Home  
Site Partners: SpotterGuides Veloce Books  
Related Sites: Your Link Here  

Go Back   TenTenths Motorsport Forum > Single Seater Racing > Indycar Series

 
 
Thread Tools Display Modes
Prev Previous Post   Next Post Next
Old 11 Aug 2020, 10:11 (Ref:3994710)   #1
bjohnsonsmith
Race Official
20KPINAL
 
bjohnsonsmith's Avatar
 
Join Date: Jul 2008
United States
London, England
Posts: 23,144
bjohnsonsmith is the undisputed Champion of the World!bjohnsonsmith is the undisputed Champion of the World!bjohnsonsmith is the undisputed Champion of the World!bjohnsonsmith is the undisputed Champion of the World!bjohnsonsmith is the undisputed Champion of the World!bjohnsonsmith is the undisputed Champion of the World!bjohnsonsmith is the undisputed Champion of the World!bjohnsonsmith is the undisputed Champion of the World!bjohnsonsmith is the undisputed Champion of the World!bjohnsonsmith is the undisputed Champion of the World!bjohnsonsmith is the undisputed Champion of the World!
Round 7: revised calendar. The 104th running of the Indianapolis 500. Aug 12-23, 2020

Round 7: revised calendar. The 104th running of the Indianapolis 500. Aug 12-23, 2020.

It's been nearly a month since since the double header at Iowa but the waiting is over. With the Rookie Orientation Program and veteran's Refresher taking place tomorrow, as well as the first practice session, it's time to start the thread for the 104th running of the Indianapolis 500.

With the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic, it was doubtful whether there would be a 2020 IndyCar season, let alone the 104th running of the Indianapolis 500. However, the season has got underway and the 104th running of the Indianapolis 500 is going ahead. Initially there was to be a limited attendance of 25%. Unfortunately it was decided to hold it behind closed doors but at least we have a race.

Tomorrow will have a different format from previous years, with no Open Test for Indy newcomers to complete their Rookie Orientation Program, or for veterans who’ve been on the sidelines to conduct their ‘Refresher’ runs. Instead IndyCar has set 11:00 a.m.-1:00 p.m. EDT for veterans to get in two hours of practice, before handing the track over from 1:00p.m-3:00 p.m., for the Rookie Orientation Program. From 3:00p.m.-5:30 p.m, there will be a free practice session.

History
Indianapolis Motor Speedway is one of the world's oldest, purpose-built tracks that is still in use. In 1905 Indiana businessman Carl G. Fisher, envisioned building a circuit after watching some of the world's earliest car races in France. He felt Europe had the upper hand in car design and thought one reason was the lack of permanent testing facilities for American car manufacturers. After another visit to Europe and seeing the banked oval at Brooklands, England, he decided to build his own track.

Fisher convinced local businessmen James A. Allison, Arthur Newby and Frank W. Wheeler to join him in purchasing Pressley Farm, five miles outside of Indianapolis and totalling 328 acres for about $72,000. On March 20, 1909, The Indianapolis Motor Speedway company was incorporated and construction began that month.

The track surface consisted of packed soil covered by two inches of gravel, two inches of limestone covered with a solution of tar and oil, or taroid, one–two inches of crushed stone chips, also drenched with taroid and topped with crushed stones.

The first motorsport event was a series of motorcycle races planned over two days, under the sanction of the Federation of American Motorcyclists (FAM), starting on August 14, 1909. Concerns about the track surface stopped the event part way through day one. Five days later 15 teams arrived for the first car event, held over three days. This was not without incident. On day one

Wilfred Bourque suffered a rear-axle failure, resulting in his car flipping end over end on the main straight, before crashing into a fence post, killing him and his mechanic Harry Halcomb. On day three the right front tire blew on Charlie Merz's car, knocking down five fence posts and dozens of spectators, killing two as well as his mechanic Claude Kellum. Ten laps later, after another accident, the race was cancelled.

The AAA, American Automobile Association, announced it would boycott further events unless the surface was changed. A concrete surface was considered but the track owners decided to pave the entire facility with bricks, after tests proved their durability. Five Indiana manufacturers
supplied 3.2 million, 10-pound bricks. Each was hand laid on a 2 inch bed of sand, then leveled and the gaps filled with mortar. A concrete wall 33 inches tall was also constructed in front of the main grandstand and around all four corners to protect spectators. The final brick was made of gold and laid in a special ceremony by Governor Thomas R. Marshall.

In December 1909, the track reopened for testing, with speeds of up to 112 mph being reported. Racing returned the next year, with a series of short races held over the three main holiday weekends: Memorial Day, Fourth of July and Labor Day.

The following year, 1911, racing was just confined to Memorial Day and the very first 500 mile race was held on May 30. It was won by a former racer and Marmon engineer Ray Harroun, who came out of retirement for just one race, driving the legendary Marmon-Wasp. Since then, the event has always been held on the Sunday before Memorial Day and the race has been held every year since 1911, except for 1917-18 and 1942-45, due to World Wars I and II.

