The 2012 IndyCar Series thread

jpm · Post by **jpm** » 26 Aug 2011, 16:40

tommykl wrote:Will it surprise anyone if I say Baguette should replace Danica?

That said, Bertrand is very deserving of another chance; everyone was crowing about Dan wheldon being a 1 off; but Baguette was leading with 3 to go, and ended up finishing 7th in his only race this year. He's obviously good at road courses too, having smashed GP2 title challenger Charles Pic, McLaren reserve Oliver Turvey, fairuz fauzy, one of mansell's kids, and a chap names Alguersuari in WSBR in 2009. Plus, I happen to like him for giving me an autographed poster of his at Silverstone 2009 :lol:

(The same reason I also like Jerome d'Ambrosio)

And on the topic of Pippa Mann; isn't she out injured at the moment? And don't get me wrong, I'd love to see Pippa racing full time, but she's no good on road courses; last year in Indy Lights she was nowhere unless she was at an oval, which admittedly she is brilliant at; poles at Indy and chicago, a win at Kentucky and second at chicago, before challenging for a win at miami. Maybe if you could find someone to share the car with who doesn't like ovals; like Bourdais, then possibly, but then I can't see Michael Andretti giving Sebass a shot, can you?

dr-baker · Post by **dr-baker** » 26 Aug 2011, 18:42

And, according to an article on Autosport, Simon Paganaud has provisionally taken over Simona de Silvestro's seat because of immigration issues as she returns from Switzerland to the USA.

Yannick · Post by **Yannick** » 27 Aug 2011, 01:10

The "Great Pantano" already is P5 in the 1st free practice session. That's impressive.

Jeroen Krautmeir · Post by **Jeroen Krautmeir** » 27 Aug 2011, 02:35

Yannick wrote:The "Great Pantano" already is P5 in the 1st free practice session. That's impressive.

He's surpassed even my expectations. I was expecting a top 10 pace, for sure, but 5th is really good. Also nice to see Bourdais in 6th. I'm just hoping both of them can hold on to this pace for quali.

rffp · Post by **rffp** » 27 Aug 2011, 15:12

dr-baker wrote:And, according to an article on Autosport, Simon Paganaud has provisionally taken over Simona de Silvestro's seat because of immigration issues as she returns from Switzerland to the USA.

As we like to say here in Brazil, some one has "burried a frog in her backyard". I really like Simona as a driver, but she seems completely bereft of any luck whatsoever.

jpm · Post by **jpm** » 27 Aug 2011, 22:42

Martin Plowman fastest in practice and James Jakes 5th? I didn't see that coming!

Cynon · Post by **Cynon** » 28 Aug 2011, 07:47

dr-baker wrote:And, according to an article on Autosport, Simon Paganaud has provisionally taken over Simona de Silvestro's seat because of immigration issues as she returns from Switzerland to the USA.

I'm pretty sure Simona has to be wondering which of the racing gods was angered when she broke out of IndyCar Reject status at the beginning of the season! But look at the #78 car...

...in particular, THE MIRRORS!

The HVM car is a bathplugging Frankencar!

jpm wrote:Bye Danica; so there's a plumb ride available at Andretti Autosport... Any takers?

They will be a two car team with Andretti and Hunter-Reay next year. MAYBE a third car for Conway but I'm not so sure, it's a bad sign when a Twitter account is your sponsor.

Jeroen Krautmeir · Post by **Jeroen Krautmeir** » 28 Aug 2011, 07:55

Having just finished watching the 2007 CCWS Mont-Tremblant race, I must say I am happy to see Simon in a car again. Actually, all the 2007 CCWS races I've watched thus far, until Mont-Tremblant, obviously, have been superb, with the exception of Las Vegas and arguably Portland. It's just a shame that they went bust after that. I mean, c'mon, you had;

- Awesome racing without things like DRS and KERS.
- Keith Wiggins (Pacific) & Paul Stoddart (Minardi) doing awesome stuff with Robert Doornbos (Minardi, RBR). Doornbos is just being epic thus far. Bourdais is just a whiny brat saying he was blocking. It was raining you douche, you take different lines to try and go faster.
- Graham Rahal, at 18, being awesome.
- Justin Wilson being awesome.
- Very talented rookies.
- Paul Tracy winning a race, in dramatic fashion (loved watching that one!)

Among other things. Oh, the Panoz's looked freaking awesome as well.

