2014 Open Wheel Racing - if it's white smoke, it's not a good sign & that's no bull!!

[alfablue]

Re: 2014 Open Wheel Racing - if it's white smoke, it's not a good sign & that's no bu

Re: 2014 Open Wheel Racing - if it's white smoke, it's not a good sign & that's no bu

Good day for open wheel racing. Solid win for Rosberg- Hamilton just could not get him to make a mistake. Next time, Lewis. But whatever got into your eye sure made for an interesting finish.

And a darned good and clean 500. So long before the first yellow- and most of them were single car things. Just that thing between Carpenter, Hinch, and Bell. Some really close and very clean passing. Great stuff.

Ryan- congratulations! Great win- it very much looked most of the time I watched that it would be him or Helio- Marco had some time that he looked good, but not like those two guys. And even without the crash, I don't think Carpenter had a car to match the two of them.

The red was a good call- between the mess and the welding of the safer barrier, that was ok. Great to see that the drivers kept it clean from there out.

Oh, and TV guys- Kurt Bush can flat out drive. He's shown that for his entire carreer- don't be so shocked about that. I don't like him or NASCAR, but I do know without a doubt he's a heck of a driver. Just not great on the starts today- so he always had some distance to make up.

 

[solovsfett]

Re: 2014 Open Wheel Racing - if it's white smoke, it's not a good sign & that's no bu

Re: 2014 Open Wheel Racing - if it's white smoke, it's not a good sign & that's no bu

Great race in Monaco (though I would have loved to have seen Hamilton take it to Rosberg more)...

the INDY 500 was the polar opposite of the Indy road race. VERY PROFESSIONAL. The only bone-head move all day I think was Townsend Bell who I think caused the accident w/Carpenter.

Ryan Hunter-Reay is a deserving champion and I think this is something like his 13th or 14th win overall.

Juan Montoya was very impressive all day long as was Kurt Busch. I'm telling ya, Kurt Busch could win INDY if he chooses to come back, right off the start when he fell back to about 18th then 20th then sort of maintained that position I felt like he was just biding his time just learning how to race in traffic at those speeds at INDY and when he showed up in the top 10 then to finish 6th was a hell of an impressive performance. I really hope he comes back and brings Kyle Larson, Casey Kahne and Kyle Busch with him.

Also...bring even more intrigue, get Mark Webber in the race and get Rubens back.

 

[MattS]

Re: 2014 Open Wheel Racing - if it's white smoke, it's not a good sign & that's no bu

Re: 2014 Open Wheel Racing - if it's white smoke, it's not a good sign & that's no bu

Monaco was a good race. The Mercedes cars sure are fast. Realistically the battles for the rest of the season are going to be:
1. Can any other team win a race? My guess is RB will get one.
2. Who get the WDC between Hamilton and Rosberg. I'm guessing Hamilton.
3. Can RB hold it together enough or Ferrari can make enough improvements for 3rd place in the WDC and 2nd in the WMC. My money is on RB and Vettel (ugh).

It was excellent to see Marussia get it's first points. Congrats to them.

 

[alfablue]

Re: 2014 Open Wheel Racing - if it's white smoke, it's not a good sign & that's no bu

Re: 2014 Open Wheel Racing - if it's white smoke, it's not a good sign & that's no bu

In other back marker news- Catheram is pretty much out- http://en.espnf1.com/f1/motorsport/story/160285.html

Kinda too bad that that the team spent so much time and energy with that whole Lotus/Caterham thing. One does question if Haas will buy them, but he's been pretty clear that he wants to make his own car/team. And based on the results of Caterham, I don't question that- I wonder how much it would take to make them into what Gene wants. I'm sure he's done the math...

If they go- that would leave Marussia as the only team of the 4 to survive. One didn't make the grid, HRT is gone, Lotus/Caterham is going... But on the other hand Marussia DID SCORE POINTS this weekend!!! That's pretty huge.

I know teams came and went a lot in the 70's- but it's so much more expensive now. Too bad.

 

[Timothy A]

Re: 2014 Open Wheel Racing - if it's white smoke, it's not a good sign & that's no bu

Re: 2014 Open Wheel Racing - if it's white smoke, it's not a good sign & that's no bu

Monaco would have been more interesting had Kimi not got the puncture...could he have fended off Ricardo for 3rd? He is so snakebit right now. Vettel is getting his luck payback all at once for 4 years of good luck.

