The Alessandro Zanardi IndyCar Thread

pasta_maldonado · Post by **pasta_maldonado** » 08 Feb 2013, 22:19

As requested, here is the new IndyCar thread!

I'll start with the most pressing issue in my mind - those stupid flared wheen arches on the Dallara, and the sponsor blockers. They're ridiculous. [/rant]

Anyway, discuss!

Onxy Wrecked · Post by **Onxy Wrecked** » 08 Feb 2013, 22:53

That ugly part of the car is for safety. Never has safety looked so unsightly.

nome66 · Post by **nome66** » 09 Feb 2013, 00:36

FIA thinks a platypus is the safest animal in the wild

Onxy Wrecked · Post by **Onxy Wrecked** » 09 Feb 2013, 01:16

nome66 wrote:FIA thinks a platypus is the safest animal in the wild

Unfortunately, it is venomous!

nome66 · Post by **nome66** » 09 Feb 2013, 01:25

i heard they give a small electric jolt to stun its prey under water.

.....KERS!!!

anyways... anyone hear more info on Alex Zanardi competing in the 500?
they should also let him reclaim Shoreline drive once again.

Klon · Post by **Klon** » 09 Feb 2013, 02:07

Onxy Wrecked wrote:
nome66 wrote:FIA thinks a platypus is the safest animal in the wild

Unfortunately, it is venomous!

As is everything in Australia. Except maybe the sheep.

nome66 · Post by **nome66** » 09 Feb 2013, 02:08

anyone notice how the wolf population in Oz has taken a dip?

TomWazzleshaw · Post by **TomWazzleshaw** » 09 Feb 2013, 02:39

Klon wrote:
Onxy Wrecked wrote:
nome66 wrote:FIA thinks a platypus is the safest animal in the wild

Unfortunately, it is venomous!

As is everything in Australia. Except maybe the sheep.

Nope, even the sheep will find a way to kill you in Australia. Assuming the drop bears, dingos, sharks, jellyfish, spiders or snakes don't get you first :lol:

Ferrarist · Post by **Ferrarist** » 09 Feb 2013, 11:58

I think this thread should be renamed after Alessandro Zampedri, but that's just my modest opinion.

Even with all these changes over the last year, IndyCar's still "meh" to me. The car is hideous, yet every team is forced to run it. This makes IndyCar looks like a glorified GP2 series. The least they could is to ask Carl Haas to build some Lolas for the series. Next point, the engine. They need "moar power" ((C) Tim Taylor), or even better, a larger engine displacement. I don't get how they want to cross the 230mph mark (Not that Indy might actually want to do that) with a 2.2l-V6 turbo. Although someone with more knowledge about engines might correct me on that matter.

The schedule seems alright, although IndyCar should really try to improve their revenue from oval or road course races. Because then, they wouldn't be forced to go from city to city like a friggin' circus! On the other hand, circuits like Road America don't event to pay too much for the sanctioning fee that IndyCar demands. (Source: http://www.crapwagon.com/forums/content ... ad-America)
Also, why are they just running 400 miles at Pocono? They bothered to run the traditional 500 miles at Fontana (CART's tradition, that is.), why can't they do the same there? Hell, they've already violated "Thou shall not have another 500 mile race besides the Indy 500". They should ask ISC to let them go back to Michigan. If Michigan really wants IndyCar by this point. :lol:

Today, IndyCar is just like the DTM. They claim to be a great series, but the sole purpose of this series is to waggle some team owners egos. The only saving grace to IndyCar is the Indy500. Without it, they would just implode as fast as Champ Car did. But all the series needs is a strong leader, one with a clear vision of IndyCar's long-term future. One, who can take the team owners by their balls and make them do whatever he wants (in a business sense, of course

). One, who can make IndyCar competitve again. But I'm afraid that this isn't likely to happen, so the best we can hope for is for the Frances to buy Indy, and shut down IndyCar for good.

Yannick · Post by **Yannick** » 09 Feb 2013, 12:19

The name change of the thread brought a smile on my face.

Alessandro Zampedri, who the original poster suggested to be its namesake, crashed out of one of the early IRL Indy 500s, thus ending his career and taking the chance away from him to achieve in IndyCars.

