Add group to favorites
Back to post list
Send new message to group Search:
Post Subject:
Todays race
Todays race
Well with all the usual excitement that the start of a season brings,
I wasn't so much so this year. I watched the race this year, but
unlike years past it won't be on my must do things of the weekend.
Some comments on todays race, the good, the bad and the ugly.
First the track was mostly good. Would have been great if they had
not had that dumb chicane right before the tunnel. Other than that
the track was wide, room to pass and looked fairly challenging. Heard
something about a problem with the cars there but then deal with the
problem. Don't use a bandaid approach. Change the course, fix the
road, or at least make them big enough to really race instead of what
looked like funneling them into a single file to take them like a ski
racer. My overall grade a B.
The bad well the broadcast did have Jon B which was a big plus. Very
informative and recent enough open wheel experience to understand what
was going on. Sending their Nascar team which I consider barely
acceptable when compared to many of the past Nascar teams, out to
cover a series of which they have little knowledge is not a recipe for
an entertaining broadcast. As much as I usually don't like Bill
Weber, he actually may have been a slight improvement over what they
had last year. Dragging out Wally's old Cart footage was priceless.
Very limited and decades old, but Wally with a little time might be
ok. The real knowledge base is Wally's dad. That's probably as
likely as Robin Miller and Tony George having Easter Dinner together.
Hopefully they will at least keep the team together long enough to see
just how things gel as far as chemistry. I like the potential between
Wally and Jon, just please make sure no one even thinks about Vince
Welch or worse yet Paul Page. Over all grade C.
The car. Well some good, but most inexcusable. First it looks like
the aero package may be very good. The cars looked to be stable and
balanced. The aero package may be the reason for some of the battles,
allowing cars to run much closer together. Grade A- All the hype
about the paddle shifters means little to the fan. Shift with a
shifter, a paddle, or your toes for all I care, is it reliable and
does it work. Well only one gearbox failure, but lets see how that
holds out. Grade Incomplete
The ugly. For a car to have been in development for this length of
time and have trouble getting fuel in the car is totally
inexcuseable. From a safety standpoint that should have been
extremely well tested. Recent years the worst fires have been pit
fires. These were not isolated problems. Most of the teams up and
down pit road had issues and it affected the outcome of the race
Grade F
All the hype about the on board starters was more hype and hype
alone. Oh they work fine when the engine is cold, and of course the
remote starter is right there, but when the engine is hot they just
don't work. Gee thats a real help if you stall it just as you leave
pit lane for the first time before the race even has a chance to
start. By the time the green flag is dropped the engine is likely
warm enough that it won't work. Again this shouldn't be that tough of
a problem from an engineering standpoint. For what ever reason it
wasn't done. Hint. If it don't work, don't say anything till it
does. Even with that going green the one time with a car still
stalled on track hoping that the system would work was hardly smart.
At least equip the safety team with external starters so rather than
having to get a safety vehicle to give them a tow, just push the car
to a safe area and stick the starter in and see if it fires. Grade F
One new rule would help a lot too. If you spin once and you bring out
a FCY, you can refire it and rejoin the race. Spin the second time
and lose the fire or bring out the second FCY and you should be done
for the day.
Worse than ugly. The character and flow of the entire race was
changed when they made it a timed race. Funny how NBC kept a lap
counter there, but it meant absolutely nothing. Teams were judging
tire wear based on the number of laps run. Fuel was based on how much
if any that awful fueling system put in the car, but it was based on
laps not time. The only thing not based on laps was the end of the
race. Using time as a backup for tv is one thing, but the drama
builds through the race as the laps wind down. Reverting to a timed
race when it runs long is better having the race end missed. Yes they
have often worked out as timed races, but if you could keep Speedy Dan
on the track instead of Speedy Dan into the tires, the race likely
could finish a race distance without running long for Tv. Sports
Cars, Trans Am and Edurance racing have a long history of racing using
the clock. Champ Cars have a long history of running a given
distance. This is a change that didn't have to be made and maybe the
biggest mistake of all. Grade 0 only because I can't give it a lower
one.
Well with all the usual excitement that the start of a season brings,
I wasn't so much so this year. I watched the race this year, but
unlike years past it won't be on my must do things of the weekend.
Some comments on todays race, the good, the bad and the ugly.
