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WindyCityRacer
Guest
Full report when I get back...
Its gonna be a cold weekend...
Its gonna be a cold weekend...
paul
Team Owner
Who cares?! Bring a sweater!!
You're going to Indy to hear the song, doesn't get much better.
You're going to Indy to hear the song, doesn't get much better.
Have a blast! Take a warm coat --- if you don't need it, you can always sit on it. LOL
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WindyCityRacer
Guest
I'll be fine...we're camping though and the weekend would be a lot more enjoyable outdoors for 90 hours or whatever if the temps were a bit higher! Like this: From Road America this year...gorgeous weather...
paul
Team Owner
I'm jealous.
You have fun!
You have fun!
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NateDogg
Guest
ahhhhhh Road America what an awsome place Its a track carved out of the middle of a park. I think we are going to camp for next year, thinkin about getting a season pass for all the races, oh yeah! Were you there for the superbike race?
the F1 race would be from out of this world to go to, I would probally OD from all the horsepower and speed. I figured out that I need to start with an IRL race then goto a Cart race(if they are still around), then I could withstand the horsepower and speed of an F1 race without getting so excited that I pass out, lol 3 steps it is
Have an awsome time and be sure an tell us abou it
Its a track carved out of the middle of a park. I think we are going to camp for next year, thinkin about getting a season pass for all the races, oh yeah! Were you there for the superbike race?the F1 race would be from out of this world to go to, I would probally OD from all the horsepower and speed. I figured out that I need to start with an IRL race then goto a Cart race(if they are still around), then I could withstand the horsepower and speed of an F1 race without getting so excited that I pass out, lol
3 steps it isHave an awsome time and be sure an tell us abou it
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Flyboy
Guest
And the Winner of the F1 race at Indy is Michael Schumaker..................wow I would have never guessed that one!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Yeah !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
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thechase77
Guest
I say they should race the oval. There would probably be more passing, and it would probably attract more American fans. Most of the drivers would probably whine, but someone different would probably win the race.
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Flyboy
Guest
It would be fun to watch but I bet the Schu would still win! The Ferrari is just that much better !
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WindyCityRacer
Guest
Excellent weekend...almost too tired to type though.
Thursday night... we were hit with rains from that stupid hurricane that lasted all night long. We were high and dry in our tent though...
Friday practice... Rubens Barrichello became the first driver in 3 years to hit the outside (oval) wall...at that time I was sitting opposite the Ferrari pits...happened to be the same spot where Rubens' car came to a rest. I'm still waiting to watch the replay tonight...hoping that it will show how he actually lost the back end of the car. The replay they kept showing at the track already showed him backwards coming out of the turn...
Friday night... more friends showed up... we got a little rowdy.
Saturday... Qualifying, more friends. Beautiful sunny day...after the heavy morning fog burned off. We watched morning practice from the infield section. Stood right at the braking zone on Hullman blvd. Very cool spot. Watched qualifying in the braking zone into the infield.
Sunday... Race day! Skipped morning practice...stayed in camp and cooked a huge breakfast. Bloody Marys after breakfast.
Enjoyed the race...we sat in the same area as we did for qualifying (at the end of the main straight...as they turn into the infield). Ferrari's were incredible all day. Ralf and Juan need to learn how to play nice. Saw some adventurous late braking attmepts...Sato was very racey early on. I was a little disappointed by the botched finish...mainly because I had (randomly) chosen Michael Schumacher in our camp pool and lost $60 over that goofy finish. Other than that...I couldn't really care how they ended up. I knew Michael was in control all race long and probably should have won. I do understand that a lot of fans might feel cheated though...
Didn't really hear too many boooooos to be honest. I didn't stick around for the podium presentation though
(a little far for me to see from where I was seated)...I just headed back to camp...
Overall a great weekend. I'm looking forward to sleeping in my bed again tonight though...
