Final thoughts on Baltimore GP

"Somethingwittyer likes noisy" (Somethingwittyer)
09/02/2013 at 20:47 • Filed to: Baltimore GP, Indycar, Rant, ALMS

!!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!! Saying spectators wanted to see half the race yellow flagged and crash filled, ESPECIALLY after the ALMS race that had Scott Tucker crash head on with the CORE Porsche (he could have been fucking decapitated!!!!!) is disgusting . If any Jalopnik editors see this, please make a post about this article. It really deserves to be shitted on.

Anyway, on to my thoughts:

The Indy race was extremely frustrating. The first half was great. Yes they’re were some yellows, but they were some the crash outs/mechanical failures. They weren’t because of the track, and because of that I was happy. Besides, the racing was great. Dixson was battling Power, and there a ton of multi car pack battles unfolding right before my eye! It was sweet! Then RHR DNF’d, and everything went downhill from there….

Fucking 3 multicar pile ups. Only ten people finishing on the lead lap. The only championship contender was knocked because of a careless mistake. AND ALL THE FUCKING YELLOWS. It was unbearable. The final ten laps didn’t make up for it. To say it was embarrassing was an understatement. The worse part is there are just two (or three) things Indy needs to do so we don’t have this again.

I think Scott said this, but no more side-by-side restarts on street courses. Just too much chaos.

Remove the fucking lightrail tracks. Can we seriously not do that? I mean, the chicanes ruin everything and bunch up the cars, it’s just not working.

If we’re still getting a ton of pile-ups in turn one, make the city repave the braking zones (lots of lockups). Hell, run the track backward if nothing else works! Because as much as I like turn one (and even the over all layout), there have been just too many pile-ups.

Would have been good to see Seb B to win. Even with all the yellows, 22 nd to 3 rd is pretty damn impressive. Speaking of Frenchmen, nobody is really talking about the fact Simon P kind of punted Seb off the track while fighting for first. I mean, I’m pretty sure it was accident , but I’m not sure it was a no call.

Simona managed to get 5 th ! She was constantly fighting around 10 th /9 th place though out the race, so late season renascence maybe?

Totally doing pass control again next year. All access pass and you get to stand right next to the barriers. Just need to make sure I get a better night sleep and always remember to wear zip on pants (pants are required).

Holy shit it was hot. Thought day two was the worst by far, on day three I managed to get a big time farmers tan on my left arm, and my Ipad (which I used for timing and scoring) ended up overheating!

Racers I saw meandering around: Tommy Kendall, Dirk Müller (who I saw trying to get in during pass control), Tommy Miller (who I really should have gotten my picture with), Dominik Farnbacher, Takuma Sato, Bryan Sellers, Guy Cosmo, Dario Franchitti, and in one moment that made my Mom quite jealous, Patrick Dempsey.

For some unknown reason, when Indycars pass by at WOT, I get the distinct smell of a strawberry parfait, or something sweet and yogurty. The IMSA GT3 cup cars on the other hand kind of smelled like grinded up chalk come race day.

Even bad sounding race cars sound good in the flesh! For instance, Indycars may sound dull and flat on TV, but what you may not realize is that they

Crackle like a motherfucker

Have the uneven power delivery sound that you find on a lot of old turbo cars (F40 comes to mind).

Another car that comes to mind is the Viper GTR-S. Ok, so it really low reving (I think it’s limited to around 5800 RPM ) and isn’t as loud as the Vettes, but it still sounds pretty bad ass. It’s a unique sound, what with it being a 8.0 L V10. Can’t imagine what it would sound like if SRT raised the redline. And oh boy, the Vettes. They and the 458s (which I’ve never thought of as the best sounding of the V8 Fezzers) sounded SO GOOD AND SO LOUD. I should probably wear earplugs to the next race I go to, just for the sake of my health!

Wanted to go to turn three this year, never managed to. Frankly I wish the organizers would put up more video screens though out the track. I was going to go down to 12, 8 or 9 and watch the ALMS race from my ipad, but my connection was crap (almost never would stream it) and was often 30 secs behind the actual race, which made it completely useless.

So yeah, that was Baltimore. Despite my negative comments, I hope it was successful and we end up having it again. Seeing any racecar driven in anger is special, but said racecars being driven thought your hometown's streets is even more so. Plus, anything to get the public interest up in racing. Even if most of the adults that came there just wanted to check it out and spent most of their time in the convention center, hopefully the young kids that came were legitimately intrigued by it. One does certainty hope so.

DISCUSSION (10)

pdthedeuce > Somethingwittyer likes noisy
09/02/2013 at 20:57

his last name says it all.

190e30-Now with COSWORTH > Somethingwittyer likes noisy
09/02/2013 at 20:58

#teamcontribute

We shall all voice our strong opinions

Raphael Orlove > Somethingwittyer likes noisy
09/02/2013 at 21:00

Holy shit the Vettes. My first time hearing them in person. So good.

When I mentioned them to JF, he just laughed and said, "they're why I'm deaf."

TheBaron2112 > Somethingwittyer likes noisy
09/02/2013 at 21:20

Did you seriously suggest the removal of railroad tracks from the downtown area of a city?

Somethingwittyer likes noisy > TheBaron2112
09/02/2013 at 21:22

And put them back afterwards. They need to do something.

TheBaron2112 > Somethingwittyer likes noisy
09/02/2013 at 21:35

You don't really get how railroad tracks and road building works, do you?

I'm not trying to be an ass, but that is a suggestion that is not feasible in any way.
They paved over the (same) tracks temporarily just before the pit entry, but they could do that because it was an uphill section and in a slow corner. They cannot pave over the tracks on the main straight because that would just create a mountain and make the launching problem that much worse.

Somethingwittyer likes noisy > TheBaron2112
09/02/2013 at 21:49

I don't really. However (and this is probably going to sound really stupid) I was wondering if they could cut the rail tracks from the rest of the track, remove the slab of concrete that it's stuck too, and use a metal sheet to cover it up. They would replant the slab after the race and weld (or something) back after the race. And yes, I may have gone full retard. That's pretty much the only way I can vistion them removing it.

TheBaron2112 > Somethingwittyer likes noisy
09/02/2013 at 22:02

No, that messes with the structure of the track and bed itself. That's a massive no-no when it comes to railroads. We're lucky that he City owns and operates the tracks as light rail transit, because otherwise, them being paved over in 5 and 6 would not have been allowed by a real railroad.

Stef Schrader > Somethingwittyer likes noisy
09/03/2013 at 00:56

Reality TV sucks. Crashing sucks. And that author sucks for suggesting that fans just want to see crashes and BS drama.

Tell ya what, crash fans. I'll gladly let you have the demo derby on a road course of your dreams if you want it. Only catch—you'll just have to drive in it, 'cause the rest of us want no part of that.

Every time I watch a total crashfest, I feel like I'm watching "rehabilitation" from Idiocracy. True story. If society's devolved into that, well, viva Camachoooooo!

McLarry > Raphael Orlove
09/03/2013 at 14:02

Amen to that... I found it interesting hearing the Corvettes with their deep engine note, then the Ferrari screams by with a much higher pitched but still amazing sound. Huge contrast.