Round 3 & 4: Texas Motor Speedway. April 30 - May 2.

[joeb]

Originally Posted by bjohnsonsmith

This is a repeat of yesrerday's race; a single groove, high speed procession.

So hard to pass, Pato could not get by Power despite being faster, now same with New garden

[bjohnsonsmith]

Smoke from Harvey's car, looks like his race is over. That's a shame.

[bjohnsonsmith]

O'Ward gets past Power, can he catch Dixon?

[joeb]

Originally Posted by bjohnsonsmith

O'Ward gets past Power, can he catch Dixon?

Rahal somehow caught them all and passed them! But then Dixon retook the lead

Now the question is will everyone make it to the end on the current tire and fuel loads? Could be close for lots of people, the overall speed will be much slower now.

[bjohnsonsmith]

The race is finally coming alive.

[bjohnsonsmith]

2nd FCY, as Rosenqvist's car sheds the right rear after his stop, turning his car into a tricycle.

[mstets]

Looking like Pato will get his F1 test...

[bjohnsonsmith]

Congrats to Pato O'Ward, well deserved and a great result for McLaren.

Not wanting to be callous or unsporting but I'm glad Dixon didn't win.

[joeb]

Originally Posted by bjohnsonsmith

Congrats to Pato O'Ward, well deserved and a great result for McLaren.

Not wanting to be callous or unsporting but I'm glad Dixon didn't win.

I had to leave with 80 laps to go, and just came back to finish now. I am thrilled for Pato! He was super aggressive today and somehow kept the car together. I can't believe it took him this long to win a race with the talent he has, but I doubt this will be his last win!


Four races this season have produced four different winners! I'm with you on the Dixon comment, I like the guy but he has been so dominant it is fun to see other people win. Of course he is still leading the championship with his super consistent performances every single week, but now there's a chance that he might not be in the lead after a few more races!

[mstets]

Anyone have insight into the right rear failures on Herta's car in race one and Harvey's in race two? Just coincidence that both were Andretti cars or something unusual with their set-up?



I'm also happy that Dixon didn't win, just wishing he'd had a DNF to tighten up the points.

[S griffin]

Well done O'Ward on his maiden win, well deserved too. He had to work for it

[fieldodreams79]

Nicely done, Pat O!!

Missed race 1 but saw the results. Shame the race 2 start was botched by 1/3 of the field and hate there's essentially one line through the corners. Perhaps that's for the best...

[bjohnsonsmith]

Race result:


It took a while for the race to get going and at one point, it looked like it was going to be a repeat of the first race, and another high speed procession with very little overtaking. Drivers though were eventually able to overtake, despite the limited track width due to the PJ1 traction compound used by NASCAR. However, the race was turned on its head when Rosenqvist's car lost the right rear, bringing out the second FCY, completely changing the running order and complexion of the race. It also looked like the race would be dominated by Honda but O'wards win and Newgarden's second place, sealed it for Chevrolet.

[tux]

Second race was much more entertaining. Great job by O Ward. Surprised Dixon fell back after the final stops.

Irked me a little that the commentators kept talking about people possibly not making it on fuel in that final stint. They stopped a couple of laps before the caution so teams must have been confident they'd have made it if it had gone green the whole way (with fuel saving) so why would they need to save fuel after having a caution period?

Didnt hear much about the tyre vibrations in the second race that seemed to be common place in the first.

[bjohnsonsmith]

The third and final installment of the Racer article on the Firestone Firehawk 600.


https://racer.com/2021/05/02/inside-...ilent-running/


Looking at some of those photos, it's a shame they don't race those Lolas and Reynards anymore.

Paul Tracy and his lap record holding Reynard 01i.

[NaBUru38]

The Saturday race was very boring. The Sunday race was quite better, so ok.


The big one happened because rows are too close to each other. In Indianapolis this never happens, because rows are much more separate.


This O'Ward ain't half bad... :P

[billy bleach]

Originally Posted by NaBUru38

The Saturday race was very boring. The Sunday race was quite better, so ok.


The big one happened because rows are too close to each other. In Indianapolis this never happens, because rows are much more separate.


This O'Ward ain't half bad... :P

Signed up by Redbull for about 10 minutes and then sent to Marko's room 101. Probably get resigned like Brendan Hartley now....

[joeb]

Originally Posted by billy bleach

Signed up by Redbull for about 10 minutes and then sent to Marko's room 101. Probably get resigned like Brendan Hartley now....

Possibly, but he is getting a McLaren as an agreement for getting a win.

[broadrun96]

Originally Posted by billy bleach

Signed up by Redbull for about 10 minutes and then sent to Marko's room 101. Probably get resigned like Brendan Hartley now....

Not of his own doing, FIA rescinded points awarded for his Indy Lights championship so he had no superlicense. Red Bull straight dropped him, no chance he'll sign up for that again and get jerked around when he has a full time ride and connection to Mclaren.

They can work around it for a test but a ride with Red Bull was never gonna happen without it.

[chunterer]

Originally Posted by broadrun96

Not of his own doing, FIA rescinded points awarded for his Indy Lights championship so he had no superlicense. Red Bull straight dropped him, no chance he'll sign up for that again and get jerked around when he has a full time ride and connection to Mclaren.

They can work around it for a test but a ride with Red Bull was never gonna happen without it.

Yeah that!!

During TMS coverageI saw the clip of Zak offering the deal to Pato in the motorhome..

Pato's face just lit up when he was told he'd get a F1 test at the end of the season. Fantastic to see his joy. As was his reply to his 'win a race' target by suggesting there will be many! Good lad.

[bjohnsonsmith]

Originally Posted by NaBUru38

The Saturday race was very boring. The Sunday race was quite better, so ok.


The big one happened because rows are too close to each other. In Indianapolis this never happens, because rows are much more separate.


This O'Ward ain't half bad... :P

It's happened at Indianapolis as well, 1966, '73 and '82 immediately spring to mind. '82 was truly bizarre. Go from 3:57. https://youtu.be/k33sBpPsAu0

[joeb]

Originally Posted by bjohnsonsmith

It's happened at Indianapolis as well, 1966, '73 and '82 immediately spring to mind. '82 was truly bizarre. Go from 3:57. https://youtu.be/k33sBpPsAu0

I have never seen that before, and that was truly bizarre! It almost looked like something broke in the suspension in the car just snapped sideways, but that would be a strange break before the race even starts while going straight.

[fieldodreams79]

Yup. Coogin had his head up his ass. Classic Super Tex.

82 was not the finest year for Indy...

[S griffin]

Cogan never really recovered from that. However it was reported he looked at the rear of his car after he got, suggesting he felt something broke in the rear

[fieldodreams79]

S Griffen, no he didn't but one theory was that drivers would ride the break on those turbo cars to keep it spooled up and he may given it too much. My theory is Cogan ran out of talent then and later.

Back to the Texas race, I'm glad to see we all agree that this was a bore of a weekend. I really hope they reconsider going back. It's either batshit crazy or a 200 mph parade. I don't care for either.