September 4, 20187 yr LOL. Now Bobby is talking about mods specifically for IndyCar. Shouldn't they concentrate on fixing the track they have before making any new additions to it? COTA evaluating track modifications for IndyCar https://racer.com/2018/09/04/cota-evaluating-track-modifications-for-indycar/ Edited September 4, 20187 yr by wood
September 4, 20187 yr Step 1, fix the track. Step 2, NO... really, fix the track. But I do like the thought of infield camping. I'd be up for that.
September 5, 20187 yr Epstein: IndyCar will run the full circuit at COTA, but with one small, undisclosed modification under consideration. Search for 'headline' music act also underway. 'Trackside' Podcast: https://omny.fm/shows/trackside/indycar-announced-2019-schedule-we-preview-the-bc3 Edited September 5, 20187 yr by wood
September 5, 20187 yr On 9/4/2018 at 2:00 PM, utee94 said: Step 1, fix the track. Step 2, NO... really, fix the track. I don't feel it's that bad unless you are on a Moto GP. There is definitely an unsettling bump at the apex of 18 but besides that, I have never noticed much.
September 5, 20187 yr 4 minutes ago, Atxracer said: I don't feel it's that bad unless you are on a Moto GP. There is definitely an unsettling bump at the apex of 18 but besides that, I have never noticed much. I drove around it earlier this year and the bumps were throwing me all over the place in several places all around the track and at speeds way slower than MotoGP goes. Hell, bumps there were causing problems for F1 cars 2 or 3 years ago.
September 5, 20187 yr I thought they fixed the areas F1 complained about but could be wrong. Raced there in February/March and seemed pretty good. But, then again, literally half of us broke a transmission (which can be related to hitting bumps while loaded or shifting gears) that weekend so could have just been pre-occupied and not noticed. Will be there this weekend in a street car and see how that feels.
September 5, 20187 yr 2 minutes ago, Atxracer said: I thought they fixed the areas F1 complained about but could be wrong. Raced there in February/March and seemed pretty good. But, then again, literally half of us broke a transmission (which can be related to hitting bumps while loaded or shifting gears) that weekend so could have just been pre-occupied and not noticed. Will be there this weekend in a street car and see how that feels. They did some superficial bump grinding in several areas, but it didn't seem to do much good. F1 mostly complained about the big bump in the T11 braking zone, where iirc Williams & maybe someone else had some electrical and mechanical issues a couple years in a row. Some of the MotoGP guys said it was much worse than last year even after the grinding. Some even said they think the grinding made it worse (which it probably will in the long run). Edited September 5, 20187 yr by wood
September 5, 20187 yr assuming the track isn't modified: 1:45? Edited September 5, 20187 yr by elfenix
September 5, 20187 yr I would be blown away if they don't modify the track or run a different configuration. But, apples to apples, 1:45 sounds about right...which, is why they will modify the track, lol. Edited September 5, 20187 yr by Atxracer
September 6, 20187 yr Re: the COTA IndyCar layout, I was thinking about the 'small modification' Epstein's talking about. He says they're gonna run the whole circuit, too. That has me thinking he's talking about ... wait for it ... a chicane. Maybe along the back stretch. Hope I'm wrong. If I'm right, sorry to be the bearer of bad news.
September 6, 20187 yr 3 hours ago, wood said: Re: the COTA IndyCar layout, I was thinking about the 'small modification' Epstein's talking about. He says they're gonna run the whole circuit, too. That has me thinking he's talking about ... wait for it ... a chicane. Maybe along the back stretch. Hope I'm wrong. If I'm right, sorry to be the bearer of bad news. I thought about that but I don't know how it would fit without bringing it down to 1 or 1 1/2 lanes which would seem to create a bottleneck. My bet is on different configuration.
September 6, 20187 yr 3 minutes ago, Atxracer said: I thought about that but I don't know how it would fit without bringing it down to 1 or 1 1/2 lanes which would seem to create a bottleneck. My bet is on different configuration. They'd have to remove some fencing just about anywhere they'd want to change anything up. What got me thinking chicane is 1) it's Epstein, so he isn't gonna do anything even moderately expensive unless it's with other people's money, 2) Epstein described it as a small change, and 3) Epstein said they'd likely use the whole circuit. The most likely mods people are bringing up seem to involve shortcutting from somewhere along the east side to the back straight. That's not gonna be easy or cheap ... or a small mod.
September 7, 20187 yr 51 minutes ago, elfenix said: Is the 'small modification' a pit wall? They've done it before, temporarily. It's easy.
September 7, 20187 yr On 9/5/2018 at 3:03 PM, elfenix said: assuming the track isn't modified: 1:45? A guy on Autosport said just now that IndyCars should be about 9% quicker than LMP2 and so IndyCar times should be around 1:44. Dunno where he gets the 9%, but if he's right, then your estimate was pretty nice. Edited September 7, 20187 yr by wood
September 10, 20187 yr Looks like Bobby wants to switch back to the previous order... COTA hopes Mexico GP date swap a one-off https://usat.ly/2x1DJb
September 10, 20187 yr I don't like that November date much, either. Weather starts getting iffy at that point. Late October is perfect.
