The 100th Indianapolis 500

If you have BT Internet then BT Sport is cheap/free but if not then you are basically paying for a crapload of football with some occassional racing (Indycars/V8 Supercars/Euro F3) thrown on top.

Yes it's frustrating. I did subscribe to PremierSports for a while to watch the Daytona 500 and some NASCAR as well, but with work I had to cancel (just not enough free time), but the subscription charge wasn't too bad (£6 per month or something near that).

Being on Guernsey we don't have BT telephone lines (it's all Cable & Wireless) so I can't take advantage of any of the offers and nearly £26 a month for a minimum of 12 months (and £15 connection fee) is just too much for me.

My only interests would be DTM and Indycar and then I would have to fight over the Sky Remote to watch it!:roflmao: With the ESPN connection it would be nice if they had rights to the IMSA races as well. Although you can catch those on the web.

I see there is now a £21.99 one month option which is interesting, might be worth it. Would just need to remember to cancel it after the one month period.;)
 
...Being on Guernsey we don't have BT telephone lines...

My only interests would be DTM and Indycar and then I would have to fight over the Sky Remote to watch it!:roflmao: With the ESPN connection it would be nice if they had rights to the IMSA races as well. Although you can catch those on the web.

Being a tax exile obvously has some drawbacks :)

Forgot all about the DTM which is dumb as I watched it last weekend.

The Android app for BT Sport is actually pretty good so you don't need to hog the TV.
 
Being a tax exile obvously has some drawbacks :)

Yeah it's a beautiful island but unfortunately life's not very cheap over here! :laugh:

So I never go out over here, save up and travel to the UK or Europe for some racing action :D

The tax thing is a bit of a myth, yes we save some in tax but what you save in tax you lose in general living costs. We still pay the same in taxes as the UK it just goes to the States of Guernsey rather than the UK. About 95% of the shops here for example sell at the same price as UK stores. VAT is kind of a touchy subject, some companies will refund it (John Lewis for example) but most don't.

It also costs £180 return every time you want to fly to the UK (£400 if you want to take your car on the ferry) Grrrrr :roflmao: That's really the biggest problem living here.

Oh of course if you're a speed freak the 25mph speed limit will probably drive you nuts..:whistling:

I've lived here for ten years (used to live near Windsor) so I know both sides of the coin. I earn a little more than I did in the UK (about £19k) but as with any country there are plusses and minuses. Not being born here though means property is out of my reach.

Bit off topic though! Hope you enjoy the racing at the weekend matey :thumbsup:
 
Its something very special to me. I like this race, too much, this track, on this retangular format, with 9 degrees on corners, 4 corners and a mini straight between the corners make so special, because has only one best line to race, its not like other ovals that you can see 2 or 3 cars side by side.

For me a special reason to see, I like to see a fourth winner of Hélio Castroneves. Im a brazilian guy, and this is important to me, I remind the victory of Tony Kanaan, so memorable, fighting for years to win this race, very emotional.

Its one of the best races. If you dont like oval see the race with a friend that understand a lot about Indy race, strategies, Wind, drag, the fast lines, the properly way to overtake and protect positions, the right time to do the decisions. Because this is a race that can be very boring to a person that not understand anything about a race on oval, but, a race very interesting to one that understand because can predict the finish of the race laps before, predict the cars that are fast, the cars that are making the right decisions to put them on the first positions on the final of the race and win. On the final, some microdesitions, on the precise time, can make one the winner and other the loser of the race. Indy 500 is so fantastic, no one race to points there. It is just my favorite race to watch. I can say that others races can be more enjoyable to drive, but to watch on TV Indy 500 is my favorite.
 
These have got to be the ugliest Indycars ever, they don't even look like a Indycar anymore with that awful block hanging off the back now, yes, I know it's a bumper, but they could have made it smaller, or at least a little more stylish, aerodynamic maybe ?

Nah. I'd say this one is uglier:
Blog-1911-Harroun-600.jpg

I mean, most of those people didn't even know how to drive, with 80,000 fans arriving by horse and buggy. Although, I'd have to agree, the lack of "fenders" was excellent!

The cars are faster than they've been for years, but they're not nearly as fast as they were back in the glory days of C.A.R.T. They're about as safe as it's possible to make them.

Actually, the trap speeds going into turn one were up to 242 mph vs. 247 mph in the glory days of C.A.R.T. (which they are fixing to relive soon). Hinchcliffe's pole was 230.760 mph this year, but that was a four lap average, and they were turning laps around 232 mph, which compares to Arie Luyendyk's 237.498 mph back in 1996. They are not far off...and that's with a V6 Turbo producing 700 bhp as opposed to Arie's 1000 bhp monster. Most people also forget that they changed the inner radius/diameter (whatever) of the track after the 1990s. About 10-20 ft. of the apron was grassed over and a full length "pit" access lane now encircles the track. If you watch the 90s races, you can see drivers blasting well inside where they can go today and, in fact, right over the white "apron" line, which, I guess, ticked officials off. (Andretti was furious in 1993 after getting a penalty for doing it).

