st pete grand prix

Here's some pics of the first F1 Indy cars racing on city streets at the Honda St Petersburg Grand Prix. A bunch of us from the Florida Club got be parade cars.

We had an absolute blast.
Kim Green is with Green Andretti is a really nice guy. First class all the way.

fltsfshr

 

wait isnt f1 and indy two different things?

 

You are right shift_9K.

Indy cars race in the Indy Racing League, which includes the Indy 500.

F1 cars compete in the Formula 1 World Championship which includes the US Grand Prix.

Both the Indy 500 and the US GP are held at the same race track in Indianapolis.

F1 cars and Indy cars are both powered by NA 3.0 liter engines and are single-seat open wheelers, but the cars are actually otherwise quite different.

The IRL cars have V8s that have about 650 bhp, burn methanol, and have a max RPM around 10,300. They generally run on high-speed ovals. fltsfshr was lucky enough to not only see, but to be part of, the first ever IRL road course race in St. Pete held just a few weeks ago. (the pictures were great, and it looked like a great experience -- did you all have to take out the windscreens so the celebs could sit on the secret compartment? Did you get to drive the full length of the road course?)

F1 cars have V10s that have around 950 bhp, burn unleaded petrol, and have a RPM max in excess of 19,000. The technology for brakes, gear box, engine, aero, chasis, etc. is considered to be the "apex" of motor sport. The F1 races are on road courses with both left and right hand turns (no ovals). The F1 course at Indianapolis uses part of the oval track used in the Indy 500, but also includes a twisty set of 10 turns through the infield.

 

Yes you're right. indy cars, by design aren't as techno as F1. That's a decision made by the IRL to allow more teams to participate from a financial standpoint.

We drove the whole course. Look at the pic with Winona Judd sitting on the back of an S. Winona works better than coilovers, she lowered the whole car an inch and a half.

They gave us each two 3 day passes including paddock passes, special parking with the gt cars and grandstand seats just behind the pits right at the start finish line. First class operation all the way.


fltsfshr

 

Hard to believe Ashley Juddd is related.

 

I wan to go bad, but I like to watch from the comfort of a lawn chair in the infield. I'm not too fond of grandstands, they tend to get crowded and I am a claustraphobic.

I have two friends from California that wanted to come and rent an RV and go to the race. RV's are great because you can bring your own BBQ, food and drink. It's nice to not be at the mercy of the concession stands all weekend - $5.00 beers Etc

I called IMS and sure enough there is no infield RV parking. Looks like we'll be doing the RV weekend at Road America later this summer, $275 gets us a weekend spot 10 feet from the track for the RA 500.

I still will go to USGP but probably just for the Saturday practice and qualifying, I am assuming like all other races I've been too it wont be as crowded on Sat?

 

The Sat. qualifying is not as crowded as the race, but I think you will find the race too is not the sea of humanity that they have for the Indy 500 and the Brickyard 400.

If you come for the qualifying you should stay for the race.

The F1 course runs through the infield so they have lots of infield general admission seating that gets you a few yards from the track and the cars. Its first come = first to grab the space.

When they built the road course they also built up spectator "mounds" so you are able to have a good view of the cars, and in fact, I like to sit over there during the saturday practice and watch the cars go from 150-200 mph down to 40-50 mph into the real twisty section and see how those brake disks glow red. You can bring coolers into the track with your own beer and food. No bottles or glass, but all of the restrictions on cooler size and contents re available at http://www.brickyard.com

The mounds seating area is in turns 8-10, and there is also open lawn chair/blanket seating inside turn 13 as well (there may be other places as well, but those are the places I know about).

If you have not ben to the IMS, I think you will be blown away by the size/open-ness of the place. The mounds seating area is adjacent to a few of the golf course greens and fairways for the IMS golf course that includes a handful of holes inside the track. I imagine you would find that area to be quite nice/open.

 

Thats what I like, no assigned seating. Thats also why I prefer qualifying days, even though the seating is still assigned you can generally sit wherever you want due to the lack of a full crowd. The infield mound areas sound great too.

I've never been to Indy but when I was a little tyke I was at Ontario Motor Speedway before it was closed down. OMS was identical to Indy back then. It didnt have the infield features Indy has today but it does give me an idea of the size. I fell in love with open wheeled racing back then. I saw Rick Mears run a world record lap at OMS.

 

I have heard about the Indy track clone in Ontario CA, but I have never seen it. Strange that in this era no one has decided to go back and resurrect it.

Road Rash, I hope you will be able to make it to the USGP and if we have enough people going we should try to organize some sort of get together in or around the track.

 

I called IMS yesterday and the car corral pass is in the mail I'll be arriving sometime thursday with beer cooler in tow Count me in on any festivities planned or unplanned. See ya at the track.