Sal Rosenberg Posted May 21, 2017 Share Posted May 21, 2017 1 minute ago, racinfarmer said: In rookie orientation they teach you to turn left in a situation like that. Yep . They started preaching that right around the time of the Gordon Smiley crash when the speeds started getting really crazy . It tough though because counter steering is just a natural instinct with those guy's Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
snatchslayer Posted May 21, 2017 Share Posted May 21, 2017 Nasty crash . Damn Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ckf Posted May 21, 2017 Author Share Posted May 21, 2017 Alonso pleased to qualify for Fast Nine Shootout By Joey Barnes | Published: May 20, 2017 INDIANAPOLIS – Believe the hype. Fernando Alonso took to the Indianapolis Motor Speedway like a duck to water and will compete for the Verizon P1 Award in Sunday’s final round of qualifying for the 101st Running of the Indianapolis 500 presented by PennGrade Motor Oil. Heavy rain delayed the start of today’s qualifying by five hours, forcing all drivers to make one four-lap attempt late in the afternoon on the 2.5-mile oval. Conditions were difficult as the deluge washed away the rubber on the track surface, making grip tricky despite the cooler temperatures. After waiting his turn from 15th in the qualifying line, the two-time Formula One champion didn’t disappoint, clocking four crisp laps at an average speed of 230.034 mph. The effort was seventh best for the day and advanced Alonso to Sunday’s Fast Nine Shootout that will decide the pole sitter for May 28 race. With the left-side tires diving just below the white line in each of the four 90-degree turns around the track, Alonso kept his No. 29 McLaren-Honda-Andretti Honda on the razor’s edge as he floated it out of each corner just inches from the wall. The Verizon IndyCar Series’ heralded newcomer and 32-time F1 race winner looked anything but a rookie on the run. “I think the day was smooth for us,” Alonso said. “I think this morning when the weather came in, (it) definitely put a little bit of a stress on everyone. Obviously you have only one attempt, one shot, so you cannot get it wrong. “So, yeah, we tried to put the run together. I think was not perfectly OK in terms of balance, in terms of driving myself, that I keep learning on this format. Useful run today, useful lessons. So tomorrow I will try to do better and find more speed.” With Sunday’s forecast similar to today’s, Alonso believes the balance in his car’s setup could need fine-tuning. He will also check in with his Andretti Autosport teammates for ways to improve the car’s performance. “We need to review the downforce level,” said Alonso. “We adjust anyway the downforce level to the conditions. So today, definitely when we run, it was quite hot in that moment, quite sunny. So we see tomorrow what the conditions exactly are at the time we are running, and we will decide on which level of downforce. “I think we can do small tweaks to the setup to make the run a little bit more comfortable, a little bit more consistent hopefully. And also my side. I need to now get back to the office with the engineers, listen to Takuma (Sato), to Marco (Andretti), to Alexander (Rossi), what they feel, what they do corner to corner, how they prepare the tires on the warming lap, etc. “Useful things that I will learn today, tonight, and I will put tomorrow on the track.” Today’s venture may have been his first qualifying attempt on an oval racetrack, but it wasn’t a completely new experience. To Alonso, qualifying is qualifying. “All qualifyings are tricky, you know,” he said. “I go to my go-kart place, when I have put new tires, I have 15 kids watching me with a timer on the hand. Is very tough, you know. Every qualifying you do, you go against the physics of the car and the physics of the circuit in that particular moment. “It gets stressful. It gets difficult, tricky. But at the same time, huge adrenaline when you cross the line.” Alonso’s goal was simply to advance and that is exactly what the 97-time F1 podium finisher did. “I think my timing on the qualifying was not the best,” he said. “I think now at the end with the cooler track, the track was faster. But definitely my time was better than the first guys (who made attempts). When I saw Juan Pablo (Montoya) being the second car out there, definitely I think he found the track quite bad. “I was in the middle, so let's say that I was lucky. Today was all about being in the fast nine. We did it and tomorrow is the real thing, so let's see.” http://www.indycar.com/News/2017/05/05-20-Alonso-qualifying Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Platinum Contributing Member Jimmy Snacks Posted May 21, 2017 Platinum Contributing Member Share Posted May 21, 2017 Eddie Cheever said that Alonso is the favorite to win this year....said he has been impeccable on track. