Rounds 10 & 11: revised calendar. Honda Indy 200 At Mid-Ohio. Sept 12 - 13

[bjohnsonsmith]

Rounds 10 & 11: revised calendar. Honda Indy 200 At Mid-Ohio. Sept 12 - 13.

Mid-Ohio, will be the fourth double header this season and was originally scheduled to be the 14th round of the 2020 season pre-Covid-19 and was to be held on Aug. 16. Because of the pandemic, the event was rescheduled for August 9 and was to be Round 7 of the revised calendar. It was also to be a ticketed event but due to concerns with social distancing the race was dropped, though promoters Green Savoree Racing Promotions, hoped it would be reinstated at a later date.

Ohio governor Mike DeWine decided the race could go ahead this weekend and it will be a double header, hosting Rounds 10 and 11 on Saturday and Sunday. It remains a ticketed event, though capacity has been capped at 6000 for the weekend. Qualifying for Race 1 will take place on Saturday afternoon and qualifying for Race 2 will take place on Sunday morning.

History:
Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course, was the idea of local business man Les Griebling, who convinced a number of friends from the local business community, to invest in a road course for weekend sportscar racing.

The course, which followed the contours of the land, was designed by Griebling, and was opened in 1962. From 1970 to 1976, Mid-Ohio became an event on the SCCA/USAC Formula 5000 Championship calendar and from 1977 to 1980, hosted a round of the revived Can-Am series. AOWR returned when CART initially raced at Mid-Ohio in 1980, with Johnny Rutherford taking victory in the Chaparral-Cosworth DFX.

In 1981, the track was bought by road racing enthusiast Jim Trueman, the owner of Red Roof Inns and Mid-Ohio underwent its first major renovation. Permanent grandstands, new pit garages with spectator balconies, a media/hospitality center, underground tunnels and a new paddock were built as well as the Goodyear Tower. CART returned in 1983 racing there until 2003.

In 2006, Mid-Ohio underwent further renovation, with the whole track and pit lane being completely resurfaced and adding a 75,000 seat grandstand. In 2007, after a 3 year absence from AOWR, Mid-Ohio returned as a venue for the IndyCar series and this weekend will see the 10th running of the race as an IndyCar event.

In March 2011, the track was purchased from Truesports by Green Savoree Racing Promotions, who promote the IndyCar street races at St Petersburg and Toronto.

Some Trivia:
Driver with most wins, Scott Dixon: 2007, 2009, 2011, 2012, 2014, 2019.
Team with most wins, Chip Ganassi Racing: 1996, 1997, 1999, 2007, 2008, 2009, 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014, 2019.

Track Layout:
Mid-Ohio features two track configurations, one of 2.25 miles (3.621 km) and 13 turns, the other of 2.4 miles (3.862 kms) and 15 turns. The track runs clockwise, with the start line located on the back stretch after Turn 3 and the finish line in front of the pits. In 1963 the original sports car course
was modified, as drivers were concerned it was too slow. Oak Tree Bend, which literally went around an oak tree, was removed and replaced by the Thunder Valley section.

In 1990, there were further modifications, with the track being widened, creating the 13-turn, 2.250 mile (3.621 km) layout, adopted by CART and which is now used by IndyCar. During the 2006 renovations, new link roads were added to the track's famous Keyhole section, creating three separate road course configurations.

Original track layout:


1963-1989 track layout:


1990-2005 track layout:


Current IndyCar track layout:


Length: 2.250 Miles (3.621 km)
Turns: 13

Lap record:
Simon Pagenaud, 30 July, 2016. 1:03.870, 127.271 mph (204.822) km/h.
Team Penske,
Dallara DW12-Chevrolet IndyCar V6.
Verizon IndyCar Series.

Last year's race:
https://www.motorsport.com/indycar/n...Bvalue%5D=2243

Pole position:
Will Power, 1:05.1569. 124.757 mph (200.776 km/h)
Team Penske
Dallara IR18-Chevy IndyCar V6

Last year's winner:
Scott Dixon
Chip Ganassi Racing
Dallara IR18-Honda HI19R Indy V6

Laps: 90
Distance: 203.22 mi (327.05 km)
Race Time: 1:45:15.
Average Speed: 115.837 mph (194.197 km/h)
Fastest lap: James Hinchcliffe, Arrow Schmidt Petersen Motorsport, lap 79, 67.3644 sec, 120.669 mph (221.318 km/h)

Cautions: 0

TV Coverage:
Race 1: NBCSN, Sept 12, 4:30pm ET, 8:30pm UTC
Race 2: NBC, Sept 13, 1:00pm ET, 6:00pm UTC

[mstets]

Practice results seem to indicate that the teams are still trying to find the setup. Lots of fastest laps set near the end of the session.


http://www.imscdn.com/INDYCAR/Docume...results-p1.pdf

[bjohnsonsmith]

Both the lap time and average speed are down from last year, which will be due to the Aeroscreen.

[mstets]

Power on pole. Interesting that it appears that Rahal set his fast time in group 2 on the black tires. I neglected to take a screen shot of group 1 results, didn't notice if any others set fast time on blacks. Perhaps the tire information is not accurate, seems unlikely that the blacks could be quicker.

