Dave M (Forum Supporter) said:
Dixon said they thought they had Taku on fuel and I bet they were correct. I have a hard time feeling too bad for him though considering he's basically locked up the championship.
The Robin Miller report confirmed that it would have taken an hour to fix the pit lane attenuator, so NBC made them finish under yellow. I am going to sound like a grouchy old man, but I pay good money to get the indycar stream (otherwise how else can I see all the races, qualifying, etc?) , and the biggest race of the year is cut short so the network can show the evening news? What a crock.
Back in the day, finishing under yellow would not be a question at all. This whole thing with the need of a green flag finish is a very new thing, and I actually don't like it- a lot. Mostly because the restart for these green-white-checker ends have consistently been carnage- everyone and their family tries to make a pass that's beyond both their abilioty and the capacity of the car. Let alone the fact that at a place like Indy- a restart with a couple of laps left give the big advantage to 2nd place (heck any restart give the follower the advantage).
Just like the forced non-tie events in stick and ball sports, the "need" for a non yellow ending of a race is new and IMHO lame. Get off my lawn.
In reply to alfadriver (Forum Supporter) :
I agree completely. I hate the "need" finish under green. I don't enjoy all the carnage artificially created by a restart with three to go.
As for blocking that was not blocking. Sato moved first. He was not moving in reaction to what the following car was doing. That was fake drama being created by the announcers.
Sato also had the faster car. I think he slipped up a little and let the second place car get closer than he wanted. But he then put the hammer down and opened it up to over a second and seemed to be pulling away when the yellow cane out. Sato drove just fast enough to put him self in the position to win. It was a brilliant drive by Sato and excellent team support over all that got them the win.
The question of fuel I think was not really an issue as he had been running second saving fuel for a while. I suspect he made his move once he had saved enough fuel. (Speculation on my part of course).
I enjoyed this years race.
In reply to alfadriver (Forum Supporter) :
Ok ok ok I cede. I changed my mind after reading that it would have been more like 2 hours+ to fix it. That's too long....
I saw Spencer Pigot was released from the hospital.
I saw him get out of the car then lay down. My thoughts went to the Aston Martin driver in LeMans a few years ago who was able to get out of the car, but didn't survive due to internal injuries. He didn't have the benefit of an attenuator though, just guardrail against tree.
I did find it surprising there was no mention of Pigot during the celebrations considering he was RLR's 3rd car. No, "we hope he is OK" or "we have team members headed with him now to medical", etc. I know you just got 1st and 3rd in the Indy 500, but a member of your team crashed HARD and no comments?
PMRacing said:
I did find it surprising there was no mention of Pigot during the celebrations considering he was RLR's 3rd car. No, "we hope he is OK" or "we have team members headed with him now to medical", etc. I know you just got 1st and 3rd in the Indy 500, but a member of your team crashed HARD and no comments?
I noticed that, too. I assume that all they heard was that he was out of the car and OK, not that he needed to be checked out. Presumably they were on the radio with him right after it happened and he told the team he was OK, too.
I was glad they didn't red flag it; beyond the two hour time frame I don't think it's a great idea to put pressure the track crew when putting together such a critical element of track safety. That pit lane attenuator has save countless lives over the years.
As for Sato blocking, when the announcers mentioned my thought was no it's not; he moved left to cover the inside and then moved back to the right as he approached the turn. The point at which he moved right was the same lap on lap. It was a good call from officials.
The one call I thought was a tough was Rossi's; Sato left a split second before Rossi so I felt for the team as it wasn't 100% that they would have an issue.
Tom1200 said:
I was glad they didn't red flag it; beyond the two hour time frame I don't think it's a great idea to put pressure the track crew when putting together such a critical element of track safety. That pit lane attenuator has save countless lives over the years.
I agree. After seeing all the debris and carbon strewn across the pit entrance, I thought it was a wise choice to avoid taking the cars through there too.
I think Pigot's accident would have been fatal as recently as a decade ago. The DW12 has proven to be a very tough tub, the addition of the screen/halo helped and most of all the barriers. Hitting side on into the cockpit area is the worst case scenario for an open wheel car, other than an upside down head strike like Greg Moore or Wheldon. Glad it worked out OK.
I'm not saying Taku didn't earn it or deserve it, he did, and he does. I Iove him as a driver for his never say die attitude and at times spectacular driving (both good and not so), but I do feel for Dixie not having had a chance to try at the end. He's finished 2nd three times now at Indy, and every time it's been under yellow denying him the chance to race for the win. Gotta feel for the guy there.
I have to wonder how Graham Rahal would have played into the last laps as well. RLL cars 1st and 3rd with the ice man in the middle. So sad it finished as it did as I think we were in for a hell of a fight to the end.
REally gld Hinch had a good finish as the top Andretti car int 7th, I was rooting for him
In reply to Adrian_Thompson (Forum Supporter) :
So what are the odds that Dixon ends up repeating Mario Andretti? Tons of success, multiple championships, heck- he could even pass Mario in total wins (and even AJ, given how good he's been this season).
And just one 500 win.
I was hoping that Graham would have had a chance, too- but I don't see him closing if it stayed green. At that point in a stint, it seemed like the cars could not close enough to draft down the straights- that was only a real option at the start of a tire stint. If anything could change for next year, it's that the tires stay more consistent over a tank of fuel- so that they could pass each other. Or that they drop off harshly from abuse- something to not force them to keep a gap like that. Back to Rahal- they commented a few times that he was battling understeer, so making a pass would have been pretty tough on old tires.
I thought it was a good race. I thought Iowa was a bit more exciting, but can't really say why.
I'm an IndyCar newbie because of Pato O'Ward. I found out yesterday morning that I could listen to his radio chatter on the IndyCar app while also watching the race. I heard a funny back and forth:
Spotter: How’s the car?
Pato: It feels pretty good
Spotter: You want more power, don’t you?
Pato: Obviously
Spotter: Tough, buddy. It’s a fuel race right now. You’re doing well
-Rob
In reply to alfadriver (Forum Supporter) :
Good point on Dixie / Mario. May happen. I spent most of the race listening to the radio rather than watching. They had Donald Davidson talking about laps led. Dixie jumped up several spots yesterday in that list. He's up to 9th on the all time leaders with 452. BTW, Mario is 3rd with 556 and Ralp DePalma 2nd with 612, they are both one time winners too.
Note. I'm in the Mario is really a two time winner and that USAC gave his win to Uncle Bobby in 1981 camp though!
Good point on Graham. He may not have challenged for the win, but he could have put enough pressure on Dixie from behind to help Sato as well. Oh well, we'll never know. And once again, well done to Taku, he's loved by many fans so another win for him is good for the sport IMO.
Adrian_Thompson (Forum Supporter) said:
In reply to alfadriver (Forum Supporter) :
Good point on Dixie / Mario. May happen. I spent most of the race listening to the radio rather than watching. They had Donald Davidson talking about laps led. Dixie jumped up several spots yesterday in that list. He's up to 9th on the all time leaders with 452. BTW, Mario is 3rd with 556 and Ralp DePalma 2nd with 612, they are both one time winners too.
And Micheal is at 431 with zero wins, while sitting out the 500 for most of the latter half of his career.. This is why people talk about an "Andretti curse".
