101st Indianapolis 500- 28 May 2017Open Wheel
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He looked like the fastest also, just lost out in pits due to probably cautions. Max Chilton gained a lot due to that. Alexander Rossi lost even more positions due to refuelling issue. They looked like favourites all the way until final part of race.
After seeing Ryan retire from race, I was worried Fernando's engine will not last as he also had to do qualifying laps with it. Might be a long time before he gives it another go, looked like he was already class of the field on first attempt.
Well done to Takuma on the victory, good to see a Japanese driver win with Japanese power. Wanted either him to win or one of the British drivers.
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Great race, it's been a looooooong time I had so much fun watching a Motorsports event F1 is just sooo boring. Vacuum cleaners.
Indycars sound so good, hah. And after some time getting used to it I think they also look way better than F1 cars...
Great drive from Alonso, he really almost looked like a winner, too bad about his engine.
Great drive from a lot of other drivers, too although most of them didn't look as fast.
Max Chilton idk rookie mistake you don't drive away like that and win with 20+ laps to go at Indianapolis 500. What was he thinking?
Well deserved win for Takuma Sato. Boy, he was so happy!
Indycars sound so good, hah. And after some time getting used to it I think they also look way better than F1 cars...
Great drive from Alonso, he really almost looked like a winner, too bad about his engine.
Great drive from a lot of other drivers, too although most of them didn't look as fast.
Max Chilton idk rookie mistake you don't drive away like that and win with 20+ laps to go at Indianapolis 500. What was he thinking?
Well deserved win for Takuma Sato. Boy, he was so happy!
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I haven't heard but I am willing to sepculate that valve heads were snapped off. There wasn't much oil coming out and the exhausts were flaming up a bit since the valve wasn't there to stop the fire coming out of the cylinder. Plus each one sounded pretty rattle-y right after they went up.
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So Alonso gets Rookie of the year.
A 2x Formula 1 World Champion in an Andretti Autosport team with 5 teammates, retired during the race and was not lead rookie at the time of the engine failure beats Ed Jones in a DCR team with 2 teammates. One of which was Bourdais swapped after week 1 for Davison who hadn't driven IndyCar since 2015 and Pippa Mann, finished 3rd with a damaged car from the Dixon accident, was last of those on the lead lap shortly after because had to replace a rear wing and still didn't get ROTY.
A 2x Formula 1 World Champion in an Andretti Autosport team with 5 teammates, retired during the race and was not lead rookie at the time of the engine failure beats Ed Jones in a DCR team with 2 teammates. One of which was Bourdais swapped after week 1 for Davison who hadn't driven IndyCar since 2015 and Pippa Mann, finished 3rd with a damaged car from the Dixon accident, was last of those on the lead lap shortly after because had to replace a rear wing and still didn't get ROTY.
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Ed was ahead of him at the point of the engine blow up though. Plus, Ed had damage to the car sustained from the Dixon accident as well as being last on the lead lap after having to pit to replace the rear wing. Ed had more top 3s in a practice session throughout the month as well as having a switch of teammates to Davison who hadn't driven an IndyCar since 2015. Alonso had 4 IndyCar regulars as teammates.
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He's already gotten a call from the Pyongyang Post for editorship of the Those Japanese Bastards In Sports section.
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There's a similar case that happen in the 1966 race, both Graham Hill and Jackie Stewart were rookies that year.
Stewart had a commanding lead in the later stages of the race until mechanical issues put him out of the race. Hill took the lead following Stewart's retirement and went to win Indy. Although Hill won the race as a rookie, Stewart's strong performance awarded him Rookie of Year for 1966.
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Laps Led:
Fernando - 4 times for 27 laps
Ed - 0
Fernando was up front fighting for a good chunk of his time running and he was in 7th when his engine let go, Ed just kind of made his way up towards the end. I don't see what team mates has to do with anything, especially when you can counter with the fact Ed has had far more time in the car compared to Fernando.
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Ed was 28th after pitting for damage sustained in Dixon's accident and had other damage for the remainder of the race and despite this, still had the 5th fastest lap. That might explain why he didn't lead.
Also, in terms of time in the car in total, yes. However, in terms of time in the car at Indy, Fernando had a whole day to himself as well as the Rookie morning and 5 teammates to gain information from.
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- BlackRose_Atomic
Qualifying is also part of the consideration, as is consistency during all of the practice sessions. The only thing Jones has to stand on is the fact that his Honda didn't blow up while Alonso's did. Alonso has him scrubbed out everywhere else.
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Really though? Alonso is a 2x F1 champion and was driving for an Andretti team with 6 drivers including RHR and co. His entry being a one off entry with everything thrown at it where Coyne had Bourdais for a week then had Davison who hasn't driven since 2015 and Pippa Mann who races part-time. On team and teammates alone, you should expect Alonso to beat Jones.
During the month of May, Alonso had a whole day in total to himself allowing him to gain additional data. More track time = more experience in the IndyCar at Indy. Yes, Ed did do the other races but this is his first race in the oval spec car with Phoenix being run on the road course spec so this is a completely different spec of car to the DW12 that Ed drove for the other races. Although more time in any spec of the car is beneficial, you don't gain the experience that relates specifically to that spec.
