2020 pre-season COTA test

Including the Indy 500 and all junior series leading up to IndyCar
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Ian-S
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#16

Post by Ian-S »

Bottom post of the previous page:

PTRACER wrote: 4 years ago I must admit, they don't look bad at all with the aeroscreens. And other than a few leaks in the wet, the drivers aren't complaining at all. The only thing I wonder is what happens to it when the car gets upside down on an oval.
When was the last time we saw on of these cars catch fire badly? Back in the IR15 era I think? One of the girls at Texas iirc? and that was only made worse due to panicking fat Texans trying to drag her out when her leg was caught up in her belt.

I still think they are fixing a problem that so rarely happens that it may be 10 years before we see anybody saved by it, AND is will possibly cause the drivers to take more risks due to a heightened sense of safety, but I guess if it saves lives getting upside down with the screen on might be the least of your worries if it happens on an oval.
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#17

Post by Everso Biggyballies »

Scotty Mac to test on Oval at Texas this weekend.

It seems Scott is now hanging around in the US to take part in the Oval Rookie Tests at the 1.5 mile Texas Speedway.
Penske's two-time Supercars champion Scott McLaughlin will take part in IndyCar's oval rookie test at Texas on Friday.

McLaughlin drove on both days of IndyCar's 'spring training' test at Austin on Tuesday and Wednesday in preparation for his debut in the Indianapolis road course race, and will be back in Penske's #2 car this week on the 1.5-mile oval.

He will join IndyCar's full-time 2020 rookies Oliver Askew (Arrow McLaren SP), Dale Coyne recruit Alex Palou and Rinus VeeKay (Ed Carpenter Racing).

VeeKay's team boss Ed Carpenter, who will contest oval races this year, is also due to take part.

Ahead of McLaughlin's oval debut, Penske's managing director Ron Ruzewski stressed not too much should be read into the Supercars champ's participation in the test.

"There's no plans in place; Scott can't race at Texas," Ruzewski said.

"He has schedule conflicts. But since we're here in Texas and he's over here with us, we're going to do some laps with him.

"I would expect him to be more in his element [at Austin] than at Texas Motor Speedway, but yes, he did a very good job."

McLaughlin's Supercars commitments at Perth, Winton, Townsville and Darwin would preclude him from Indy 500 qualifying and the rounds at Texas, Richmond and Iowa.

That leaves Gateway as the only oval IndyCar race that McLaughlin could feasibly fit around his Supercars events.

Ruzewski said Penske is yet to schedule another test for McLaughlin, whose next appearance in an IndyCar on a road course could be in practice for May's Indianapolis race.
Oh and here is the Indycar.com review of the testing. Scott gets a bit of praise.

https://www.indycar.com/News/2020/02/02 ... -Test-Wrap

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#18

Post by Cheeveer »

Penske want Scotty in Indycar. He will get there full-time, mark my words. So who gets shuffled out? Power or Pags?
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#19

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Cheeveer wrote: 4 years ago Penske want Scotty in Indycar. He will get there full-time, mark my words. So who gets shuffled out? Power or Pags?
Penske will sign Scotty if he's fast enough, not as a charity ride. He'll get within a second of the front guys easily, but a second behind the pole in Indycar often means the tail end of the grid. Getting those last few tenths when you've basically never raced in open wheelers is a tall order.

JoNew is safe of course, and both Pags and Power are on the final year of their contracts. Penske only wants driver capable of winning championships, and I doubt Scotty will be that guy. I hope I'm wrong, as I'd love to see him full time in a good car, but I'm not really convinced that he's a championship caliber driver.

With all that said, he was mighty impressive yesterday and if he can feed of all the knowhow and experience in Team Penske he'll be in a better position than most. One stumbling block will be if Pags and Power both go on a tear this year and both challenge for the title come the last race of the season.
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#20

Post by John »

Ian-S wrote: 4 years ago
PTRACER wrote: 4 years ago I must admit, they don't look bad at all with the aeroscreens. And other than a few leaks in the wet, the drivers aren't complaining at all. The only thing I wonder is what happens to it when the car gets upside down on an oval.
When was the last time we saw on of these cars catch fire badly? Back in the IR15 era I think? One of the girls at Texas iirc? and that was only made worse due to panicking fat Texans trying to drag her out when her leg was caught up in her belt.

I still think they are fixing a problem that so rarely happens that it may be 10 years before we see anybody saved by it, AND is will possibly cause the drivers to take more risks due to a heightened sense of safety, but I guess if it saves lives getting upside down with the screen on might be the least of your worries if it happens on an oval.
2010. Also down to the AMR crew not getting the extinguisher going.

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#21

Post by Ian-S »

So once in the last decade then.
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#22

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Ian-S wrote: 4 years ago So once in the last decade then.
Yep. It's a non-issue. I will still need some time to adjust to the look of the screen, as a spectator I feel that it separates me more from the guy in the cockpit than the halo did. But we'll get there too, I'm sure. Hopefully it looks better with the new chassi.
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#23

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Yeah I agree with you, it does seem they are fixing a problem that is so rare that we'll probably not see another occurance this decade and my concern is, with the so called "safety improvements" drivers will become more disrespectful on track, especially at Indy,
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#24

Post by John »

Ian-S wrote: 4 years ago Yeah I agree with you, it does seem they are fixing a problem that is so rare that we'll probably not see another occurance this decade and my concern is, with the so called "safety improvements" drivers will become more disrespectful on track, especially at Indy,
The problem they're trying to fix isn't fires, it's debris and cars flying everywhere during mass pile-ups (see Justin Wilson's fatal crash, the two Pocono wrecks, the pile-up at the 500 caused by Bourdais and Rahal last year, James Davison almost getting hit in the head by a tyre in the pits last year, 4.05 into this clip:).



On the downsides, it means that Max Chilton feels that it's now safe to race again and will prop up the grid for another year. We'll have to see what it means as for careless driving, seeing as stupidity can't be built away by changing the cars. IndyCars are still incredibly dangerous.
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#25

Post by Ian-S »

Hahahha if they think destroying the look of the cars will stop people dying, they're in for a shock.
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#26

Post by jimclark »

Safety's a joke? Ponderous.
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#27

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Ian-S wrote: 4 years ago Hahahha if they think destroying the look of the cars will stop people dying, they're in for a shock.
It would have saved Justin Wilson, for one. And there has been so many close calls over the years with debris flying around that it's about time. Newgarden called it the biggest safety feature since the HANS device, and that was what, 2001?
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#28

Post by Ian-S »

missed the point there a bit.
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