Other Sports series Plans to Copy Indycar!

 

  After the stunning success of the first four rounds of the Izod Indycar season, other sports are starting to take notice.  Based of sources that have contacted TripleLeagueRacing, 3 points were emphasised.  1. Street Events 2. “Great Events” and 3. Lower on field/track action.  These three points were distilled from the bloggers, comments on blogs, forums, and statistics from the opening four rounds of the Indycar series. 

  Point 1, Street Courses: Since Street Course racing is so popular,the other major sports are considering how to incorporate them.  NFL is considering starting the LA franchise without any dedicated field, and running all street events.  Street events may take place on the streets, or in parking lots of existing facilities.  Abandoned factories are another popular idea.  The theory is, if Indycar races on streetcourses, even in cities that have existing road courses or ovals, why shouldn’t other sports do the same?  The immensely popular Champ Car World Series ran a few parking lot races, and with rumors of a race being planned in the Gillett stadium in Boston, instead of Loudon speedway, Stick and Ball series feel compelled to act before Indycar can upstage them yet again.  The theory of going outside dedicated sporting facilities has also created a desire for stick and ball sports to continue to think outside the box.  For instance, NBA is considering trying to rent Broadway for the All Star Game.  NFL wants to host the SuperBowl in Loudon, as Indycar started their season off in Brazil, and the ratings went up!  Plus, they’d probably get to play on a soccer field!!!  

Point 2, Great Event:  As the Indycar races have shown, all that really matters is a great event.  I mean, who cares if Barber or Long Beach were parades?  They had AMAZING ATMOSPHERE, GREAT ATTENDANCE, EVERYONE HAD A FANTASTIC TIME!!!!  So, for those of you watching on TV, SUCK IT UP!!!!!  That’s the message that other series are getting, and they’re planning to follow the advice.  Major Sports Stadiums around the country will be remodeled with the EVENT first and the actual game second.  Due to the popularity of the park like atmosphere at Barber, complete with sculptures, most stadiums will now be adding not just sculptures, but, in their constant desire to CATCH UP with Indycar, full fledged art galleries.   During the Street Events, the Stick and Ball teams will now be trying to incorporate a more circus like atmosphere.  Basicly, instead of just a TWO hour game, you’ll have a 48 HOUR PARTY!!!! EVERYONE WINS!!!!  

Point 3, Less On Track/Field Action:  If there’s one lesson learned from the first four Indycar events, it’s that people don’t want on track/field action.  Read the tweets/comments after the Barber race.  Many people prefer boring events, because more skill is involved.  Besides, it’s much more relaxing!  Stick and Ball, in their efforts to try and copy Indycar, will now be trying to make events have less on field action.  NBA, for instance, will institute a NO DUNKING rule.  NFL will ban passing the ball beyond 20 yards.  NHL will kill the playoffs and go to a sportswriter based format similar to the BCS.  All this in an effort to make the events, not games, more like Indycar. 

  In fact, in an effort to one up Indycar, the games will now be refered to as events.  Events are more then just the game, in fact the game doesn’t matter.  Stick and Ball will now market themselves not as exciting, top level sports, but as full weekend events.   It is hoped that this will save the stick and ball sports from it’s biggest threat, Indycar racing. 

By Dylan,

By the Way, this was Satire, in case you didn’t get that, don’t send hatemail/hatecomments

Life is a Rollercoaster

It isn’t easy supporting teams.

3rd December 2009 is a date I’ll remember for a long time as a Sauber fan. Peter Sauber had bought the team after the fiasco of the dodgy looking QADBAK, the future was bright, optimistic. What could possibly go wrong.

Even the new drivers were promising. The insanity and youth of Kamui Kobayashi and the calm head and experience of Pedro de la Rosa. It was such an odd mix it might even pull off.

Then testing came. Brilliant. Sauber looked quick in the sponsorless livery, high up the time sheets on a regular basis. A challenger for podiums and wins it was proclaimed by many, many people (including me), the one team to try and break the big 4.

Come then to April 24th 2010, the day I write this. Everything that could have gone wrong, just has. In the four races of the season so far, Sauber have had two engine failures, two hydraulics problems, been involved in two accidents, failed to start a race and a 12th place finish. 0 points. On level par with the new teams of Lotus, Virgin and Hispania. Even Hispania, who weren’t sure of racing two weeks before Bahrain, have finished more races than Sauber.

