Indy 500 103

andicole0 · 19 May 2019 at 21:39

Just watched a bit of quali. So foot to the floor and turn left. Ok.
Plus how many adverts can you squeeze in?
Andi.

Flibster · 19 May 2019 at 21:53

To be fair to them, it's only just started again for today. Rain stopped play.

So they've been filling, advert break, showing yesterdays quali, advert break, filling, advert break, showing Alonsos accident, advert bread, filling, advert break...

Flibster · 19 May 2019 at 21:58

And there goes Alonso and McLaren. Knocked out of qualifying.

[edit]

Knocked out by 0.0129s over 4 laps of the Indy track - Averaged 0.019mph faster than Alonso

MagicBoy · 19 May 2019 at 22:13

In the words of my friend who works for them : "Classic Mclaren haha. DNQ"

Paul Tracy on ******* : "So the word on the street is Alonso has a Penske setup and shocks from Andretti , will he make it ???"

If it's true he was brave to jump in it with no practise and do that.

CaptainRAVE · 19 May 2019 at 22:26

the arrogance of Mclaren is unbelievable. Hilarious that they got knocked out.

MagicBoy · 19 May 2019 at 22:35

They might be "off the peg" spec cars, but there's a whole hill of specialist knowledge in getting the most out of the package. It's not the 1980s any more where you can win by 2 clear laps, it's tiny margins.

Carlin are learning fast. McLaren just learned a life lesson.

Flibster · 19 May 2019 at 23:21

Rumours that McLaren are approaching some of the smaller teams, who qualified, with a big bag of money to get Alonso a drive...
All because in Indycar you qualify the car, not the driver.

*sigh*

MagicBoy · 19 May 2019 at 23:46

Same rumours sprouted about Hinchcliffe last year. He sat the race out, even though they had a one-off driver in the team they could pay off.

muon · 20 May 2019 at 01:16

Alonso shouldn't have ****** off Honda. Bet they are laughing.

MagicBoy · 20 May 2019 at 01:27

Yeah and no. The Honda connection got Fred the Andretti deal last time he ran Indy. Then their product went bang mid-race.

The Chevy is a better Indy oval engine. Downside for Fred is in Chevy team land what the Captain says goes, and he won't indulge ex-F1 driver vanity projects. So McLaren had to run it in-house, and seemingly underestimated the task.

muon · 20 May 2019 at 01:41

Honda have won 12 of the last 15 Indy 500s.

JRS · 20 May 2019 at 01:44

andicole0 said:
Just watched a bit of quali. So foot to the floor and turn left. Ok.

Ah, if only it was that simple...

Maybe if it was that simple, rather more than one person would have the Triple Crown by now.

Hey ho.

MagicBoy · 20 May 2019 at 01:45

muon said:
Honda have won 12 of the last 15 Indy 500s.

For many of those years they were the sole engine supplier. Chevy only returned in 2012...

Edit : 2006-2011 inclusive.

muon · 20 May 2019 at 01:49

MagicBoy said:
For many of those years they were the sole engine supplier. Chevy only returned in 2012...

Fine, whats the record since 2012?

Honda even won in 2017 when Alonso entered.

MagicBoy · 20 May 2019 at 01:50

There's lies, damn lies and statistics. You tell me!

JRS · 20 May 2019 at 08:13

muon said:
Fine, whats the record since 2012?

2012 - Honda
2013 - Chevy
2014 - Honda
2015 - Chevy
2016 - Honda
2017 - Honda
2018 - Chevy

andicole0 · 20 May 2019 at 08:54

JRS said:
Ah, if only it was that simple...

Maybe if it was that simple, rather more than one person would have the Triple Crown by now.

Hey ho.

But as a spectator sport it was quite boring, round and round with a flat out engine most of the time.
I guess it must be the spectacular and regular crashes that draw the crowds?
Andi.

JRS · 20 May 2019 at 10:19

I expect some people must watch it purely for the crashes. I watch it for the tactics, and close racing, and finishes like this one:

MagicBoy · 20 May 2019 at 17:55

Those who go to the circuit ... I'm not quite sure. Nice day out with 250,000 other people?

It's good on TV though, interesting mix of speed and strategy while averaging 220mph.

Flibster · 20 May 2019 at 23:01

So McLaren Indy have 'split' with Bob Fernley. They claim his contract was due to expire on race day anyway, so no real change for him.

Also, reading this it sounds like it was a complete cluster****...

https://apnews.com/a8653967a9714ac7a9a3ba576f712fff

Seriously? Forgot to make a steering wheel? The spare car was the wrong shade of orange so it was still in the paint booth being repainted when Alonso pancaked his race car. They also couldn't convert from inches to mm correctly which is why the McLaren was scraping along the ground with the borrowed setup... and the put the wrong gearing in the car.

Dear god....