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11 May 2006, 12:11 (Ref:1605928) | #1 | ||
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Indy 500 - an irrelevance?
Indy used to be a absolute institution, a challenge, attracting cars and drivers from all over the world (well england at least). Crazy specials fought to get on the grid and qualifying was a real spectacle.
But today I look at the top five speeds and they were all set by effectivley the same car, the 33 car grid was more than twice oversubscribed and now they struggle to fill it. So is the Indy 500 now an irrelevance - in Europe its image is really tarnished now |
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11 May 2006, 12:15 (Ref:1605930) | #2 | ||
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'Valid observation.
Irrelevant even in the US...and 'Indy's' image wasn't helped by the 2005 F1 debacle, either. The merger could change that, but it will take time. |
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11 May 2006, 12:35 (Ref:1605942) | #3 | |
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An irrelevance? Hardly. It remains one of the oldest races in the world, and the challenge is still there, to be faster than everyone else, to keep your car in one piece and to keep it off the unforgiving walls for 500 miles. These days it also remains as one of the last true endurance tests in open-wheel racing. Obviously it's not like it used to be, but "an irrelevance"? To the naysayers, perhaps.
Also, you might want to look up your info when it comes to "struggling to fill 33 spots", as there should be several cars bumped from the field this year. Not to mention the starting grid overall will be stronger than it has been for quite a few years, and we should be in for one heckuva fight between primarily Penske, Ganassi and Andretti-Green this year. As for the F1-fiasco at Indy last year, it didn't hurt Indy a whole lot. It did, however, badly hurt Formula 1's reputation in the US. |
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11 May 2006, 12:57 (Ref:1605961) | #4 | ||
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well spotted rusty!
Ok Indy is different from what it was 15 yrs ago, and so what? Is F1 the same of Gilles' times? Having the same chassis configurations should guarantee a more even competition, and this year the package is one of the richest ever. Every racing formula is gradually shifting to monomake solutions (except for F1, which is nonetheless diminishing the technical competition) there must be some good reasons (beyond cost saving which is the first one!); maybe things will change in a decade, maybe but it's not essential to define the status of a race. |
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11 May 2006, 13:09 (Ref:1605971) | #5 | |
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Except the problem Indy has at the minute (and has for the last few years) is that people on both sides of the Atlantic know that there are at least a dozen drivers who should be on the grid fighting it out for what is still argueably one of the top trophies and prizes in motorsport, but aren't. All because of politics and contracts...
When you get the top level guys from Champ Car racing as well as the top draw boys from F1 having a cut too, then it would truly once again be the crown jewel of all motorsports in the year. It shouldn't take much to do, but it will never happen. Motorsport eh? Too much business and not enough sport any more. |
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11 May 2006, 13:28 (Ref:1605982) | #6 | |||
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11 May 2006, 14:03 (Ref:1605998) | #7 | |||
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11 May 2006, 15:30 (Ref:1606055) | #8 | ||
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Mansell the last active F1 driver I think.
But look at Le Mans (about as far from monomake as you can get) loads of different ways to try to achieve the same thing and attracting a great crop of drivers. Something Indy does not do. F1 has 22 teams wanting to play - thats 44 cars, Le Mans has 70- odd. One make series are never seen as top class. |
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11 May 2006, 17:23 (Ref:1606112) | #9 | |||
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11 May 2006, 15:38 (Ref:1606057) | #10 | ||
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Hello
Every series has its ups and downs but the test of the Indy 500 will always be there. I'm sure in 1992 the same thoughts were going through peoples heads when only 29 cars started the Le Mans 24 Hours. Times change. In my opinion the top three motorsport events in "Jo Public's" head are Le Mans, Indy 500 and Monaco GP and its only us petrol heads who debate the nuances. Nick |
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11 May 2006, 16:01 (Ref:1606069) | #11 | |
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indy has taken on the appearance of a county fair. Saw a picture of opening day with nothing but a few hundred people in the stand and bare aluminum everywhere was so sad it's funny. It's not even the richest motor race in the world anymore, the purse has stayed almost exactly the same for 15 years and was long surpassed by daytona's $18 million purse.