Alessandro Zanardi, however, famous for "The Pass" on the outskirts of the Corkscrew corner at Laguna Seca, his career-ending crash at Lausitzring and all his glorious achievements in paralympics, never even raced in IndyCar due to "The Split". He competed in CART and in F1, and opposed to Zampedri, he is profiled on this website.

So here is a big Forza to the Alessandro Zanardi IndyCar thread, formerly known as The "The 2012 IndyCar Season Thread" Thread.

dr-baker · Post by **dr-baker** » 09 Feb 2013, 13:49

Yannick wrote:The name change of the thread brought a smile on my face.

Alessandro Zampedri, who the original poster suggested to be its namesake, crashed out of one of the early IRL Indy 500s, thus ending his career and taking the chance away from him to achieve in IndyCars.

Alessandro Zanardi, however, famous for "The Pass" on the outskirts of the Corkscrew corner at Laguna Seca, his career-ending crash at Lausitzring and all his glorious achievements in paralympics, never even raced in IndyCar due to "The Split". He competed in CART and in F1, and opposed to Zampedri, he is profiled on this website.

So here is a big Forza to the Alessandro Zanardi IndyCar thread, formerly known as The "The 2012 IndyCar Season Thread" Thread.

Actually the 2012 IndyCar Season Thread continues to exist as a seperate entity!

And when I suggested the the IndyCar thread be renamed after Zanardi, it was only after I hit the submit button that I realised that he never was an IndyCar driver! :oops:

But I think officially that drivers from both series are considered 'official' in the record books, so I reckon let it stand.

Ferrarist · Post by **Ferrarist** » 09 Feb 2013, 14:34

Technically, Zanardi was an IndyCar driver, because CART still used the IndyCar name in 1996.

nome66 · Post by **nome66** » 09 Feb 2013, 17:11

Ok guys we got this kind of CART/IRL thing going on with these two threads. i think the mods need to merge the two and keep the Zanardi title

Wallio · Post by **Wallio** » 09 Feb 2013, 17:19

Ferrarist wrote:I think this thread should be renamed after Alessandro Zampedri, but that's just my modest opinion.

Even with all these changes over the last year, IndyCar's still "meh" to me. The car is hideous, yet every team is forced to run it. This makes IndyCar looks like a glorified GP2 series. The least they could is to ask Carl Haas to build some Lolas for the series. Next point, the engine. They need "moar power" ((C) Tim Taylor), or even better, a larger engine displacement. I don't get how they want to cross the 230mph mark (Not that Indy might actually want to do that) with a 2.2l-V6 turbo. Although someone with more knowledge about engines might correct me on that matter.
The schedule seems alright, although IndyCar should really try to improve their revenue from oval or road course races. Because then, they wouldn't be forced to go from city to city like a friggin' circus! On the other hand, circuits like Road America don't event to pay too much for the sanctioning fee that IndyCar demands. (Source: http://www.crapwagon.com/forums/content ... ad-America)
Also, why are they just running 400 miles at Pocono? They bothered to run the traditional 500 miles at Fontana (CART's tradition, that is.), why can't they do the same there? Hell, they've already violated "Thou shall not have another 500 mile race besides the Indy 500". They should ask ISC to let them go back to Michigan. If Michigan really wants IndyCar by this point.
Today, IndyCar is just like the DTM. They claim to be a great series, but the sole purpose of this series is to waggle some team owners egos. The only saving grace to IndyCar is the Indy500. Without it, they would just implode as fast as Champ Car did. But all the series needs is a strong leader, one with a clear vision of IndyCar's long-term future. One, who can take the team owners by their balls and make them do whatever he wants (in a business sense, of course ). One, who can make IndyCar competitve again. But I'm afraid that this isn't likely to happen, so the best we can hope for is for the Frances to buy Indy, and shut down IndyCar for good.

Well the engine regs were kinda forced on the series by the maunfacturers. The orginal rules called for very open ended 2.4 or 2.5 litre lumps (I forget which, but I think 2.4) but Chevy and Honda make 2.2L 4-poppers and wanted "maketability" so it was changed. The rules also had no cylinder limit, as VW wanted to run an I4, but when everyone wouln't run it, they bailed (sound familiar?) so only the Honda, Lotus, and Chevy V6s were there, and Dallara whined about having to make different chassis with different engine layouts, so only V6s are allowed now. The engines were supposed to make 700-800bhp and be developable, but with Honda and Chevy having to take more teams (cause the Lotus was shite) and with a maximun engine price, they whinged and the engines are "homologated" from March on, with only one set of updates allowed mid-season (unless a special wavier is granted). The power was also cut to 720bhp on road courses and a peddly 600 on ovals (650 at Indy when they couldn't get out of their own way).

