Does Manning need power steering?

[NickFalzone]

He parked it at Iowa when his arms got tired, much to I'm sure Foyt's chagrin. How much of it is Darren's lack of training vs Foyt's mediocre car (no evidence of the latter, but it's not a top class machine)? I do think Darren needs to spend less time on the golf course if he's parking it, particularly when Danica and the rest of the field were in it till the end. Oddly enough, I think TK is so built he was probably turning the wheel too much causing that spin. Did the same thing last year at Iowa.

[beachbum]

The high G loads at Iowa seem particularly hard on steering racks. Rice had one locking up as did Camara. Apparently so did Manning. From the Foyt website, he also had a new seat that placed him too far from the wheel, aggravating the problem. It was reported the TK may have had a suspension failure, as did Carpenter. Bruno and Roth had failures in practice. Wild speculation and finger pointing is interesting, but getting the facts is better.

[NickFalzone]

I know that the short tracks are tougher on steering and suspension, but TK saying suspension "may have" broken is hardly a conclusive fact. He may well have just gotten loose, as I also saw reported, and which TK was even quoted as saying. And Darren also had problems last year with the steering at St. Pete, which Curt Cavin said was a fitness issue that Darren has since worked on. By the way, I did question whether it was possibly the car. Sounds like it was, if that was stated on the Foyt site. So thanks for answering my question.

[dataman1]

IMO this is a fine example of how high speed open wheel cars should not run on ovals created for cars with fenders. I did not say "no ovals", just high banked ovals built for heavier and bigger cars. The G load is too great.

Take a look at how a Nascar driver sits in the car, upright, arms flexed, steering is closer to the torso, legs are flexed. Then look at an open wheel car with the arms extended, steering farther away and the driver in a modified prone position with legs extended. Try it for yourself. To simulate at home, sit up straight on your couch, take a round weight in both hands and while the arms are flexed, turn it from side to side. Then repeat the task with arms extended while sitting with legs extended nearly laying down. It takes much more upper body and arm strength in an oval car. Add an ill handling car and the effort would increase. Add higher G load and the effort double or tripples.

There was a TV piece aired in Indy during May showing Darren and his trainer at the fitness center at IMS while he was working with upper body and arm strength. I can't say whether it was staged or if he does this regularly.

Food for thought.

[coogmaster]

Since most everyone else seemed to be handling Iowa pretty well (Foyt & Andretti both said they love the track), I'd say it was just a matter of the #14 team completely missing the setup. Either that, or Darren went out for a few drinks Saturday night and was getting queasy in the cockpit.

I predict that he'll do better at the upcoming road races.

[beachbum]

Since most everyone else seemed to be handling Iowa pretty well (Foyt & Andretti both said they love the track), I'd say it was just a matter of the #14 team completely missing the setup. Either that, or Darren went out for a few drinks Saturday night and was getting queasy in the cockpit.

I predict that he'll do better at the upcoming road races.

Not just the 14. Rice and Camera dropped out from heavy steering, apparently seizing steering racks. Dixon last year had the same problem, and the team changed the rack during the race, losing 77 laps. Obviously some teams did a better job preparing for high steering loads this year than others. So I guess if some think Manning was too weak to continue, the same could be said about Rice, Camera, and Dixon (who is a triathlete). My hats off to all of the drivers. They are all much tougher than most can ever imagine.

[coogmaster]

Good point there. Anyone who says that racing isn't physically demanding is either ignorant or needs to get their head examined.

And it also goes to show that these cars are not bullet proof quite yet.

[beachbum]

There was an interesting sidelight to the controversy about the variable rate steering used last year by Patrick and Manning (and others apparently). Because it reduced the required effort the further the wheel was turned, some teams claimed it was an unfair advantage as it allowed more aggressive setups (like caster) which improved turn in and performance. That implies the opposite, that caster changes can compromise turn in but reduce steering effort. As anyone who has fooled with chassis setup knows, in the words of AJ, that is quite true. There are many things to reduce steering effort, but all have other consequences.

The Bridgestone motorsports site has an interesting article about the steering where Briscoe indicated the locking problem existed at other tracks like Sonoma because of the loading from elevation change. The variable rack eliminated the problem. It would be interesting to know who was and who was not running the new steering at Iowa.

In addition to the "blister check" at the end of the race with IV, some of the in-car shots showed one other interesting condition. Drivers were moving their hands on the wheel, and in the case of Marco, sometimes relaxing their hands on the straightaways. At one point Danica was driving with some of her fingers extended (no, not just the middle one), rather than wrapped around the wheel, an almost sure sign of cramping. It takes a tough person to drive through that. And some so-called sports writers claim race drivers aren't athletes. Right.

[driversdomainuk]

Good point there. Anyone who says that racing isn't physically demanding is either ignorant or needs to get their head examined.

And it also goes to show that these cars are not bullet proof quite yet.

100% agree

[seppefan]

Knowing AJ I think he might need a drive....