IMSA WeatherTech Detroit GP

[J Jay]

Originally Posted by joeb

I missed the first part of the race, and just turned it on to see the Caddy throw it in the tires. So lots of yellows today? The proto field looks pretty intact right now, I guess they were gt caused?

Yep, and there's another one. Tincknell in the tyres.

From the Cadillac behind, it looked to me like Simpson had the corner and Tincknell should have yielded.

Edit - I stand corrected, the corner camera from the front shows Simpson was only rear-to-front on Tincknell as he turned in.

[Akrapovic]

At time of writing.

Green time: 00:33:11
Yellow time: 00:37:50

[broadrun96]

Originally Posted by Akrapovic

Not sure that needed a caution tbh. Also not sure why TV was shouting about how this was going to work out for Mazda. It was never going to work. Even as the car exited the pits at the back of the pack they were saying it was brilliant. Didn't have the tyres. Would've been a longer stop. Now it's a race to the end and it's much further back than it was.

NBCSports was behind Penske and the perfect call and timing. It seemed tough to not call a caution given how many cars had to snap around it, hitting a cheese wedge can definitely damage the front end and there's no way a local could be used there at speed.

It seems it's a Mazda curse, Joest can't seem to get out of there way. And now punted in to the wall by Simpson and another FCY. I don't think they can let that punt by Simpson go, he wasn't ahead and forced it

[broadrun96]

Originally Posted by J Jay

Yep, and there's another one. Tincknell in the tyres.



From the Cadillac behind, it looked to me like Simpson had the corner and Tincknell should have yielded.

From the front the Caddy was barely to the Mazda's rear wheel. Plus Simpson moved left to hit the Mazda BEFORE the corner

[broadrun96]

The race is over, no way they get that barrier wrap fixed in under 30 min the way it's been going

[JHamilton]

Whoa that overhead replay looked way different than it did live

[J Jay]

Originally Posted by broadrun96

From the front the Caddy was barely to the Mazda's rear wheel. Plus Simpson moved left to hit the Mazda BEFORE the corner

I agree, see my edit above.

[broadrun96]

I would NOT vote for a penalty, a discussion after the race yes definitely. In race penalty? That might be too much. But I'm a big fan of a points system for some infractions, not everything needs an in race penalty but often needs to be addressed before revenge is taken and someone gets hurt or drivers think it's ok to spin others.

[Akrapovic]

Originally Posted by broadrun96

NBCSports was behind Penske and the perfect call and timing. It seemed tough to not call a caution given how many cars had to snap around it, hitting a cheese wedge can definitely damage the front end and there's no way a local could be used there at speed.

It seems it's a Mazda curse, Joest can't seem to get out of there way. And now punted in to the wall by Simpson and another FCY. I don't think they can let that punt by Simpson go, he wasn't ahead and forced it

NBC were absolutely right. The Mazda strategy wouldn't have worked. It had old tyres and it required a longer stop than everyone around it. Even if had kept the lead until it pitted, it'd have lost everything else in the pit stop.

[JHamilton]

Originally Posted by broadrun96

I would NOT vote for a penalty, a discussion after the race yes definitely. In race penalty? That might be too much. But I'm a big fan of a points system for some infractions, not everything needs an in race penalty but often needs to be addressed before revenge is taken and someone gets hurt or drivers think it's ok to spin others.

That's a racing incident

[Akrapovic]

#10 wing is flopping about. Incoming debris.

[broadrun96]

Wonder if Chevy thinks their ads help sales? They are ridiculously stupid, especially the trucks. Great, you have an outlet in the bed like the rest of the trucks have as an option now too. How about you fix the most uncomfortable cab in the business first? And console layout that's ridiculously scattered

[J Jay]

When it rains, it pours. Jarvis spins/is turned in the #77.

[broadrun96]

And a Mazda spins again. I really think Mazda itself is cursed.

And the Simpson incident is officially one of them racing deals. And sounds like Jarvis isn't too ticked off about it either so race control may have it right from his view

How many bricks will Penske be given for the next round?

[joeb]

JDC cars are looking good, but I don't think anybody gets around the ACuras unless it rains and they collide.

[broadrun96]

Originally Posted by joeb

JDC cars are looking good, but I don't think anybody gets around the ACuras unless it rains and they collide.

Really? Do you think Penske would allow his drivers to screw up and spin in the rain?

[joeb]

Originally Posted by broadrun96

Really? Do you think Penske would allow his drivers to screw up and spin in the rain?

Of course as I hit send, one of the Acuras got passed. Roger is good, but can't control the weather....yet.....

[broadrun96]

Originally Posted by joeb

Of course as I hit send, one of the Acuras got passed. Roger is good, but can't control the weather....yet.....

