easily tell who you were following from an on board shot) and they gave the cars a unique look, even if it wasn’t universally liked. The tyres also create a lot of turbulence so I thought that the guards might have helped cars follow more easily? I have no evidence to back that up though.
Regarding everything else – simpler wings and more ground effect will almost certainly help racing, and more power is a good good thing to make sure any corner speed increase is met with faster straight line speed.
Of course, Pagenaud would be a very deserving champion. I think IndyCar should bring back the “500 miler double points”, and then bring back Fontana or another Superspeedway (e.g. Michigan) and make that the finale. That way, they can have double points in the final as they want, whilst having a reasonable justification for it (just being the last race is not one).
I may be opposed to double points in principle, but as a Will Power fan I won’t complain too much if it helps him win the championship. Call me biased, but it is what it is. At least if he does win, he will do so having missed the first race of the season (after having qualified on pole, from which he may well have gone on to win – or at least have a good finish).
If you’re talking about a glove just for track days, anything comfortable and that allows good grip on the wheel will do. A good option might be to go for a karting glove, because they are generally cheaper as they don’t need to be (as) fireproof (under CAMS/AKA rules in Australia anyway).
Otherwise, if you’re talking about some more serious racing then you might have to check what the rules are in your area. Obviously if you need a glove that complies with a certain standard then that’s important.
I’m up for a reboot, I’ve had a busy couple of months with not much internet time. Not the first time this thread has died for a while but if we can get it going again that would be good.
I’ll give the existing challenge a go.
I haven’t used either so I can’t comment on first hand experience, but I think the G29 is considered the better option of those two. However if you step up to the Thrustmaster T300 then that’s a better wheel than the Logitech.
If you look on “actual” google maps with the Google Earth imagery you can see the rail line. https://goo.gl/maps/EYhxiUVHBYN2
It’s probably worth pointing out, for those who don’t know, that they cannot run the full track any more. A couple of years after IndyCar left, they decided to build a light rail track, which runs down Surfer’s Paradise Boulevard (the road that the track ran down from the exit of the first chicane all the way down to Turn 3 (the first non-chicane corner, a slightly-more-than-90° left). This resulted has resulted in the road being too narrow to run a track after the location of the former second chicane (which is now a hairpin left, bringing cars around on to the back straight at the exit of what was Turn 6). The short track is still great, as much as I mourn the loss of the full track, and at 2.96km it is also still slightly longer than St Petersburg and Toronto (2.90km/2.82km), and not much shorter than Long Beach (3.17km). So there isn’t anything to stop them running the short track.
I’ve been working on a Donington Park upgrade design for r/RaceTrackDesigns on Reddit (check it out if you want more track designing goodness, particularly more detailed stuff). Anyway, it’s perfect for this so I’ll post it here. Think of it as a sneak preview before I do the “nice” version in photoshop :)
4.89km, clockwise, 16 turns.
New Grand Prix circuit: http://www.gmap-pedometer.com/?r=6895309
All roads: http://www.gmap-pedometer.com/?r=6895310
The GP pits are on the current main straight (but inside the track), while the pits on Starkey’s Straight are for support categories or the southern circuit. There’s also a northern circuit, and a national circuit (basically what the BTCC currently runs, but the chicane had to be modified due to the reprofiling of Starkey’s straight).I tried to keep the existing track as untouched as possible, because it’s a great track for slower open wheelers and touring cars. So all of it from Redgate to the apex of Coppice can be left untouched. For the F1 layout, I tightened the old hairpin (because it’s not a hairpin at all in an F1 car), so it should be similar to Brooklands at Silverstone, and it should be an overtaking opportunity. A short straight leads to another new complex on the inside of McLean’s. The exit of Coppice has been tightened to allow for more runoff and also the reprofiled Starkey’s straight, which eliminates the need for the chicane. Melbourne hairpin has been brought forward, because the longer straight needs more runoff. Then, there’s the new section. Cars will plunge downhill through the esses, then there will be a potential overtaking opportunity into the new hairpin. Another straight, slightly downhill, into the last two corners. The first is a bit like a tighter version of Juncao at Interlagos, as it goes uphill on the exit, then there’s a sweeping right hander leading back on to the pit straight.
