senor honda

Race day highlights on Tampa Racing
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j02-GSnF5wQ

senor honda

A few more Barber Motorsports park Alabama Gran Prix on Tampa Racing

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mKZchIIN_DA

senor honda

I have the whole race but it's broadcast in Spanish!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4bWXIqhbGb8
and
The official broadcast has BS old radio broadcasts going periodically...... Bleah!

senor honda

[h=2]'We are right on the edge right now' - Castroneves[/h] Friday, 21 April 2017



By RACER staff / Image by LAT









Although upstaged for the overall top time of the day by Marco Andretti, Team Penske stayed near the front through the second practice session at Barber Motorsports Park, with Will Power leading defending champ Simon Pagenaud and Helio Castroneves in a 2-3-4 order. Castroneves reckons the technical nature of the Barber road circuit plays to the strengths of the Penske team.
"This track, it's very challenging in the setup," said Castroneves, who won here in 2010. "Obviously Firestone has been doing a very good job changing a little bit of the compound or the construction, and it seemed to suit our setup. We keep chasing all the areas, so it's not only straight, brake and turn – you have a lot of technical corners here that are very difficult, so it makes a big difference when you have a good setup."


Castroneves added the driving strength of Penske's team – with all four drivers being prior winners at Barber – is a double-edged sword. "Each one of us has a great input to improve not only the setup of the car but a driving style – maybe can improve in the corners and go faster. That's the great thing about having great teammates; you're going to always develop and upgrade your driving style no matter what happens," said the Brazilian. "The other side of it, unfortunately, they're there as well, and they're winners, and they're also going to play really hard when you go out there. So it's a healthy competition."
With the forecast calling for temperatures in the Birmingham area to drop by 20 degrees from Friday's mid-80s, along with a chance of rain, for Sunday's race, Castroneves recognized that Friday's order might not mean as much.
"I think the cooler [conditions] makes everybody's car better, faster, so maybe not so much of a good race because everybody is going to be good, so it's difficult to pass. Rain might be a possibility, and that could be a big factor. But normally when there's cold weather, everybody's car is fixed, every problem – which is the opposite that we want. We want it to be very difficult."
Asked about the number of cars going into the runoff area in Turn 1 and throwing dirt on course during Friday's sessions, Castroneves reckoned that the downforce gains made in the offseason are the explanation.
"The reason probably people are going off on the high-speed corners is because of the amount of downforce that we gained during the off-season, not only Chevy but also Honda, and people are really becoming more comfortable to go into those corners faster," Castroneves said. "But it's also tricky – we are right on the edge right now.
"The thing is, you've got to combine [downforce gains] with the mechanical setup to work, and that's the hardest part. This is a road course, it's not an oval, so there is more volatility – things that happen during one corner. You turn, you hit the bump, you hit the curve, you react to something, and that is really tough to control. So just because you have more downforce, it gives you confidence, but sometimes the setup is not there."
As for the ongoing Honda-vs.-Chevy battle, Castroneves echoed thought of some in the Chevy camp who suggested that the Honda engines had been detuned for practice at Barber, following the engine problems encounterd by a number of Honda runners at the previous race in Long Beach.
"I have a feeling that they are playing a game, detuning the engine," Castroneves said of Honda. "[Honda] seemed to have some issues in Long Beach, so they are playing the game, detuning and waiting for the qualifying to go in. We can only focus on our job, on our work, and that's what Team Penske is doing."

senor honda

[h=1]On Tampa Racing: INDYCAR Fast Forward: Honda Indy Grand Prix of Alabama[/h]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2i4kfcsB9pQ
by INDYCAR