Reflections on Opening Weekend

What more could you want in central Indiana? We have got a week of gorgeous weather ahead of us and by the end of opening weekend we saw every team but the engine-less dragon crew put at least a few hand fulls of shake down laps before testing begins in force on Monday. The world was watching with bated breath as Lotus began their May programs and guesses about final speeds have been freely distributed to anyone willing to listen from everyone with a voice. It was time for teams to put their money where their mouths are and by the time the checkers fell on Sunday afternoon, Sarah Fisher Hartman Racing looked to be the top team; placing both drivers in the top three both days. The lower end of the time sheet, however was not as bright.

Fan Force United – The one off Lotus team has had a smooth, albeit slow start to the month. Alesi Started the weekend with a top speed of 209.438 and ran 32 laps on Saturday. Sunday wasn’t much different; again running 32 laps with a best speed of 205.265. One has to wonder if Lotus and FFU are doing ECU work as this is the suspected main thorn in the Lotus engine departments side. There is no hurry to complete rookie orientation and as long as he can knock out 15 laps at 210 or better before qualifying Lotus and FFU seem content to do whatever development may be needed before pushing the engine any harder. As a note, I believe the chassis Fan Force is using for the program is possibly the Lotus preseason test mule, and it may be missing the newest aero bits. The chassis is definitely missing the camera pod on the rear wing as witnessed on track and in Gasoline Alley. I have a hard time believing they could pass tech inspection without this drag inducing piece and could be even further proof that the team had not received the newest iteration of the Indy kit from Dallara.

Lotus – It has been no secret that Lotus has been programing and reprogramming their ECU setting on the fly during live track sessions throughout the season in an attempt to work the bugs out of the engine. Given HVM’s trouble with finding speed; the engine manufacturer may be using these early days as an extended test session. We know that most engineering calulations regarding the engines and aerodynamics at Indy were done with a 200 MPH baseline speed. The tiny ray of hope I see for both Lotus teams is that they are, in fact, developing the ECU programing parameters based on the initial information known from wind tunnel and dyno testing. The engine is painfully slow, that much in incontestable, but I’m not ready to say they have totally missed the boat quite yet.

Engine Tally – In an attempt to quantify engine parity, I have chosen to over simplify an extremely complex process that has baffled regulatory bodies for years; most recently INDYCAR as evident by turbogate, by tracking the ratio of engines present in the top 5, top 10 and top 15 as well as top speed from Honda and Chevy. Lotus will not be counted in this unless they find some speed later in the week. In the coming days I will create a dedicated page to track this information throughout the week.

Day 1 – Top 5: Honda 3/2, Top 10: Honda 7/3, Top 15: Honda 9/6

-Fastest Honda: 220.250

-Fastest Chevy: 219.693

Day 2 – Top 15: Honda 4/1, Top 10: Honda 6/4, Top 15: Chevy 8/7

-Fastest Chevy: 221.526

-Fastest Honda: 221.173

My rudimentary table leads me to believe that Honda may have the slightest of advantages in these early stages of practice. However, we talkin bout practice, so nothing is set in stone yet. In my most amateur approximation, practice hasn’t really started full swing quite yet so the data may be a bit skewed depending on what teams were attempting to accomplish these first two days. It is still very early and it seems that Penske and Ganassi may be really slow playing the week and if anyone can play it close it’s these two guys.

Captain Americas – The top of the time sheets the past two days have had quite a different look to them. We have Josef Newgarden, JR Hildebrand and USAC scholarship winner Bryan Clausen sweeping the day one practice podium with Causen and Newgarden taking P2 and P3 on day two behind Colombian Sebastien Saavedra. We have killed two birds with one stone this weekend. Two supposed contributing factors to the decline of the Indy 500 and the general decay of American open wheel racing has been the lack of Americans and the broken bridge from USAC to Indianapolis. Both of these have been rectified in the early days of the almost-month-of-May and I hope a few of the fans dissolusioned by these two issues take another look in at least the direction of IMS and hopefully the series as a whole. If this keeps up and Hinchliffe, the Canadian-who-is-close-enough-to-an-American-for-me sophomore driver can continue to woo fans, we may soon be saying: Marco and Graham who?

