San Jose race weekend thread (Includes RACE SPOILERS)

[luke]

Round 7 of 14
Taylor Woodrow Grand Prix of San Jose
San Jose, CA USA






Weekend schedule:


Practice 1
Jul 29, 1:15 pm ET

Practice 2
Jul 29, 5:00 pm ET

Qualifying 1
Jul 29, 5:25 pm ET

Practice 3
Jul 30, 1:30 pm ET - Race Director avalible

Practice 4
Jul 30, 5:00 pm ET - Race Director avalible

Qualifying 2
Jul 30, 5:25 pm ET - Race Director avalible

Warm-Up
Jul 31, 1:00 pm ET

Race
Jul 31, 5:00 pm ET - Race Director avalible



Weekend weather forcast:

Friday
85°F (29°C) | 61°F (16°C) Sunny

Saturday
89°F (32°C) | 59°F (15°C) Sunny

Sunday
89°F (32°C) | 58°F (14°C) Sunny



TV:


U.S. Race Live on Speed Channel at 4:30 pm ET

U.K. Race Live on Eurosport 2 at 10:00 pm GMT

Canada: Race Live on TSN at 4:30 pm ET



Live Timing


Support series:


» Toyota Atlantic

» Trans-Am

» U. S. Touring Car Championship Series

» Historic Stock Cars



Website: www.sanjosegrandprix.com


Track length: 1.443 mile street course

First Champ Car race: 2005

Total Champ Car races: N/A

Defending champion : N/A

[Kicking-back]

Excellent work, as ever, Luke.

[luke]

Thanks very much Kicking-back. Sorry they were a day later than usual just had a few problems to sort out.

[drewdawg727]

i like that keyhole turn

[indycool]

Curious to see how they handle that switchback on Almaden Blvd.

[Tenoch]

Who or what is Taylor Woodrow?

[Kicking-back]

One of the world's leading housebuilders.

[mac]

Not the most imaginative circuit, but looks like it could put on a hell of a show.

I wonder who will be the first to go spearing off down the escape road, testing the braking limits at the hairpin in practice?

Anyone willing to lay any bets?

Five years ago I would have said Paul Tracy without a doubt, but now I'm not so sure.

[Tenoch]

Timo Glock is my bet, ever since portland he's been notorious for cutting corners.

[Dov]

Take this with a grain of salt, but AR1 is reporting that Bridgestone will be bringing a new softer tire to San Jose.

[Snrub]

Bridgestone probably are bringing a new tire along, but I don't know if that means much. I'm sure they could pull some design out of their old tire war inventory that would blow the doors off even the red tires.

[luke]

It depends on how gripy the surface is and wear ratio. At Toronto they didn't even bring the ultimate tire.

[icemachine]

If temperatures are as predicted I'm not surprised by the tire deciscion, 15 degrees cooler than the Toronto track

[luke]

New street course full of twists, turns and hairpins for drivers

San Fransico Chronicle

"The surface is usually slippery and a little more bumpy," Servia said, adding that most downtown courses are tight layouts with concrete barriers where regular tracks may have grassy runoffs.

"I find it good fun, the feeling of exploring," said British driver Justin Wilson, who summarized the best street-course strategy. "We go out and we attack every corner."

[Ac.]

Track construction delays have pushed back the sessions in San Jose. The Champ Cars will not be on track until 1:50pm Pacific, 4:50 Eastern.

Unfortunately, not a good start to the weekend.

[drewdawg727]

I suppose the qualifying will be pushed back then as well?

[Mosport67]

Not a great way to start and impress your sponsors. I hope they get it sorted out quickly.

[Flatspot]

Better to delay the start than have a car suck up a manhole cover that wasn't welded or interrupt everything with decaying asphalt repairs with more people there tomorrow.

[Tim Northcutt]

Originally Posted by Ac.

Track construction delays have pushed back the sessions in San Jose. The Champ Cars will not be on track until 1:50pm Pacific, 4:50 Eastern.

Unfortunately, not a good start to the weekend.

You're kidding...aren't you????

Why wouldn't they have the track built and configured by now????

They have known about the date for quite a while now.....and they know from other street courses that have been built in the past the approximate time that it takes to build one, put in the proper barriers & fencing, grandstands, etc....

I'd be interested in knowing the reasons for this, if anyone can share that with the rest of us...

[Mosport67]

Originally Posted by Flatspot

Better to delay the start than have a car suck up a manhole cover that wasn't welded or interrupt everything with decaying asphalt repairs with more people there tomorrow.

Absolutely but it makes the whole operation look mickey mouse. This is not the first new street circuit they have gone to.

[mp356a]

So far all I've read is that the "safety concerns" will be addressed as soon as possible to get the cars on track. No details.

Mike

[Ac.]

Check out this link to CBS5 in the Bay area.
http://cbs5.com/topstories/local_story_210154832.html

Seems that there were some holes to fill in the roads around the track. There is a video feed showing some of the track and some interviews with race fans.

[Tim Northcutt]

Originally Posted by Ac.

Check out this link to CBS5 in the Bay area.
http://cbs5.com/topstories/local_story_210154832.html

Seems that there were some holes to fill in the roads around the track. There is a video feed showing some of the track and some interviews with race fans.

Chuck holes????

C'mon...they should have done that any number of days or weeks ago, unless they just cropped up...

and whatever they use to patch them will probably come right back out of the holes when cars start hitting those spots at speed....

[Liz]

Looks like there will be only one qualifying? Is that true?

[Kicking-back]

They're up and running now I believe.