Pole (Penske car): 223.9
33rd (Legge): 213.9
man, this is all over the map. and all of these posts are credible predictions.
I am guessing that someone could still "find something" and figure out 2 or 3 mph over next fastest competitor or team.
I am thinking 227 for top and 212 on bottom with a whole lot of 223 cars. When was that last time we had a 15 mph spread?
Three cars went in the 218s not just Marco. And others were still in the 216s. When they trim out the wings and actually run qualifying laps I'm sure we'll be above 220s.
http://media.indycar.com/pdf/2012/In...t_combined.pdf
Will Power, Sebastien Bourdais, Fernando Alonso, Justin Wilson
I'm guessing Helio in the 225s, and Kat in the 216s
"I think there's only so many people that can take care of themselves, and can take care of other people. And the rest of the people … they're useful in terms of compost for the whole planet, you know." - Bill Murray
If there are only 33 then the slowest has the potential to be extremely slow.
Say on Sunday one of those fragile Lotus engines gives up in the north end on lap four, the driver just has to coast it across the line to complete the run and get in the show.
No, it's because the cars of 30 years ago went fast without being safe. They were deathtraps compared to today's car. Didn't Rick Mears have to give up road courses because his mangled legs just couldn't work the pedals well enough any more? Ask Gordon Smiley how much he'd like to enter his old car in this year's 500. Or Scott Brayton or Jovy Marcelo. Drivers today survive 95% of crashes with all their limbs intact that would have killed or crippled drivers 20 years ago. A death like Dan Wheldon's is a rare, freak accident nowadays, not a periodic inevitability.
"It is marvelous to go very fast!" Lisa, portrayed by Françoise Hardy, in the film [B]Grand Prix
"A big, fat, piddling weasel, yes. But not truly evil." JB
Pole 228
Slowest 219
They haven't shown half of what they are capable of yet with a good setup and qualifying trim.
[ The car has been awful, and that's all that can be said for sure. Even with Lotus' problems, she has never run qualifying or race laps even 3 seconds off the pace when the engine was firing all cylinders (she passed Ed Carpenter on the track at Barber). As for ovals, though it's not Indy in her first-ever oval race (Milwaukee '06) she qualified 8th and finished 6th. If the Lotus is at all competitive, she will be, too. If it's not, she'll be about the same speed as the other Lotuses
EDIT: I can't just leave this lying here, because people are repeating the same BS comments. Speaking of Long Beach, for instance, the proof that it is primarily the Lotus/Dragon that is awful is actually there. As you say, Kat has seen Long Beach before. In three prior races at LB, her results are: 1) A win in her first-ever Atlantics race in 2005; 2) 8th place in her first-ever ChampCar race in 2006 (of 11 cars running at the end, with a spin and stall that put her at back of pack, still finished on lead lap, with last 20 laps green she finished only 22 seconds behind winner Bourdais-- and we know you lose close to 10 seconds just restarting at the tail end); 3) 10th place in 2007, on lead lap, a total of 14 cars running at the end and she was not the last on the lead lap, even.
What can you possibly make of these results except that, when given a good car, she can run with the pack like anyone else and make some passes? There is no other credible interpretation. The "weak, diluted field" argument has been well answered, and it doesn't explain results next to guys like Bourdais, Tracy, Tagliani, Wilson, Allmendinger, Power, etc. If you are in fact a moving chicane, you can't regularly finish on the lead lap against these guys with stretches of 20 and 30 laps of green flag racing.
Last edited by JimmyB10; 05-05-2012 at 11:26 PM.
Pole 218.6
Slow 211.6
I'm gonna wiggle it at 'em, you cheap b@st@rd. Be prepared, because when I yank it out, everybody in that audience except my wife is gonna be runnin' for the exits.
Pole 219.2
Slowest 204.3
Those with predictions for pole speeds of closer to 219 to 221 look to be on the money once they start trimming the cars out. The unknown factor when this was first posted was the extra boost the engines will get. Let's say a car with negative wing can reach 220 or 221. Add 42 horsepower and we're looking at maybe 224.
"Indycars should be beasts." - Gil de Ferran
@bigmo500
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