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numbbers · Posted: Tue Jun 21, 2005 9:28 am Post subject: OT: US Grand Prix

Are these guys crazy or what? You pay $100 plus for a ticket, $200 plus for a rental car, $300 plus for a hotel, $500 for your flight, and then six cars decide to race.
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1980 924 Turbo

Khal · Posted: Tue Jun 21, 2005 9:58 am Post subject:

Yeah, that was a complete fiasco! Heads should roll for that one...

Watched it live (had to get up at, like 3am) and man, what a waste of time!

And in the U.S., of all places! Wouldn't be surprised if they don't race there again...

Bit more discussion here.
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'80 924 Turbo

Paul · Posted: Tue Jun 21, 2005 10:31 am Post subject:

I was there, cost me a days vacation and big bucks.....

I'll post a link to some pictures later.....

Paul · Posted: Tue Jun 21, 2005 12:33 pm Post subject:

Out of order, some out of focus, but here's some pictures of the GP:

http://share.shutterfly.com/action/share/welcome?i=EeAM3DVy0Zs2jDGA&notag=1&x=1&sm=1&sl=1
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Owned and repaired 924s since 1977
Porsche: It's not driving, it's therapy.

Khal · Posted: Tue Jun 21, 2005 1:20 pm Post subject:

Nice pics. Good looking track. Looks like you had a pretty good position there, too, on that big S-curve

The crowd looked pretty decent on T.V., even after the commentators said lots of people were leaving. Although a couple of the stands on the big banked curve looked completely empty (did they use them at all?).

Any trouble where you were? They said on T.V. that the crowd was pretty well behaved, despite the booing...
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'80 924 Turbo

Paul · Posted: Tue Jun 21, 2005 1:33 pm Post subject:

No problems, some people left, most were stunned. Wonder if we will get any money back or a discount on tires?

They used all the grandstands that were on the course and they were all very close to being sold out. The empty stands were on the back straight of the oval track, so they had no view of the course.

jpab924 · Posted: Tue Jun 21, 2005 1:43 pm Post subject:

Taken from the local paper:

INDIANAPOLIS -- If you ask anyone who follows auto racing religiously, they will tell you Formula One is king.

NASCAR may be the drawing card in the United States, but F1 is where the technical aspect of the sport reigns.

So why can’t the circuit gain more popularity in the U.S.?

Debacles like Sunday’s United States Grand Prix at Indianapolis Motor Speedway are the main reason.

Strike that. It wasn’t a race. It was a farce that turned into a test session for Bridgestone tires and a political game of drawing lines in the sand.

Because of a problem with the tires that Michelin provided its teams with, there were several accidents or near misses during practice sessions with the sidewalls collapsing by the time the cars came through turn 13.

None of Michelin’s technical advisers could figure out why the tires were tearing apart.

The problem didn’t arise in qualifying since they only run two laps, the second at full speed. But over the course of several laps, the tires couldn’t hold up to the stress of the Indianapolis surface.

How many cars have been using Michelin this season? How about 14 of the 20 cars on the starting grid with the rest using Bridgestone.

The result before the race was argumentative banter between Nick Shorrock, Director of Michelin F1 activities, and Charlie Whiting, FIA Formula One race director.

Shorrock asked permission to implement different solutions, including bringing in a tire not used in qualifying.

That goes against a rule F1 began this season stating teams can only be supplied with two different sets of dry-weather tires with a hard and soft compound. Teams must select only one of the compounds by Saturday morning and use it for the rest of the weekend.

He also wanted IMS to add a chicane (a quick left-right turn combination like an S-curve) in turn 13 to help alleviate some of the stress on the faulty tires.

That suggestion wasn’t well-received by Whiting or Bernie Ecclestone, the FIA CEO.

“To change the course in order to help some of the teams with a performance problem caused by their failure to bring suitable equipment to the race would be a breach of the rules and grossly unfair to those teams which have come to Indianapolis with the correct tires,” Whiting said in a release before the race.

Michelin teams protested his decision, saying if there was no chicane added, they would not compete in the race.

So when the first lap was complete, 14 cars came off the track into the pit lane, and backed into their garages.

Without any knowledge of the situation, fans were obviously perturbed and confused. No announcement was made. No explanation was provided.

