USGP-the race will be fine next year

I went to the first two USGPs at Indy and if there is a race again next year, I plan on being in the stands. Hopefully to watch another Ferrari 1-2 like the first year not like the last two.

Terry

 

There definitely needs to be something super special for 2006, to get some US fans to throw their money at Tony.

 

I will have to agree with this one. Tony George or the City of Indianapolis will never get another dime out of me. Even if they were to offer free tickets, Hotels, Etc. I will never go back.

 

Why are you mad at IMS & Tony???
He spent a fortune of his own $$$$ so that you could see an F1 race in the USA.


I say support the speedway. They did not screw you last weekend.

 

"The decision to return will be George's, Ecclestone said. The Speedway's primary form of revenue is ticket sales, which means a crowd of 120,000 (the 2004 crowd estimate) doesn't cover the estimated $15 million the Speedway pays Ecclestone's company to stage a race. Ecclestone also receives all the proceeds from television broadcasts, the paddock club and title sponsors.

"It's the Speedway that's suffering, not us," Ecclestone said."

Even Tony can only lose money for so long and after this mess the attendance will surely further decline.

 

I'm hoping there will be drop outs from stand H so I can get first corner seats.

 

Actually, the last three (including this year) USGPs at Indianapolis have been complete chaos, which have been extreme embarrassments to F-1.

How soon we forget the Ferrari staged finish which brought the sport under the microscope? We forget last year's crash fest, the most serious of which saw it take safety crews nearly two minutes to reach Ralf after his huge shunt which drew the scorn of the FIA.

Indianapolis, with all of it's history and stature atop the American racing scene is not a proper venue for F-1, never has been, never will be. Hell, the Indy Car and NASCAR boys dont really like going there but they have to because there is too much money on the line for them to turn away.

F-1 needs to use their heads and get a permanent road courses like Laguna Seca, Road America or Mid-Ohio up to F-1 standard so we may truely appreciate our sport in a proper environment.

BHW

 

It's rare for anyone to get it right, straight out of the box. (At least, not without an authoritarian government willing to throw barrels of money at it.)

Indy is improving: Notice that they finally got the message that the "safer" barriers have to cover racing in both directions.

I was looking at the photos thread. Was that an FCA event, to let the Ferrari street cars take a parade lap of the F1 course? (Anything to lay some rubber on the little-used infield section, eh? )

I don't know if they had a speed limit on that lap, but the chance to run through that course with the "daily" Ferrari would almost be worth the trip by itself. Then there's the museum, etc.

But heck, I barely had time in the work schedule to watch the race on tv, much less go there.

But F1 needs a challenge like Indy in the schedule. Nurburgring has been tamed, Spa keeps coming and going from the schedule, Imola has been mutated beyond recognition.

F1 seems to be getting more like WRC: The "variations" are between events. E.g., today, WRC has "asphalt rallyes" and "gravel rallyes". Back in my day, you'd see asphalt, gravel, mud, and maybe snow on stages of the same rallye. Sometimes all on the same stage.

Having both tight slow corners and the long high rev section on the same track is rare in F1 today.

Too many "sports cars" can only do one thing well: skid pad, or 0-60, or AWD, or driver comfort. It doesn't hurt to remind auto engineers that doing all things with one package is where the art comes in.

Indy's biggest shortcoming and best feature is that the stands border the racing line -- little room for error for the drivers, but a great view for the spectators.