A British 1-2-3 in the 2010 Indy 500

[Brogan]

A great day for the Brit's.

First a 1-2 in the Turkish GP and then a 1-2-3 in the Indy 500.

There was an horrific crash on the last lap betwen Mike Conway & Ryan Hunter Reay but initial reports suggest that Mike "only" has leg injuries.
Here's hoping he makes a full recovery.

 

[Matthew Little]

A great day for the Brit's.

First a 1-2 in the Turkish GP and then a 1-2-3 in the Indy 500.

There was an horrific crash on the last lap betwen Mike Conway & Ryan Hunter Reay but initial reports suggest that Mike "only" has leg injuries.
Here's hoping he makes a full recovery.

It was a heck of a day for the British today...................
Hamilton & Button at Istanbul...........
Franchitti, Wheldon and Lloyd at the Brickyard(a/k/a the Scotsman, Dapper Dan and Pink Lloyd.......)

As for Conway..................reports are he is okay; he was awake and alert when they took him to Clarion(IMS' Infield Care Centre) and they are going to take him to Methodist Hospital by helicopter later in the day, but every report is that he will be alright.............

But as for the 500...................that was one hell of a race!
Who says Indycar racing isn't exciting? And just think, the high-banks of Texas are 6 days down the road............

 

[Brogan]

Sadly I didn't see the race as I don't have Sky Sports.

Hopefully I can catch a repeat on one of the other channels or online.

Glad to hear Mike's doing OK.

 

[Matthew Little]

There was one other bit of history made today at Indy..............with Franchitti's win, his team owner, Chip Ganassi(a/k/a the Chipster) now has victories in two of America's big motorsports events in the same year(back at Daytona, Jamie McMurray won the Daytona 500 for the Chipster). Imagine what Ganassi's trophy case will look like...............on one side, the Borg-Warner Trophy. On the other side, the Harley J. Earl Trophy.


In other words, it was a good day for the Chipster.

 

[slickskid]

Thats some crash and whats puzzling me is, where did the rear end of the car end up? all i can make out is lots of carbon fibre strewn across the track presumably body work but it's clear that after hitting the fencing the chassis has seperated from the engine / gearbox!

Still glad conway appears to be okay, but like Brogan i'm miffed i don't have sky anymore so if anyone knows where to watch it i'll be interested to know.

 

[Brogan]

There was a hole punched in the fence and at least 1 wheel ended up on the other side of it and I think the engine did too.

It was bad enough but could have been very nasty.

 

[slickskid]

Thats what i guessed too i saw the rear wheel bouncing down the outside of the fencing. Just as well there's a gap between that and the crowd.

 

[Matthew Little]

All-in-all, it was a good weekend for British motorsports.....................
--First there a 1-2 finish at the Indy 500(Franchitti and Wheldon); Allex Lloyd had finished 3rd but the stewards caught him(and 2 other drivers) passing Marco Andretti during the last caution so Lloyd got dropped to 4th...........
--Then there was the 1-2 by McLaren and drivers Lewis Hamilton and Jenson Button at Istanbul............
--And a bit of history was made during qualifying for the Indy Lights race on Thursday when Sam Schmidt Motorsports driver Pippa Mann became the first woman to qualify on the pole for a race at the Brickyard


Like I said, it was a good weekend for British Motorsports...............

 

[Matthew Little]

Thats some crash and whats puzzling me is, where did the rear end of the car end up? all i can make out is lots of carbon fibre strewn across the track presumably body work but it's clear that after hitting the fencing the chassis has seperated from the engine / gearbox!

Still glad conway appears to be okay, but like Brogan i'm miffed i don't have sky anymore so if anyone knows where to watch it i'll be interested to know.

Update on Mike Conway's injuries......................
----he had surgery Sunday night at Methodist Hospital in Indianapolis to repair fractures to his lower left leg
----there was additional soft tissue damage to his left leg, which will require additional surgery later in the week
----he also suffered a compression fracture of one of his thoracic vertebrae and will be fitted for a back brace, which he will wear for at least three months

Let's all wish Mike Conway a full recovery from his injuries and hopefully we'll once again see him on the track in the future..........

 

[Brogan]

Thanks for the update Matthew.

Not great for Mike but it could have been so much worse so thank goodness for small mercies.

 

[Matthew Little]

Thanks for the update Matthew.

Not great for Mike but it could have been so much worse so thank goodness for small mercies.

