Porsche's newest El Camino

[RickK]

Hmmm, watercooled and all that storage room in the back.

[pdy]

...and look jad, there's a wheel stored in the back that just might
fit a 944 Turbo...

[Greg Phillips]

Come on- that is the new space saver spare tire for the new Porsches

Subtract the weight of the spare and you are down to the curb weight for racing

Speaking of weight, did you notice the discussion for the IRL Indy 500 about Danica Patrick's weight (or lack thereof) being an advantage and how some would like to have the minimum weights include the driver's weight?

Greg

[Tim Comeau]

How about the frickin' LACK of discussion about the winner! Poor guy drives his butt off, wins, then gets ignored.......

[kary]

How about the frickin' LACK of discussion about the winner! Poor guy drives his butt off, wins, then gets ignored.......

Yes, he did drive well but so did Danica. I believe it goes with the territory so to speak. All the guys in this race had to know she was going to be the spot light if she was in the race at all, right?

[Jackie C]

How much can driver weight really be a factor anyway? Aren't most of the drivers pretty much full throttle and adjustments made at the wing and fuel mix? Hey for once women have the weight in their favor. She did do well. If nothing else it will help the marketing of the sport. For example, who ever thought Indy would make the PCA forum?
Blue skies,

[kary]

How much can driver weight really be a factor anyway? Aren't most of the drivers pretty much full throttle and adjustments made at the wing and fuel mix? Hey for once women have the weight in their favor. She did do well. If nothing else it will help the marketing of the sport. For example, who ever thought Indy would make the PCA forum?
Blue skies,

At the speeds they are moving at and the fact that their cars only weigh about 1500 lbs, removing 100 lbs from the overall weight of the car and driver is significant at 230 mph. If nothing else fuel mileage is improved and certainly top speed. I noticed when I took out 150 lbs on a 3060 lb car. I can't imagine what the effect would be for 100 lbs on half the weigh of my car!

I thought she did great and hope she continues to challenge everyone in racing. I think that the guys will get the rule changed to have an overall weight (car and driver) minimum changed or at least a combined weight, that way they can take a little advantage away from Danica, but then that is quite a compliment for Danica in my book if they force the issue. It clearly means she is good, or even better than they are, at least in ther eyes.

[Tim Comeau]

True, Kary. And the guys were probably quite aware of the publicity the whole time leading up to the weekend. It just seems like the real story and the purpose of the race, was lost on a tangent of the event. The real story was the competition and who would come out on top; not what their sex was..................
Everybody is the same sex when they're behind the wheel.

[Dan Chambers]

How much can driver weight really be a factor anyway? Aren't most of the drivers pretty much full throttle and adjustments made at the wing and fuel mix? Hey for once women have the weight in their favor. She did do well. If nothing else it will help the marketing of the sport. For example, who ever thought Indy would make the PCA forum?
Blue skies,

Well Jackie:

At an autocross, the weight would be insignificant. But at Indy, where you're talking 500 miles, and many hours of continuous laps, then a few MPH, and a couple of MPG, exponentially, adds up. So, yes, 100-Lbs., or even 50-Lbs. added up over the course of the race, might lead to a slight advantage.

Regardless of all that, she drove very well, had the lead in the last 10 laps (+ or - I seem to recall she was in first place until the 4th-to-last lap. Awesome!), and stopped the "ZZZZZZ" factor of Indy that's happened for the last few years. Heck. Even the NASCAR boys were a buzz of the attention she gave Indy. I say, good on her!

As to the winner .... well ... not to take anything away from smart driving, but had the Bozo behind the top 5 not put his car into the wall, causing a yellow-flag finish (PUKE, WRETCH, GAG, SPUTTER .... I hate yellow-flag checkered flags!) she might have had a chance in the last 2 laps to put the hammer down, and finish .....???? Second?? ??? Maybe even .... FIRST? We'll never know.

BTW: who's team was that guy on who put his car into the wall on the penultimate lap of the race? Same team as top finisher? Seems a bit convenient to have a yellow-flag just after Ms. Danica let those guys pass in order to conserve fuel for the last pitch at the checkered..... Hmmmmm......

Dan C.

[ttweed]

she might have had a chance in the last 2 laps to put the hammer down, and finish .....???? Second?? ??? Maybe even .... FIRST? We'll never know.

No way, Danno. She was out of fuel and coasted to the finish, there was no chance she could have made a full power run for the win.

The yellow flags in the last 40 laps actually helped her conserve enough fuel to even make it to the finish. The only way she made it up to the front for the last 15 was the radical gamble on fuel strategy her team took at 41 laps to go, when she SPUN IN A CAUTION PERIOD and damaged her car. At full power, those cars are only good for 28-32 laps on a tank. 41 was wishful thinking, but she almost made it with the yellows.

TT

[Jad]

That bozo that spun was Sebastian Bordeau, possibly the best driver in the US currently. He normally dominates Champ Car and even won the last IROC race against the NASCAR boys. Grew up at LeMans France and probably should be in F! but politics seem to be against him. The IRL coverage did their best not to mention his name or show what happened in the accident. His crashing was VERY convenient for a lot of people and completely out of character for him, maybe even a little suspicious?.

[David J Marguglio]

No way, Danno. She was out of fuel and coasted to the finish, there was no chance she could have made a full power run for the win.

Tom: that too may be a bit presumptuous. Consider that the winner (whatever his name was ) finished under the yellow and still ran out of gas at the entrance to the pits. So who is to say what might have happened? In any case, it was a very exciting race that I for one would not have watched if Danica had not been driving. I saw her on the Today show yesterday and continue to be impressed with how composed she is for a 23 year old. Now where can I find a copy of FHM magazine?

[David J Marguglio]

That bozo that spun was Sebastian Bordeau...

Perhaps he was a bit impared by a bottle of his namesake during the last pit stop?

But yes, Bourdais is undoubtably the best formula car pilot racing in the US and therefore I like your proposed conspiracy.

[Jad]

That bozo that spun was Sebastian Bordeau...

Perhaps he was a bit impared by a bottle of his namesake during the last pit stop?

But yes, Bourdais is undoubtably the best formula car pilot racing in the US and therefore I like your proposed conspiracy.

OK, it was too early and yes I had quite a bit of Bordeaux (actually Zin) last night so please forgive the spelling error. My french spelling is also quite lacking so I was doomed from the start. I am ready for Scott Speed in F1. I can handle spelling that!

[David J Marguglio]

Jad: thats odd, I could have sworn that in a previous post Curt mentioned that you didnt know how to spell "speed" either.