The 2012 IndyCar Series thread

DanielPT · Post by **DanielPT** » 09 Mar 2011, 17:30

Cynon wrote:
nome66 wrote:so mansell....anyone?

Only if he was guaranteed a Ganassi car that was 5 mph faster than the rest of the field.

Or a Williams-like domination car, 1.5s faster than anything else on the field...

LucaPacchiarini · Post by **LucaPacchiarini** » 09 Mar 2011, 17:36

ZANARDI!

JohnMLTX · Post by **JohnMLTX** » 13 Mar 2011, 07:09

So with firestone now staying for two years, and then possibly leaving, anyone else think that pirelli might hop in?

nome66 · Post by **nome66** » 13 Mar 2011, 14:19

no. no. and no.

JohnMLTX · Post by **JohnMLTX** » 20 Mar 2011, 04:58

WOW.

http://www.indystar.com/article/20110319/SPORTS0107/103190345/Zanardi-weighs-race-offer

Randy Bernard officially invites Alex Zanardi to race at the finale in Vegas.

Luca, way to guess, Most of us never saw this coming.

I really hope he says yes.

Oh, also, Tony Kanaan may be joining KV Racing full time next year, according to some rumours. Still hope for him...

TomWazzleshaw · Post by **TomWazzleshaw** » 20 Mar 2011, 07:22

Mark Blundell has expressed interest in driving the race at Vegas this year on twitter. I'm currently trying to convince him to do the Bathurst 1000.

Yannick · Post by **Yannick** » 20 Mar 2011, 17:50

It's very reject-worthy that IndyCar have removed the livestream of races from their website. How do they think that foreign IndyCar fans are going to watch it then?

Here in Germany for example, there is absolutely no IndyCar TV coverage.

Post by **tommykl** » 20 Mar 2011, 18:04

Well, luckily, I have BeTV, meaning I get mainly live IndyCar coverage thanks to Bertrand Baguette.

JohnMLTX · Post by **JohnMLTX** » 20 Mar 2011, 18:31

Yannick wrote:It's very reject-worthy that IndyCar have removed the livestream of races from their website. How do they think that foreign IndyCar fans are going to watch it then?

Here in Germany for example, there is absolutely no IndyCar TV coverage.

It was not up to IndyCar or even Versus, the company that provided the coverage. Blame Comcast, the most rejectful american cable company ever.

However, if the mods are cool with it, I'll post torrents for each race within a day or so of them.

thehemogoblin · Post by **thehemogoblin** » 20 Mar 2011, 20:07

JohnMLTX wrote:
Yannick wrote:It's very reject-worthy that IndyCar have removed the livestream of races from their website. How do they think that foreign IndyCar fans are going to watch it then?

Here in Germany for example, there is absolutely no IndyCar TV coverage.

It was not up to IndyCar or even Versus, the company that provided the coverage. Blame Comcast, the most rejectful american cable company ever.

However, if the mods are cool with it, I'll post torrents for each race within a day or so of them.

I'm not cool with it. If you want to pass them back and forth, you guys have your emails to do it.

DanielPT · Post by **DanielPT** » 21 Mar 2011, 15:10

JohnMLTX wrote:Oh, also, Tony Kanaan may be joining KV Racing full time next year, according to some rumours. Still hope for him...

He just signed to race this year for KV Racing. He will be their third car. It is good news for him!

Cynon · Post by **Cynon** » 21 Mar 2011, 21:11

Fantastic news for Kanaan and for the series as a whole, especially after Kanaan's farcical "signing" with De Ferran.

The only idiotic part is the 26-car grid limit (should be 28 IMO) will see one car DNQ for every race, and I guarantee it will be either Hildebrand, one of the Conquest cars or the Dale Coyne cars...

thehemogoblin · Post by **thehemogoblin** » 21 Mar 2011, 21:13

Cynon wrote:Fantastic news for Kanaan and for the series as a whole, especially after Kanaan's farcical "signing" with De Ferran.

The only idiotic part is the 26-car grid limit (should be 28 IMO) will see one car DNQ for every race, and I guarantee it will be either Hildebrand, one of the Conquest cars or the Dale Coyne cars...