Overall Impressions – This year was the nicest opening day we have had in a few years. The temp was very comfortable and the humidity was unusually low for this time of year, and the crowd was reflective of the unusually nice weather. I arrived at the track at about ten on Saturday and actually had a bit of a line ahead of me waiting to get in. The crowd seemed noticeably larger than opening day last year and excessive alcohol consumption seemed rather low; the large crowd on hand really seemed to be there for the spectacle and not just to drink in a loud place. Cheers were had when we started seeing 220+ laps being turned and there were many swag covered fans spotted. All in all I say it was an extremely successful opening weekend. There was a definite buzz going through the stands; everyone in attendance looked as if they were really enjoying themselves. It was a very good two days to kick off the almost-month-of-May.

Now we head into the meat of May testing and see what the teams and drivers are really made of. They have four more days to play before they get to set their engines to qualifying levels of boost. It will be very interesting to see if the teams focus more on race pace during the week and save the bulk of qualifying work for Friday when they will be running the enhanced boost levels. There won’t be much time on Friday to get a good feel for the gearing needed without a tow and with the added horsepower; how the teams play this aspect of the race this year could have big implications in the final qualifying order. But again, we talkin bout practice so who knows how the week will play out.

Eric Hall

From Place Fan to Race Fan

Why do 300,000+ people show up to watch our open wheel hero’s take the green flag each and every May, but we cant get half that many to consistently watch a the rest of the season? This is the very question that has been driving INDYCAR officials, fans and network executives bonkers for over a decade and a half. How in the world can we have so many people that worship what happens at 16th and Georgetown only for them to disappear into the woodwork even quicker than they appeared?

“Place fans” are the ones who fill the grandstands in record numbers on race weekends, but have little to no interest the rest of the year. This is the group of people who have made the Brickyard 400 the most attended NASCAR race on the schedule. The USGP shares this distinction along with the Indianapolis Motorcycle Grand Prix. That magical mystique of the Indianapolis Motor Speedway brings people out in droves whenever an engine rumbles to life.

The Indy 500 has an even more spectacular draw than any other event the Speedway hosts. Indianapolis and its citizens have grown up with the Memorial Day Classic, but not necessarily indycar racing as a whole. The 500 is just the thing to do in late May. But this isn’t limited to the central Indiana population by any means.

For many of the attendees, coming to Indy is a family tradition. The common story seems to always follow a similar path no mater who is telling it. Someones father would road trip it to Indy with his ornery kids and friends. They are going to watch the champ cars race the fastest race on the planet, and this is what starts it all. No matter where home was, these kids would become enamored with the race and the mystique of the Speedway itself. The kids eventually grow into fathers and start the tradition once again with their own children.

Indy was the draw, the speed was the draw, the stars were the draw; not the series and not the national championship trail. Once IMS began diversifying its summer schedule with the addition of NASCAR, F1 and MotoGP, these same people came back to the faithful old Speedway. Not for support of any one series, but to watch man and machine in competition at the hallowed grounds.

I am as guilty of this as anyone. I was exposed to the 500 from early childhood but had no idea there was a series that ran in conjunction with the race until many years later. 1997 was the first year I was able to attend; that was my last one for nearly ten years. I had flirted with the speedway during pole day a few times before my 2006 raceday return, but it was nothing serious. I will admit, that was a heck of a race to see as my first one back, but I wasn’t sold on the series yet. At this point in my motorsports life I was a huge F1 fan and went to the GP later that same year and again in 2007. I was an F1 fan and a place fan.

I haven’t missed a 500 since and have continued my fan boy level of allegiance to the speedway year in and out. But us place fans can easily become race fans. Seeing the opposing disciplines of racing opened my world to all of the different styles of motorsports. I realized I like loud race machines that really go fast and by 2008 I had evolved from a place fan into an indycar fanatic. NASCAR in 2008 and 2009 nearly had me hooked as well; I gave the series an honest shot for a few years before losing interest. Starting in 2008 and every year since I have attended the MotoGP event and watch as many races as I can remember to DVR during the rest of the season.

The Speedway is what made me a race fan, but the 500 is a special kingdom where indycar racing rules supreme. The speed, the danger and the emotions all made me want to see what the drivers were doing the other 364 days of the year. A curiosity; turned into and interest; turned into an addiction; turned into this tiny corner of the internet… and all because I went to a Formula One race.

