Bridgestone!

[Dov]

Is it just me or does anybody else think that Bridgestone needs to provide the teams with a softer compound tire? Im completley against traction control.... loved the way the cars were sliding around out there today and the way they were pushing the envelope, but I am starting to wonder if the cars (tourqe) are a little too much for the drivers to handle. Maybe thats why so many of the drivers are spinning and some are stuffing the tires.

[GP Racer]

I think the tires worked pretty well, considering the extra torque of the new engines, and the lack of traction control. They did seem to be tough to handle when cold though! It made charging out of the pits alot of fun!!

[Lee Janotta]

A little softer a compound would be nice, but we don't know how this could work out at a high-grip track. It was mostly the high crown in the road that caused problems this weekend.

[brightline]

There were not many complaints about the tires other than when they flat-spotted them. The track was mostly asphalt and many sections were flat-out. Turn 10 experienced the most action (just like I warned in a previous thread) and that was because it was a blind corner coming off a straightaway, many simply missed the turn. Also, coming out of that corner drivers put down the power hard and the back ends would step out every time (Canrpantier, Tagliani, Hunter-Reay).

[Dov]

Originally posted by Lee Janotta
A little softer a compound would be nice, but we don't know how this could work out at a high-grip track. It was mostly the high crown in the road that caused problems this weekend.

I think you might be partly right about the cars losing control on the high crown in the road and if that's true can you imagine how many Champ Cars are going to stuff the tires in Austrailia. IT's notorious for high crowns in the road.

[jklein6419]

hopefully we have more cars if that happends

[Snrub]

I say the harder the better. We want as much driver input as possible and to remove the setup advantages. I realize there's a point that reduces passing, much like the downforce issue.

Excuse my ignorance, but why was the crown a particular problem? (bump when crossing a intersection?)

[jklein6419]

the slides make the racing more exciting. when they spin it causes yellows which bunches the field creating more passing

[Dov]

Too much sliding and you're into the wall or can't get close enough to the guy in front of you to even attempt a pass.

[Jay]

Softer tires will certainly help the passing issue... That was Zanardi's main complaint when he came back to Champ cars after his F1 stint - the tires were so hard he couldn't do his bonzai passes anymore.

[Lee Janotta]

Jay's right on the tires.

A high crown in the road sucks because in the middle of a corner, you've got banking helping you, while on the entrance and the exit, you slide more to the outside. You can run out of track in a hurry exiting such a corner.

[Dov]

Originally posted by Snrub
I say the harder the better. We want as much driver input as possible and to remove the setup advantages. I realize there's a point that reduces passing, much like the downforce issue.

Excuse my ignorance, but why was the crown a particular problem? (bump when crossing a intersection?)

When you go through a quick corner and the Champ Car gets hung up on a high crown in the road, one side of your car (wheels) is slightly in the air, causing your back end to step out.