All Things Motorsport

[Rey C.]

I hadn't seen an IRL race since they added those bodykits. So I figured I'd catch a few laps of Indy before heading out. All I can say is, damn... they managed to make this generation of cars even more fugly than the last generation. I think I liked the lawn darts better than these hideous things, with the rubber baby buggy bumpers all around them.

I can't watch this. And from the big gaps in the stands, I guess a lot of others feel the same way.

 

[Rey C.]

Juan Pablo Montoya Wins His 2nd Indy 500!

Well, at least a real deal CART guy from the old days and an F1 winner won! And on top of that, he's someone that I actually met way back when. Seems like just yesterday that Paul Tracy was dangling him upside down by his ankles after he won Nazareth. Good times... Good times... Man, where do they go? Huh?! Where???!!! :crying:

Congrats, Juancho! :nanner:

 

[Rey C.]

Nico Hulkenberg wins on Le Mans debut as Porsche end Audi's winning streak :clap:

 

[TheAdmiral]

No attempt at a repeat, the new F1 schedule conflicts with Le Mans. Rumors indicate Juan Pablo Montoya might get the call if it doesn't conflict with his IndyCar schedule. JPM is scheduled to test the 919 later this year. He only needs Le Mans to complete the Triple Crown, which only Graham Hill has done.

 

[Rey C.]

I'm not a huge Denny Hamlin fan. But I'm kinda happy that a Coach Gibbs driver won.

Hamlin edges out Truex Jr. in closest Daytona 500 ever

DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. (AP) -- When he was in second grade, Denny Hamlin wrote a letter to himself wishing for a Daytona 500 victory.

His childlike cursive stated he wanted to win the race in 1998. Hamlin had to wait considerably longer, just not as long as team owner Joe Gibbs.

With a Hail Mary move Sunday, Hamlin ended Gibbs' 23-year drought at the Daytona 500. It gave Hamlin his first Daytona 500 victory in 10 tries, and Toyota its first in "The Great American Race."

"You couldn't have written a better ending," Hamlin said. "It's the pinnacle of my career, for sure."

Hamlin pulled out of line with a lap to go and chased down teammate Matt Kenseth. He staved off Kenseth's block, and wedged between Kenseth and Martin Truex Jr.

Hamlin stayed in the gas for a door-to-door dash to the checkered flag that ended in a photo finish with Truex. He beat Truex by 0.010 seconds, the closest finish in the history of the race.

"I don't know where that came from, I don't know what happened, I can't even figure out what I did," Hamlin said. "It all just came together. But this wouldn't be possible if it wasn't for Toyotas sticking together all race long."

Gibbs, who in November celebrated with Kyle Busch the team's first Sprint Cup title in a decade, won the race for the first time since Dale Jarrett in 1993.

Gibbs had made it clear that he had no use for the victories his drivers collected in the exhibition races leading into Sunday's season-opener -- Hamlin and Busch each won one race in the buildup to the opener. But the three-time Super Bowl-winning coach was focused only on the 500 and his four drivers brainstormed on the best way to get a win.

 

[Supafly]

The title of the video says it all- WTF moments

 

[Rey C.]

Congratulations to Alexander Rossi for winning the 100th Indy 500. If not Juan Pablo Montoya, then I'm glad that America's only current F1 (reserve) driver won this race. I used to be a massive Indy 500 fan. Even though that fandom has disappeared, I'm very, very glad that Rossi achieved this career milestone. Now here's hoping that Haas (ideally) or some other F1 team will get Rossi back onto the F1 grid by next season.

Congrats, dude. :nanner:

 

[Rey C.]

An update on Rossi's situation. Since winning Indy, his name and stature has gone higher on the motorsports world's radar. He was apparently offered Rio Haryanto's seat at Manor, but turned it down. But he claims that his management is in touch with at least one other F1 team for next season (I really hope that it's Haas! :nanner. And if nothing comes of that, he's content to remain in the IRL for now. He's grateful for the opportunity that Andretti has given him. That's all well and good. It says that he's a good guy. But I'd caution him about being too loyal to the likes of Michael Andretti or hanging around the IRL too long. In addition to Vandorne and Ocon, there's a number of major young hot shoes looking to get into F1 next season. IMO, unless he smokes the competition and takes a championship, more than one more year in the IRL will take him back off the F1 radar. It's not CART and those days are over. F1 doesn't care what happens in North America these days. But good luck to him just the same. Santino Ferrucci wants that Haas seat too. But I rate Rossi higher than him. What Santino (mostly) has is his daddy's money. American or not, I'd much rather see Rossi rise through the ranks than "Curly" Ferrucci.