My brother, another Indianapolis native who only recently started attending the 500, became a place fan a few years ago. I kid you not, but this year he finally told me ” I really like indycar racing.” He has decided to be my co-pilot for my one day blitz to Milwaukee later this summer, and it was all because of a brick and mortar catalyst; a place fan has become a race fan.

The story of place fans turning into race fans is an occurrence than can happen at anytime. It just takes the right circumstances to pull off. The Speedway breeds race fans; albeit much slower than it used to. It’s important that there are so many place fans that fill the Speedway whenever its opened. Its crucial to the ambiance of the race and when creating new race fans.

The father who returns with his own kids years after his own childhood; the guy in college who drags his friends there because it’s a killer time; the place fans are the ones who bring new eyes to the track. It is not the same 300,000 people who have been attending for the past 40 years. The rotating door of fresh eyes courtesy of the place fans is the reason why there are so many fans of the series and speed junkies in central Indiana.

It’s because of the Speedway I became an indycar fan and same with MotoGP. NASCAR had my eyes for a few years because I was a place fan who was exposed to all of these different types of racing. Say what you will about the fair weather fans that fill the speedway anytime the gates open, but those kids with them could be the next generation of indycar fanatics and motorsport fans. I don’t see anything wrong with starting them early, repetition makes the master; after all, we were all place fans at one time.

Eric Hall

Four Races in and Twelve to Go, What Have We Learned?

Ok, we all know it’s May, but there is still the little matter of the 2012 championship trail. With four races down, the first quarter of the season is in the bag. Teams and drivers have twelve more chances, plus qualifying at Indy, to claw back much needed ground in the championship. We love Indy, but at the end of the day we all need more than just one race a year to get our juices flowing; the championship is why we stick around. Unfortunately, the 2012 season is a bit short, but that just means every race from here on out is that much more important. Hardware drama, a failing manufacturer, growing pains and a healthy points lead have punctuated the year thus far.

Now, what have we learned?

Evolve, or Become Extinct – Although the DW12 has it’s own special set of shortcomings, it is a modern open wheel car. The thing has a hand clutch, carbon brakes, a transmission actually designed to be used with paddle shifters, and an honest to goodness diffuser just to name a few. The car was designed from the beginning to be a left foot braking car; same way all modern single seaters are designed.   During pre-season testing Dario Franchitti was forced to brake with his left foot and found he was having trouble with the balance of the car. Enter Dallara, they make a special right foot braking package just for him yet his troubles still continued. Dario Franchitti’s notable slide may be because he refuses to left foot brake in the new chassis. He says it would be like asking a right handed golfer to play lefty. I say that is a big bag of crazy. Franchitti’s current P10 in the championship is the only truly shocking position on the entire points table. To run with Will Power, Franchitti may need to do a bit of soul searching and decide if he really wants to find that extra speed hidden beneath his left foot or the series will leave him behind.

The French Connection has Arrived - Countrymen Simon Pagenaud and Sebastien Bourdais are not to be messed with this year. Bourdais, possibly the best driver in the field if given the right equipment, was strapped with the painfully slow Lotus and was still able to almost compete with the Honda/Chevy mid pack. He consistently records the highest cornering speed only to lose it all when the wheel straightens out. If the racing gods have any heart at all SeaBass will have a shiny new Chevy that will really make Will Power do a bit of worrying. Rookie Simon Pagenaud is already there and crushing his competition in the rookie of the year standings. A champion and proven race winner in sports cars, Pagenaud and the sophomore year team Schmidt Hamilton Motorsports are in a prime position to grow together and really start mixing it up with the front runners.

The Lotus is Slow – Illegally slow. The Malaysian British Bankrupt butt-end-of-all-jokes-concerning-anything-slow company is in more hot water than could have been envisioned just a few short weeks ago. Never mind that you need a doctorate in business to understand how the Lotus conglomerate actually works, the INDYCAR faction is on the verge of implosion. They have been sued at least three times because the engine is not even in the same ballpark as Honda or Chevy. They can’t even be considered an underdog because it would take the total and complete vaporization of both the Chevy and Honda camps for Lotus to even have a chance at a good result; let alone a win. From a respectable five cars on the grid to now a single full season competitor, the fall has been quick, public and painful to watch. I have my doubts that Lotus will even be able to contend the balance of the season post Indianapolis. My fingers are crossed for poor Simona de Silvestro and HVM racing.