Now Tony George used to say IMS's insurance wouldn't let them break 230mph (but with his track record who knows) and while the drivers and fans want more power, Randy is gone, so I doubt it will happen. Maybe 2014. Maybe.

Ferrarist · Post by **Ferrarist** » 09 Feb 2013, 17:27

@Wallio: Wow, the "big boys" at Indy really let themselves getting pushed around by the engine and chassis manufacturers. Sad, but also funny. :lol:

Wallio · Post by **Wallio** » 09 Feb 2013, 17:53

Ferrarist wrote:@Wallio: Wow, the "big boys" at Indy really let themselves getting pushed around by the engine and chassis manufacturers. Sad, but also funny.

They did indeed. They also let themselves get pushed around by the teams in regards to the aero kits. First they were supposed to come in right away, then post Indy Indy 2012, then in 2013, then in 2014, now they're all but officially scrapped. All because certain teams (cough) PANTHER (cough) keep bitching, and rallying the small teams to bitch so their gone. 2012 was supposed to have 4 engines (VW was in until very late, again sound familiar?) and 5-6 different aero kits. Instead by Milwakee we had spec chassis (which weren't much faster than the crapwagons) and two engines. Woo.

Ferrarist · Post by **Ferrarist** » 09 Feb 2013, 18:08

Which is why Indy really needs a strong leader. I can't stress it enough, but pseudo-democracy has never really worked in auto racing. In an ideal scenario, someone makes the rules, which everyone commited to IndyCar has to follow. If someone doesn't like these rules, they are free to leave. Teams have left this sport since its inception, but new teams have followed.
Tony George may have been such a leader, but he was way too young and inexperienced when he founded the IRL. He was also unfortunate enough to listen to the wrong people, like A.J. Foyt or John Barnes. He really should have asked people like Roger Penske or Carl Haas for support, because they are among the kind of people who really have a clue about this business. But Tony's gone by now, because he spent way too much money. I really wonder about his spending though, because he more or less forced these new IRL team owners to take loans to buy these new fancy Dallaras or G-Forces. I guess these teams couldn't pay back their loans after all. :lol:

Onxy Wrecked · Post by **Onxy Wrecked** » 09 Feb 2013, 18:14

Ferrarist wrote:Which is why Indy really needs a strong leader. I can't stress it enough, but pseudo-democracy has never really worked in auto racing. In an ideal scenario, someone makes the rules, which everyone commited to IndyCar has to follow. If someone doesn't like these rules, they are free to leave. Teams have left this sport since its inception, but new teams have followed.
Tony George may have been such a leader, but he was way too young and inexperienced when he founded the IRL. He was also unfortunate enough to listen to the wrong people, like A.J. Foyt or John Barnes. He really should have asked people like Roger Penske or Carl Haas for support, because they are among the kind of people who really have a clue about this business. But Tony's gone by now, because he spent way too much money. I really wonder about his spending though, because he more or less forced these new IRL team owners to take loans to buy these new fancy Dallaras or G-Forces. I guess these teams couldn't pay back their loans after all.

All one needs to see is A.J. Foyt pushing Arie Luyendyk into a bed of tulips to know the problems of listening to Foyt.

Ferrarist · Post by **Ferrarist** » 09 Feb 2013, 19:13

Onxy Wrecked wrote:All one needs to see is A.J. Foyt pushing Arie Luyendyk into a bed of tulips to know the problems of listening to Foyt.

Yeah, a pretty ridiculous incident. Sadly, younger fans will remember Foyt as incoherently rambling team owner, rather than his achievements as a driver.

Ironically enough, George welcomed Penske, Ganassi and Andretti/Green into his fold, once they left CART. Guess the whole split was really just an attempted power grab by George/Indy. But he could have already achieved that by 1996, had Penske agreed to make a deal with George. Hell, CART might have avoided the whole mess by just racing at the IRL. These two additional races at Orlando and Phoenix would have just been drops in their hats.

