The 2010 Danica vs. Simona Thread

[JagtechOhio]

I only started watching this series real closely since practice at Indy last year. It surprised me that there was any differential in speed at all, since the cars are identical and the setup characteristics should be well established. For every team that hasn't been running this chassis for seven years, there are guys working for the newer teams that have.

The big boys have the small speed secrets, but that doesn't explain the inconsistant results that plague many of the other teams.

Today is a good example. Last year, N/H/L puts their car on the pole with Rahal. Today, Mutoh runs strong with the same setup. So those guys have this track figured out, and Graham ran well at Chicagoland too.

Which means that if they figure out the best setup for Indy or Texas, they won't be any less competitive than they were today. If you're a squirrel, maybe you find an acorn once in a while.

Penske and Ganasi bring a bag full of them to every race. Their drivers and engineers are better at tuning the cars.

If Danica's right rear was showing increased wear or temp in all the practice laps they got, somebody missed the sign. I'd have to guess that was a loose racecar, and you could hear her lift BIG time in the turns.

How all of that is Danica's fault is beyond me. She's quite capable of using the weight jacker and rear swaybar to help herself. She didn't get whatever else she needed, whether it was correct pressures, spring rate, damper settings, or alignment angles.

Take away her broom and give her a tool box, and we'll know who to blame.

[Road America Fan]

Originally Posted by JagtechOhio

It surprised me that there was any differential in speed at all, since the cars are identical and the setup characteristics should be well established

That's why it is up to the driver to maximize what he/she can do with the tools they are provided with. The cars are equal but the drivers are not. Dixon is a smooth driver who can maximize the use of the car while a driver like Paul tracy can chrome horn his way to a solid finish and totally waste all of the logical resources of the same car. Two totally different driving styles that have both produced results in many races over the years.

Now I'm gonna date myself unfortunately, but back in the 90's Willy T. Ribbs was attempting to qualify for the Indy 500 in some kind of joint effort with Paul Newman and Bill Cosby. He was falling way short of a respectable lap time and blaming the car setup. Later that same day Mario Andretti (also part of Newman's Team) took the same car out with the exact same (untouched) setup and placed a top 5 lap time for that day.

My point is you either have it or you don't. Danica is out of excuses.

[ptclaus98]

Originally Posted by JagtechOhio

There was a comment during the broadcast today from a pit reporter...it was the kind of little detail that never gets picked up on, and 100 reporters will write the same story about Danica's race, for instance, and not get it right.

I didn't hear the entire statement clearly, but the paraphrase it that when the first set of tires came off Danica's car, one of the rear tires (presumably right) was worn down to the cords.

Since there were no other tire issues mentioned in this race, other than the added marbles from the softer compound this year, it's pretty likely that Princess Sparkle Pony's car was handling like a pig from poor setup.

This happens with most of these teams, and TK climbed out p*ssed all too often last year. AA is a big team, DanicaFan pointed out that they may be getting over-extended in another thread. That's probably part of the answer.

As for the Princess...it might have been a better move by her management team to wait on signing the AA contract until she saw what kind of a reception she would get from the Nascar nation. She was treated like royalty.

Driving through the rest of a mediocre IICS season gets her nothing. If she doesn't rock the world at Indy, she's better off blaming the sled she is being asked to drive, buying out of the contract and racing the cabs.

I don't exactly know how I feel about that. On one hand, AA could have the resources to run Carroll and RHR. On the other hand, they wouldn't have the money.

[JagtechOhio]

Isn't it logical to assume that Carroll is bringing a check with him? If AA had the money, RHR would be staying in the car.

I'd assume that RHR's crew and car will simply be the open spot for Carroll to utilize. If more money appears, AA will expand again to accomodate all of their entries.

I worked in a Formula Atlantic shop like this a long time ago. When the job became running four or five cars at the event, the preparation relied heavily on the individuals responsible for each car.

Mine finished every race, but could not compete with the two newer chassis. One of the others flew off track with a stuck throttle. Twice.

If the oversight is careful enough, AA will be OK. Last year, it was apparently lacking. This year, they have also added John Anderson to bridge that gap and he is the bloke for the job.

But as for yesterday, Danica's poor showing may have had more to do with the individuals responsible for her car. Same kind of thing messed up Briscoe's day pretty good, too.

[Yannick]

Simona severely compromised her oval debut by squeezing Mutoh into Sato. That was a rookie error, I guess, but one you shouldn't make nonetheless. Danica, on the other hand, looked like she was missing the competition from which to get some motivation to spur her on to achieve greater things.

As far as the Andretti situation goes, my guess is that Carroll will take over the 5th Andretti car, piloted so far by John Andretti, who goes back to Sprint Cup, not the IZOD machine of Ryan Hunter-Reay. Ryan must continue because he can have a shot at the championship.

[JagtechOhio]

You're the first person in the world who I have seen that blamed Simona for the wreck. No other drivers or writers in the States have.

Danica's car was handling like a pig. So far no one else has reported that they had tire issues except her team. She was competing to keep her car off the wall, and had to lift bigtime to do it.

RHR finds a sponsorship deal to pay for his races after Indy and Texas, or he climbs out of the car. Period. Izod's not paying, Michael Andretti is not paying, IICS is not paying.

If he wins the big check at Indy, maybe he buys more seat time.

[HJJ]

According to Robin Miller @ Speed TV.com, Simona may be testing an F-1 car soon.