Chevy is not Playing Games – Perhaps it was a bit of punch drunk naivety, but I did not expect Chevy to utterly dominate the first quarter of the season. Four races, four poles, four wins, three fastest laps… not much room for improvement. Couple these facts with Chevy not standing down from turbogate and it is clear that the bow-tie brigade is here to win. This is a very good situation considering what the Lotus driver(s) continues to suffer through; we need serious manufacturers. Chevy has also stacked their hand with expert precision. I am not sure how Honda did not do a better job in partnering with a few more proven teams, but it is a decisive Chevy victory. Now they are on the eve of signing Sebastien Bourdais and the steamroller that is Team Chevy looks to lose no speed heading into Indy.

It’s Still Early, Baby – No, Will Power has not clinched the points lead with twelve races left like some would have you believe. Only a quarter of the way in and there is already a feeling that we are in the process of getting dominated. We are… but as the saying goes, it’s still early and anything can happen. I have always felt that the season didn’t really start to get rolling until Indianapolis; everything before is just practice. Not discounting the lead Power has amassed, but the race is still wide open; teams are just now starting to get a feel for what this newfangled DW12 needs to be quick and Honda has a few more ponies under the engine cover. Indy usually serves as a good shakeup round to mix everything up before heading into the heat of the summer. I’m not too worried yet.

I know that recently, 17 rounds has been a normal season and as late as 2006 the IRL had a 14 round season and in 2007 ChampCar also had a 14 round season, but four races constituting a quarter of the season is a tough pill to swallow. Ideally I would like to see 18 to 20 races on the calender but that is a topic for another day. As far as the 2012 season goes, from P2 and beyond the fight is still ripe. I still don’t envision a dominating season for Power but it will be interesting to see if someone can claw back some points to the leader or whether Power will allow himself to fall back into the clutches of the pack. If we have learned anything from the past few season of racing it that: IndyCar racing doesn’t really like to produce a runaway championship. The coming middle half of the season should prove to be very interesting.

Eric Hall

What Indy Means

May in Indianapolis. More than a month; more than a race; more than an event. For 300,000 people, May in Indianapolis is a way of life. For a healthy contingency of these people, eleven months out of the year are spent in preparation and in anticipation for the Greatest Spectacle in Racing. It’s not just an indycar race; it is the race. A supernova in our quiet galaxy of indycar racing. This is the one time a year that not just the motorsports world, but the entire sporting media takes pause to remember what makes Indy so special. Hundreds of thousands of people huddle around a TV or radio all day long and become hardcore indycar fans; even if for just a single afternoon once a year.

Our crown jewel race means something different to each and every person who watches or experiences it. Indianapolis is the temple of speed; the hallowed grounds where engineers, mechanics and drivers toe the line of sanity; taking machines to within an eyelash of catastrophe just to find that extra tenth of a second. Squeezing every ounce of speed out of the high tech race machines as an offering to the open wheel gods is the only way worship at the two and a half mile rectangle. And anyone associated with the ethanol fueled religious experience wouldn’t have it any other way.

The Indy 500 also means prosperity, growth and history. Speedway; the small enclave surrounded by the sprawling city of Indianapolis, was single-handedly created and sustained by its famous racetrack. An entire community was created to fuel the massive machine that was, and is, racing at the Speedway. From boutique racing shops to diners to team garages; Speedway’s lifeblood has always been the famous brickyard. The Speedway has also given Indianapolis; a once struggling city with a still born automotive industry, a fighting chance at the prosperity we enjoy today.

Without the worlds largest single day sporting event, Indianapolis would be a shadow of its current self. The Colts, Pacers, NCAA headquarters, our booming convention industry, the Super Bowl; none would have been possible without the Memorial Day Classic. Yes, the Indy 500 has been more and more recently marketed to a local market but its our history. A celebration of how far we as a city have come with the most famous race in the world. This is a local right of passage and a celebration of history, not just a stop on a national touring calender.

The Indy 500 is a month long celebration around the entire state. But more than remembering history, or worshiping speed, the race has always been a time for family. We hear tales from across the world of cookouts with a main course of 200 laps of open wheel racing each May. Friends and family form and entire weekend based around the happenings in Speedway. “See you in Indy” is a saying that means so much more than just a time and place to meet. We are all family for one afternoon a year. Every year for the Memorial Day weekend, my family would take some type of trip so we could watch the race live on TV. Whether it be camping or visiting family out of town; the end of May means racing, family and friends.

