“I haven’t known peace and quiet for so long I can’t remember what it’s like”
– Bob Zimmerman
“You guys and gals are noticing that after three laps of green racing we all go: 'well this is civilized', right? What have we become?”
– OvDrone
Grown-up Respectable Open-Wheel Racing Volume 3: Barber Motorsports Park, Alabama
Length: 2.38 miles
Turns: 15
Ants: 3
Lap record: 1:06.7750 (Scott Dixon, Ganassi-Honda, 2013)
After a race so orderly and punctilious that the drivers handed in their own scorecards after carefully rolling off their racing gloves, where better for the transcontinental circus to show up next than the Augusta Masters of auto racing, Barber Motorsports Park? Where indeed. Admittedly there are some differences. At Augusta competitors actually make an effort to avoid the sand, and at the start they set off at the beginning in pairs at half-hour intervals– oh, forget it. I don't even like golf.
Before we go any further – here's the schedule (all times are local Alabama time, which is one hour further West than Eastern)
Friday, April 24
The Indycars are currently rounding the Cape Horn in their steamship chartered from Long Beach to Mobile, so they won't be practising today.
Indy Lights and USF2000 braved the jungles of Panama and have made it for qualifying at 16.00 and a race at 18.10.
Saturday, April 25
9.00-10.00: They've arrived! Indycar practice 1
10.15: Pro Mazda race 1 (see the Tomorrow's Spencer Pigots of the future)
11.10: Pirelli World Cautions GT race 1
12.40-13.25: Indycar practice 2
14.50: Indy Lights race 1
15.55: Indycar qualifying, if you're lucky
17.20: USF2000 race 2
Sunday, April 26
9.00: Pro Mazda race 2
10.45: Pirelli WTF Challenge GT race 2
12.10: Indy Lights race 2 (see Max Chilton while you can?)
14.30, or 14.00, or 14.37, or who knows right?: Indy Grand Prix of Alabama (90 laps)
This week
If there were any justice in the world – social or otherwise – the whole of it would know about Barber. MotoGP should be racing there. F1 should be demanding too much money to race there. Flowing, green, welcoming and surrounded by terrifying statues, the track is as big an antidote to feelings of aren't-modern-times-shit as it's possible to get without laying down three gigantic straights and calling yourself Road America.
Last year was a sort of NOLA of an event, if you can imagine what it would've been like if the water had drained off the racing line and only one driver had behaved like Mikhail Aleshin. Ryan Hunter-Reay drove like he was trying to forget Long Beach (brilliantly, NBC actually led with his/everyone's crash in last week's coverage) and dominated as the track began to dry. Behind him, Marco Andretti did something memorable and finished second.
Not at Barber! This would never happen at Barber.
Every year pundits warn us not to get our hopes up – it's a tight track, not many high speed sections, it's a goddamn friggin' road course – but Barber has this Hungaroring ability to put on a race-of-the-year race exactly where it's not expected. Hunter-Reay's pass on Scott Dixon in 2013. Bourdais's greatest ever ninth place in the Lotus. Castroneves holding off Dixon (oh, there's a pattern here) in 2010. I don't expect it'll last, so don't blame me on lap 65 when David Coulthard is leading Eddie Irvine by a minute and the TV director is asleep.
And despite its flowing, technical character rewarding subtlety and finesse in driving, Will Power has won the event twice. Which really proves that nothing is true and everything is permitted.
Last week
With the whole Indycar paddock below decks and praying the fierce Cape squalls don't split the hull a-twain, there's not much news beyond Dale Coyne installing the cabin boy in his second car for the weekend. So what happened at Long Beach? Two exciting moments, one full-course yellow and no outright idiocy. Indycar raised (lowered) our expectations. Under threat of lawsuits, depletion of spare parts and excessive front tyre wear, the days of cheerfully crude racing in Fisher Price cars may be gone forever (for now).
“It's amazing what happens when guys maybe up their game or pay attention,” said notorious scold Scott Dixon. “Honda and Chevy have done a good job with trying to make the aero kits a little stronger, but in hindsight we shouldn't be hitting each other.” His only rival for class president, Dracone, was too busy sticking crayons up his nose to formulate a response. However, I'm sure he'd point out that since he starts at the back of the grid and laps 3 seconds slower than everyone else, he's the least of Indycar's problems.
The race itself wrapped up 20 minutes quicker than usual. A look at the fastest lap chart tells us two things. Number one, the Penskes have qualifying and long-run pace but no outright quickness advantage. Number two, holy shit Honda what do you call this! In front of all your home town folks!
Food for thought, but thankfully not for long. See you on Sunday!
Edited by Risil, 23 April 2015 - 19:48.