The field is filling out, but that's only because an excess of equipment is lying around from bankrupt teams and people are doing cut rate deals for this one race. Certainly not a spectacle worth turning up to see. |
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11 May 2006, 17:36 (Ref:1606118) | #12 | |||
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As for Daytona it's no wonder they have been able to pour money into the purse there, seeing how NASCAR haven't had to deal with all the BS politics and moronic fighting north-american open-wheel racing has had to endure the past 10 years. But I guess those CART head honchos who wanted to lessen the importance of the Indy 500, which in turn made TG make the extremely bad and stupid decision to demand control and then walk off with the race, knew what they were doing eh? |
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16 May 2006, 09:46 (Ref:1611375) | #13 | |||
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11 May 2006, 16:07 (Ref:1606071) | #14 | ||
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Its seems the US guys agree
check out the auto ad - it seems to agree with me too |
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11 May 2006, 17:37 (Ref:1606120) | #15 | ||
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11 May 2006, 19:30 (Ref:1606199) | #16 | ||
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As far as I remembered the purse in 1991 was around the $7.5 mark and was only just about $8 mil last year. If it had increased to $10 mil, I was unaware of that. If one looks at the facts objectively, no one can possibly argue the race is what is was over 10 years ago. It's barely a footnote in american sports anymore. Remember the 500 used to be like the super bowl and you could barely get tickets. It used to be exciting and interesting. It is not anymore. It's amazing to think back in 1994 I actually used to look forward to it. |
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11 May 2006, 22:08 (Ref:1606425) | #17 | ||
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12 May 2006, 11:37 (Ref:1606926) | #18 | |||
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I was passionate about Indy in its heyday...it was an annual pilgrimage my Dad and I made as a child..I fervently hope for a merger to restore the Month of May to its special status in the racing world. |
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11 May 2006, 19:19 (Ref:1606192) | #19 | ||
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Mansell returned to F1 in 1994.
Indy this year has how many world champions? Le Mans has the winner of the Dakar rally, the WR champ, a glut of ex and future F1 stars, and one current driver, Montagny. It has quality in depth. Indy has??? Last years race was really entertaining, but I just can't get exited by a one make grid, GP2 is exciting, but I never watch it - only recently has F3 woken me up (and only in Germany). One make is a plot for disaster. Reunification is too late as champ car has gone one make. Time for indy to become an open rules event again Last edited by ss_collins; 11 May 2006 at 19:21. |
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11 May 2006, 20:28 (Ref:1606291) | #20 | ||||
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Oh, and Montagny wouldn't have been an active F-1 driver if it wasn't for Ide getting kicked out in the first place. Speaking of races losing its luster, Le Mans should be right up there - where have the factory teams been to stop Audi from utterly dominating the race year in and year out, for example? It's almost ridiculous how easy Audi has been able to completely own Le Mans as of late. Quote:
I can say, however, that you are part of a minority in your views about GP2 though, as there are a ton of people who think the GP2 races each Formula 1 weekend almost is the highlight of the weekend, given all the action just about every race produces. |
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11 May 2006, 20:40 (Ref:1606318) | #21 | |||
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You have conveniently forgotten the other classes, with factory (or factory backed) entries by Porsche, Ferrari, Panoz, Aston Martin and Corvette... this year alone. Every year, there are 80-100 teams applying to race in it, including factories in the various classes... apparently much of the world disagrees with you. Of course, this isn't much besides a juvenile slagging match really. Your series is worse than mine.... how very boring. Why can't people stick to the facts? No, the Indy 500 is not irrelevant, but it is less relevant than it was. Easy, no? |
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11 May 2006, 21:57 (Ref:1606412) | #22 | |||
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Don't get me wrong - I have nothing against the lower classes, and I think the GT (or whatever the name is of it this year) class, for example, is the most enjoyable one just because of what I mentioned earlier, with Audis boring domination as well as the fact that the open prototypes are.. well.. ugly. And deadly. Quote:
Hopefully Eurosport will at least have some sort of highlights package to show at some point. |
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11 May 2006, 21:14 (Ref:1606357) | #23 | ||
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11 May 2006, 22:06 (Ref:1606423) | #24 | ||
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12 May 2006, 21:57 (Ref:1607426) | #25 | ||
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Porsche canned its LMP1 project, after building the car! All for the sake of the ****box that is the Cayenne, and pushed the rest of it motorsport interest into GT2, where it makes a huge profit from the customer market. Any manfacturer could have come in to try and challenge Audi's dominance at Le Mans, just that the glory hungry went the way of F1 instead. Which is a shame. However, I reckon Le Mans is on for a MAJOR resurgence as the worlds greatest race over the next 3 years, more manufacturers are now interested and seem to have cottoned on to what Audi have achieved, especially from a marketing/sales point of view. (I don't reckon Toyota are going to stay much longer in F1, neither are Renault) I'm sure Indy will become the great spectacle (its still a hard and great race) it once was, especially if the merger happens, as it will reignite the fans passion again too. |
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