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NTT IndyCar 2021 Rd 15, Natural Terrain Road Course at Monterey


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#1 red stick

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Posted 17 September 2021 - 13:04

Two races to go.

 

Hoping Jp hasn't landed yet.

(Not that we're influenced, let alone directed, by Jp's rants.  I think.)

 

One of the most storied turns in all of motorsport.  On an Honest-to-God, natural terrain road course.

 

Wienermobile_LagunaSecacrop.jpg  

 

Continuing a recent Silly Season thread, sausage, etc.-based digression.  Remember folks, driving a slow vehicle fast is sometimes more entertaining than driving a fast vehicle fast!

 

But what, that's not what "The Corkscrew" is most famous for?  (Checks notes)

 

How about this?

 

laguna-seca-1996-the-pass_full.jpg

 

 

 

THE TRACK (from the IndyCar website)

 

LagunaSeca_TrackMap.jpg?la=en

 

95 LAPS | 212.61 MILES

 

WeatherTech Raceway Laguna Seca (previously known as Laguna Seca Raceway) is a paved road racing track used for both auto racing and motorcycle racing, originally constructed in 1957 near both Salinas and Monterey, California, USA. The current racetrack is 2.238 miles (3.602 km) in length with a 300 foot (91 m) elevation change. It has eleven turns, including the famous "Corkscrew" at Turns 8 and 8A. A variety of racing, exhibition and entertainment events are held at the raceway, ranging from superkarts to American Le Mans racing to music festivals. 

 

 

 

SCHEDULE

All times U.S. EDT:

Friday

5:30 - 6:15 PM Practice 1 (Peacock)

Saturday

1:45 - 2:30 PM Practice 2 (Peacock)
5:05 - 6:20 PM Qualifications. (Peacock)

Sunday
3:00 - 6:00 PM RACE. (NBC)

 

 

NOTABLES

 

Marshall Pruett breaks down what the championship contenders need to do this weekend.

 

Will Palou continue to amaze?  

 

Will O'Ward make a comeback?  Or will he have to make more pointed comments about his team's strategy in the post-race interview?

 

Will Pagenaud and RHR continue to show they have no more f***s to give?  Do Will Power and Simon come to blows on track?

 

Will Penske roll off the truck with a decent setup, or have puzzling qualy results yet again?

 

Turn 1 (See map) doesn't offer much for Dalton Kellett to stop at.  Will he switch it up this weekend?

 

Whose driving will disappoint Graham Rahal this week? 

 

Last year's race was cancelled due to Covid.  Colton Herta won the 2019 race.  In a walk.  Does the second generation Herta magic continue at this track?

 

 

 

 

NOTABLE WATER FEATURE  (Again, from the IndyCar website, emphasis added)

 

The name Laguna Seca is Spanish for "dry lake".  The area where the track is was originally a lake.   The course was originally built around the lake, which has since dried up entirely.  An artificial pond has since been added.

 

(Needless to say, nobody really thinks the pond is an adequate substitute.)


Edited by red stick, 17 September 2021 - 18:49.


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#2 teejay

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Posted 17 September 2021 - 13:07

One of the great tracks around the world.

#3 PayasYouRace

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Posted 17 September 2021 - 13:11

On of my favourites since 1996:

 

95-Smith.png



#4 juicy sushi

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Posted 17 September 2021 - 13:13

And thoughtfully, Indycar uploaded the 1999 race just yesterday.  1000hp.  Cigarette advertising.  Franchitti vs Montoya.  Bad TV graphics.  Paul Page.  It's got it all:

 

For comparison, here is Indycar's most recent outing around the dry lake.  A little less power.  No cigarettes.  Herta vs Power.  Paul Tracy.  It's got something different:


Edited by juicy sushi, 17 September 2021 - 13:23.


#5 red stick

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Posted 17 September 2021 - 13:46

Fun Fact:  The Corkscrew is preceded by the Rahal Straight, named after Bobby Rahal, for whom Bryan Herta drove in his moment of lasting Indycar Zanardi victimhood.  Coincidence?



#6 Frood

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Posted 17 September 2021 - 13:57

Fun Fact:  The Corkscrew is preceded by the Rahal Straight, named after Bobby Rahal, for whom Bryan Herta drove in his moment of lasting Indycar Zanardi victimhood.  Coincidence?

