Indy Qualifying
 

Ho-Lee-Sheet! According to an announcer, lapping Indy at speeds never reached by a F-1 car. So far, Scott Dixon fastest with a 4 lap average of 233.5 MPH...

That's super fast but a lot slower than the fastest ever F1 car which was clocked at 265mph

Was at Mojave airport but don't let a small detail like that get in the way of a good story ;)

Great to see Grosjean doing well :cool:

240 mph into turn 1. Flat out foot to the floor all the way around.

F1 at 265 with all kinds of drivers aids is not as fast as 240 without them.

I can see why they changed the qualifying format for Indy but I was disappointed. Indy is about tradition as well as skill. Having "Carb Day" and knockout qualifying was something many generations endured and I am sorry to see it go.

That said, it will be a great race and with 5 hours and 500 miles, you can win from anywhere. He's a long shot but I am rooting for Helio to take #5. After him, I'd like to see T.K. do it. I'm really impressed with how Johnson did. He gets way too much attention for a driver consistently running in the bottom 10-20% of the field in every race. IMO he is being pumped up by the announcers because it is great press for Indy as they try to lure Crashcar fans to watch this series.

Hopefully Grosjean won't bump people of the track during the 500. You don't want to know what I think about Marco.

F1 at 265 at Mojave was +30 quicker than any track, was a Bonneville salt flat land speed record practice run

Just comparing apples with oranges :D

For me Indy is a truly iconic race, one of the most difficult races to win, as is Le Mans, Isle of Man TT, Paris-Dakar, Monaco F1, Pikes Peak (before it was all tarmac)

Dixon on the pole....bumped it past 234 on a later run. Hoping for an exciting, but safe, Indy 500...

Dixon’s qualifying run is truly amazing when you consider each turn is different and each lap is different due to changing track conditions and tire deg.

It was only the second fastest 4 lap qualifying average in Indy history. Arie Luyendyk set the four-lap qualifying record in 1996 at 236.986.

Indy Qualifying
 

Jj is in the bottom at road courses but almost had a top 5 at Texas. He can rip ovals.
The Ganassi cars seem to have the pace, as does ECR


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I like how the race leaders can change so quickly. One pit stop for tires and the set up changes and they drop back out of contention. You just never know who will get the set up right and be able to pull out a lead that no one can catch.

I once did 233mph back on my XT 286 pc..




http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1653295865.jpg
not actual screenshot since we didn't have screenshots in dos yet..nor did I have a smartphone iwth camera at the time.

I'll see about redoing that time this evening on the old retro box.

I have driven my 85 911 around that track. I was a just tad under 200. OK, I was under 100 as well. We just toured the track and saw it from a drivers perspective.

http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1653310320.JPG

http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1653310320.JPG
The yard of bricks from my driver's side window.

I honestly can't imagine that place full of 400,000 fans like the peak years.

And the TV announcers always said the corners were not banked, and that is not true. There is a pretty distinct banking, nothing at all like Daytona or a NASCAR track, but it is a banked corner.

Still, I can't imagine going 220 MPH with other cars inches away.

Place is huge, isn’t it? Hard to imagine the scale of the place until you’ve been there.

Yea, so big they have a golf course in the infield. We went into one of the restrooms and used it for some uh, "rest" and it was the size of a large grocery store. The longest and most numerous urinals I have ever seen.

What would you guys think about this: Have a pit crew event as part of the qualifying? Something like they did at a Nascar event over the weekend where they had to bring the car into the pit, change four tires and then make a lap around the track. They did that for the final qualifying positions for the All Star race if I recall correctly.
I think getting the pit crews involved would be great as they are also part of the team.

No.

Indy makes road america look like a 3rd rate local track.

its the real deal. fantastic race track. wish i could have afforded more practice, there was plenty more speed in my car. speedtrap says the fastest i went was 117. which, in a spec miata is pretty quick.

it was amazing to race there in 2021.

https://i.imgur.com/lEM600E.jpg

https://i.imgur.com/4PuohvH.jpg

https://i.imgur.com/4OH6txT.jpg

Took me a couple of tries to get the setup right on the Penske Lola.
It's twitchy as hell with the low drag setup required for the top speed..

But I still have it.