Thursday night... we were hit with rains from that stupid hurricane that lasted all night long. We were high and dry in our tent though...
Friday practice... Rubens Barrichello became the first driver in 3 years to hit the outside (oval) wall...at that time I was sitting opposite the Ferrari pits...happened to be the same spot where Rubens' car came to a rest. I'm still waiting to watch the replay tonight...hoping that it will show how he actually lost the back end of the car. The replay they kept showing at the track already showed him backwards coming out of the turn...
Friday night... more friends showed up... we got a little rowdy.
Saturday... Qualifying, more friends. Beautiful sunny day...after the heavy morning fog burned off. We watched morning practice from the infield section. Stood right at the braking zone on Hullman blvd. Very cool spot. Watched qualifying in the braking zone into the infield.
Sunday... Race day! Skipped morning practice...stayed in camp and cooked a huge breakfast. Bloody Marys after breakfast.
Enjoyed the race...we sat in the same area as we did for qualifying (at the end of the main straight...as they turn into the infield). Ferrari's were incredible all day. Ralf and Juan need to learn how to play nice. Saw some adventurous late braking attmepts...Sato was very racey early on. I was a little disappointed by the botched finish...mainly because I had (randomly) chosen Michael Schumacher in our camp pool and lost $60 over that goofy finish. Other than that...I couldn't really care how they ended up. I knew Michael was in control all race long and probably should have won. I do understand that a lot of fans might feel cheated though...
Didn't really hear too many boooooos to be honest. I didn't stick around for the podium presentation though
(a little far for me to see from where I was seated)...I just headed back to camp...
Overall a great weekend. I'm looking forward to sleeping in my bed again tonight though...
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NateDogg
Guest
Excellent report What did ya have for breakfast? Hope in involved brats, yum yum, no event is complete without brats. What did it sound like live? And were all the bit babes there? Thanks for sharing your experience man :thumbsup:
What did ya have for breakfast? Hope in involved brats, yum yum, no event is complete without brats. What did it sound like live? And were all the bit babes there? Thanks for sharing your experience man :thumbsup:
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WindyCityRacer
Guest
Ha ha...thanks Nate. We did have brats one night (I think).
Breakfast consisted of biscuits and gravy, eggs, bacon, Jim's potato ball (potato, onion, garlic, butter)...coffee, etc.
gooooooood stuff.
Never heard an F1 car? Well then you are missing out my friend. They sound incredible...way more impressive than anything out there...and I've heard just about all of them. The introduction of traction control in the past couple of years has diminished their sound some...especially in the slower corners.
And, yes...plenty of pit babes wondering about...as usual. :thumbsup:
Breakfast consisted of biscuits and gravy, eggs, bacon, Jim's potato ball (potato, onion, garlic, butter)...coffee, etc.
gooooooood stuff.
Never heard an F1 car? Well then you are missing out my friend. They sound incredible...way more impressive than anything out there...and I've heard just about all of them. The introduction of traction control in the past couple of years has diminished their sound some...especially in the slower corners.
And, yes...plenty of pit babes wondering about...as usual. :thumbsup:
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Flyboy
Guest
Sounds like a lot of fun ! I have to make it up there next year !
