The Current State of IndyCar

[D.R.T.]

Originally Posted by bjohnsonsmith

I think Indycar made a huge mistake in not giving Lola the contract.

Im fairly sure you have made this comment on weekly basis over the past 2 years.

Time to let go.

[bjohnsonsmith]

Originally Posted by D.R.T.

Im fairly sure you have made this comment on weekly basis over the past 2 years.

Time to let go.

Not quite, .

[Canada ALMS fan]

Originally Posted by bjohnsonsmith

Not quite, .

I agree
The bigger mistake was not allowing teams to buy/manufacture spares/replacement parts and getting gauged by Dallara. Even dampers and other parts made by other companies must be bought through Dallara at exorbitant prices.

[gomick]

Never really liked Dallara Indy Cars - loved the Reynard during the Vasser/Zanardi TCGR days, K-Mart NH Lola's where rockin too
What ever happened to Galmer? (Little Al circa 91/92?)...

[mountainstar]

I haven't paid any attention to this "sport" for months now, because there is nothing really to report or mention about it.

I see there is some turd polishing and putting lipstick and makeup on a pig going on, but that doesn't fix the primary problems with this series, which is the ownership of the series and the car.

I've talked to some people in the motorsport business and asked them out of curiosity what they thought and it's a total turn off for them as well. I can't find a single person out there with a shred of interest.

Shockingly, it's been 20 years now since the split first kicked off and now that it's mission accomplished for tony george and the sport has been leveled, in the process a whole generation has grown up on Nascar and that is now motorsport in the USA. If you want to bring people back en-mass, you are going to need a heck of a lot more than that dallara.

[Teretonga]

Originally Posted by gomick

Never really liked Dallara Indy Cars - loved the Reynard during the Vasser/Zanardi TCGR days, K-Mart NH Lola's where rockin too
What ever happened to Galmer? (Little Al circa 91/92?)...

Effort by Galles Racing to equal Penske's effort and build their own car. In the end they determined that the effort and cost wasn't rewarding enough an dwent back to buying their cars from Lola and Reynard. Later on Al left and went to Penske, although Penske eventually gave up on building his own cars too.

[bjohnsonsmith]

With the introduction of aero-kits next year, IndyCar announce Tino Belli as director of aerodynamic development.

http://www.autosport.com/news/report.php/id/113098

[bjohnsonsmith]

Originally Posted by gomick

Never really liked Dallara Indy Cars - loved the Reynard during the Vasser/Zanardi TCGR days, K-Mart NH Lola's where rockin too
What ever happened to Galmer? (Little Al circa 91/92?)...

Intrestingly the Galmer Engineering woirkshop was based in Bicester, England.

[aki13]

This is my first season planning to follow Indycar closer.

Is there normally a race weekend Thread?

[bjohnsonsmith]

Originally Posted by aki13

This is my first season planning to follow Indycar closer.

Is there normally a race weekend Thread?

I's abit of a free for all here but last season a mix of forum subscribers did race previews as well as weekends, with quali times etc. but if someone would like to be the dedicated race weekend thread starter, including race history, that would be cool.

[HJJ]

Originally Posted by bjohnsonsmith

Intrestingly the Galmer Engineering woirkshop was based in Bicester, England.

And I believe that Penske Cars was based in Poole (?) and headed by Teddy Meyer before being shuttered.

[Marcus666]

Practice is on now, does anyone know if there is a tv coverage of it?

Edit: Found a radio broadcast... ...WITH PAUL PAGE!!!!

http://www.livestream.com/indycarradio

[bjohnsonsmith]

Originally Posted by Marcus666

Practice is on now, does anyone know if there is a tv coverage of it?

Edit: Found a radio broadcast... ...WITH PAUL PAGE!!!!

http://www.livestream.com/indycarradio

Paul Page makes a welcome return to AOWR broadcasting, on the IMS Radio Network.

The race is being televised by ABC, as to whether they are showing practice I don't know.

[Marcus666]

I hope that on sunday we will hear:

"Oh, this kid is good" again from Paul Page.

[bjohnsonsmith]

Originally Posted by Marcus666

I hope that on sunday we will hear:

"Oh, this kid is good" again from Paul Page.

I'd like to see him return to TV commentary.

[Canada ALMS fan]

Originally Posted by Marcus666

I hope that on sunday we will hear:

"Oh, this kid is good" again from Paul Page.

Oh man, it is so awesome to hear Paul Page for practice on Indycar radio!

[bjohnsonsmith]

Though initially about F1, this is a very interesting article from Gordon Kirby, regarding down force, engines and aero-kits, with some great insight from Bobby and Al Unser IndyCar racing itself.

http://gordonkirby.com/categories/co..._is_no446.html

[Canada ALMS fan]

Thank you for posting that, a good read with many valid points. In all forms of racing the stifling of innovation is making it far less enjoyable for casual and hardcore fans alike. I find myself quite optimistic regarding Indycar ever since the hiring of Derrick Walker and I hope the cars next year are truly different.
The racing is great. With TUSC being a mess and F1 having ugly cars, my interest in both has decreased so it is nice to see another series I used to love have some positive momentum.

[John Turner]

Some of you maybe interested in this:-

http://tentenths.com/forum/showthread.php?t=142394

[bjohnsonsmith]

Originally Posted by John Turner

Some of you maybe interested in this:-

http://tentenths.com/forum/showthread.php?t=142394

Thanks.

[bjohnsonsmith]

An intereting Q&A with Derrick Walker on last season and 2015.

http://www.indycar.com/News/2014/09/...Derrick-Walker

Aero-kits will be introduced March 27-29, 2015, at the Firestone Grand Prix of St. Petersburg.

