OT: CART race - The Unofficial BMW M5 Messageboard (m5board.com)

greg · 12th March 2002, 05:37

Did anyone besides me watch the CART race in Mexico? It was actually very exciting - practice was in the dry, qualifying was mostly in the rain, race was dry again. And there are new rules - so the field was very random at the start. The track was slippery as hell and there were lots and lots of offs during practice - but the race was pretty clean except for the 1st kap when several guys took themselves and each other out of the race. One new rule said you MUST pit 3 times, and could go no more than 27 laps (85 lap race) between pit stops. Made for some really interesting strategies.

I like CART - especially since they race close enough to home for me to see them.

rvacha · 12th March 2002, 05:50

Ditto. I get to go to Cleveland, Mid-Ohio and and when I'm lucky Toronto. Not sure if I like the 27 (?) lap max fuel rule tho.

M5Laser · 12th March 2002, 05:58

Yeah I saw about 20 mins of it... it was pretty interesting I though. Rain always spices things up! haha
I would have expected more people to be off the track during the rain. Good drivers!

TCM · 12th March 2002, 06:51

I also enjoy CART. Especially since it was the only road racing I could watch last year thanks to no Speedvision. The races are usually very competetive and there is not the arrogance or super high prices that F1 has. Very fun to watch.

VanCooper · 12th March 2002, 08:50

I did enjoy the CART race last weekend too...what I like about CART is that the races are so exciting because there is lots of passing going on and you never know until the last lap who will win. CART also has most of their races on North American soil so you can watch them in late morning/early afternoon.

Formula 1 in comparison have most of their races in Europe and us on the West Coast have to wake up at 3 or 4 am in order so see them live

. Back on the east coast, I could manage to wake up at 7 or 8 pm on sundays but 3 or 4 am is just way too early

the only races I can comfortable watch are the ones in Asia as well as the Canadian and US grand prix

Ok, formula 1 is more technologically advanced but the playing field differs so much from one team to another. The budgets in Formula one vary alot so you have Ferrari which tests their cars almost every day of the year and you have Minardi or Arrows who don't have the money to test their cars that much and that makes a big difference on race day

But yes, CART offers a great show and I can't wait to hear their 900 hp turbo engine roar in the streets of downtown Vancouver in july!

william996TT · 12th March 2002, 09:34

Yep, rain straegy is very interesting, in the rain, racing line become limited and usually drivers subtly push the other out of their line to force them to run off the track. They also pit as little as possible since tires usuage will not be an issue.