IndyCar to use Motegi road course

[anthonyvop]

autosport.com - IndyCar News: IndyCar to use Motegi road course (http://www.autosport.com/news/report.php/id/91948)

Good call

[beachgirl]

autosport.com - IndyCar News: IndyCar to use Motegi road course (http://www.autosport.com/news/report.php/id/91948)

Good call

I agree.

[uncommonsense52]

I would rather have this been run on the oval, only because it would mean that the disaster hasn't happened over there.

But my personal preference is always to road courses, so I like this call.

[anthonyvop]

here is the track layout

http://www.indycar.com/var/assets_content/motegimap2.jpg

[maxmach]

Agree with Uc52, the reason behind it sucks, but it does look like an interesting course if the straights are long enough. I did like the Motegi egg oval though, and this coming from a road course fan.

[nigelred5]

I've always wanted to see indycars run the RC @ Motegi. I guess I may finally get to see them do it. Hopefully the Japanese fans will have recovered enough to enjoy the race.

[dataman1]

Glad to see ICS going to Japan. The fans there can use the event as a respite from the ordeals they have endured. The Japanese fans are some of the most respectful and educated about the sport.

[Civic]

Fast forward to about the 2:50 mark. It's the Dome-Mugen F105 Grand Prix car (from the stillborn Dome F1 team) doing a lap of the Motegi road course.
YouTube - ‪ (http://youtu.be/hFQngxGacZg)

[SoCalPVguy]

Well, now there is no chance for the princess to repeat as winner at Motegi

[bzcam]

here is the track layout

http://www.indycar.com/var/assets_content/motegimap2.jpg

Here's the shot from Google Maps. Looks like a great course. Can't wait!

BZ

motegi - Google Maps (http://maps.google.com/maps?f=q&source=s_q&hl=en&geocode=&q=motegi&aq=&sll=36.066862,136.647949&sspn=16.702844,32.783203&ie=UTF8&hq=&hnear=Motegi,+Haga+District,+Tochigi+Prefecture,+J apan&ll=36.532743,140.231338&spn=0.016242,0.032015&t=k&z=16)

[NickFalzone]

Well, now there is no chance for the princess to repeat as winner at Motegi

Hate to say it, but that's one of the first things that crossed my mind when I read this. Additionally, this change is not insignificant in the championship picture. You have to give the oval advantage to Dario/Dixon. This change gives Will P a moderate boost in his championship hopes. I know everyone says he's getting better on the ovals, but still clearly, he's a step behind Ganassi/Dario.

[FormerFF]

It doesn't sound like they had a choice. I'd rather watch a road race, so I'm fine with this, I know others will be disappointed, particularly Danica, since she usually does well there.

[maxmach]

If they are going to run a road couse I too would rather see them run Suzuka. Wonder if there's any chance.

[Mark]

If they are going to run a road couse I too would rather see them run Suzuka. Wonder if there's any chance.

Why have a race at the same place as F1 already races. That makes little sense.

If you want a proper circuit what about Fuji.

[anthonyvop]

If they are going to run a road couse I too would rather see them run Suzuka. Wonder if there's any chance.

You wouldn't want the IRL to race on a track that F1 runs....trust me you don't.

[ShiftingGears]

Not a huge fan of the Motegi oval... but the road course is worse. It has no flow, and the corners are slow, which with the IRL cars will almost definitely not look very good. Also from a spectators point of view, its quite poor.

[call_me_andrew]

Not a huge fan of the Motegi oval... but the road course is worse. It has no flow, and the corners are slow, which with the IRL cars will almost definitely not look very good. Also from a spectators point of view, its quite poor.

Maybe if the outfield section had some hills it wouldn't be so bad.

Either way, Japan needs to show the world it is still open for buisness.

[Anubis]

You wouldn't want the IRL to race on a track that F1 runs....trust me you don't.

Guys on Radio LeMans were discussing this a while back. The consensus was they'd be on a par, if not slower than GP2, let alone F1.

