Auto Racing 2024

[Yespage]

Palou takes the Indy Grand Prix. Competition up front wasn't all too competitive. Power' pit crew got him in front of Lungaard for second. Colton Herta proved resolve, finiahing in the top 10 after starting 24th. Only one yellow in the entire race, so the action was nonstop, and pitting gimmicks didn't really help. Alternate tires wete happy on the relatively chilled track surface. O'Ward struggled after his engine needed replacement after the final warmup.

Sparklefarts took Pro-am top honors at Leguna Seca in race one.

 

[Bruce]

It is an incredible rating for race car driving for an F1 race of little consequence. Daytona and Indy beat it, but that is probably it.

Depends on the rights fees they are paying .

Is it overpriced like the MLB, NHL and soon the NBA, or way underpriced, where the Network can make a profit, even with the reduced advertising rates the Networks/Cable Channels are receiving in today’s world.

But I would agree, it is not a bad rating for a F1 Race, considering they had 1 Million Households, while the World Series had only 4 Million on Fox in 2023.

But a NFL Sunday Night Football Game is over 10-12 Million Households.

 

[meStevo]

ESPN is only paying $75-90m/year to broadcast F1 on ABC/ESPN though 2025, which includes more than each grand prix, as the lead up to each race is several hours of content over a few days.

 

[Yespage]

Saw this at the BBC. An interesting article on medical safety development in F1 as well as the relationship between the guy who made that happen and one of the greatest racers ever, Aryton Senna.

Sid Watkins, Ayrton Senna and Formula 1's safety revolution

It is 30 years since the death of Ayrton Senna. Sid Watkins, the man who tried to save him, was a close friend who led two safety revolutions within Formula 1.

www.bbc.com

 

[Yespage]

Mid-Ohio to Debut Hybrid Indycar

This should be interesting. I'll have a front-row... well, back of the hill not quite by the Essess, but before that where the speed and visibility is better... seat for the debut. I think it is kind of nuts to switch the equipment mid-season.

 

[harshness]

WEC will be available with the B/R add on for $10 a month.

How much is it through FiA?

 

[Yespage]

According to this, it seems Max has the streaming rights.

Alongside Max, WBD’s channels and platforms will retain exclusivity of the WEC in the U.S. with its continued broadcast on the number one network for automotive superfans, MotorTrend TV and via the MotorTrend app. MotoTrend Is also available to residents in Canada.

I'm assuming WBD is Warner Bros / Discovery. There is a WEC streaming site online, but that appears to the UK and France.

 

[harshness]

There is a WEC streaming site online, but that appears to the UK and France.

It appears that coverage in the U.S. and Canada excludes the Lone Star Le Mans and the 24 Hours of Le Mans but other than that, there doesn't appear to be any prohibition on subscribing. A VPN connection may or may not be able to skirt the geo-location issues for those events.

The price is 59 euros (~$64) for the season.

https://fiawec.tv

 

[Yespage]

Seems risky. Don't want to spend $60ish and wait two months to see if it works.

Sadly, I don't even know if B/R is available for Max subs through June. I really want to catch LeMans.

 

[harshness]

I really want to catch LeMans.

Seems like Le Mans usually shows up on one of the broadcast network sports channels at some level. I usually end up tuning in when it is dark.

The FiA in general does a pretty good job with in-car cams and telemetry on the coverage I've seen on traditional networks.

 

[Yespage]

I sub'd to Motortrend last year to see LeMans and they had an absurd number of in car cameras.

 

[Yespage]

It has been sprinkling all week in Speedway, Indiana.

So limited running at times. Kyle Larson is busy trying to prove he is a great race car driver that chooses to waste his talents in NASCAR. Larson has put up pretty good speeds. Looking better than Johnson. Penske cars are rising towards the top and Pato O'Ward was looking real fast. Ed Carpenter was near 10th, indicating his usual Indy flirt will be competitive and Veekay should be coming to the top as well. Sting Ray Robb is near the bottom, I still don't know if he'll have a ride by Mid-Ohio.

ETA: And just looking at the numbers for today, Scott McLaughlin is near 234. Veekay at 232+, Larson just below Veekay. Rahal at 231+. This weekend should be fun. Palou was 234.2ish for the pole last year, edged Veekay by 0.006 mph.