[DS"]

I hope you don't mind me quoting this post in this thread:

Originally Posted by Paradise City

The car isn't dead it remains indispensible to all our lives and that will continue of course but there is a distinct shift underway. Green technologies is moving in and that doesn't square with motorsport - even a motorsport reinvented to integrate wholly green technologies.

So motorsports will retreat into their local strongholds and the bigwig series will become homogenised and gimmicky in order claw back some of that lost popularity. And we're seeing that now.

Actually, the attention the Formula E is getting at the moment shows that green technology and motorsport go together pretty well. Yes, the Formula E cars are still too slow, yes, is it definitely debatable if electric cars are THE way to go in the future, but despite all the naysayers, Formula E is generating a genuine buzz in the mainstream. Why? Because the organizers actually dared to do something new, something fresh. I mean, where else do you get an international series running electric cars and racing on street circuits?

I wouldn't say that IndyCar should adopt the regulations of Formula E. But it seems to me that IndyCar is just trying to make the same old things work again. I really wonder why IndyCar didn't go for the DeltaWing back in 2010. Now I'm not saying that the DW is the greatest thing since sliced bread, but it was radical, something new at the time. IndyCar didn't have much to lose at the time, so they could have gone for something radical. I mean, when Nissan ran the DeltaWing at Le Mans in 2013, it got plenty of mainstream attention. One could only imagine the attention IndyCar would have gotten...

What we have at the moment is a less than stellar package. One that can be compared to GP2...and that's bad! I recall an article about Daniel Abt testing an IndyCar for Andretti. He kept comparing the DW12 to a GP2 car. IndyCar shouldn't be comparable to GP2, it should be comparable to Formula One! 20 years ago, IndyCar attracted former Formula One drivers, ranging from midfield drivers like Alex Zanardi to world champions like Nigel Mansell. But nowadays...if you ask guys like Jenson Button or Fernando Alonso if they would do IndyCar, they'd probably laugh you in the face.

[Paradise City]

Originally Posted by DS"

I hope you don't mind me quoting this post in this thread:



Actually, the attention the Formula E is getting at the moment shows that green technology and motorsport go together pretty well. Yes, the Formula E cars are still too slow, yes, is it definitely debatable if electric cars are THE way to go in the future, but despite all the naysayers, Formula E is generating a genuine buzz in the mainstream. Why? Because the organizers actually dared to do something new, something fresh. I mean, where else do you get an international series running electric cars and racing on street circuits?

I wouldn't say that IndyCar should adopt the regulations of Formula E. But it seems to me that IndyCar is just trying to make the same old things work again. I really wonder why IndyCar didn't go for the DeltaWing back in 2010. Now I'm not saying that the DW is the greatest thing since sliced bread, but it was radical, something new at the time. IndyCar didn't have much to lose at the time, so they could have gone for something radical. I mean, when Nissan ran the DeltaWing at Le Mans in 2013, it got plenty of mainstream attention. One could only imagine the attention IndyCar would have gotten...

What we have at the moment is a less than stellar package. One that can be compared to GP2...and that's bad! I recall an article about Daniel Abt testing an IndyCar for Andretti. He kept comparing the DW12 to a GP2 car. IndyCar shouldn't be comparable to GP2, it should be comparable to Formula One! 20 years ago, IndyCar attracted former Formula One drivers, ranging from midfield drivers like Alex Zanardi to world champions like Nigel Mansell. But nowadays...if you ask guys like Jenson Button or Fernando Alonso if they would do IndyCar, they'd probably laugh you in the face.

I think the jury is still out on FE as a long term proposition and whether these fellows gliding around the place are capable of carrying a mass appeal. I think it's sustainable, OK, but I don't think the series is a game changer. I think one of the fundamental parts of the identity of motorsport is its recklessness and irresponsibility put to a mainstream calculus. Green technologies, on the otherhand, are frugal and responsible and therefore somewhat incongruent with the historic identity of motorsport. I don't prophesise the extinction of motorsport at any level but I do believe that international motorsport will be on a permanent backfoot in the future and that a switch to green technologies en-mass will defang or dilute the sport of one of it's defining characteristics and this will have long term implications.

I think Indycar needs to have if not a beautiful car out there then a mean and terrifying one. I they need to be cocky and confident and even if there's giggles initially from some quarters - even if it's a fiction - they need say 'we're better than NASCAR and F1' and believe it. Noone watches a series resigned to the middle rank. Noone outside of the circle of the dedicated fan anyway.

[Mr Pink]

I just had a random thought, not sure it's the right thread but I think so.

The way I see it Indycar has a pretty unique chans to open up their regs without aerodynamics going overboard as it would (or have) in F1. Since they race at speedways as well as road- and street courses, wouldn't it pretty much suffice to say they can do pretty much what they want but then heavily limit the changes they can make between circuits?

I mean, no team would want to sacrifice Indy to be fast at street circuits right? So you'd end up with low downforce, low drag cars without having to micro manage.

This was just a random thought that hit me while walking home today, am I way off or what do you guys think?

[bjohnsonsmith]

Originally Posted by Mr Pink

I just had a random thought, not sure it's the right thread but I think so.

The way I see it Indycar has a pretty unique chans to open up their regs without aerodynamics going overboard as it would (or have) in F1. Since they race at speedways as well as road- and street courses, wouldn't it pretty much suffice to say they can do pretty much what they want but then heavily limit the changes they can make between circuits?

I mean, no team would want to sacrifice Indy to be fast at street circuits right? So you'd end up with low downforce, low drag cars without having to micro manage.

This was just a random thought that hit me while walking home today, am I way off or what do you guys think?

There isn't a thread that specifically addresses the technical regs of IndyCar. This thread will do because of it's general nature but if you want to start a specific thread by all means.