427 replies to this topic

[Massa]

Jean Alesi passed phases one and two today.  He and Cunningham need to still pass the third.  Alesi's fastest was somewhere in the high 208s.  Huge progress.

[Massa]

This goes 12:00 to 6:00 Eastern today for Opening Day.  Should be streaming.

http://racecontrol.indycar.com/

I wonder how much extra boost they gave Alesi yesterday.  He and Cunningham can't practice this afternoon; neither can Bourdais or Legge, who still have no engine.  As far as I know, Tagliani, who can practice, also has no engine.  So there are only 30 cars entered for the Indy 500 right now, and only 28 of them can actually run.  I am confused as to why Cunningham didn't try to complete phase three yesterday; only Alesi was on the track.

The ultimate underdogs, Fan Force United, don't even have a real website: http://lotusfanforce...5/12/chapter-1/

Good for them to have made it through two phases.

And lastly, Rubens Barrichello has now been to Indianapolis: http://auto-racing.s...richello-kanaan

[Massa]

Stream is horrid but it's live.  Josef Newgarden is the only one with a flying lap thus far.  218.328 mph.

No one's there.  PA announcer Dave Calabro is providing commentary.

[Massa]

Bryan Clauson's going out now.  Only SFHR seem to want to send their cars out early, for whatever reason.

No engine noise on the stream, which is too bad.

214.655 mph on his first lap.  These cars are really ugly at speed, but oh well, they're at IMS.

You know, Clauson was born in California, but lists Noblesville, IN (or Deerfield, depends) as his hometown.  There's another California-born USAC driver with a Hoosier hometown.  Jeff Gordon.  Those two aren't as connected as Danica Patrick and Casey Mears, of course.  Both have women's names, both have just one career win at the top level, both finished fourth in their 500-mile IndyCar debuts, and both did so driving for Bobby Rahal.

[JHS18]

Massa, on 11 May 2012 - 07:06 PM, said:

To celebrate Target's 50th anniversary, Dario Franchitti will run car #50 in the Indianapolis 500 instead of his usual #10.  #50 has never won the race.

It's sort of silly as an idea, but it didn't bother me...until I saw the number...



I think it's time for Indy to just give out standard number decals.  Get that trash out of there.  That to me is car #5 with sponsorship branding on the endplate.  It looks so goofy and unprofessional to have numbers like the ones Viso and Barrichello use, and now this #5-target crap.

Ban Dario Franchitti!

That's pretty similar to the numbers used in MotoGP actually.



Etc.

[Massa]

Clauson does a 217.421 without any help.

Rubens Barrichello seems like a really great guy.

Viso, Carpenter, and Newgarden out on the track now doing laps.

Viso does a 202.282, now up to 213.409.  Charlie Kimball heads out, Carpenter does an installion lap and pits again.

Newgarden doing 216s now; was in the 218s earlier.  Kmball doesn't do a lap.  Viso up to 214.198 mph.  Everyone's on a different program, but it's good to see that Chevrolet isn't just lighting Honda up out there.

Jourdain's looking to get a tow from Newgarden, we'll see how quickly he can go now...211.276.  Didn't get close enough for the draft as Newgarden pits.  Up to 213.467 now; fourth of the four who have done laps.  I'll be interested to see what kind of trim the SFHR cars are in; it's hard to tell how fast they really are, but they're well clear of the other two.

Barrichello suggested that these cars are hard to keep going in a straight line because they want to turn so much.  Welcome to oval racing.  All about oversteer.

Jourdain does a 214.019, pulls off.  Four drivers have taken time as I go for a lunch break from updates only I will read.

[Massa]

That Lorenzo number is horrid.  I'm ready to advocate for standardized black numbers in a white box again.

[Massa]

Servià still has Lotus colors on his Chevrolet.  Awesome.  Can't wait to see them get some colors for the 500.  I think they tried to make the gold into a silver-ish white at first glance.

[JHS18]

Massa, on 12 May 2012 - 04:50 PM, said:

That Lorenzo number is horrid.  I'm ready to advocate for standardized black numbers in a white box again.

You'll love when he used the Number 1 then:



Haha it's so clever he mixed J and L together to make 1 hahahaha.

Anyway...I'll stop dragging this off topic.

[Massa]

216.281 puts Kanaan third as the SFHR cars both go purple.  They are running in tow; Newgarden trailing Clauson.  Josef is 219.795, Clauson is 217.651.  Definitely faster to be behind, but surprised they can't even break 220 in a tow.

[Massa]

No trust me, James, it looks better when other people post here.  Three pages of me talking to myself isn't a great endorsement of me.

That's an awful number.  These stupid kids and their creativity.  Get a haircut and a job.

[Massa]

This time it's Kimball passing the slow car of Hildebrand.  Two guys who I don't think ever want to meet again.