In short, it is embarrassing.

It is impossible to put down a reason why the team are having such an awful start to the season. The two incidents that Kamui Kobayashi were involved in were not of his own fault at all. A front wing detached in Melbourne after early contact, this resulted in a horrifying accident which could have been much worse. In China, Vitantonio Liuzzi spun into the path of Kobayashi and Sebastian Buemi. No fault of his own.

The rest of the time, the car has failed. Hydraulics problems in Bahrain, Ferrari engine failures in Malaysia (meaning Pedro de la Rosa could not even start the race) and in China as well. In the last two races, neither Sauber car has made it past 8 laps of the race. Kobayashi hasn’t made it past that in the last three.

In the only finish of the season, Pedro de la Rosa’s 12th in Melbourne, he was running steadily inside the points, before a mistake saw both Michael Schumacher and Jaime Alguersuari pass him.

Things can only get better, right?

James Key has now officially joined the team as Technical Director replacing the long serving Willy Rampf. The last throw of the dice has been made, Key needs to improve the car and fast. Pedro de la Rosa has said he’ll be a major asset, updates are coming, de la Rosa to score points in his home GP, Kamui Kobayashi to at least finish a race, I feel optimistic again.

But the writer of GP+ Joe Saward has come up with rumours based around Sauber. In short, he is saying de la Rosa could be replaced by either Luca Filippi or Pastor Maldonado. Filippi has finished 5th overall in GP2 and 2nd overall in the Asian series, while Maldonado has finished 5th and 6th overall in the past two years in GP2. Neither driver has a record that stands out, a few race wins here and there. But then again, Kobayashi wasn’t anything too impressive either.

It would be highly unfair on de la Rosa should he be replaced. Having only spent four races in, what is truthfully, an awful car, why should he be sacked? Same with Kobayashi. The car has made Q3, its not as slow as people make out. The only issue is reliability, and unless that is sorted out soon, the results are going to be the same. And you can not sack a driver because the car breaks down under him.

Perhaps too much pressure was put on them at the start of the season. Maybe people were right when they said the pace was for the sponsors? Obviously it hasn’t worked. Change was needed and has happened, the Key to success is now locked into place. Its just hoping there is gold behind the door.

 

RG.

Milka Duno has fans, and that scares me

 

  Milka Duno has rabid fans.  Don’t know how she got them, as well, she’s clearly the worst driver in the league, but, it happens. As Oilpressure.com and PopOffValve found out, in there Milka articles.  Linked here and here.  Read the comments, if you take it as comedy, it’ll make your day. 

  The Indycar series needs to take Milka’s liscnce away.  She is outpaced by Indylights and even some Star Mazda drivers.  She’s in an Indycar, and is off pace by almost 5 second from the slowest other driver, Bagutte.  That tells you something.  This is inexcusable for a top level racing series, for a driver to be that off pace.  And unlike F1, it’s all driver.  Alex Lloyd isn’t doing great, but, he’s not 5 seconds off the second slowest car, either. It’s an embarrassment to the series.

  Besides, it’s unsafe.  To have a driver who’s that ridiculously off pace, on tracks that are hard to pace anyways, sets up the possibility for needless wrecks and injuries.  And before the Duno freaks start complaining about Moreas or Andretti or whoever, they are RACING, and wrecks do happen.  But Duno, she’s not racing, she’s getting in the way.

    Nicole Briscoe started a Park Milka hastag on twitter, and it started a firestorm.  Many whined that it “violated journalistic integrity”.  Of course, one of the biggest complaints is how boring the TV broadcasts are because everyone is so PC.  And, Nicole Briscoe doesn’t cover Indycar, either.  Besides, Park Milka is just stating the obvious!

  How she has fans, I’m not sure.  I really can’t understand who’d want to be fans of an international ride buyer who wouldn’t be able to win a Lights race in an Indycar.  That’s pretty bad.  She needs to drop down to like the GT Grand Am or GTC ALMS class, which is more of her speed and skill.  She’d still probably suck, though.

VS. Ratings Up Again

 

 

  Great news!  TV ratings have risen to .5 for the Grand Prix of Long Beach.  This is the highest rated of the VS. Indycar races so far in the year+ of the relationship.  Good news, almost about to catch the Truck series.  Bad news, still a ways behind PRB and NASCAR Nationwide, which hover around 1.3ish.  When/if we reach that mark, then you’ll see a major celebration from me.  But .5 is a start, at least.  If this trend can continue throughout the year, then we’ll be onto something.