In the end, word circulated that everyone’s ticket would be refunded by IMS, but that doesn’t take away the farce that occurred because of stupidity and politics, two words that often go together.

“We have no tires to race. Michelin has advised us not to run,” said Gil de Ferran, sporting director of BAR Honda halfway through the race consisting of only six cars.

As the fans learned of the news through the grapevine, many threw water bottles and beer cans on the track. At one point early in the race, a bottle of water landed in front of Michael Schumacher, who ran over it without slowing down.

As the laps winded down, the Indianapolis SWAT team and riot police roamed the infield of the facility to make sure order was restored.

Ferrari notched the top two spots in the race (Schumacher in first and Rubens Barrichello second). It’s Schumacher’s third straight victory at Indianapolis, but who cares after this farce.

It has been suggested for a long time that F1 has needed an American driver to give it a boost in this country. Recent consensus has been that Danica Patrick should give the circuit a go to give her own career and the circuit a boost.

With this chicanery that took place on Sunday, if I were her and any other American driver thinking about switching to the supposed king of racing organizations, I would stay away.

And that includes Scott Speed, the No. 3 driver on the Red Bull Racing team, who is on his way to having a chance to be that American driver.

He should speed away from F1 as fast as possible and stick with racing circuits that care about the fans, not politics

What a MESS!

Paul · Posted: Tue Jun 21, 2005 2:05 pm Post subject:

From the Indy website:

http://www.usgpindy.com/news/story.php?story_id=4904

Joes924Racer · Posted: Tue Jun 21, 2005 2:43 pm Post subject:

I watched it on speedvision, couldnt belive it really.
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Llamaguy · Joined: 02 Jul 2003 Posts: 711 Location: Indiana

Paul -- how long were you here for? I went on saturday and loved it. I wish I could have gone on Sunday, even with the 6 cars. When I left on Saturday I was 3 or 4 944s. But did you see the F40 parked behind the Corner six terrance???
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1987 924S Guards Red
1997 Suzuki Tl1000 Supersport

924RACR · Posted: Wed Jun 22, 2005 12:23 am Post subject:

BTDT, was a joke, though the support races were still good! Bumped into Dave Chamberlain + dad in parking lot on Friday...
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Neil924 · Joined: 18 Mar 2003 Posts: 4225 Location: Canada

All Michelin's fault. Case closed.

AndyFranklin · Joined: 07 Oct 2003 Posts: 184 Location: Novelty OH

[quote="Paul"]No problems, some people left, most were stunned. Wonder if we will get any money back or a discount on tires?
quote]

Just bring your ticket stub here to Cleveland this weekend - World Challenge, Trans-Am, FF2000, Atlantics, drifting, and CART.

Indianapolis (June 19, 2005) -- The Bridgestone Presents the Champ Car World Series Powered by Ford has always been a series about its fans, and in support of the international open-wheel racing community, the organizers of the Champ Car Grand Prix of Cleveland Presented by U.S. Bank and Champ Car officials have announced that tickets for Sunday's Formula 1 United States Grand Prix will be honored on June 26.

Open-wheel racing fans will be able to see the 750-horsepower Champ Car's battle on the temporary circuit constructed in Downtown Cleveland at Burke Lakefront Airport as the headliners of a full day of racing. Joining the Champ Cars will be the Toyota Atlantic Championship Presented by Yokohama, the Speed World Challenge GT cars and the Formula Ford 2000 series.

Details will follow on www.grandprixofcleveland.com and www.champcar.ws explaining how fans can redeem their F1 USGP tickets for race-day seats at the Champ Car Grand Prix of Cleveland Presented by U.S. Bank.

Fans who are unable to benefit from this unique opportunity, the Champ Car Grand Prix of Cleveland Presented by U.S. Bank will be broadcast live on CBS Sports on June 26 at 1:30 pm ET.

maireeka · Joined: 29 Aug 2004 Posts: 299 Location: North Alabama

I grew up in Indianapolis, always went to watch qualifications/practice for the 500. Too bad I moved away right before they started all the F1 stuff at the speedway. My favorite day to go to the speedway was the open track day when they let you take a lap around a couple weeks before the race. There were all kinds of ferraris lambos porsches vettes etc.
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1977 Porsche 924 red and READY!

Khal · Posted: Wed Jun 22, 2005 8:44 am Post subject: