Qualifying is just the man and the car and whatever strategy the team can muster based on the conditions. Before practice even starts which will give us a glimpse of his progress: Where will he qualify?
As he has no oval experience, I think he will do enough to get into the field. But that's it. If there are only 33 entries he's in, so I think he will play it safe and just want the oval experience for a chance next year.
If he gets out of the groove in turn 3 it can be deadly. He is one of the best F1 drivers but this is a whole different playing field
Agree I said this in another thread as well... He'll hit the wall in practice/qualifying and also the race Don't get me wrong; I sincerely hope he doesn't crash but inevitable at Indy The pressure on him to be successful immediately = turn 4 crash I think this is great for auto racing, particularly U.S. & Indycar. I hope I'm wrong Bill
As many have said, qualifying at Indy is not of high importance, that being said, I think the top 1/3 is within reason.
Qualifying, top third, he's a fantastic driver, one of the best, and he will be able to work it out. The race, that's where the strategy comes in, and he will be a novice.... it's down to a little luck as well as skill. I hope he does well, and stays safe Forza fernando.... good luck
I put Middle Third, because I think Alonso will take time to learn Indy than try to shine immediately. Also, pole is OK, bit it doesn't give the same advantage than it brings in F1. Alonso must know that from a midfield position on the grid, everything is possible at Indy, even a win !!! But I personally wouldn't bet on that.
Let me make you a list: 1-When he was at Renault, he called Ferrari "cheaters" because they refused to limit testing. (so i guess if you don't agree with him or his team, you are cheating!!) 2- During the 2006 championship he again called Ferrari "cheaters", several time..especialy when Michel turned his 25 points lead into an advantage for him 3-After he was turned down by ean Todt he claimed he would much rather defeat Ferrari that drive for them 4- In 2007 he used Ferrari stolen data to fight Ferrari, he made specific questions and demands about Ferrari tyre perssures and other confidential stuff. 5-In 2008 he was part of a plot to rigg a race, the direct consequence of those actions resulted in Felipe Massa being robbed of a championship that he fully deserved. 6-He managed to get Kimi's place at Ferrari (One of Luca's biggest mistake) because Santander payed a kings randsome for it...upon his arrivel, he managed to destroy the team, bringing people that never proved his worth (like fry and Tombazis) and making many leave, including Aldo Costa who was promptly recruited as chief deseigner for mercedes, with the results we all know. 7-During his stay at the team he often criticized Ferrari, even publicly insulting team menbers during the Italian g.p qualifying (wich almost led to his firing by Luca) 8-Instaed of motivating the team, he was trying to jump ship to red Bull 9- Despite what the ignorant spanish and other garbage press said, alonso didn't lose the title because Ferrari made a mistake in abu dhabi, he lost it because he spun all alone in the australian g.p first lap, because he crashed at Monaco, because he let him self get passed by both mclarens at canada..twice, after the pits had put him ahead...because he did a crap start at the last race and was unable to overtake Petrov...despite all of this mistakes, he refused all blame and alowed som eone else to be sacked. i can go on if you like...
He won't play it safe...someone calculated it and he'll have 80 hours of practice available to him. It'll be more than enough for him to figure this car out. He won't take it easy, he'll do the best he can as usual. He's made it clear, he wants to be known as one of the best racers, and for that he wants the triple crown. Whats testing like for Indycar? Could he hypothetically rent a track and have a testing session tomorrow if he wanted to? I know he was in the States yesterday...