Matt pretty much nailed it. They exceeded the limits of what the human body can endure long ago. IndyCar had to cancel a 2001 race at Texas Motor Speedway after a NASA flight director determined that lap speeds exceeded the known levels of human tolerance of vertical g-loads. The human body could not tolerate sustained loads of more than 4-4.5 Gs, and these drivers were well over that for much of the lap. Drivers were losing their peripheral vision and could not walk in a straight line for 3-4 minutes after laps.

2016 cars produce more down-force than an F1 car (but not at Indy) and would murder an F1 car here, but not on a road course. That's always been the case. As for interest, most "old ass" commentators like Robin Miller and Roger Penske said they have never seen interest this high since the mid 1990s. They had 100,000 for practice yesterday and expect 350,000 for the race. It's sold out for the first time in 100 years.

P.S. - Great article. Can always tell a true fan.
 
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Yes, well done to the winner, slightly disappointed as they won it on fuel strategy, he was almost on half throttle on the last lap.

Thoroughly deserved though and a very tense finish for both the driver and team! :)
 
A very entertaining and safe race.
There was lots of passing; I always hold my breath when they fly into some of the corners two and three wide. That's part of what makes it exciting.
A smart strategy call for the winning team. Congrats to the winner!
There were also a few red mist moments in the pits that put some front runners way back.
I was happy to see such a huge crowd on hand; the t.v. ratings have been getting better and hopefully this trend will continue.
 
I was a big 1990-1995 era fan and I think IndyCar has come full circle...finally.

As I watched the cars approach 1993 speeds, there was Arie Luyendyk at race control serving as Chief Steward and Scott Goodyear in the booth with Eddie Cheever. Justin Wilson's brother Stefan Wilson made an emotional start after I lost Justin just nine months ago. Michael Andretti's team led by former Rahal-Letterman driver (and Laguna Seca ace) Bryan Herta took the prize with a driver fresh from (and still employed by!) Formula One, casting shades of my all time favorite, Nigel Mansell, to become the first rookie ever to win a unified-grid Indy 500. Of course, Herta's Vision Racing enabled the late Dan Wheldon to claim what is perhaps the greatest underdog victory of the modern 500 era.

Mario Andretti led the first unofficial lap, as usual, as Bobby Rahal, A.J. Foyt, David Letterman, Dale Coyne, Chip Ganassi, Ed Carpenter, Buddy Lazier, Davey Hamilton, Roger Penske, and Jimmy Vasser all cheered their drivers to victory. I'm sure somehow that Paul Newman was looking in on us. Even the pathetic coverage by ABC, who robbed us of nearly 50% of the race by commercial interruption, could not dampen what it was. The breaks, caused by legitimate incidents, came like clockwork, often coinciding perfectly with needed pit stops. The start and restarts were generally flawless, as if the drivers knew not to create a spectacle but through their racing. The winning car was co-owned by Mike Curb, who is a good-ol-boy from Georgia who owned Richard Petty's famed #43 in 1984. But the ending was not what modern NASCAR has become. It was not engineered by "competition" cautions, was not a fender banging brawl, was not anything that anyone expected (except perhaps Eddie Cheever), and was not even close. Yet still, it was so exciting to those like me who love racing, love the Indianapolis 500, and love history...in that order.

So this year, as I watch Robby Gordon's trucks compete at Detroit this weekend, my favorite commentator Paul Tracy call races, and see IndyCar soon visit Watkins Glen, the 100th anniversary of the Indy 500 proves sooner rather than later that yes, I can indeed go home again.
 
Probably one of the most edge of the seat finishes I can remember and a lot of really excellent racing over the whole race distance. Would have liked Hinch to win after last year but he had the pole and plenty of airtime at the front.

I was wondering though how many of the teams drained the fuel from their cars after the race and realised they could have made it without a stop? There must have been others down the field who were marginal. Was surprising more people further back didn't give it a go considering the prize. Guess we'll never know.
 
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Probably one of the most edge of the seat finishes I can remember and a lot of really excellent racing over the whole race distance. Would have liked Hinch to win after last year but he had the pole and plenty of airtime at the front.

I was wondering though how many of the teams drained the fuel from their cars after the race and realised they could have made it without a stop? There must have been others down the field who were marginal. Was surprising more people further back didn't give it a go considering the prize. Guess we'll never know.
One of the things that the Indy Star reported was that Bell and Hunter-Ray gave Rossi several tows in the closing laps. Combined with Rossi's fuel management prowess and Herta's gutsy instructions, I'm not sure any other driver could have done it.
 