Anyway, glad to see James Hinchcliffe (who is an awesome commentator), Bourdais and Pantano do well. I'm also delighted to see Danica getting outqualifed by a certain Chinaman. :lol:

Cynon · Post by **Cynon** » 28 Aug 2011, 07:58

Jeroen Krautmeir wrote:- Very talented rookies.

Sorry, most of them were garbage.

The Panoz DP01 was a nice looking car, and Mont-Tremblant would not have been an epic race if it had been dry. Cleveland was amazing, Rahal not so amazing IMO.

Hate to break it to you but it goes downhill from there for the most part.

Jeroen Krautmeir · Post by **Jeroen Krautmeir** » 28 Aug 2011, 08:15

Cynon wrote:
Jeroen Krautmeir wrote:- Very talented rookies.

Sorry, most of them were garbage.

Well, true. Alex Figge was just Deletraz-esque during the race, but Simon Pagenaud, Rahal and Doornbos were very deserving of their seats.

jpm · Post by **jpm** » 28 Aug 2011, 14:02

The winningest driver in A1 Gp, Neel Jani was also in Champ Cars in 07 wasn't he?

Cynon · Post by **Cynon** » 28 Aug 2011, 17:18

jpm wrote:The winningest driver in A1 Gp, Neel Jani was also in Champ Cars in 07 wasn't he?

Yes, he got a few podiums out of luck, but he and teammate Tristan Gommendy were pretty shite all year. Rahal and Doornbos were really the only two decent drivers, I didn't think Pagenaud was that impressive.

Jeroen Krautmeir · Post by **Jeroen Krautmeir** » 28 Aug 2011, 21:42

Pantano running 6th thus far...

Jeroen Krautmeir · Post by **Jeroen Krautmeir** » 28 Aug 2011, 21:45

jpm wrote:The winningest driver in A1 Gp, Neel Jani was also in Champ Cars in 07 wasn't he?

The fact that Neel was struggling once it began raining at St. Jovite, doesn't really bode well for him, because, ye know, the stereotype is that the Europeans own the home-grown boys (in this case Tag, even if he's Canadian) in the rain. He wasn't very impressive...

Cynon wrote:
jpm wrote:The winningest driver in A1 Gp, Neel Jani was also in Champ Cars in 07 wasn't he?

Yes, he got a few podiums out of luck, but he and teammate Tristan Gommendy were pretty shite all year. Rahal and Doornbos were really the only two decent drivers, I didn't think Pagenaud was that impressive.

I've been impressed by Gommendy so far. I mean, sure, he took the lead in Long Beach and Houston only because of fuel strategy, which, in the end, failed (miserably in the latter), but he did a very mature job in both races, and his pole in St. Jovite ultimately went wasted due to whatever happened at the starting grid. I dunno Cynon, I just watch the races and nothing else via the internet, hoping Jeremy Shaw and James Hinchcliffe/Rick whatever his name and Jon Beekhuis catch to everything going on.

Cynon · Post by **Cynon** » 28 Aug 2011, 21:55

Jeroen Krautmeir wrote:
Cynon wrote:
jpm wrote:The winningest driver in A1 Gp, Neel Jani was also in Champ Cars in 07 wasn't he?

Yes, he got a few podiums out of luck, but he and teammate Tristan Gommendy were pretty shite all year. Rahal and Doornbos were really the only two decent drivers, I didn't think Pagenaud was that impressive.

I've been impressed by Gommendy so far. I mean, sure, he took the lead in Long Beach and Houston only because of fuel strategy, which, in the end, failed (miserably in the latter), but he did a very mature job in both races, and his pole in St. Jovite ultimately went wasted due to whatever happened at the starting grid. I dunno Cynon, I just watch the races and nothing else via the internet, hoping Jeremy Shaw and James Hinchcliffe/Rick whatever his name and Jon Beekhuis catch to everything going on.

Gommendy's only moment of the year was Mont-Tremblant in qualifying. Dalziel's only brilliant point was Toronto due to epic rain. Having one (or two) good races and a bunch of bad ones doesn't normally make you a standout unless your high points are truly AWESOME, like a particular Swiss driver with visa issues at the moment.

Also, is it just me or has EJ Viso really cleaned his act up since the start of the year?