For the participants, the experience is very similar. Famous racing families have made their name and scribed their name into the history of speed. Andretti, Unser, Chevrolet, Rahal, Bettenhausen, Foyt; generations of drivers have grown up with generations of fans. We have watched our young progeny grow up in the pits and we root for them when they finally take their place on the grid. As if perhaps by destiny, we expect to see the children of our past heroes battle it out on track like their forefathers did before them. For us fans, as well as the heroes we go to cheer on, it has always been a family affair, and always will be.

Another year past and another childhood remembered. A common story among older Indy vets, as well as recent re-returners, is the connection of some part of race day to a simpler time in childhood. For a few hours on those late May afternoons, we are transported back in time. Walking into the amazing facility is like stepping into a time machine. You can hear the sounds of a hundred years of triumph and heartbreak, you can smell the memories of pork tenderloins and methanol exhaust, you can feel the tangible history. All of this sends many of us back to childhoods from many summers past, to a more simple time. An afternoon to just stop and remember.

Indy is all of these things to me. An inextricable link to some kind of intangible rose colored past that may have never actually existed, and may never exist in the future. But it is this romantic, glamorized reality that brings us back year after year. Even if you are a fan for a single day a year, these 500 miles means so much more than a race to the finish. Taps, balloons, Back Home Again in Indiana, gentleman start your engines; all things that have been slowly added to the fabric of what Indianapolis means to all of us. Things that are worth far more than the time taken to experience them.

Indianapolis is an afternoon of living history, love and reunion. One of a very small handful of events that can bring so many tangibles and intangibles to the center of attention year in and out. As we embark on yet another greatest month in racing, we are constantly reminded of what this battle of speed means. Contested on a small strip of immovable pavement, founded by men who have become more lore than reality. The 500 may just be another race on the calender, another points paying event, but if you truly believe that… You just don’t know what Indy means.

Eric Hall

How I Saw It Happen… Goodbye Brazil, Hello May Edition

Another race in the books, another win for Will Power and another dagger into the hearts of all championship hopefuls that may be left. The man is decimating the competition and his attack doesn’t look to be slowing any. Behind Power’s dominant drive, we had a bit more of a jumbled race. Wrecks and spins were the main objectives of the day as we had a season high 15 laps of yellow to punctuate the Power win. It looked like there were a few more brain-detached-from-head moves than we have seen in the previous three events. I wonder if the drivers are really starting to find some comfort in their new, stronger than ever chassis and finally taking the risks that have been absent from the season thus far. But is a calculated risk the same as the bone-headed moves we saw on Sunday? I don’t think so and if this is how the drivers perceive risky maneuvers; we could be in for more of the same for the remainder of 2012.

Reactions

Honda – Wow. I don’t have much more to say in an initial capacity other than… wow. I don’t know how Honda can spin the results of this weekend in any other light other than they dropped the ball. The weekend started strong for the Japanese manufacturer; they were allowed to update their single turbo housing without too much blood shed and qualifying finally looked to have gained a bit of parity back. Three Honda’s and three Chevy’s made for a more balanced fast six than we were accustomed to for the past three events. After the dust settled and the race results were tabulated, Honda walked away with a mere three drivers in the top ten. I don’t think this was the result that Honda, or any of us for that matter, had expected. Will the league help Honda, again, before the now comical June target for engine equalization? I really hope not; Honda has made their bed with a single turbo and now they must lay in it.

Turn 1 – After more than a few quality, double file restarts, we saw twice, the drivers lose their minds in the T1/2 complex. This is after circuit designers and up-keepers NZR consulting made more changes to this very area in preparation for this years event. After seeing this complex for two years and now a third in the dry, I think a redesign to open the corner a bit may be needed. Coming off of the long Sambadrome straight, the entrance to T1 proper is in pretty good shape. The transition to and including the T2 exit itself is what looked to cause a fair amount of trouble. It is just too tight for our Dallaras to make the complex in a racy, side by side manner without having to absolutely tiptoe through the complex in protection mode; often losing more than is warranted by simply staying out of trouble. But maybe forcing the drivers to slow and protect instead of having a fast, wide open turn is a bit more conducive to clean racing. The room is there for plenty of expansion in the form of painted runoff, but I’m still not sure its needed.