One of the things that the Indy Star reported was that Bell and Hunter-Ray gave Rossi several tows in the closing laps. Combined with Rossi's fuel management prowess and Herta's gutsy instructions, I'm not sure any other driver could have done it.

Yes Rossi mentioned RHR right after the race. Just surprised no-one was listening to Rossi's radio and decided to take his tow. Not something we will ever get an answer to but just surprised no-one else went with him.
 
Where is @R.J. O'Connell with his ALEXANDER ROSSI HELL YEAH! excitement when we need him?

If you were on TS with me, Matheus, Tobias and friends, we couldn't hold back on the excitement and surprise of having Rossi win the 500.

Most surprising and third most satisfying finish ever (Just before Helio's win at 2009 after his year long tax fraud battle in the court and Tony Kanaan's win at 2013 after 11 attempts)
 
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Yes Rossi mentioned RHR right after the race. Just surprised no-one was listening to Rossi's radio and decided to take his tow. Not something we will ever get an answer to but just surprised no-one else went with him.

What I'm surprised on is how poorly everyone besides AA/BHA mismanaged the race at the end.

Everyone "knew" you would need to pit unless there was a yellow. Even if there was a yellow, you'd still be really, really close especially at full power. Making a pit stop costs a little bit under a lap so from up front you can make it work. Why were teams playing a half in half out game at that point? Make your stop early and run full out the whole time without consideration for fuel saving - even if there is a yellow you will cycle forward when slower cars need to make their stop just to make it while still saving a bit. Not to mention you would have considerably fresher tires.

I think Hildebrand, Chaves and Rahal (somehow he was a lap down at the end though I don't know how that happened - I assume this strategy as a hail mary from RLL) were the only ones to go that route. Even then, Hildebrand (and Dixon) both came in around lap 190.

I really thing ECR bungled it though. They had two guys up front, Newgy was drafting the whole time off Munoz, one off non championship driver Hildebrand comes out right in front of Newgy at the end - but they never played that strategy and instead were outpaced by Munoz and out fuel saved by Rossi. Either go mix it up with Munoz or go full save - only strategies that end with them in victory lane.

If I'm ECR and I'm going to pit, I'd be bringing Newgarden and Hildebrand in together and work a slipstream tandem early or let it fly if one of the two cars was really trimmed out. They were far enough forward that they could have easily kept on the same lap to Munoz and run faster to leap frog him when he stops.
 
Why were teams playing a half in half out game at that point?

All cars didn't get the same mileage. Few, like Rossi, were running the low down-force configuration (qualifying look but modified). The difference in appearance was the bulky air ramps behind the rear wheels, a bit less front wing, and more aero kit add-ons that improved air flow. And all the ones who were fast were getting considerable less fuel for other reasons too...leaders got killed on fuel the whole day since the "clean air" was nice, but created drag, which = more fuel consumption. Rossi was not only able to sit behind other cars for a long time all day while others swapped the lead in a big testosterone show, but he had a low-drag car and friends at the end (teammates can help each other in IndyCar, even moreso than NASCAR). Mechanical grip, tires, and "being up front" were of little use at crunch time, but even Rossi and Herta really didn't think it would work (if you ask them). And it shoudl not have. That's why it was so impressive. Eliminating hindsight, there was not a soul in the house who thought that the Rossi strategy had any chance, except for Herta.
 
He was running the same config as all of the other Honda cars. Downforce levels may have varied, but you would never be able to visually see it unless you had up close viewing of the wings and wickers. In fact, given he was pretty certain to be in traffic all day and was only up front for a off sequence stint in the middle he probably was carrying more downforce than the more trimmed out cars at the front.

I was pretty confident after the stops with 36 to go someone would make it, not even joking, no hindsight. I know I am not alone in thinking that either, when a stop costs 39 seconds you have a lot of time in hand to work with in saving fuel. No one is thinking it will work, but everyone should have known someone would come damn close - which is what happened. 2011 rings a bell.

Tires don't hurt when you spend enough time stationary to make them free. Regardless of early or late stop you still take the same amount of fuel anyways, it's basic strategy to pit as early as you can if you won't lose a lap or pit as late as possible if you will lose a lap due to cautions.

Munoz did 32/33 laps at the final full stint I believe which is really a good bit and to me indicates they weren't running full power the whole stint. That's bungling it.

From what I heard on another forum Herta told Rossi to hit a 4.75 MPG fuel number from the pit stop, while other teams ran full out for a few laps and then asked for their drivers to hit 5s, which isn't happening. One is a realistic number, one isn't. Commitment to the strategy won it, while other teams didn't fully commit to any one strategy.
 

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