Alonso to drive Indianapolis 500 for Andretti/McLaren (OT)

[oliver1850]

Mario did it all. My grandpa used to take us to the IL state fair to see the races. It was cool to see Mario, the Unsers and Foyt racing on dirt.

Terrible to see Bourdais crash. He turned by far the fastest laps of the day before the car broke loose in T2. Hoping for the best but initial reports sound better than I was expecting after such a hard hit.

Sato quickest so far, and Alonso fifth quick. Penskes a bit slower than I expected, but Power pretty impressive in 4th. Servia on track right now.

[bicycletricycle]

That crash was frightening.

Originally Posted by oliver1850

Mario did it all. My grandpa used to take us to the IL state fair to see the races. It was cool to see Mario, the Unsers and Foyt racing on dirt.

Terrible to see Bourdais crash. He turned by far the fastest laps of the day before the car broke loose in T2. Hoping for the best but initial reports sound better than I was expecting after such a hard hit.

Sato quickest so far, and Alonso fifth quick. Penskes a bit slower than I expected, but Power pretty impressive in 4th. Servia on track right now.

[weisan]

I don't know much about Indy 500 or motor sports in general, but I learned a lot just by hanging around with Bruce pal today.

[CaptStash]

Wasn't Eddie Cheever an F1 racer before he won at Indy?

CaptStash....

[Bruce K]

Yes,

I first remember Eddie in an F500 Lola.

He bounced around in F1 driving for Benetton, Hesketh, Tyrell ,Reneault, and Alfa Romeo (plus a couple of others).

No podiums if memory serves.

Correction - I just looked - forgot about his 2nd place at Detroit when it was F1 - plus a couple of more.

BK

[oliver1850]

I saw Cheever take the Matra V12 powered Ligier to the podium in the last race for the engine at Caesar's Palace. The turbo cars had evolved to the point where they had a big advantage on most circuits, but Las Vegas was very tight and the Matra was still competitive there. Ligier switched to a DFV for the next year, not sure what the gain was - reliability perhaps.

I can't remember an Indy 500 when it was harder to pick a favorite for the win. I think there are at least 20 legitimate contenders. Hunter-Reay, Dixon, Rossi, and Alonso top my list. Penske cars turned much more competitive times in today's practice in race trim than they did in qualifying. I'm sure they will be looking for the first opportunity to go on an alternate pit stop strategy with one or two cars. So add them and I have 9 possibles already.


Nice to read that Dixon took the time to visit Bourdais in the hospital before qualifying on Sunday. I'm pulling for the underdogs but won't be disappointed if Dixie wins.

[skrhone]

Indy is an amazing place...took a track tour a few years ago when F1 ran.
They drove us around the track in a minivan...literally took about 5 minutes to do 1 lap...that track is Huge!
I can't imagine completing a lap in 38 seconds @233mph!

[Mr. Pink]

I've always said, it's a shame the Indianaolis 500 takes place in Indianapolis.

http://jalopnik.com/indycar-aces-tri...-go-1795482730


I had a really good college friend who lived there, and I did take advantage of that free bed more than once for the 500 and F1, but, man, what a flat, boring town.

[jghall]

Originally Posted by Mr. Pink

I've always said, it's a shame the Indianaolis 500 takes place in Indianapolis.

I had a really good college friend who lived there, and I did take advantage of that free bed more than once for the 500 and F1, but, man, what a flat, boring town.

I'll give you flat, but like the majority of places, it's what one makes of it.

Even the article posted, it would appear Indy is not too "boring".

[bicycletricycle]

Well, I guess Indy is boring, but who cares if you are going for the race? Going to a race in an interesting city can be a real pain in the ass sometimes.

I liked the track, the facility was nice and easy to get to. Airport was close and nice.

I can't ask for much more in a race venue.


If I want to go to an interesting city I just go to an interesting city.

[oliver1850]

Even as ground central for our series, we used to refer to Indy as Indynoplace or NapTown. Those comments were made in jest. It's the midwest, it's flat. It's also a very productive area, agriculturally and industrially.

Sebastien Bourdais walked out of Methodist Hospital Thursday, 5 days after sustaining multiple fractures to his pelvis and a broken hip. If I ever have a bad crash on the bike, I hope it's close to Naptown.

[mistermo]

The appeal of Indianapolis lies beneath the surface. One wouldn't know it, but it's a cycling hotbed with perennial national collegiate champions, Marian University and all the cyclists the come from Indiana University's Little 500. If any of you are around this evening, meet at 64th/Riverview, in Broad Ripple, at 6p for the Friday social ride. I'll buy beers after.

[mistermo]

Originally Posted by Mr. Pink

Last active F1 driver to win? I'll say Graham Hill, without Googling the answer.

More trivia for the geeks amongst us: How many active, former, or future F1 drivers ever won Indy?

Without googling I've got:
Emmo
Mario
Danny Sullivan
Graham Hill
Jim Clark
Montoya
Villeneuve
Eddie Cheever

I've lost interest recently so don't know anything about Rossi. Did Al Jr. ever attempt F1? Parnelli Jones?

[soulspinner]

Originally Posted by oliver1850

Even as ground central for our series, we used to refer to Indy as Indynoplace or NapTown. Those comments were made in jest. It's the midwest, it's flat. It's also a very productive area, agriculturally and industrially.

Sebastien Bourdais walked out of Methodist Hospital Thursday, 5 days after sustaining multiple fractures to his pelvis and a broken hip. If I ever have a bad crash on the bike, I hope it's close to Naptown.

So glad SB is OK.....when you it lose there and at those speeds..

[oliver1850]

Originally Posted by mistermo

More trivia for the geeks amongst us: How many active, former, or future F1 drivers ever won Indy?

Without googling I've got:
Emmo
Mario
Danny Sullivan
Graham Hill
Jim Clark
Montoya
Villeneuve
Eddie Cheever

I've lost interest recently so don't know anything about Rossi. Did Al Jr. ever attempt F1? Parnelli Jones?

Unser never drove in a F1 race but tested for Williams, as did Kenny Brack for Arrows and Dario Franchitti for Jaguar. Parnelli owned a team but never drove. Gil de Ferran never drove in F1 but was a manager at BAR. Dan Wheldon was offered a drive with Sauber but declined. Rahal drove a couple of races for Wolf but was basically driven out of the team by the incoming James Hunt. Mark Donahue won Indy for Penske and died after hitting a catch fence in the Penske March F1. Rossi drove F1 for Manor. If you go back to the early years of the 500, there were winners who drove in Grand Prix racing before it was called F1.