First Oval Race of 2003: What to expect?

Jay · 8 May 2003, 15:03 (Ref:593612)

Ok, after a very successful event at Brand Hatch, England Cart moves to the 2 mile tri-Oval of Eurospeedway in Germany. This is the first oval race of the season, and looking down the list of drivers, the following people have zero oval experience:

Mario Haberfeld
Tiago Monteiro
Joel Camathias
Alex Yoong
Sebastien Bourdais

Thoughts? Most road racers don't have too much trouble adapting to ovals from what I've seen...so I think this will be a non-issue.

Since the cars will be running the same aero package as they did in Brand, they'll have very high downforce compared to every other oval Cart has run in the last few years. This should produce very tight racing at lower speeds than we saw last time we were here, a good thing IMO as the speeds around there were Michigan/Fontana like in a much more confined track. Thoughts?

Lee Janotta · 8 May 2003, 15:25 (Ref:593625)

The pay hacks are gonna be scared out of their minds! They'll either wreck big, or drive the whole race at 80%. Or both.

We'll see just how hot Bourdais really is against the defending Indy 500 winner.

The Reynards shouldn't be too bad on this track, so Haberfeld, Montiero and Manning might run well.

Jay · 8 May 2003, 15:31 (Ref:593627)

Hunter-Reay and Vasser should be looking better for this one too... Jimmy has the experience and Ryan was pretty good on the ovals in Atlantic, even though he's an oval fan.

macdaddy · 8 May 2003, 15:31 (Ref:593628)

I'm finding predictions this year to be near impossible. But I'll put five bucks on Tags for the win.

Lee raises a good point about the Reynards. I'd love to see Monteiro do well, but I'm certainly not expecting it.

Jordi · 8 May 2003, 17:34 (Ref:593761)

What to expect? Oriol doing well. Last two oval races: top 5 both times. And he was 5th at Lausitz in 2001 as well.

Lee Janotta · 8 May 2003, 17:37 (Ref:593768)

Quote:

Originally posted by Jordi
What to expect? Oriol doing well. Last two oval races: top 5 both times. And he was 5th at Lausitz in 2001 as well.

I'll salute him when he wins, Jordi... Till then, I still remain unimpressed.

Jay · 8 May 2003, 17:42 (Ref:593779)

I don't think that'll be long Lee... Paul Tracy has admittedly been quite lucky in these first few races. I think the Championship could very quickly close up.

Fogelhund · 8 May 2003, 18:27 (Ref:593834)

I think we should expect some rookies to make some rookie mistakes. Yoong will end up in the wall at some point in time for certain. Top talent always rises to the top. By the end of the weekend Bourdais will be a force.

Hopefully everybody ends up safe, and we get a good race.

corkholio · 8 May 2003, 19:16 (Ref:593882)

The Reynards should be in bigger trouble because it lacks downforce comparing to the Lolas.

Hunter-Reay was only good at ovals in Atlantics because he had the best car/setup spoonfed to him. I doubt ASTJ will be able to provide the same.

I will be interested to see how good Newman-Haas' oval setup actually is.

I am just going to take a wild guess that neither Coyne car finishes on the lead lap.

Jay · 8 May 2003, 20:33 (Ref:593959)

I wouldn't say Hunter-Reay's car in Atlantic was the best one...I think the Doricott's take that honour. I was comparing to his road course races and him saying he's not big on the ovals, mind you maybe it was just because I'm not either.

I don't think downforce will be as big of deal actually. It could work against you actually.

Jordi · 8 May 2003, 21:00 (Ref:593987)

Quote:

Originally posted by Lee Janotta
I'll salute him when he wins, Jordi... Till then, I still remain unimpressed.

He's qualified always inside the top 10 this year and he should be way higher in the standings than he is. Mechanical problems and the flubbered strategy at Monterey have him down in 12th. But I reckon he could have finished inside the top 5 in each race.