By the way, many documents about the open-wheel splits (There are also bits about the CART-USAC split) can be found here. A very interesting read: http://www.trackforum.com/forums/showth ... ve-Project

Wallio · Post by **Wallio** » 09 Feb 2013, 19:17

Ferrarist wrote:
Onxy Wrecked wrote:All one needs to see is A.J. Foyt pushing Arie Luyendyk into a bed of tulips to know the problems of listening to Foyt.

Yeah, a pretty ridiculous incident. Sadly, younger fans will remember Foyt as incoherently rambling team owner, rather than his achievements as a driver.

Ironically enough, George welcomed Penske, Ganassi and Andretti/Green into his fold, once they left CART. Guess the whole split was really just an attempted power grab by George/Indy. But he could have already achieved that by 1996, had Penske agreed to make a deal with George.

By the way, many documents about the open-wheel splits (There are also bits about the CART-USAC split) can be found here. A very interesting read: http://www.trackforum.com/forums/showth ... ve-Project

Geogre wanted control all right. He also wanted an "America **** Yeah!" style series of all ovals, mostly in the Mid-West/South. The ratings say this wasn't that good of an idea. I agree Indy needs a leader. CART, although I adored it, was never going to work. A board of directors? For racing? Really? Gil De Ferran would be a great head, if you could pry him away from Honda, or Forsythe, although he'll NEVER come back.....

Ferrarist · Post by **Ferrarist** » 09 Feb 2013, 19:39

Wallio wrote:Geogre wanted control all right. He also wanted an "America **** Yeah!" style series of all ovals, mostly in the Mid-West/South. The ratings say this wasn't that good of an idea.

Not only that, but he also ended up creating a gloryfied feeder series for NASCAR. But again, he might have just gone all-oval, because Foyt and pals told him to do so. Although USAC did something similar in the 1970's, thus indirectly assisting with the creation of CART.

I agree Indy needs a leader. CART, although I adored it, was never going to work. A board of directors? For racing? Really? Gil De Ferran would be a great head, if you could pry him away from Honda, or Forsythe, although he'll NEVER come back.....

I'm not too sure about Forsythe. He seems to be a good businessman, but I'm not too sure if he could run a whole series. But I'm even less sure about de Ferran. He hasn't shown much success in the business side of auto racing. Randy Bernard went into the right direction, but he's made quite a lot of blunders throughout his tenure. So maybe the next IndyCar C.E.O. should come from a similar background as Bernard. But that new C.E.O. should handle the business and marketing side of IndyCar for now (Because the person which knows everything about the technical and the business side of IndyCar won't probably exist), because that's where IndyCar's biggest problems lays for now. The chassis may be godawful, but it helped producing some decent racing.

dinizintheoven · Post by **dinizintheoven** » 10 Feb 2013, 15:19

Wallio wrote:Geogre wanted control all right.

Even if that wasn't intentional it's still brilliant.

Tony Geogre wrote:Don't make me angry! You wouldn't like me when I'm angry! GRRRRRRRRRAAAAAAAAARRRRRRRRRGH (etc)

Faustus · Post by **Faustus** » 11 Feb 2013, 12:45

I wonder if anyone is going to try to run the Indy 500 and the NASCAR Charlotte 600 this year. It's been a while.

Onxy Wrecked · Post by **Onxy Wrecked** » 11 Feb 2013, 17:47

Faustus wrote:I wonder if anyone is going to try to run the Indy 500 and the NASCAR Charlotte 600 this year. It's been a while.

I've heard rumors of Danica, but with some conditions involving a car capable of contending to win in the 500 to attempt both races.

Ferrarist · Post by **Ferrarist** » 11 Feb 2013, 19:00

Danica can stay right where she is, with her sticky-ricky by her side. I want to see Allmendinger, Stewart, Montoya, Jeff Gordon, Robby Gordon and so on to make their shots at the 500. I mean, quite a lot IndyCar drivers were competing at the Daytona 24 Hours. Why can't NASCARs drivers do the same for IndyCar? Okay, it might be a pain in the arse to travel from Indianapolis to Charlotte. But the 500 definitely needs a better line-up.