No but his drivers? Would you take a risk and wreck his car if he got in the radio said just bring it home? Sounds like the rain may hit just between the races and make the Indy race run on a washed\wet track

[broadrun96]

Traffic massively helps Nasr in the Caddy, seems more stable under braking too

Until he catches it wrong and gets slowed again

[joeb]

Originally Posted by broadrun96

Traffic massively helps Nasr in the Caddy, seems more stable under braking too

Until he catches it wrong and gets slowed again

Cameron has this, car seems better on 2/3 of the track.

But these 2 pulled nearly 11 seconds on the rest of the pack!

[broadrun96]

Originally Posted by joeb

Cameron has this, car seems better on 2/3 of the track.

But these 2 pulled nearly 11 seconds on the rest of the pack!

Yeah, seems like Nasr's tires have gone off a bit and Cameron has kept pace. Course then Nasr sets fastest lap so what do I know

[broadrun96]

Short break to hit Lowe's and back for Indy car racing, possibly in the rain. See if the Captain can go for 5 in a row between Indy and IMSA.

[RWill2073]

Guess I'm gonna spam the forum a little. I posted in the indycar thread for this event, but thought I'd share my imsa race experience here. I went for the day, just got back to the west side of the state. To he honest, I enjoyed the imsa race more than the Indy race. Sports car racing has always been my preference. Been to more than 10 petit le mans and 5 Sebring 12 hour races, and 2 lime rock races, mostly during alms era. This was my first race since 2012. So it's not surprising I enjoyed the imsa race a little more.

First off, having never been to a street course, I wasn't expecting much, especially compared to road Atlanta and Sebring. But man, it was much better and impressive than I expected. Was closer to the track in a lot of places than I expected. Of course there are spots you can't really get to, but no big deal.

Turn 7-8-9 area looks dull on tv, but seriously impressive in person. Saw the gtd bumping around there for the lead right in front of me.

I know there were a lot of cautions, but they allowed me time to get from one spot to the next (I am moving a lot at races). During the last caution I headed toward turn 3 with the intent to get in the grandstand for the end. As I walked along the fence, I noticed a guy by himself, not on a phone or headset or anything, just watching the race alone. I recognized him, so I stopped to just say hi. It was johnny O'Connell. I intended to just meet him and move on, but we ended up watching last 20 minutes or so together, just commenting on what was happening. I know I thought this was great, hopefully I wasnt annoying to him, haha. Was a pretty cool experience. He was extremely friendly and had some interesting comments on what was happening.

Also met shae Adam on the grid walk. And saw one of the gtd drivers watching from the turn 2 viewing area in his race suit after he got out of the car. That's what I always envisioned myself doing if I was ever a driver. I'd finish my stint and head out to watch the race trackside like a fan. He was holding court with some fans, so that was neat.

I am now planning to make this a yearly trip. Gotta get back to Sebring and petit, too, though!

[Maelochs]

Great story, RWill2073.

You did get lucky with cautions. My biggest gripe with short races is it's hard toget to different viewing spots. You lucked out.

You lucked out with Johnny O'Connell, too. That would be great---having a pro (I think he has five wins at Detroit) talking about his impression ... a personal race commentary ....

[RWill2073]

Originally Posted by Maelochs

Great story, RWill2073.

You did get lucky with cautions. My biggest gripe with short races is it's hard toget to different viewing spots. You lucked out.

You lucked out with Johnny O'Connell, too. That would be great---having a pro (I think he has five wins at Detroit) talking about his impression ... a personal race commentary ....

Thanks. I have decided that the imsa race was more impressive and looked more like a "main event" than IndyCar did. Of course IndyCar is the main event, and they have the star power. But the variety of cars, and the closing speeds between classes making the speed look more drastic made it more impressive.

I really hope I wasn't annoying to O'Connell, haha. My intention was to just meet him and move on but we started talking and he kept conversing with me, so I stayed there. I didn't ask for any autograph or picture, just chatted about the race. It was really cool on my end, at least lol. He was very accommodating. I am very self conscious of being annoying fan bugging those guys, tho.

I think all in all I may have only missed 3 or so green flag laps, and I hit pretty much every viewing area.

I think I noticed something that makes this track unique. It is a street course, but not one that is necessarily limited by city landscapes. There aren't building or really anything other than the water that limits the track. The walls could theoretically be pushed back from track to allow some runoff, but that would put a bigger imprint on the island landscape. But it has a lot of space on the infield, unlike what I would expect at long beach or Toronto wjere you see indycar have their paddock in an indoor area or imsa have their long beach paddock on outside if track. It has all the infield amenities and attractions that any road course would have. So it has a mixture of a feel of a road course and street course. Makes it a better venue than a normal street course, imo.