Mario Rules

[nrc]

The latest comments from Mario Andretti are in a story on CART.com.


The mandatory pit stops should be eliminated in my opinion. It was successful in only one race--the caution-free 500-mile race at Fontana. Unfortunately, at all the other races, it was confusing at best and occasionally produced a horror show, like at Surfers Paradise, Australia. That was a classic situation where the outcome was determined by the mandated pit window. We must learn from events like that and reassess the rule. Inexplicably, the system remains in effect this year.

That's exactly right.

Mario also wants to see refueling stay, has no problem with gasoline, and still won't rule out a team of his own eventually. Perhaps as tweak at the lesser Andretti he again says that he won't rule out a team of his own someday, possibly even out of Mikey's garage. I wonder if Pook put him up to that, too. :)

[rabbit]

Originally posted by nrc
That's exactly right.


Who do you think you are? Scott Pruett? :p

Seriously, that's just one more reason why I love Mario. He has a better grasp of this sport than anyone around.

And BTW - Mario WAS/IS working on a team for 2003. I know this for a fact. Mikey is FOS when he says it was just propaganda.

[Napoleon]

Originally posted by rabbit
And BTW - Mario WAS/IS working on a team for 2003.

That would be sweet to see Mikey made out to be a liar, again.

[ChrisB]

Link to article (http://www.cart.com/News/Article.asp?ID=5398)

And add Mario to the list of those who want more undertray downforce and less wing (Mario should know... he drove one of the '82 Ferraris)

I agree w Mario that refueling should stay... but I don't understand why so many are against the pit window concept... without it we'd see a return to "fuel economy runs" where cars slowpoke around the track to try to eliminate one less fuel stop... that's NOT racing!

[Don Quixote]

Originally posted by Napoleon
That would be sweet to see Mikey made out to be a liar, again.

The operative word is "again".

[WickerBill]

Chris, I don't think that the poking around strategy will work if you eliminate yellow flag stops. I also think it becomes much harder to do the poking around if you eliminate stopping in the first 10% of the race (no Michael Andretti-stop-on-lap-4-to-get-clear-track deals).

What do you think of the no yellow flag idea? I haven't found a lot of people opposed to it; I think it adds to safety (the fewer times everyone pits on the same lap, the better), eliminates slowpoking, and does what the 2002 pit rules tried to do, which is let the fastest car win as much as possible.

[ChrisB]

I'd also like to see a "no pitting under yellow" rule too. Ideally I'd like to see mandated fuel stops for everyone at the same mile markers, like a rally, but that's getting a bit OT.

Back to the article, it's also good to see Mario is in favor of going to gasoline. Lotsa people in CART are thinking the same things.

[RTKar]

Come about May, I would love to see a Sports Illustrated article in which Mario was interviewed regarding the open wheel racing situation in North America, complimented by a nationally syndicated piece in every major newspaper. Everyone knows who Mario Andretti is, maybe he could open people's eyes about the truths of what has transpired these last several years.

[nrc]

Between CART reducing the number of full course cautions and the elimination of fuel mapping adjustments in the car, I don't think fuel strategies will be as common as they had been. I would bet that there's a big difference between the top mileage you can squeeze out with your right foot and what the engineers can produce when you dial back the fuel map.