 

[Rey C.]

And now, the 2017 North American racing season is O-fficially underway with the 55th running of the Rolex 24 at Daytona. And I wuz there - cold and wet! After years of wanting to go, I finally made it! :nanner:

Jeff Gordon now gets to add a Rolex watch to his trophy collection by being on the winning Wayne Taylor Racing team. Some rough driving at the end, by Taylor's son Ricky, to take the win. But at a NASCAR track, there was no way they were going to call a penalty on the car that included His Majesty, Jeff Gordon. Good race though.

 

[Rey C.]

Something that non-gearheads often say to me is, "watching cars go round & round a track is boring."

What they don't seem to realize is that I don't go just to watch cars go round & round a track.

 

[TheAdmiral]

One of the biggest open secrets in the sports car racing paddock has finally been made official, with Honda Performance Development confirming Tuesday that Team Penske will run a pair of brand-new Acura DPis in the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship beginning next year.
http://sportscar365.com/imsa/iwsc/penske-acura-dpi-program-confirmed/

 

[TheAdmiral]

A look back at this year's 24 Hours of Le Mans...

 

[TheAdmiral]

FIA WEC
6 Hours of the Nurburgring - Race Results

LMP1/Overall winner:
No. 2 Porsche 919 Hybrid
Timo Bernhard/Brendon Hartley/Earl Bamber

LMP2 winner:
No. 38 Jackie Chan DC Racing - Oreca 07 Gibson
Oliver Jarvis/Thomas Laurent/Ho-Pin Tung

LMGTE Pro winner:
No. 51 AF Corse Ferrari 488 GTE
James Calado/Alessandro Pier Guidi

LMGTE Am winner:
No. 77 Dempsey-Proton Porsche 911 RSR
Matteo Cairoli/Marvin Dienst/Christian Ried

Next event:
6 Hours of Mexico
Autodromo Hermanos Rodriguez
September 3, 2017

 

[TheAdmiral]

Verizon IndyCar Series
Honda Indy Toronto - Race Result

Winner:
Josef Newgarden - Team Penske - Chevrolet

Championship standings:
Scott Dixon - 423 pts
Chip Ganassi Racing - Honda

Helio Castroneves - 420
Team Penske - Chevrolet

Simon Pagenaud - 404
Team Penske - Chevrolet

Josef Newgarden - 400
Team Penske - Chevrolet

Will Power - 359
Team Penske - Chevrolet

Next event:
Honda Indy 200 at Mid-Ohio
Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course
July 30

 

[TheAdmiral]

New look Indycar for 2018

Superspeedway configuration

Road/street/short oval config

Superspeedway side view

Road/street/short oval side view

Testing of the universal kit begins July 25-26 on the 2.5-mile oval at Indianapolis Motor Speedway, while subsequent tests will take place August 1 at Mid-Ohio, August 10 at Iowa and September 26 at Sebring. Team Penske and Schmidt Peterson Motorsports will perform testing duties for IndyCar's 2018 Dallara universal aerokit, and have confirmed Juan Pablo Montoya and Oriol Servia as test drivers.

 

[TheAdmiral]

 

[TheAdmiral]

 

[TheAdmiral]

 

[TheAdmiral]

 

[TheAdmiral]

Joest Racing, which won the 24 Hours of Le Mans 15 times with Audi and Porsche, has joined with Mazda to run its Daytona Prototype International program starting in 2018. Mazda is the only Asian manufacturer to win Le Mans, and has 22 class victories at Daytona, which Joest has won outright twice.

Felix Rosenqvist will split a test day with Scott Dixon at Mid-Ohio for Chip Ganassi later this week.