Toyota Grand Prix of Long Beach - Page 2

**gomick** · 18 Apr 2009, 21:39 (Ref:2444070)

Helio hasnt lost any pace at all - has he been testing during his trial?

Good to see Danica find some pace too...

nickyf1 · 18 Apr 2009, 21:40 (Ref:2444072)

what? Danica always had pace!

Yeah, Helio is doing very well.

**gomick** · 18 Apr 2009, 21:49 (Ref:2444081)

Mike Conway is flying during qualifying, the car looks great too.... Will Power just went P1

**gomick** · 18 Apr 2009, 22:16 (Ref:2444092)

Briscoe runs off the track & Helio spins into the wall... Go Will

DanicaFan · 18 Apr 2009, 22:28 (Ref:2444095)

The drivers advancing to the Fast 6 are..

Dario Franchitti
EJ Viso
Justin Wilson
Will Power
Raphael Matos
Scott Dixon

**gomick** · 18 Apr 2009, 22:37 (Ref:2444100)

Shall be interesting, not much between those drivers...

DanicaFan · 18 Apr 2009, 22:41 (Ref:2444104)

Congrats to Will Power...gets the pole!

**gomick** · 18 Apr 2009, 22:41 (Ref:2444105)

Will Power on pole

DanicaFan · 18 Apr 2009, 22:57 (Ref:2444122)

Here is the starting grid for tommorow's race...

1. #12 Will Power
2. #10 Dario Franchitti
3. #2 Raphael Matos
4. #13 EJ Viso
5. #18 Justin Wilson
6. #9 Scott Dixon
7. #02 Graham Rahal
8. #3 Helio Castroneves
9. #34 Alex Tagliani
10. #6 Ryan Briscoe
11. #11 Tony Kanaan
12. #21 Ryan Hunter-Reay
13. #5 Mario Moraes
14. #4 Dan Wheldon
15. #06 Robert Doornbos
16. #24 Mike Conway
17. #27 Hideki Mutoh
18. #23 Darren Manning
19. #26 Marco Andretti
20. #14 Vitor Meira
21. #98 Stanton Barrett
22. #7 Danica Patrick
23. #20 Ed Carpenter

Alwaysfirst · 19 Apr 2009, 01:15 (Ref:2444201)

I'm seriously hoping for a Will Power victory. It would add more pressure on the team to keep him in a drive. IMO he's way too good a driver to be sat on the sidelines when a top ride is fairly easily available. Penske have pulled a third car out of the bag easily enough this weekend. I'd be dissapointed if they felt that they couldn't do it again.

Hazard · 19 Apr 2009, 01:46 (Ref:2444223)

Castroneves crashed during qualifying - will be evaluated on race day to see if he'll be cleared to race.

Dutton · 19 Apr 2009, 02:02 (Ref:2444233)

He will be surely. The accident wasn't a big one. It didn't look it to me, at least.

A formality I would say.

drdisque · 19 Apr 2009, 05:40 (Ref:2444318)

My thoughts from being at the track:

The crowd here is very good, especially for a saturday, and at least in this case the notion that street race crowds are just there for a party isn't true, there were a LOT of knowledgeable fans.

This is probably the most beautiful setting to watch a race in the US (although I haven't been to Watkins Glen - and I'm not planning to considering how hard it is to get to).

Stanton Barret is driving the right lines and seems to have decent gearing and wing in his car, his trouble just seems to be that his braking performance isn't as good. This may be due to the fact that that team may just not have the experience in setting up brakes for a road course.

Helio's hit was a lot harder than it looked on TV. It was very similar to the wreck that injured Paul Tracy about 2 years ago.

The new mufflers on the IndyCars are a lot quieter, but on a road course at least, I can't hear the "turbo-like" sounds that some people describe.

The new exhaust note for the Indy Lights cars is a TON better. They actually sound like exotic race cars now, not like an old bus with an exhaust leak like they used to.

