The Alessandro Zanardi IndyCar Thread

[Salamander]

And who is going to replace him? TK will get the #10? Tagliani finally have the chance to shine?

Well TK was going there regardless, so you can assume that Ganassi will be fielding 4 cars regardless next year. This does leave Ganassi in an interesting position - if this was known straight away, you can bet they'dve snapped up Hinchtown, but he's off the market. They might try and grab Carlos Munoz or Sage Karam - with Dixon and Kanaan on board, and Charlie Kimball coming in to his own, they have the room to develop a rookie. However, if they want to get a known commodity, then I'd have to say the top choice given the current market... would be Simona de Silvestro.

Here's hoping they give Simona the break she deserves.

[F1000X]

Wouldn't have happened if there weren't so many street circuits on the calendar. You don't get thrown into the fence at Mid Ohio or Barber, you'd be hard pressed to hit one if you tried. Also, if the Dallara wasn't such a failure and piece of shite.

Really troubling.

[Onxy Wrecked]

And who is going to replace him? TK will get the #10? Tagliani finally have the chance to shine?

Well TK was going there regardless, so you can assume that Ganassi will be fielding 4 cars regardless next year. This does leave Ganassi in an interesting position - if this was known straight away, you can bet they'dve snapped up Hinchtown, but he's off the market. They might try and grab Carlos Munoz or Sage Karam - with Dixon and Kanaan on board, and Charlie Kimball coming in to his own, they have the room to develop a rookie. However, if they want to get a known commodity, then I'd have to say the top choice given the current market... would be Simona de Silvestro.

Here's hoping they give Simona the break she deserves.

I personally expect Karam or de Silvestro as Munoz is rumored to be the Viso replacement thanks to the Venezuela government cutting off the PDVSA funding to auto racers from Venezuela.

[go_Rubens]

Wouldn't have happened if there weren't so many street circuits on the calendar. You don't get thrown into the fence at Mid Ohio or Barber, you'd be hard pressed to hit one if you tried. Also, if the Dallara wasn't such a failure and piece of shite.

Really troubling.

Dallara haven't figured out how to build a car that doesn't fly easily. Although there will never be a solution, the situation can be improved. Unfortunately, cheap options come with cheap quality, and that's exactly what happened with Dallara.

[Yannick]

Former Honda F1 test driver Mike Conway joins the Vision/Walker squad for the road and street courses of the 2014 IndyCar season to alternate in the #20 car with driver/owner Ed Carpenter.

http://www.edcarpenterracing.com/ECR-Ad ... 14-In.news

Here's hoping we'll see the Walker car in victory lane again soon.


I have commented elsewhere about the retirement of one of my favourite drivers, Dario Franchitti, and will not copy and paste it to this place.

Sorry guys, but even the little things count against shoespam: just imagine a percentage of worn out leather inside of those canned meat cans, mixed together with all the other ingredients ...

[Onxy Wrecked]

Wouldn't have happened if there weren't so many street circuits on the calendar. You don't get thrown into the fence at Mid Ohio or Barber, you'd be hard pressed to hit one if you tried. Also, if the Dallara wasn't such a failure and piece of shite.

Really troubling.

Dallara haven't figured out how to build a car that doesn't fly easily. Although there will never be a solution, the situation can be improved. Unfortunately, cheap options come with cheap quality, and that's exactly what happened with Dallara.

And the cheapest solutions to stop flying come from using heavier materials which will reduce speeds. That means less Carbon Fiber.

[Aerospeed]

Just what are some alternatives to carbon fiber anyways? Forgive me for being not well aware of other building materials... :S

[dr-baker]

Just what are some alternatives to carbon fiber anyways? Forgive me for being not well aware of other building materials... :S

Lego.




Of course, Lego racing cars have been around for a while. Here is a Toleman F1 car from the early- to mid-1980s (well-known for its distinctive double rear wing):



A late-1970s/early 1980s Ferrari:



Lego racing cars date back as far as the 1960s:




Before Lego, Meccano used to be a choice for some manufacturers:







Meccano was used by the Renault F1 team more recently, but I believe it remained unraced:



I suppose you could also consider match sticks:





There's the option of chocolate:



...And bread:



...And cake!