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BebiF1
Guest
Hey well i went as well and this is the first time i have been able to get online in a long time so i can file my report as well! Well forget the 16 hour drive that was a good experience and lets talk about the race. Our seats were about 3/4 the way down the from straight so the cars screamed past at top gear and then braked hard for turn one and we could see the first 4 turns. First thing i must say is that the atmosphere at indy in incredible. I never knew that that huge 2.5 mile oval that the worlds top motorsports raced at was in the middle of a sleepy little neighborhood. there are little houses all around the track and not a hotel or resturaunt for miles. It just looks so out of place! Back to the cars. First time hearing one of those cars in person was when we got to the track saturday afternoon about half way through qualifying and we had no idea if we missed qualifying or what but when we where driving parallel to the front straight and heard a car coming faintly down the straight and then blast past with the loudest sound imaginable, we knew who was on track. I have been to nascar, irl, sprint cars and other autos but an f1 car beats all of them hands down when it comes to sound. They are so incredibly loud, u cannot imagine it unless u are there. one thing i found quite interesting was the bar's and toyota's. They had the louder of all the other cars with mcnish and panis being the loudest of all that day. on the other end mclaren and williams had the quieter of the bunch. the racing was great. down side of the front straight is not being able to see a whole lot but seeing them draft each other into turn 1 and hearing them at top end was worth the poor seating. if anyone is thinking about going next year i would advise the J stand. where the turn 4 exit is on the oval. we took a look from there and u can see all the way up the front straight and most all the track. depending on how the pictures we took come out, with our crappy camera, i might post some up on here to show u guys. well i g2g, i will share more of this later.
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NateDogg
Guest
I was begining to think you hoped on the Jordan bus back to england welcome back and a nice report from the race. Always the best to hear it from a fan that was there. Go ahead and post some pics, they can't be any worse than my equally as crappy camera, haha.
Did you notice some things about the cars while you were there. Like RS's car had 4 holes in the back compared to JPM only having 2. Just areo related? Prost had their upper element on there front wing, they usally have that on high downforce tracks, I know turns 1 and 8 need force but they probally know what they are doing, haha
welcome back and a nice report from the race. Always the best to hear it from a fan that was there. Go ahead and post some pics, they can't be any worse than my equally as crappy camera, haha.Did you notice some things about the cars while you were there. Like RS's car had 4 holes in the back compared to JPM only having 2. Just areo related? Prost had their upper element on there front wing, they usally have that on high downforce tracks, I know turns 1 and 8 need force but they probally know what they are doing, haha
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BebiF1
Guest
Well Nate i noticed lots of things. First the cars. I dont recall the prost team being there nor arrows but if u say so. lol. Well i didnt notice the holes in the back of the williams. were they exhaust vents or just for aero? well i dont know but the toyota's were running way too much downforce in morning warmup. Since i was at the track i didnt see the coverage of morning warm-up. Toyota both McNish and Salo had HUGE contrails coming off the rear wing. Like 3 feet! No one else had one except maybe Kimi Raikonnen, he had a small one. Like a couple inches. Since I took my earplugs out with about 5 laps to go i could hear the track announcer say that the Ferrari's were closing in on each other, but when they came to the line, no one knew who won and it was like a minute later when they posted the times onto the scoreboard, that we saw that Rubens had won. My favorite driver is Irvine and it was cool to see him score a top 10. It was a shame to see both Williams cars take each other out in the first corner though. Well thats all for now and i think i covered what u wanted to know Nate so if u got any more ?'s ask me sometime.
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NateDogg
Guest
haha I gota good laugh from that
don't know what I was thinkin about when I wrote that. No nate Prost wasn't there. Ok got that covered, oh well I think I got if figured out. Yeah Irvine was smokin around there,that jag was in overdrive for sure. YOu have probally seen by now but this is what I was talking about with the williams and ralf's car.
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NateDogg
Guest
Allright I found info on the Williams and there mysterious holes
Williams
Williams ran the new Periscope exhaust system on and off during the weekend as well as the new shape sidepods. The new exhaust system removed the exhausts for blowing over the rear diffuser and required a small redesign to shape the roof the outer tunnels in the absence the exhaust pipe. The redesign retained the shaping introduced at Spa.
Another development on the rear of the car was a small rectangular aperture on the rear of deck formed by the sidepods by the side of the rear wheels. Initially this was thought of as a cooling outlet but closer inspection suggests this is not the case. Like most teams Williams route all the hot air from the coolers out of the rear of the sidepods, there is no longer an outlet on the flank of the sidepod, instead chimneys are used to vent the heat over the top of the sidepod. Seeing as the aperture was not made into the engine area of the sidepods but instead through thin extension to the top surface of the sidepods, it cannot be for cooling.
