Random thoughts and outbursts
First thing's first. Best wishes to rally master Marcus Gronholm, now recovering from hitting a concrete post at the X Games on Saturday, and to rookie Toomas Heikkenen, who suffered a broken ankle after shorting a jump and hitting a steel ramp on Friday. I got to see them both race on the rallycross undercard to the IndyCar event at Texas Motor Speedway last month...
---
After having this past weekend off, the IZOD IndyCar Series returns to action on the streets of Toronto this Sunday with a full-blown title war on its hands. Only 30 points separate points leader Will Power from Toronto native James Hinchcliffe in fifth place.
Both the championship and Hinch's homecoming will be major story lines, but another thing to look out for this weekend is if Lotus' engine improvements will pull the capable Simona de Silvestro and HVM Racing into at least mid-pack.
Per INDYCAR rules, engine manufacturers could request for upgrades at the season's mid-way point if said manufacturer proves that it's at least 2.5 percent down on power compared to the others. Lotus made its request and got the sanctioning body's approval before the Iowa Corn Indy 250 according to RACER Magazine.
The first test for Lotus with the new upgrades is slated for today at Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course (De Silvestro will drive her No. 78 machine for the session). More upgrades are slated for Toronto, next month's race at Sonoma, and September's Grand Prix of Baltimore.
De Silvestro is the last Lotus driver standing, after the British marque's poor performance in the initial races caused its other teams -- Dragon Racing (Sebastien Bourdais/Katherine Legge), Dreyer & Reinbold Racing (Oriol Servia), and Bryan Herta Autosport (Alex Tagliani) -- to bolt for the other two engine suppliers, Chevrolet and Honda.
It's been tough to watch Lotus struggle, but it's been even tougher to see those problems drag down a solid racer like De Silvestro. Let's hope the upgrades can give her more of a competitive edge and, perhaps more importantly, show that Lotus is truly giving a solid effort in trying to catch up to its bigger rivals...
---
As good as the racing has been with the Dallara DW12s this season, it may wind up being a reason why we may never see proper aero kits. Not only that, the cars have come in way overbudget, which has given team owners yet another reason to push cost containment.
According to Marshall Pruett of SPEEDTV.com, their latest worries over costs have caused INDYCAR president of operations Brian Barnhart to search for ways to hack down the price of spare parts by a hefty 40 percent.
Owners appear to want the ability to have spare parts created by either their teams or, as Pruett puts it, "local vendors" in order to save money. That went away with the debut of the DW12, as Dallara declared exclusivity on production and parts sales for the new car.
Obviously, Dallara doesn't want to lose its presence or its money while teams head for other places to get cheaper parts made. But considering the legitimate problem surrounding the cost of the DW12, I wouldn't have a problem seeing some pieces of the car be built for teams by other companies.
While I am not on the side of the owners in the aero kit saga, I find myself agreeing with their arguments for finding other avenues to get pieces created for their cars. Striking a balance that makes both the owners and Dallara happy will be tough, but if INDYCAR's truly focused on keeping racing affordable, they'll find one...
---
After having this past weekend off, the IZOD IndyCar Series returns to action on the streets of Toronto this Sunday with a full-blown title war on its hands. Only 30 points separate points leader Will Power from Toronto native James Hinchcliffe in fifth place.
Both the championship and Hinch's homecoming will be major story lines, but another thing to look out for this weekend is if Lotus' engine improvements will pull the capable Simona de Silvestro and HVM Racing into at least mid-pack.
Per INDYCAR rules, engine manufacturers could request for upgrades at the season's mid-way point if said manufacturer proves that it's at least 2.5 percent down on power compared to the others. Lotus made its request and got the sanctioning body's approval before the Iowa Corn Indy 250 according to RACER Magazine.
The first test for Lotus with the new upgrades is slated for today at Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course (De Silvestro will drive her No. 78 machine for the session). More upgrades are slated for Toronto, next month's race at Sonoma, and September's Grand Prix of Baltimore.
De Silvestro is the last Lotus driver standing, after the British marque's poor performance in the initial races caused its other teams -- Dragon Racing (Sebastien Bourdais/Katherine Legge), Dreyer & Reinbold Racing (Oriol Servia), and Bryan Herta Autosport (Alex Tagliani) -- to bolt for the other two engine suppliers, Chevrolet and Honda.
It's been tough to watch Lotus struggle, but it's been even tougher to see those problems drag down a solid racer like De Silvestro. Let's hope the upgrades can give her more of a competitive edge and, perhaps more importantly, show that Lotus is truly giving a solid effort in trying to catch up to its bigger rivals...
---
As good as the racing has been with the Dallara DW12s this season, it may wind up being a reason why we may never see proper aero kits. Not only that, the cars have come in way overbudget, which has given team owners yet another reason to push cost containment.
According to Marshall Pruett of SPEEDTV.com, their latest worries over costs have caused INDYCAR president of operations Brian Barnhart to search for ways to hack down the price of spare parts by a hefty 40 percent.
Owners appear to want the ability to have spare parts created by either their teams or, as Pruett puts it, "local vendors" in order to save money. That went away with the debut of the DW12, as Dallara declared exclusivity on production and parts sales for the new car.
Obviously, Dallara doesn't want to lose its presence or its money while teams head for other places to get cheaper parts made. But considering the legitimate problem surrounding the cost of the DW12, I wouldn't have a problem seeing some pieces of the car be built for teams by other companies.
While I am not on the side of the owners in the aero kit saga, I find myself agreeing with their arguments for finding other avenues to get pieces created for their cars. Striking a balance that makes both the owners and Dallara happy will be tough, but if INDYCAR's truly focused on keeping racing affordable, they'll find one...