Much obliged on the update, Brogan.
The good thing for Conway(I usually refer to him as "Conweasel" but I won't pick on him while's he injured) is that some of the best doctors in North America work in/around Indycar racing(Drs. Steve Olvey, Terry Trammel and Mike Olinger, for instance) so he's in very good hands atm...............

Now all the speculation has turned to who Dreyer & Reinbold(Conway's team) will tap for the #24 for the remainder of the year(names that come to mind off-hand include[but are not limited to]...........Paul Tracy, Graham Rahal, Wade Cunningham, Tomas Scheckter, Simona de Silvestro, Bruno Junquiera, J.R. Hildebrand, Robert Doornbos & Sebastien Bourdais).

 

[cider_and_toast]

Not being a massive Paul Tracey fan I did have a quiet chuckle when he managed to bump himself out of the final Indy Qually spot on bump day.

Somehow I think they may have to revise the rules again for next year but at least it's good to know that it's not only F1 that can make confusing rule changes to qualification that seem to make things worse rather than better.

It was a cracking race and Dario Franchitti must be the only man to win 2 Indy 500s under full course yellows on both occasions. According to the Indy website he's banking 2.75 million dollars for that days work.

I see also that once Danica Patrick stopped whining about the car she actually managed to drag it home in a pretty respectable 6th place.

 

[Brogan]

It emerges that the cause of the accident was due to cars being in fuel saving mode trying to make it to the end of the race.
This resulted in speed differentials of up to 80mph which is not an insignificant speed by any means.

Calls have been made to change the regulations but I'm not sure what they can do apart from stipulating a minimum level of fuel for each race.

http://www.autosport.com/news/report.php/id/84114

 

[Matthew Little]

It emerges that the cause of the accident was due to cars being in fuel saving mode trying to make it to the end of the race.
This resulted in speed differentials of up to 80mph which is not an insignificant speed by any means.

Calls have been made to change the regulations but I'm not sure what they can do apart from stipulating a minimum level of fuel for each race.

http://www.autosport.com/news/report.php/id/84114

This is one of those "Damned if you do, damned if you don't" situations Indycar racing has faced over the years..............
---On the one hand, there really ain't much they can do; the fuel setting controls are no longer available, meaning you're either full rich OR full lean. In addition, the stewards tell the drivers if they're about to run out of fuel, get to the apron or stay as low as possible as you're slowing and get to pitlane. For the drivers on the ovals, there's not much they can do to save fuel(lift on some ovals, like Texas.........and you'll get run over in an instant) other than draft or up-shift to keep the engine from rev-limiting(which ironically can burn more fuel than when its' w/in the power-band).............
---On the other hand, Blundell's "minimum fuel amount" suggestion, if I read it correctly, sounds..........dumb(I'm being polite when I say that; my first thought was WTH are you smoking, Blundell?). Fuel strategy has and will always play a role in racing(regardless of whether on ovals or road/street courses); what's next, mandating pit-stop windows, Mark?(News flash, Blundell...........CART/ChampCar tried that for 2 years.......it didn't work if I recall correctly).

FWIW, from what Hunter-Reay has said about the accident and from what I've read about the accident, he was trying to get to the apron 'cause he was running out of fuel and Conway just caught him at the absolute worst part of the track(couple hundred more feet down the track, in the chute btwn. 3 and 4 and odds are RHR gets out of Conway's way and the accident doesn't occur..........).

 

[Matthew Little]

At least we know who will step in for Mike Conway in the #24.......................

Scheckter to fill in for Conway

Update on Conway & RHR.....................
(quoting the above article)----Conway will miss at least three months of the season after having surgery the evening of May 30 to repair fractures to his lower left leg suffered in the white flag lap crash earlier in the day. Indy Racing League Director of Medical Services Dr. Michael Olinger said Conway, of England, also has a soft tissue injury to his lower left leg and a compression fracture of one of his thoracic vertebrae and is being fitted for a back brace, which he will wear for three months.

Mike Conway, Dreyer & Reinbold Racing

I'm feeling fine at the moment, all things considered. I want to thank all the medical staff at Methodist Hospital as well as the (Holmatro Safety Team) and all those at the Speedway that pulled me out of the car. I'm hoping for a speedy recovery and am already looking forward to being back behind the wheel of a race car.

Ryan Hunter-Reay, who was involved in the Turn 3 crash, had successful surgery May 31 on his left thumb and was fitted with a carbon fiber splint. Dr. Michael Olinger, the Indy Racing League's director of medical services, cleared Hunter-Reay to participate at Texas Motor Speedway in the No. 37 IZOD entry for Andretti Autosport. Hunter-Reay's injury was suffered during a pit lane incident earlier in the race.