Fernando Alonso Coming to Indianapolis

[Silly Moustache]

Originally Posted by HHP

NASCAR would be more akin to the British Touring Car Championship in that the cars are purpose built racing designs that look like domestic passenger cars.

Yes, but they race on proper tracks - Brand's Hatch, Donnington Silverstone etc.
I've driven a race tuned Ford XR3 and a formula Ford single seater round Brands Hatch.Also mco-driven a Home built AC cobra around Goodwood. We came third.
Both events were most exciting, but I still have the scar of the hot sidewinder exhaust pipe on my left calf.

[Brucebubs]

Australia's V8 Supercars are probably the closest thing to NASCAR outside the USA.



Australian Marcus Ambrose won this series championship in 2003 and 2004 before heading to the USA to drive NASCAR. His win at Watkins Glen in 2011 made him the first Australian to win a NASCAR race, he also won there again in 2012.

Strangely when he returned to Australia and drove again in the 2015 V8 Supercar series he was uncompetitive and stood aside and announced his retirement from motorsport.

[HHP]

Originally Posted by Brucebubs

Australia's V8 Supercars are probably the closest thing to NASCAR outside the USA.



Australian Marcus Ambrose won this series championship in 2003 and 2004 before heading to the USA to drive NASCAR. His win at Watkins Glen in 2011 made him the first Australian to win a NASCAR race, he also won there again in 2012.

Strangely when he returned to Australia and drove again in the 2015 V8 Supercar series he was uncompetitive and stood aside and announced his retirement from motorsport.

Do they still run the 1000km race? Name eludes me at the moment.

[patrickgm60]

Originally Posted by Silly Moustache

Yeah we've heard of it. You can hear the screams of the crazed commentators all across the Atlantic, but it is an anachronism compared to normal racing.

F1 cars frequently top 220 mph, then down the gears to fast corner and up, then down then up. Rebalancing chassis, fuel mix, and "plan B" etc., 2.5 sec pit stops, undercuts, tyre choices, all the while.

Obviously there is something strange going on to make Alonso take this risk. Maybe we'll know sometime.

None of as driven either type of race, so only opinions; except for the fact that the g forces measured in F1 races are routinely far greater (in both directions) than those endured by NASCAR or Indy drivers. Perhaps that's one reason the races are generally shorter.

Here's a sample lap at Monaco. "Easier" than Indy?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vj8c0HCceWY

[Brucebubs]

Yes, the Bathurst 1000.
I don't know what the future holds for this series as both Ford and GM have now ceased producing cars here in Australia.

The late Peter Brock won it a staggering 9 times, the best being 1979 when he started on pole, lead from start to finish, set a race lap record on his last lap and won by 6 laps.



For those that may not know - Holden Australia is a General Motors product in the same way as Vauxhall in the UK and Opel in Europe.

There was a 2 litre series here in Australia that was run with the same cars and rules as the Europeans were using but it never really gained popularity and support, the V8 mentality won that war.
I remember a bumper sticker from that era, 'Only Milk and Orange Juice comes in 2 litres'.

p.s. we spell it 'litres' here not 'liters'.

[mdunn]

Here is his own words is Fernando Alonso's reasons for wanting to compete in the Indy 500. There were 18 views when I picked this off of YouTube.

[mdunn]

Just posted this AM by Robin Miller of Racer Magazine. He is a long time Indy Car journalist. He is encyclopedic in his knowledge of the Indy 500. Here is his interview of Fernando Alonso. It's a great one.