The next guess is it would be for aero reasons. The first clue is looking at where the hole starts, it sits inline with the flip up, knowing the sidepod is undercut at this point and the downward sweep of the engine cover, my guess is that it is help the flow off the underside of the flip up.
Looking at how the flip up works, there's a clean flow over the flip up, but its the underside that does the work. The underside directs the most of the airflow up over the tyre some of the flow spills off the flip up and flows under deck. this must upset the flow and perhaps slows down the flow in the coke bottle area. Putting the aperture in the deck allows some off this flow to direct up over the deck freeing up the flow under the deck.
This aperture added to the new sidepod shape and the fins leading the sidepod inlets suggest this the flow along the sidepods and over the floor is an area causing Williams problems, as they constantly are seeking improvements.
Williams
Williams ran the new Periscope exhaust system on and off during the weekend as well as the new shape sidepods. The new exhaust system removed the exhausts for blowing over the rear diffuser and required a small redesign to shape the roof the outer tunnels in the absence the exhaust pipe. The redesign retained the shaping introduced at Spa.
Another development on the rear of the car was a small rectangular aperture on the rear of deck formed by the sidepods by the side of the rear wheels. Initially this was thought of as a cooling outlet but closer inspection suggests this is not the case. Like most teams Williams route all the hot air from the coolers out of the rear of the sidepods, there is no longer an outlet on the flank of the sidepod, instead chimneys are used to vent the heat over the top of the sidepod. Seeing as the aperture was not made into the engine area of the sidepods but instead through thin extension to the top surface of the sidepods, it cannot be for cooling.
The next guess is it would be for aero reasons. The first clue is looking at where the hole starts, it sits inline with the flip up, knowing the sidepod is undercut at this point and the downward sweep of the engine cover, my guess is that it is help the flow off the underside of the flip up.
Looking at how the flip up works, there's a clean flow over the flip up, but its the underside that does the work. The underside directs the most of the airflow up over the tyre some of the flow spills off the flip up and flows under deck. this must upset the flow and perhaps slows down the flow in the coke bottle area. Putting the aperture in the deck allows some off this flow to direct up over the deck freeing up the flow under the deck.
This aperture added to the new sidepod shape and the fins leading the sidepod inlets suggest this the flow along the sidepods and over the floor is an area causing Williams problems, as they constantly are seeking improvements.
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BebiF1
Guest
Well it looks like you did your research on the mysterious holes in the williams bodywork! I really never noticed them at all on the tv and of course couldnt tell from a spectators view either. That is quite interesting and raises many questions thatwe will really never know the answer for. They were just trying a little aero tweeks like they do at places like monaco. Maybe it made the car faster in the draft since that would be a big deal at indy. Well i guess we have some answers now and we can drop the subject. That picture you got was really good and i know exactly what you were talking about. I think if i remember from last year they were running like a spoiler that looked something like what you would see on a porshe a little rear spoiler infront of the rear wing and they ran that at indy and a few other tracks as well. I'll get a picture of it and post it on wednesday. And also my f1 car design is coming along fine and it looks awsome in iso, but the screen shot is like 2.25 MB and its too big to put onto a disk and too big to upload. I am working on it still and maybe you have an answer.
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NateDogg
Guest
Yeah, if you can't tell yet, this is the first year I have really got into F1, havebeen watching the races but never got into the tech of it and the more dirt I dig the bigger I want my shovel to become, haha, or something like that. Really amazing stuff, very intrigued. The more I got fimiliar with the cars from past years the harder it was to spot tweaks from this years cars. Like the Ferrari exaust, almost looks like a 5 into 2 instead of 1. I forget when I noticed that.
I haven't gotten much farther on my car because thats about all I can do right now. If you could get a pic of yours up here that would be great.