Well that was interesting, wasn't it? Last night, I watched my first ever IndyCar race, and it was certainly a good one. So what did I think of it?
I don’t think there is a better place to start this than the aero kits. I know these are new, and from what I can see from Twitter, they made for a much different race than usual. With winglets being knocked off cars everywhere, the caution came out very often for the first half of the race, which ruined it for me a bit. At one point I was expecting the pace car to have to come in and refuel! I'm sure I'm not the only person who expects that IndyCar might change something about them to improve the racing quality. Then again, it is a narrow street circuit. Perhaps it will be better at NOLA.
I don’t think there is a better place to start this than the aero kits. I know these are new, and from what I can see from Twitter, they made for a much different race than usual. With winglets being knocked off cars everywhere, the caution came out very often for the first half of the race, which ruined it for me a bit. At one point I was expecting the pace car to have to come in and refuel! I'm sure I'm not the only person who expects that IndyCar might change something about them to improve the racing quality. Then again, it is a narrow street circuit. Perhaps it will be better at NOLA.
Montoya and Power clash (J.Cote) I decided to support Juan Pablo Montoya, as I know him better than the others thanks to his days in Formula One and NASCAR. It turns out that this was a good pick, with him winning the race.
I couldn't help but compare it to Formula One: and I would say that it seems much better. I haven’t been an F1 fan for a year or so now, with the rules getting worse, the cars more boring and the racing less interesting. The IndyCar engines certainly sound much better than the F1 V6s, and the cars look slightly like late 80s F1 cars, only with much more aero. The pit stops seemed quite unsophisticated, nowhere near as fast as Formula 1, but better than NASCAR.
I couldn't help but compare it to Formula One: and I would say that it seems much better. I haven’t been an F1 fan for a year or so now, with the rules getting worse, the cars more boring and the racing less interesting. The IndyCar engines certainly sound much better than the F1 V6s, and the cars look slightly like late 80s F1 cars, only with much more aero. The pit stops seemed quite unsophisticated, nowhere near as fast as Formula 1, but better than NASCAR.
2015 is Green (C.Jones) However, in my opinion, where it really stands out against Formula 1 is the quality of racing, which was fantastic. For the last twenty laps, I was on the edge of my seat hoping that Will Power wasn't going to catch Montoya. Earlier in the race, there were mini battles further back in the field, and the drivers weren't afraid to nudge each other.
The main thing that I didn't like, and this is through no fault of the sport, was the UK TV coverage. I had wondered whether a two-and-a-half hour time slot would be enough for the build-up, race and post-race coverage, and it wasn't. The race overran by about half an hour, thanks to the cautions. This meant that the last half hour was half IndyCar, half basketball. Luckily, we didn't miss any overtakes at the front, but it did just seem a little bit amateurish on ESPN’s part.
The main thing that I didn't like, and this is through no fault of the sport, was the UK TV coverage. I had wondered whether a two-and-a-half hour time slot would be enough for the build-up, race and post-race coverage, and it wasn't. The race overran by about half an hour, thanks to the cautions. This meant that the last half hour was half IndyCar, half basketball. Luckily, we didn't miss any overtakes at the front, but it did just seem a little bit amateurish on ESPN’s part.
It was Montoya's second win since returning (S.Gritzmacher) In general, I really enjoyed my first IndyCar race, and I will definitely be tuning in for the next race at NOLA. I’ll be interested to see if the racing is any different at the road courses and ovals. Thank you very much to Adrian for letting me write for IndyCar UK, and everyone on Twitter that has made me feel very welcome to the IndyCar community. Now to go and watch the recorded NASCAR race!
You can follow Jake on Twitter and check out his Blog - On2Wheels
You can follow Jake on Twitter and check out his Blog - On2Wheels
RSS Feed
