Today's cars are much faster through the turns but slower down the straights, as confirmed by Mario Andretti when he drove Indianapolis again in 2003.
Today's IndyCar isn't the old 2003 IndyCar so why would you even bring that up? Chevy, Honda, and Lotus haven't even finalized their engine specs yet, and teams aren't going to practice at Indy until May. No team is going to risk wrecking their brand new cars and blowing up engines pushing max speeds in March when they have 4 road/street races before the Indy 500 in May.
The sweet spot in age for a racing driver is 25-35 years old. That is even true in motorsports like NASCAR that may not be as physically demanding as others. Take a look at it, you will see all the greats achieved most of their success and dominance in that age bracket.
The ages of last year's IndyCar race winners: Dario Franchitti (38), Dan Wheldon (33), Will Power (31), Scott Dixon (31), Ryan Hunter-Reay (31), Ed Carpenter (31), Mike Conway (28), Marco Andretti (25). Why did you even say that IndyCar is full of "washed up has been drivers in their late 30s" when 7 out of those 8 race winners were 31 years old or younger? If you're going to criticize IndyCar, then at least get your facts straight.
The problem is none of those drivers really have a car capable of contending for the win. Allmendinger got a ride with Forsythe that allowed him to shine and challenge Bourdais. Its a shame a driver of Graham Rahal's talent is stuck in subpar equipment. Andretti-Green (Is Green still part of it?) hasn't had competitive cars in years.
Graham Rahal races for Chip Ganassi Racing. The same Chip Ganassi Racing that won 4 straight IndyCar Championships from 2008 - 2011. I don't think they won 4 straight championships with subpar equipment.
And Andretti-Green Racing is now Andretti Autosport. And they won 3 races last year with Mike Conway, Marco Andretti, and Ryan Hunter-Reay. This year, James Hinchcliffe (2011 IZOD IndyCar Series Rookie of the Year) will race alongside Marco Andretti, Ryan Hunter-Reay. Looks like a competitive team to me. Again, please get your facts straight.
The current 2012 schedule does look very good. A nice mix of ovals and roadcourses. If they add Road America and Portland to the schedule along with St Louis Gateway oval or Twin Ring Motegi it would be near perfect.
Agreed. I'd love to see those 4 tracks back on the IndyCar schedule.
I'm going to have to wait to see the cars in action on track in race conditions before I judge the DW12. It looks something like the NASCAR COTs looked in their first season, boxy and ugly, but hopefully like the changes NASCAR made, with the help of aero kits etc, the cars can start to look better over time.
I really hope you do watch the races this year. I personally think the DW12 looks way better than the old car, and I too am looking forward to next year's aero kits. A word of advice, try closing your eyes and listening to the sounds of the new turbocharged engines. It will bring back memories of the CART IndyCar World Series.
Farewell, live timing on the go, I'll stick to the ESPNF1 iphone app this year. Quite cool.
