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Indy 2005, interesting to say the least
Thursday, June 23, 2005
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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...
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Wednesday, June 22, 2005 9:26:52 PM (Eastern Daylight Time, UTC-04:00)
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