Open Wheel Racing, Weekend #2

Thanks to the addition of Ryan Mooney to the 3SN team, I finally have somebody to join me in racing discussions!


Also thanks to Mr. Mooney, I found myself checking out the first F1 race of the year live at 3 in the morning, and found myself loving every minute of it!  The Buton/Massa battle for the first 12 laps or so was one to rival any battle for position in any form of racing! Sebastian Vettel ended up leading from start to finish, winning by over 22 seconds. A rather exciting race to watch, especially in seeing the new rules take place, including the KERS and overtake rear-wing, which Ryan and I will discuss at a later date.

That being said, I am still all about the IndyCar Series. This series features an even mix of road/street races and oval courses. This schedule is unique to any other racing series (F1 has solely road/street course races, NASCAR has 2 road races out of 36 events) and to me is what makes the IndyCar Series the most demanding of the drivers, teams, and crews.  Though every track is different, to be able to properly adjust your car from one week of maneuvering through city streets efficiently, to the following week having your car set up for 200+ mph speeds on a 2 mile oval, takes the utmost skill.

The first IndyCar race of the year was two weekends ago, the same day as the F1 kickoff event. 25 racers took the green flag on the Streets of St. Petersburg, Florida, and what resulted about five seconds after the green flag waved was something to behold.  Helio Castroneves bumps Marco Andretti from behind going into turn one. Andretti ends up on his head, his teammate Mike Conway also out of the race, and pre-race
favorites Castroneves along with Scott Dixon and Ryan Briscoe are forced to pit due to damage. The Indy race finished with its own intense battle between Simona de Silvestro and Tony Kanaan over the last half-dozen laps. Young de Silvestro raced to a 4th place finish after starting 17th, and battled the veteran
Kanaan to some of the most fun racing they've had in years (just ask their Twitter pages). Reigning series champion Dario Franchitti won the race, and pole-sitter and road course master Will Power finished second.

Now after a week off for both series, it's time to go racing yet again! F1 races in Malaysia this weekend. The course looks open for lots of overtakes, something that has been absent over the past few years in the series. The front straight will have cars going over 180 mph before going into turn one at speeds more around 45 mph. Might see some incidents there for sure. Turns 14 and 15 each go into their own individual straightaway, so when you get on and off the throttle will be key here and lead to many passing opportunities! Tune in live at 4 am Sunday Morning to watch live, or replayed later in the day. My prediction: Watch Mark Webber to take charge. He's been fast all weekend, and if he leads going into turn one at the start, he might not be caught.  Top Five: Webber, Vettel, Button, Massa, Hamilton.

The Honda Indy Grand Prix of Alabama will air live at 3pm Sunday. Barber Motorsports Park hosts this event, and the track allows so much diversity in racing styles that anything is possible. Most of the turns will be taken at high speeds, unlike St. Pete which had turn one at 60 mph at best. Nice partial straightaways to pick up speed and many elevation changes make this track a fun and intense race course! There aren't too many good passing zones here, though, so it is surely a strategy race. Two stops or three? Primary or alternate tires? Save fuel or go all out? In the end, it will not be about who has the best strategy but who has the best strategy adjustment mid-race.  My prediction: First practice is just starting, so can't tell for sure who looks fast. So far, Castroneves and Conway lead the way, but top finishers from last week haven't taken the track yet. But in a strategy race, it's hard to go against Team Penske. And on a road race, hard to go against juggernaut Will Power.  So look for Power to be in victory lane, but keep your eye on Simona, she's yet to disappoint in her two years in IndyCar.  Top Five: Power, Conway, Franchitti, Castroneves, de Silvestro.

MY FINAL WORD: 

What I loved best about the Indy race was the finish: NINE different teams represented the top 10 finishers. This shows every race will be competitive, which is a huge plus for IndyCar!! Also, look at the ratings. NASCAR is going downhill quickly with ratings (the only reason they even survived was Indy's split with CART in the mid 90's) and the St. Pete race had the highest ratings for an IndyCar race besides the Indianapolis 500 since 2007. The sport is rising. Sponsors are flying in, new teams are forming, and fans of all ages are joining the ride! We're going to see more racing teams attempt to qualify for the 500 this year than we've seen in close to a decade! I just hope everybody will come along for the ride and see what true racing looks like!