Mid-Ohio Rounds 9 & 10

[Purple Frog]

Mid-Ohio is a little over a week away. Always a great venue. It couldn't be any hotter than NJMP was. We always seem to have great racing at M-O.

Entries are looking very respectable... maybe over 35.

Looking over the track records:

Chris Miller (John Church Racing) qualified with a 1:24.1 back in 2009
Tim Minor (Minor Budget Racing) had the race record for a while with a 1:24.8 in 2009
Then in 2010 Chris Livengood (Walko Racing) bested that with a 1:24.3 in 2010.

A note to competitors:
You can buy fuel (93 octane unleaded) at the following places:
At the track...
or... at the Speedway/Marathon stations that are in Lexington, Ontario, or Mansfield.

We are hoping paddock load-in will start at noonish Thursday.
Lenore will start registration around 2:00.
Twilight practice starts at 5:30 (after Indy car gets off the track)

[Michael Rand]

A couple of interesting names on the tentative entry list.
HPTech, points leader Robert LaRoccas entrant, is up to a three car entry with the addition of young Venezuelan Cesar Lapoint joining Robert and Jose Montiel.
At the other end of the age scale JD McDermott is bringing a truck load including new to the series Barry Gilbert joining the Masters Class.
And John Walkos band grows with the addition of young Joey Selmants out of Akron, so kind of a hometown guy at Mid Ohio.
The total entry stands at an Indy size 33 as of today, a week out.
So Meakins guesstimate of over 35 isn't far off, anyone else coming to play that I don't already have on the list ?

[gfastr]

No Fat Boys at Mid-O?

[Monty M]

Posted: http://f2000series.com/drivers.html

[bhwork]

Monty...

Shaun Miller is New Springfield, Ohio...not NC

Bruce Work

[Purple Frog]

[FONT=Tahoma]Fans are invited free of charge to attend the IZOD IndyCar Series test day on Thursday, July 26. [/FONT]
[FONT=Tahoma]
There are 18 drivers on 11 teams tentatively scheduled to test at the track on Thursday in preparation for the Honda Indy 200 at Mid-Ohio on August 3-5. Among those expected to test include Ohio native Graham Rahal, current points leader Ryan Hunter-Reay, three-time Mid-Ohio winner Scott Dixon and four-time series champion racer Dario Franchitti.

Fans are encouraged to come out from 10 a.m. - 3 p.m. to watch their favorite IndyCar drivers test their machines. Seven of the 18 drivers expected to participate are currently in the Top 10 in points, including Hunter-Reay (current championship leader), Will Power, Dixon (three-time Mid-Ohio winner), James Hinchcliffe (2011 Rookie of the Year), Franchitti (four time series champion), Ryan Briscoe (2008 Mid-Ohio winner) and Oriol Servia.

http://www.midohio.com/Schedule/Mid-...ans-on-July-26[/FONT]
[FONT=Tahoma] [/FONT]

[Monty M]

31 Cars! La Rocca leads practice 1 > http://www.f2000championshipseries.com/results.html

Some photos> http://www.f2000championshipseries.com/photos.html

Audio starts tomorrow.

[R. Pare]

Looks like Steve and Larue finally figured out what was wrong in John's car.

[KevinFirlein]

big congrats to LaRue for finishing 2nd to who else , LaRocca, in race 1.

[Dennis Valet]

Racing was pretty close in F2000 also....

[Dennis Valet]

and yes, LaRue was flying today. Car looks brilliant as usual

[KevinFirlein]

looking at the bottom pic of LaRue its a good thing he gets 6 tires. Those right side tires look nasty. Especially the dark lines around the middle of the front. Of course it could just be a photo illusion.

[R. Pare]

Car most likely is still not quite there yet - they just figured out what was wrong in the setup for these tires on Thursday. With the bands being in the middle, pressure might be a bit high still.

LaRocca is definetely flying, with a lap in the 23's!

[KevinFirlein]

any word on how bad john's car is after going up and over ?

[R. Pare]

I haven't heard anything yet - probably won't until tomorrow.

So what happened? Is he OK?

[KevinFirlein]

race report on EFormulaCar News just said on start there was a big crash and he ended up interlocked with another car and got tossed up and over. I am guessing he is ok as Al Craighead is pretty good with his incident reports if there is a driver injured.

Other then that not sure. As you well know sometimes you can hardly tell a car has been over and other times , well..........

[Dennis Valet]

I did not see the accident in person, but I have pieced together the following...

Coello and LaRue interlocked. LaRue did a slow launch and flip before landing on his roll bar on the pavement. He slid into the grass, and once he hit the grass the car did a number of quick barrel rolls.

LaRue walked to the ambulance, was taken to the medical center, but was not transported to the hospital. Based on that I believe he was ok for the most part.

[KevinFirlein]

ahhh fu**

[R. Pare]

Just talked with Steve a bit ago. John is OK (not hurt at all, apparently), and while there is a lot of parts damage, the basic car is OK. Gonna take a lot of work to repair everything, though.

[starkejt]

What about his trans and the engine bay frames?

[KenT]

Wow!! Looks like everything is bent to hell but the driver's compartment. Good strong chassis. Hope he is ok.

[Mike Kolthoff]

My crew guy Rick and I were sitting right there and man it was a wtf moment with quiet until John got out. Very spectacular with the car bleeding energy wit each contact.

With John being a friend from our FF days and that he is alright and in the spirit
Of the Olympics I gave him a 9.9. It would have been a 10 but I think he moved his feet when sticking the landing!