First the track was mostly good. Would have been great if they had
not had that dumb chicane right before the tunnel. Other than that
the track was wide, room to pass and looked fairly challenging. Heard
something about a problem with the cars there but then deal with the
problem. Don't use a bandaid approach. Change the course, fix the
road, or at least make them big enough to really race instead of what
looked like funneling them into a single file to take them like a ski
racer. My overall grade a B.
The bad well the broadcast did have Jon B which was a big plus. Very
informative and recent enough open wheel experience to understand what
was going on. Sending their Nascar team which I consider barely
acceptable when compared to many of the past Nascar teams, out to
cover a series of which they have little knowledge is not a recipe for
an entertaining broadcast. As much as I usually don't like Bill
Weber, he actually may have been a slight improvement over what they
had last year. Dragging out Wally's old Cart footage was priceless.
Very limited and decades old, but Wally with a little time might be
ok. The real knowledge base is Wally's dad. That's probably as
likely as Robin Miller and Tony George having Easter Dinner together.
Hopefully they will at least keep the team together long enough to see
just how things gel as far as chemistry. I like the potential between
Wally and Jon, just please make sure no one even thinks about Vince
Welch or worse yet Paul Page. Over all grade C.
The car. Well some good, but most inexcusable. First it looks like
the aero package may be very good. The cars looked to be stable and
balanced. The aero package may be the reason for some of the battles,
allowing cars to run much closer together. Grade A- All the hype
about the paddle shifters means little to the fan. Shift with a
shifter, a paddle, or your toes for all I care, is it reliable and
does it work. Well only one gearbox failure, but lets see how that
holds out. Grade Incomplete
The ugly. For a car to have been in development for this length of
time and have trouble getting fuel in the car is totally
inexcuseable. From a safety standpoint that should have been
extremely well tested. Recent years the worst fires have been pit
fires. These were not isolated problems. Most of the teams up and
down pit road had issues and it affected the outcome of the race
Grade F
All the hype about the on board starters was more hype and hype
alone. Oh they work fine when the engine is cold, and of course the
remote starter is right there, but when the engine is hot they just
don't work. Gee thats a real help if you stall it just as you leave
pit lane for the first time before the race even has a chance to
start. By the time the green flag is dropped the engine is likely
warm enough that it won't work. Again this shouldn't be that tough of
a problem from an engineering standpoint. For what ever reason it
wasn't done. Hint. If it don't work, don't say anything till it
does. Even with that going green the one time with a car still
stalled on track hoping that the system would work was hardly smart.
At least equip the safety team with external starters so rather than
having to get a safety vehicle to give them a tow, just push the car
to a safe area and stick the starter in and see if it fires. Grade F
One new rule would help a lot too. If you spin once and you bring out
a FCY, you can refire it and rejoin the race. Spin the second time
and lose the fire or bring out the second FCY and you should be done
for the day.
Worse than ugly. The character and flow of the entire race was
changed when they made it a timed race. Funny how NBC kept a lap
counter there, but it meant absolutely nothing. Teams were judging
tire wear based on the number of laps run. Fuel was based on how much
if any that awful fueling system put in the car, but it was based on
laps not time. The only thing not based on laps was the end of the
race. Using time as a backup for tv is one thing, but the drama
builds through the race as the laps wind down. Reverting to a timed
race when it runs long is better having the race end missed. Yes they
have often worked out as timed races, but if you could keep Speedy Dan
on the track instead of Speedy Dan into the tires, the race likely
could finish a race distance without running long for Tv. Sports
Cars, Trans Am and Edurance racing have a long history of racing using
the clock. Champ Cars have a long history of running a given
distance. This is a change that didn't have to be made and maybe the
biggest mistake of all. Grade 0 only because I can't give it a lower
one.
Re: Todays race
"Mark" <mblackwell1958@yahoo . com > wrote in message
news:1176094964.748208.89510@l77g2000hsb.googlegroups . com ...
>
> Worse than ugly. The character and flow of the entire race was
> changed when they made it a timed race. Funny how NBC kept a lap
> counter there, but it meant absolutely nothing. Teams were judging
> tire wear based on the number of laps run. Fuel was based on how much
> if any that awful fueling system put in the car, but it was based on
> laps not time. The only thing not based on laps was the end of the
> race. Using time as a backup for tv is one thing, but the drama
> builds through the race as the laps wind down. Reverting to a timed
> race when it runs long is better having the race end missed. Yes they
> have often worked out as timed races, but if you could keep Speedy Dan
> on the track instead of Speedy Dan into the tires, the race likely
> could finish a race distance without running long for Tv. Sports
> Cars, Trans Am and Edurance racing have a long history of racing using
> the clock. Champ Cars have a long history of running a given
> distance. This is a change that didn't have to be made and maybe the
> biggest mistake of all. Grade 0 only because I can't give it a lower
> one.
