Indianapolis 50
Monday, May 31, 2010 at 11:11AM
No, it is not a typo, it is how long I think that race needs to be. The first 450 miles sees drivers just eating up miles to get the car set up for the last laps dash. It was really only the last 25 miles that were exciting enough to get my wife Xan's attention, and only then because of the reported fuel situation. Yes the McLaren boys had a similar situation in Turkey, but the interest started at the first corner there, not the last few laps. The Coca Cola 50 sounds good too. Even the commentators said after the last pit stops that now the drivers were going to get serious. I tuned in and out over the course of the 600 miles and do not think I missed a thing. The highlight was when Chip Ganassi turned up.
Now I love long distance racing like the Le Mans 24 hour, but I do not recall teams just running around waiting for the last hour. If they did that they would be so far behind it would be impossible to come back. I was surprised to see so many empty seats at both Indy and Charlotte, and for the World Of Outlaws race Saturday night from Charlotte. With so many people camping at Charlotte then I would have expected the dirt track to be full for a show like the WOO. I thought ticket prices were lowered this year to make attending these races easier, but either the economy is still hitting the average ticket buyer hard, or they are losing interest.
As I have been known to criticise commentators, I would like to commend the trio in the booth for Indy. Marty Reid I thought did a very good "blow by blow," without inserting his own views or a bunch of nonsense about anything but what is on the race track, such as Monte Carlo and Monaco are not the same place! Eddie Cheever and Scott Goodyear backed him up well with good points and not rambling stories about what happened in their day. One jarring note to me was at Charlotte where dear Darryl Waltrip wished everyone a "Happy Memorial Day." Sunday was not Memorial Day, and I doubt that it is "happy" for those remembering the fallen. And on a similar note do we have to interview the fake heroes of the new "A-Team" movie when there are clearly many, many real heroes in uniform at the track?
Following on interviews, do we really sell more when the driver or team owner actually says the sponsors name? Which marketing genius thinks it has more impact to say it when the name is blazoned across all the team wear and the car, which is usually also in shot? A much better selling strategy is to crash your car if it is not running well, it is a certainty to get a lot of air time and repeated often. If you can crash it into your sponsors billboard, or in front of it you get more brownie points, but the best of all is to have your two cars run into each other in pit lane. Sebring anyone? Chevy got more airtime than the winner, especially the class winner. Team Manager interviewed, rerun every hourly update, it does not get much better than that. No one interviewed Dave Sims or Giuseppe Risi and they won the class!
A last comment on Indy concerns Tony Kanaan. If you read my blog on Pole Day about Tony's struggles to qualify his performance in the race would have been unexpected to say the least. Tony ran from dead last to 2nd and eventually finished 11th. Not the first time this has been done, but it is an interesting exercise to consider what went on during qualifying that changed for the race? Obviously set up, but of the car or driver? I was fortunate when I worked for Kenny Roberts to see the minds of top level racers at intimate detail, and it is clearly where that last step in performance comes from that goes beyond shear talent.
It is interesting to read some of the comments on WSB rider Haga, who is under performing and his head is presumed the reason. Haga is competing at Miller Motorsport Park this weekend, and yes the race is today not yesterday. Carlos Checa and Max Biaggi top the qualifying and not for the first time I ask where are the young guys? It sounds as if the Utah State Police lived up to the reputation of many police forces across the globe in making life difficult for motorcyclists. You would think police these days would be too young to have seen "The Wild Ones." I ran into this at Phillip Island initially, but I have to commend the Victorian Police for their attitude for the first GP, and the behaviour of the crowd.
On a final note about the Turkish F1 Gp and Red Bull, although I do not think we have heard the last of their internal problems, their crisis management procedures need a serious rework. Different stories coming out from each of the individuals and the story changing. The one I liked was the teams racing guru and advisor to the owner, Helmut Marko, himself a not too shabby driver. Asked for his views on the accident, Marko reckons that Vettel was in the right to turn across the track, even with Webber there, since the German had got his nose ahead.