Recent History
After the 100th running of Indianapolis 500 and the anticipation that goes with such an historic event, one might have expected the 101st running to be a little down beat. However, in April, 2017 two time F1 World Driver's Champion, Fernando Alonso, 2005, 2006, decided not to compete at the jewel in the crown of the F1 calendar, the Monaco Grand Prix but instead compete in the 101st running of the Indianapolis 500 on Sunday the 28th of May, the same day as the Monaco Grand Prix.

At the end of 2014 McLaren's F1 engine deal with Mercedes ended. McLaren decided to renew their historic links with Honda, with whom they had a very successful partnership in the late '80s and early '90s, with drivers Alain Prost and the late Ayrton Senna. Alonso who raced with McLaren in 2007, was lured back from Ferrari, after a somewhat frustrating five years, having been runner up three times in the F1 world Driver's Championship.

The Honda engine was problematic from the start and with little improvement during the 2016 Formula 1 season, McLaren and Alonso agreed on a joint venture to race in the 2017 Indy 500, in a bid to win the Triple Crown. This would mean not taking part in the 2017 Monaco Grand Prix, as both races clash and the likelihood of a decent finish at Monaco was remote.

The Triple Crown consists of winning the Indianapolis 500, the 24 Hours of Le Mans and the Monaco Grand Prix. This has only been achieved by one other driver, the late Graham Hill. So far, Alonso has won the Monaco Grand Prix in 2006-7 and Le Mans in 2018.

McLaren's entry was in partnership with Andretti Autosport, one of the top Honda IndyCar teams, winning the 500 with Ryan Hunter-Reay in 2014 and partnering with Bryan Herta, to clinch Alexander Rossi's rookie win, in the 100th running of the race, in 2016.

Alonso qualified 5th but an engine issue, similar to the one that forced team mate Ryan Hunter-Reay to retire from the race, meant Alonso also retired finishing 27th.

Last year Alonso renewed his bid to win the Tripple Crown, at his second attempt, having announced he would leave F1 at the end of the 2018 season. Last year's enrty was again with McLaren but this time with Carlin affiliation and a switch from Honda to Chevrolet power. Unfortunately.

Alonso's bid ended when he failed to qualify for the race itself. He made five qualifying attempts but didn't make the top 30. At the close of the time trials, Alonso was 31st and was forced to participate in the Last Row Shootout. There were six other cars that failed to qualify on Saturday and each car was permitted one qualifying attempt to fill the last three positions on the grid.

Sage Karam set the fastest speed, having only managed 33rd on Saturday's session. James Hinchcliffe who had crashed on Saturday, therefore failing to make the top 30, also qualified. Alonso now found himself on the bubble, with only second year driver Kyle Kaiser, of Juncos Racing yet to make his attempt.

Kaiser crashed during Friday's practice and was now last after Saturday's qualifying session. With zero practice laps on the day, Kaiser bumped Alonso by 0.0129 seconds to make the starting field. The other two cars that failed to make the grid, were the two Carlin entries, driven by Patricio O'Ward and Max Chilton.

Alonso returns this year in his third bid for the Triple Crown, this time with Ruoff Arrow McLaren SP, in car 29.


Qualifying
Qualifying will have a different format from the usual two-day format as used from 2014 to 2018.

Prior to qualifying, Fast Friday will enable entire field to use maximum turbocharger boost, to perform simulated qualifying runs ahead of qualifying on Saturday and Sunday. The switch from race boost to high boost is at each team's discretion.

On Saturday the field of 33 cars will be split into two groups, with Group 1 taking the 8:30-9:00 a.m. practice slot and Group 2 taking the 9:00-9:30 a.m. slot.

Qualifying itself begins on Saturday at 11:00 a.m. and goes through to 4:50 p.m. Those who have qualified from 10th to 33rd place on Saturday, are locked into those positions and are done running until the Fast Nine session is finished the following day. Those who have qualified inside the Fast Nine will run again on Sunday to determine the pole winner and establish the grid for the top nine.

Sunday will host three sessions, with the Fast Nine practice from 11:00-11:30 a.m., the Fast Nine qualifying from 1:15-2:15 p.m. and a practice for all qualifiers from 3:30-6:00 p.m.


Some 500 Trivia:
1911: Ray Harroun was the first winner of the 500, driving a Marmon-Wasp.
Race Time: 6:42:08.039.
Average speed: 74.59 mph (120.04 km/h).

1913: Jules Goux, from France was the first non American to win and the first rookie winner, excluding the innaugural race.

1922: Jimmy Murphy was the first driver to win the race from pole position.

1939-40: Wilbur Shaw was the first driver to win back to back races.

1947: Mauri Rose and Bill Holland, scored the first team 1, 2 for entrant Lou Moore

1952: Art Cross won the first Rookie of the Year Award.

1961: Sir Jack Brabham was the first driver to race a rear engined car, a Cooper-Coventry Climax

1965: Jim Clark was the first driver to win in a rear engined car, in the Lotus 38-Ford.

1966: Graham Hill won The 50th Indy 500, in a Lola T90-Ford, the first rookie winner since 1927.

1967: Parnelli Jones raced the first gas turbine powered car, the Granatelli STP-Paxton Turbocar.