Brazil – After two years of rain on raceday, we finally got to see what a true dry event looked like at the Sambadrome street circuit, and the locals were not disappointed. A record crowd descended onto the South American home of indycar and anyone who was left at home tuned into the local TV broadcast. Indycar was the only thing on Brazilian minds this last weekend. Even without the added hype of Rubens Barrichello in our paddock; Brazilians know and love their American open wheel racing. No more clear than when pit reporter Kevin Lee had to do a bit of wrestling with a local reporter to ensure the US was the first to hear from the race winner. Remember back to Japan last year and it would seem that indycar is absolutely loved outside of the US. Now if we could bottle even one percent of that magic nationally, indycar racing would be a much happier.

Will Power – Of the Captain’s three bullets in his gun; no one can deny that Will Power is the most important. He leaves round four of sixteen 45 points ahead of second place Helio Castroneves; eight less points than the 53 that cover second through tenth in the championship standings. With the maximum amount of points available to any driver over the race weekend set at 53 points; 50 for a win with 1 for pole and 2 for most laps lead, real fear should be starting to creep into the minds of the other 25 drivers chasing the unwavering Power. It was six years ago that Sam Hornish brought home the championship hardware last for Team Penske and it doesn’t look like Roger will have to wait much longer to add the next trophy to his case. Attention indycar drivers: the gauntlet has been thrown.

Tires - In retrospect, I don’t think I would ever have been focused on this years Firestone rubber if it weren’t for Pirelli showing us what was possible with open wheel tires. Pirelli has created a safe, yet short lived tire with nary an explosive de-lamination to be seen; an open wheel pilots greatest fear. Don’t get me wrong, Firestone does a fantastic job with their oval tires, but our street compounds have a bit to be desired. Both Will Power and Ryan Hunter-Reay ran their fastest laps of the day on the final lap. They were both on reds and it had been 23 laps since either of them had visited the pits. Fastest laps should not have been possible in this situation because both drivers should have been absolutely struggling for grip. Hunting for traction on every inch of that last lap, not turning fastest laps at the end of a fuel run.

So… IT’S FINALLY MAY. Well, not really but the waving of the checkers in Sao Paulo means that the next time a green flag is dropped, it will be for The Greatest Spectacle in Racing. Will Power leaves the first twistie leg of the championship with a healthy points lead, and as we embark on a stretch of four ovals in five races; I still think he needs it. The race in Brazil was not amazingly fantastic but it surely wasn’t a stinker either. If this and St. Pete are the low water marks for the season, there really should be nothing to worry about. We have suffered through much worse in the past and I am really starting to think the DW12 is a true street fighter in every sense of the word. Now… onto the ovals…

Eric Hall

Into The Crystal Ball… The Sambadrome Edition

I. Love. Brazil. This has been my favorite twistie race the past two years. The track layout has been absolutely perfect for indycar racing in the past and it’s going to be very exciting to see how the street fighter DW12 handles the long, blasting straights of the Sambadrome circuit. It looks to be yet another soggy weekend which is always fun for the fans but I would really like to see a strong weekend of dry running to see the true potential of the track. The previous two years were both rain affected and we still haven’t seen what type of real dry weather racing this facility has to offer. The question of the weekend will be: can Honda not suck? New turbo or not these are the longest straights on a street circuit we will see all year, advantage Honda? For the second race in a row they have no excuses not to perform; can Will Power continue to bring the hurt?

Five Things to Watch

Bumps no more - Indycar’s Brazilian home has continued the trend of improving its circuit each year with a few more minor modifications. Tony Cotman and his NZR Consulting firm have smoothed out a few bumps; most notably the doozy right at the start of the T1 braking zone. The past two years, wet or dry, this area has proved to be a trouble spot for drivers. A cascading situation is encountered in the wet when a driver hits this massive bump, loses control and slides across the skating rink that is the painted run off area in the turn one complex. This very painted area was another area that has seen some modifications as well to somehow reduce the slipperiness of the area. All sound like good changes that should enhance the racing. If Sao Paulo continues this trend it could become the premier street circuit in the western hemisphere.

