senor honda

[h=2]IndyCar Series tweaks schedules, rules ahead of new season[/h] Monday, 06 February 2017


Marshall Pruett / Images by LAT

The Verizon IndyCar Series announced a number of changes for the 2017 season that will standardize some of its event schedules and attempt to improve aspects of its open-wheel product.
The first move of note involves setting standard practice times of 45 minutes at 11 a.m. and 3 p.m. (local) on the Friday of each road and street course. Other road/street course schedule adjustments were also made, with the Grand Prix of Indianapolis being shortened from three days to two, and the lone double-header on the calendar at Detroit's Belle Isle will have its qualifying process simplified. Rather than use a knockout-style procedure for the first race and a separate process for the second, individual qualifying sessions for each race will be held. In those sessions, half the field will be given 12 minutes to qualify before the other half qualifies, and the starting order will be set on fastest times.
Short oval qualifying has been moved to race day at Phoenix and Gateway; both races take place on Saturday nights.
IndyCar has also given its drivers an extra set of Firestone's sticky alternate (red) tires on road and street courses, moving the total to four sets. Under the previous allotment plan, teams would conserve their reds, which tend to wear faster than the standard tires, prior to qualifying. With an extra set, teams can conduct qualifying simulations in final practice without major concerns about going into race day with high-mileage reds. It should also help rookie drivers, who tend to struggle to maximize the extra grip from the reds, to gain valuable experience on the tires before qualifying takes place.



The series also announced its push-to-pass boost and duration plans, and revealed a new twist to the overtake rules. A move from a fixed number of uses to a fixed amount of total time the extra 60 hp is available per race was confirmed, and according to IndyCar, the "events at the streets of St. Petersburg, Raceway at Belle Isle Park and Sonoma Raceway will have a total overtake time allotment of 150 seconds for each race, with the other road/street races set for 200 seconds."

IndyCar will now allow drivers to halt the supply of extra boost.
"Once engaged, push-to-pass will run for a pre-established duration equivalent to approximately the time needed to drive the length of the track's main straightaway (15-20 seconds)," the series wrote. "Drivers will now have the ability to disengage an overtake activation midway through its use to save time for a later use. In addition, push-to-pass will not be available at the start of a race or for any restarts, with the exception of a restart commencing with two laps remaining in the race."

senor honda

Wondering if it is also a "you're not passing me" button. lol

senor honda

As it turns out, months later.....yes it really WAS a "you're not passing me" button!
Power, Rahal call for rules rethink

Monday, 31 July 2017


By RACER staff / Images by IndyCar & Michael Levitt/LAT


While the tenacious defense of position at the final restart of the Honda Indy 200 by the lapped Esteban Gutierrez drew criticism after the Honda Indy 200, Will Power and Graham Rahal said at the post-race press conference it was symptomatic of an increasing problem for IndyCar.
"I think we need to have a talk behind closed doors with the drivers," said Rahal. "I would say Gutierrez was damn close to taking out the leader. I'm sure you saw it. That's just ridiculous, honestly.
"We'll talk about it behind closed doors. I think everybody needs a little bit of a shake-up here with just the respect between drivers, but we'll go from there. I mean, I always get told I'm a whiner when I talk about those sorts of things. I'll let Will talk about it..."
Power, who arguably suffered the most by the Dale Coyne Racing driver's refusal to move aside to let the Australian and Rahal try to challenge leader Josef Newgarden, didn't put all the blame on the Mexican driver.
"It's actually not Gutierrez's fault," said Power. "The rules for IndyCar are kind of ridiculous, that the team would tell him to stay and push and he's not even in the lead. I understand if he was ahead of Newgarden, because then, if it goes yellow, he gets his lap back.
"I mean, IndyCar on one hand wants really good racing, but then you put a bunch of backmarkers, people a lap down in the mix. It ruined probably a very good battle at the end because Josef was on black tires and we were on reds."

Rahal added: "After we cleared him [Gutierrez], all we were trying to do was haul ass to catch up again. Same with [Carlos] Munoz mid-race. How much time did I lose, 10 seconds, if not more? He was on overtake every single straightaway. It's like, come on!"



Power suggested a tweaked push-to-pass system might help:
"You would have to have a no-reply push-to-pass system. That would create a lot more passing at tracks like this, because then you don't have people replying," said the Team Penske driver. "The [2018] aero kit will help, but if you really want real hard-core racing – because DRS in Formula 1 is too much, like the passes aren't real – but I think the push-to-pass, it's just getting here.
Added Rahal: "Like today, he [Power] could be on push-to-pass at times and I'd be in a really good tow behind him, and it would be similar. It's not so much that it's like DRS, but the problem we have right now is, when you get close behind somebody, you are hanging on to your ass big time. It is a whole different ball game.
"I think next year, when the car develops the downforce from underneath, it's going to be way better racing. I remember like, what was the year before we went to this [aero] kit? 2014, you could really dice it up. Now, every time I went into [Turn] 1 behind him at the end, I was just praying that it would somewhat stick through the corner."
Both drivers also renewed their plea for IndyCar to alter the pit rules for caution periods, even though Mid-Ohio's full-course yellow didn't prove as decisive as it did last time out in Toronto.
"Yeah, it was good for a breather, that's about it, because everyone had pitted," Power said of the late caution. "I don't know if anyone were called out. In that instance, if anyone had gone a lap longer, they literally get a drive-through penalty, and that's what's wrong with closing the laps on the yellow. If you stayed out one lap longer, you'd be at the back. To me, that's so wrong if you've done a good job of saving fuel. Exactly what happened in Toronto: All these guys should have been fighting for the win. Instead, they're put to the back for doing a really good job.
"I think the field is competitive enough now to make it fair, because it's a total lottery for who's in the pits. Total lottery."

senor honda

So now the INDYCAR guys are saying what I said MONTHS AGO.