I hear what you are saying but IMSA/ALMS have been doing timed races for
years It's not bad. I think it could be improved by giving the viewers more
data. Perhaps more important then ever they have to give us a good graphic
with an overview of the pit stops. After the race all this data is available
for every driver - they need to get it up on the screen in real time, give
us a comparison of how many stops and when a driver made them. Of course
until the fuel rig problems are solved it doesn't mater much, as Tracy and
Bruno can tell you. But my point is if they give us the right data a timed
race can be exciting.
"Mark" <mblackwell1958@yahoo . com > wrote in message
news:1176094964.748208.89510@l77g2000hsb.googlegroups . com ...
>
> Worse than ugly. The character and flow of the entire race was
> changed when they made it a timed race. Funny how NBC kept a lap
> counter there, but it meant absolutely nothing. Teams were judging
> tire wear based on the number of laps run. Fuel was based on how much
> if any that awful fueling system put in the car, but it was based on
> laps not time. The only thing not based on laps was the end of the
> race. Using time as a backup for tv is one thing, but the drama
> builds through the race as the laps wind down. Reverting to a timed
> race when it runs long is better having the race end missed. Yes they
> have often worked out as timed races, but if you could keep Speedy Dan
> on the track instead of Speedy Dan into the tires, the race likely
> could finish a race distance without running long for Tv. Sports
> Cars, Trans Am and Edurance racing have a long history of racing using
> the clock. Champ Cars have a long history of running a given
> distance. This is a change that didn't have to be made and maybe the
> biggest mistake of all. Grade 0 only because I can't give it a lower
> one.
I hear what you are saying but IMSA/ALMS have been doing timed races for
years It's not bad. I think it could be improved by giving the viewers more
data. Perhaps more important then ever they have to give us a good graphic
with an overview of the pit stops. After the race all this data is available
for every driver - they need to get it up on the screen in real time, give
us a comparison of how many stops and when a driver made them. Of course
until the fuel rig problems are solved it doesn't mater much, as Tracy and
Bruno can tell you. But my point is if they give us the right data a timed
race can be exciting.
Re: Todays race
On Apr 9, 11:57 am, "just bob" <kilbyfan@aoldotcom> wrote:
> "Mark" <mblackwell1...@yahoo . com > wrote in message
>
> news:1176094964.748208.89510@l77g2000hsb.googlegroups . com ...
>
>
>
>
>
> > Worse than ugly. The character and flow of the entire race was
> > changed when they made it a timed race. Funny how NBC kept a lap
> > counter there, but it meant absolutely nothing. Teams were judging
> > tire wear based on the number of laps run. Fuel was based on how much
> > if any that awful fueling system put in the car, but it was based on
> > laps not time. The only thing not based on laps was the end of the
> > race. Using time as a backup for tv is one thing, but the drama
> > builds through the race as the laps wind down. Reverting to a timed
> > race when it runs long is better having the race end missed. Yes they
> > have often worked out as timed races, but if you could keep Speedy Dan
> > on the track instead of Speedy Dan into the tires, the race likely
> > could finish a race distance without running long for Tv. Sports
> > Cars, Trans Am and Edurance racing have a long history of racing using
> > the clock. Champ Cars have a long history of running a given
> > distance. This is a change that didn't have to be made and maybe the
> > biggest mistake of all. Grade 0 only because I can't give it a lower
> > one.
>
> I hear what you are saying but IMSA/ALMS have been doing timed races for
> years It's not bad. I think it could be improved by giving the viewers more
> data. Perhaps more important then ever they have to give us a good graphic
> with an overview of the pit stops. After the race all this data is available
> for every driver - they need to get it up on the screen in real time, give
> us a comparison of how many stops and when a driver made them. Of course
> until the fuel rig problems are solved it doesn't mater much, as Tracy and
> Bruno can tell you. But my point is if they give us the right data a timed
> race can be exciting.
IMSA has that long history of doing it that way. Champ Car doesn't
and has enough changes going on that it didn't need another one. We
all griped with mandatory pits stops because of it destroying the flow
of the race. Timed races do the exact same thing in a different way.
ALMS is much more of an endurance racing series than anything else.
