Well, this week the IndyCar circus rolls into -- HOLY CRAP DAN WHELDON, THERE'S A GIANT MECHANICAL SPIDER ABOUT TO ATTACK YOU!!!
Anyway, the common household pests rendered many times larger and out of metal (and not mechanical...thank god those things don't actually move) are one of the neat little quirks at what looks like a pretty quirky ribbon of racetrack outside of Birmingham, Alabama.
Apart from the lawn art and the (by all accounts) fabulous on-site automotive history museum, one of Barber Motorsports Park's most important quirks is the elevation change through the lap. If you watch the video from my last post, it looks pretty intense. Heck, if you look at the above picture, that brow that hides the bottom 15 feet or so of the museum building also hides a piece of the track that is even further downhill than the building.
The hills and long, sweeping turns seem to combine to make a nightmare of g-forces on the drivers. Luckily, it doesn't look to be TOO hot in the Birmingham area this weekend. If it were hot out, we could have a situation where drivers' health is negatively affected; as it is, everyone's neck and arms will be pretty sore and that's about it.
Another quirk of this track that I think the management at the track would rather you not notice is that, if your vehicle is larger than a motorcycle (last I checked, the Dallara is), it is VERY hard to pass on this track. there are only two turns that are 90 degrees and only one real hairpin, and all of those turns either have poor lead-ins or are two fast to provide a proper out-braking opportunity. It is yet to be seen if that will provide big problems for the IndyCars in an actual race situation, but I'm not holding out too much hope....All of which leads me to my predictions.
Winner: Will Power If there were any reasons to bet against Will here, they were thrown out the window when he put Penske's Verizon machine on the pole in qualifying. If Will can beat the field into Turn 1, barring disaster, he should run away with the race Edmonton-'09-style.
Dark Horse: Mike Conway Dreyer & Reinbold has been some strong moves so far this season, with the most impressive result being Justin Wilson's second place at St. Pete. Mike Conway's chief advantage at this race is that he is one of two drivers who will take the green flag with no cars in front of him. If he can get a good start off the outside of row 1, beat Will Power to turn 1, and get some good pit work from his crew without throwing the car into the sand traps, we could see DRR back on the podium and me buying a Dad's Root Beer in celebration.
Ninja Dark Horse: Takuma Sato (appropriately enough) This comes under the assumption, of course, that Sato keeps the car on the track and pointed in the right direction. He is a very capable driver, as he showed as certain points in his Formula 1 career, but he's also inconsistent. In Brazil, he was out before turning his steering wheel from braking to late, and he overcooked a pass at St. Pete, putting him into a tire wall. KV Racing is perfectly capable of making a fast car, Takuma is a fast driver, and, as everyone knows, a good-looking car is a fast car. Once that car showed up in British Racing Green with the Lotus gold stripe down the middle, it's looked like a winner.
Lady Watch! Move over, Danica Watch! There's a new kid on the block! The Swiss Miss, Simona Di Silvestro, has shown up and made sure everyone knows she can whip that HVM car around a track. Therefore, the Watch will look out for both the racers of the fairer gender. Danica has been proving me wrong of late, but I won't let her persuade me! Starting 19th on a track with few passing opportunities behind slower cars? Not good for her. As for Simona, I don't think she'll be knocking onto the top 5 like she has been, but a top 10 is well within her reach.
No live blog for me, as I'll be pointing cameras at stuff all day tomorrow. The DVR will be fired up and I'll be ready to rock when I get home. See you later!
No comments:
Post a Comment