 

I thought it was named after sometime-DeltaWing-driver Sean Rayhall, it's just that they got the spelling wrong.

 

EDIT: Huh, on further investigation, Sean Rayhall is actually distantly related to Bobby and Graham. Apparently his ancestors changed the spelling of their surname to make it easier to pronounce.


Edited by Frood, 17 September 2021 - 14:03.


#7 red stick

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Posted 17 September 2021 - 14:00

Curt Cavin's preview.

 

https://www.indycar....-Laguna-Preview



#8 FLB

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Posted 17 September 2021 - 14:00

California even has its own IndyCat breed, The California Spangled:

 

https://cattime.com/...angled#/slide/1

 

Calif-Spangled-Cat-hero850.jpg


Edited by FLB, 17 September 2021 - 14:01.


#9 paulb

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Posted 17 September 2021 - 14:04

Thanks for kicking this off red stick.

 

I did not know Laguna Seca was in Mexico.  :D    ;)



#10 PayasYouRace

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Posted 17 September 2021 - 14:07

And thoughtfully, Indycar uploaded the 1999 race just yesterday.  1000hp.  Cigarette advertising.  Franchitti vs Montoya.  Bad TV graphics.  Paul Page.  It's got it all:

 

Sadly tragedy too. That was the weekend Gonzalo Rodriguez was killed.



#11 GlenWatkins

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Posted 17 September 2021 - 14:08

Looking forward to this one, thanks RS!



#12 Frood

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Posted 17 September 2021 - 14:10

Thanks for kicking this off red stick.

 

I did not know Laguna Seca was in Mexico.  :D    ;)

 

It is.

8I7pPSM.png

 

Also, not to be confused with Laguna Toca, which is Spanish for "touches lake". Oh look, it's Jimmie Johnson from Portland:

 

97_menu_thruxton_w1.jpg



#13 PayasYouRace

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Posted 17 September 2021 - 14:13

Also, not to be confused with Laguna Toca, which is Spanish for "touches lake". Oh look, it's Jimmie Johnson from Portland:

 

97_menu_thruxton_w1.jpg

Driven by Menu, which is Spanish for menu, and Plato, which is Spanish for plate.

 

Not to be confused with Pato, which is Spanish for duck.



#14 paulb

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Posted 17 September 2021 - 14:13

It is.

8I7pPSM.png

 

 

 

The more you know.



#15 Frood

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Posted 17 September 2021 - 14:23

Driven by Menu, which is Spanish for menu, and Plato, which is Spanish for plate.

 

Not to be confused with Pato, which is Spanish for duck.

Also sponsored by carin, which is Pykobje for tobacco. Not to be confused with Carlin, which is English for "we really need to find somebody with money who's a little bit faster than Maximum Chilton"



#16 juicy sushi

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Posted 17 September 2021 - 14:30

Sadly tragedy too. That was the weekend Gonzalo Rodriguez was killed.

Yeah, that one was awful.



#17 sblick

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Posted 17 September 2021 - 14:30

You guys are getting much to silly again and we may need to leave this sketch

 

Nice opener Red Stick.  Beautiful track there.  Been there a few times myself.  



#18 loki

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Posted 17 September 2021 - 15:14

Points for Weinermobile.



#19 BRG

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Posted 17 September 2021 - 15:17

Not to be confused with Carlin, which is English for "we really need to find somebody with money who's a little bit faster than Maximum Chilton"

Interestingly (or perhaps not) it is Scottish for a witch or an unpleasant and disliked old woman.  You may draw your own conclusions from that. 

 

More appropriately , in Irish Gaelic, it means 'little champion'


Edited by BRG, 17 September 2021 - 15:18.


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#20 loki

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Posted 17 September 2021 - 15:20

It is.