So as you can see, there are a choice of materials available that can be used! And at a fraction of the cost of carbon fibre!

[Onxy Wrecked]

Just what are some alternatives to carbon fiber anyways? Forgive me for being not well aware of other building materials... :S

Aluminum was rather popular before carbon fiber was used. Fiberglass is also a viable alternative save for all those splinters when it does break.

[roblo97]

The only trouble with cake and chocolate is that there might not be any left at the start of the race because people would have eaten it

On a more serious note...
This looks promising and best of all, it's British!

[Yannick]

Look! It's a Leyton House-Mercedes!

[Cynon]

Wouldn't have happened if there weren't so many street circuits on the calendar. You don't get thrown into the fence at Mid Ohio or Barber, you'd be hard pressed to hit one if you tried. Also, if the Dallara wasn't such a failure and piece of shite.

Really troubling.

Lower the nose. Again, lower the nose and front wings, and shape them so that they just scoop up cars in front. A problem in this case would be if a car spins in backwards and ramps over a car that way, but the only instance I can think of where that happened was Scott Sharp at New Hampshire in 1994...

... but granted, single seaters worldwide have been obsessed with raising the noses, and yet nobody can figure out why cars go flying these days more than they did in the past... -_-

[watka]

Just what are some alternatives to carbon fiber anyways? Forgive me for being not well aware of other building materials... :S

Aluminum was rather popular before carbon fiber was used. Fiberglass is also a viable alternative save for all those splinters when it does break.

There's a reason that aluminium isn't used; it tends to ignite.

[Frentzen127]

That's Magnesium, not Aluminium. Aluminium doesn't ignite, but its slightly heavier that Magnesium.

[Onxy Wrecked]

That's Magnesium, not Aluminium. Aluminium doesn't ignite, but its slightly heavier that Magnesium.

Magnesium was what we started to see in the 1970s and resulted in many drivers suffering burns.

[Ataxia]

That's Magnesium, not Aluminium. Aluminium doesn't ignite, but its slightly heavier that Magnesium.

Magnesium was what we started to see in the 1970s and resulted in many drivers suffering burns.

The use of magnesium was the reason behind Jo Schlesser's tragic death in 1968...

[watka]

That's Magnesium, not Aluminium. Aluminium doesn't ignite, but its slightly heavier that Magnesium.

Yeah sorry, I'm thinking of the thermite reaction. It's not really reactive in other circumstances.

[Onxy Wrecked]

That's Magnesium, not Aluminium. Aluminium doesn't ignite, but its slightly heavier that Magnesium.

Magnesium was what we started to see in the 1970s and resulted in many drivers suffering burns.

The use of magnesium was the reason behind Jo Schlesser's tragic death in 1968...

It was also what caused the disaster at LeMans in the 1950s.

[Londoner]

The Russians are invading IndyCar now.

http://www.autosport.com/news/report.php/id/111513

[Onxy Wrecked]

The Russians are invading IndyCar now.

http://www.autosport.com/news/report.php/id/111513

Any chance Vitaly Petrov follows?

[Gerudo Dragon]

Legend

[nome66]

WOOHOOO Welcome Back, buddy!
glad he missed out on the v8 era of both open wheel series, as it turns out.
time to take away two pistons and crank up the boost pressure!





and did you see that caterpillar on power? damn!

[Onxy Wrecked]

And there goes JPM's 100% Indy 500 win percentage.

[Yannick]

And there goes JPM's 100% Indy 500 win percentage.

Not so fast. After all, he will drive a Penske car.

[Salamander]

And there goes JPM's 100% Indy 500 win percentage.

Not so fast. After all, he will drive a Penske car.

That's not a guaranteed win. Besides, he's been away from single-seaters for way too long.

[Yannick]

And there goes JPM's 100% Indy 500 win percentage.

Not so fast. After all, he will drive a Penske car.

That's not a guaranteed win. Besides, he's been away from single-seaters for way too long.

Indeed, it is not. But nonetheless, it gives him a good chance. It will be exciting to see how he does in the race.