Link To Eddie Gossage Interview:

Eddie Gossage is the track promoter for Texas Motor Speedway, one of the best attended Indycar races, as well as two very large NASCAR races. Gossage is also on the ICONIC Panel for Indycar, and is the closest thing to a fan voice in the group. Although I don’t love all of his promotions, I can’t deny, he tries to make things good for the FANS, and he’s one of the few who do. Here’s the link: http://sports.yahoo.com/nascar/news;_ylt=AoB5zW9Gk7H7CZB2x505u0jov7YF?slug=jh-questions041610

How Do You Solve a Problem Like Korea?

On October 24th 2010, in theory, Formula 1 will be heading off for the first time to South Korea. Another new circuit built by the one and only Hermann Tilke.

And, as usual, the Korean International Circuit has plenty of the distinctive features of a Tilke track. There is a massive straight between turn 2 and 3, followed by a tight, almost 90 degree, corner. Overtaking seems to be limited and pretty much in the middle of nowhere.

Yeongam, in the south west region of South Korea and the official website makes it look like a gorgeous, rural part of the country. The grass is green, the villages are historic, everything is just nice. It looks fantastic just to spend a nice weekend away in the middle of October.

I feel like I’m selling this place well, it looks fantastic. However, the nearest big city is Gwangju and Busan, both a hefty travelling distance away. The race looks like a mix of Magny-Cours and Abu Dhabi.

Then, a bit of news comes along speculating the track will not be ready in time. They were quickly denied by the race organisers.

Similar to Donington and USF1 then.

But different to Donington and USF1 is that they almost certainly will be there in 2011. While the track is scheduled to be completed by June or July (a similar time to when the track will be inspected to see if it is ready to host a race). Deals have been signed and I’m sure Bernie Ecclestone will want a race their. Would he feel the same if a track like Silverstone wasn’t ready in time? I doubt it.

However, it is 2010 that it should be focused on. Will it or won’t it be ready? Part of me wants it to be called off. I think we have done enough with the Tilke circuits. There is bound to be no action at all, similar to Bahrain. There is a very small chance of rain, with October being amongst the lowest in terms of precipitation in Korea (just 50mm of the stuff).

But, even if it will be boring, awful, rubbish, whatever you want to describe it, I still want the race to go ahead. The race before it is the Japanese Grand Prix on October 12th, the race after Korea is Brazil, on November 7th. That is three weekends without a race, a whole month separating the two if Korea doesn’t go ahead. For a series such as Formula 1, that is just too big an in season gap especially so close to the end of the season.

The solution to all this, is to follow MotoGP’s lead. When the new Hungarian circuit of Balatonring was unable to be completed in time, they used a reserve circuit of Aragon (also designed by Hermann Tilke). F1 should also have a reserve circuit, especially if there is a race on the calendar which still hasn’t been inspected to see if it can even hold a F1 race. Oh, what would you know, there is.

The obvious venue is going to be in Europe, this is where all of the teams are based so it isn’t too much hassle if it was quickly arranged. An obvious place is the new Portimao circuit in Portugal. It is a very good track, not designed by Tilke, and has even been used for a Formula 1 test.

Nurburgring might work too, since it is its off year in the rotation with Hockenheim. And it can change around every year too.

Ideally, I want their too be a race in South Korea this year. I don’t want to have to wait a month inbetween races, even if it is for a dull one. And if it doesn’t make it? Get a reserve track. Its easy to do and there will be lots of circuits wanting to be it.

MotoGP Chronicles: Season Opener& WSBK @ Valencia

 

  MotoGP was amazing!!!  I turned off the Barber parade and went over to Speed for that hour, and was blown away by the contrast.  The start was wild, with Pedrosa, Rossi, and Hayden getting the jump on Stoner, who didn’t start well.  Rossi quickly took the lead.  But, then Stoner pushed forward and captured the top spot.  Stoner started to pull away, but wrecked!  Rossi took the lead, and won, but it was anything but secure, as Dovizioso challenged him multiple times. 

  In the end, though, Rossi’s teammate Lorenzo pushed up and got all the way to second, while Hayden and Dovisioso battled for 3rd, with Dovisioso and Hayden wheel to wheel at the finished, Hayden sadly being beaten by a hair. 