Cynon · Post by **Cynon** » 12 Feb 2013, 00:48

Onxy Wrecked wrote:
Faustus wrote:I wonder if anyone is going to try to run the Indy 500 and the NASCAR Charlotte 600 this year. It's been a while.

I've heard rumors of Danica, but with some conditions involving a car capable of contending to win in the 500 to attempt both races.

Danica said she won't do it.

Ferrarist wrote:Danica can stay right where she is, with her sticky-ricky by her side. I want to see Allmendinger, Stewart, Montoya, Jeff Gordon, Robby Gordon and so on to make their shots at the 500. I mean, quite a lot IndyCar drivers were competing at the Daytona 24 Hours. Why can't NASCARs drivers do the same for IndyCar? Okay, it might be a pain in the arse to travel from Indianapolis to Charlotte. But the 500 definitely needs a better line-up.

Robby Gordon went back to his roots and started up a stadium truck series, which actually looks quite good.

dinizintheoven wrote:
Wallio wrote:Geogre wanted control all right.

Even if that wasn't intentional it's still brilliant.

Tony Geogre wrote:Don't make me angry! You wouldn't like me when I'm angry! GRRRRRRRRRAAAAAAAAARRRRRRRRRGH (etc)

YES!!!

Yannick · Post by **Yannick** » 12 Feb 2013, 12:49

Wallio wrote: ... or Forsythe, although he'll NEVER come back.....

Well, there was a sticker on the Indy 500 winning Bryan Herta Autosport car #98 run in association with Curb/Agajanian (how is that for a long entry) which read "Forsythe Solutions".

Onxy Wrecked · Post by **Onxy Wrecked** » 12 Feb 2013, 12:54

Yannick wrote:
Wallio wrote: ... or Forsythe, although he'll NEVER come back.....

Well, there was a sticker on the Indy 500 winning Bryan Herta Autosport car #98 run in association with Curb/Agajanian (how is that for a long entry) which read "Forsythe Solutions".

Different Forsythe running the company. It's Rick instead of the racing team owner Gerald. If you see Indeck then you know the great team owner is back. Indeck Power Equipment, Indeck Energy Services, and Indeck Operations are the ones that have to be looked for.

Yannick · Post by **Yannick** » 12 Feb 2013, 16:26

Thank you for info.

Anyhow, isn't it odd that Ryan Briscoe, the former Toyota-F1 Friday driver, still hasn't managed to find a race seat in IndyCar for this year whereas Penske is about to replace him with a driver who despite winning several races, amongst them 3 in a row, left ChampCar after narrowly losing out on his first attempt at a championship fight, to go to NASCAR with debutants Red Bull Racing, who then finally made the Top-35 of the Owners Points standings in his 2nd season only to be replaced by F1Reject Scott Speed right after the fact, and then ran midfield in NASCAR for other teams including Penske most of the time, until a Tomas-Enge-style failed drug test almost stopped him: AJ Allmendinger who luckily recovered from there.

Pay drivers galore is present in IndyCar at the time, near as much as it is in F1. Here's hoping Briscoe gets a good seat.

Salamander · Post by **Salamander** » 12 Feb 2013, 16:36

Yannick wrote:Thank you for info.

Anyhow, isn't it odd that Ryan Briscoe, the former Toyota-F1 Friday driver, still hasn't managed to find a race seat in IndyCar for this year whereas Penske is about to replace him with a driver who despite winning several races, amongst them 3 in a row, left ChampCar after narrowly losing out on his first attempt at a championship fight, to go to NASCAR with debutants Red Bull Racing, who then finally made the Top-35 of the Owners Points standings in his 2nd season only to be replaced by F1Reject Scott Speed right after the fact, and then ran midfield in NASCAR for other teams including Penske most of the time, until a Tomas-Enge-style failed drug test almost stopped him: AJ Allmendinger who luckily recovered from there.

Pay drivers galore is present in IndyCar at the time, near as much as it is in F1. Here's hoping Briscoe gets a good seat.