Lee, did you salute Oriol when he was Indy Lights champion? I guess not, he did not win a single race...

Lee Janotta · 8 May 2003, 21:47 (Ref:594015)

The sad fact is Indy Lights didn't produce many champions.

I'm keeping my mind open about Servia, mind you.

corkholio · 8 May 2003, 21:54 (Ref:594019)

Hylton and Shank by far had the best oval setups in Atlantics. Besides in Atlantics with all that downforce and little horsepower they all go flat out anyway. Mind you Hunter-Reay was beaten by Sara Senske at an oval in BDPS.

Downforce is a big deal. The Reynards can't get nearly as much as the Lolas without adding on a crapload of drag. Drag is bad, especially on ovals.

Oriol needs a teammate.

Jordi · 8 May 2003, 22:05 (Ref:594030)

Quote:

Lee
The sad fact is Indy Lights didn't produce many champions.

Well, Greg was a champion who left way too early

. Adrian almost was. Da Matta was. Dixon could have been were he still here. Tracy will probably be. Kanaan and Castroneves are also pretty good. And I obviously think Oriol can be.

Not many champions statistically, but all these men could have been/can be/will be champions.

evo · 8 May 2003, 22:49 (Ref:594064)

Quote:

Originally posted by corkholio
...Mind you Hunter-Reay was beaten by Sara Senske at an oval in BDPS...

Which is no great defeat as she was very quick and very good on the ovals. I believe she beat almost everyone in that race. Qualified 2nd and finished a very close 2nd.

Jay · 8 May 2003, 23:44 (Ref:594087)

Quote:

Originally posted by corkholio
Downforce is a big deal. The Reynards can't get nearly as much as the Lolas without adding on a crapload of drag. Drag is bad, especially on ovals.

PT did some testing at homestead earlier and found that it didn't make a huge difference in lap times, hence they actually went with more downforce. That said, with Eurospeedway, I would think you'd want to remove as much downforce as possible. This is one race where downforce is NOT a good thing. Given their trouble at Brands, I have to reason they were running lower downforce as they knew they'd be stronger in Germany.

Hylton did have very strong oval cars, but you still have to drive the car, and in both Milwaukee and Chicago, Ryan pretty much blew away the field, including his teammate(until his engine let go in Milwaukee). I know he doesn't like ovals, but he has had success on them. But, you're right in that it is mostly about the car when you only turn left and put your foot to the floor...sounds like another series...lol.

Snrub · 9 May 2003, 01:50 (Ref:594121)

I wouldn't say PT has anything in the bag. Despite his domination, it's a close fight. PT has always had the speed to win, just not the consistancy.

I'm VERY worried that this race will be just like an IRL race. The total lap time might not be different, but it's about how the car goes around the track rather than how fast it does it. I read something about a test a year or so ago where there was a CART and IRL car on the track at the same time. CART pulled hard in the straights, IRL in the corners, but at the end of each lap they were about the same. It's not racing if this is the case and I suspect it will be. Setup will be very important. Bourdais may not get to shine if it turns out to be a slot car race. I expect Players and Rahal to do have the best setups, but you have to expect NH will be right in there.

BootsOntheSide · 9 May 2003, 12:47 (Ref:594493)

I don't think Newman-Haas will be in the hunt, ovals are traditionally a weak point for them, wheras Players have often done well. Tag is a defiante candidate for the race win, but it remains to be seen whether Rocketsports can master oval set-up. Servia could get that first win as well. I think Lavin might do okay, his voal record is good, simialr to Sam Hornish Jr when they were in thee same team.

macdaddy · 9 May 2003, 14:44 (Ref:594643)

About TV...
Surely TSN can't have CBS blacked out in Canada, can they? I notice that the CBS coverage from Germany starts Sunday at 1PM ET, and that TSN is also carrying the race Sunday at 3:30.

Speed is carrying qualifying Saturday at 4PM ET.

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