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According to IndyCar T&S the first
practice session has been delayed due to heavy fog in the area. There is a
possibility of morning showers as well, here is today's weather
outlook. At least now the T&S link is showing the cars on the grid
instead of showing the final Chicagoland result, so they may be ready to
run soon. Usually on the road courses, whether in wet or dry conditions,
the first few laps are done with rain tires, both to prevent going too
fast too soon and also to get some rubber down on a green racetrack.
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(2:55 PM EDT) Speeds are increasing by the
lap now, with Helio Castroneves now topping the chart and 130.6 mph as
well, Tony Kanaan is a close 2nd. I see no surprises on the chart other
than Tomas Enge at the bottom of the chart, Enge has only run two laps in
the session. The track has been under yellow flag conditions, but has
recently gone green with less than ten minutes remaining in the session.
There were reports of cars off the track on turn 6 bringing out a caution
flag and ending the session.
Here are the results from the 2nd
practice session.
1 Helio Castroneves (3) 92.8258,
130.696
2 Tony Kanaan (11) 92.8807, 130.619
3 Scott Dixon (9) 93.2028, 130.168
4 Dan Wheldon (26) 93.3773, 129.925
5 Dario Franchitti (27) 93.5874, 129.633
6 Giorgio Pantano (10) 93.9115, 129.185
7 Vitor Meira (17) 94.2962, 128.658
8 Patrick Carpentier (83) 94.4409, 128.461
9 Tomas Scheckter (4) 94.5685, 128.288
10 Bryan Herta (7) 94.8338, 127.929
11 Sam Hornish Jr. (6) 95.0806, 127.597
12 Buddy Rice (15) 95.6848, 126.791
13 Kosuke Matsuura (55) 95.7716, 126.676
14 Alex Barron (51) 95.8302, 126.599
15 Scott Sharp (8) 96.9269, 125.166
16 Roger Yasukawa (24) 97.3846, 124.578
17 Jeff Bucknum (14) 97.5206, 124.404
18 Danica Patrick (16) 98.8260, 122.761
19 Ed Carpenter (20) 102.0693, 118.860
20 Tomas Enge (2) 104.7542 115.814
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***
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(2:45 PM EDT) We are back under green and
seeing mid-pack speed increases and Tony Kanaan and Scott Dixon have just
posted 127 mph laps.
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***
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(2:35 PM EDT) Tomas Scheckter has spun and
brought out a full course caution. Dixon and Dan Wheldon have boosted the
top speeds of the day to 126 mph. With the first session hampered by rain,
we may not see the best possible speeds this afternoon, because the teams
may still be searching for the best gearing combinations.
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***
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(2:20 PM EDT) The 2nd practice session
has started, or at least the track is under green flag contitions. We are
finally seeing speeds that would indicate that the track is either dry or
drying, with Scott Dixon posting a 123 mph lap. It also appears that this
isn't the split session we could expect on a normal practice
afternoon. Jeff Bucknum is on the track for the first time today.
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We are 15 minutes away from the 2nd IndyCar practice
session, which if all goes as planned, will be a split session under
drying conditions. The MIPS session has ended, there are 14 entries, or
roughly less than 3 cars for every quarter-mile of race track
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(11:40 EDT) Even though the T&S link
indicates the rain is increasing, the speeds have gone up as well as the
drivers become more familiar with the track and how these cars react to
the wet conditions. As with early Infineon Raceway practice results,
Giorgio Pantano is now setting the pace, turning a best lap of 108.191
mph. THE TRACK IS NOW UNDER YELLOW FLAG CONDITIONS DUE TO LOW VISIBILITY
AND RAIN.
The latest look
from weather.com shows rain as late as 3:00 PM, and there is a full slate
of Grand AM, MIPS and "historic" car practice yet to go as well.
They have gone to MIPS practice now. In recap, there were four Honda's and
Toyota's in the top ten, and both Chevy's that ran, the Foyt/Bucknum car
didn't turn a lap. There were only three Panoz cars in the top ten, but it
should come as no surprise that Pantano posted the fastest speed of the
session, he is the most active road racer on the grid and has to have the
most recent experience in the rain.
Here are the results of the first
practice session.
