No More Ganassi/Penske domination

[marcostraz]

7 races in 2013, 0 victories for Penske or Ganassi ...9 consecutive races (considering also the last 2 of 2012) without a win...interesting...you can say all about the new car, it's ugly, clumsy and poorly performing, but at least it put an end to a monopoly of the two bigger teams...

[Peat]

I just find it bizarre how Ganassi & Penske seemingly had the jump on everyone last year with the new car and now it's all topsy turvey each weekend.

Must be down to the tyres, surely?

[marcostraz]

Originally Posted by Peat

I just find it bizarre how Ganassi & Penske seemingly had the jump on everyone last year with the new car and now it's all topsy turvey each weekend.

Must be down to the tyres, surely?

I think that both team maybe need a turnover...for example, Penske at Indy had three cars, but only one (ironically, the one driven by the oldest of the three drivers) had really a chance to win...Penske need at least one more complete driver alongside to Helio...Power is completely out of phase in this 2013 (not only for his fault, of caourse), and he is not good for a top team in the ovals...if Penske return to three full time cars in the 2014, he can stay...if Penske stays to only two cars, in my opinion they need a new and more complete in 2014...sorry for Will, but Penske cannot allow to "lose" a car on the ovals and in the most important race of the year...for Ganassi, I think Dixon was really unlucky in this first half of the season, but I see him to improve his results (not his speed, that was always competitive, except Indy) and fight for the championship...Dario is now a year and a half that is in crisis (he was one of the most critical with the new left foot brakes pedal form last year testing)...perhaps he began his downward spiral? Mmm, I don't know, but it's a thing that Ganassi has to ponder about at the end of the season...

[NaBUru38]

Hélio is leading the championship, with a 2nd, 3rd and 5th as best results.

Dixon is 4th in the championship, with a 2nd, two 4ths and a 5th as best results.

Now it's a top 3 teams situation, because Andretti is 2nd with three podiums, and Hunter-Reay is 3rd with a win and three podiums.

[Canada ALMS fan]

Originally Posted by marcostraz

7 races in 2013, 0 victories for Penske or Ganassi ...9 consecutive races (considering also the last 2 of 2012) without a win...interesting...you can say all about the new car, it's ugly, clumsy and poorly performing, but at least it put an end to a monopoly of the two bigger teams...

It sure makes for exciting racing. This series has had amazing action this year. The depth of talent behind the wheel is quite high IMO. I don't really care who wins the championship if every weekend is a shoot out and we see many different race victors. We just need a bit more technical variety and all will be good, and it's coming eventually. Their timing could be perfect to win back a bunch of fans who left for the ALMS 10-15 years ago as the USCR sounds a little scary at this point. I thoroughly enjoyed the Indycar races at Detroit. The Grand Am race was a snoozer, will watch the World Challenge races when I get a moment.

[00steven]

Quite frankly I hate parity. I love to see guys get it right and completely dominate. Here's to hoping Penske and Ganassi get it back.

[gomick]

Rightio... Its great that new teams are getting race wins

[Paradise City]

Franchitti is lost, so is Power. Both were the lynchpins of the Ganassi, Penske challenge - so when they came undone, for whatever reason, the rest filled up their space.

[Razzzor]

Is is an exciting year for Indycar isn't it. I came home and watched both Detroit races back-to-back and wasn't distracted at all like I normally would be. They were great!

Penske/Ganassi haven't dominated but they are still strong. My boy Dixon has had his usual share of bad luck in the first half of the season which costs him the title, he was quickest from memory in both the first two races. A better start at the Detroit races and he would have been fighting with Conway, the second race he had multiple technical issues which slowed him down, hence why he wasn't as strong as race 1 where he passed just about every car on track.

Power has been fast as well at some places but has had no luck, but then at others looks completely lost, a bit like Dario at some races. And both teams were nowhere at Indy, how strange is that? They normally dominate Indy, it's where Dario usually is at his best and he was nowhere before crashing into the wall - not the first time he's done that this year.

I do think Ryan's going to end up champ though, and Power will make a comeback.

[Mekola]

Originally Posted by 00steven

Quite frankly I hate parity. I love to see guys get it right and completely dominate. Here's to hoping Penske and Ganassi get it back.

And I'm on the opposite side. I love parity.

[canamman]

Wonder if all the different sanctions they both race in is begining to
put a strain on the focus? Probably not but maybe a slight factor.

[formerf1champ]

So I take it Andretti Autosport is not a Goliath like these two?

Originally Posted by 00steven

Quite frankly I hate parity. I love to see guys get it right and completely dominate. Here's to hoping Penske and Ganassi get it back.

Yeah, but is it getting it right or is it financial power?

