Houston Grand Prix

[FormerFF]

Even id Dario could drive with a broken ankle, there is no way his back could stand the strain of racing around an oval, it would be stupid of him to try, afterall he is not in the championship mix. It would be good for Dixon to have him racing for Scott's title, but there are more important considerations for Dario. Briscoe or Tag would be almost as good for Scott.

Or, KV could give Tony Kanaan his release and he could fill in for Dario. It would also give KV a chance to test a prospective driver for next year.

[garyshell]

Oh, when he sees the video he will most assuredly consider if it is time to retire. The operative word there being consider. I don't think he will do so, but the conversation will be had in his own head.

As for KV releasing TK to take the seat. I doubt that will happen, the sponsors would not be too happy unless they are in on the decision.

Gary

[GRW1983]

Which ankle did he break and didn't Dario switch to left foot braking a year or so ago? If it was his right foot or he did switch to left foot braking there is no way he'll be ready by Fontana.

Gary

Gary, Dario initially tested the DW12 with left-foot braking at the beginning of 2012 because that's how the pedal setup was. However, he insisted on a right-foot braking pedal arrangement by the start of the season. Dario is the only driver in the series who still right-foot brakes. However, on an oval EVERY driver, including Dario, left-foot brakes as that is the best way from the driving/engineering side of things. However, his injuries will keep him out of Fontana without doubt. With Ryan Briscoe committed to ALMS, I reckon Alex Tagliani has to be in with a good shot at the number 10 Target car.

[steveaki13]

Just like to send my best wishes to Dario and the drivers and fans. Horrid accident.

[Civic]

There's a Columbian that's being considered for Fontana to replace Dario, and it's NOT Montoya.

[zako85]

Will two weeks be enough time for Dario to be ready to drive in Fontana? If Briscoe isn't doing Petit Le Mans he seems to be the logical choice as Dario's replacement as he did the Indy 500 with Ganassi this year. Tagliani seems like another alternative.

We don't fully know the details of his health condition, this could easily be the end of career for Dario. Granted, it wouldn't be a very bad/premature end (like say in Kubica's case), because at this point Dario has nothing left to earn or prove.

[pucky54]

There's a Columbian that's being considered for Fontana to replace Dario, and it's NOT Montoya.

Munoz I guess

[Civic]

Looks like it's Tags subbing for Dario. I guess that means Briscoe is doing Petit Le Mans.

[Doc Austin]

This circuit was horrible when champcar raced on it. The ALMS also raced here and the place is so rough that the normally bullet proof Audis we were breaking body parts!

Indycars should never race at a place that is so rough you can split a gearbox casing on the bumps. Utterly ridiculous!

There is simply no excuse, especially since everyone remembers how rough the place was back then. Did they really think the place would just smooth out and become acceptable all by itself? Everyone had to know what they were getting into because everyone saw how badly the place beat up the champcars. You could see the wings shaking and body panels bobbing up and down. Did they really think they were going to go back to the same place and things would be better?

That, and I believe Tony Cotman helped set up both circuits, so at least one person knew how bad it was going to bet when they got there. I also believe Walker was running a team in the series when champcar raced on this circuit, so what the hell were these people thinking? Here's a simple question: Why didn't Walker or Cotman or one of their minions fly out there and drive around the place in a rental car, you know, just to check it out? Answer: They already knew how bad the place was and apparently did not care. Maybe they think because they didn't exercise due diligence in inspecting the place that they have plausible deniability.

Having said that, it's not a bad layout. The surface is just way to rough. If they could grind the whole circuit and patch up any dips, it would probably provide some good racing. The racing was actually not bad, but it would be better if the surface was smoother.

Fences, of course, have been a big problem for a lot of years. We are not a hell of a lot safer in the stands today than we were in 1955. Who's idea was it to put spectators on the outside of a 160mph sweeper anyway?

I'm a big Indycar supporter, but there is no way I can justify what they did here. It was a bad idea to go to Reliant Park, especially since everyone knows how bad the place is. They would have been a lot better off starting from scratch at a smoother location. If nothing else, since they knew how rough the place is, they had all these years to demand the city grind the place. In the end, with all the big sponsor money coming in from Shell and thinking the series was going to make a killing, they just couldn't help themselves, and they simply threw the teams under the bus, and endangered everyone.

[Starter]

Fences, of course, have been a big problem for a lot of years. We are not a hell of a lot safer in the stands today than we were in 1955. Who's idea was it to put spectators on the outside of a 160mph sweeper anyway?

Fences at a temporary circuit are always going to be a compromise. The idea that you can have a state of the art fencing system, properly anchored, built with the very limited time available to both set up and take down the course is silly. It is what it is and if you want something better you'll probably have to bag the street circuits.