"He [Vettel] was already ahead, at least two metres ahead, and there was a corner to the left side coming, so he had to go for the line," he said. "He cannot brake on the dirt because for sure he knows what happens." Now two meters is just over six feet which means he had half the car in front of teammate Mark before he turned right. What is Helmut suggesting, that Mark's car just falls through a hole in the asphalt and disappear? Vettel says he lost it under braking, so what is the true story? And then there is the "Webber needed to save fuel story but Vettel did not." And also, "Vettel had to get by because Hamilton was going to pass him." So it is OK if Hamilton passes Webber?
Now I love long distance racing like the Le Mans 24 hour, but I do not recall teams just running around waiting for the last hour. If they did that they would be so far behind it would be impossible to come back. I was surprised to see so many empty seats at both Indy and Charlotte, and for the World Of Outlaws race Saturday night from Charlotte. With so many people camping at Charlotte then I would have expected the dirt track to be full for a show like the WOO. I thought ticket prices were lowered this year to make attending these races easier, but either the economy is still hitting the average ticket buyer hard, or they are losing interest.
As I have been known to criticise commentators, I would like to commend the trio in the booth for Indy. Marty Reid I thought did a very good "blow by blow," without inserting his own views or a bunch of nonsense about anything but what is on the race track, such as Monte Carlo and Monaco are not the same place! Eddie Cheever and Scott Goodyear backed him up well with good points and not rambling stories about what happened in their day. One jarring note to me was at Charlotte where dear Darryl Waltrip wished everyone a "Happy Memorial Day." Sunday was not Memorial Day, and I doubt that it is "happy" for those remembering the fallen. And on a similar note do we have to interview the fake heroes of the new "A-Team" movie when there are clearly many, many real heroes in uniform at the track?
Following on interviews, do we really sell more when the driver or team owner actually says the sponsors name? Which marketing genius thinks it has more impact to say it when the name is blazoned across all the team wear and the car, which is usually also in shot? A much better selling strategy is to crash your car if it is not running well, it is a certainty to get a lot of air time and repeated often. If you can crash it into your sponsors billboard, or in front of it you get more brownie points, but the best of all is to have your two cars run into each other in pit lane. Sebring anyone? Chevy got more airtime than the winner, especially the class winner. Team Manager interviewed, rerun every hourly update, it does not get much better than that. No one interviewed Dave Sims or Giuseppe Risi and they won the class!
A last comment on Indy concerns Tony Kanaan. If you read my blog on Pole Day about Tony's struggles to qualify his performance in the race would have been unexpected to say the least. Tony ran from dead last to 2nd and eventually finished 11th. Not the first time this has been done, but it is an interesting exercise to consider what went on during qualifying that changed for the race? Obviously set up, but of the car or driver? I was fortunate when I worked for Kenny Roberts to see the minds of top level racers at intimate detail, and it is clearly where that last step in performance comes from that goes beyond shear talent.
It is interesting to read some of the comments on WSB rider Haga, who is under performing and his head is presumed the reason. Haga is competing at Miller Motorsport Park this weekend, and yes the race is today not yesterday. Carlos Checa and Max Biaggi top the qualifying and not for the first time I ask where are the young guys? It sounds as if the Utah State Police lived up to the reputation of many police forces across the globe in making life difficult for motorcyclists. You would think police these days would be too young to have seen "The Wild Ones." I ran into this at Phillip Island initially, but I have to commend the Victorian Police for their attitude for the first GP, and the behaviour of the crowd.
On a final note about the Turkish F1 Gp and Red Bull, although I do not think we have heard the last of their internal problems, their crisis management procedures need a serious rework. Different stories coming out from each of the individuals and the story changing. The one I liked was the teams racing guru and advisor to the owner, Helmut Marko, himself a not too shabby driver. Asked for his views on the accident, Marko reckons that Vettel was in the right to turn across the track, even with Webber there, since the German had got his nose ahead.
"He [Vettel] was already ahead, at least two metres ahead, and there was a corner to the left side coming, so he had to go for the line," he said. "He cannot brake on the dirt because for sure he knows what happens." Now two meters is just over six feet which means he had half the car in front of teammate Mark before he turned right. What is Helmut suggesting, that Mark's car just falls through a hole in the asphalt and disappear? Vettel says he lost it under braking, so what is the true story? And then there is the "Webber needed to save fuel story but Vettel did not." And also, "Vettel had to get by because Hamilton was going to pass him." So it is OK if Hamilton passes Webber?
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