I went to Indy car at Sonoma several years ago. I found the two most interesting classes were the Indy cars for obvious reasons and the class that raced small displacement cars like Ford Festivas, etc. They were slow as hell but the the racing was close and there was tons of action. It was almost a joke since they were close to stock and would not be considered fast even on public roads, but I found it very entertaining.
He was so good on the 1125R. Rode that thing like he stole it. but that has always been his style. Big reason he has always been a fan favorite.
I have to think if he didn't run out of gas on the first stint he would have been there at the end for the 200. Damn shame. I was wondering why he didn't pit with his teammate (and eventual winner). Running out of gas is just stupid and inexcusable.
It's a crime that Gagne wasn't snapped up by a European team last year. Preferably from a COMPETITIVE factory, not Honda or BMW... I can understand why Yamaha wouldn't want to lose Toprak, but his teammate is certainly expendable...
Yup... Danilo's decided to emulate Toni Elias. Of course, other than Laguna Seca, COTA is the only track here he actually knows. It'll be interesting to see how the rest of the season pans out.
Interesting video up on RRW with Stamboli giving all the details on Gagne's Race 1 at COTA. Apparently, they think they had a bad batch of fuel or the VP fuel was different from CA to TX. The fuel (assuming lower octane) or perhaps too aggressive engine mapping "exceeding the limits of the fuel" (or a combo of both) caused a piston to overheat leading to an engine swap. The engine swap lead to a connector (on crank position sensor) not being fully seated or damaged. That lead to a mis-fire which caused Gagne to pull off before Race 1. So there you have it.
Also interesting that the Yamaha team had to pull out power in Race 2 out of fear of blowing up more engines...Stamboli said they probably over-reacted and they may have taken as much as 20 HP out of the motor.
Sure did. The DVR caught the race and it started on time with no soccer game or 4-wheel racing interference.
Nice move by Stoltz. In hindsight I think Petrucci would have been better off to setup the last corner and use the Ducati power down the stretch, instead of trying to make the pass. Stoltz was surely taking a defensive line which would hurt his drive coming off the corner. Petrucci lost alot of drive after the failed pass attempt and still almost won the race to the line...
Wow race 1 was awsome. Had a weird start with petrucci and Gagne getting tangled up but shcoltz had an amazing race. He must be an ex flat track racer the way he likes to slide out of those turns.
I’ve always been a big petrucci fan but I can easily see he’s frustrated being in moto america. I think he should have stayed in the sand. He was doing good there as well. Guess he didn’t like it either. Hope he finds peace.