INSIGHT: How, and whether, to improve IndyCar push-to-pass

Image by Michael Levitt/LAT


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By: Joey Barnes June 26, 2019 6:41 AM


One of the talking points over last weekend’s REV Group Grand Prix at Road America was how IndyCar’s push-to-pass feature could better serve the NTT IndyCar Series.

The current system is run on both road and street circuits, with the amount carried varying based on the size of the track. For instance, with this past Sunday’s race being a 4.014-mile, 14-turn permanent road course, the drivers had 200 seconds of a roughly 60-hp boost at their disposal at any time for the 55-lap event.

The main source of difficulty is the fact it not only serves as a way to attack, but defend as well, and that is something Team Penske driver Will Power would like to see changed.

“They could fix that so easy with a no reply push-to-pass system, you’d just have some serious battles out there,” said Power. “I just think the push to pass system is wrong. Either give us a lot less so you don’t reply every time, or you have a no reply system. Right now you’ve got so much, as soon as you hear on the radio, ‘He’s on it,’ you’re on it. He is on it, you’re on it. You’re on it on your in-laps and you’re on it on your out-laps. Everyone is doing the same.

“So, for me, we don’t have push-to-pass. You may as well not have it if everyone can reply, and you have a guy on the radio every time someone clicks it, you’ll click it. It used to be 10 clicks. You were very sparing. You had to be sure the guy was going to get you to click it. People would save some. Guys would have less at the end.



“For me, we don’t have push-to-pass. You may as well not have it if everyone can reply,” Power reckons. Image by Michael Levitt/LAT


“Right now they’ve just given you a whole bunch and everyone just uses it all the time. You can use two seconds, which helps you. I think it’s the wrong strategy.”

Although knowing the exact moment someone is on the button is difficult, it is easy to tell when the object in the mirror is larger than it first appeared.

“You can tell someone is getting a run, absolutely,” continued Power. “You can’t tell someone is on it. I guess you look, you can tell when someone’s got a run on you. Bonk, you’ll hit it. Keep looking. Unclick it, click it again. You should only have one hit, one chance — bang, you’ve wasted a whole one.

“Then you’re really thinking. Or the guy can’t reply. Something like that. Right now, because everyone has so much experience with it, everyone uses it in such a good way. It’s not good for the fans. This track (Road America), in particular, I thought, ‘Man, you could have such an awesome battle if you had a no reply system.’”

In fact, the “no reply” system Power refers to is actually used in Indy Lights, the top rung of the three-tier Road to Indy which serves as the development series to IndyCar. The format in Indy Lights, which is a 50-hp boost, also carries an all-important caveat that a driver must be within a one-second gap of the car in front.

Indy Lights plays the P2P game the way Power would prefer. Image by Road to Indy


Current NTT IndyCar Series championship leader Josef Newgarden understands Team Penske teammate Power’s perspective, but also shared some slightly different thoughts.

“I don’t know that (the current push-to-pass is) obsolete,” said Newgarden.
“It’s still a game that you’re playing, still about how you manage it throughout the race. I definitely get Will’s point. I think if you really want to increase passing, then that’s one way to do it, is to have no response for the car in front. You’ll definitely see a lot more passing, but there’s a fine line. Some people might look at that and say, ‘It’s gimmicky.’

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“I like that you have to manage push-to-pass throughout the race. I find it to be an interesting thing for the drivers to manage throughout. It does come into effect. If you used it all up (and) one guy behind you has a lot more, it won’t favor you towards the end of the race. I don’t think it’s a no-brainer now where it’s evened up between everybody. Yeah, there are things that could increase the passing like that, but so could a system like DRS in F1. I think that’s what it sort of does. There are two sides to it, probably, on that discussion.”

Andretti Autosport’s Alexander Rossi, who waxed the field with a dominating victory at Road America to move within seven points of Newgarden in the title race, is an advocate of the existing IndyCar product. However, that doesn’t mean he isn’t in favor of tweaking things for the sake of improvement. It’s just a matter of how.

“Obviously I agree,” said Rossi, the 2016 Indianapolis 500 champion. “I think Will has a valid point. We pride ourselves on the product we produce on the track. That’s without any type of stages or crazy things going on. I think, as always, we can work on it and fine-tune it.

“I don’t know that any of us have the exact solution, though.”




Alexander Rossi, Josef Newgarden, P2P, Will Power, IndyCar, Insights & Analysis