Welcome to Race 3 and 4 of the 2020 Indycar season!
So ze first double header in an extraordinary season is upon us. Actually I was reluctant to write an OP. Language reasons and stuff, but zen Jon Pollak decided zat Wisconsin is essentially Germany and I felt right at home.
Picnickers at the State Capitol in Madison WI
First things first: Session times
Race 1
Samstag (Saturday), 11. Juli
17:30 CEST (11:30 ET) Practice
20:30 CEST (2:30 ET) Qualifications Group 1
20:48 CEST (2:48 ET) Qualifications Group 2
23:15 CEST (5:15 ET) Race
Race 2
Sonntag (Sunday), 12. Juli
16:00 CEST (10:00 ET) Qualifications Group 1
16:18 CEST (10:18 ET) Qualifications Group 2
18:42 CEST (12:42 ET) Race
PSA: Don’t forget your picks at https://fantasy.indycar.com
Where do we actually race?
Road America could be translated as Straße Amerika. So it is basically das equivalent to the Autobahn:
Which means: long straights and really fast. The track has an overall length of 6.5 km/4 m, which is exactly as long as the Autobahn between Hamburg and Munich and has 14 turns, which are as many as the Rhine has between the swiss and dutch borders. Which reminds me: We have a dutch driver, I should refrain from all Frank Rijkaard puns.
Road Ämerica is located at Elkhart Lake (population: 967, 3 more than Frankfurt am Main) in Sheboyan Country, Wisconsin. Sheboyan calls itself the “Bratwurst Capital of the world”. Berlin begs to differ. According to Wikipedia Sheboyan is within the Town of the Rhine. You got to be kidding me.
The closest city is apparently more of a hamlet called Green Bäy. No one ever has heard of it, although a certain former Indycar princess seems to have interests.
The track in it’s current layout dates back to 1955, when the first race was held. It was won by Bernd Rosemeyer, followed by Karl Kling and Hans Herrmann. Best placed Fahranfänger was Wolfgang Graf Berghe von Trips. Yes, I made that up.
The track features a Carousel. This is something unheard of in Germany, we don’t understand the concepts of fun, joy or entertainment. The Kink, on the other hand …
Indycar / Champ Car stopped racing here in 2007 after having experienced a horrific race the year before when Katherine Legge atomized her car at the kink und former champ Cristiano da Matta crashed into a deer with career ending results.
The series returned in 2016 as the ADAC Großer Preis von Wisconsin Kohler Grand Prix of Road America. Kohler is gone now.
No, this is actually Horst Köhler, german Bundespräsident from 2004 to 2010. He resigned early as well. Our current president is Frank-Walter Steinmeier, but I don’t expect him to sponsor a motor race any time soon.
The 2016 race was won by Will Power, 2017 by Scott Dixon, 2018 by Josef Neugarten and 2019 by Alexander Rossi. Sounds familiar? Maybe it’s finally time for VEACH.
As epic as the track layout is, it doesn’t always produce scorchers of a race. This is serious racing of the german kind, don’t expect hairpin shenanigans, we gladly leave these deviations to degenerated Los Angelinos or St. Petersburgistas. Here we race in a composed and efficient manner: Last year’s race saw eventual winner Alexander Rossi running away from the field, while the more entertaining battles were in the midfield, especially between Colton Herta and Graham Rahal.
The season so far
Two races – twice Dixon. I mean, it is really difficult to bet against the Iceman now, isn’t it? Alexander Rossi hasn’t been – much to Anja’s disappointment – to the most successful start and is on Position 23 of the championship standings, DJ Willy P of Toowoomba, Australia didn’t fare much better and is at Position 15.
Simon Pagenaud and the former Young American Josef Newgarden are on 2 and 3 of the championship standings, followed by Herta, Rahal and Zach Veach. That is virtual racing Zach Veach, who is not related to VEACH. Although the last race sadly brought him closer to his usual form. Besides Veach, Jack Harvey and Conor Daly did surprisingly well so far, but none of these guys have former Road America results to write home about.
Did you make your picks already? Why not? https://fantasy.indycar.com
Who is running?
The field is virtually identical to last week’s Indianapolis GP, only some liveries have changed.
Josef Newgarden races a blue PAINTS scheme, Graham Rahal a black TOTAL one, Ferruccci is back to his usual SealMaster livery. Everyone else (no guarantees, maybe I overlooked someone Rinus Van Kalmthoud) will be racing his well known colours.
What else should we know about the Wisconsin race?
Most important: David Hasselhoff has no connections to the state, county, city or race track. And contrary to common – and his own – belief no one in Germany cares for him either.
But you wouldn’t be happy if I ignored him, would you?
Edited by H0R, 09 July 2020 - 15:18.
Ausgezeichnet gemacht. 