[TomWazzleshaw]

Not so fast. After all, he will drive a Penske car.

That's not a guaranteed win. Besides, he's been away from single-seaters for way too long.

Indeed, it is not. But nonetheless, it gives him a good chance. It will be exciting to see how he does in the race.

Not really. Penske have had nothing on Andretti on the ovals in recent years, apart from Fontana where Michael's mob dropped the ball massively.

[nome66]

i think it's a little funny how one of my friends who had met JPM back in '10 in Dover asked him witch direction of Indianapolis' turn 1/f1 turn 13 he prefers, when he just going to do both(sorta) next season.




btw if i remember correctly he said clockwise. i don't blame him. give it a boot-full in a BMW v10 williams, turn right and hang on!

[Onxy Wrecked]

And there goes JPM's 100% Indy 500 win percentage.

Not so fast. After all, he will drive a Penske car.

That's not a guaranteed win. Besides, he's been away from single-seaters for way too long.

Allmendinger was leading a good chunk of the race after a similarly long hiatus, but lost his touch on the road courses and street circuits where he once shined. The chance is certainly there but not even Rick Mears won all of the 500s he entered in.

[Gerudo Dragon]

Briscoe joins Ganassi

[TomWazzleshaw]

Briscoe joins Ganassi

They should have gone with Simona in the fourth car, with Briscoe spending another year at Panther. Good luck to the guy anyway. He's gonna need it if he wants to impress with teammates like that.

What it does though is throw up some very interesting questions on where Paul di Resta will end up next year if he is coming stateside, as he was one of the favourites for the fourth Ganassi ride. Most of the teams with rides still available need someone with both talent and money, not someone with the ego the size of a small solar system. He MIGHT get the second KV seat at a stretch, but he'll probably end up with either Foyt or Rahal next year.

Not so fast. After all, he will drive a Penske car.

That's not a guaranteed win. Besides, he's been away from single-seaters for way too long.

Allmendinger was leading a good chunk of the race after a similarly long hiatus, but lost his touch on the road courses and street circuits where he once shined. The chance is certainly there but not even Rick Mears won all of the 500s he entered in.

Yeah, but any one of a dozen or so drivers could have won the 500 this year. Hell, even the Mayor of Hinchtown himself stood half a chance with some well-timed yellows, and he spent the entire month of May being absolutely thrashed by the other four cars in the Andretti stable.

[UncreativeUsername37]

Briscoe joins Ganassi

It is at this point that I predict a return to DTM.

[AxelP800]

So Simona may remain with KV?

[Salamander]

So Simona may remain with KV?

I've heard her in connection with the second Coyne car... but then again, Arie Luyendyk Jr is supposedly also in the running for that seat.

[nome66]

soooooo is the "different aero-setups for different teams" thing happening this season, or am i wasting my time asking?

[Jocke1]

Don't know ^

But I do know that I'm very curious about how JPM will do in the first couple of races. Rusty? Worthless? Brilliant?
Hope he does well in any case.

[nome66]

probably a bit rusty. i imagine in competition, he'll be more aggressive than someone who hadn't switched from open wheel racing to "have at it boys" fender-banging.

[Wallio]

In the "proof-God-exists" department, Danica has announced she's giving up on IndyCar. Too many glamour shoots I suppose. In a far less reported, but much more important, detail, Kurt Busch is "70% sure" he's doing the double this year. And with AA toboot!

[Aerospeed]

In the "proof-God-exists" department, Danica has announced she's giving up on IndyCar. Too many glamour shoots I suppose. In a far less reported, but much more important, detail, Kurt Busch is "70% sure" he's doing the double this year. And with AA toboot!

Only 70%? Still, it'll be interesting how he fares in the Indy 500

[go_Rubens]

In the "proof-God-exists" department, Danica has announced she's giving up on IndyCar. Too many glamour shoots I suppose. In a far less reported, but much more important, detail, Kurt Busch is "70% sure" he's doing the double this year. And with AA toboot!

Only 70%? Still, it'll be interesting how he fares in the Indy 500

I find Busch as a bit of an arse, but I don't care now. This is something I will watch.