1977: Janet Guthrie was the first woman to qualify for the Indy 500.

1989: Emerson Fittipaldi was the first South American driver to win.

1992: Al Unser Jr. beat Scott Goodyear by 0.043 seconds in the 500's closest finnish.

1992: Lyn St. James won the first Female Rookie of the Year Award.

1996: Arie Luyendyk sets a new 1 lap track record of 37.895 seconds, 237.498 mph (382.216 kmh) and a new 4-lap track record of 2:31.908, 236.986 mph (381.392 kmh). He also recorded an unofficial 1 lap of 00:37.616 seconds, 239.260 mph (385.052 kmh).

2005: Danica Patrick became the first female driver to lead the Indy 500.

2009: Danica Patrick finished 3rd, the highest position for a female driver.

2013: was the fastest race, with a time of 2:40:03.4181 and average Speed of 187.433 mph (301.644 kmh).

2017: Takumo Sato was the first Japanese driver to win.

2018. Will Power was the first Australian driver to win.

The most wins by any driver is 4, held jointly by:
A.J. Foyt: 1961, 1964, 1967, 1977.
Al Unser Sr.: 1970, 1971, 1978, 1987.
Rick Mears: 1979, 1984, 1988, 1991.

The team with the most wins: Penske, 16.
1972, 1979, 1981, 1984, 1985, 1987, 1988,
1991, 1993, 1994, 2001, 2002, 2003, 2006,
2009, 2015, 2017

The driver/team owner with the most wins: A.J. Foyt.
1964, 1967, 1977.

Current driver with the most wins: Hélio Castroneves.
2001, 2002, 2009.

This year eight former 500 winners will be taking part.
Helio Castroneves. 2001, 2002, 2009
Scott Dixon. 2008
Tony Kanaan. 2013
Ryan Hunter-Reay. 2014
Alexander Rossi. 2016
Takuma Sato. 2017
Will Power. 2018
Simon Pagenaud. 2019

There are 33 entries for this year's race.

Track layout:


Length: 2.5 Miles (4.0 Km)
Turns: 4

1 lap record:
Arie Luyendyk, May 10, 1996. 00:37.895 seconds, 237.498 mph (382.216 kmh).
Reynard 94i-Ford Cosworth XB,
Indy Racing League.

4 lap record:
Arie Luyendyk, May 12, 1996. 2:31.908, 236.986 mph (381.392 kmh),
Reynard 94i-Ford Cosworth XB,
Indy Racing League.


Last year's race:
https://www.motorsport.com/indycar/n...Bvalue%5D=2243

Pole:
Simon Pagenad,
Team Penske.
Dallara IR18-Chevy IndyCar V6.
Combined lap time, 2:36.5271. Average Speed, 229.992 mph (370.136 km/h)

Winner:
Simon Pagenad,
Team Penske.
Dallara IR18-Chevy IndyCar V6.

Laps: 200
Distance: 500 Miles (805 km)
Race Time: 2:59:42.6365
Average Speed: 166.935 mph (268.656 km/h).
Fastest lap: Scott Dixon, Chip Ganassi Racing, lap 40. 39.8220 sec, 226.006 mph, (363.721 km/h)

Caution periods: 4
Laps 29: 6-9, 73-78, 138-147, 178-186.

Race broadcast:
NBC, August 23rd.
1:00 pm ET. 5:00pm UTC
bjohnsonsmith is online now  
__________________
"If you're not winning you're not trying."
Colin Chapman.
Quote
 

Thread Tools
Display Modes

Posting Rules
You may not post new threads
You may not post replies
You may not post attachments
You may not edit your posts

BB code is On
Smilies are On
[IMG] code is On
HTML code is Off

Forum Jump

Similar Threads
Thread Thread Starter Forum Replies Last Post
Round 3 & 4: revised calendar. Rev Group Grand Prix at Road America, Elkhart Lake, Wi bjohnsonsmith Indycar Series 57 14 Jul 2020 19:58
Round 2: revised calendar. GMR Grand Prix, Indianapolis Motor Speedway. July 4. bjohnsonsmith Indycar Series 41 8 Jul 2020 20:41
Round 1: revised calendar. Genesys 300 at Texas Motor Speedway, June 6. bjohnsonsmith Indycar Series 134 20 Jun 2020 09:52
Round 6: The 102nd Running of the Indianapolis 500, 15th-27th May. bjohnsonsmith Indycar Series 209 2 Jun 2018 12:01
MotoGP Round 14 - Indianapolis Grand Prix, Indianapolis US flying finn Bike Racing 22 19 Sep 2008 11:24


All times are GMT. The time now is 18:43.


Powered by vBulletin® Version 3.8.11
Copyright ©2000 - 2024, vBulletin Solutions Inc.
Original Website Copyright © 1998-2003 Craig Antil. All Rights Reserved.
Ten-Tenths Motorsport Forums Copyright © 2004-2021 Royalridge Computing. All Rights Reserved.
Ten-Tenths Motorsport Forums Copyright © 2021-2022 Grant MacDonald. All Rights Reserved.