Indy - double-row restarts, like or dislike?

[SCWDP911]

I know several of the drivers do not necessarily like the new re-start style for the track at Indy, but I for one thought it was great and really added a new dimension to the race. What did you think, like or dislike?

[SCWDP911]

apparently a dull subject...

[romad]

Indy lost its appeal long ago.

[Por_sha911]

Its hard to say if I like it at Indy 500 since I don't remember there being a valid double row restart. My thoughts on it is that on the big oval it penalizes the leader and especially the number 2 driver. I'd rather be third (behind the leader) than on the outside in the front in the marbles and with no draft.

[URY914]

Here is what the drivers think.....

Drivers still angry over restarts

By Matt Beer Monday, May 30th 2011, 04:32 GMT


The IndyCar Series' double-file restart rule came in for more criticism after the Indianapolis 500, with championship leader Will Power and top-10 finisher Marco Andretti vehement in their condemnation of the system.

Indy was the first oval race at which the new format - which has provoked controversy in the road and street races held so far this season - was used, and Power felt the wild racing that it led to after caution periods was completely unsafe.

"At the back, it was just unbelievably dangerous," he said. "Ridiculous. Although I gained a lot of positions on them, it was just stupidity."

Andretti, who finished ninth, went even further with his criticism, accusing the organisers of risking drivers' lives.

Asked his opinion of the double-file restarts, Andretti replied: "I'm going to be very frank about that and say they're trying to kill somebody. I'm glad it's great for the fans, but the risk where we're at is just ridiculous. It's a lottery."

Sarah Fisher Racing's Ed Carpenter, who finished 11th, was another critic of the system.

"I got really hosed on one of the two-wide restarts," he said. "It made some people's races, ruined some other people's races. I'm still not a fan of it because it takes racing out of it. You've got lapped cars in a two-wide restart. They block up the track, and there's nowhere to go.

"If that's what the fans want, that's what the fans want, I guess. But I'll keep complaining about it."

The only crash in the race that occurred as a direct result of a restart tangle was EJ Viso's early exit after a coming together with James Hinchcliffe.

"I was running with Graham Rahal and James Hinchcliffe, and I believe that James Hinchcliffe missed a gear and he lost his momentum out of Turn 4," said Viso. "Graham Rahal went on the inside, and I went on the outside. Then when we were approaching Turn 1, I got hit on my rear left tyre and it spun me."

But third-place finisher Rahal backed the restart format, saying that the positioning and speed rules laid out for Indianapolis worked very well, even though he admitted it had been fraught in the pack at times.

"It felt good. Honestly, the changes they made, letting us just race, I thought the restarts were great," he said.

"There was a lot of passing opportunities, plenty of excitement. I haven't watched a race tape, but I thought that the excitement was incredible inside the car.

"The last restart I passed seven positions, and there were three lapped cars in there, so 10 cars in one corner. Really, I think that it gave you the opportunity to do that. People get bogged down; it moved the cars around just enough you had to be almost on the grass on [Turn] 4 to make it work. It was good fun.

"I'm not sure that's going to work on the road courses, but I think on all the other ovals from here on out, that's the way it should be. Let us go racing. Put it in our hands. Don't give us 20 rules to work by. That's just going to make it harder and more confusing."

[Heel n Toe]

It's a stupid idea... extremely dangerous stuff, especially at Indy. If it's supposedly for the fans, why not take it to another level and make it three wide. Idiots.

True racing fans who have been with the sport a long time will, for the most part, know how dangerous it is and reject it as complete insanity.