[F1boat]

I would have prefered an oval race. I watched Indy 500 and it was so much more fun that road courses :(

[Civic]

Tora Takagi drove an IRL car at Suzuka back in 2003 or 2004 I think. Not sure if it was a leisurely exhibition run or if he ran it in anger.

[Dr. Krogshöj]

Tora Takagi drove an IRL car at Suzuka back in 2003 or 2004 I think. Not sure if it was a leisurely exhibition run or if he ran it in anger.

If the car survived the run in one piece, he most definetly did not run it in anger.

[Mark in Oshawa]

It is what it is. The fact that nation suffered a calamity as big as it did and is still in the business of hosting racing says volumes about their ability to bounce back. Circumstances being what they are, let them run the road course and lets see what happens. The course to me has a few passing possibilities with the long straights with slow corners following. No point in crying about the loss of use of the oval, it is gone, and just being there is a good thing...

[chuck34]

You wouldn't want the IRL to race on a track that F1 runs....trust me you don't.

IRL cars don't run with F1 cars do they? There are two different series, right? The cars are built for two different purposes, correct? Why compare them? Oh yeah, so you can get yet another dig in on the IRL. Why are you here again? Your constant negative attitude is getting really tiresome.

[Anubis]

IRL cars don't run with F1 cars do they? There are two different series, right? The cars are built for two different purposes, correct? Why compare them? Oh yeah, so you can get yet another dig in on the IRL. Why are you here again? Your constant negative attitude is getting really tiresome.

I don't think that's entirely fair. Even if he is generally Mr Doom and I seldom have reason to agree with him, it's not negeative to suggest an ICS car would be considerably slower than an F1 car round the same circuit. They DO race on road courses, so the issue of comparative road course pace is valid. I'd be curious to see how the current ICS cars compared to F1, GP2 and maybe even Superleague and AutoGP cars round the same circuit, simply out of pure curiosity. Doesn't make me negative. I'm sure there are many reasons why they don't overlap, doubtless mostly Bernie derived, but I'm sure the difference in pace is a factor. In an ideal World, outright pace would be less important than good racing, but it's the lap times that hit the record books, so that's what people tend to focus on.

[chuck34]

I don't think that's entirely fair. Even if he is generally Mr Doom and I seldom have reason to agree with him, it's not negeative to suggest an ICS car would be considerably slower than an F1 car round the same circuit. They DO race on road courses, so the issue of comparative road course pace is valid. I'd be curious to see how the current ICS cars compared to F1, GP2 and maybe even Superleague and AutoGP cars round the same circuit, simply out of pure curiosity. Doesn't make me negative. I'm sure there are many reasons why they don't overlap, doubtless mostly Bernie derived, but I'm sure the difference in pace is a factor. In an ideal World, outright pace would be less important than good racing, but it's the lap times that hit the record books, so that's what people tend to focus on.

Sure you can compare them. But who cares and why does it matter?

[Bob Riebe]

Sure you can compare them. But who cares and why does it matter?It might matter for the same reason Danny Ongais crashed when he ran out of tires while trying exceptionally hard to beat the track F-1 lap record when USAC went to the UK in 1978.

[Anubis]

Sure you can compare them. But who cares and why does it matter?

If ICS is trying to market itself as a premier open wheel series, people are naturally going to compare it to other series around the World. Doesn't need to be any political motivation, it's just natural curiosity. From a marketing point of view, I can't imagine the IRL want people to be saying "wow, the ICS car is x seconds a lap slower than an F1 car round [the same circuit]", as it immediately presents something negative about the series, regardless of the actual racing. I'm assuming that's at least part of the reason why they don't share circuits. On that basis, it absolutely matters. You could argue that people who are influenced by that situation are not true racing fans, and you'd probably be right, but you can't run the series without casual fans getting involved, so you need to maximise your appeal to the general public. Part of that has to be not putting yourself in a position where you're being compared to rival series.

[Marbles]

It might matter for the same reason Danny Ongais crashed when he ran out of tires while trying exceptionally hard to beat the track F-1 lap record when USAC went to the UK in 1978.