  What did we learn?  Don’t count Hayden out, although he’s not quite as fast as Stoner.  Pedrossa though, that wasn’t good, he started great, but slid to 7th, and got completely outshined by his teammate.  He may be in trouble if this trend doesn’t change, as he could lose “Alien” status, not what you want to do in a contract year. 

  Spies is good, and he got up to 5th, ahead of Pedrossa, and at the end of the “lead group”, which, for a rookie on 2nd tier stuff is pretty good. 

  What I loved was it was passing on track, and not fuel and pits as in NASCAR or Indycar that weekend.  Plus, the riders seemed to CARE where they finished, and weren’t content to ride around, as Hayden and Dovisioso’s battle for third showed.

  As for World SuperBike, both races were again good.  Haslam won by a decent amount, but between 2 and 5 got quite tight, and was exciting. 

  Race Two was decided by aggregate times, because of a red flag for a hard wreck by some of the backmarkers.  Because of this, the fastest total lap times, and not the first finisher determined position.  That said, Haga did both.  A little strange, and I’m not really in love with that, but, it was interesting, and it did make everyone push hard to get good laptimes, which, well after Phoniex and Barber was refreshing.

  I enjoyed WSBK and MotoGP a lot.  Really, as I said earlier in another post, these races showed what Indycar should be on the road courses, instead of a fuel mileage parade like Barber.  I’d call that the Tale of Two(4) Races, Barber, and then the WSBK and MotoGP.  I was excited by Hayden’s near podium, and the battle at the end added spice to a race where Rossi had, at the end, started to walk away.  Rossi is going to be hard to beat, but Stoner was faster then him, so it’s undecided who’s going to do better.   Two weeks in Motegi, the road course, at 2AM.  I’ll make time to watch this race live!

Breaking News: Kasey Kahne to Hendrick in 2011, No Idea Where, Though!

Kahne's upgrading teams

  What many people had predicted, Kasey Kahne leaving RPM, has come to pass.  Where is he heading?  All of the current information says to the Hendrick Camp.  

  This isn’t that shocking. Kasey Kahne has 11 wins in his career, all with the Evernham Team, which has been in a state of constant mergers in the last few years.  Since 2006, his breakout year, he’s been the only driver in that group to win, and really the only one to contend for titles and wins.  But, poor equipment and a messed up team have led him to struggle for consistency.  Last year, the team won two races and qualified for the Chase, but they struggled with equipment issues and never contended for the title. 

  Kahne may be one of the top NASCAR drivers, after all 11 wins with RPM, Yates, and whoever they’ve merged with recently, is pretty impressive.  Joining the Hendrick team has to scare non Hendrick fans.  Personally, I had hoped Roush would pick him up, because he’d be a great replacement for Ragan, but apparently they didn’t, and the Yankee’s just got stronger.  Every driver affiliated with Hendrick has 11 or more wins in their career, and they are the only group that can boast that besides RCR, yet Hendrick does it now with 7 drivers. 

  But where will he go in the Henderick Team?  From the early reports, a third team at Stewart Haas Racing is most likely.  In the current economy, finding owners points isn’t too hard, they could probably hand Front Row a check and get some points, and besides, with the economy how it is, and so few decent new teams arriving, Kahne could just earn his way in.  And, running Kahne would help build the Stewart Haas thrid team, even if it were temporary, as it is believed that Hendrick wants Kahne with the A Team, since Gordon and Martin are nearing the end.  The outside idea, mentioned by some, is Junior Motorsports, who is also affiliated with Hendrick through the Cup program.  This seems a little unlikely because JRM is an inexperienced team, and I’m not sure Kahne would want to go to them. 

  It’s believed that he will slot into the 5 car eventually, when Martins gone.  The only possibility of it happening next year is something crazy happening to the current Hendrick team, where someone leaves, and that’s unlikely.  Johnson is under a long term contract, Gordon has a lifetime contract, Junior has sponsorship and a contract, Martin has a contract, not to mention all 4 drivers are winners with good relationships with the team.  But it’s possible something crazy (Mark retiring, or switching teams, Gordon’s retirement, Junior to RCR or bringing JRM up, ect.) might happen, although unlikely, this is racing and crazy stuff happens.