Yes, I agree that Alonso was better in Qualifying. Although for reasons above, that was expected.
During the race, Ed sustained damage to the car by running over some debris (Read here) causing him to pit and was into 28th. Also, the floor was damaged which couldn't be replaced losing Ed some crucial speed. Alonso didn't have such problems in terms of speed. Yes, Ed got slightly lucky by pitting before a yellow but that happens and that put him ahead of Alonso into 4th with Alonso 7th. He finished 3rd which was the best ever official result for the team. (Alex Lloyd will tell you why he thought he deserved 3rd)
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Ed Jones has 2 full Indy Lights seasons under his belt winning the Indy race as well as the championship in 2016.
Alonso on the other hand had never driven an oval.
Team mates can only do so much, not sure why they are being brought up at all.
The spec doesn't really make much of a difference, what matters is that Ed has considerably more experience racing on ovals compared to Alonso.
What was his excuse prior to the damage?
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The main point was that he's got 5 teammates and 4 of which did the race last year and have experience and data from that. Plus, 6 cars in a single team allows for 6 different adjustments for a base setup. Rahal said about being a single car team was a disadvantage to the rest but a 3 car team is still at a disadvantage compared to a 6 car team. Don't forget that Alonso had a whole extra day to himself.
My point was that it was a different spec of car he's driven. Yes, Ed did Lights which is great preparation but he'd still not driven the DW12 in oval trim.
Why would he need an "excuse?" He was in the top 10 before that.
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Teammates don't mean anything when comparing stats of Indy 500 rookies. I've already told you what categories are put in consideration when determining the Indy 500 ROTY, so why you keep pressing that Jones should have gotten it is beyond me. Alonso had an engine failure but had wiped the floor with Jones throughout the practice sessions, and in qualifying, and had led lap while Jones didn't, regardless of circumstance. You bring up the Andretti squad, while failing to underline that Bourdais had won a race this year, led the championship and was there with him for the first week of practice. Ed Jones was spending more time floating in the bottom of the time sheets near Gabby Chaves and Conor Daly while Alonso was up there with other Indy 500 champions.
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Wiped the floor in the practice sessions? 2nd fastest lap of the month and Ed getting the only top 3 during a session between the 2 isn't what I call wiping the floor. Were you actually looking at the time sheets? Because from what I've read from there, that's completely false.
Day 1: 22nd
Day 2: 15th
Day 3: Did not lap
Day 4: 18th
Day 5: 9th
Sat Q: 10th
Sun Q: 8th overall
Day 6: 2nd
Day 7: 23rd
Averaging 13.38.
Excluding Days 1 and 7, he's finished in the top 20 in all sessions. I do not see that as languishing near the bottom of the time sheets near the Foyt cars. I can't remember if there was a reason for each day. But remember. Alonso is still a big name in Motorsport. Expecting him to be of the pace of a driver who's had far less racing experience is pretty ignorant of Fernando's proven abilities. Of the results above, Fernando wasn't in the top 3 in any pre-race session. My point on teammates related to the data accessible to the driver. Nothing more, nothing less.
That's all I'm bothered to argue. I've made my points.
Yes, but Coyne have won 5 races in their history and Bourdais win was a surprise win with a well timed yellow. I don't see how that makes my point any less valid.
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Ed Jones was in the Indy 500? For all 200 laps? Where? Can someone point him out? It's just that he did nothing noteworthy at all and I want to see whether a case for him being rookie of the day exists.
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Italian constructor Dallara is the all-time leader in wins with 17 including every 500 from 2005 up to now. Japanese owned Firestone has been the winning tire in every win since 2000.
The last All Team USA win I can find was in 1992 with little Al in the Galmer/Chevrolet/Goodyear although technically the chassis and most likely the engine were built in the UK. I bet that was a big day for Herr Frei.
GTPNewsWire
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This is the discussion thread for a recent post on GTPlanet:
This article was published by Kyle Patrick (@SlipZtrEm) on May 30th, 2017 in the Motorsports category.
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...and that tell us everything we need to know. Taku beats Fernando. 
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TV ratings were down http://www.sportsmediawatch.com/2017/05/indy-500-ratings-lowest-overnight-record-abc/ but they still crushed NASCAR and beat game 1 of the Stanley Cup last night - barely.
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According to this, ratings were up 975% in the UK.
https://f1broadcasting.co/2017/05/29/alonsos-indy-500-exploit-peaks-with-203000-viewers/
Around 443,000 watched from Spain.
http://nesn.com/2017/05/indy-500s-viewership-in-spain-blows-f1-monaco-grand-prix-out-of-water/
https://f1broadcasting.co/2017/05/29/alonsos-indy-500-exploit-peaks-with-203000-viewers/
Around 443,000 watched from Spain.
http://nesn.com/2017/05/indy-500s-viewership-in-spain-blows-f1-monaco-grand-prix-out-of-water/
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