Round 15: IndyCar Grand Prix at the Glen, Watkins Glen. Sep 2-4, 2016.

[bjohnsonsmith]

Round 15: IndyCar Grand Prix at the Glen, Watkins Glen. Sep 2-4, 2016.

With The Grand Prix of Boston cancelled, before it even got going, Watkins Glen makes a welcome return to the IndyCar calendar after 6 years.

Once the home of the United States F1 Grand Prix, from 1961 - 1980, the idea of having a race track at Watkins Glen was down to a young, Ohio law student Cameron Argetsinger a member of the Sports Car Club of America, SCCA. The first event to be held was the Watkins Glen Grand Prix, in October 1948. It took place on a challenging 6.6 mile course that included asphalt, cement and dirt roads in and around the village of Watkins Glen.

After two terrible accidents in 1951 and '52, New York State banned racing on state highways, therefore a new 4.4 mile course was created a short distance away, in the town of Dix using town and agricultural roads. However, drivers soon complained about the lack of run-off and poor visibility. It became clear that using farm roads for racing wasunsustainable and a permanent facility was needed. Construction began on a new 2.3 mile long course on a section of land that overlapped part of the course. The new circuit opened in 1956 and began establishing itself as a major national and international venue. NASCAR first raced there in 1957 and in 1961 it held the irst United States F1 Grand Prix.

However, for several years, concerns had been raised about the safety of the chicane on the inside of The Loop. Not to be confused with the bus stop chicane or Inner Loop added in 1992. Everything came to a head when Graham Hill was severely injured in the 1969 F1 GP. The track therefore underwent a major overhaul and redesign for the 1971 season.

With the costs of the 1971 redesign still not paid off and the increasing F1 sanctioning fee, the track was in financial trouble. When the sanction fee for 1981 could not be paid and the FIA decided to remove the race from the 1981 calendar. The circuit found itself in administration and for two years it was effectively closed, hosting a handful of SCCA events without spectators.

In 1983 Corning Enterprises, a subsidiary of glass company Corning Inc., in partnership with International Speedway Corporation bought the track and renamed it, Watkins Glen International. The circuit was renovated and the chicane at the Esses was removed completely. In 1985 sportscars returned with the IMSA series and in 1986, NASCAR returned, though only racing on the short course.

In 2005 Watkins Glen was added to the IRL IndyCar Series calendar, the first season to include road courses. The race was held on the full circuit, which includes The Boot and the Inner Loop and was won by Scott Dixon, for Chip Ganassi Racing, driving a Panoz G-Force-Toyota. The last IndyCar race was held on July 4, 2010 and won by Will Power, for Penske Racing, driving a Dallara IR05-Honda HI7R. However, the following year Watkins Glen left the calendar, citing low attendance figures.

Since opening in 1956, the track has undergone several layout changes. The most significant was in 1971, with the track undergoing a major redesign at a cost of $2.3 million. The "Big Bend" and the turns leading up to it were replaced with a new pit straight. A new extension was built and was nicknamed The Boot due to its shape. The track was also resurfaced and widened. As a result of Francois Cevert's fatal accident in the 1973 US Grand Prix, in which the armco barrier was uprooted on impact, a temporary chicane was installed in 1975 at the Esses.

Increasing speeds and the close proximity of the Armco barriers, continued to be a problem. In 1991, two accidents at The Loop, one of which was fatal forced a change. A bus stop chicane was therefore added to the back straight in spring 1992, known as the Inner Loop, establishing the current layout.

Some trivia:
Driver with most wins: 3
Scott Dixon, 2005-2007
Team with most wins: 3
Chip Ganassi Racing, 2005-2007

Track layout:
Original Grand Prix layout: 1956-1970
Length: 2.350 miles (3.782 km)


F1 Grand Prix layout: 1971-1980
Length: 3.377 miles (5.435 km)



Current full layout with the Inner Loop:
Length: 3.450 miles (5.552 km)


Turns: 11
Lap record: Ryan Briscoe, 4 July 2009. 1:28.5970, 136.935 Mph (220.375 Kmh). Team Penske, Dallara IR05-Honda HI7R, IRL IndyCar Series.

Last IndyCar race winner:
Will Power
Team Penske, Dallara IR05-Honda HI7R

Laps: 60
Distance: 204 Miles (328.306 Km)
Race Time: 1:40:27

Race broadcast:
NBCSN, 2:00pm ET

[fieldodreams79]

Forgot this was this weekend! Excellent!

