Alonso to race in Indy 500

Jenson has just tweeted "Why do I have so many missed calls?"

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This is such exciting news, goodness me. Full kudos to Alonso, well done for attempting something that people have been yearning for some time – professional drivers going to race in other series at the biggest events. In the modern era with drivers so specialised in their respective series, this takes a lot of commitment and courage – especially racing an IndyCar on an oval.


They market the Indianapolis 500 as the Greatest Spectacle in Racing, and there isn’t a truer marketing slogan. It is driver versus driver, not car versus car. You can be 30th and still win the race; you can race for a small team and win. It isn’t a battle of aerodynamicists or engineers; it’s a driver’s race. This is more a reflection on IndyCar itself, which perhaps has the fairest competition of any major motorsport series today.


The greatest show in major motorsports just became greater. I know people will watch because of Alonso, well they should have been watching in the first place!

BT Sport. I think you can buy it for a one-off month. 

[farage mode] they can get back to work the lazy Dago bastards [/farage mode]

If anyone booked tickets to see Alonso in that car they don't deserve to see any Motorsport at all.

Alonso was at the IndyCar race at Barber Motorsport Park yesterday. He seemed to enjoy himself, albeit in humbler surroundings. Compared to the Taj Mahal’s that are F1 circuits, it must have reminded him of an old-school facility when he was younger. He seemed to enjoy what he saw, IndyCar again produced a fantastic race on a facility that Alonso is more accustomed to.


Simulator work, working with two Indianapolis 500 winners as teammates, Gil De Ferran as a mentor – he certainly won’t be lacking preparation.

Nearly all Indy 500 winners get a bit of luck to help them, pitting at the right time or getting enough fuel to get them to the end but if anyone can do the rest of the job well, it's Alonso. I really hope he wins.

This Sunday will be fascinating with Alonso. Honda’s IndyCar powerplants are usually so reliable; their old V8 went for years without any failures. However, the revised V6 has been unreliable on road courses and ovals in 2017. I believe that Penske is hiding something after a poor qualifying turnout, and with the more reliable Chevrolet engine, perhaps it will allow them to run the engine more aggressively.

Alonso just needs to pace himself for the first 100 laps. Nobody can win the race in the first half of the race, but they can certainly lose it. This car since 2012 slipstreams so well, a toe can be picked up from seemingly an impossible distance, therefore he shouldn’t defend every position. I think that might the danger area, and where the spotter will be so important. Is that driver entering turn one or three alongside you, do you want to turn-in on them? These are such finite decisions, and situations he’s never encountered before.

Pit road entry under green will be interesting too. He’ll be used to coming from racing speeds to pitlane speed in F1. However, he will be less used to the abruptness of a pitlane entry on an oval, and the sheer lack of downforce.

Can he win? I think last year’s win with Alexander Rossi was very unusual. Since 2012 excluding last year’s race, the finish has featured lead changes on the final few laps. The generous tow with the current car means that close finishes are almost guaranteed now. So whilst I think that Alonso can win it with circumstances like fuel mileage, I just don’t see him out-manoeuvring drivers like Dixon, Montoya or Hunter-Reay in a pure racing situation when it matters. Guys like Montoya and Dixon know exactly how much downforce they need or don’t need according to the weather; they know how to adjust the weight jacker depending on car handling characteristics. Despite the great preparation, Alonso will be learning whilst in the race – whilst others will intrinsically know how to adjust and adapt. As I've said in the past, IndyCar has the healthiest competition of any major four-wheeled racing series. I think this will make it especially challenging, almost everyone will be so good, in virtually the same car.

SPOILER ALERT

fittingly enough, Nando's McLaren sponsored car just blew up!
Pity, as he looked the dog's

The Jay Howard/Scott Dixon crash was very scary!

FYP.... there's a quote from a McLaren F1 guy saying something along the lines of "not surprised that Alonso's Honda engine blew up".
Can't be doing Honda's image/marketing much good with all these engine failures, and to think that thye used to make some of the most reliable engines in motorsport. Wonder what went wrong