Great weekend guys

[Wren]

What about his trans and the engine bay frames?

That's what I was wondering about. Why is it sitting nose high like that?

[starkejt]

I hope he didn't break his nice WRDed trans.

[John LaRue]

It sucks. Early in the race and...oh well **** happens.

The car is actually a lot better than I first thought. There appears to be no frame damage; floor pan is unscathed which is a good sign. The radiators and shrouds are perfect, gear box is pristine, all the uprights, brakes, and even the wheels look ok. There is a good deal of body work and it took out a bit more than half of the suspension, brake lines and CV's. I will split the car and go through it from top to bottom, but don't anticipate anything. Based upon previous crashes these cars have been through which sound to be worse than mine there is rarely anything too serious other than "bolt-ons".

Mike I actually felt something like Greg Louganis during the event. I thought the damn thing might settle, but I believe it hooked when I hit the gravel and it was game on. I doubt it will happen, but these tracks could take a cue from the FIA and pave those run off areas. At the moment I am not at all sore and actually never got bumped around in the car which I never would have expected. Even the sides of my helmet are untouched which I find amazing. Lathrop builds a helluva car and with the head surround, front and rear attenuators and the full seat it appears to have worked pretty well for me.

FWIW I do suggest that everyone make sure they can pass that broom stick test. If I did not sit so low in the car it could have become serious when I went into the gravel.

Anyway, all is good here just a few pounds lighter in the wallet.

Cheers,

John

[cliff]

John
Glad you are OK
Broadcast talked about long clean-up after "massive" accident...that doesn't sound good.
Excellent weekend until then.
good luck with the rebuild.
Cliff

[DaveW]

looking at the bottom pic of LaRue its a good thing he gets 6 tires. Those right side tires look nasty. Especially the dark lines around the middle of the front. Of course it could just be a photo illusion.

I always chuckle a bit when I hear the "dark lines around the tires" disaster predictions, especially in the F1 broadcasts. In some cases, it IS graining and a sign of impending tire degradation, but just as often, IMO, it is pickup or tire wear material gathering at the edge of the unused portion of the tire.

In this case, John just came off of corner 7 (or 5 w/o the chicane) and this material that gathered there because of the negative camber and light load on the RF tire in the RH corner has not yet scrubbed off.

[KevinFirlein]

I would agree with you Dave execpt its not on the edge of the tire, its dead center, and he is already into the cornering event. Either way John was having a great weekend until all hell broke loose. I also thought this was the corner onto the straight given the proximity of the Wright car in the background

see ya at SP

[S Lathrop]

John did have a little trouble with low speed understeer. But it was not an issue for tire life. For race 2 we replaced the left side tires. When we get the car right we might not need 6 tires.

[Purple Frog]

Since we are talking about John LaRue...

4 days later, some time to collect thoughts.

Rand, Sarah Bonnier, and I were on the hill watching "madness" for the start. It was a OMG moment to say the least. We were positioned quite a bit higher than the track, but even so it looked like he went very high on the launch. I don't think i would be exaggerating to say that when inverted his rollhoop was close to 8' in the air. I seem to remember he came down directly on the rollhoop on pavement. Then slid about 30-40 feet on the hoop. When the hoop hit the grass at track's edge it dug in just enough to cause a very rapid series of barrel rolls. (i honestly can not say how many, they were rapid.) Then upon slowing the RPMs a bit, he landed in the gravel trap upside down. As i said to John afterwards... violent.

So, why do i write all this old news?

For one reason, and that is to point out that well constructed cars, with proper clearances observed for rollhoop height (broomstick test, etc), and head restraints (both HANS and side bolsters), proper belt use, a well designed seat, and a well thought out interior are pretty darn safe.

I'll add that the Citation with its cockpit bodywork coming up over the steering wheel probably adds even more protection to the hands, etc.

We started breathing again when John slid out of the car and walked around checking the mess out.

[S Lathrop]

Thanks Mike. I take safety very seriously.

My early years in racing were AAA and USAC in the 50's. Many of the drivers I knew then lost their lives in racing accidents. Two drivers in particular drove for my dad.

[DaveW]

I would agree with you Dave execpt its not on the edge of the tire, (1) its dead center, and he is already into the cornering event. Either way John was having a great weekend until all hell broke loose. (2) I also thought this was the corner onto the straight given the proximity of the Wright car in the background

see ya at SP

Again, IMO, of course, since you could be right,
1. dead center - that is exactly where I would expect the scarfed rubber to be after a RH turn with 3+ degrees of negative camber
2. I think if that were after the carousel we should see curbing behind John

Anyway, it really doesn't matter - what matters is that John is OK and the car is not too badly hurt.

Yup - see you at Summit!

[billwald]

The photos are amazing. Thanks for posting them!

[Dennis Valet]

The picture with the line in the tire is the last turn, right after the carousel

[DaveW]

The picture with the line in the tire is the last turn, right after the carousel

Thanks,

[JohnPaul]

I'll add that the Citation with its cockpit bodywork coming up over the steering wheel probably adds even more protection to the hands, etc.

.

I finally had time to go through my new car and sit in it. I can tell you that I felt a huge difference in protection compared to my other cars just by sitting in it. You feel like you are really in the car. The shock cover and chassis come just about up to your shoulders. The quality of this car is ridiculous. These cars are awesome. The only problem with the car is that I won't have any excuses for my driving!