The All-Purpose Motorsports Thread

What did you guys think of the restrictor plate racing at Charlotte? I thought it was fantastic. I didn't think it would work that well on a 1.5 mile oval.

I think they should look into running it at the 1.5 mile and above tracks. Maybe say if the track has two dates on the schedule, they run plates for one of the races and no plates at the other. Tracks like Charlotte, Atlanta, Texas, California, Michigan, Kansas, Chicago and Kentucky could benefit a lot from tighter racing.

Plus it was pretty cool to see some underfunded teams like Allmendinger and Kahne up there mixing it up with the big boys.
 
Canadian rookie Wickens crashes hard at Indy in practice. He is okay but the car suffered damage to the right front and right rear suspension.
 
What did you guys think of the restrictor plate racing at Charlotte? I thought it was fantastic. I didn't think it would work that well on a 1.5 mile oval.

I think they should look into running it at the 1.5 mile and above tracks. Maybe say if the track has two dates on the schedule, they run plates for one of the races and no plates at the other. Tracks like Charlotte, Atlanta, Texas, California, Michigan, Kansas, Chicago and Kentucky could benefit a lot from tighter racing.

Plus it was pretty cool to see some underfunded teams like Allmendinger and Kahne up there mixing it up with the big boys.

The aero package seemed to figure into that also. Some good racing but there wasn't a full field in this race so it's difficult to tell without lapped traffic.
 
looking forward to Monaco next week.
pretty sure Ferrari has something in store for Mercedes and Red Bull.
 
looking forward to Monaco next week.
pretty sure Ferrari has something in store for Mercedes and Red Bull.

I've been watching to see what Kimi's problem was last week but Ferrari aren't saying much. Will he have a grid penalty in Monaco? They let him off without a penalty for that loose wheel in practice in Bahrain.
 
if they haven't announced a penalty, I don't see one forthcoming tbh.
his car is clearly not getting the same level of oversight as Vettel's IMO.
 
if they haven't announced a penalty, I don't see one forthcoming tbh.
his car is clearly not getting the same level of oversight as Vettel's IMO.

From my understanding of the rules, penalties start when a forth engine is used. Ferrari replaced Raikkonen's engine after a problem in P2 in Spain. He had further engine trouble in the race. Ferrari is saying that it was an electrical problem that will not require replacing the engine. Ferrari is supposed to have an upgraded engine for Canada but Raikkonen will have to run this engine for several races to try to avoid using a forth or fifth before the end of the season. There is also the possibility of using the first engine if it wasn't damaged but I doubt they would have changed it if it wasn't because the change delays the upgrade.

https://www.autosport.com/f1/news/136028/raikkonen-should-avoid-engine-change-after-dnf
 
well, they searched for another hero.
they got a german and he's been great but no one replaces Schumi.
I feel terrible about how he ended up. All those years in an incredibly dangerous
sport and gets destroyed while recreational skiing.
such a shame.
 
well, they searched for another hero.
they got a german and he's been great but no one replaces Schumi.
I feel terrible about how he ended up. All those years in an incredibly dangerous
sport and gets destroyed while recreational skiing.
such a shame.
i know. He dominated in early 2000. In a dangerous sport now he's a vegetable
his family will be broke soon
 
Red Bull seems to have the advantage after P1. They were the fastest and setting their fastest lap on worn tires while Mercedes and Ferrari times appeared to drop off quickly. Verstappen might be in trouble after going into a runoff lane then backing up onto the track into oncoming traffic.
 
Verstappen was fastest in Practice 3 at Monaco until he crashed with around 5 minutes left. He clipped the guard rail with his right front breaking the suspension which caused him to launch over the curb and into the guard rail with the right side. It damaged both the front and rear suspension. I don't know if they can get it together in time for qualifying. It takes a while to get the car back to the pit at Monaco. Then Ricciardo bested Verstappen's speed by .001 second.

The Red Bulls were a half second clear of the field and looking at a first row lockout.

I suspect Alonso wishes he was at Indianapolis instead of Monaco in the Mclaren that can't get out of it's own way.
 
They got Verstappen's car ready, started it up and found a gearbox problem so he won't qualify and will start from the back tomorrow.
 
Ricciardo with the pole at Monaco. Most teams didn't even run on the Ultrasoft tires. They spent all of their time on the Hypersoft tires. Some teams only reserved one set of Ultrasoft tires to use in the race because they have to per the regulations. Mercedes tried to run them in Q2 so they could start the race on them but had to go to Hypersofts to go fast enough.

I expect everyone who didn't make it into Q3 will start the race on Ultrasoft tires. It's unknown how long the Hypersofts will last. Some commentators are talking about changing tires after 5 laps. I don't think they can do that in a 78 lap race. I would think that they have to get 25 laps out of them then try to finish the remaining 53 laps on the Ultrasoft tires. If they only get 10 laps out of the Hypersoft, it seems like they would have to make 2 or three stops for tires. The tires will wear a lot more at first with the full fuel load.

It's very difficult, if not impossible, to pass at Monaco so they need to get enough of a lead to change tires without getting passed by the cars starting on the harder tires. The faster cars could get stuck in traffic after the first pit stops and could get taken out in any incident.
 
This should be a great start with the front two rows mixed as they are with drivers/cars.
 
exactly.
Ricciardo, as pole sitter, will do anything to preserve that position because if he can of course, he could very well go on to win since there are few chances for passing and barring at pit stop snags.

Vettel, on the other hand, will push right to the limit and try not to go over it at turn one.
Monaco is a crown jewel to win, especially ifo Ferrari bigwigs who are in attendance and Prince Albert himself.

It's a shame Max couldn't be up there with them, that would really set the cat amongst the pigeons!
 
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