Jeroen Krautmeir · Post by **Jeroen Krautmeir** » 29 Aug 2011, 01:57

Pantano did an absolutely fantastic job. What a bloody shame he got slapped with a penalty, for, you guessed it, blocking Sebastien Bourdais...

golic_2004 · Post by **golic_2004** » 29 Aug 2011, 19:20

Jeroen Krautmeir wrote:Pantano did an absolutely fantastic job. What a bloody shame he got slapped with a penalty, for, you guessed it, blocking Sebastien Bourdais...

Yes, unfortunately here in America there are rules for blocking like that unlike in Europe. The record books may say 17th, but in the eyes of us he finished 6th. If I were Dreyer & Reinbold Racing I would keep him the rest of the year besides just Sonoma and Baltimore.

jpm · Post by **jpm** » 30 Aug 2011, 10:32

golic_2004 wrote: If I were Dreyer & Reinbold Racing I would keep him the rest of the year besides just Sonoma and Baltimore.

I personally wouldn't rik running Pantano on an oval; if Tomas Scheckter or Bertrand Baguette were available, they would be the one that I would choose.

Cynon · Post by **Cynon** » 30 Aug 2011, 17:59

jpm wrote:
golic_2004 wrote: If I were Dreyer & Reinbold Racing I would keep him the rest of the year besides just Sonoma and Baltimore.

I personally wouldn't rik running Pantano on an oval; if Tomas Scheckter or Bertrand Baguette were available, they would be the one that I would choose.

Scheckter will Deletraz while being competitive, and Baguette will just be average, Pantano is an unknown quality, so I'd give him a run for the hell of it.

That was a boring as shite race though, glad there was some Bourdais whining to wake me up, never fails to do so.

Also, Silly Season Notes!

- KV will be dropping Lotus, Lotus going to Newman Haas... I've heard there's a possibility that KV will have Takuma Sato and Chevrolet engines next season.
- Simona de Silvestro stays where she is and HVM adds another car, but wait, the team becomes a de facto Penske B-Team with a lot of involvement from none other than Rick Hendrick.
- Sam Schmidt to use Hondas.
- Ganassi keeping all four drivers.
- Penske has sponsorship for two of his three cars, and almost has sponsors for the third lined up.
- Dan Wheldon will drive the GoDaddy #7 car that Danica is vacating. He won the championship driving for Andretti, but we all know he's very temperamental...
- Marco Andretti's car gets RC Cola as the primary sponsor.
- The IRL has said that Honda and Chevy are doing fine with development, but Lotus is way behind.
- FIAT/Chrysler has contacted Cosworth about entering in 2013.

nome66 · Post by **nome66** » 30 Aug 2011, 19:11

wait wait wait wait wait.
Chrysler Cosworth!? this is weirder than subaru designing a cosworth car!
i guess you could say i am a purist when it comes to cosworth. for me, cosworth goes with ford, lotus, and chevy(but only the monza, remember?)

Waris · Post by **Waris** » 30 Aug 2011, 21:19

Pantano is awesome! I wonder who this Martin Plowman person is, though. I've never heard of him, but he has a funny name.

Also, in reference to my last post, I predict that Ricardo Teixeira will drive in IndyCar sometime. You will probably laugh, but if it happens, I said it first!

Jeroen Krautmeir · Post by **Jeroen Krautmeir** » 30 Aug 2011, 23:08

I love you Giorgio...

"They said I was too old," he says. (He was 29 at the time). "I'm so angry with Formula 1. I just want to hide from Formula 1. I hate [racing in] Europe, I don't like anyone [there]. They make me so nervous, so angry, and I just want to stop with it all. I don't even see the races now. Because it's not a sport anymore. It's not real F1, like it was between 1950 and about 1990. After Ayrton Senna died, it was a business. It was like that in 2004. That was the worst year of my life. I don't want to even think about Formula 1 now. I just want to work here now and try to get a good seat for next year."

Klon · Post by **Klon** » 31 Aug 2011, 01:21

tl;dr version: I blow and blame anybody but me. :mrgreen:

nome66 · Post by **nome66** » 31 Aug 2011, 02:45

so on friday or saturday i'll ask questions to Taku, Bordais, and maybe even the birdman himself Will Power.
anyone else going to the race in baltimore this weekend?

dinizintheoven · Post by **dinizintheoven** » 31 Aug 2011, 19:45

Giorgio Pantano wrote:I just want to work here now and try to get a good seat for next year.

A midfield-to-backmarker drive in the NASCAR Truck Series awaits...

