GP2 Hockenheim

[Russfeld]

They need two 45 minute races with no gimmicks, and im not sure where I stand on pitstops.

[Mr Jinxx]

If you're going to be a serious, no gimmick, "feeder" series - into whatever you are feeding - you've got to have pitstops

[Russfeld]

Only if you need them, they've shown they can all but go the entire race distance on a single set of tires, and they dont go long enough to need refueling.

[Mr Jinxx]

What I meant was that pitstops, and the associated strategies, are de rigeur in both F1 and Champ cars. F1 is currently refuelling only, Champ Cars are both. Si it must be good training for driver and team to have an understanding and practice at pitstops, if you purport to be a feeder series, albeit only for tyres (or tires, however you misspell them).

I confess I have mixed feelings about them too, but they're here to stay, in whatever format, and they do add a dimension to a race, allowing a team or a strategy to leapfrog others, and to shake off the little-or-no-overtaking penalties that modern aerodynamics impose on these fast single seaters. If a team/driver have worked hard to produce a rapid car, which is stuck behind a much slower one and doesn't get the chance to reap the rewards of the driver's and the engineer/team's skill, then a decent pitstop strategy will give him (or her) clear air, and let him demonstrate that potential. I fear downforce/aerodynamics are here to stay, now that there is a much clearer understanding of the phenomena, and fancy windtunnels, etc. I can't see the regs being sterilised to the extent that downforce is minimised in a top championship like F1, where the interpretations are supposed to be open to encourage manufacturers to showcase their abilities. Particularly with the downsizing of F1 engines. So, I fear overtaking opportunities will continue to be limited at this level, (where there are moderately equal machines) and the attraction will be more strategic, with the odd banzai drive or move. As GP2 is demonstrating, get to the front and you stay at the front. Pitstops are the only realistic way to spice the show up with the level (and rate of improvement) of aerodynamics

[jondownunder]

I'd say pitstops are a fairer way of spicing up the action than the reverse grids, but in my view they can wreck a good on-track battle just as often as they may enliven a dull race. When F3000 followed the Nissan World Series in adopting them we saw some pretty amateur looking tyre changes (for whatever reasons) which often wrecked a driver's race. It seemed to take away from the idea of F3000 as a driver's formula, where the best talent will shine. But I've come to accept that it's good training for F1/CCWS/IRL to include pitstops, as long as the equipment allows reliable tyre-changes. At least GP2 saw sense and changed to a single stop after Imola...

[marcus]

I was totslly bored with both races at Hocken heim ,. then bored me to tears , except for the fist fewlaps.

honestly i dunno why I bother with modern motorsport sometimes

(but thats just me in a state i;d rather not comment on)

[Russfeld]

Most of the GP2 races have been great this year. "You dont know why you bother with modern motorsport" because one support race was uninteresting?

[marcus]

ok fair point agian (Gee ive spent most of my night saying i was wrong tonight LOL)

Im too drunk for this at the moment

[Mekola]

Originally Posted by jondownunder

Some Kirby-isms heard today:

"One of the Repsol boys"

Ehrmm... you mean "One of the Repsol-YPF boys". But I'm curious:
Was that Guerrieri?
Was that Álvarez?
Was that López?
Was that Risatti, and I didn't know he turned Spanish F3 into GP2???

Ironics apart, that means my delusion with Repsol company, because since the buyout of YPF in 1999 they didn't promote directly any Argentinean driver in formula racing, despite they become more important with the petroleum resources of Argentina and, as Elisa Carrió said, "we turned Spain into a potent petroleum country".
The worst example was the Monegasque F3000 race of 1999, where in practice Norberto Fontana had the YPF and Elaion stickers in his car, and he had to stripe them before the race, due to the buyout by Repsol.

[Mr Jinxx]

So there's me saying downforce is here to stay, and there's some nobody called Ross Brawn in today's Autosport saying downforce should be cut to 10% of its current levels. Ah well, lucky I don't purport to be an expert, or more accurately, to have crystal balls.

[Suze]

What was Brawn's justification for that though?

[Mr Jinxx]

Don't be an old cynic!

[Suze]

I'm not old! Certainly compared to you anyways but I can still be a cynic if I want to...

[Mr Jinxx]

<sigh> stroppy women, the bane of every decent chauvinist's life

Back to the kitchen with you, youth!!