Indycar News & Rumors.

[Salamus]

Originally Posted by RWill2073

Man this is a looooong break between race 1 and race 2. For a season that ends so early that's not good. Giving people the chance to forget about you after one race on network tv doesn't seem smart either.

I agree. They do conduct testing at Barber in between St. Petersburg and Long Beach. It would make sense to just move the Barber race up and add another race after Long Beach.

In terms of travel distance, it would make sense to go from St. Petersburg > Barber > Long Beach > Phoenix > Texas > Indy. Makes more sense than what they have right now which is St. Petersburg > Long Beach > Barber > Phoenix > Indy.

[bjohnsonsmith]

New team launched with Chaves for the 500.

http://classic.autosport.com/news/report.php/id/128907

[PS2244]

https://www.formula1.com/en/latest/h...-indy-500.html
Fernando Alonso to make Indy 500 debut

[D.R.T.]

Great to see McLaren return to the Indy 500.

[Paradise City]

Mclaren themselves doing (returning to) the race is a very imaginative way to salvage a poor F1 tenure for them.

Kurt Busch did well in his first go. I would be surprised if Alonso wasn't there or there abouts.

[bjohnsonsmith]

Originally Posted by Paradise City

Mclaren themselves doing (returning to) the race is a very imaginative way to salvage a poor F1 tenure for them.

Kurt Busch did well in his first go. I would be surprised if Alonso wasn't there or there abouts.

It will be a McLaren entry run by Andretti Autosport, which is fitting considering Michael Andretti drove for McLaren in 1993.

[NaBUru38]

Alonso!!! That's absolutely insane.

I've posted it elsewhere, but apparently you didn't notice it: Santiago Urrutia won't be the only Uruguayan at Indianapolis...

[fieldodreams79]

Originally Posted by Paradise City

Kurt Busch did well in his first go. I would be surprised if Alonso wasn't there or there abouts.

Alonso has been one of my favorites for a while now and I think he is one of the best in an F1 car, but what Kurt has over him is speedway experience. It such a different discipline to where it's a complete toss up for me. Then again, Nigel did pretty good as a rookie...

And that's the thing they have going for them - lots of practice time and the "rookie" program.

It's going to be fun to watch and follow regardless. A helluva lot more fun than watching him suffer in F1.

[Jonerz]

Freddy Allen won't have the practice time that Rossi had last year, but I expect Fernando's raw talent and good car sense will make up for that. He'll have "enough" time to get up to speed. Will he be nuanced enough to be able to drive a race as intelligently as a Dixon or Castroneves? No. But Rossi still can't do that (yet) and he has an Indy 500 Championship to his name.

This is thrilling. Well done to all involved. This will raise the 500's international prestige. Literally the only negative in the whole thing is that however many millions of F1 fans who tune in, will see this year's car and not the 2018 car. But if that is the only downside, then this is perhaps the coolest thing to happen to the 500 in a while.

I'm all for it, and I hope the car runs up front. Can't wait to see the livery. Freddy can't run the #14 for obvious reasons. I guess he'll wear the #25 or something?

Chris

[fieldodreams79]

Originally Posted by Jonerz

Freddy Allen won't have the practice time that Rossi had last year, but I expect Fernando's raw talent and good car sense will make up for that. He'll have "enough" time to get up to speed. Will he be nuanced enough to be able to drive a race as intelligently as a Dixon or Castroneves? No. But Rossi still can't do that (yet) and he has an Indy 500 Championship to his name.

This is thrilling. Well done to all involved. This will raise the 500's international prestige. Literally the only negative in the whole thing is that however many millions of F1 fans who tune in, will see this year's car and not the 2018 car. But if that is the only downside, then this is perhaps the coolest thing to happen to the 500 in a while.

I'm all for it, and I hope the car runs up front. Can't wait to see the livery. Freddy can't run the #14 for obvious reasons. I guess he'll wear the #25 or something?

Chris

Very good points on the eyes on the car. However, I still think the eyes can look past that and see what type of race this has become. Lots of close racing on a bat $hit crazy track, with lots of passing. Don't get that in F1 these days!

Its more and more exciting the more I think (and type) about it!

[Nikki Katz]

I really didn't see that coming. Also, Monaco's probably his best chance of a good result for some time, now he's voluntarily missing it?

[10TENTHS]

Originally Posted by fieldodreams79

Alonso has been one of my favorites for a while now and I think he is one of the best in an F1 car, but what Kurt has over him is speedway experience. It such a different discipline to where it's a complete toss up for me. Then again, Nigel did pretty good as a rookie.

Mansell was here in the days of 5000 miles of off-season testing though. Don't take preparation for granted.