[bjohnsonsmith]

Originally Posted by mstets

Power on pole. Interesting that it appears that Rahal set his fast time in group 2 on the black tires. I neglected to take a screen shot of group 1 results, didn't notice if any others set fast time on blacks. Perhaps the tire information is not accurate, seems unlikely that the blacks could be quicker.

Where did you get the results table for Group 2 from? I like the info for the tyres and is better than the one I use from the IndyCar website?

[bjohnsonsmith]

Qualifying Result:

Congrats to Power on his 60th pole.

[mstets]

Originally Posted by bjohnsonsmith

Where did you get the results table for Group 2 from? I like the info for the tyres and is better than the one I use from the IndyCar website?

That was a screenshot from IndyCar live timing and scoring.



racecontrol.indycar.com/


There seems to be a lot of time lag for "live" timing and scoring on the site, so it's hard to gauge the accuracy of a screen shot taken at any given time. The radio commentary usually seems to be behind the data on screen.

[NaBUru38]

besweeet79 is on

[bjohnsonsmith]

That was a clean start.

[bjohnsonsmith]

Pagenaud looses it at the Keyhole and goes to the back of the field.

[joeb]

I missed the first 15 laps, but looks like Power has got the field covered today.

[broadrun96]

Yeah, sadly he does. My feed keeps going pixelated for the race and perfect HD for the ads, getting annoying. But also cause he's leading

[broadrun96]

Bull excrement, that was GARBAGE classless blocking by Dixon on OWard. Don't feed us a line of bull cause you want to worship him.

[broadrun96]

Rain with 5 laps left doesn't seem like it will matter much unless it pours.

Graham pressuring Rossi for the final step in the podium, think he'll get him at some point

[joeb]

Well he didn't get him, but Daly lost a couple places in the last lap.

[broadrun96]

I really thought he had him but think Rahal drove the tires off it and settled in for 4th at 2 to go. Daly looked like something let go, he plummeted to end it.

And yes, it was immediately swapped to GT/ FSU "football" cause well f that guy and don't need to hear him whinge about how overdue he was for a win and how the team screwed him all season or he'd have had a couple.

[bjohnsonsmith]

Unfortunately I had to miss most of the race, so it will have to be highlights. A bit of a turn around for Penske, so congrats to Power for the win and to Penske on a 1 - 2.

[fieldodreams79]

That was a decent race 1. Caution free is always fun, but very incident free and good for Will. Hard to believe with his road course success, he's never won at Mid Ohio. What a fun track!!

That was dominant!

[bjohnsonsmith]

Rossi overtook Dixon and then Dixon lost it a Turn 1 and is now at the back of the field.

[joeb]

I wish OWard had qualified better for each race. He could have been a contender!

Also, good job by Rahal to have a pair of 4ths.

And where did Andretti come from in race two? they have been nowhere all season and then they lock out the podium???

[mstets]

Originally Posted by joeb

I wish OWard had qualified better for each race. He could have been a contender!

Also, good job by Rahal to have a pair of 4ths.

And where did Andretti come from in race two? they have been nowhere all season and then they lock out the podium???

Andretti cars weren't far off the pace in race 1 (finished 3rd, 5th, 9th) but seemingly made the right adjustments for race 2. RHR qualified 2nd in race 1, 8th in race 2. Rossi qualified 6th in race 1, 10th in race 2. So other than Herta, it wasn't that they had super pace in qualifying for race 2. They just got everything right for the race conditions.

[JHamilton]

Mid-Ohio looked beautiful this weekend. I thought both races were very entertaining! Dixon was a little off but recovered well enough on Sunday.

[RWill2073]

The crowd looked large for only 6k. Wither there were more than 6k, or I have to readjust my judgement when i guess the size of crowds there. Looks like 25k would be packed in there.

Man, when dixon has a stinker, he finishes 10th. All other drivers, they have a bad day, they finish 16th, 22nd, etc... its nuts.

I must be in the minority, in that mid ohio is not that impressive to me. I have seen lots of races on tv there, and it just doesn't stand out as super impressive. Good racing these two races, though.

[bjohnsonsmith]

Originally Posted by RWill2073

The crowd looked large for only 6k. Wither there were more than 6k, or I have to readjust my judgement when i guess the size of crowds there. Looks like 25k would be packed in there.

Man, when dixon has a stinker, he finishes 10th. All other drivers, they have a bad day, they finish 16th, 22nd, etc... its nuts.

I must be in the minority, in that mid ohio is not that impressive to me. I have seen lots of races on tv there, and it just doesn't stand out as super impressive. Good racing these two races, though.

What would you say Mid-Ohio lacks, that doesn't make it super impressive? I've never been and only watched races on TV and as a race track, it produces good racing.

[RWill2073]

Originally Posted by bjohnsonsmith

What would you say Mid-Ohio lacks, that doesn't make it super impressive? I've never been and only watched races on TV and as a race track, it produces good racing.

I can't put a finger on it, really. I also think it produces good racing, which makes it harder to pinpoint why I'm not impressed. It just doesn't look as impressive as some other road courses. Maybe it looks sort of like a club track to me? I dont know...