Is IndyCar really in a position where it can turn down cars and drivers?

JohnMLTX · Post by **JohnMLTX** » 22 Mar 2011, 02:10

thehemogoblin wrote:
Cynon wrote:Fantastic news for Kanaan and for the series as a whole, especially after Kanaan's farcical "signing" with De Ferran.

The only idiotic part is the 26-car grid limit (should be 28 IMO) will see one car DNQ for every race, and I guarantee it will be either Hildebrand, one of the Conquest cars or the Dale Coyne cars...

Is IndyCar really in a position where it can turn down cars and drivers?

Those cars tend to be moving chicanes. It's a safety hazard. The amount of noobage that series saw last year, and well, whenever Lady Donuts haulded her car out on track.

It's easier to say they can't start than have loads of backmarkers causing problems, especially on ovals.

Cynon · Post by **Cynon** » 22 Mar 2011, 02:16

JohnMLTX wrote:
thehemogoblin wrote:
Cynon wrote:Fantastic news for Kanaan and for the series as a whole, especially after Kanaan's farcical "signing" with De Ferran.

The only idiotic part is the 26-car grid limit (should be 28 IMO) will see one car DNQ for every race, and I guarantee it will be either Hildebrand, one of the Conquest cars or the Dale Coyne cars...

Is IndyCar really in a position where it can turn down cars and drivers?

Those cars tend to be moving chicanes. It's a safety hazard. The amount of noobage that series saw last year, and well, whenever Lady Donuts haulded her car out on track.

It's easier to say they can't start than have loads of backmarkers causing problems, especially on ovals.

It was worse when Robert Doornbos was racing...

Most of the noobage last year came from Takuma Sato (no surprise there), Milk and Donuts, Francesco Dracone and Mario Moraes. Thankfully, there appears to be no Duno, no Dracone (sad, because that's an awesome name), and no Moraes on the grid.

dj_vicious · Post by **dj_vicious** » 22 Mar 2011, 03:42

Yannick wrote:It's very reject-worthy that IndyCar have removed the livestream of races from their website. How do they think that foreign IndyCar fans are going to watch it then?

Here in Germany for example, there is absolutely no IndyCar TV coverage.

In Canada we don't even get fair coverage, and we host two of the bloody races! -That is, unless one subscribes for the alternate sports broadcast, TSN2. (In Canada TSN is the main sports network, TSN2 is that which hosts the Indycar races)

I like Indycar, but the only chance in hell someone will plant me in front of a television is if there's an F1 race on. Dear networks, you really expect me to pay many extra dollars monthly for Indycar?! Come on now, I wouldn't do it for F1!

JohnMLTX · Post by **JohnMLTX** » 22 Mar 2011, 04:18

Email me at [email protected] if you want info on where to find torrents.

And, on a news thing, Pit reporter Jack Arute is not coming back next year. I'm legitimately sad. He made cautions so much more entertaining with his antics, like wearing a race helmet that had a hook where he attached 20lbs of bowling ball to simulate g forces.

nome66 · Post by **nome66** » 22 Mar 2011, 10:13

In my area in the east cost of the USA, they broadcast on a channel that used be for outdoorsy ll.bean people who hike and watch the tour de France. Since they were bought out and became Versus, they've shown different road and oval races that no one's heard of, along with unimportant hockey games and finally Indycar racing.
I think the old channel was called OLN. Dunno what it stands for.

Phoenix · Post by **Phoenix** » 22 Mar 2011, 12:40

He [Kanaan], along with Taku and EJ gives KVRT - Lotus a very strong driver line-up and one I am sure can compete for podium finishes and race wins.

Exactly. With Taku on board, why to think otherwise? :lol:

Cynon · Post by **Cynon** » 22 Mar 2011, 16:22

JohnMLTX wrote:Email me at [email protected] if you want info on where to find torrents.

And, on a news thing, Pit reporter Jack Arute is not coming back next year. I'm legitimately sad. He made cautions so much more entertaining with his antics, like wearing a race helmet that had a hook where he attached 20lbs of bowling ball to simulate g forces.

