Problems setting up the track

[coolhand]

no one track action till 12:30 as of now.

they have to cover up the light rail tracks,

and they are moving the grandstand at the end of the turn 3 hairpin

[KLang]

Not too unusual for a first year race IMO. Just shows what a great job the folks in Edmonton did to get started on time.

[cameraman]

Did the Touring Cars or Trans Am practice this morning?

It seems they did not. From the Trans Am site:
SAN JOSE, Calif. (July 29, 2005) — Today's on-track sessions for tomorrow's Cytomax Sport Drink 100 at the San Jose Grand Prix have been delayed by track construction. Practice is scheduled from 12:30 p.m. to 12:55 p.m. followed by qualifying at 3:35 p.m. The second practice has been canceled.

[Dirty Sanchez]

:gomer: :gomer: :gomer: :gomer:

[cameraman]

Now it is 1:50 PT for Champ Cars

[FCYTravis]

Awesome. :shakehead

[FRANKY]

What do they cover the rails with, plates of steel?

Or pave over them and chisel it up afterwards?

[cameraman]

Qualifying seems to have been canceled for today:

P1 - July 29, 4:50 pm ET
P2 - July 29, 7:05 pm ET
P3 - July 30, 1:30 pm ET Race Director video/audio available for this session
P4 - July 30, 5:00 pm ET Race Director video/audio available for this session
Q1 - July 30, 5:25 pm ET Race Director video/audio available for this session
W1 - July 31, 1:00 pm ET
R - July 31, 5:00 pm ET Race Director video/audio available for this session

[Dirty Sanchez]

I cannot vouch for the accuracy of this information because I am not there...

BUT...

I have heard that Champ Car gave the local organizers like a list of 20 things to do after initial inspections or whatever and that NONE of the things on the list were completed.

they are building a walk-over bridge RIGHT NOW!

a few of the corners are only 8 feet wide!!! :eek:

there is ZERO run-off anywhere.







San Jose: "its like Laguna Seca... only different" :saywhat: :gomer: :rofl:

[TedN]

No wonder Cedric didn't show up this weekend.

Ted

:rolleyes:

[nrc]

Very suprising considering that Bob Singleton should know his stuff on street courses.

[cameraman]

Trans Am practice 12:30 PDT
Atlantics practice 1:10 PDT
Champ Car practice 1:50 PDT
Trans Am qualifying 3:35 PDT
Champ Car practice 4:05 PDT
Atlantics qualifying 4:20 PDT

The second CC practice time & the Atlantic Qualifying time seem too close together...

[KLang]

Word elsewhere is that due to a 'union issue' they weren't allowed to take care of the light rail tracks earlier. Plus they have to allow the trains to run again overnight.

I guess the real story or stories will be out soon enough.

[jonovision_man]

I cannot vouch for the accuracy of this information because I am not there...

BUT...

I have heard that Champ Car gave the local organizers like a list of 20 things to do after initial inspections or whatever and that NONE of the things on the list were completed.

they are building a walk-over bridge RIGHT NOW!

a few of the corners are only 8 feet wide!!! :eek:

there is ZERO run-off anywhere.




That info from someone at the track...? :shakehead

If true, this race will be a stark contrast to Edmonton just a week ago...

jono

[Dirty Sanchez]

yes

[Rob]

Thank God the fans didn't have to drive 50 miles to see racing. :rolleyes:

[jonovision_man]

yes

Don't you mean "no"? Please? :D

jono

[Dirty Sanchez]

look on the bright side. they have wi-fi and drifting :p

[cameraman]

Updated

Trans Am practice 12:30 PDT
Atlantics practice 1:10 PDT
Champ Car practice 1:50 PDT
Trans Am qualifying 3:35 PDT
Atlantics qualifying 4:20 PDT
Champ Car practice 5:05 PDT

[The Doctor]

look on the bright side. they have wi-fi and drifting :p

And the fans are apparently walking the track freely due to a complete lack of crowd control. It's all-access, too! :gomer: :shakehead

[FanofMario]

Souds like a diaster! :shakehead

[nrc]

Looks like the beauty contest went over well.
http://www.champcarworldseries.com/content/photos/2005/By800/20050728P_0004.jpg

[Fio1]

I seem to remember problems with the track at Long Beach in 83 and Dallas in 84, so these things happen.

[The Doctor]

USTCC practice started. Hopefully things go smoothly for the rest of the weekend. :rolleyes:

[Dirty Sanchez]

yep. cars on track. nothing to see here, wilke :gomer:

[cameraman]

Trans Am just finished their first practice. Boris Said lead the field with a 1:08.186. There were 30 cars on the track in the session.