Kimball's looking more comfortable this year, both in the Texas test, and now at 215.928.  Bob Jenkins takes over the PA.  Bob's a good guy.  I've emailed him a few times.  He has so much passion for the 500.

[Massa]

Kimball and Hildebrand both go over 217.  Getting closer to those SFHR cars.  Kimball pits at 217.361.  Not bad.  Top three all Honda engines.  Have to see what the Chevrolet big guns can bring.

[Massa]

Bryan Clauson's heading out.  I guess the last PA announcer, Dave Calabro, went to get a hot dog.  The food's a big part of the 500.  Pork tenderloin sandwiches...if you ever go, that's what you have to do, or else you never actually went.

Clauson does a 217.256 on his own; not as fast as his lap leading Newgarden around, but still, pretty good, as Rubens Barrichello heads out for his first flying lap.  Servià is out on track now too.  And we have engine noise!

Barrichello doesn't complete a lap, just checking that everything works.  #50, whoever that is, goes out.

Clauson does 217.965 without a tow.  This guy is good.  I hope we see him at some more ovals.

[Massa]

Carpenter, Kanaan, Servià, Briscoe, Newgarden, it's getting crowded on the Speedway!

Carpenter, Servià, and Kanaan may be towing off each other.  Servià looks to have deliberately lost the draft to do single car runs.

Kanaan: 216.670.  Servià is way off the pace.  Did two laps in the 203s and one in the 196.  Remember that he has a Chevrolet for the first time now.  Probably not Chevy's finest engine and as I say that he goes to a 216.732.  Not sure why it took him four laps or so to get there, but he's P5 now.

[Massa]

Kanaan breaks 217.  Newgarden was doing 218s by himself.  Fastest single car so far.  He pits now.

Marco Andretti is driving the #17 for Sebastián Saavedra.  That car is a joint effort between Andretti Autosport and AFS Racing.  Used to be Kanaan's job to set everyone up; last year, John Andretti did that.  Marco's all grown up now!

No one's been doing as much work today as Newgarden.  Out there again.

Kanaan: 217.228.  Servià: 216.835.  Both pit now.

Newgarden is the only car on track now.

[Massa]

Castroneves is out, let's see what he has...warming up in the 213s now...

[Massa]

Alright, Indiana: when you go to a bar, you say "I'm going to the bar" not "I'm going to the bear."  Think about that when announcing Barrichello.

Rubens is on the track right now, as is Kimball.  Castroneves was a buzzkill.  Never broke out of the high 213s.

I do wonder how fast these cars will go with aerokits next year.  Unless IndyCar mandates all that drag...

High 217s for Kimball in single-car running.  He's dead consistent.  217.698 last lap, 217.699 this lap.

[Massa]

Ed Carpenter paced Opening Day last year in the 224s with Sarah Fisher Racing.  He's out in his own car, the Fuzzy's Ultra Premium Vodka Special, now.  Considering the equipment he's driven, he's arguably the best oval racer in this series but he runs it waaaaaaaaay wide out of two and that's enough to send him back to the pits before he really gave the car a go.  Loose, loose, loose.

[Massa]

Newgarden and Clauson are still on top.  Looks like a single car can't go much faster than 218...keep in mind they will have 45 more horsepower or so for qualifying.

Penske Chevrolets are only in the 213-214 range.  Not sure what kind of runs they're doing today, but they aren't going for the money that you get for pacing Opening Day, at least not yet.  Honda looking stronger today.  None of the heavy-hitters at the top yet.  Cool stuff.

Still haven't seen the lone eligible Lotus, Simona de Silvestro's HVM entry, on track.  I'd love to see how it compares to Alesi's times.

[Massa]

Jean Alesi is allegedly going to be on track at some point.  I'm not sure how.  He never finished orientation.

Marco Andretti is complaining about Honda's "trick turbo."  Chevrolet lost both their protest and appeal.  Honda engine is declared legal.  Honda has a "trick turbo," Chevrolet has a twin turbo...

But an Andretti whining at Indy is about as predictable as the "WHY DO THEY STILL HAVE THE F1 STARTING GRID LINES ON THE FRONT STRETCH" complaint, which has already surfaced on the Internet today, as it did last year on Opening Day, and every other year since the USGP was canceled.  I don't think they realize those lines aren't just painted on...

20 of 27 cars have practiced; Marco Andretti and Sebastián Saavedra have both been in the 17.  I forgot that Townsend Bell was running the ALMS race in Laguna Seca today, and therefore, the 99 won't debut today.

[Massa]

Getting to the end here.  Alex Tagliani has a Honda engine.

Newgarden leads at 220.250.  Hildebrand, Jakes, Clauson, Kanaan the top five.  Kimball, Castroneves, Pagenaud, Wilson, Dixon the next set of five.

Two slowest cars of the day have Lotus engines.  Alesi did a 209.188, his fastest ever.  De Silvestro went 197.414.  Yikes.

