Will balance issues get sorted out?
I cannot go into this posting without acknowledging the 30 day passage of time since the ill-fated Vegas race and it’s tragic aftermath. Right off the bat, I must share with you this link to an unbelievably moving testimony of the affection that was shared between Tony Kannan and Dan Wheldon. This is a locally produced news organization video that was conceived and produced by Indianapolis television station WISH TV8. TK bares his soul and comments on what went through his mind while he and Vitor Miera competed in a Miami based triathlon shortly after Dan’s death. In a burst forth of tantalizing video journalism, the local Indy channel captured some very private yet candid moments with Tony Kannan. This is most certainly about healing and being healed…….
The link:
And now, today’s topic: Seems to be a little “issue” with the DW12 on super ‘not-so-speedy’ speedways. Not to dive in too deeply into the engineering on how a high velocity vehicle rotates when going into and exiting a turn but, it sure seems that therein lays the problem. For purposes of our quick discussion, let us first discern the difference of a loose versus a tight race car. On one of the stellar Versus broadcasts of the Izod Indy Car Series during the 2011 season, Wally Dallenbach gave the most comprehensive, yet simple explanation of the terms tight and lose. If the car is tight, you hit the wall with the front of the car. If the car is loose, you hit the wall with the back of the car. Seems simple enough to me!
Recent rumblings and writings on the topic by none other than the highly esteemed Robin Miller shed some insight into the discoveries made at Indy by the late Dan Wheldon and they were evidently confirmed by T.K. and Dario during testing that ended on November 5th.
Miller’s comments and report via SpeedTV.com go into greater detail here:
http://auto-racing.speedtv.com/article/indycar-series-trying-to-solve-2012-cars-speedway-issues/
It appears that the car turns wickedly on entry into the turn and continues in a straight line at the apex and exit of a turn. Consequently, reported speeds at Indy were in the 208-216 range and as my tweeps say on twitter, #nonewtrackrecord at the Brickyard this year. Perhaps in 2013 with the new aero kits? Maybe Boeing will still consider building bits for the 2013 car since they seem to score big this year at all the air shows selling Dreamliners (Inject sarcasm here). But yikes! Only 216? Is this car taking its ROP? The answer is no, the weight distribution issue WILL get solved and the fact that Lotus Judd is on the dyno with established factory teams should help as well. There is still a ton of testing to take place at Homestead and Fontana. All of this is discussed and toxic comments submitted at Robin Miller’s Mail Bag, compliments of SpeedTV.com and the November 16th posting can be found here:
http://auto-racing.speedtv.com/article/indycar-millers-mailbag-1116
No, this is NOT going to turn into an R.M. love fest! Miller’s legs are not all that pretty……..but I do want to give a shout out to the ongoing herculean efforts of Pippa Mann. She still posts on twitter even slogging through the pain and painkillers as she recovers from her incident at Las Vegas. This is one hard working Senorita and remains one of the most approachable shoes in the paddock. If you have something for her to sign, take it to the bank, it will get signed and with a smile! Now go and get some sponsors or your rich uncle to sign on or open the check book. It was kind of her to not complain when I used her photo from the garages at Indy as the lead in picture to my last post. The day Mr. Bachelart signed her to run Indy, she was so overcome with emotion that she just had to run out and be a guest on the Don Kay Autosportsradio.com show. That night I tried to box Pippa in a corner and get a negative quote out of her regarding another driver and she passed the ‘don’t take the bait’ test. She is obviously a TEAM player and I hold that in high regard! I still wonder why so few have jumped on the Pippa bandwagon. She is a sponsor’s dream and hopefully, they acknowledge that.
Where ARE the sponsors? Missing out they are!
WideOpenWheel 
Enjoyed the post. I guess some thrashing about is to be expected with the new car. Social media definitely adds a level of hysteria to the fan’s world. Remember when you had to read a monthly magazine or follow a columnist in the paper to get a hint or rumor of something amiss? That’s not nostalgia, just an observation. I added your link at my site newtrackrecord.wordpress.com.
Ditto that. I am certain that back in the day (this would be pre-Twitter or Facebook, or maybe just pre-2003), there were problems with new chassis just about every year. Cars would have problems all the time, but without people to wring their hands over the issues on a constant basis, as we currently do on social media, the problems would get sorted out and they’d be just as fast or faster by the time the first race rolled around. It’s going to be fine, and I’d be prtty surprised if we don’t yet see speeds in the high-220s, if not higher, by the time the Month of May cranks up.