If that pic were from 1845 it would have been Mexico…



#21 maximilian

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Posted 17 September 2021 - 16:30

FINALLY another IndyCar race!  Can't wait!!  :clap:



#22 red stick

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Posted 17 September 2021 - 17:07

FINALLY another IndyCar race!  Can't wait!!  :clap:

Whoa, slow down there, Bucko!  Don't wish your life away.  Remember, this season ends in (checks calendar) nine days.  Nine days!  After that, nothing for at least five months.  Five months of cat memes.  Five months of hoping Scott Dixon gets to eat some junk food occasionally.  Five months of hoping someone is going through Dale Coyne's trash, looking for discarded phone messages, doodles, maps of obscure European countries, anything, really, to clue us in on how he'll fill his seats.  Five months of more ultimately fruitless rumors about third or fourth engine manufacturers.  Five months of hoping, without hope, that Kevin Lee starts actually applying himself to his job.  Five months of pointed discussions about whether the American or European junior open-wheel feeder system produces superior results.  Five months of dreading what next appalling food item will take over these threads for a day or five.

Beware what you ask for . . .


Edited by red stick, 17 September 2021 - 17:21.


#23 juicy sushi

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Posted 17 September 2021 - 17:22

Five more months of wondering when we get to hear anything about the 2023 car...



#24 jcbc3

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Posted 17 September 2021 - 17:39

... Five months of pointed discussions about whether the American or European junior open-wheel feeder system produces superior results.  ...

 

Purleaze



#25 Frood

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Posted 17 September 2021 - 18:28

...maps of obscure European countries, anything, really, to clue us in on how he'll fill his seats.

I put "random European country generator" into Google and the first result spat out Serbia.

 

I can only think of one Serbian driver, so... Milos Pavlovic to Coyne?

 

Look, here's a picture of him with sometime IndyCar driver Giorgio Pantano, and some other bloke:

 

World_Cup_podium_-_1996.jpg


Edited by Frood, 17 September 2021 - 18:30.


#26 FLB

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Posted 17 September 2021 - 18:38

Whoa, slow down there, Bucko!  Don't wish your life away.  Remember, this season ends in (checks calendar) nine days.  Nine days!  After that, nothing for at least five months.  Five months of cat memes.  Five months of hoping Scott Dixon gets to eat some junk food occasionally.  Five months of hoping someone is going through Dale Coyne's trash, looking for discarded phone messages, doodles, maps of obscure European countries, anything, really, to clue us in on how he'll fill his seats.  Five months of more ultimately fruitless rumors about third or fourth engine manufacturers.  Five months of hoping, without hope, that Kevin Lee starts actually applying himself to his job.  Five months of pointed discussions about whether the American or European junior open-wheel feeder system produces superior results.  Five months of dreading what next appalling food item will take over these threads for a day or five.

Beware what you ask for . . .

Five months to finish the 1989 CART IndyCar season!  :p  :love:  :lol:



#27 Anja

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Posted 17 September 2021 - 19:37

I put "random European country generator" into Google and the first result spat out Serbia.

 

Stefan GP incoming. 

 

edit: Correction - that's Dale Coyne Racing with Stefan GP!


Edited by Anja, 17 September 2021 - 19:42.


#28 PayasYouRace

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Posted 17 September 2021 - 19:39

Stefan GP incoming. 

 

Too bad his mate at the pub isn't a member here anymore.



#29 paulb

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Posted 17 September 2021 - 20:11

Too bad his mate at the pub isn't a member here anymore.

Whom was that?



#30 PayasYouRace

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Posted 17 September 2021 - 20:24

Whom was that?

 

Admittedly my own speculation about said poster and their relationship to old Stefan, but that poster:

 

a) was Serbian.

b) had an inexplicable vendetta against any new team in F1 that wasn't Stefan GP.

c) only ever referenced their contacts at the pub.

 

I'll say no more, but if you remember them, good for you.



#31 Risil

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Posted 17 September 2021 - 20:37

I have a feeling Stefan himself might have posted in 2009-2011ish.



#32 noriaki

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Posted 17 September 2021 - 21:35

According to Pruett, one of the Coyne drivers (apparently Grosjean?) has crashed the pace car.

... no, don't ask me. :D

#33 maximilian

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Posted 17 September 2021 - 21:36

I put "random European country generator" into Google and the first result spat out Serbia.

 

I can only think of one Serbian driver, so... Milos Pavlovic to Coyne?

 

Look, here's a picture of him with sometime IndyCar driver Giorgio Pantano, and some other bloke:

 

 

 

Lance Strulovitch, maybe.



#34 paulb

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Posted 17 September 2021 - 21:38

Practice, practice, practice.



#35 Lotus72b

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Posted 17 September 2021 - 21:50

According to Pruett, one of the Coyne drivers (apparently Grosjean?) has crashed the pace car.