Cynon · Post by **Cynon** » 01 Sep 2011, 03:30

Andretti is going with Chevrolet, and so is KV.

nome66 · Post by **nome66** » 01 Sep 2011, 10:27

Anyone know who is taking interest inna group bahar motor?

Cynon · Post by **Cynon** » 01 Sep 2011, 12:17

nome66 wrote:Anyone know who is taking interest inna group bahar motor?

Newman/Haas will be the Slowtus team, but they haven't announced that yet.

Phoenix · Post by **Phoenix** » 01 Sep 2011, 15:05

It is pretty curious that KV Racing Technology LOTUS isn't taking up the Lotus engine. BTW, who is actually going to design and manufacture the engine, Lotus itself or they will have the aid of a third party?

nome66 · Post by **nome66** » 01 Sep 2011, 20:01

well i don't know about Slowtus.
You guys know there is that theory where drivers/engines that don't do good in F1 do great in Indycar....
example. Ilmor was a backmarker with March/Leyton House, but with the Chevy-Ilmor turbos in the indycar series around the same time, they did an incredible job.
also, Alex Zanardi. he is probably the best example. plus he was a driver for "Slowtus"

ADx_Wales · Post by **ADx_Wales** » 01 Sep 2011, 23:11

Latest Midweek Motorsport Podcast (sorry) Includes an interview with Randy Bernard at Sonoma...

Jeroen Krautmeir · Post by **Jeroen Krautmeir** » 02 Sep 2011, 01:18

Phoenix wrote:BTW, who is actually going to design and manufacture the engine, Lotus itself or they will have the aid of a third party?

John Judd.

Cynon · Post by **Cynon** » 02 Sep 2011, 08:23

nome66 wrote:well i don't know about Slowtus.
You guys know there is that theory where drivers/engines that don't do good in F1 do great in Indycar....
example. Ilmor was a backmarker with March/Leyton House, but with the Chevy-Ilmor turbos in the indycar series around the same time, they did an incredible job.
also, Alex Zanardi. he is probably the best example. plus he was a driver for "Slowtus"

You also know there are drivers who did well in F1 that were embarrassing in Indycar/CART too, right (Lehto, Salo)? The only thing the two forms of racing have alike is that they're four wheeled open wheel race cars. A good deal of the similarity ends there. Zanardi was a racer, meaning he was not cut out for F1 where you are more dependent on the team and in qualifying to get good results than you are in IndyCar.

Ilmor was largely being influenced by Roger Penske's decisions, and those decisions were to not care about F1 as much as the Indycar program.

jpm · Post by **jpm** » 02 Sep 2011, 12:56

Watching the onbaodr computer graphic track lap of Baltimore, it struck me that here are NO OVERTAKING CONRERS!

Yannick · Post by **Yannick** » 02 Sep 2011, 17:02

Yeah right, it's looking a lot like a Valencia Marina style circuit but with an actual train track crossing at the beginning of the start finish straight.

DanielPT · Post by **DanielPT** » 02 Sep 2011, 17:22

Yannick wrote:Yeah right, it's looking a lot like a Valencia Marina style circuit but with an actual train track crossing at the beginning of the start finish straight.

What?

EDIT: Oh, it is a bridge over the track... Silly... :oops:

ADx_Wales · Post by **ADx_Wales** » 02 Sep 2011, 19:46

And to add to the excitement, there is a chicane after the final turn...

ADx_Wales · Post by **ADx_Wales** » 02 Sep 2011, 20:28

http://spotterguides.com/images/stories ... moreSG.jpg

Spot the ex F1 drivers.

Post by **mario** » 02 Sep 2011, 20:59

Phoenix wrote:It is pretty curious that KV Racing Technology LOTUS isn't taking up the Lotus engine. BTW, who is actually going to design and manufacture the engine, Lotus itself or they will have the aid of a third party?

As far as I am aware, Group Lotus has a deal with Judd, though it seems that Judd will be doing the bulk of the design work with Group Lotus effectively acting as a tuning house. It's hardly surprising though - it effectively shifts the most expensive phase of development onto Judd, but still gives them enough latitude to tweak the engines and distinguish them from Judd's own engines.

Post by **tommykl** » 03 Sep 2011, 05:38

ADx_Wales wrote:http://spotterguides.com/images/stories/guides/alms_11_baltimoreSG.jpg

Spot the ex F1 drivers.

I only see Beretta and Magnussen.