Turbogate - On Thursday, INDYCAR held a hearing on the legality of Honda’s attempted turbo switch. The engine manufacturer is trying to upgrade its turbocharger housing to help the engine find a bit of the low end grunt it has been missing off the corners. Its a case of he-said-she-said whose outcome will definitely hurt one of the engine makers feelings. Honda has brought both turbo specifications to Brazil and is ready to run either one depending on the outcome of the hearing. Three races in and I’m still not convinced that Honda needs help in the engine department. I would really like to see how well the Honda lumps handle the high speed Sambadrome circuit with its mile plus long back straight. I think I say it every week but I think the Honda teams are still a bit lost on setup. If the turbo switch is approved, I hope the league waits until June to make the change; when engine equalization was supposed to happen in the first place.

Lotus - The venerable sorry-excuse-of-a-beneficiary-funding-a-boutique-engine-maker-with-not-enough-money “engine manufacturer” seems intent on totally driving its program into the ground. After putting up no fight whatsoever to keep BHA and DRR withing its stable they attempt to spin the news in a positive light. This situation is becoming totally unacceptable and the remaining teams of HVM and Dragon are saddled with the unenviable task of shouldering the entire Lotus burden. At this point in the game my only hope for the poor drivers strapped to this thing is to simply finish while having a nice quiet, possibly painfully slow race. The infamous backstraight will punish the Lotus teams all weekend long and it won’t be pretty for any of us to watch.

Rain - It has rained at all three race weekends before we have even arrived in Brazil for the third time. The previous two editions were hampered by rain and it seems that the indycar paddock has a propensity to bring rain wherever they go. Admittedly, the Firestone rubber is not the best wet tire in the world, but it gets the job done. NZR has addressed drainage in multiple areas of the track to minimize the potential for standing water. It looks like we are going to have rain all day on Saturday, through the over night with spotty storms on Sunday. Teams have avoided running in the rain up until now because we have had three dry racedays, but I think we will finally see some aggressive rain practicing and qualifying on Saturday. I am pumped to see the DW12′s turn some true angry laps in soggy conditions. Once again, it looks to be a learning weekend for everyone.

Will Power – The unstoppable Australian has the early strangle hold entering the fourth race of the season; holding a 24 point advantage over second. That’s two more than the 22 points second place Helio Castroneves holds over sixth place Ryan Hunter-Reay. Power is on a tear to give the Captain his first championship win since 2006 and looks to be nearly unstoppable. This is important as we enter a string of four oval races; broken only by the Detroit Grand Prix the week after the Indy 500. Power did win the second race at Texas last year; the one he drew the pole position for, but he still has a ways to go to convince me he is an oval winner. He can really put a gap on the field this weekend in Brazil, and really needs to considering what he is about to embark on in the next few weeks.

Predictions

Pole - Tony Kanaan – Surprising everyone, it will be KV racing who breaks up the Penske domination in qualifying. A pole would be just the thing to kick start a reasonably tough year for the Brazilian hero.

Winner – Scott Dixon – Honda’s only consistent performer will be the first one to take the top step for the beleaguered Japanese manufacture. The Iceman Cometh.

Epic performer - Rubens Barrichello – Rubens has publicly admitted that he doesn’t think top tens are a reasonable expectation at this point in the season. Its amazing what racing in your hometown can do for you. I expect the added local support to really give RB a boost of confident that is parlayed into a quality result.

Biggest loser - Honda – A MUST win weekend. No question, no more said.

It’s hard not to worry what kind of precident turbogate is starting regarding how the rules and technical regulations are interpreted; this is the kind of problem that has plagued American open wheel racing for much of its history. But we get a weekend of pure awesomeness. A weekend at a track designedfor indycars at a track that is practically sold out in the largest city in Brazil filled with the some of the most rabid motorsports fans in the world… I cant think of a better way to end the first quarter of the season. Indycar and Brazil just seem to fit in a way that few markets have embraced our beloved sport. Benvindo ao Brasil.

Eric Hall

Happy Hour, Oh How I Miss You

I know, it isn’t May yet but I cannot help myself from diving into IMS and Indy 500 topics a bit early. Why would it matter? I respect that the Indy 500 and all of the history and mythology that comes with it, but it is not the only thing that makes our series up; nor has it ever. All indycar fans are guilty of being Indy-centric, and with all certainty I am no different, but there is so much more to it than the almost-month-of-May. We have an entire month devoted to one great race and I try to confine my IMS pontification to that single month… Oh well… I wish it was May.