1 Giorgio Pantano (10) 1:52.1348, 108.191
2 Tony Kanaan (11) 1:52.1655, 108.162
3 Patrick Carpentier (83) 1:52.9431, 107.417
4 Tomas Enge (2) 1:52.9862, 107.376
5 Dario Franchitti (27) 1:53.3935, 106.990
6 Vitor Meira (17) 1:54.0140, 106.408
7 Tomas Scheckter (4) 1:54.1446, 106.286
8 Sam Hornish Jr. (6) 1:54.3823, 106.065
9 Scott Dixon (9) 1:54.9540, 105.538
10 Dan Wheldon (26) 1:55.4358, 105.097
11 Helio Castroneves (3) 1:55.7537, 104.809
12 Kosuke Matsuura (55) 1:56.0096, 104.578
13 Buddy Rice (15) 1:56.6879, 103.970
14 Bryan Herta (7) 1:56.8659, 103.811
15 Alex Barron (51) 1:57.8626, 102.933
16 Roger Yasukawa (24) 1:58.8372, 102.089
17 Danica Patrick (16) 6.8693 1:59.0041, 101.946
18 Scott Sharp (8) 2:0.2364, 100.901
19 Ed Carpenter (20) 2:7.4749 95.172
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(11:15 EDT) Remember, the results of this
two hour session, whether under wet or dry conditions will determine the
split practice groups, and the combined times till set the qualifying
order Sunday afternoon, and whether the fastest driver in practice will
chose to qualify first or last. This is a two-hour session, there is a
good possibility that the track will dry out before it is over.
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(11:00 EDT) It is raining, so the speeds
remain in the 102 mph range, with Scott Dixon setting the pace. Everyone
entered this weekend are accomplished road racers except Ed Carpenter, but
I don't even have a feel for who might be IndyCars best driver under wet
conditions, but I have some feelers out in an attempt to find out.
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(10:45 EDT) 6 cars have taken to the track
now, and Dario Franchitti is above 100 mph. While the IndyCars rarely were
pointed in a straight line at Infineon Raceway, that won't be the case
this weekend, there are several long straight sections to the Watkins Glen
track, a couple of them coming off rather slow corners. I am optimistic
that could allow far more passing than we saw at Infineon. We will also
see speeds close to 30 mph faster as well, and while it has been my
contention that both the slowest and fastest courses offer the poorest
racing, I'm hoping that this great old course will race well for the
IndyCars.
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When the IndyCars
return to Watkins Glen today weeks after their open test session,
Ryan Briscoe, who set the fastest speed then will be absent from
the field, recovering from injuries suffered two weeks ago at
Chicagoland Speedway. While the test
results showed surprising balance between Toyota and Honda
powered cars, there were 6 cars with Panoz Chassis in the top ten
and only 4 Dallaras. Briscoe's team owner Chip Ganassi has
declined to replace him for the last two 2005 events, and again
will bring in Giorgio Pantano to drive the #10 car driven on the
oval tracks by Jaques Lazier. AJ Foyt Racing will also again bring
in road racer Jeff Bucknum to replace AJ Foyt IV. Here is the entry
list... and event schedule as shown by IndyCar.com, all times
are EDT.
Practice 1
Fri. Sep. 23 :: 10 a.m. - Noon
Practice 2 Fri. Sep 23 :: 1:50 - 3 p.m.
Practice 3 Sat. Sep. 24 :: 10:20 - 11:30 a.m.
Qualifications Sat. Sep. 24 :: 1 - 2:45 p.m.
Final Practice Sun. Sep. 25 :: 9:30 - 10 a.m.
Watkins Glen Indy Grand Prix presented by Argent Mortgage
Sun. Sep. 25 :: 3:45 p.m.
While all things
might have appeared to be equal during the test session, I suspect
there are enough straightaway sections to allow for the horsepower
advantaged Honda cars to get the best of the Toyota's when it is
time to force the issue. Here is a map of the Watkins Glen track.
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| While speeds might be too high to force
passes under braking on the long backstretch due to the
"economy" mandated brakes dictated by IndyCar regulations, I
do think there will be some passing in the "sole" of the boot
section and on the straightaway by the start/finish line as well.
Testing speeds were in the 132 mph range, but I expect to see even
faster speeds today. During the open test there was only one Chevy
powered participant, Tomas Scheckter, for the race Tomas Enge and Jeff
Bucknum will also have Chevy entries, and I like Enge's chances.
It is possible that we will get a first
look at the IndyCars under wet conditions this weekend, as there is a
30% chance of showers today, and 40% chance on Sunday, here's the
weather link...
Here are two more links of interest, the
open practice report, and a look back at Watkins
Glen's open wheel racing history.
The race is being held a little earlier
in the year than Watkins Glen GP and CART events of the past, but the
track used to draw crowds of close to 200,000 for the USGP, and had
crowd control issues in "the bog" area, I wonder of any of the
veterans of those days will remember their history and limp in to
rekindle old memories? I'm not sure I'd want to watch them THIS time.
One other thing, the last time the CART
cars ran at The Glen Mario Andretti was the pole sitter, lapping the
track at 1:56.167 sec. @ 104.653 mph, a fast speed at the time. |
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