Clicky

Jump to content

Archived

This topic is now archived and is closed to further replies.

lewisthegreat2

Greatest Spectacle In Auto Racing

Recommended Posts

I like orange in moderation, but there's no flow, and it's a really ugly shade of orange when they have the high quality reflective stuff on some parts and cheap crap on the rest in terrible blotches of design-less manure.

(It bothers me because the William Rast cars are always so pretty, and this one isn't :().

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

So should we rename this thread the Eric and Handy thread? Do you think any of the others will ever come in here? Do we smell or something?

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

I predict that on race day, someone will not notice this, start an "Indy 500" thread about an hour after the race ends, and ask if anyone else watched. It happens every year.

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

You mean we're talking about a race in here? Oh....sorry...I'm in the wrong thread then...... :P

Long Beach coverage just started.....yay

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

I predict that on race day, someone will not notice this, start an "Indy 500" thread about an hour after the race ends, and ask if anyone else watched. It happens every year.

Now I'm going to do that just to annoy you! :D Because I'm that kind of guy.

Uhh, I feel dirty just posting in this thread, better get out of here before someone sees me.

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

Oooooo...the Mersey Paradiso fellow was here....quick Eric, get a photo of him to prove he was here...quick quick quick quick...

....why's he running off????....

...Eric????....hellooooo?

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

Photoshop his face onto his own body. It's embarrassing enough. Zing etc. :P

We all know he'll watch the first ever Indy 500 with double-file restarts (do you know how AWESOME that is going to be?), absolutely love it, type out a glowing essay of appreciation for the Indy 500, and then hit Ctrl + F, click the Replace tab, and replace the Indy 500 with Turkish Grand Prix and INDYCAR with Formula One so he fits in better. He's been doing it for years.

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

Conquest Racing confirmed their second driver today: Pippa Mann.

Mann tested with the team during the off-season (in Fort Worth, I believe) and will attempt to make her IZOD IndyCar Series debut in the biggest race of them all.

After an unimpressive career in Europe, Mann moved to the Firestone Indy Lights Series in 2009, where she struggled to a dismal 14th in points. The following year, she joined the best team in the series, Sam Schmidt Motorsports, and focused heavily on her physical fitness. After a slow start to the season, Mann suffered a wrist injury, missing Mid-Ohio. In her return for the final four races of the season, she scored her four best finishes: fifth, second, first, and fifth. Her win came at Kentucky.

Mann also won the pole for the Indy Lights race at Indianapolis in 2009.

Well-liked by her competitors and the media, she's certainly an interesting addition to the grid, but will have her work cut out for her considering her inexperience and her equipment. Another year in FILS would have been really beneficial, as she was starting to show something toward the end of the year.

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

Oooooo...the Mersey Paradiso fellow was here....quick Eric, get a photo of him to prove he was here...quick quick quick quick...

Mersey???

Not another bl**dy scouser!!! :D They're breeding!!!

Quick everyone, hide your hubcaps.... :)

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

The Panther 44 will be a no-show unless money is found (i.e. a Mario Moraes-type driver). If Panther provide support for the Pagenaud 16, the 44 becomes even less likely.

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

Right forename, wrong surname in my prediction on the 8.

Looks now like it might be 1996 Indianapolis 500 champion Buddy Lazier.

Alex Lloyd's strong for the 19 that Bourdais has been so good at being so bad in this year.

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

Never been a fan of Boredais (See what I did there? I'm clever) - he does seem to be talented but gosh he doesn't come across as someone you can easily like, unlike Hinchcliffe.

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

Yep, even in his short stint in F1 he wasn't winning any friends...very centered on himself and expecting others to provide him with the right tools, rather than he work at the tools to make them better. At least that was my impression of him.

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

Sébastien Bourdais is great when he's winning, terrible when he's losing. I've heard and witnessed a lot of good in him, but it's always been offset by the bad, and when you look at that context, there's a trend.

And he chose Le Mans over Indy. It's totally understandable; he's paid more to do that, has an actual shot to win it, he's from Le Mans, it's a big race...BUT...Marco did both last year, Peugeot have a tenth driver (J.K. Vernay, Indy Lights champion), and it really has to make his team question is commitment to being in IndyCar. Does he want to be here, or does he want to be there? Coyne's digging deep into his pockets to pay Bourdais, and to have him choose other endeavors over this ride, and to have him make comments about how he hopes to be back at Newman/Haas one day or this or that, really has to be a kick in the nuts. And I guarantee Lloyd, a genuinely nice guy, will get better results on the ovals than Bourdais will on the roadies this year.

I'll say this much: I'm a big Newman/Haas fan, and having Hinchcliffe and Servià, two of my favorites, on that team is a huge relief after years of supporting the Junqueira side of the team and hoping someway, somehow Bourdais would lose a championship. :lol:

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

Pre-race festivities are a huge part of the Indianapolis 500 every year, but being the centennial of the first 500 (the 95th running; WWI and WWII causing the gaps), there will be extra.

