Quote:
Originally Posted by AYDS
I find engineering problems interesting.
There will always be risk in motor racing, and safety has improved greatly in recent years. But some things are just inexcusable.
The catch fences. This is an ancient technology, and Robert Wickens is a cripple because of it. Ballistic glass could provide a flush, durable surface. It would of course need to be cleaned during the race because the rubber would cloud the fans' view. Perhaps a system of tear-offs would work?
Reducing aero and mechanical grip even further could bring the speeds down significantly without reducing horsepower. What if they had the Indy aero package at the smaller ovals, no wings at all at Indy, and ran hard bias-ply tires at all the ovals? The more forgiving tires would surely reduce wrecks.
There's never been an Indy where all 33 drivers were talented enough to deserve being there. The fewer hacks, the fewer incidents there will be. That also means more green flag racing. They could reduce the field to fewer than 30 cars, and have stricter entry requirements for drivers.
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Some interesting ideas here, although removing aero and reverting to bias ply tires seems so much a reversion to older tech that I don't think the series will ever go for it.
For the 500, IndyCar is so hung up on the now-traditional 33 car field that I don't see them ever changing it (even though long ago there were times when there were many more).
I'd favour a system where all the full-season entrants have a guaranteed spot at the 500. They'd still have to qualify, so could potentially start behind one-offs and partial season entrants, but at least that would ensure sponsors that the car and driver they've been supporting all year would be in the big show, unlike, say, the situation with James Hinchcliffe missing the race some years back. I imagine Arrow Electronics were not at all happy about that.
Then let the one-offs, also-rans, and celebrity stunt guests (e.g. Alonso) fight over the remaining positions.
Totally agree re: catch fences. Remember the "repairs" they made at Pocono following Wickens' crash? Basically a couple of guys wire-tying chain link fence to cover the hole. Terrrifying.