I wouldn't call AJ Allmendinger a pay-driver by any stretch of the imagination. He was the Next Big Thing for America in single-seaters; once he went to NASCAR, all they really had were Patrick, Andretti, and Rahal, none of which have the combined speed and consistency to really do anything, and Hunter-Reay, who only got a car which showed what he could actually do last year. Allmendinger's NASCAR results don't do his talent justice by a long shot; I'm just hopeful that his time in NASCAR hasn't negatively affected his talent in a single-seater in any way. Because if it hasn't, he could well be a force for the championship, depending on how quickly he settles in.

pasta_maldonado · Post by **pasta_maldonado** » 12 Feb 2013, 18:12

BlindCaveSalamander wrote:
Yannick wrote:Thank you for info.

Anyhow, isn't it odd that Ryan Briscoe, the former Toyota-F1 Friday driver, still hasn't managed to find a race seat in IndyCar for this year whereas Penske is about to replace him with a driver who despite winning several races, amongst them 3 in a row, left ChampCar after narrowly losing out on his first attempt at a championship fight, to go to NASCAR with debutants Red Bull Racing, who then finally made the Top-35 of the Owners Points standings in his 2nd season only to be replaced by F1Reject Scott Speed right after the fact, and then ran midfield in NASCAR for other teams including Penske most of the time, until a Tomas-Enge-style failed drug test almost stopped him: AJ Allmendinger who luckily recovered from there.

Pay drivers galore is present in IndyCar at the time, near as much as it is in F1. Here's hoping Briscoe gets a good seat.

I wouldn't call AJ Allmendinger a pay-driver by any stretch of the imagination. He was the Next Big Thing for America in single-seaters; once he went to NASCAR, all they really had were Patrick, Andretti, and Rahal, none of which have the combined speed and consistency to really do anything, and Hunter-Reay, who only got a car which showed what he could actually do last year. Allmendinger's NASCAR results don't do his talent justice by a long shot; I'm just hopeful that his time in NASCAR hasn't negatively affected his talent in a single-seater in any way. Because if it hasn't, he could well be a force for the championship, depending on how quickly he settles in.

Proving ever more the old rule of thumb - if yu want a career, don't go to NASCAR

Ferrarist · Post by **Ferrarist** » 12 Feb 2013, 18:20

pasta_maldonado wrote:Proving ever more the old rule of thumb - if yu want a career, don't go to NASCAR

But if you want to earn a lot of money, go to NASCAR! The only real way to earn money in IndyCar is by driving for Penske, Ganassi or maybe Andretti.

Onxy Wrecked · Post by **Onxy Wrecked** » 12 Feb 2013, 23:30

Yannick wrote:Thank you for info.

Anyhow, isn't it odd that Ryan Briscoe, the former Toyota-F1 Friday driver, still hasn't managed to find a race seat in IndyCar for this year whereas Penske is about to replace him with a driver who despite winning several races, amongst them 3 in a row, left ChampCar after narrowly losing out on his first attempt at a championship fight, to go to NASCAR with debutants Red Bull Racing, who then finally made the Top-35 of the Owners Points standings in his 2nd season only to be replaced by F1Reject Scott Speed right after the fact, and then ran midfield in NASCAR for other teams including Penske most of the time, until a Tomas-Enge-style failed drug test almost stopped him: AJ Allmendinger who luckily recovered from there.

Pay drivers galore is present in IndyCar at the time, near as much as it is in F1. Here's hoping Briscoe gets a good seat.

Allmendinger is not a pay driver. Otherwise, he'd be a full time driver at Phoenix Racing in NASCAR instead of a part-time driver considering that James Finch is seeking sponsorship money and with that the possibility of pay drivers. His value to sponsors is as low if not lower than Kurt Busch.

Cynon · Post by **Cynon** » 13 Feb 2013, 21:02

Well, if you can't smell it or can't see it, shite has hit the fan at Dragon Racing for the second time in 5 months. They went up and signed Sebastian Saavedra, and one Katherine Legge is, as you might expect, not terribly happy about it.

http://www.motorsport.com/indycar/news/ ... on-racing/

This is PR speak for "it was a shock when it happened", or "I knew this was coming and bathplug off":

“I have spent most of this off-season trying to help TrueCar mitigate their costs and bring sponsors onboard with their Initiative, having invested a great deal of my own time, effort and money, so this has come as a huge shock.”

... because there were rumors (I tend to believe a rumor if Robin Miller has heard of it) that Dragon tried to put Legge in the HVM car, but Dragon ended up moving into HVM's shop.