[cameraman]

Best Atlantics practice time was 1:03.169 which is 82.521 mph.
Not as fast as Edmonton at 93-94 mph but on par with Toronto at 85 mph.

[The Doctor]

Green flag. :)

[fourrunner]

Really can't compare Set Up of San Jose to Edmonton ... Logistical barriers are more complicated in San Jose ... Even with approvals in place ...
First time growing pains ... that's all!

[jonovision_man]

Really can't compare Set Up of San Jose to Edmonton ... Logistical barriers are more complicated in San Jose ... Even with approvals in place ...
First time growing pains ... that's all!

It really points to the benefit of running airports (Cleveland,Edmonton) or exhibition grounds (most of Toronto) rather than actual city streets... especially city streets with light rail running accross them.

I'm amazed it's a problem, though, one of those things you'd think the organization would take 100% care of before the race.

jono

[L1P1]

So any guesses on what teams will be helped or hurt by the loss of a track day on a new track? I imagine that some rely on methodical testing, while others might go more by the seat of their pants. Might we see the field shuffled in qualifying?

[cameraman]

They did not lose a day of track time, they lost 45 minutes. They will run two 45 minute practice sessions today so they will have 90 minutes of track time. The original schedule had a 75 minute practice and a 60 minute qualifying session for a total of 135 minutes.

[L1P1]

They did not lose a day of track time, they lost 45 minutes. They will run two 45 minute practice sessions today so they will have 90 minutes of track time. The original schedule had a 75 minute practice and a 60 minute qualifying session for a total of 135 minutes.

I stand corrected, but my question still stands. Doesn't seem like a lot of time for an unfamiliar track.

[nrc]

I stand corrected, but my question still stands. Doesn't seem like a lot of time for an unfamiliar track.

While it's no surprise that the Newman Haas team is at the top of the chart, I'm guessing that a lot of teams were conservative today. With no points on the line today it's probably better to save tires and equipment by running just hard enough to get a good setup for tomorrow.

[nrc]

Thank God the fans didn't have to drive 50 miles to see racing. :rolleyes:
This story (http://www.canada.com/sports/auto/story.html?id=d47951b3-7071-4921-a707-e8fba02eaf4b) puts the Friday crowd at 40,000. That's probably quadruple the race day attendance that we've seen at Laguna Seca the last three years.


"The speeds go from 175 to 30 miles per hour, and it happens in a hurry," Bourdais said. "It's kind of a challenge."

Asked where the toughest part of the course is, Bourdais replied: "Everywhere. There's no rest. It's extremely bumpy and it's very easy to lock wheels on the bumps. The railroad tracks aren't that bad, but it's a typical street course where you have to adjust the setup to the track."

Despite the difficulty of the new circuit, there was little complaining by the drivers.

"I'm sure there are going to be some changes made," Servia said. "I have confidence that Champ Car will do everything they can to make things work."
Much ado about nothing. Well, hardly anything.

[Dr. Corkski]

Good job City of San Jose, way to show the world your unrivaled level of incompetence yet again. :laugh:

Parking was a joke, the garages were jacking up prices despite what the "city" was saying.

I got there at about 9AM this morning. They were still trucking in fencing at that time. Work on the ped bridge between T7-8 barely started by then, they were pouring quick-dry concrete to seal up as much of the light rail tracks as possible. The exit of T4 is very narrow, think Lisboa corner at Macau. Market's probably wide enough that the T10 into Balbach is the only realistic passing spot. The runoff areas are so small that IMHO it would get real ugly if a car was to lose braking coming into a heavy braking area like T4, which is also very bumpy, IIRC Tagliani and Bourdais were having major lockups there today.

The attendance was estimated at about 40k, but from where I was standing most of the 4a-d stands were nearly empty. That however was understandable since the top of the stands barely reached over the top of the catch fencing, and unless you were credentialed, your sightlines were basically crap. So my guess is most of the people were just GA checking it out, no doubt impressed by the incompetence of San Jose again. The problem with an accurate count is that the marshalls were understaffed and no one could possible count at all the entrances. :gomer:

Most disturbing thing I saw: while Champ Cars barely got polite golf claps, formula douche brought out the most cheers from the crowd. :thumdown:

[Lizzerd]

This whole thing doesn't sound like it's getting off to a good start.

[FCYTravis]

From what I've heard, the promoters paid the SFRSCCA to bring in a bunch of Solo2 guys as volunteer ticket-checkers and crowd controllers as a way to cut costs. Well, apparently there weren't enough autocrossers willing to stand around at the gates all day in exchange for a free ticket and lunch.

Cheaping out = consequences.

[NismoZ]

OK, but 40,440 on a Friday seems really good. I hope the fixes will temper much of the criticism by the end of the day Sunday...following a safe and entertaining..."race"?