A Formula One team interested in testing Simona De Silvestro? Believe it

[Yannick]

Originally Posted by JagtechOhio

You're the first person in the world who I have seen that blamed Simona for the wreck. No other drivers or writers in the States have.

Mutoh has stated that trouble with lapped cars caused the accident. Looking at the video replay, that could only have been the #78 car of Simona going a bit too wide forcing Mutoh further up to avoid contact, but there was no space, but Sato.

[JagtechOhio]

It's a bit less harsh and a bit more accurate when you put it that way. A bit.

[ptclaus98]

Originally Posted by HJJ

According to Robin Miller @ Speed TV.com, Simona may be testing an F-1 car soon.

Sauber.

[NAC]

I was disapointed Simona only managed 22nd in Indy qualifying

[Tim Northcutt]

FWIW...

When they interviewed danica following her run, she was whining about how bad the run was and when she said "It wasn't my Fault," they entire grandstands booed her.



It was one of those classic Indy moments for me.

[cmk]

But she's right! Everyone knows a driver doesn't have any impact on finding a good setup...

[Tim Northcutt]

Originally Posted by cmk

But she's right! Everyone knows a driver doesn't have any impact on finding a good setup...

Unless you can actually translate what is happening in the car to your engineers, so that they can change it to your liking...

Just like REAL drivers do...

Don't feed me that...she needs the help because she doesn't hve the ability to communicate what is needed, or can't figure it out herself with her knobs and buttons that she can control from the cockpit...

[David]

Originally Posted by Tim Northcutt

Unless you can actually translate what is happening in the car to your engineers, so that they can change it to your liking...

Just like REAL drivers do...

Don't feed me that...she needs the help because she doesn't hve the ability to communicate what is needed, or can't figure it out herself with her knobs and buttons that she can control from the cockpit...

And neither apparently, can Tony Kanaan....

Something strange going on with the Andretti Team.

[JagtechOhio]

David, agreed and Danica could have said so without saying so. She didn't forget how to drive, she forgot how to treat everyone she depends on.

She could have even taken your advice, and said "My car must be just as hard to drive as Tony's, so we'll put our heads together and see what we can come up with".

[Tim Northcutt]

Originally Posted by David

And neither apparently, can Tony Kanaan....

Something strange going on with the Andretti Team.

Kanaan hung his car out with too much trim when it was a good car at 3 p.m. yesterday in te heat and it whipped around in T1...he was trimmed out too much and it was on the edge...he pushed the envelope a little too far...

They had to try to transfer everything over to a different chassis and hit the wall again in the a.m. today....These cars are very "on the edge" for this situation and you can't just unload and go and expect it to be good...they didn't figure out hot weather this weekend...it happens...

But Danica sucked all week...Marco and TK were good in the cool weather...that tells me that one driver in that stable has no clue about translating info and data to "her" engineers...and "that driver" whining about it on national TV lacked class and showed her true stripes in my book.

YMMV

[JagtechOhio]

I read comments that TK's Saturday crash was from a mechanical failure, and he said himself that Sunday's crash was. He wasn't even at full chat, and right rear caved in.

[JagtechOhio]

Killer video from HVM Racing:

http://www.hvm-racing.com/JTR2010/

[DanicaFan]

That was a good video Jag, thanks.

[NAC]

Originally Posted by DanicaFan

That was a good video Jag, thanks.

Hey Danicafan, long time no hear.

How's the payment of that bet from last season coming along?

Cheers

NAC

[PabloTeK]

Originally Posted by Tim Northcutt

Kanaan hung his car out with too much trim when it was a good car at 3 p.m. yesterday in te heat and it whipped around in T1...he was trimmed out too much and it was on the edge...he pushed the envelope a little too far...

They had to try to transfer everything over to a different chassis and hit the wall again in the a.m. today....These cars are very "on the edge" for this situation and you can't just unload and go and expect it to be good...they didn't figure out hot weather this weekend...it happens...

But Danica sucked all week...Marco and TK were good in the cool weather...that tells me that one driver in that stable has no clue about translating info and data to "her" engineers...and "that driver" whining about it on national TV lacked class and showed her true stripes in my book.

YMMV

I can just imagine that if she ever got to F1 you'd get someone like Jock Clear asking for loads of intricate questions about ow the car felt and Danica would just have to shrug her shoulders. Maybe she needs to be taught how to actually setup a car? As we found at Melbourne with Hamilton, the engineers don't know half of what the driver does about what the car feels like. They have numbers whereas you have live data from each corner of the car! Better data too.

[Belatti]

I read you talking about women and F1 in the same phrase and I wonder how that would be possible.

Those women necks may stand 3,2 Gs in Indy but what about 5Gs in F1s?
And how the hell are they gonna put 120 Kilos (150 sometimes) in the brake pedal every 10 or 20 seconds like F1 drivers does?

[icemachine]

Originally Posted by Belatti

I read you talking about women and F1 in the same phrase and I wonder how that would be possible.

Those women necks may stand 3,2 Gs in Indy but what about 5Gs in F1s?
And how the hell are they gonna put 120 Kilos (150 sometimes) in the brake pedal every 10 or 20 seconds like F1 drivers does?

I've got a female friend who flies fighter planes, I have no doubt the right women can handle F1 machinery

[David]

Back to the original point of the thread - Danica beat Simona at Indy, does Danica get extra points for that? What is the score?