Video: Cleveland 1995

[macdaddy]

A few days ago, Dov reminded me about Cleveland 1995, so I dug out the tape and watched the race.

What a great run!

Unfortunately, I had to edit out a few "highlights" - in order to get the upload to fit. But here's what I ended up with - submitted for your enjoyment...

EDIT:
Sorry - You're too late! Vid is no longer online.

As you'll see, the older the source tapes, the poorer the video quality. There's nothing I can do about that...

Cheers!

[Dov]

Thanks Macdaddy!!! There was so many great battles during that race!!! ChampCars = Real Racing!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Cheers

Dov

[Flatspot]

Yessssssssssssssssssssssss!

[evo]

Now that was cool

[Snrub]

I completely forgot about that race. I don't know if I saw it the first time as it seemed very unfamilar. Good stuff though!

[Testure]

Like lots of people, I've never had a chance to see any of that footage before, so thank you! Wonderful to see a young Jacques Villeneuve again. Plenty of action, but how many times did people screw up a corner and end up driving over grass?! And check out Robbie Gordon driving into Andretti at the end of the clip!

Villeneuve said at the end of the race that he passed Herta and and Andretti when they were slowing because of a yellow flag, which is interesting. How legal was that?

[Flatspot]

Originally posted by Testure
And check out Robbie Gordon driving into Andretti at the end of the clip!

If I recall correctly Gordon received a sizable fine for that action and although the officials missed it he was incriminated by that onboard footage.

[Andy Roberts]

Great vid! This is why we all love CART so much! Great racing and a great history!

[jklein6419]

i still dont understand why the present champ cars dont put on shows like this. is it the wing package, the reduction of horse power or what

[ElScOrChO]

Thanks alot Macdaddy! I've been looking for that race a long time. I saw it live but I couldn't remember which race Villeneuve passed 3 cars and touching one in the last laps.
Cheers!

[Hazza]

You could argue that nowadays even in a parity series that there are only about 6 drivers capeable of winning. Look back at 95 alone, Jacques won only, what 4 races for the title? Little Jr won 5? So there was definatly more racewinners in the field.
I'm not saying that the drivers now a crud but there arn't that many in race winning situation.

And with "real" strategy with the boost knobs meant that the PPG Indycar Cup was just so much more kick-ass back then

Excellent Video

[evo]

Tires may have played a role in that too. I believe 95 was the first year Firestone was in the series.

[codename_47]

Great action there, no doubt!

But what was up with Gordon's helmet? Seemed to be very square at the back...:confused:

Thanks, as ever MD!

[Snrub]

Firestone entered for the first year in '95. Recall they were really slow back then. I believe the effects of the tire war were felt up until ~2001, slightly after the actual end. You guys forget what the racing was like merely a few years ago. It wasn't all that different from that '95 race.

I'm a tad confused by your comment Hazza. You say that there were 6 drivers capable of winning in '95, but that JV and Al Jr. essentially dominated the winnings with 2/3 going to them. Then you go on to say that things were more competitive then. I mean no disrespect, but I think you contridict yourself and thus I disagree. 2003 winners: PT, Junky, Bourdais, PC, Jourdain, Dominguez, Fernandez, RHR. (that's 8) People who were more than capable of winning based on their performances, you could include Jimmy, Manning, Salo.

[macdaddy]

I'm glad everybody liked that one. Thanks again to Dov for the suggestion. I've discovered that it can be tough to squeeze things into six minutes!

I'd like to do Jerez 97, but I don't want to start a riot on the F1 board. I can see where that thread would end up leading. Liz would love it!
{insert smiley, but the only one I know how to do is beer)

And so shoot me a couple of other suggestions, from 95-97. Any older tapes are pretty crappy. And most of the more recent stuff that I've got are 500's, which are virtually impossible to edit into 6 minutes and remain coherent.

Maybe I should do a homevid review of all the T&A my twitchy finger has accidentally zoomed in on?
Again, squeezing it into the time frame would prove a task.

A few notes about that Cleveland race...

I'm not sure about fines, but both Gordon and Andretti were put on "probation" after the race.

Attendance was announced at 65K.

It was not "follow the leader" on the first round of stops, and so every team was running their own strategies.

Note how Pruett starts fighting with the leaders on the final laps. He was two laps down. MGF's onboard camera showed how Pruett squeezed deFerran, who was leading, right off the track. Later, television caught a confrontation between the two drivers, as if Pruett came up to apologize and a very upset Gil told him where to go, in no uncertain terms! 1995 was deFerran's rookie year, and it was nice to see the bright yellow Hall team again.

[Omega99]

I think drivers in all open wheel series' are less aggressive and much more conservative, and they don't take as many chances to go side by side beacuase they concentrate on trying to "finish the race" and pick up some points. It'd be cool by me if Allmendinger and Valiante wanted to spice things up next year.

[f1manoz]

Fantastic video macdaddy!

I'll call that a great going away present!

[Hazza]

Hmm yes, I *wasn't* thinking straight - it's easy to look back on the races and look at all the star names and think "well look how many people could have won a race back then" but now, just because manning etc havn't won a race, doesn't mean they will not. - My mistake.

But I would still venture the opion that which is more varied this or this?

And by the way, which driver got pinged in '97 for ignoring yellow flags

[ElScOrChO]

Here is a suggestion: Indy 1995

I never seen it again, and I'd like to know how JV
managed to win with a 2 lap penalty!

[racerkeke]

Somebody asked about Gordon's flatback helmet -- it was a new type at that time, made so it sat flat against the headrest and provided an aerodynamic continuity between the helmet and the airbox. Popular for a couple of years. Current helmets are kind of a cross between the flatbacks and regular rounded ones.

keke

[macdaddy]

And by the way, which driver got pinged in '97 for ignoring yellow flags?

Herta definitely passed MGF directly in front of Gil's parked car. You can see that on the vid. JV made his move after the local yellow. Very astute, I'd say, similar to his Indy win.

(Which, by-the-way, will be up next)...

[Jordi]

Wait for me macdaddy! I'll download Cleveland tonight, a must for me!

[Miss Hardt]

Thanks for this. It brings back some wonderful memories, some times that have sort of died.

[Jordi]

I agree, it's one hell of a race, side by side action...and Jacques won

[Miss Hardt]

But that's not the only important thing. I was also refering to the general situation in motorsports.