Pictures
are here
Story Here:
Well it might have been one of the most disappointing races I have ever
attended, despite a Ferrari 1,2, but it probably was the most
interesting and memorable. If you don't follow F1 or sports in
general, the F1 race last weekend was not run as far as any of the fans
are concerned.
The weekend started just like any of the previous 5 years, until Ralf
Schumacher hit the wall coming into the high banking. Everyone
laughed, Ralf had done the same thing the previous year during the
race, knocking him out for a few races. Little did we know that a
later problem with his sister Toyota driven
by Ricardo Zonta would lead Michelin (their tire manufacturer) to
believe that their tires were unsafe. Apparently Michelin had
under-estimated the lateral G-forces put
on the tires in the banking. The tires were blowing themselves apart, which is what put Ralf into the wall.
Now during the race weekend I meet my friend Donovan, who is a Speedway
local, so he was able to bring me up to speed on Saturday night after
an exciting qualifying (yes I actually tricked myself into believing
there was competition on the track during qualifying). Their were
rumours that Michelin was flying in a whole new set of tires for the
race, this is strictly against the rules and no one was saying what
would be done to appease the Bridgestone runners if this took
place. To be honest we didn't think much of it. On the
morning of the race the guy sitting next to us received a phone call
from his father watching the race back at home. He said that the
Michelin cars (which is all but Ferrari, Jordan and Minardi) were not
going to take part in the race unless they were allowed to use these
new tires or a chicane was placed in the lead up to the high
bank. Again, didn't think much of it, the cars had all made their
way to the grid, even if it took the Michelin drivers a little longer
than normal to come out of hiding in their garages.
What could they possibly do, they were on the grid ready to
start? I highly doubted they would just sit there and not move
when the lights went out. Well as they rolled off the starting
grid for their parade lap my fears were forgotten, all cars were
underway and the race was going to start in a few minutes.
However the McLaren crew were out in the pits, which is very
strange. Then with horror the entire grandstand was shocked to
see ALL the Michelin runners peeling into the pits instead of taking to
the grid. Only Ferrari, Jordan and Minardi lined up to take the
start. From their the race was a lock, the only excitement came
in the closing laps. Schumacher was behind
Barrichello before their last pitstops and when Schumi came out of the
pits they were side by side into the first corner. Both drivers
locked up their brakes trying to be the first into the corner, too bad
Barichello locked up his a bit too much and sent himself across the
grass and Schumi took the win. Good to see the Minardi's
and Jordan's getting points that will equal a fair amount of money
come the end of the year.
So, in the end, Michelin sucks. How did they bring a tire that
couldn't withstand the lateral forces of the banking. This isn't
their first trip to
Indy,
they must have known exactly what the G-forces were and exactly how
much their tire could handle. The FIA sucks, but on the other
hand they are running a competition with rules, too bad those rules
deprived me of a race.
I'm typing this on I-69 heading into the Detroit area, when I get home
hopefully there will be some word on refunds for those of us that were
at the race... and hopefully I will get the chance to go to
Indy next year...