[fieldodreams79]

Originally Posted by 10TENTHS

Mansell was here in the days of 5000 miles of off-season testing though. Don't take preparation for granted.

Not at all. Thanks for that reminder.

[GTRMagic]

Does Mr Alonso need to do the rookie test?

[bjohnsonsmith]

Originally Posted by GTRMagic

Does Mr Alonso need to do the rookie test?

Those are the rules.

[10TENTHS]

Originally Posted by GTRMagic

Does Mr Alonso need to do the rookie test?

Yes. Usually it's also required that you test by yourself on an oval as a rookie before the season starts, in the case of full time drivers. Same rules will apply to his teammate Jack Harvey who has graduated from Indy Lights (he's only done road course tests so far).

[fieldodreams79]

Similar to whomever it was that had to take the Rookie course at the Nurburgring a couple of years ago. It was someone who had decades of top flight racing experience. Doesn't matter, if it's your first attempt.

[Akrapovic]

Originally Posted by fieldodreams79

Similar to whomever it was that had to take the Rookie course at the Nurburgring a couple of years ago. It was someone who had decades of top flight racing experience. Doesn't matter, if it's your first attempt.

And Hulk doing the Le Mans rookie tests. F1 driver? Doesn't matter - get in the simulator.

[fieldodreams79]

Originally Posted by Akrapovic

And Hulk doing the Le Mans rookie tests. F1 driver? Doesn't matter - get in the simulator.

As it should be!

It's killing me that I can't recall the driver at the Ring either last year or 2 years ago. I want to say it was Kenny Brack, but I don't think that's correct...

[fomoco]

Just a query, is the Honda engine in Indy , better preforming than that of the engine used in F1?

I have liked Fernando for a long time and wish the best , its a hard race and not as easy to jump from F1 to Indy.

A few have managed it and a few have missed it.

Would like to see more drivers from top echelons of motor sport categories ,
have a crack at it; but not at the expense of current entrants missing out.

[bjohnsonsmith]

Originally Posted by fomoco

Just a query, is the Honda engine in Indy , better preforming than that of the engine used in F1?

The engines, or Power units/PUs as they are called in F1, are a completely different specification and design from the engines used in IndyCar.

These two links will explain the differences.

https://www.formula1.com/en/champion...t_and_ERS.html

http://www.indycar.com/Fan-Info/INDY...Specifications

Originally Posted by fomoco

I have liked Fernando for a long time and wish the best , its a hard race and not as easy to jump from F1 to Indy.

A few have managed it and a few have missed it.

Would like to see more drivers from top echelons of motor sport categories,
have a crack at it; but not at the expense of current entrants missing out.

I would like to see more drivers too, contracts and series co-operation permitting. The current IndyCar teams wouldn't drop any of their regular season drivers, unless there were mitigating circumstances but teams do look to expand for the 500 or teams can be put together just to race the 500.

[fieldodreams79]

The beauty of the 500 (or at least the way it was) is that you have to actually qualify for the race, in that it was never guaranteed you'd start, even if you stayed "clean" in the month of May. I won't get too far into that, but if Alonso qualified over, say Marco, I wouldn't lose a wink of sleep over it

[fomoco]

Originally Posted by bjohnsonsmith

The engines, or Power units/PUs as they are called in F1, are a completely different specification and design from the engines used in IndyCar.

These two links will explain the differences.

https://www.formula1.com/en/champion...t_and_ERS.html

http://www.indycar.com/Fan-Info/INDY...Specifications



I would like to see more drivers too, contracts and series co-operation permitting. The current IndyCar teams wouldn't drop any of their regular season drivers, unless there were mitigating circumstances but teams do look to expand for the 500 or teams can be put together just to race the 500.

cheers and thanks

[RWill2073]

I could see Alonso fitting in nicely in an IndyCar paddock. He's got more personality and isn't afraid to show it than most f1 drivers, with working the camera during a practice session or sunbathing on the hill during another session. He might enjoy the more accessible and open atmosphere to the buttoned down f1 paddock. And since he's already got 2 championships in f1 and he's talking about winning in multiple disciplines to prove he's an all time great, maybe a switch to IndyCar full time could be in the cards. Maybe a McLaren full season entry for a year or two to keep him with them in case their f1 car becomes competitive?

[GTRMagic]

Originally Posted by fomoco

Just a query, is the Honda engine in Indy , better preforming than that of the engine used in F1?

It wasn't always that way, HPD taking an ex-Ferrari F1 guy kicked their game along in 2016 bigtime...

Wonder if he is free to work on the F1 project before Honda gets dumped by McLaren?