Poor team, great driver/crew chief

 The details remain to be announced, although smart money is on a third Haas car, after all, Kahne is a very marketable driver.  And the other question is how much of the 9 team moves with him, his crew chief is highly regarded for winning on RPM, and if they move and get into the Hendrick enviroment, they’ll be devastating, Hendrick or Haas.  And how will this affect Kevin Harvick?  We will have to see this play out.  But Kasey Kahne fans everywhere can rejoice, he will have good equipment next year.

A Parade By Any Other Name… Barber Indycar Race

  

  If you want positive coverage, turn away now.  This is not a positive, happy, PR type post.  So that said, here’s what I thought about Barber. 

  PARADE!  There was very, very little on track action.  Yes, a few passes were made, and actually, some of them got televised.  That’s because Vs. isn’t the all Danica network.  But actual passing?  Yeah, right.  Lets see, Castroneves couldn’t overtake Andretti, and Andretti couldn’t overtake the cars he was trying to lap.  Oh, and Power had a terrible time working his way up, and couldn’t get past 5th, despite being the fastest all weekend.  So yeah, lots of passing.

  I could care less how beautiful the track is.  I really don’t give a F*ck.  It doesn’t matter how pretty a track it is if the racing, which is, you know, the point of the track, SUCKS!!!!  And it did.  When cars can’t pass lappers, you know there’s an issue.  Race control had to tell Matos to back off and let Dixon by, even though Dixon was significantly faster. 

  The race was won by pit strategy.  Marco led due to this, until he had to pit.  Castroneves, who didn’t have to pit, won.  Pretty much less exciting than it sounds.  Talent didn’t figure into this event at all, except that Danica and Milka were so terrible no amount of strategy could save them. 

  My viewing wasn’t helped one bit by watching the MotoGP from 4-5.  In that event, there was actual on track passing, and riders who were pushing to get the best finishing position they could.  Unlike Indycar, where it was fuel and hope, with 99% of people content to sit wherever they were on track.  Yeah, Rossi won by a decent margin, but he won by TALENT, Castroneves won by fuel savings and the Penske engineers.

  Attendance was supposedly 55K.  Supposedly, because promoter’s attendance numbers have to be taken with a grain (or pound) of salt.  Look at the promoter numbers for Fontana’s NASCAR race.  A huge difference between reality and promoter’s.  But attendance was good compared to ISC tracks, that’t true.  But in the end, attendance really isn’t that important.  Most sponsors are selling for TV ratings, not track attendance.  And 55K still isn’t that good.

  Personally, there was ZERO redeeming value to that race.  Great attendance, who cares?  Barber gets decent attendance at Grand Am, but it’s still a boring parade.  A beautiful track, decent attendance, and a bunch of pr BS doesn’t make it a great event.  It is my deepest wish that this track never sees another Indycar again.  Sadly, it will probably become a tradition on the schedule, as Indycar seems to have a magnetic attraction to poor events (Motegi, Mid Ohio, Infenion).

Beware of Hyperbole, Ben Spies Fans…

 

  Ben Spies is a great Motorcycle racer.  He’s an AMA champion, World Superbike Champion, and was 6th in practice for this weeks MotoGP race.  He’s great, and will probably leave a great mark on MotoGP.

  BUT, some of his fans are trying to hint that he could be champion in his rookie year, and that is crazy.  Actually, if he were a factory rider it wouldn’t be that crazy, but he’s not.  He’s on the second tier team, Tech 3.  Since 2007, no non factory team has won a race.  So for a rookie on a non factory team to win a title, against Valentino Rossi, Casey Stoner, Jorge Lorenzo and Danny Pedrosa is, unlikely.  I think he could be top 5 in points, could even win a race, but to actually get a title is incredibly unlikely.

  The only way it happens is if the Rossi, Stoner, Lorenzo, Padrosa contract negotiations blow up, and/or there are injuries, and Hayden and the other factory riders don’t run well.  If this were to happen, Spies may win the title this year.  Otherwise…

  But, don’t despair.  As long as he runs well, a factory ride is likely next year.  Remember Rossi and Lorenzo don’t like each other, and one is almost certain to leave.  And they probably can’t afford Stoner and Rossi, so there’s hope for him being the 2011 champion. 

Title contender, not likely, race winner, possibly

 

The fact is, a rookie in a second tier team is not the formula to be champion, in any series.  Spies looks like he’ll have a good year, and I would love to see him win the title, but in reality some of the hyperbole seems to be upsetting some of the fans of the other riders, and makes some of those saying it sound dumb.  That said, he’ll hopefully have a great year, and back up his support.