Former winners will be driving winning cars around the track, but only two will be driving the car that he actually won in. So a little easy trivia: who is in his own car? I've linked the names to pictures of what he will be driving...

Parnelli Jones

Mario Andretti

Al Unser

Bobby Unser

Johnny Rutherford

Tom Sneva

Bobby Rahal

Arie Luyendyk

Al Unser, Jr.

Kenny Bräck

Gil de Ferran

Correct answer: Tom Sneva and Arie Luyendyk. But you knew that. I hope.

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

Updates:

Ho-Pin Tung will be in Dragon Racing's #8. Sucks to see that; he's useless, and the 8 is actually a good car at Indy. Brutal to make your debut at Indy, too.

Dragon's second car, the 16, goes to Simon Pagenaud through Highcroft, though this is only 99.9% official.

2004 Indy 500 champion Buddy Rice has been confirmed in the 44 car, a team car to J.R. Hildebrand. Hildebrand will benefit hugely from having a mentor like that, and Panther have finished second in the last three 500s with two different drivers. Rice is a real darkhorse to win this thing...

No word on Lazier yet, though he's been linked to that China Racing 89. I guess Greg Beck, Derrick Walker, et al might be involved there. P.J. Jones?

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

São Paulo's out of the way. It's Indy season.

To maximize your month of May enjoyment, please be sure to:

  1. Watch qualifying. Pole Day and Bump Day will be on TV and will therefore be streamed online (let me know if you need help finding that) somewhere. Qualifying is huge at Indy because cars will fail to qualify, and yes, they will likely be within 105%. They start 33. We have up to 43 trying. Another unique attribute? Points. Every starting position pays points in addition to finishing position, making Indy the heaviest-weighted event on the calendar (as it ought to be). The format, too, is special, not only in that it goes over two days (positions 1-24 set on Pole Day, and 25-33 on Bump Day), but also that the top ten will participate in a Shootout at the end of Pole Day to set their official order and determine both points payout, prize money, and pole-sitter.
  2. Make use of the IMS Radio Network. Especially those of you streaming online; extra easy to mute the broadcast and have the radio streaming in another tab. American radio is definitely different, so don't be surprised, but no one does excitement in the way IMS Radio can. There's a reason INDYCAR use the radio commentary in their highlights videos...
  3. Predict the PEAK pole-sitter, Chase Rookie of the Year, and of course, the race winner right here in this thread. And nothing else because nothing else matters. For bragging rights only.
  4. Watch the Freedom 100 Indy Lights race. It will be a blast. Again, this is televised live, so I expected a stream. I'll set you up if you need help, as always. I'll do anything to spread the joys of INDYCAR to you.
  5. Find a pork tenderloin sandwich. It's just a 500 thing. Make yourself enjoy it.

That should cover it. I'm very excited. Just something special about the Indy 500. Always a lot of stories, which I hope to cover in this thread as we approach what is being marketed as the "Most Important Race in History."

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

Some special Indy-only liveries, both sporting nations' colors.

Bertrand Baguette, with backing from the RACB and their many Belgian partners:

Baguette.jpg

Better than last year's car.

And then, of course, never-say-die American patriot Mike Conway sports these colors:

358uec0.jpg

Other than the dumb Andretti nosecone, I like the car, all jokes about the driver choice aside. I think it's a really cool cause, and I'm glad 7-Eleven are using the space to advertise that rather than just rolling out their usual Slurpee Special.

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

Scott Speed will attempt the Indy 500 with Dragon Racing. Details aren't available. The 16 Pagenaud was going to run? Seems sensible, as that was supposed to be some kind of Highcroft/Dragon entry, but Highcroft aren't really around anymore, and there's no real money. Suspicious the entry was entirely blank after Pagneaud was confirmed, so I suspect that's Speed's car now.

Highcroft, allegedly, are trying to get a different ride for Pagenaud. Good luck...

I'd like to see both drivers, personally, especially over a name like Ho-Pin Tung, but I won't go there. Definitely a surprising announcement.

Speaking of incompetent drivers like Tung, Ricardo Teixeira might maybe be in the China Racing car with Beck involvement. If they qualify for this field, I'll eat something nasty.

But that's not concrete. What is? Alex Lloyd in the 19 for the 500 and all the other ovals. He'll out-perform Bourdais.

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

No Highcroft. No Pagenaud. No Donald Trump.

Latter is super official, first two are close to confirmed.

He's superficial, too!

Saw an article today on Indy history, I'll post it here (where the only people who will see it probably already know it all, naturally :lol:): http://en.espnf1.com...tml?CMP=OTC-RSS

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

×
×
  • Create New...