And excellent post #1 as always BJS!

Points battle between Power and Simon is going to be good the next 2 races, with both being road courses....

[Purist]

F1, the WSC, and Can-Am all used the original Carousel (Turn 5). Among major series, only the USRRC used that old chicane, and even they dropped it in their final season (1968). From what I gather, Graham Hill crashed in that final couple of corners in 1969.

The IMSA double three-hour races were the effective reopening of Watkins Glen in 1984.

Track Layouts:
Original- 2.350 miles (1956-70)
Original w/ Carousel chicane- 2.300 miles
Grand Prix Circuit- 3.377 miles (1971-present)
GP Circuit w/ Esses chicane- 3.380 miles (1975-81)
GP Circuit w/ Inner Loop- 3.400 miles (1992-present)
Short Course- 2.427 miles (1971-present)
Short Course w/ Esses chicane- 2.430 miles (1975-81)
Short Course w/ Inner Loop- 2.450 miles (1992-present)

CART used the short course in 1979-80 and the GP circuit in 1981. The IRL/IndyCar used the GP circuit with the Inner Loop in 2005-10, and will do so again, presumably. ( I would be slightly amused if they found mid-corner and exit speeds in the Carousel to be somewhat lower if they actually didn't use the Inner Loop, and therefore drivers had to slow down for it, rather than using it as an acceleration zone for the run down to Turn 6.)

[bjohnsonsmith]

Originally Posted by Purist

F1, the WSC, and Can-Am all used the original Carousel (Turn 5). Among major series, only the USRRC used that old chicane, and even they dropped it in their final season (1968). From what I gather, Graham Hill crashed in that final couple of corners in 1969.

The IMSA double three-hour races were the effective reopening of Watkins Glen in 1984.

Track Layouts:
Original- 2.350 miles (1956-70)
Original w/ Carousel chicane- 2.300 miles
Grand Prix Circuit- 3.377 miles (1971-present)
GP Circuit w/ Esses chicane- 3.380 miles (1975-81)
GP Circuit w/ Inner Loop- 3.400 miles (1992-present)
Short Course- 2.427 miles (1971-present)
Short Course w/ Esses chicane- 2.430 miles (1975-81)
Short Course w/ Inner Loop- 2.450 miles (1992-present)

CART used the short course in 1979-80 and the GP circuit in 1981. The IRL/IndyCar used the GP circuit with the Inner Loop in 2005-10, and will do so again, presumably. ( I would be slightly amused if they found mid-corner and exit speeds in the Carousel to be somewhat lower if they actually didn't use the Inner Loop, and therefore drivers had to slow down for it, rather than using it as an acceleration zone for the run down to Turn 6.)

Thanks for the extra info, much appreciated,

[D.R.T.]

This should be a real barn burner. Great to be back at the Glen.

[Purist]

With the current downforce, I'm curious to see in how many corners they might be able to pull off two-wide formation.

Sure thing, BJS.

(The one bit of information I still wish I could find is the fastest race lap from the 1981 CART race on the GP circuit. Pole was set in the wet, and is slower than the overall race average, so I'm hoping I can get that piece of the puzzle at some point.)

[10TENTHS]

Worth noting that there are 5 rookies in this race: Pigot, Chilton, Rossi, Daly, and Enerson.

[S griffin]

I'm looking forward to the return of the Glen this weekend and the race for the win should be a good one for the fans who are watching it

[Purist]

Maybe not a total surprise, but the entire field is already under the old Pole mark.

Dixon currently leads at a 1:24.128 (145.493 mph).

EDIT: The entire field is north of 140 mph. Dixon now under a 1:24 at 1:23.892 (145.902 mph).

[Purist]

Dixon tops the times again with a best lap of 1:22.874 (147.694 mph).

Davy Jones' outright closed-circuit road course lap record on the Short Course here is starting to look not so far away.

[Purist]

Dixon does another quick one in P3: 1:22.801 (147.824 mph).

[bjohnsonsmith]

Qualifying is underway and IndyCar are showing it.

http://racecontrol.indycar.com/

[bjohnsonsmith]

Qualifying Result:

Dixon got Pole and broke the lap record with a time of 01:22.5259, 147.008 Mph (236.586 km/h), in a somewhat controversial session.