 

[Yespage]

Kyle Larson/Stock Car fans certain Larson has already won this, forget having rookie of race locked up. They never heard of Linus Lundquist and Marcus Armstrong. Larson is doing very well, much better than Johnson. I believe Donnie Alison is the best stock car performance at Indy. Finished 4th, also won the 600 in 1970.

Sting Ray Robb was 13th yesterday. Very surprising. Nolan Siegel is up against it, trying to get a backup good to go in 24 hours. His speeds are down in the backup.

Stunner is Honda is struggling for speed.

 

[Yespage]

What a day! Long story short, WT... is happening to Chevy? Wow Penske! Ganassi?! Honda not much speed, but maybe reliability? Larson fans happy. Way to go Simpson!

Long story, the term plenum came up a lot... like roughly 1000 times more than usual. Pato O'Ward suffered one near the end of the race One in a million chances for such an event, yet, snake eyes kept coming up. Carpenter, Larson, Rasmussen, Canapino, and Daly all had an engine event which smells like a plenum fire. 3 in a row, all Chevy's. Each of them were having very good runs and then the engines suffered events that intiaily killed horsepower. Rasmussen actually managed to recover, but then the officials scrubbed his attempt. This is a bit scary because the question is, why in the world did this happen to so many engines? Are these engines going to last the 500!?

Penske rules the top three. I think there is much anyone has for them except for a Dutch racer. Meanwhile Kyle Larson had a engine issue, but managed to ultimately have a sixth place run, good enough for the Sunday top 12 running.

Kyffin Simpson, not so good in practice, and then whips out an 18th qualifying spot. Takuma Sato was finally able to find his speed, made top 12.

Meanwhile Ganassi lacking the speed for qualifying.

Veekay crashed in his first qualifying run, but bad news, good news, he swiped the wall and damaged the wheels, but not the tub. Which led to this finale for Day One Qualifying!

View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=geZ4o6ZxJ1k

 

[Yespage]

Penske sweeps the front row, first time since 1988, which I've been informed is much longer ago than I want to accept.

Veekay wasn't able to Fast 6 it, but will man the inside of Row 3. Ferrucci was able to join Larson and Rossi for the fast Six, getting Foyt's car into a shot at the poll. He'll be outside row 2. McLaughlin was tops and won the pole.

The bump side, Indy 500 winner stopped his run at three laps in a bizarre mistake which made things more dramatic. Katherine Legge, Graham Rahal, and Marcus Ericson make the last row. Noah Siegel couldn't squeeze out any more speed out of the Dale Coyne backup. He made it close though.

Look forward to seeing him race at Mid Ohio (NXT) and presumably Indy for the Battle of the Bricks (IMSA) and on TV at Le Mans.

Kyle Larson continues to impress. Some atock car fams are a little too invested in this guy. Dude is a race car driver that does NASCAR, for whatever reason.

 

[Yespage]

Monaco... Indy... the 600? All in one day?! Well, maybe a couple. Indy is looking like it has a good shot at raining. While we wait for Sunday, here is an Indy moment.

Indy Lights 2013. The last lap is a little easier to pull off with the smaller engines and slower speeds, but still that was something!

View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Wp1klmtsWQA

Indy 500 - 2012 finish. Sato's first pass was like he was a magician.

View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mrFIc6RJKGU

 

[harshness]

Isn't there usually a NASCAR event on the same day as the Indy 500?

I remember these as I also attend a boat racing event on the same day.

 

[Yespage]

Isn't there usually a NASCAR event on the same day as the Indy 500?

I remember these as I also attend a boat racing event on the same day.

The 600 in Charlotte. Larson is looking to do the double. Only Tony Stewart has finished both, and did very well in them as well.

 

[Yespage]

Well, we'll always have Monaco.

What is insane is Kyle Larson is busy trying to prove he is a great race car driver and talks of rain are meaning he could pull out of the 500, to race in Charlotte. Yak!

The weather forecast is getting grim for Sunday with some ingredients lining up for potentially dangerous weather. I'm pondering if they cancel on Saturday if the weather looks that bad because why have 100,000+ people get stuck in dangerous weather. I don't think they've ever cancelled early though. Try on Monday, rain still that day, but the weather isn't looking as precarious.

 

[TRG]

They just lost the Sat uplink in Indy due to heavy rain.