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On
Sunday, after seeing some dazzling early speeds in practice, the
cars got slower, and in "Q" runs we never saw a lap
turned above 227.566 mph. Was I wrong about the loss of the
"tow" being negated by fresh, purpose built
engines, careful "body massaging" and optimized wing
trimming and tire stagger? Clearly for that day, time and
conditions, I was wrong, but it wasn't the loss of the tow that
caused the trouble, it was a race track washed clean of a week's
worth of rubber buildup, something the new surface, diamond
ground or not, must have. It was the cold, the low track
temperature and the swirling and unpredictable wind direction
and intensity. It also was the lack of enough early practice
laps in qualifying conditions and the resolve of the teams to
lay the trailing edge of the wings back anyway. For the cars
that were the week-long speed leaders, tow or no tow, they
became difficult to drive and difficult to adjust
Scott
Sharp was first on the track, and in retrospect, he ran quite a
lap, and others that went out early probably got the best of the
conditions as well. At first, Tony Kanaan's run appeared to be
disappointment, but as driver after driver took their turn at
running him down, the run became stellar. No, I doubt it was the
lack of a tow, it was the lack of a workable setup. That was
proven in the Sam Hornish run. MTP has more at-speed laps at IMS
than any other two teams combined, if you leave AJ Foyt's
efforts out of the mix. They came up with a setup that Sam
Hornish was able to stick in the middle of the front row, and he
didn't have a tow. I'm guessing they used the same basic setup
they had on Helio's car in that amazing, cold and wind swept
pole run of 2003, a run that produced a 231 mph speed. The wind
in the early morning practice session, when all the great speeds
were posted, was still under 10-mph, the session was an anomaly,
those speeds were never to be obtainable later, by anyone, and
that is what caught the teams by surprise. They kept the wings
the way they set them for the runs of the first team driver, and
when that didn't work, it became pure guess work until they ran
the length of the "Q" line. After that, some teams
coped better than others, but 90 minutes after Sam's run, the
same setup failed Helio and he lost a spot. AGR was able to make
progress with Franchitti, while they were lost with Wheldon and
Herta. Panther didn't qualify in lockstep because they lost the
tow, it was a matter of the best they could do with the setup
they had.
It
was a strange day at a place best known for rapid and frequent
condition changes, more so than any track in at least America,
that's what makes Indy so special. I write commentary and
opinions here, and I make them before the event happens, I'm not
the first to miss on a pole speed and what was it I missed by,
one mph? I said that I expected a 228, in fact, here is a direct
quote of what I said, exactly as it was written, "UNLESS
WEATHER PLAYS A PART IN THE RUNS, THE POLE SPEED WILL BE 228
MPH." TK qualified at 227.55, I'll live with my
shortage.
What
I am most happy about is that there are 15 quality cars, drivers
and teams within 3 mph of the pole, three more that should
be within that gap and Kenny Brack in the # 15 car is yet to
run. Don't expect big speeds this weekend, even if the
conditions are prefect, the risk/reward ratio precludes that.
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The day was
dominated by teams working on race day setups, but there was a
flyer or two thrown in. After all, there is a $2,500 "day
money" race to be decided. Kenny Brack was quickly up to
speed, and I'm sure there was a strength and stamina check as
well, Kenny ran most of the day. There are 22 cars in the field,
and by my count, eleven more real entries yet to make the show.
If there is to be real bumping, some teams are going to have to
run some extra cars. Don't expect to see much mid-week speed
from any of these cars, a 224 on Wednesday/Thursday won't get
you in the race on Saturday or Sunday, and an unnecessary will
keep you out of it. Of the cars already in the race, it was good
to see Adrian Fernandez 3rd on the chart. Of those not yet in
the field, Patrick Carpentier was running at a field-making
pace, and PDM had Marty Roth running at speeds 8-mph faster than
he had ever ran before. That is huge, and shows that these guys
still know IMS, and the Chevy is pulling it's share of the load
as well. I hope Marty keeps the car out of the fence. Here are
some pictures from today at IMS.
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