2011 IndyCar Series

[Juen-Jen Wang]

Why is this thread suddenly getting revived?

Then explain why nobody in F1 has died for the last 18 years while someone in Indycar died 5 months ago?

Because IndyCar races on ovals. Simple. That's like asking why there's more deaths in Rally than F1 (someone died this year in Dakar btw). Lets look at all the deaths in the last 20 years of IndyCar:

Jovy Marcelo 1992 - Indianapolis (Oval)
Scott Brayton 1996 - Indianapolis (Oval)
Jeff Krosnoff 1996 - Toronto Street (Road)
Rodriguez Gonzalez 1997 - Laguna Seca (Road)
Greg Moore 1999 - Fontana (Oval)
Tony Renna 2003 - Indianapolis (Oval)
Paul Dana 2006 - Homestead (Oval)
Dan Wheldon 2011 - Las Vegas (Oval)

I would even count out Gonzalez's death because Gonzalez died from a stuck throttle at the top of the corkscrew. I'm sure if a F1 car got a throttle stuck at the top of the corkscrew there would be a death as well. So out of the 8 drivers that has died in IndyCar/CART in the last 20 years... 6 of them has been on ovals.

Do you wanna see an unsafe car? How about the ChampCar DP01? That actually injured drivers on slow road courses like Long Beach. The Dallara was actually really safe ignoring dangerous situations like what happened at Vegas. Does anyone remember this?

Or this?

What about Mike Conway's Indy crash in 2010?

Kenny Brack said in an interview in 2004 that the IR03 saved his life and he considers IndyCar very safe.

No offense... but if you've never watched IndyCar before or have no idea of IndyCar's actual history, then you really really shouldn't comment. I've been watching IndyCar since 1995 and I have every single CART race from 1990-2001 and every single IndyCar race from 2004-2011.

Let's not forget IndyCar actually was the one who first put to use speedway SAFER barriers. If you don't know what SAFER barriers are (again an IndyCar safety innovation) then you REALLY shouldn't comment on IndyCar.


Let me ask all you people a question. Why do we constantly have to compare IndyCar to F1? Why can't we just accept that these are two completely different series that races on very different tracks? Why must we always compare a, primarily, Tilke-style Grand Prix circuit series to a series that races on Ovals/airports/makeshift bumpy roads?

I watch both F1 and IndyCar for a reason. I see the value in both and I get an experience from each series that the other doesn't have.

(Lets not forget NASCAR had a death in 2001 and ARCA had a death in 2002. I still consider both NASCAR and ARCA safer than F1 because of the tin-tops design. It's only the nature of oval racing that makes it inherently much more dangerous)

 

[Hampus Andersson]

Bottom line is not even close to being as safe as F1 which was what you caught yourself up on.
No matter if they run on the moon or in someones back yard, IndyCar is far from being safe.

Your little list shows that just perfectly.

Let me ask all you people a question. Why do we constantly have to compare IndyCar to F1? Why can't we just accept that these are two completely different series that races on very different tracks? Why must we always compare a, primarily, Tilke-style Grand Prix circuit series to a series that races on Ovals/airports/makeshift bumpy roads?

You just did it yourself! You answered a quote on F1 vs Indycar safety for gods sake.

 

[Juen-Jen Wang]

Bottom line is not even close to being as safe as F1 which was what you caught yourself up on.
No matter if they run on the moon or in someones back yard, IndyCar is far from being safe.

Your little list shows that just perfectly.

My list shows that oval racing is inherently more dangerous than road course racing. Not that IndyCar is backwards in technological safety especially since they are the ones that developed and implemented the SAFER barrier. After all both NASCAR and ARCA has had deaths in the 2000s and people still get injured in the US running those high hp sprint cars (850 hp). And I actually consider the NASCAR cup car safer than F1 when it's running on road courses just because of the inherent nature of tin tops.

If you put IndyCar on road courses only it's just as safe if not safer (due to the DW12's side skirts protecting wheels locking now) than F1. On ovals the safety ratings drop like mad because of the dangerous nature of ovals.

Remember what Schumacher said when he said he'll never run IndyCar? He said the Indianapolis Speedway is too dangerous because of open wheel + oval = too dangerous (he also said it was boring but that's besides the point). He didn't say "IndyCar is 20 years behind F1 safety". That statement implies that ICS technologically didn't keep up with the car speeds.

After all, people still die almost yearly in Drag racing. I'm sure the NHRA have done all they can to make drag racing as safe as possible but there's only so much you can do with that style of racing. The same is the case with Rally and oval racing

You just did it yourself! You answered a quote on F1 vs Indycar safety for gods sake.

I'm just trying to elaborate how stupid that statement sounds to me. I have respect for David Coulthard for being a fairly successful F1 driver. He has done more in his career than I can ever hope for in my life in regards to motorsports.

At the same time, saying that IndyCar is "20 years behind F1 in safety" shows really high ignorance and it's a pretty dumb comment to make. Just like Mario Andretti saying that Dan's death was "just a freak accident" pretty dumb in itself as well.

In essence, comparing road racing safety to oval racing safety is pretty short sighted. It's just like saying "WRC is 20 years behind F1 in safety". It's just a comment that's both short sighted and no thought out. Oval racing was never and will never be the same as road course racing and oval racing is always going to be much more dangerous than road racing.

Deaths in rallies and ovals still happen. Deaths in F1 doesnt. Case in point. If you have WRC/Dakar, IndyCar, and F1 at their technological peak. I'm still willing to bet that deaths in rally and IndyCar will still happen

 

[Hampus Andersson]

I'll answer after work in around 10 hours, i did read it though.

 

[Juen-Jen Wang]

I'll answer after work in around 10 hours, i did read it though.

lol good timing cause I have to go to bed anyway, take your time.

 

[Hampus Andersson]

Ok back, i can see i kind off sidelined the topic into which one is more dangerous Indycar or F1 as a sport.
And not the statement Coulthard made about F1 being 20 years ahead. Sorry for any confusion.

Good valid points i have to say though.