On the Indy Lights notes: Sergey Mokshantsev appears really frustrated with his team and his performance. This is not going as he envisioned.

It definitely appears that AGR/AFS has caught up to and perhaps passed SSM in on-track performance. Perhaps Schmidt has stretched his team too thin this year.

I'm predicting Jonathan Summerton to have yet another good race tomorrow. His car is decent and he impresses me on so many levels as a driver and a professional.

johntt · 19 Apr 2009, 08:01 (Ref:2444399)

Quote:

Originally Posted by Knowlesy

I love oval racing, but the cars either have to have ultra fast top speed or low grip for it to be at its best.

Anyhow, Long Beach. Hurrah!

Agree, 900bhp and low downforce for ovals a la the early 90s and no Handford devices is whats needed.

IRL style oval racing is awful, its like plate racing in nascar except they can't push each other, so they run side by side, flat out lap after lap with little skill or consequence. The exception is in the flatter tracks like Milwaukee.

johntt · 19 Apr 2009, 08:08 (Ref:2444410)

Quote:

Originally Posted by DanicaFan

Negative. Ovals give you faster speeds, side-by-side racing, good passing that you dont get on a road course. Ovals are what makes the IRL.

On to Kansas next!

Ovals are also the only tracks that Danica is capable of running consistently in the midfield at.

Road and street courses produce good racing so long as they don't use crapwagons

Long Beach 1998: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tLo0yYRXUfE
Road America 1993: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kGdF3k2uPaw

**gomick** · 19 Apr 2009, 09:11 (Ref:2444449)

Remember the Zanardi move in 98 at Long Beach - one of the many times he screwed Bryan Herta over...

How healthy was the field in 93 at Road America

johntt · 19 Apr 2009, 10:54 (Ref:2444556)

Quote:

Originally Posted by gomick

Remember the Zanardi move in 98 at Long Beach - one of the many times he screwed Bryan Herta over...

How healthy was the field in 93 at Road America

http://www.champcarstats.com/races/199312.htm
29 cars healthy

and 4 americans in the top 10.

There were also 65 different drivers entered at Indy that year: http://www.champcarstats.com/races/199304.htm

drdisque · 19 Apr 2009, 14:59 (Ref:2444770)

The strength of '93 grids was largely due to the glut of awesome cheap '92 Lolas available.

You could shop up with an out of date car and be right up front since the '93 car wasn't really any better than the '92 car.

Hazard · 19 Apr 2009, 15:47 (Ref:2444797)

First bit of news for the day...Helio Castroneves has been cleared to race

**gomick** · 19 Apr 2009, 20:49 (Ref:2444962)

EJ Viso got squeezed out by the Target car - very unlucky for EJ who has been fast all weekend.... Dont know what happened to Power who bunched the field up to cause that incident & drop to 3rd....

Great pitstop Will

Keyfabe · 19 Apr 2009, 20:49 (Ref:2444963)

whos the idiot commentator? is it scott goodyear? he was on about the late stirling moss the great f1 champion!!!! hes neither dead nor ever world champ!!!!

**gomick** · 19 Apr 2009, 20:55 (Ref:2444967)

Big pile up at the final corner

Hazard · 19 Apr 2009, 21:09 (Ref:2444976)

Quote:

Originally Posted by Keyfabe

whos the idiot commentator? is it scott goodyear? he was on about the late stirling moss the great f1 champion!!!! hes neither dead nor ever world champ!!!!

Ooops.

JagtechOhio · 19 Apr 2009, 21:32 (Ref:2444986)

The loudmouth commentator is former IRL driver and team owner Robbie Buhl. Between him and Big Bird, it's hard to hear the race cars.

I'm no Danica cheerleader (until the driver's suit comes off), but regardless of how this race ends, she has demonstrated her complete capability of running with the best. Anybody who doubts her skill is not basing their opinion on fact.

Andrew Bernstein

Matt · 19 Apr 2009, 22:22 (Ref:2445012)

Nice move by Tags.

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