Onxy Wrecked · Post by **Onxy Wrecked** » 13 Feb 2013, 22:26

Cynon wrote:Well, if you can't smell it or can't see it, shite has hit the fan at Dragon Racing for the second time in 5 months. They went up and signed Sebastian Saavedra, and one Katherine Legge is, as you might expect, not terribly happy about it.

http://www.motorsport.com/indycar/news/ ... on-racing/

This is PR speak for "it was a shock when it happened", or "I knew this was coming and bathplug off":

“I have spent most of this off-season trying to help TrueCar mitigate their costs and bring sponsors onboard with their Initiative, having invested a great deal of my own time, effort and money, so this has come as a huge shock.”

... because there were rumors (I tend to believe a rumor if Robin Miller has heard of it) that Dragon tried to put Legge in the HVM car, but Dragon ended up moving into HVM's shop.

Based on the performance, she could see this coming as Bourdais is by far a better driver than she is and it was more odd that Legge was hired in the first place.

Cynon · Post by **Cynon** » 14 Feb 2013, 04:55

That's like saying Daniel Ricciardo would be a match for Sebastian Vettel in a team where they only care about Vettel. Bourdais made Bruno Junqueira look foolish and this is before Bruno had his huge crash at Indy.

I would talk about Bruno post-Indy 05 and Graham Rahal, but Bruno was never the same and Rahal was driving himself into walls and blaming it on people nowhere near him. Also, the less said about James Jakes, the better.

In other words, Bourdais has trashed pretty much every single one of his teammates other than Sebastian Vettel in the past decade. It really shouldn't be a surprise.

Faustus · Post by **Faustus** » 14 Feb 2013, 12:53

shite, Conquest is out for 2013:

http://www.autosport.com/news/report.php/id/105558

HonoraryNortherner · Post by **HonoraryNortherner** » 14 Feb 2013, 13:22

Yeah, Legge has never been that great, although I do rate Bourdais highly so maybe I'm biased. One thing I don't understand is the yapping Legge has done about it - please correct me if I'm wrong, but she never mentions a two-year contract with Dragon itself, rather with the sponsor.... I feel like I'm missing something here. If she has a contract with Dragon, then fine, rip into them if you want. If not, then surely it's TrueCar she should be battling in the courts and the press, rather than her former team?

Anyway it's quite sad to hear about Conquest leaving IndyCar, I've always admired the way Eric Bachelart has always battled on

Wallio · Post by **Wallio** » 14 Feb 2013, 16:21

HonoraryNortherner wrote:Yeah, Legge has never been that great, although I do rate Bourdais highly so maybe I'm biased. One thing I don't understand is the yapping Legge has done about it - please correct me if I'm wrong, but she never mentions a two-year contract with Dragon itself, rather with the sponsor.... I feel like I'm missing something here. If she has a contract with Dragon, then fine, rip into them if you want. If not, then surely it's TrueCar she should be battling in the courts and the press, rather than her former team?

Anyway it's quite sad to hear about Conquest leaving IndyCar, I've always admired the way Eric Bachelart has always battled on

Well to be fair, the whole reason the team exsisted lasted year was because of TrueCar's women's racing initative. It was only because of her they had a sponsor (at first anyway), so a 2-year deal with the sponsor is like a 2-year deal with the team. I would have liked to see what she could do in a full season without the awful Lotus, but when Seb is your yardstick, its kinda hard to compete.....

Onxy Wrecked · Post by **Onxy Wrecked** » 14 Feb 2013, 16:36

HonoraryNortherner wrote:Yeah, Legge has never been that great, although I do rate Bourdais highly so maybe I'm biased. One thing I don't understand is the yapping Legge has done about it - please correct me if I'm wrong, but she never mentions a two-year contract with Dragon itself, rather with the sponsor.... I feel like I'm missing something here. If she has a contract with Dragon, then fine, rip into them if you want. If not, then surely it's TrueCar she should be battling in the courts and the press, rather than her former team?

Anyway it's quite sad to hear about Conquest leaving IndyCar, I've always admired the way Eric Bachelart has always battled on

It's probably got more to do with the merger in the American sports cars racing scene than anything in IndyCar with Bachelart and his team leaving the series. If Conquest knew what would happen over in the soon to be merged series with the cars, I think the team might have been able to stay in IndyCar.