Charlie sure seemed pleased to be second when I talked to him in impound. His smile was ear to ear. Sure he' liked to have won, wouldn't we all.fvkartguy wrote:Didn't you guys see the interview with Hearn afterward?
"If you aint first you're last"
What I don't think you guys understand is how incredible the draft is at RA, 3 times per lap. It is especially significant when there is a whole "pack" ahead of you. Even 2 guys ahead pulls you along noticably more than one. When that becomes 5 - 6 or more it's like a reverse wind tunnel and you just fly up into the back of the pack. OF COURSE you then try to take advantage of that momentum and improve your position somehow, some way. I had a couple people come up to me afterwords and say "I tried to follow you Bruce, but I just got passed by everybody else. So the next time I had to pass you." For a whole train to go fast, would take a conscious effort by ALL of the drivers to "line it up" and put in good laps and NOT try to improve their position for a while. But on every straight, the guys at the back would be at half throttle a good part of the time. Their lap times would be good but they wouldn't be "racing". Not likely to happen...
A fast lap at RA still requires that you get through the corners fast. Going 2 -3 wide on the straights and into all the corners isn't going to deliver a good time no matter how fast the pack goes on the straights. Many of us used third gear through one as often as not. Not the fast way around...
If you want something different, somehow you need to change it so the formation of the huge pack is less likely. As it is, there is a kind of positive feedback that just makes the pack grow until there is a wreck or big off by someone that breaks it up.