XPost: rec.autos.sport.f1, rec.autos.sport.nascar
On 3/25/23 14:11, a425couple wrote:
OT, Do not forget, tomorrow, Kimi & Jensen at COTA in NASCAR
Well, one view is at:
https://www.motorsport.com/nascar-cup/news/how-nascar-stars-taught-f1-veterans-a-big-lesson-in-racecraft-at-austin/10449240/
How NASCAR stars taught F1 veterans a big lesson in racecraft
OPINION: Two Formula 1 veterans took on the good ol’ boys of NASCAR at
Austin on Sunday, but there was little argument over who schooled who
with a brutal lesson in stock car racecraft.
Charles Bradley
By:
Charles Bradley
Mar 27, 2023, 12:56 PM
How NASCAR stars taught F1 veterans a big lesson in racecraft
At least Kimi Raikkonen had faced the NASCAR Cup experience once before, arriving at Austin’s Circuit of the Americas having been booted out of
last year’s race at Watkins Glen and into the tirewall, so at least he
knew what he could expect.
Fellow F1 world champion Jenson Button joined him at COTA, and they were quickly lapping at a decent pace in practice and qualifying – where the
pair were separated by just 0.033s! – but would start outside of the top 20.
But when it came to the racing they were pretty much blown away.
Top Videos
The starkest example was Raikkonen’s perfectly-timed final pitstop that rocketed him to fourth with nine laps remaining. Having kept his nose
clean all day, with barely a scratch on his Trackhouse Chevrolet Camaro,
Kimi chose to restart on the outside lane in fourth, rather than lose a position but gain the all-important inside line for the long, uphill run
to Turn 1.
There, he braked with the frontrunners, but when he turned in, Denny
Hamlin had dived to his inside to make it three-wide, and Daniel Suarez
– his team-mate – briefly got into the rear of him before backing out.
And who took the fifth spot at that restart? Tyler Reddick, who timed it
to perfection and lunged down the inside to claim the lead. He went on
to win the race…
That sent Kimi back to eighth, but he’d learnt a valuable lesson –
dropping a spot to restart ninth but on the inside lane next time. The
first corner worked out much better for him, but then he then found
himself four-wide at Turn 2 and got pushed back to 11th. After rubbing
doors with Joey Logano through the Esses, Raikkonen was shuffled out
again, ending the next lap in 17th. Ouch!
After another yellow, Kimi clearly had enough of going backwards and
piled into the back of Ryan Blaney at the next restart at Turn 1,
spinning him out. Raikkonen got back to 12th by choosing the outside
lane for the next restart, but the punter soon became the punted; he got
spun further around the lap and would end his day way back in 29th.
“They kept coming, getting more restarts and more restarts, so I think
after the spin I had, the tires were just done,” he reflected
afterwards. “It’s a shame, because we were there [inside the Top 5], but then we restarted, and just wrong place, wrong time.
“We got unlucky with the incidents that happened. It was one of those
things, unfortunately. It looked like you’d be very good, then three
corners later, somebody’s going the wrong direction. There’s a bit of
mess and luck involved.”
Button only rose into the top 20 for the final restart and battled his
way to a very respectable 18th by the checkered flag – remarkable given
the fact he stopped twice in the pits in the second half of the race to
receive water and ice bags because he thought he was going to lose consciousness in the car.
“The action is amazing, I have to give it to these guys,” said Button. “The first 10 laps, they just destroyed me. Left me standing. Every time
I was in a corner, I had someone overtaking me.
“The first stint was really bad – it was embarrassing for me. It felt wrong, I was driving in a race where nothing’s natural. I took a while
to learn the racecraft. And I hadn’t raced for three years, and I’ve
never hit a car… intentionally.
“I was like [on the radio] ‘All right guys, we need to pit, freshen the tires and I need some air – I need some fresh air.’ I got that. The pace was good, consistency was good. I was really happy and passed a few
cars, which was nice.
“In the [next] stint I’d had a whack from Kimi, and it just felt so oversteery, I just went backwards. I need to improve some things in the
car, but I enjoyed the end. I got it wrong on the last restart, but I
made up five or six places on the last two laps.”
Button’s next event will be the Chicago Street Race in July, so he has
some time to work with his Rick Ware Racing team to get him more
comfortable in his Ford Mustang.
“It was so hot,” he added. “I don’t have a fan in my seat, which really didn’t help me too much. I was so close to getting out of the car,
because I thought I was going to faint.
“I must’ve drank eight [or] nine bottles of water during the race. The
team kept me calm, and it’s the reason why we got a good result in the
end. So, I was happy.”
It wasn’t just the F1 guys who found the going tough: Corvette’s IMSA
ace Jordan Taylor, in for the injured Chase Elliott at Hendrick
Motorsport, starred by qualifying in fourth, but this road course ringer tumbled in the early going after flatspotting a tire.
He rallied to the fringe of the top 10 at the final restart but got
involved in a clash with Aric Almirola that dropped him to 24th at the
finish.
“We had great speed all weekend,” said Taylor. “It’s just too bad our end result didn’t reflect that. I was a little too cautious to begin
with and had a couple of mistakes that set us back early on.
“I thought protecting the car was the right thing to do, but I found out pretty quickly that you have to brace for impact on restarts and hope
you somehow come out in one piece, driving in the right direction. You
almost had to be the aggressor not to get smashed in the back.
“I don’t know who it was [at the final restart], but they were never
going to make the corner and used us as their brake. We definitely had
the potential for a top 10.”
On the subject of the robust racing, he added: “Guys don’t really plan
on making clean moves. I kinda expected it to be a little more
respectful but if they see an opening they use you to get their car
stopped. It’s just an experience thing.
“Too bad it didn’t go our way – disappointed with our result but proud
of our effort.”
Even seven-time Cup champ Jimmie Johnson found it tough: He didn’t make
it as far as lap two, after being wiped out by Ty Dillon spinning into
him on the approach to the final corner of the opening tour. His Camaro
was too damaged to continue.
“It’s really disappointing but it comes with racing, it’s part of it,” said Johnson. “Unfortunately, we didn’t have a good day in qualifying
[he started down in 31st] so we were around the wrecks, so those things
can happen. It’s sad that we didn’t take one lap under green.”
Whether it’s in your first Cup start like Button, or your 688th like
Johnson, keeping out of harm’s way to get a strong finish is what makes NASCAR road racing one of motorsport’s greatest challenges – whoever you are or whatever you’ve achieved.
Related video
Despite slow start to year, Reddick "always had the speed"
Kevin Harvick: NASCAR drivers’ code is “not what it used to be”
--- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05
* Origin: fsxNet Usenet Gateway (21:1/5)