Two cars on pit lane with no time: Alex Tagliani and Marco Andretti (in Ana Beatriz' #25 now, after driving the #17 a few times).

[Massa]

Cars missing in action today:

#15 Takuma Sato
#26 Marco Andretti (he's been in the #17 and #25)
#27 James Hinchcliffe
#28 Ryan Hunter-Reay
#41 Wade Cunningham (he really needs some track time; I guess if you pass phase two, you're allowed to pass phase three during a normal practice, hence Alesi is out there...Alesi has not passed phase three yet, though)
#99 Townsend Bell (in Laguna Seca)

Cars without engines:

#6 Katherine Legge
#7 Sébastien Bourdais

And that totals 32 cars...so who am I missing...

[Massa]

Cunningham's lack of pace in orientation seems to be a team thing.  Conway's not exactly lighting it up out there.

Not a huge surprise there.  What is surprising?  How far off the pace Ed Carpenter has been.  Between himself, Derrick Walker, and Vision Racing, they should be getting this together.  Perhaps they're trying non-qualifying things out.  It's only one session, after all.

Marco's taking Ana's car out now as Servià does his best of the day: 217.049.  That puts him eleventh, he'll hold eleventh now as he goes up to 217.199.

[Massa]

Tagliani and de Silvestro heading out now.  Andretti brought the car back in before completing a lap.

The Lotus has a very distinct noise to it.

Simona does a 200.203.  Her best of the day.  It's tough for Lotus to have Alesi and de Silvestro as their drivers.  The engine itself is crap, but neither driver is exactly an Indy 500 ace.  Still, I'm glad to see their talented lineup all move on.  Servià, Tagliani, and Bourdais deserve better (and that doesn't mean Simona or Jean don't, they're just not immediate priorities.  Certainly, if anyone deserves a Lotus, it's Legge).

Tagliani just did an installation lap, nothing for time.  Alesi in the 207s, Simona in the 200s.

[Massa]

Not sure why, but the DW12 looks extra bad in red.  Other colors aren't as offensive, but red, man, stop painting these cars red.

Takuma Sato shows up on the pit road with 12 minutes to go.

[Massa]

Clauson to third with a 218.834.  SFHR and Honda seem to have something really nice today.  Good for Clauson.  Great story.

He's reeling in Briscoe, might get a tow.  Newgarden's 220 was with one.  Newgarden was also very fast as a single car, in the 218s, which I think is the peak for the cars in this package (they will, as I've said, have extra horsepower for qualifying and hopefully gain a few mph from that).

Clauson: 219.632, still third.  He and Briscoe exit the track, which is now empty.  Ten minutes to go in Opening Day.

[HandyNZL]

Massa, on 12 May 2012 - 09:43 PM, said:

Tagliani and de Silvestro heading out now.  Andretti brought the car back in before completing a lap.

The Lotus has a very distinct noise to it.

Simona does a 200.203.  Her best of the day.  It's tough for Lotus to have Alesi and de Silvestro as their drivers.  The engine itself is crap, but neither driver is exactly an Indy 500 ace.  Still, I'm glad to see their talented lineup all move on.  Servià, Tagliani, and Bourdais deserve better (and that doesn't mean Simona or Jean don't, they're just not immediate priorities.  Certainly, if anyone deserves a Lotus, it's Legge).

Tagliani just did an installation lap, nothing for time.  Alesi in the 207s, Simona in the 200s.

That's what they say about all engines about to let go....

[Massa]

Tagliani's on track now with his Honda.  208.396 on his first flyer.  See if he goes for another...he does, 212.254.  His car, the #98, won last year doing a partial program (didn't participate in many of the practices).  Surprised they're here on Opening Day, since the Honda engine was never confirmed.  212.840 now.

Five minutes to go.  Looks like Sarah Fisher will get her second consecutive Opening Day as a team owner.  Ed Carpenter paced it last year in the #67.  Carpenter went on to qualify within the nine drivers eligible for the Pole Shootout, so having pace on Opening Day can be somewhat meaningful.

213.696 for Tagliani, that's his best.  No change of position for him though.

Alesi, Conway, Tagliani on-track to end.  214.161 for Tagliani, now up to twenty-first position.

Tagliani got caught behind Alesi; despite the tow, he had to slow down significantly to accomodate, and ended up slower in the draft than he had been doing his single-car runs.

Sato's debut: 214.369, up to 21st.  Tagliani does a 215.344 and jumps to 18th, Sato back to 22nd now.  Conway and Alesi do their fastest of the day.

Alesi has not yet passed rookie orientation.

Sato: 216.854, he's P13.  Only took him three laps.  217.180 for Sato, now he's P12, and that's it.

Checkered flag...Josef Newgarden has a 100% record in Indy sessions.  Teammate Bryan Clauson in third.  What a story.

Practice again tomorrow noon to six, racecontrol.indycar.com to watch, I probably won't be updating as much.

[Massa]