IndyCar Flips

[Harrison]

Totally! Most drivers who speed are probably much safer than those that drive too slowly.

Tonight I had a very near miss, and again it was on a roundabout! I was in the outside lane, following a van, going around a roundabout, indicating right as I needed the third exit. When a car going really fast suddenly shot straight out of the first exit between the van and my car into the outside lane of the roundabout. He must have squeezed between us with inches to spare. Mad! He got a blast from my horn and a flashing headlights in his rear view mirror but I doubt that did much.

[AlexJ]

Back on the subject of crashes, did anyone watch the touring cars at the weekend. Pretty big rain-induced smash up there (probably the biggest I can remember since F1 Spa '98).

Watch

[Harrison]

Yes, I watched that. There were also quite a few pretty good crashes in the later races too and some near misses.

I love Touring Car. Much closer racing than any other series and contact is allowed.

[Bloodwych]

I'm a big motorsport fan. Started on F1, but that series really pisses me off now (even though I still drag myself to watch it). I follow many of the other series and motogp.

The Indy series has some stupid flaws however - Andretti Green run far more cars than anyone else, so can collect more setup data. The minimum weight excludes driver, so lighter guys (or girls) get a small advantage.

Those two crashes involving Dario were scary to watch, but he was one guy riding the lucky train that season as he went on to win the championship!

Dan Wheldon on the other hand - who I support because he's English - what honorific form and luck he hit during and after Indy. Any accident or bad pit work seemed to involve him and he drove horrible races on the road course, something he was good at the year before??? Dario's crashes involved him too!

[Harrison]

I used to watch Indy cars when Mansell moved over there and continued for a few seasons, but the oval circuits just bore me too much. There isn't really that much skill involved compared to F1 or any other sport where real circuits are used. It makes me laugh when you do see the couple of races Nascar run on proper circuits because half the drivers can't get to grips with having to turn in another direction. Quite funny to watch.

[Bloodwych]

I did the same - followed Mansell over from F1 to IndyCar and stopped watching American racing after he left.

I went back to it because it's shown on EuroSport and Sky Sports 3 on Sunday evenings. Now of course there are two separate series - IndyCar (mainly ovals, adding more circuits next year) and ChampCar (all circuits).

After the same attitude as you about ovals, I've grown to enjoy watching the races. Although there is obviously less skill involved, the racing is very close with loads more action and overtaking between the cars and the spectators get an excellent view. You never know who's going to win until the last lap, so it's certainly got some positives to go along with the negatives.

Formula One on the other hand has had some of the most boring racing I've seen this year when comparing it to other series. The politics and off-track antics have been far more interesting than the actual races. In fact, I'd say the qualifying on Saturday is far more interesting than the actual race as that pretty much decides the finishing order.

Touring Cars, MotoGP and A1 have offered more during races than F1 in my opinion, which is a shame.

[Harrison]

A1 is a great series that needs to get more coverage. I went to see the very first race at Brands Hatch and it was a great event with some very close racing, and making each team a country with an identical car was a great idea. But you don't see it mentioned anywhere other than Sky Sports which is a shame.

I love watching Touring Cars but miss most of the races on TV as it's never on at a good time of day and I'm usually out.