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ckf Posted May 21, 2017 Author Share Posted May 21, 2017 10 minutes ago, Biggie Smails said: Eddie Cheever said that Alonso is the favorite to win this year....said he has been impeccable on track. I've never really been a fan of Alonso in F1. But I wouldn't mind seeing him win the 500. It would be great for Indycar IMO 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Platinum Contributing Member Jimmy Snacks Posted May 21, 2017 Platinum Contributing Member Share Posted May 21, 2017 (edited) 6 minutes ago, ckf said: I've never really been a fan of Alonso in F1. But I wouldn't mind seeing him win the 500. It would be great for Indycar IMO Agreed.....other than one of the smaller underfunded teams winning a win by Alonso would be big which is why Bourdais crashing yesterday is a double whammy as Dale Coyne racing is one of those teams. Lets face it that while a win by second and third generation drivers like Graham Rahal and Marco Andretti would be big I don't see it happening. Also I just checked qualifying from yesterday and only 31 cars are entered....sad. Edited May 21, 2017 by Biggie Smails 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ckf Posted May 21, 2017 Author Share Posted May 21, 2017 14 minutes ago, Biggie Smails said: Agreed.....other than one of the smaller underfunded teams winning a win by Alonso would be big which is why Bourdais crashing yesterday is a double whammy as Dale Coyne racing is one of those teams. Lets face it that while a win by second and third generation drivers like Graham Rahal and Marco Andretti would be big I don't see it happening. Also I just checked qualifying from yesterday and only 31 cars are entered....sad. Wasn't a full field 33 cars with a half a dozen or so not making the field? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Platinum Contributing Member Jimmy Snacks Posted May 21, 2017 Platinum Contributing Member Share Posted May 21, 2017 2 minutes ago, ckf said: Wasn't a full field 33 cars with a half a dozen or so not making the field? Yep and it's what made bubble day so exciting....teams making multiple runs searching for that tenth or hundredth of a second so they could make the race. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ckf Posted May 21, 2017 Author Share Posted May 21, 2017 Do you guys think racing is going to rebound? Not just Indycar, racing in general? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Platinum Contributing Member Jimmy Snacks Posted May 21, 2017 Platinum Contributing Member Share Posted May 21, 2017 (edited) 2 minutes ago, ckf said: Do you guys think racing is going to rebound? Not just Indycar, racing in general? Judging by what I see in the stands every week at NASCAR races I say no. Indycar is fucked IMO. Edited May 21, 2017 by Biggie Smails Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ckf Posted May 21, 2017 Author Share Posted May 21, 2017 3 minutes ago, Biggie Smails said: Judging by what I see in the stands every week at NASCAR races I say no. Indycar is fucked IMO. What happened to Nascar? The recession? Francecar? Agreed on Indycar. Tony George did a lot of damage back in the day out of his own greed. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Platinum Contributing Member Jimmy Snacks Posted May 21, 2017 Platinum Contributing Member Share Posted May 21, 2017 4 minutes ago, ckf said: What happened to Nascar? The recession? Francecar? Agreed on Indycar. Tony George did a lot of damage back in the day out of his own greed. I'm not sure what happened....there is a good group of young talented drivers, the venues have improved and offer a lot amenities, Monster is a good sponsor that should bring in a different demographic and maybe in the next few years it will improve. Maybe somebody here can chime in about the health of the local short and dirt track scene. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ckf Posted May 21, 2017 Author Share Posted May 21, 2017 7 minutes ago, Biggie Smails said: I'm not sure what happened....there is a good group of young talented drivers, the venues have improved and offer a lot amenities, Monster is a good sponsor that should bring in a different demographic and maybe in the next few years it will improve. Maybe somebody here can chime in about the health of the local short and dirt track scene. Speaking for my crew that used to go to every fall race at NH, it just got boring after a while. Unless you had a headset the only time you could hear the announcer was during caution laps. It's hard to follow the race at the track like you can sitting in front of the TV at home. Maybe quieting down the cars a little would help with that aspect of it? It doesn't appear to just be auto racing that is suffering. The local SnoX series has been struggling as well. Even the local vintage race series closed down last year. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