Rahal and Sato had their two best times invalidated in their group session, for interfering with the qualifying attempt of another Car. Hinchcliffe had his best time invalidated in his group session, for causing a Yellow, which interfered with the qualifying attempt of another car. Aleshin uncured the same penalty as Rahal and Sato and was therefore not allowed to contend the Fast 6. He was clearly not happy about it when interviewed.

So, its a Chevy top 6. Pagenaud is 7th, not where he really wanted to be and top Honda is Jack Hawksworth; he's really had a rubbish season.

1 Scott Dixon, Chip Ganassi Racing. Dallara/Chevrolet. 1m22.5259s
2 Will Power, Team Penske. Dallara/Chevrolet. 0.0483s
3 Sebastien Bourdais, KVSH Racing. Dallara/Chevrolet. 0.2585s
4 Helio Castroneves, Team Penske. Dallara/Chevrolet. 0.3489s
5 Tony Kanaan, Chip Ganassi Racing. Dallara/Chevrolet. 0.3899s
6 Max Chilton, Chip Ganassi Racing. Dallara/Chevrolet. 0.4805s
7 Simon Pagenaud, Team Penske. Dallara/Chevrolet. 0.9401s
8 Juan Pablo Montoya, Team Penske. Dallara/Chevrolet. 1.0234s
9 Jack Hawksworth, AJ Foyt Enterprises. Dallara/Honda. 1.1133s
10 Mikhail Aleshin, Schmidt Peterson Motorsports. Dallara/Honda. 1.2485s
11 R.C. Enerson, Dale Coyne Racing. Dallara/Honda. 1.4648s
12 Josef Newgarden, Ed Carpenter Racing. Dallara/Chevrolet. 1.5724s
13 James Hinchcliffe, Schmidt Peterson Motorsports. Dallara/Honda. 1.5218s
14 Charlie Kimball, Chip Ganassi Racing. Dallara/Chevrolet. 2.3669s
15 Alexander Rossi, Andretti Herta. Dallara/Honda. 1.5649s
16 Carlos Munoz, Andretti Autosport. Dallara/Honda. 3.0301s
17 Conor Daly, Dale Coyne Racing. Dallara/Honda. 1.7347s
18 Marco Andretti, Andretti Autosport. Dallara/Honda. 3.9026s
19 Ryan Hunter-Reay, Andretti Autosport. Dallara/Honda. 1.9995s
20 Graham Rahal, Rahal Letterman Lanigan. Dallara/Honda 35.6634s
21 Spencer Pigot, Ed Carpenter Racing. Dallara/Chevrolet. 2.6567s
22 Takuma Sato, AJ Foyt Enterprises. Dallara/Honda. 49.8006s

[Lanky Turtle]

I thought they were too harsh with handing out the penalties during qualifying. Either way it's good to see Seabass and my man Willy P. up there for the start. Everyone's gonna have a hard time dealing with Dixon for this one though.

[Purist]

They're off and racing!

[bjohnsonsmith]

A bit of a scrappy start, as Bourdais goes into the tyre wall and Pagenaud gets himself up to 3rd.

Edit: Bourdais got himself going.

[bjohnsonsmith]

A big spin for Aleshin, as his left rear explodes and it brings out the first FCY.

[gert]

Did he run over a piece of junk, or did it just let go?

[bjohnsonsmith]

Originally Posted by gert

Did he run over a piece of junk, or did it just let go?

Hard to tell but a number of drivers have mentioned tyre wear on the left rear. Having seen the replay it looks like it just let go.

[gert]

A pity for Aleshin, he was really fast. Up to this point he has the 3rd fastest lap of the race (behind Dixon and Kimball)

[fieldodreams79]

Scary incident for Aleshin. Little bit earlier in the esses, that could've worse.

Graham has a shunt now, too

[bjohnsonsmith]

Originally Posted by gert

A pity for Aleshin, he was really fast. Up to this point he has the 3rd fastest lap of the race (behind Dixon and Kimball)

Not his weekend.

[bjohnsonsmith]

Rahal goes off nose first, hitting the tyre wall very hard. It looked like his left front tyre touched Kimball's right rear tyre. 2nd FCY.

[fieldodreams79]

Originally Posted by bjohnsonsmith

Not his weekend.

Nor Graham's!

[bjohnsonsmith]

Originally Posted by fieldodreams79

Nor Graham's!

Both got penalised during qualifying, both go out in scary accidents.