101st running of Indianapolis 500

Get him on a road course and he will show them how to drive.

So unlucky....

Alberto Ibañez wrote:

I tell you, the HSO driving standards look increasingly better to me

We were just acting up to the real thing here.

WOOOOOOW!!! Well deserved, Taku!!

A quick summary of the Indy 500 2017 from my point of view. I was looking forward to this year's Indy more than ever. Quite obviously, Alonso's involvement was very important. I wasn't really a big fan of his (not a fan of current F1 either), but him being in Indy was a massive boost for Indycar as such. Google trends confirms the buzz, as Indy 500 was searched more often than Monaco. The race itself was one of the better ones, for sure. The first 50 laps were a bit dull, and then the crash. That was a scary one, not much different from what killed Dan Wheldon. The last time i had such a terrible feeling was when Kat Legge had her enormous shunt at Road America. Scott is extremly lucky. And so is Helio. But although a lot of pure luck was involved, there's no deny that the Dallara safety cell did it's job. As the race progressed, i havce to admit that i fell for that Alonso hype. It's not like i watched only him, but boy, was he impressive! He navigated through the traffic like a veteran. Those Honda blowups for RHR (who was an obvious favourite for the victory) and Fernando sucked. Even more sucked the fact that Chilton was leading. I dislike only two drivers in the whole Indycar field - Kimball and Chilton. And both were at the front. So it was great to see the old farts fight for the victory in the closing laps. There could be no wrong, really. Helio winning his fourth that has been slipping through his fingers for years or Taku, who certainly "knows what Indy means" after the kamikaze dive under Franchitti in 2012? In the end i'm really happy for Taku. He deserves it and is such a nice guy, too. And fighting off a three time champ definitely is something to be proud of.

Thank you all for chatting here in this thread  Already looking to Indy 2018 with the "new" cars

My dad and I watched the race live. The start was one of the most well-aligned I've seen in a long time, which made me think that maybe my opinion on the lack of driving standards in Indycar was overblown. Then the ridiculous lines on restarts began to unfold, and I was shaking my head a lot.  I suppose in a spec series that kind of driving is inevitable, but it looked really bush league to me :/ Alonso showed early on that he was the class of the field in terms of skill and maturity.  I blame the Dixon accident on Hunter Reay, as he forced Howard into the grey by passing him way too late.  I figured that if Alonso wasn't going to win, it would either be because of someone else's error on track or a mechanical failure. Turned out it was the latter. I think it's cool that Sato won, but I honestly am not a huge fan of his. He is an "all or nothing" driver who takes way too many risks. His first-lap accident with Sage Karam a year or two ago is my go-to evidence for why I am not a Sato fan. Even in yesterday's race I saw him do some things that made me go, "this guy goes into a red mist zone where good judgement is just not top of mind"  Keep in mind this is only his second win, so I think people who say it's time to finally believe in Sato need to keep their pants on a bit longer...

Alonso drove well, but remember he didn't really get to taste what the Indycar drivers are like once the knife is between the teeth. At Indy you only get to see that in the last part of the race, when we saw the most daring racing - and Alonso was gone by then. I doubt very much that he would have been to dice with f.e. Helio given what we saw him do with a inferior engine to Sato, and considering Sato did not make it easy for him at all. Alonso is a hugely talented driver, but you need lots of oval experience to drive like Helio and dice with such people at that level. Had Alonso been in that top 5 at the end of the race, they would have eaten him, I would bet on that.

I am not watching Indy often, acctually, I was very regular public in Cart 96-2001, expecialy 98-99, but this race yesterday was really something to watch. F1 compared to that looks like a kids play. Of corse, different tracks and speeds are in Indy favor, but having 10-15 cars within second after 500miles!

And that petunia pot is a shot for Oscar!

Im pretty unfamiliar with drivers, except Alonso, Castroneves, Sato, and maybe some names from the past.. but Rossi guy seemed very very calm and calculated during interviews, so, I could say, I liked him.

Finaly, the car with nicest painting scheme was my favorit, but tbh, I havent noticed any specific, exept Rossis, in occasional moments and views it looked like a Camel Williams

great race, I wish F1 could be more like this..

After the 500, we watched about 6 laps of Monaco, and I was like "I think it's my nap time"
That's how little the race interested me.

Jason White wrote:

After the 500, we watched about 6 laps of Monaco, and I was like "I think it's my nap time"
That's how little the race interested me.

Oh, I think I had some nap periods while those were pretending to race

Something about the sound of current F1 cars really makes me want to curl up and take a siesta.  And yes, Raul, the lack of actual racing doesn't help either LOL

Agree with you guys. Restarts were beyond insane in many cases. You just don't enter turn three in a four wide formation. That made me literally jump and scream "Don't!!!". A also don't think that Sato has any kind of stardom ahead. But i'm so glad that he put his act together and managed something really big. Don't forget that he started racing at the age of 20... And 100% agree with Alberto that the old matadors would eat Alonso alive, if they got into a last 10 laps shootout.

@Raul: there are so many drivers to watch nowadays! Seriously, sometimes it's hard to be an Indycar fan, as i simply don't know for whom i root for Veterans, accomplished divers or young guns... there are so many. Helio, Sato, Dixon, Kanaan, Newgarden, Hinchcliffe, Rahal, Bourdais, Aleshin and many others. And they're all very active on social media as well, for example Rahal commented on my question regarding Honda preparation for 2017 on a live videochat. It really feels like you know these guys. And then there's the spirit of Indycar community that makes it so special for me. Maybe it's because they know the danger is still there, the risk of death is quite real. Maybe that's what makes them differen't from F1. A lot more respect and friendship. It's just a different world and i like it a lot. http://www.racer.com/indycar/item/141007-sato-bathing-in-respect-from-peers-after-500-win

Nobody would eat Alonso alive, much less that bunch of Hacks, that lot that race in indycar today would make the F1 rejects website proud!

Oh yes they would, not just because of experience but because of Alonso having a lot more to lose than them.

Yes thats why a rookie who hasnt won anything in his life beat all those "experts" last year

Richard Wilks wrote:

Yes thats why a rookie who hasnt won anything in his life beat all those "experts" last year

It was Bryan Herta who won that race, not Rossi. Herta executed that highly risky strategy, even guided Rossi when to coast with clutch engaged.

Herta never won anything in his life either! And he was a better road course driver than an oval one.

Rossi won without any real fight because of strategy, nothing like the scrape between Sato and Castroneves at the end of this race. Of course Alonso has way more talent than them, there is no question about that or about him having the capability of being quicker. What I don't think is that with just one month experience at Indy he would have let himself be dragged into a risky fight with F1 rejects who basically have nothing to lose. Quite frankly, I don't see Alonso having performed an overtake like the one Helio did on Sato on the outside some laps before Sato got the lead back thanks to engine power. Alonso is a great driver and as such not so stupid as to do that. But then again we are just theorizing, hopefully next year we will have those doubts resolved

This is why Alonso is just a cut above the indycar field


https://twitter.com/mariolejandro/status/869302443674411008

Richard Wilks wrote:

This is why Alonso is just a cut above the indycar field


https://twitter.com/mariolejandro/status/869302443674411008

 

Richard Wilks wrote:

This is why Alonso is just a cut above the indycar field

https://twitter.com/mariolejandro/status/869302443674411008

Great save indeed, but would not have needed it if he had put the wheel in the right place first (Which is what almost caused him to crash) - so I don't think that is the example to use to illustrate his superiority, there are other better ones

I actually spotted that on the broadcast, but they never showed a replay, just saw how the rear-end started to move.

Good catch, he kept the place even though he lost momentum.