2012 Edmonton Indy

[Purist]

The weekend at Edmonton City Centre Airport kicked off on-track running today.

The 13-turn, 2.256-mile circuit has seen some refinements and new paving since last year's first race on the revised layout.

In the two practice sessions so far, fast times have dipped roughly two seconds under last year's pole time. I would guess that about half a second of that is due to the new car. Some time may have been gained with the tires, while a bit more may have come from new asphalt in places. I'm also a bit suspicious though, that a few spots have seen slight reprofiling.

So far, Honda has been showing strongly, but things looked more even in Practice 2, and Ganassi isn't right at the front just at the moment.

There may be some rain tomorrow, so we'll see if things get a little mixed up come Practice 3, and particularly in Qualifying.

[Yannick]

For quite a while now it seems to me that the Edmonton round should be amongst the first ones to leave the schedule if the IZOD IndyCar Series wants to include more classic tracks in its schedule, much like Belle Isle, despite it having produced some good racing over the years, much unlike Belle Isle. However, for a balanced schedule, an airport track like that is necessary, so the obvious suggestions to replace it would be Cleveland's Burke Lakefront Airport, the Portland, Oregon circuit, or Sebring.

This one may be the final airport race at Edmonton with the race having to move away from the airport for next year.

So this is our last chance to watch a race on this track. Let's enjoy it while it lasts.

[Deleted]

This track is hardly anyone's favourite round... IMO second Canadian round is a MUST though so why not replace this with legendary GP3R @ Trois-Rivieres, Lights are heading there anyways...

Meanwhile, they've shrunken Justin:

[Purist]

Yannick, where did Portland come from as a replacement for an airport circuit?

Chiana, I think Trois Rivieres is a bit on the tight side for IndyCar, and I still can't figure out how they sorted out pit stalls there when the ALMS visited in 2002-03. The stretches at Trois Rivieres make the "straights" at Belle Isle look generous.

BTW, the Edmonton contract goes through 2013, and I'm unaware of any other circuit in the area that would be even remotely capable of hosting IndyCar.

[FordCosworthPanoz]

The old Edmonton circuit was one of my favourite circuits in Indycar, sadly because of the runway closures it is gone. Used to attract one of the biggest crowds, and the old turn 1 grandstands were some of the best seats you could get. With no title sponsor and Octane wanting to move their race closer to home there is talk 2013 will be the last race at Edmonton

Trois Rivieres is horrible though, the scenery and atmosphere in the city is great but IMO the circuit is not suitable for Indycars. It's a bit like Monaco but even worse for overtaking. Indycar has already added a street parade in Houston so the series doesn't need another. Right now Edmonton is their best option, and considering only 20k turned up to Toronto Indycar isn't that popular in the Big North especially without Tracy. The question is what will (if at all) be their second Canadian race if Edmonton leaves the calender.

[Paradise City]

Originally Posted by Yannick

Cleveland's Burke Lakefront Airport

I miss this race.

[FordCosworthPanoz]

Fantastic atmosphere at this year's Edmonton Indy:

[bjohnsonsmith]

Originally Posted by Paradise City

I miss this race.

Bring Cleveland back, Edmonton in both it's forms was a poor man's replacement.

[bjohnsonsmith]

Power get's a grid penalty for changing engines.

http://www.autosport.com/news/report.php/id/101398

As does RHR.

http://www.indycar.com/News/2012/07-...-incur-penalty

That should make things interesting, .

[bjohnsonsmith]

Has anyone got a decent feed?

[Peat]

My god. The announcers are awful.

It's been quite an interesting race so far. If you were blind, you would have no idea.

[bjohnsonsmith]

Originally Posted by Peat

My god. The announcers are awful.

It's been quite an interesting race so far. If you were blind, you would have no idea.

I've got such a bad feed I have barely any idea what's going on, .

[bjohnsonsmith]

I wonder how long Sato can keep it in second place?

[FordCosworthPanoz]

I have a bad feeling this might end in tears...

[FordCosworthPanoz]

Push to Defend working great again...

[bjohnsonsmith]

Congrats to Helio, just what he needed and nice to see Sato get a podium and not trash the car.

[Paradise City]

Good result from Sato. I actually admired the attitude of Hunter-Reay after the race, re. The Power incident.

The announcers reminded me of the Perry McCarthy commentary the BBC had for F1 that was designed for kids.

[The Original Instag8or]

Helio's use of P2P as a defensive aide reminded me just why I prefer F1's DRS system.

[bjohnsonsmith]

Originally Posted by The Original Instag8or

Helio's use of P2P as a defensive aide reminded me just why I prefer F1's DRS system.

I personally don't like either.

[FordCosworthPanoz]

Originally Posted by The Original Instag8or

Helio's use of P2P as a defensive aide reminded me just why I prefer F1's DRS system.

I don't like DRS either, but why p2p sucks even more is that after the first half of the race, it basically becomes 'Push to Defend' as typically the guy out front in cleaner air has the use less of it. At least DRS sets out what it's supposed to do. We saw this in CCWS and in Indycar, the road races this year earlier this year were some of the best we've seen since the mid-90s, sadly as the drivers figure out P2P even more I expect to see some boring races this year and in 2013. I say toss it.

[bjohnsonsmith]

Originally Posted by FordCosworthPanoz

The road races this year earlier this year were some of the best we've seen since the mid-90s, sadly as the drivers figure out P2P even more I expect to see some boring races this year and in 2013. I say toss it.

Agreed, there's been some good road racing this year, so why introduce push to pass now? From what I saw, the racing seemed rather processional.

[The Original Instag8or]

Hmm, less gimmicks equate to better racing? Whodathunkit?

[NaBUru38]

Great race! This is an example of what I think: you don't need that many overtakes to have an entertaining fight in the lead.

I'm very happy that Hélio gets a second win. Actually, I'm surprised that he overtook Power in the championship standings. Anyway, RHR's seventh place lets him take the final stretch with some comfort.

Power's move on RHR was perfectly acceptable to me. If he was some 15 meters behind, then I'd agree he blocked RHR. But from the onboard camera, it doesn't really seem that RHR had to hit the brakes to avoid him.

[Paradise City]

Originally Posted by NaBUru38

This is an example of what I think: you don't need that many overtakes to have an entertaining fight in the lead.

Correct. Quality not quantity is the right standard to judge a race. It was a good race.

I'd have a stroke if they tried to put in DRS into Indycar. It's too hokey and complex. P2P isn't needed but if we must go gimmick at least it's simple.

[NaBUru38]

If there wasn't P2P, the situation of Hélio and Sato would have been more or less the same. It's not its fault that Sato couldn't overtake Hélio.

I like the new system where drivers have seconds rather than pushes. This allows them to use it 2 or 10 seconds, depending on how much they need.