Indy....very good race. I think Carpenter had a car to fight with RHR. Too bad the guy on the bottom of the 3 wide just didn't back off. Helio's car just wasn't quite as good as RHR. He seemed to have to work for every gain he made, whereas RHR could do just about anything he wanted. Kudos to Busch. Kick in the pants to Power and JPM for speeding stupidly like they did. They got lucky with a yellow helping them get back into it, but in the end they had nothing for the likes of the top 4. Penske needs to re-evaluate his driver line-up. The most shocking things were Rahal sucking so bad and Dixon wiping out on his own.

 

[MattS]

Re: 2014 Open Wheel Racing - if it's white smoke, it's not a good sign & that's no bu

Re: 2014 Open Wheel Racing - if it's white smoke, it's not a good sign & that's no bu

Penske needs to re-evaluate his driver line-up.

Why you think this?

His drivers finished 2, 5, and 8 in the 500. They're sitting 2, 3, & 7 in the points. Power has just missed out on the championship how many times now? Three I think? It's not like they are sucking. While Helio will probably never win a championship, he is still highly competitive in the 500 and by Penske's own admission that is really what he cares about. I see no reason why Power won't keep challenging for championships for the near future and he's improving on ovals. JPM is a very good driver who is still learning the new DW12. Plus and probably most importantly they all have sponsorships. They only two drivers I could possibly see Penske being interested in is Newgarden and probably more likely Pagenaud.

 

[manurespreader]

Re: 2014 Open Wheel Racing - if it's white smoke, it's not a good sign & that's no bu

Re: 2014 Open Wheel Racing - if it's white smoke, it's not a good sign & that's no bu

I thought Kimi brought that puncture on himself, but maybe not. I see Alonso is complaining about the tires and I don't blame him, he had a lot of problems, especially under braking.

The indy guys are here in Detroit this week coming up and if you haven't been to belle isle, now that the state runs it, it's pretty nice.

 

[SteveP]

Re: 2014 Open Wheel Racing - if it's white smoke, it's not a good sign & that's no bu

Re: 2014 Open Wheel Racing - if it's white smoke, it's not a good sign & that's no bu

F1 Documentary on NBCSN right now. The heck with Hawks - Kings.

Great line by Sir Jackie about racing in the 60's - "That's when the cars were dangerous and the sex was safe."

Watched the 90 minutes I recorded. Very interesting, but very disappointing that Cevert got about a half-hour and Villeneuve only got about 30 seconds and a graphic.

 

[Timothy A]

Re: 2014 Open Wheel Racing - if it's white smoke, it's not a good sign & that's no bu

Re: 2014 Open Wheel Racing - if it's white smoke, it's not a good sign & that's no bu

Why you think this?

His drivers finished 2, 5, and 8 in the 500. They're sitting 2, 3, & 7 in the points. Power has just missed out on the championship how many times now? Three I think? It's not like they are sucking. While Helio will probably never win a championship, he is still highly competitive in the 500 and by Penske's own admission that is really what he cares about. I see no reason why Power won't keep challenging for championships for the near future and he's improving on ovals. JPM is a very good driver who is still learning the new DW12. Plus and probably most importantly they all have sponsorships. They only two drivers I could possibly see Penske being interested in is Newgarden and probably more likely Pagenaud.

Power keeps making unforced errors. At IA a few years ago all he had to do was keep RHR in his sights to win the championship and he plants the car in the wall early in the race. That's the most memorable mistake, but every year he has 2-3 instances where he screws up and it costs him the championship. Helio is a great guy, but as you said, he'll never win a championship. I think the jury is still out on JPM, but his age is not his friend.

 

[Jimjamesak]

Watched the 90 minutes I recorded. Very interesting, but very disappointing that Cevert got about a half-hour and Villeneuve only got about 30 seconds and a graphic.

I hate this about F1 docs lately. Just a complete gloss over of the turbo era and the 80's in general.

 

[solovsfett]

Re: 2014 Open Wheel Racing - if it's white smoke, it's not a good sign & that's no bu

Re: 2014 Open Wheel Racing - if it's white smoke, it's not a good sign & that's no bu

Will Power has to be the biggest ******* in the INDYCAR paddock. Why not just take everyone else out of the race to guarantee your success d-bag? First Pagenaud and now Newgarden...This guy (WP) really needs a ride in Nascar.

I'd like to see Penske pay for the repairs on Newgarden's car to be honest. Power had no business moving him off line because he stupidly decided to bonzai that corner. grrrrrrrrrrrrr!

 

[Timothy A]

Re: 2014 Open Wheel Racing - if it's white smoke, it's not a good sign & that's no bu

Re: 2014 Open Wheel Racing - if it's white smoke, it's not a good sign & that's no bu

One heck of an F1 race this last weekend, though a big thanks for Mercedes for having issues which caused the excitement at the end. Good for Ricardo, bummer for Massa. How far has Ferrari fallen........