That is legitimately sad, but he was getting on a bit as far as age was concerned...

Also, has anyone checked out Takuma Sato's IRL gear? I especially like No Attack/No Chance!

thehemogoblin · Post by **thehemogoblin** » 22 Mar 2011, 19:34

nome66 wrote:In my area in the east cost of the USA, they broadcast on a channel that used be for outdoorsy ll.bean people who hike and watch the tour de France. Since they were bought out and became Versus, they've shown different road and oval races that no one's heard of, along with unimportant hockey games and finally Indycar racing.
I think the old channel was called OLN. Dunno what it stands for.

Outdoor Life Network

P_Friesacher · Post by **P_Friesacher** » 22 Mar 2011, 21:33

Apart from the fact that I was always astonished as to why a grown sports reporter might be called Jackaroo (which, as I have now learned, was not the case anyway), I am also sad to see him leave. Really liked that helmet-g-force demonstration in Texas last year, too.

Cynon · Post by **Cynon** » 23 Mar 2011, 00:02

P_Friesacher wrote:Apart from the fact that I was always astonished as to why a grown sports reporter might be called Jackaroo (which, as I have now learned, was not the case anyway), I am also sad to see him leave. Really liked that helmet-g-force demonstration in Texas last year, too.

Back in the day, Jack Arute would have other random but amusing stories on random cars in the pitlane, such as in Surfers Paradise in 1993 (I think) when Buddy Lazier broke all of his available front wings in practice and had a replacement front wing flown in on the day of the race all the way from a collector in Las Vegas! I think the front wing survived the race as well, which is amazing considering it was Buddy Lazier...

JohnMLTX · Post by **JohnMLTX** » 24 Mar 2011, 17:03

OK, so with the spotter guide now available on Indycar.com, here's the entry list for the 2011 Honda Grand Prix of St. Petersburg:

3 - Helio Castroneves - Penske
4 - JR Hildebrand - Panther
5 - Takuma Sato - KV Lotus
6 - Ryan Briscoe - Penske
7 - Danica Patrick - Andretti
9 - Scott Dixon - Ganassi
10 - Dario Franchitti - Ganassi
12 - Will Power - Penske
14 - Vitor Meira - Foyt
17 - Raphael Matos - AFS
18 - James Jakes - Coyne
19 - Sebastien Bourdais - Coyne
22 - Justin Wilson - D&R
24 - Ana Beatriz - D&R
26 - Marco Andretti - Andretti
27 - Mike Conway - Andretti
28 - Ryan Hunter-Reay - Andretti
34 - Sebastian Saavedra - Conquest
38 - Graham Rahal - Ganassi
59 - EJ Viso - KV Lotus
77 - Alex Tagliani - Schmidt
78 - Simona De Silvestro - HVM
82 - Tony Kanaan - KV Lotus
83 - Charlie Kimball - Ganassi
02 - Oriol Servia - Newman/Haas

With 25 cars entered, they will all be able to race (given of course that they meet the 105% rule)

nome66 · Post by **nome66** » 24 Mar 2011, 18:59

I'm glad Kanaan's with KV/Lotus. now they have a shot at winning something.

Jeroen Krautmeir · Post by **Jeroen Krautmeir** » 24 Mar 2011, 22:52

Now that we have Bourdais, I hope he gets the quadruple in all his races. I mean, he should, he's only gonna be on road courses.

JohnMLTX · Post by **JohnMLTX** » 24 Mar 2011, 23:05

Jeroen Krautmeir wrote:Now that we have Bourdais, I hope he gets the quadruple in all his races. I mean, he should, he's only gonna be on road courses.

He's gonna give Will Power a /serious/ run for his money for the Andretti Championship.

Also, with Bourdais, Power, Servia, Wilson, Tagliani and Rahal, it's a decent chunk of the 2007 Champ Car grid there. I am excite.

DanielPT · Post by **DanielPT** » 25 Mar 2011, 11:48

Jeroen Krautmeir wrote:Now that we have Bourdais, I hope he gets the quadruple in all his races. I mean, he should, he's only gonna be on road courses.

