TBK-Light.com

Actually, Pikes Peak is still active.

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Ducks Angels Sounders Spurs

I don't think Texas has been as bad recently as it used to be. Hasn't really been a lot of big pack racing there since 2004, Think they made some changes to the aero package run there after the 1st 2004 race was especially crazy (Darren Manning made contact with just about everyone that race).


They should take a couple of 2012 cars to Texas & run a series of test's on different aero packages (Including the hanford device), Turbo Boost levels etc... If they find something to stop the pack racing & drivers are happy with it then run there, If they can't &/or the drivers are not happy then go to a more suitable oval.

No reason for Indycar to drop oval's, Just need to either fix the racing on the one's they have or goto one's which are better suited to these types of car such as Milwaukee, New Hampshire, Michigan, Pocono & maybe even European ovals like EuroSpeedway & Rockingham.


I think its pretty much certain that regardless of whats done the drivers don't want to go back to Las Vegas on that Speedway. If they want to race in Las Vegas they should use the Street circuit ChampCar ran in 2007.


BTW Jean Alesi still plans to run Indy & the 2012 car is likely to be named DW01:
http://www.autosport.com/news/report.php/id/95530

I've always wondered if in a track as banked as Texas, the drivers would be forced to slow down in the corners if they have cars with minimum wing downforce and as much as 800 HP or so.

In other less banked tracks like Chicagoland or Kentucky, it'd probably happen, but I have my doubts on Texas. I think CART was able to run there flatout on qualifying.

Robin Miller released a proposed schedule on October 1...

http://auto-racing.speedtv.com/article/ ... vealed/P2/

1. March 25 - St. Petersburg, FL - street course
2. April 1 - Birmingham, AL - road course
3. April 15 - Long Beach, CA - street course
4. April 29 - Sao Paulo, Brazil - street course
5. May 27 - Indianapolis, IN - oval track
6. June 3 - Detroit, MI – street course
7. June 9 - Ft. Worth, TX - oval track (Saturday night doubleheader)
8. June 24 - Newton, IA - oval track (Saturday night race)
9. July 8 - Toronto, Canada - street course
10. July 22 - Edmonton, Canada - street course
11. August 5 - Lexington, OH - road course
12. Aug. 26 – Sonoma, Calif. road course
13. September 2 - Baltimore, MD - street course
14. September 15 - Fontana, CA - oval track (Sat Night Race)
15. September 23 – Qingdao, China (street course)
16. October 13-14 - Las Vegas, NV - oval track


I doubt IndyCar will return to Las Vegas.

A week between Fontanta and China, thats a difficult logistical challenge

My respect for Graham Rahal just increased by a hundred-fold.

http://www.facebook.com/pages/Graham-Ra ... 8691454889

The British drivers in the V8 Gold Coast event will be wearing special visor strips.

Very nice.

I guess you'd have to wonder what markets actually sell. Other than Texas, Indy, and Iowa (the three ovals that definitely seem to remain on the schedule, natch), it seems like the ovals don't draw. I mean, that's the problem with Milwaukee which is perfect for the Indy cars. CART drew fantastic crowds there but once the split happened, people stopped going.

So you could make a case for certain ovals (Texas World Speedway, Sanair, Pocono, Rockingham), some would need a helluv a lot of work though to upgrade safety and I wonder if people would care enough to justify the expense. Hell even with the banking Darlington might work, due to its weird configuration they probably can't run that track flat out even with the banking. But this accident aside, ticket sales have been steering this series towards road and street courses for a while now.

Mosley urges IndyCar to avoid knee-jerk reactions
October 20, 2011
IndyCar chiefs must take a "calm and scientific" approach to investigating safety issues in the wake of Dan Wheldon's fatal crash, says former FIA president Max Mosley.

Amid intense scrutiny this week about the lessons that can be learned from the events at the Las Vegas Motorsport Speedway, where Wheldon was killed after being involved in a 15-car pile-up, Mosley thinks it vital that there are no knee-jerk reactions to the tragedy.

Instead Mosley, who was head of the FIA when Ayrton Senna and Roland Ratzenberger were killed at the 1994 San Marino Grand Prix, thinks that a more measured approach is the best way forward.

"I think the start is you have to take a calm and scientific approach, and look at all the things you can do to make it less likely that somebody gets hurt," said Mosley during an interview with CNN. "It is all about probabilities.

"You can never make it safe. F1 is not safe but you can do a lot of work to reduce the probability of somebody getting hurt. They should do that and call in experts from around the world, including those at the FIA.

"There is already a lot of contact between European racing and American racing, but I think it is quite surprising what could be done once people get behind it."

