Lets begin day one with a look back at day zero... as you do.
Driving north from Scranton (yes, that one from The Office, and that was and is the only reason to go there!) arrived at the track around lunchtime. First impressions of the drive, from Pennsylvania into New York, and approaching WGI reminds me very much of Spa, and I can say nothing more than it is beautiful, stunning, and beautiful again. The venue itself, modern looking but still retaining the charm and features that would have been around during the hey day of the F1 races. So a little re-familiarisation of the paddock areas and people time for a track walk, which is one thing you would never turn down the opportunity to do! The track has recently been repaved, and is beautifully smooth. It is once you set off from pit lane you really fully grasp the elevation changes, there are a lot! From the bottom of the Essess, to the top of the Boot, and bottom, this is one beautiful track. Just an extra thought, it's Thursday, and the number of RV's that are around the track is nothing like I have seen before at Indycar races, looking at a good crowd this weekend.
Here are a few shots from the track walk yesterday evening.
Driving north from Scranton (yes, that one from The Office, and that was and is the only reason to go there!) arrived at the track around lunchtime. First impressions of the drive, from Pennsylvania into New York, and approaching WGI reminds me very much of Spa, and I can say nothing more than it is beautiful, stunning, and beautiful again. The venue itself, modern looking but still retaining the charm and features that would have been around during the hey day of the F1 races. So a little re-familiarisation of the paddock areas and people time for a track walk, which is one thing you would never turn down the opportunity to do! The track has recently been repaved, and is beautifully smooth. It is once you set off from pit lane you really fully grasp the elevation changes, there are a lot! From the bottom of the Essess, to the top of the Boot, and bottom, this is one beautiful track. Just an extra thought, it's Thursday, and the number of RV's that are around the track is nothing like I have seen before at Indycar races, looking at a good crowd this weekend.
Here are a few shots from the track walk yesterday evening.
On track today we have two Indy Lights and Indycar practice sessions, with some Ferrari club, who originally had this weekend solely booked, thanks!
Indy Lights practice was fast, on a 3.37 mile track, they ran six seconds shy of the the actual Indycar record lap time, so when the cars go out at 11am ET, we could be seeing some new records, and consequently broken. Ed Jones, Carlin driver and championship contender topped the times followed by Zach Veach and Dean Stoneman.
Broken, smashed, obliterated, Practice for the Indycar series found Scott Dixon on top of the times with a time of 1:23.8921, a mere 4.5 seconds faster than the current track record held by Ryan Briscoe set in 2009. All drivers were under that time but the session was delayed by a red flag for a crash involving Conor Daly, a case of the 'blue-flu'.
Indy Lights practice was fast, on a 3.37 mile track, they ran six seconds shy of the the actual Indycar record lap time, so when the cars go out at 11am ET, we could be seeing some new records, and consequently broken. Ed Jones, Carlin driver and championship contender topped the times followed by Zach Veach and Dean Stoneman.
Broken, smashed, obliterated, Practice for the Indycar series found Scott Dixon on top of the times with a time of 1:23.8921, a mere 4.5 seconds faster than the current track record held by Ryan Briscoe set in 2009. All drivers were under that time but the session was delayed by a red flag for a crash involving Conor Daly, a case of the 'blue-flu'.
One good news story to come this morning was the addition of Samsung as a main sponsor for ECR #20 Spencer Pigot car for this and the finale at Sonoma, one, it's very easy on the eye, two, that is a huge pull for ECR and Indycar to be attracting (more) big technology companies to the series. Here is a lap on board with Spencer, we love you visor cam...
Practice two for indy Lights, Kyle Kaiser, Santi Urritia and Andre Negrao fill the top three spots, Dean Stoneman 9th and Ed Jones in 10th. By the way, another second shaved off the fastest lap time.
Indycar practice two, a long two hour session and Scott Dixon sets an early pace, just five seconds under the lap record, if he is not in your #INDYRIVALS line up, you're doing it wrong...
Been able to grab a few interviews which hopefully those in the UK will be able to hear on Sunday. Also, fans in the UK, and Europe, hopefully working on something that will be of help to you, more details soonish, hopefully!
Indycar practice two, a long two hour session and Scott Dixon sets an early pace, just five seconds under the lap record, if he is not in your #INDYRIVALS line up, you're doing it wrong...
Been able to grab a few interviews which hopefully those in the UK will be able to hear on Sunday. Also, fans in the UK, and Europe, hopefully working on something that will be of help to you, more details soonish, hopefully!