He might be a bit rusty mind you. And I always gave more credit to Newman/Haas and below par team mates. His rubbish performance when he came to F1 and lack of results elsewhere made this point of view more credible.

Jeroen Krautmeir · Post by **Jeroen Krautmeir** » 26 Mar 2011, 03:46

Am I the only one who finds it funny that on the official DCR website, they state 'Sebastien Bourdais returns to IndyCar' and '4-time IndyCar champion' when technically he's never been in the series before?

JohnMLTX · Post by **JohnMLTX** » 26 Mar 2011, 04:24

Jeroen Krautmeir wrote:Am I the only one who finds it funny that on the official DCR website, they state 'Sebastien Bourdais returns to IndyCar' and '4-time IndyCar champion' when technically he's never been in the series before?

He raced the 05 Indy 500. Started decently, ran ok, but had a problem that sent him into the wall.

And also, I think his poles and podium finishes at Le Mans are a testament to his driving ability. Sure, NewmanHaas helped a lot during Champcar, but he's still a quick man.

Jeroen Krautmeir · Post by **Jeroen Krautmeir** » 26 Mar 2011, 04:27

^That still doesn't explain the 4-time Champ part^

Klon · Post by **Klon** » 26 Mar 2011, 08:19

Jeroen Krautmeir wrote:^That still doesn't explain the 4-time Champ part^

Well, since the unification IndyCar assumes both titles belong to its history. That's why they would advertise a Montoya comeback with the return of the 1999 champion.

Jeroen Krautmeir · Post by **Jeroen Krautmeir** » 26 Mar 2011, 08:34

^Not necessarily. Both Wikipedia, and the official site, only begin the Hall of Fame from 1996, that shared championship with Buzz Calkins and the other guy. None of the CART champs are listed. But I guess their still American openwheel champs^

JohnMLTX · Post by **JohnMLTX** » 26 Mar 2011, 21:04

So, after qualifying, Mr. Will "Willpower" Power has claimed yet another pole. Also, many people whom I expected to be fast (Sato, Rahal, Bourdais, Kanaan) were all near the upper-midfield, with the exception of Bourdais, who sent Saavedra off during qualifying. Here's Indycar's official results PDF. And the spotter guide for those who want it is here.

I'm really looking forward to this race. It's probably going to be another show of WP's domination, but the rest of the cars should provide quite a show.

JohnMLTX · Post by **JohnMLTX** » 27 Mar 2011, 16:56

Bourdais, after throwing the car into the wall during morning practice, will not start.

Cynon · Post by **Cynon** » 27 Mar 2011, 16:56

Jeroen Krautmeir wrote:Am I the only one who finds it funny that on the official DCR website, they state 'Sebastien Bourdais returns to IndyCar' and '4-time IndyCar champion' when technically he's never been in the series before?

IndyCar acquired all of the CART records in the same way that CART acquired all of the USAC records. So technically, A.J. Foyt has the most IRL wins of all time with 67.

Bourdais wrecked in morning warmup, and so did James Jakes. Bourdais knocked himself out before the race even starts, great job there Seb. :lol:

Judging that Dale Coyne had no backup car, I think it's safe to say that Bourdais was getting the most out of that car, because that team has typically been up shite creek without a paddle.

LucaPacchiarini · Post by **LucaPacchiarini** » 27 Mar 2011, 19:12

Didn't watch the race, but it seems it was a wreckfest.... apparently Simona De Silvestro finished 4th and Sato 5th, which automatically makes the race epic.

Bleu · Post by **Bleu** » 27 Mar 2011, 19:57

First 15 laps or so was basically new crash in every restart (Andretti flipped in first corner, several other top names suffered as well in that) but after that it was only Kimball who caused full course caution.

golic_2004 · Post by **golic_2004** » 27 Mar 2011, 20:21

Reject of the Indycar Race goes to Sebastien Bourdais.

Great job for Simona de Silvestro on on the 4th place run AND Taku finishing 5th.

nome66 · Post by **nome66** » 28 Mar 2011, 09:33

Hope Baltimore isn't the same way. I want to see NO wrecks and Simona De Silvestro finish first!
And takuma sato a close second.