Tbh Yamaha aren’t exactly bad in the races, I mean Rossi finished right on the back of that lead group after poor Qually. It’s such small margains now in a field this crazily competitive. Yamaha have been slowly declining to a degree since the changes in 2016 to Michelin tyres and spec ECU. They’re still very quick but I think in comparsion to Honda and Ducati, they’re quite a conversative company. They a little slow on adopting or improving things. Horsepower is a little bit of a weakness as well. But last year they suffered a lot with rear tyre deg, that’s one of the fixes they suffer from. Plus, Rossi’s more of a Sunday man, while Mav has the speed, but is hugely inconsistent in races.
Then the other problem to a degree is the riders. Rossi is still performing very well, especially at 40, but his best chance to win a title again I think has gone now, and only wins once or twice a year now. Still very consistent though. Vinales is quite literally Maverick by name and nature. That guy is infurtating. He’s got the speed to match and even beat Marquez, but he’s very similar to Lorenzo in that, when everything is perfect, he can be unstoppable. But soon as some curve balls are thrown at him, he goes to pot. Complains about this and that and always looks rattled. Until he becomes more adaptable then he’ll always fall short.
Ironically as you say, if Ducati hadn’t decided to give up on Lorenzo, he’d have been the one best to challenge Marc, real shame really. For Dovi to win the title, he’ll need to improve on tracks he’s not as strong at and probably can only afford one DNF. Needs to be super consistent to have a chance.
@Luca_from_Italy Have you ever been much into bike racing, seeing as it’s so big in Italy, or more just the F1?
If we’re talking Qually times (Hamilton did a 1:32:237 last year), Indycar will be at least 10 seconds seconds slower I think, the current F1 cars are absolute monsters around here. Race lap difference should be less. The biggest difference will be in the first half of the lap where the sheer aero difference is most noteable between these cars.
Hopefully we’ll get some good racing, been a long time since Indycar went on an F1 track. I remember them using Montreal back in the mid 00s in the Champ Car days
I was reading about the differences because Indy was testing here in the winter and the times weren’t that far off. The cars weren’t running a qualifying set up either so I hope they aren’t THAT much slower, but we’ll see Mysty ur the expert.
I don’t know about the expert part mate, I’m as in the dark about how fast they’ll really be as anyone else They’ll be closer together in race pace than Qually, seeing as Indycar has the refueling element.
Yeah, I don’t expect indycar to be faster considering they are allowed to spend only 100k on their chassis and don’t have power steering lol different cars made for different type of racing but I think they’ll be closer. Is that video of Hamilton’s record lap? I think when the Indycars are set up right and actually attempting to put in qualifying they’ll be closer than 14 seconds lel we’ll see.
To be fair, the V6s in real life sound better than they do on TV. They’re quite nice in some regards, especially when you hear the turbo whistling pass you But it’s very noticeable that they’re not that loud. Though it’s not about the loudness it’s more the tone itself. Plus anytime you come across an old V10 video, you’re instantly reminded that they are very tame in comparsion, but then they’re just GOAT of the engines world.
I fucking love Italian commentaries in sport, so much passion and excitement Pretty sure the main guy for them been involved in MotoGP for absolutely yonks.
Can’t wait for the next round in Argentina next weekend, usually a great track for racing
@Electrifying@Mysty you lads were right. 146’s were basically tops in qualifying yesterday for Indycar. I wanted to think Indy would be faster but yeh guess millions if dollars invested is gonna make a big gap
Power on the the pole again, followed by Rossi on the front row. Then Ryan Hunter Ray, my boy Herta!! Then Rosenqvist and Dixon.
Rosenqvist has been outperforming his countryman and former F1 driver Erickson so far through the first couple qualifying sessions. Maybe a car thing cuz Hinch hasn’t been that competitive either.
And this is why Indycar is the best. 2nd race of the season and a brand new team + rookie win the race. Youngest ever IndyCar winner at 18 years old. Herta is a beasst!!! @Mysty u were also right about the lap times. Instead of being 14 seconds, the race pace cut the difference down to 10 or 11 seconds slower than F1.
Long Beach Grand Prix this weekend and as a family tradition I’ll be there again this year. Something a little special happened this year tho.
The race sponsor changed to Acura from Toyota. As a promotion they were giving away tickets and pit passes to anyone who came in to test drive an Acura at the local Acura dealership. Of course I took advantage. So apparently everyone who test drove also was entered in a drawing to ride along for a lap in the pace car, AND I WON!!
They called me last night and told me I had won and that Helio Castroneves (3 time Indianapolis 500 winner omg omg) was going to be driving me in the Acura NSX pace car!! Maybe not a big deal but I think @Mysty will understand my excitement, taking a lap at Long Beach is pretty fucking cool so much history there.
Fucking hell man, that’s beyond amazing! The only way you could’ve topped that, would be sitting in the two seater Indycar on the warmup lap Man, have a fucking blast on my behalf. Be sure to get some great photos and any other goodies this weekend!!
Hahaha was thinking the same, only thing that could top it is riding along with Mario Andretti in that two seater. Still tho beggars can’t be choosers. Pretty hyped for this! They don’t go slow in a pace car either they move and Helio is one of the greats, hope he doesn’t hold back 🖒
They’ll be closer together in race pace than Qually, seeing as Indycar has the refueling element.
Pretty sure the main guy for them been involved in MotoGP for absolutely yonks.