Video: When Indycars went to England 1978 (http://www.motorsportretro.com/2011/05/indycars-brands-hatch-1978/)

Neat!

[Bob Riebe]

Video: When Indycars went to England 1978 (http://www.motorsportretro.com/2011/05/indycars-brands-hatch-1978/)

Neat!Thank you for that video, fantastic.

[chuck34]

If ICS is trying to market itself as a premier open wheel series, people are naturally going to compare it to other series around the World. Doesn't need to be any political motivation, it's just natural curiosity. From a marketing point of view, I can't imagine the IRL want people to be saying "wow, the ICS car is x seconds a lap slower than an F1 car round [the same circuit]", as it immediately presents something negative about the series, regardless of the actual racing. I'm assuming that's at least part of the reason why they don't share circuits. On that basis, it absolutely matters. You could argue that people who are influenced by that situation are not true racing fans, and you'd probably be right, but you can't run the series without casual fans getting involved, so you need to maximise your appeal to the general public. Part of that has to be not putting yourself in a position where you're being compared to rival series.

Hard core fans know that an Indycar will not be as fast as an F1 car around the same circuit. I don't know of a time when that wasn't true (maybe the late 60's/early 70's but probably not). The casual fan probably doesn't really know there is a difference anyway. "Premier" doesn't really have anything to do with speed. If it did then how is NASCAR so popular?

[Anubis]

"Premier" doesn't really have anything to do with speed. If it did then how is NASCAR so popular?

What series of similar vehicles is faster on the "home turf" of ovals than the Cup cars? Speed has a great deal to do with it. Take it outside NASCAR and AOWR and look at NHRA (or the FIA series for those of us in Europe). The hardcore fans have their favourite classes (imports, pro mods, bikes or whatever), but it's the fuel cars that put bums on seats and get the bulk of the attention. Anyone running a rival series (IHRA, ADRL, FIA, NDRS...) isn't going to encourage direct comparison, as they will always look like the inferior product. I love Indycars and have done for ages, regardless of the politics, but they are being entirely sensible by avoiding situations where they can be directly compared to F1. If there wasn't a marketing risk, they'd have raced on the same tracks by now. I can't believe it's entirely track politics that has limited the overlap for all these years. Not just IRL, as I can't recall CART / CCWS sharing a track with contemporary F1 other than maybe Montreal?

[GRW1983]

What series of similar vehicles is faster on the "home turf" of ovals than the Cup cars? Speed has a great deal to do with it. Take it outside NASCAR and AOWR and look at NHRA (or the FIA series for those of us in Europe). The hardcore fans have their favourite classes (imports, pro mods, bikes or whatever), but it's the fuel cars that put bums on seats and get the bulk of the attention. Anyone running a rival series (IHRA, ADRL, FIA, NDRS...) isn't going to encourage direct comparison, as they will always look like the inferior product. I love Indycars and have done for ages, regardless of the politics, but they are being entirely sensible by avoiding situations where they can be directly compared to F1. If there wasn't a marketing risk, they'd have raced on the same tracks by now. I can't believe it's entirely track politics that has limited the overlap for all these years. Not just IRL, as I can't recall CART / CCWS sharing a track with contemporary F1 other than maybe Montreal?

I think CART did run Montreal for a couple of years when F1 did as well, but I don't know what the comparison was between lap times. All I remember is F1 was faster, which wasn't very surprising.

[Mark]

CART was around 6 seconds a lap slower than the Formula 1 cars around the track.

[Bob Riebe]

Hard core fans know that an Indycar will not be as fast as an F1 car around the same circuit. I don't know of a time when that wasn't true (maybe the late 60's/early 70's but probably not). The casual fan probably doesn't really know there is a difference anyway. "Premier" doesn't really have anything to do with speed. If it did then how is NASCAR so popular?
During the years Indianapolis type cars could run very wide tires, they were probably quicker than F-1 cars around fast tracks. When USAC took away the wide tires that tipped the scales as shown by Ongais at Silverstone where he was within a fraction of a second but ran out of tires.