Indycar Clockwise ( racing the opposite way )

Including the Indy 500 and all junior series leading up to IndyCar
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xavier28
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Indycar Clockwise ( racing the opposite way )

#1

Post by xavier28 »

Silly question maybe!?

The wife said me the other day why dont they race the otherway ( clockwise on ovals )

Now i know in Nascar that wouldn't be possible due to the driver sitting on the leftside of the car but i cant see why if would affect Indycars?

If it were possible they could run a double header on the Saturday anticlockwise and then clockwise on the Sunday.
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#2

Post by Cheeveer »

Tradition. Oval racing has always been about turning left. That was established long before anyone had thought of NASCAR. It is not an Indycar/NASCAR thing.

What caused Brooklands and Indianapolis to be run anti-clockwise I don't know. Maybe there was some rationale behind that.
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#3

Post by erwin greven »

Look at other non-motor sports: Speed skating, athletics, horse tracks racing. Even airplanes use anti clock wise approaches at airports and carriers.

Maybe it is because the majority of humans are right handed. So they have a stronger right foot too and thus make easier a left hand turn.
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#4

Post by erwin greven »

Maybe here there are some answers.
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#5

Post by kals »

There was an Australian series that used to run clockwise on an oval.

Most circuits (road courses) are clockwise and counter clockwise courses are somewhat rare. Whereas ovals are all counter clockwise.
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#6

Post by erwin greven »

Australian cars have the steering wheel on the right side of the car. Think it is a pure safety measure to drive clockwise. British ovals are clockwise too.

Calder Park 300

Oval + Road course

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#7

Post by xavier28 »

erwin greven wrote:Maybe here there are some answers.

I like answer number 4

that spectator will percieve the runners as moving left to right - the same direction our eyes move when we read
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#8

Post by Cheeveer »

I suppose horse racing was racing anti-clockwise long before any motor vehicle was invented, so it is has nothing to do which side of the car the driver is at. Remember that the first Indy 500 winner was a single-seater. Tradition do seem to be the answer with the most thruthiness to it.
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#9

Post by MiÑardi »

A lot of series run clockwise around ovals in the UK. Again, it could be because the driver sits on the right in Banger and Hot Rod racing. Brisca F1 cars run anti-clockwise. The caution lights can be rotated around if both series are running at the same meeting.

Or you could run a bit of both and create some of the scariest racing possible. :thumbsup:
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