The OP Boyz are joined this week by Belardi Auto Racing’s Peter Portante to discuss the insanely close Indy Lights championship, relive the crazy Race 3 USF2000 start at Mid-Ohio, and preview of the up coming USF2000 race at Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca. Everyone joins in the ranting fun over the demoltion derbys that IndyCar and ALMS called races on the streets of Baltimore, we look forward to the Italian GP at Monza, and Mr. Shaw runs through the latest rally news. We also give a shoutout to all those competing in the SCCA Solo Nationals including OpenPaddock’s own Jeremy Salenius who will be bringing back some hardware from Lincoln!
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OpenPaddock.net Pocast: Episode #202 for Tuesday September 3rd, 2013
Mazda Road to Indy
- Firestone Indy Lights at Baltimore Review
- Jack Dominates
- Sage takes the lead in the championship
- Hawksworth gets a test
- USF2000 Preview for Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca
SCCA Solo Nationals in Lincoln
IndyCar
- Baltimore Roller Derby
- Quals
- IndyCar places Vautier on probation
- Franchitti put to back of grid – Racer.com
- Pagenaud stays cool amid chaos to take Baltimore IndyCar victory
- Results – Standings
- Ryan Briscoe added to Wednesday road course test at IMS
- IndyCar notes: Mark Miles organizing 2 sets of international packages for 2015
- Pickett intrigued with first IndyCar outing, decision pending
Formula 1
- Red Bull confirms Ricciardo for 2014
- so how will silly season shake out?
- David Ward to challenge Jean Todt for FIA presidency
- Monza preview
Rally
- ERC – Jan Kopecky dominates home round of Skoda-ville (Barum Czech Rally Zlín)
- Moves into points lead, could be challenge for
- Fiesta R5s debut in ERC
- WRC- New Zealand press reports they will be dropped from WRC for 3 years
- WRC – Rally Australia in two weeks
- Kris Meeke subs for Dani Sordo
- Paul Nagle substitutes for co-driver Mikko Markkula to help out Mikkelson
- RallyrossRX – Loheac, France
- Loeb doesn’t make it to final round
- Andreas Bakkerud dominates again, and Petter Solberg still missing his first win finishes 2nd
Sigh. Comments. You wanted ’em…
You may have already hashed this out (you have, after all, just posted a new show, and this one is a week old), but I’m just now today listening to the show and just right this minute getting around to watching the Baltimore race. “An embarrassment” for “the first 60 laps”, Shaun? I’m at the 36 lap mark now, and I fully understand that what I’m watching is about to turn into Maryland Goat Roundup 2013, but here are the only plausible things to complain about from the first half of the race: 1) an awful lot of Will Power up front, 2) the first caution felt about 3 laps longer than it should have been, and 3) no penalty for Power running over his air hose. However, and again, I know how the story is going to turn out, I hardly think that what I’m watching (or about to watch) represents “everything that is wrong with IndyCar”. I seriously hope that it was just the vodka talking, or that cooler heads have since prevailed, but that is a little melodramatic, no?
Look, I’m not one of the “positivity police”. There’s plenty of stuff that’s wrong with IndyCar. But having read all the Twitter comments and blog posts and now watching the actual event, Baltimore strikes me as something of a Rorschach Test for anybody watching it. If you want to think that a typical-ish street course race (i.e. the fast guy runs away a bit, some good passing back in the pack and a little argy-bargy here and there), turning into dudes wrecking in an unpredictable way for a while and then some late dicing for the podium equals “horrible embarrassment”, then that’s what you’re going to see. If you want to see it as “fantastic entertainment”, then that’s what you’re going to see. Me? Anymore, I just see it as “an auto race”. An instant classic? God, no. They hardly ever are. But 25 laps where half the field loses their minds among a season where most have kept a cool head (Indy and Pocono, after all, had 200+ mile stretches with nary a single yellow) doesn’t equal “total joke series”. If it did, then just about every racing series worldwide is a “total joke series”, since there’s 1-2 crazy races in every series every year. It happens. It just doesn’t mean the end of the world. Unless you want it to, in which case, run screaming down the street. I’m not going to stop you.
On to next week’s show, I guess…
I understand that the track makes it tough, but still I was underwhelmed by the racing product displayed at Baltimore, and disappointed by the efforts of Race Control. Where there good bits? Sure. There was an awful lot of bad bits, too, and those overwhelmed the positives of the event. I’m not going to go as far as Shaun in my vehemence (but then who does?), but this year’s Baltimore GP isn’t the race I’d choose to show a new race fan why street racing is exciting and fun to watch.
Took forever to get around to it, but I willl answer said issues. Baltimore was a total joke race for a list of reasons I have already provided. The fact is, the first part of the race was pretty boring. Sure, Power was out front a lot and there really was not a lot of shinanigans going on in the mid pack or the cars turning into each other. The problem is you are trying to bill these guys as professional race car drivers. Pro drivers do not smash the shit out of cars like that. Will Power is supposed to be one of the best drivers the series has to offer and he is smashing into Scott Dixon like he has absolutely no situational awareness. Cars can’t restart, cars can’t take turn 1, and the crap part about it is this isn’t the first time I have seen this. While I don’t think it is everything that is wrong with IndyCar, it was pretty damn close to all encompassing. Terrible driving from “pros”, crap race control, and just complete chaos on top of a product that until 10 to go, was not all that exciting. This speaks to the lack of credibility the series has and why they cannot secure more manufacturer support, or gain interest from premiere tracks in the USA. But by all means, lets talk about an international series in 2015. The shit show must go on…