Happy hour; that mysteriously wonderful time at the tail end of practice when everything  works or it doesn’t. You either find those last few tenths or pack it in for the day. That golden final hour; at any facility the story seems to be the same. However, hurling down a 5/8ths mile straight at 220 MPH can have its own nuances. The Brickyard was a different beast after five ‘o clock on any given practice day; especially on qualifying days. The enormous grandstands in turn one and lining the front straight would begin to shade their respective parts of the track; enhancing grip and subtracting lap time.

As the fabled hour wore on, turn four and turn two would begin to shade. Lower and lower the sun would sink on those late May afternoons; longer and longer the shadows would become. The backstretch and turn three would be the final places to see the suns rays before the gun was fired at six PM to close the track. These shadows cooled and stabilized the track surface allowing teams to take as much downforce off of their chassis as they dared; rolling the dice on increased mechanical grip to help them out.

The hour long cooling event wasn’t limited to the track either; the air itself would lose temperature. That cooler, more dense air would be food for the hungry turbos. The air would gain a bit of density as the hour wore on and would allow for more oxygen to be compressed and burned in the engine for even bigger horsepower. Although the cars were aerodynamically trimmed as far as sanity and self preservation would allow, that denser air would help the dangerously low on downforce machines stick through the corner just enough.

Happy hour was truly that. Everything seemed to work better between five and six at IMS. There are pages of speedway lore are filled with 5:59 PM pole day and bump day runs that were only successful because of the happy hour conditions. Dreams were shattered and wishes were granted for many years at Indianapolis during that mystical hour of qualifying. This is part of what drew people into the facility in record breaking numbers; to see if their driver could do it. We knew the fastest times of the day would be set during the final hour. It was a true test of fearlessness.

In 1997, it all started to change. Naturally aspirated engines marked their return to competition in the storied 500 mile race. During the next ten years, the animal that was happy hour changed slightly. No more could engines use massive turbos to force feed compressed air down the engines throats. The new atmosphere breathing engines never saw the same horsepower increases as their turbo fore fathers.

What horsepower was gained by the cool dense air was more than offset by another oddity in the IRL formula. The new engines were a few hundred horsepower down on the outgoing CART equipment from the previous year. This initial loss of horsepower, the bulkier IRL cars and the denser air meant the race machines had a tougher time physically pushing through the cooler air. The two or three horsepower increase just wasn’t enough to make up the difference like in years past.

In 2006, Indiana adopted Daylight Savings Time. Not only did legislature change our clocks, they also forever erased that magical hour in Speedway history; During May, the sun would be rising and setting an hour later than it historically had. No more would we see nearly the entire 2.5 mile oval shrouded in shadow as drivers attempted to sneak into the field or storm to the pole.

There is a bit of shadow that still falls on turn one now, but it’s nothing like it used to be. Veteran fans will tell you the track looks and feels different. It’s not right to watch the final minutes of qualifying tick down while standing on a sunny pit straight. Those shadows and the low sun were as much a part of the setting at the Speedway as the grandstands and pagoda were.

During the ten years precluding this clock shift, the switch to a naturally aspirated engine had more of an effect on the loss of  happy hour than the changing of the clocks. This is more recently evident by fast times being set earlier in the day, before the track has had time to bake in the sun. The atmosphere breathing engines coupled with the IRL chassis did not care for happy hour, nor did they miss is when it was gone.

Our spiffy new DW12′s are a few weeks from hitting the track with their throwback turbo engines in tow. We have no idea how this chassis and engine combo will react to the May weather, but with the dawn of a new era I would really like to see happy hour back. Practice and qualifying sessions always run from noon until six. How about we go from one until seven? Although this is later than the track likes to close, it would recreate a wonderful aspect of the almost-month-of-May that has been lost with history.

Give us that lost hour of shade back… let those turbo’s BREATHE! Logistically, I have no idea what it would take, from a facilities side, to make something like this happen. But I can’t imagine shifting the schedule by an hour would cause much heartache. Of course we have no idea if the added power will be able to push through the denser air, or if the new chassis will react to the same aero tricks that teams used to find speed in the past.

We have had an entire generation of indycar and 500 fans that have never seen a happy hour used like it”s supposed to be. This is a link to the past that is sorely and noticeably missing from the May festivities. But one that is easy to recreate. This isn’t bringing back  roadsters or repaving the apron we’re talking about. This is just pushing back the daily schedule by one hour to bring back a bit of tangible history; a win for everyone. A reminder of treasured times past.

Eric Hall