[NaBUru38]

Originally Posted by Mekola

And I'm on the opposite side. I love parity.

And I prefer the best to win

- o -

In F1, teams outside the top 4 have almost no chance to win.

In F1 there were 6 race winners in 2009, 5 in 2010 and 2011, and 8 in 2012 (Pastor Maldonado was a great surprise). There were only 8 podium finishers in 2010 and 7 in 2011.

In IndyCar there were 6 in 2009, 7 in 2010, and 8 in 2011 and 2012. here were 14 podium finishers in 2010 and 2011, and 16 in 2012. This year there were 13 podium finishers in 8 races!

- o -

F1 is too elitist, because cars are too different. IndyCar is sometimes too equal, but usually it's great that any decent driver can win.

[NaBUru38]

"No more Ganassi/Penske domination"???

Well, it depends on the glasses one uses.

Penske drivers are 1st and 11th. Andretti main drivers are 3rd, 4th and 7th. Ganassi drivers are 2nd, 6th and 8th. So that's 4 out of the top 5, and also 7 out of the top 10. Also, they won 9 out of 14 races.

But, there's four teams in the top 5, and 6 in the top 10. Also, there's been 9 different winners in 14 races, including 4 first-timers.

[NaBUru38]

Another statistic: in the 9 road/street races so far, the number of finishers on the lead lap is:

o- St Pete: 15
o- Barber: 21
o- Long Beach: 18
o- Sao Paulo: 19
o- Detroit 1: 17
o- Detroit 2: 12 (major pileup)
o- Toronto 1: 14
o- Toronto 2: 12
o- Mid-Ohio: 16

That's an average of 15, which sounds fairly high to me.

[bjohnsonsmith]

I think it's a bit premature to say no more Ganassi/Penske domination. Both have the 1st and 2nd spots in the driver's championship and there are still 5 races to go.

[Peat]

Well of course, it's all shaken itself out now and they are back on top.

When this thread was started 2 months ago, it was a very different picture.

[NaBUru38]

Originally Posted by bjohnsonsmith

TK to Ganassi for next year.

http://www.autosport.com/news/report.php/id/110330

Looks like multi-car super teams is the trend for next year.

I'm reviving this thread to discuss this specificcally.

This year, the top 3 teams had a total 9 full-season cars:

o- 2 in Penske: Castroneves and Power.
o- 3 in Ganassi: Dixon, Franchitti and Kimball.
o- 4 in Andretti: Hunter-Reay, Andretti, Hinchcliffe and Viso.

In 2014, we will have between 11 and 13 between the three teams:

o- 3 in Penske: Castroneves, Power and Montoya.
o- 5 in Ganassi: Dixon, Franchitti, Kimball and Kanaan.
o- 3-5 in Andretti: Hunter-Reay and Andretti are virtually confirmed; Viso, Muñoz and Hinchcliffe (or a replacement) are possible.

That's about half the field! So, my questions are:

o- Will it hurt the competitivity of of the championship? Will teams like KV, Schmidt, Rahal, Dale Coyne have any chance? Or will these three teams pull enough of a show?

o- Will the other teams struggle to find sponsors?

o- Will they keep all their drivers full season, or will they drop some mid-season?

o- Will this give more bargaining power to the Roger, Chip and Micheal?

[JacobP]

IMHO, something needs to be done to limit the cars per team. Three per team should be enough. Otherwise, the big teams take both drivers and sponsors away from the rest and we end with three teams dominating the championship.

[Salamus]

Originally Posted by JacobP

IMHO, something needs to be done to limit the cars per team. Three per team should be enough. Otherwise, the big teams take both drivers and sponsors away from the rest and we end with three teams dominating the championship.

You want to limit cars during a time when this series can barely come up with 33 cars for the Indy 500?

[Formulahistory]

What were the most cars entered by one team in the history?

[Peat]

Jonathan Palmer entered alot of cars in the last incarnation of FIA F2.....

[bjohnsonsmith]

Originally Posted by Formulahistory

What were the most cars entered by one team in the history?

In the history of IndyCar?

[bjohnsonsmith]

After the MavTV 500 at Fontana, I don't think we've seen the end of Ganassi/Penske domination and we won't for a while.

[marcostraz]

Originally Posted by bjohnsonsmith

After the MavTV 500 at Fontana, I don't think we've seen the end of Ganassi/Penske domination and we won't for a while.

We already saw the end of Ganassi/Penske domination...they do not win all the races like in the past...obviously, they and Andretti are the three top teams, but there are a lot of small teams able to oppose and some times defeat them...at the end of the season it's obvious that they are in contention for the championship, but they have to fight with others to win the single races...they never monopolize first 3 or 4 rows every race...and Pagenaud and Schmidt finish third in standings, didn't they?