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I agree. I've raced at Indy twice. The track itself isn't awesome, but the facility and all of the history is just incredible. Kinda like Sebring. But, Indy is just...Indy. I loved coming down the front straight lap after lap and feeling that "bump-bump" going over the yard of bricks at start/finish. I raced ChampCar (lots of seat time), so I've got literally 6 or 8 hours of time on that track.

see, i actually really liked the road course. we ran with the carrousel though, which solves many of the issues the normal GP course has.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZPPQaj5QtZE

Yeah, we did the carousel also. The course is OK, but it is pretty far down the list of my favorite tracks for racing. The facility is amazing, though. It makes you feel like a pro driver when you’re there.

Jimmy caught it pretty well on his last run. Should be a good race next week. Let’s hope for a safe day.

Didn’t Gil DeFerran hold a speed record that was still good from back in the early 90s? (Checked California Fontana - not Indy)

Yeah, that was a Colton level catch.
I really want him to get a top 5, because I admire that he could have just retired to career in the booth, but wanted a new challenge ... another Cup championship was blase, but go do something out of the wheelhouse. I get that the coverage is over the top, but the man is the real deal, completely humble in every interchange with the media, and yet capable of getting to the fast 12 in his first time at the Thunderdome (admittedly with class A equipment).

im kinda rooting for jimmy too. hes just so bad on the road courses.

Well, thank God for him, this race is not on the road course.

Like every year I'm pulling for Marco.

Yes, he just doesnt get turning right. :D I have been a JJ fan since he started driving for Hendrick but I am afraid he is too old to be doing Indy cars. That said, Id love to see him win one.

234 mph in an indy car
I bet they have to break really hard
to make the hairpin at corner one ;)

Stand on the front straight and look at turn one. You would want to brake, I promise you. For all the size of the place, and it is huge, the track is narrower than you think and the banking isn’t all that steep. It takes pretty huge balls to not want to hit the brakes, ask any of the drivers. It’s something they work up to.

I'd love to see Marco win, but it'd take something nuts happening this year, the team hasn't had the pace.

As to JJ and road courses, yeah, he's behind the curve. He admits that he still is learning the brake and release points as the cars are so different. But when you consider that he's both new to downforce cars and this level of road racing and still usually within a blink of the kids in front of him that have been doing it for years, it paints a different picture.

Turns at Indy are just over 9 degrees and 1/4 mile long

BTW I get scared taking the offramp on
the freeway so I'm not a good example


comparing F1 cars to indy cars isn't really fair

At the circuit of the Americas track in Texas:

The all-out lap record at COTA including qualifying and testing was by Bottas 1:32.03
Colton Herta in an indy car did 1:46.6258

You are not alone.

Anyone named Andretti (or works for someone named Andretti) are pulling for him.

The rest of the human race just wants him to:
1) Not do something stupid and take out a contender who can actually win
2) Not whine

edit:
Looks like one more person: Greglepore wants him to win.

I'm part of the Anybody but Andretti faction. Something about that whole family just rubs me the wrong way - with the exception of the late John Andretti who apparently was tasked with being the sole "humble and appreciative" Andretti.

Interesting you mentioned this, didn't want to upset any Andretti fans but I agree

When I read this...

“I talked to (Liberty Media CEO) Greg (Maffei) and I asked him, `Just let it go to a bid, we´ll beat everybody,'” Andretti told AP. “That’s all I’m asking. Not that they give it to us. Let us have a shot and we will beat anybody else that’s out there. We have great backers. Money is not the issue.”

Money might not be an issue but approaching F1 with the wrong attitude certainly is.

My 1st thought was someone needs a good beating with the 'F1 humble stick' as that's not quite the right approach for being successful in F1.

Right approach is you never, ever, ever under estimate the competition

For Andretti, they could find themselves bidding against a European car works team with previous F1 history ie Audi, Porsche or BMW, or a new Middle Eastern team, or a new Chinese Team, or a new Korean car works team, or a new Renault/Alpine B team

His words reminded me of the slogan the British American Racing team used when they entered F1, which was a 'A Tradition of Excellence' They came with no F1 history and when in F1 they weren't excellent in any way

Didn't Michael embarrass himself in F1?

Not if you heard the rest of the story.

Thanks for reminding me,

I'm having dinner next week with someone that I'm pretty sure was smack in the middle of that situation

I'll try to remember to quiz him about it and report back

Quick question....

Honda or Chevy for the win?

Honda.

Hopefully an Andretti car.

:D

Never count Penske out...

Michael lacks some humility and social skill, yeah.

I've been around Mario a bit, he's a mench.

Marco seems ok... a bit of a gadfly, but he's popular in the paddock and in social circles.