Quote:
Originally Posted by Akrapovic
Late reply to this, sorry about that!
I used to have a copy of all the CART races from 1997 to 2000. Some Eurosport broadcasts, others not. Unfortunately those are long gone from a hard drive crash. I fully agree with you - there was no rose tints when it comes to CART - it really was an incredible series.
You're probably right that IndyCar has come a long way since unification though. Maybe I'm in the minority though, but I prefer the old Dallara days 2007 onward. It just seemed better IMO. Since the DW12 came along, I haven't enjoyed it. But maybe that's just me (and if it is, that's ok - I'll just have to accept that). I guess I've kinda dropped open wheel racing, which makes me a bit sad.
I attended the 2006 Long Beach GP (CCWS days, rather than CART. It'll never get remembered as a classic (flag to flag win for Bourdais iirc), but it was an incredible time for me. Had a media pass and was able to go right up to the catch fence and wander anywhere. Those were good days.  |
I keep the races on an external hard drive but they are readily available on YouTube. Some seasons aren't complete but I've got most of them from 1984 onwards.
Since the DW12, the pack racing typified an IndyCar race on ovals has gone, which I think is a good thing as it was dangerous. It is ironic to think that Dan Wheldon, who did so much of the testing and shake down of the DW12, and after whom the DW was derived, was killed in a typical pack race driving a Dallara IR05 in its very last race.
I've always had mixed thoughts about the DW12. It has produced good racing but it was certainly no looker and since the the introduction of aero-kits, some aspects of the cars aesthetics have improved but others haven't.
Having seen the latest images for the 2018, it would appear that the IndyCar/Dallara have opted for something that resembles the cars from the CART era, which I think many fans were hoping for, when the ICONIC committee got together back in 2010 to discus the replacement for the Dallara IR05. It's a bit of a shame it's taken so long to come round to this, as I think it would really have helped the series, especially post unification. A number of chassis manufacturers, including Dallara, proposed a similar design back in 2010.
This was just one of Dallara's concepts for 2012, which is not too far off the one they are working on for 2018, minus the shark fin.
I went to Long Beach once in 1998 but otherwise I used to go to Laguna Seca as I lived very near Monterey. I wish IndyCar would return there.