racinfarmer Posted May 21, 2017 Share Posted May 21, 2017 49 minutes ago, ckf said: Do you guys think racing is going to rebound? Not just Indycar, racing in general? No. It has just gotten to be too expensive in all forms of racing for the average guy to complete without big backing or running up a lot of CC debt. 20 minutes ago, ckf said: Speaking for my crew that used to go to every fall race at NH, it just got boring after a while. Unless you had a headset the only time you could hear the announcer was during caution laps. It's hard to follow the race at the track like you can sitting in front of the TV at home. Maybe quieting down the cars a little would help with that aspect of it? It doesn't appear to just be auto racing that is suffering. The local SnoX series has been struggling as well. Even the local vintage race series closed down last year. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Platinum Contributing Member Jimmy Snacks Posted May 21, 2017 Platinum Contributing Member Share Posted May 21, 2017 Fast 9 qualifying on now....Alonso had an engine change but is flying. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Platinum Contributing Member Jimmy Snacks Posted May 21, 2017 Platinum Contributing Member Share Posted May 21, 2017 Alexander Rossi knocks Alonso off the pole. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Platinum Contributing Member Jimmy Snacks Posted May 21, 2017 Platinum Contributing Member Share Posted May 21, 2017 Holy Shit Scott Dixon is absolutely flying....on pole....by a lot. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ckf Posted May 21, 2017 Author Share Posted May 21, 2017 Just now, Biggie Smails said: Holy Shit Scott Dixon is absolutely flying....on pole....by a lot. Two more qualifiers to go to see who sits on the pole. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Platinum Contributing Member Jimmy Snacks Posted May 21, 2017 Platinum Contributing Member Share Posted May 21, 2017 Just now, ckf said: Two more qualifiers to go to see who sits on the pole. Ed Carpenter and Sato have both been fast as well. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Platinum Contributing Member Jimmy Snacks Posted May 21, 2017 Platinum Contributing Member Share Posted May 21, 2017 Dixons speed holds up. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ckf Posted May 21, 2017 Author Share Posted May 21, 2017 Dixon on the pole with Alonso starting 5th. Pretty impressive for Alonso considering how little seat time he has had in an Indy Car and on an oval. http://www.foxsports.com/motor/gallery/starting-lineup-for-the-2017-indianapolis-500-052117 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Platinum Contributing Member Jimmy Snacks Posted May 21, 2017 Platinum Contributing Member Share Posted May 21, 2017 2 minutes ago, ckf said: Dixon on the pole with Alonso starting 5th. Pretty impressive for Alonso considering how little seat time he has had in an Indy Car and on an oval. http://www.foxsports.com/motor/gallery/starting-lineup-for-the-2017-indianapolis-500-052117 Absolutely impressive and he had the unknown of a new motor that was installed just prior to qualifying today. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ckf Posted May 21, 2017 Author Share Posted May 21, 2017 1 minute ago, Biggie Smails said: Absolutely impressive and he had the unknown of a new motor that was installed just prior to qualifying today. It will be interesting to see if he can hang with the leaders for 500 miles Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dave Posted May 21, 2017 Share Posted May 21, 2017 1 minute ago, ckf said: It will be interesting to see if he can hang with the leaders for 500 miles I predict he will win and the team owner will grab his ass whilst hugging him. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Platinum Contributing Member Jimmy Snacks Posted May 21, 2017 Platinum Contributing Member Share Posted May 21, 2017 8 minutes ago, ckf said: It will be interesting to see if he can hang with the leaders for 500 miles Yeah the race is definitely a different animal and his inexperience may hamper him. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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