September 27, 20187 yr Possible free tickets here ... https://t.co/qgxAUoHb3h . And also for F1 ... https://t.co/WdAOHkxr30
October 1, 20187 yr Didn't make Rallycross, I'd like to one day if it comes back. Schedule out for USGP, the two support races are F3 Americas Series, and FIA Formula 4. http://www.circuitoftheamericas.com/f1/schedule
October 1, 20187 yr 3 hours ago, utee94 said: Didn't make Rallycross, I'd like to one day if it comes back. Schedule out for USGP, the two support races are F3 Americas Series, and FIA Formula 4. http://www.circuitoftheamericas.com/f1/schedule so much dead time. even relatively packed weekends like silverstone have a lot of dead time. will be interesting to see how many support races indycar brings along with them. iirc at mid ohio last year there were 2 sports car races and then all 3 rungs of the road to indy on sunday alone.
October 1, 20187 yr 2 support races has pretty much been the standard, aside from the first couple of years. I'd definitely like to see more.
October 2, 20187 yr 9 hours ago, utee94 said: Didn't make Rallycross, I'd like to one day if it comes back. I posted a couple galleries of pics on our Facebook page ... They're saying there were 18500 people there, which is patently absurd lol. Saturday: https://www.facebook.com/157330087614878/photos/?tab=album&album_id=2236884462992753 Sunday: https://www.facebook.com/157330087614878/photos/?tab=album&album_id=2238798336134699
October 26, 20187 yr The spin on Adler's phrase from the MLS notice is the douchiest part of the whole thing.
October 29, 20187 yr Shot a few pics of Alexander Rossi & Tony Kanaan pounding out the laps in today's Austin IndyCar test. Sorry, didn't have my big lens with me at the time! https://imgur.com/a/CnVqinE imgur> imgur> imgur> imgur> imgur> imgur> imgur> imgur>
October 30, 20187 yr Very cool. Here's some video: Quote Also, apparently Indycar isn't releasing the lap times... I wonder why!
October 30, 20187 yr 2 hours ago, utee94 said: Very cool. Here's some video: Also, apparently Indycar isn't releasing the lap times... I wonder why! The Racer.com article says Rossi ran an unoffical 1:47.8, without option tires or any boost, and very little setup work. They think they can get at least a couple more seconds. Idk if they're worried about the lap time disparity, but they really shouldn't be that worried imho. I don't think it's bad for the brand. No reasonable fan expects IndyCar to be very close to F1 times given the vast difference in team budgets. In fact, to me it looks like IndyCar is getting a much bigger bang for the buck than F1. F1 is in the low 1:32s in Q spec. BTW, you shoulda seen how loose he was getting coming off the bump at the T10 apex. It was scary. Edited October 30, 20187 yr by wood
October 30, 20187 yr Only F1 snobs are going to disparage the lap times. And F1 snobs in the USA aren't really the target demo of an Indycar GP at COTA, so I'm not too worried there. Regardless of lap times, I expect more passing and more lead changes, and some fun racing at COTA. Will it be enough to get me back into Indycar the way I was in the 80s and early 90s, before the stupid split? I guess we'll see. I kinda wish this race were a little later in the season, so I'd have more time to watch and bone up on the drivers/teams in Indycar. Looks like there's only one race in St. Petersburg before they get to Austin.
October 30, 20187 yr So cool. Man that was S L O W around T11, but the triple apex looked like a lot of fun, and of course the esses.
October 30, 20187 yr Pictures: IndyCar begin first test at Circuit of the Americas https://www.racefans.net/2018/10/30/pictures-indycar-begin-first-test-at-circuit-of-the-americas/
October 30, 20187 yr So based on the timing on that video, the second lap (the almost full one) was just about 2:00. Not that anyone's concerned about lap times for Indycar at COTA, of course...
October 30, 20187 yr 1 hour ago, utee94 said: So based on the timing on that video, the second lap (the almost full one) was just about 2:00. Not that anyone's concerned about lap times for Indycar at COTA, of course... See above ... the racer.com article from Pruett said Rossi unofficially ran a very LMP1-ish 1:47.8. No boost. No option tires. Right off the truck with very limited setup changes. They'll get quicker for sure. From Vance's video I was getting 1:52s. Edited October 30, 20187 yr by wood
October 30, 20187 yr Yeah I saw that. But the two(ish) laps I timed in that video, are around 1:58 and 2:01 or so. Just sayin...
November 7, 20187 yr MUSE announced as the Saturday night musical guest for IndyCar weekend at COTA. Tickets go on sale next Wed 11/14 at 10 AM, for any who are interested.
November 8, 20187 yr Jesus ... seems like the wheels are coming off of Epstein's MLS opposition. What a fucking embarrassment. In other news, 2019 Austin IndyCar price info...
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.