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Old 5 Apr 2016, 06:10 (Ref:3630439)   #9
Purist
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Purist is going for a new world record!Purist is going for a new world record!Purist is going for a new world record!Purist is going for a new world record!Purist is going for a new world record!Purist is going for a new world record!
Daallo, I haven't been able to find anything concrete on what exactly has happened at Fundidora Park, nor anything solid showing that the track is gone. If it is gone, I don't especially care for the new Mexico City layout, and no other track down there is up to snuff. So, I can't say that I'd be that keen on any of the existing options in Mexico in that case.

NBU38, really? Qualifying averages at Road America should be north of 140-mph.

Martinsville is flat with one viable lane in the turns. The corners are so slow that I'm not sure the downforce can make much difference in mid-corner speed. The Indy Cars are draggy and have less power than the Cup cars. So even if they go a few seconds quicker, I don't see there being much difference between minimum and maximum speeds over NASCAR. The Indy Cars weigh less with better brakes, so the braking zones will be shorter. And the inside lane will be THE preferred lane in the corners.

Beyond that, these cars can't knock each other about, and at Martinsville, they only have 18 seconds, or less, and just 0.526 of a mile to work with to spread out. At Road America, the Indy Cars have 4.048 miles and 100-105 seconds over which to distribute themselves.

Martinsville is a one-line track where they can't get a great punch out of the corner relative to one another, and where two strong compressions a lap will slam the physical gap between cars back down. Indy Cars can't play dodge 'ems like NASCAR, and there isn't much time or space to spread out anyway, which creates a traffic nightmare. It's too many of this type of car in too small a time/space, with too strong a rubber-band effect, encouraging too many crashes.

Bristol would be even worse, because they WOULD go insanely fast with their downforce, and with so little time/space, one small wiggle could cause a wreck that wipes out half the field. It would be a magnification of the problems seen at Dover.

As for Texas on the schedule, with Austin potentially up in the air, it's tough. TMS says they're gone if IndyCar goes to Austin, and I'm not terribly looking forward to returning to Reliant Park in Houston. Then again, that state has too many people and covers too much territory to be ignored.

Even if they did go to Austin, these cars don't get enough of a punch out of the corners to allow much to happen in a number of sections on the track. It would be tough to make much happen from the exit of Turn 1 to the entry of Turn 3. The same goes for between Turns 7 and 9. It's too easy to block a run between Turns 9 and 11, because of how abrupt the Turn 10 kink is. And forget about there being enough speed differential in the "stadium section" to create much dicing.

Put it this way, the F1 cars can accelerate and brake better, but also, in the slipstream with DRS, they can quite possibly get 205-mph into Turn 12 at Austin, while these Indy Cars just MIGHT be able to reach 180-mph.

Remember, modern F1 tracks are designed exclusively to suit F1 cars, and maybe somebody gets a few other suggestions thrown in. However, it's only by sheer luck that other forms of racing put on good races at these tracks, and if not, tough.
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