Mosley believes that IndyCar now faces the same challenges that F1 experienced in the wake of Imola 1994, and has said that the FIA will do all it can to help if it is asked for assistance.

"It is very annoying but it is difficult to get people to think seriously about safety unless there is an incident," he said. "We are doing research all the time but you get some weight behind it when there is a serious incident, and this will probably provoke that.

"Having said that, one must remember that when you look at the footage of the crash it is actually quite remarkable that it did not produce another or two or three other fatalities. So it says a lot for the work that is already being done that there was only one.

"He [Wheldon] was very unlucky. He was well behind the incident and nothing to do with the original crash but he could not stop. So it is reminiscent, in a way, of Imola, and I think we will see changes. And I know the FIA will assist the Americans any way they can if they want to do some research on it."

The FIA Institute has been working on several areas of racing safety that could be of benefit to IndyCar, including cockpit canopies and improved debris fencing. Mosley believes such work, although aimed at European track racing, could be of use to IndyCar. He also suggests that closed-canopy cockpits could be an option in preventing drivers suffering head injuries, although such a move would require extensive research.

"I think it [closed cockpits] could work," he said. "We get occasional incidents like the spring which hit [Felipe] Massa and the wheel which came off in Formula 2 and killed John Surtees' son Henry.

"You're always in danger, in an open cockpit, of objects striking the driver... It might also help, if it's reinforced with another roll bar, in things like the Dan Wheldon accident. But that's something that needs careful investigation."

He added: "One of the troubles is that it would probably make the car quicker, which is just what we don't want. But there are other means of slowing them down.

"There are a lot of objections to canopies – how do you keep them clean? How do you get somebody out in an emergency? But all of that will be looked at by a technical working group if it turns out the thing would protect the driver better."


RACER

What's been done with the 2012 chassis to reduce injuries from backing into the fence?

Pretty sure I read they have a different seating position & some form of padding behind the driver to absorb more energy to prevent back injury. There is also more head/neck padding & various other safety improvements around the cockpit.

Also has the bumpers at the back, bodywork in front of the rear wheels & the floor extends further forward to prevent the sort of wheel to wheel contact which can send the cars airborn.

Whole car will be a big step up in terms of safety in many different areas.

meanwhile, Paul Tracy is now saying that he has serious concerns about the safety of the 2012 car, naming specifically the increased head exposure.

Say what? Why have they gone backwards?

I think the new car introduces at least 3 other dangers:
1) the long sloped nose that starts low leads right up to the driver's head, like a RAMP TO DECAPITATION.
2) long sloped nose, meet stupid rear bumper. What is likely to happen when following car rams the backside of the car in front? Wedge! Following car goes UNDERNEATH rear of car in front.
3) stupid rear bumpers are likely to get broken easily by stupid low nose of following cars esp on street circuits. Likely an increase in broken carbon fibre on the track from now on, but will it be shards of whole bulbous pieces sitting in the middle of the track? How heavy are they? How are they attached and what happens if one breaks off, is it mandatory that it gets replaced?

Ramp to decapitation? Jesus, mate, could you for one minute try to be like you're not a tabloid journalist, ok?

On the other hand you raised out good points about the new cars possible safety issues.





1) The nose of old and new Dallara aren't that much different, but in New car drive is sitting a bit higher than in the old car. That can be fixed by adjusting the seating position. The driver also sits further back in the new car.
2) Rear bumper will probably soften the impact and prevent following car to ramp the car in front that easily. I don't think that following car would just go half way down underneath the car in front.
3) It's carbon fibre, it's way lighter than it looks, probably weighting just as much as current cars front wing plates. Not sure about if it's mandatory to replace, we'll see that.

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"Indy doesn't give you a second chance. You have to earn it."

RAMP TO DECAPITATION

I LOL'd.

People also laughed at "cheese grater". Until Brack got grated.

The new nose is wider at its tip. Also the airflow (and debris) going up over the nose will travel right to the driver's head whereas before at least there was a bit of a bump and steeper angle right before the cockpit.

With the rear bumpers, also what will the effect of a puncture/shredding tire have on it? Look at the destruction to the body work that happens in Nascar. Will it rip through the IndyCar bumper or rip it right off?

[youtubeidiot]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DRXymgWiRcY[/youtubeidiot]

very good article imo,fromGordon Kirby...

http://www.gordonkirby.com/categories/c ... no309.html

Thanks. Very good article. Man, Indycar seems fucked.

Well, I wouldn't say fucked just yet, I'm still optimistic but if what is said about the new car that article is true, then it's a big problem. Paul Tracy posted a picture of his helmet after Vegas and it had a tire mark across the visor from Pippa's car. If the driver's head is more exposed in the new Dallara, it's not good.