... no, don't ask me. :D

They just show the video. WTF



#36 red stick

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Posted 17 September 2021 - 22:18

According to Pruett, one of the Coyne drivers (apparently Grosjean?) has crashed the pace car.

... no, don't ask me. :D

Grosjean?  The guy who reportedly had his Turn One incident last week because he thought the 400 feet braking indicator meant 400 meters?  After practice and qualifying?



#37 shotcaller

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Posted 17 September 2021 - 22:21

According to Pruett, one of the Coyne drivers (apparently Grosjean?) has crashed the pace car.

... no, don't ask me. :D

 

According to Pruett, one of the Coyne drivers (apparently Grosjean?) has crashed the pace car.

... no, don't ask me. :D

At the pit in corner.



#38 krapmeister

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Posted 17 September 2021 - 23:16

Grosjean must be feeling comfortable in Indycar then, getting back to his good ol' self 😅

#39 red stick

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Posted 17 September 2021 - 23:30

Grosjean must be feeling comfortable in Indycar then, getting back to his good ol' self


Looked at another way, finding the limits in the pace car instead of crashing Dale's car could be termed . . . shrewd? Perhaps?! :smoking:

Edited by red stick, 17 September 2021 - 23:31.


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#40 paulb

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Posted 17 September 2021 - 23:43

Looked at another way, finding the limits in the pace car instead of crashing Dale's car could be termed . . . shrewd? Perhaps?! :smoking:

Absolutely! The repair costs should be cheaper than an Indycar.

#41 jonpollak

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Posted 17 September 2021 - 23:45

 

 

Hoping Jp hasn't landed yet.

(Not that we're influenced, let alone directed, by Jp's rants.  I think.)

 

I hadn't !!!

Just got in..

 

And to be greeted by this gem,well... So very impressed.

 

Would you believe where I am?

SONOMA CALIFORNIA !!

oh the irony.

 

Anyway...

I am off to Hooters because the girl on the plane who was sat next to me said her shift starts at 5pm PDT

It was a really enjoyable flight.

 

I might enjoy this traveling lark.

 

Jp



#42 loki

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Posted 18 September 2021 - 03:41

Did someone say Hooters?!!

 



#43 Risil

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Posted 18 September 2021 - 10:19

Practice, practice, practice.

FP1 ends with Newgarden-Herta-Palou at the top of the leaderboard. Askew sixth!!

Helio crashed, with no damage, and Dixon and O'Ward need to find more speed before qualifying.

Incidentally this is Palou's first time racing at Laguna Seca, and Pato's first since his far-off days racing in Pro Mazda for Team Pelfrey.

https://racer.com/20...at-laguna-seca/

#44 krapmeister

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Posted 18 September 2021 - 10:47

Did anyone see the footage of Grosjean's pace car bingle? Much like Portland, it looked like he was never going to make that corner either...

#45 paulb

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Posted 18 September 2021 - 10:52

Did anyone see the footage of Grosjean's pace car bingle? Much like Portland, it looked like he was never going to make that corner either...

According to Racer, https://racer.com/20...-at-laguna-seca, the crash caused the airbags to go off, the windshield cracked and the car was damaged significantly.



#46 krapmeister

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Posted 18 September 2021 - 10:54

According to Racer, https://racer.com/20...-at-laguna-seca, the crash caused the airbags to go off, the windshield cracked and the car was damaged significantly.


Yeah it was a decent hit - love to hear Ed Jones take on it lol

#47 juicy sushi

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Posted 18 September 2021 - 11:03

Laguna Seca Hamburger and French Fry show here:
https://youtu.be/udJ-_oLmYK0
Come for Seb’s killer line that “When [Romain] screws up he’s Swiss.” Stay for Sam Schmidt buzzing the tower in an augmented ‘vette.

Edited by juicy sushi, 18 September 2021 - 11:05.


#48 Anja

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Posted 18 September 2021 - 11:59

By the way, are they still doing double points for the final race or was that rule dropped?



#49 red stick

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Posted 18 September 2021 - 12:02

By the way, are they still doing double points for the final race or was that rule dropped?


Dropped. The only double points race is the Indy 500.

#50 FLB

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Posted 18 September 2021 - 12:06

Thank God.