Trans Am did it that way too and where are they racing now? There
margins of victory are often measured in laps, not hundreths of a
second. If you want to have the 24 hours of Long Beach in a Champ Car
then fine, time the race. A 12 hours of Houston, then time the race.
It would be a trick with the fueling rigs to get them to run that kind
of time.
As a fall back because of yellows I see no problem with it. It
happened that way last year so I guess they figured that it was not
that much of a change. IF they can get talent in the back that can
stay out of the tires, then they could finish based on a distance, and
then do something drastic. They would have time to show victory lane,
talk to some other drivers, show a race recap with highlights and in
general promote the series and next event.
With the quality of the TV production I have seen over the last
several years, there is no way I will believe that the believe that
the data that might be available will get to the fans consitently
enough to make for an effective broadcast. Laps are simple, easy to
count (assuming you have someone that can count and doesn't work for
USAC) and build a drama from a long way out. It naturally builds on a
race till its conclusion, like counting down a launch of a space
craft.
Champ car is one of the most unusal groups Ive ever seen. At times
they can make decisions that are down right brilliant. Other times I
wonder if they have the sense to find their back sides with both hands
without a map. You just never know which is going to show up.
On Apr 9, 11:57 am, "just bob" <kilbyfan@aoldotcom> wrote:
> "Mark" <mblackwell1...@yahoo . com > wrote in message
>
> news:1176094964.748208.89510@l77g2000hsb.googlegroups . com ...
>
>
>
>
>
> > Worse than ugly. The character and flow of the entire race was
> > changed when they made it a timed race. Funny how NBC kept a lap
> > counter there, but it meant absolutely nothing. Teams were judging
> > tire wear based on the number of laps run. Fuel was based on how much
> > if any that awful fueling system put in the car, but it was based on
> > laps not time. The only thing not based on laps was the end of the
> > race. Using time as a backup for tv is one thing, but the drama
> > builds through the race as the laps wind down. Reverting to a timed
> > race when it runs long is better having the race end missed. Yes they
> > have often worked out as timed races, but if you could keep Speedy Dan
> > on the track instead of Speedy Dan into the tires, the race likely
> > could finish a race distance without running long for Tv. Sports
> > Cars, Trans Am and Edurance racing have a long history of racing using
> > the clock. Champ Cars have a long history of running a given
> > distance. This is a change that didn't have to be made and maybe the
> > biggest mistake of all. Grade 0 only because I can't give it a lower
> > one.
>
> I hear what you are saying but IMSA/ALMS have been doing timed races for
> years It's not bad. I think it could be improved by giving the viewers more
> data. Perhaps more important then ever they have to give us a good graphic
> with an overview of the pit stops. After the race all this data is available
> for every driver - they need to get it up on the screen in real time, give
> us a comparison of how many stops and when a driver made them. Of course
> until the fuel rig problems are solved it doesn't mater much, as Tracy and
> Bruno can tell you. But my point is if they give us the right data a timed
> race can be exciting.
IMSA has that long history of doing it that way. Champ Car doesn't
and has enough changes going on that it didn't need another one. We
all griped with mandatory pits stops because of it destroying the flow
of the race. Timed races do the exact same thing in a different way.
ALMS is much more of an endurance racing series than anything else.
Trans Am did it that way too and where are they racing now? There
margins of victory are often measured in laps, not hundreths of a
second. If you want to have the 24 hours of Long Beach in a Champ Car
then fine, time the race. A 12 hours of Houston, then time the race.
It would be a trick with the fueling rigs to get them to run that kind
of time.
As a fall back because of yellows I see no problem with it. It
happened that way last year so I guess they figured that it was not
that much of a change. IF they can get talent in the back that can
stay out of the tires, then they could finish based on a distance, and
then do something drastic. They would have time to show victory lane,
talk to some other drivers, show a race recap with highlights and in
general promote the series and next event.
With the quality of the TV production I have seen over the last
several years, there is no way I will believe that the believe that
the data that might be available will get to the fans consitently
enough to make for an effective broadcast. Laps are simple, easy to
count (assuming you have someone that can count and doesn't work for
USAC) and build a drama from a long way out. It naturally builds on a
race till its conclusion, like counting down a launch of a space
craft.
Champ car is one of the most unusal groups Ive ever seen. At times
they can make decisions that are down right brilliant. Other times I
wonder if they have the sense to find their back sides with both hands
without a map. You just never know which is going to show up.