I missed the Indycar race, but there was my buddy Power throwing away a win with a speeding penalty again. Good for Carpenter.

 

[Russell Jaslow]

Re: 2014 Open Wheel Racing - if it's white smoke, it's not a good sign & that's no bu

Re: 2014 Open Wheel Racing - if it's white smoke, it's not a good sign & that's no bu

One heck of an F1 race this last weekend, though a big thanks for Mercedes for having issues which caused the excitement at the end. Good for Ricardo, bummer for Massa. How far has Ferrari fallen........

Even if Mercedes didn't have issues, there was still a lot of interesting stuff going on, not to mention we probably would have seen another Hamilton-Rosberg fight for the win.

Nonetheless, I'm glad for two reasons -- we'll stop hearing the incessant comments about Mercedes having a perfect season (I never cared whether they did or not, but I was getting tired of all the writers and commentators constantly talking about it) and it was great to see Ricciardo win.

It's also great that Montreal signed a 10-year contract with Bernie.

As for Ferrari, they are officially "just another team" now...

 

[Timothy A]

Re: 2014 Open Wheel Racing - if it's white smoke, it's not a good sign & that's no bu

Re: 2014 Open Wheel Racing - if it's white smoke, it's not a good sign & that's no bu

Nonetheless, I'm glad for two reasons -- we'll stop hearing the incessant comments about Mercedes having a perfect season (I never cared whether they did or not, but I was getting tired of all the writers and commentators constantly talking about it)

I agree. The stupid media pushing stuff like the is a waste of our time, especially so early in the season. Hype if with 2 or 3 to go.

 

[alfablue]

Re: 2014 Open Wheel Racing - if it's white smoke, it's not a good sign & that's no bu

Re: 2014 Open Wheel Racing - if it's white smoke, it's not a good sign & that's no bu

I agree. The stupid media pushing stuff like the is a waste of our time, especially so early in the season. Hype if with 2 or 3 to go.

it will be even better if this new competition takes the "pressure" off of a Hamilton-Rosberg feud. That was all that was interesting when Mercedes was 1 second faster than the field.

 

[joecct]

Re: 2014 Open Wheel Racing - if it's white smoke, it's not a good sign & that's no bu

Re: 2014 Open Wheel Racing - if it's white smoke, it's not a good sign & that's no bu

One heck of an F1 race this last weekend, though a big thanks for Mercedes for having issues which caused the excitement at the end. Good for Ricardo, bummer for Massa. How far has Ferrari fallen........

FYI - Perez got penalized 5 grid places for not taking the racing line in the Massa crash.

 

[joecct]

Re: 2014 Open Wheel Racing - if it's white smoke, it's not a good sign & that's no bu

Re: 2014 Open Wheel Racing - if it's white smoke, it's not a good sign & that's no bu

@Sportsnet: Manager says Michael Schumacher has been released from hospital. http://ow.ly/y4XrM

 

[Russell Jaslow]

Re: 2014 Open Wheel Racing - if it's white smoke, it's not a good sign & that's no bu

Re: 2014 Open Wheel Racing - if it's white smoke, it's not a good sign & that's no bu

@Sportsnet: Manager says Michael Schumacher has been released from hospital. http://ow.ly/y4XrM

Color me cynical, but I find it very interesting that after a bunch of prominent doctors said it's very discouraging that no news has been released by the family for so long, suddenly news is released by the family.

Read between the lines in this latest news. He left the hospital in purely a technical sense. He's no longer in a coma in purely a technical sense.

It's still a very sad and depressing situation and prognosis.

 

[joecct]

Re: 2014 Open Wheel Racing - if it's white smoke, it's not a good sign & that's no bu

Re: 2014 Open Wheel Racing - if it's white smoke, it's not a good sign & that's no bu

Color me cynical, but I find it very interesting that after a bunch of prominent doctors said it's very discouraging that no news has been released by the family for so long, suddenly news is released by the family.

Read between the lines in this latest news. He left the hospital in purely a technical sense. He's no longer in a coma in purely a technical sense.

It's still a very sad and depressing situation and prognosis.

He's awake and probably not much more than that. I don't think we'll see him in a presser any time soon.

 

[solovsfett]

Re: 2014 Open Wheel Racing - if it's white smoke, it's not a good sign & that's no bu

Re: 2014 Open Wheel Racing - if it's white smoke, it's not a good sign & that's no bu

...Given the amount of time w/no news prior to this I really think we won't ever hear from Schumi again. As was stated eloquently below, he may have left the hospital but that's a perfunctory statement at best.

What a terribly sad way for this to end (meaning Schumi ending up with permanent mental and physical disabilities and likely to not be seen in public again)