Stephanie Porter-Kelley sounded off on the announcement that Nico Rosberg retired from F1 at the age of 31 to focus on family after winning his first F1 World Championship. Porter-Kelley, who is 29 and stands as one of the leaders of the field, sympathized with Rosberg, who has a daughter, while Stephanie herself has two daughters. "I get where he comes from. He isn't into having a dynasty. He wanted one championship to cement his legacy, and now he wants to focus on his new dream." She assumed. "But I don't agree in that dynamic. I have this hunger to win as much as possible, as a driver and as a team owner. I want to dominate because at the end of the day, I want the records I set to be insurmountable for as long as I am alive. Whether it's number of championships, wins, pole positions, I want to be able to say to my kids in 15 years that I am still the most accomplished IndyCar driver in history. I also want to race long enough for my daughters to understand and appreciate what I do and the dangers involved in it. I'll be here until I go bankrupt or until it kills me."
First event of the season will be the Hidden Valley test on December 17-18. They won't be televised, but the results will be posted. Currently, all 40 cars are entered for the test, which is not a race, but open practice sessions.
Two weeks before the test at Hidden Valley Raceway in Australia, Polaris Motorsports has finally revealed the team cars for 2017. Stephanie Porter-Kelley, the reigning VRR IndyCar World Champion, was present in Orlando, Florida at the team's primary base for the unveiling.
As noted in the pictures above, Porter-Kelley has decided to exercise her right to use the number 1 as defending champion over her usual 84. "I have really enjoyed the galactic scheme that we've become known for. It isn't an Alienware exclusive style, like some have thought, but the sponsorship fits in nicely. And I love the Bethesda Softworks scheme. I love the panoramic shot of the Fallout 4 setting at the base as it transitions to a white engine cover. I'm obviously honored to have the sponsors I have on board, from Alienware and Bethesda, to the UFC, Reebok, Gatorade, and Subway. They are going to be pivotal in supporting my run in defense of my championship."
Next in the presentation was Diego Jaramillo's cars, with the galactic theme for Alienware carrying over in a different variant. "Diego has a wide appeal internationally, and with his extraordinary talents shown in the late part of last season, it's hard to argue it. I said it a lot during the season, and I have to emphasize it here. Diego is World Champion material. My goal is to put that on display and get him a championship at least."
Third on display was that of Jamie Ngaire-Jardine, who was the first to comfirm a switch to Polaris Motorsports before the 2016 Indianapolis 500. Alienware lent its support to this car as well, along with Boost Mobile. "Jamie was impressive during a lot of 2016. She won the Monster Shootout in 2015, and then won at Barber convincingly. She was able to keep up with me at several of the road courses, and she definitely could hold her own on the ovals. Missing out on Indy was a dark spot, but hopefully that won't be an issue this year." Porter-Kelley examined.
The newest addition to the team is former Black Rose Racing driver and another race winner from 2016, Jacob Descoteau with Under Armour sponsoring him. "The interesting catch with Jacob was that we finalized his deal too late to secure Alienware backing for him. Alienware has been very committed to the team, but they had a cutoff date that we missed. They're still an associate on the car, which fits in with the rules of the contract between the team and Alienware, and Under Armour is excited to be on board and in full support of a car, so it works out. We have a very solid lineup of number one drivers. A weak link to us is essentially a front runner for every other team, so it'll be exciting to get on track together."
Osaka-based Impulse Racing has decided not to attend the Hidden Valley Raceway test in mid-December, preferring to preserve material and tools for the beginning of the 2017 season in Calder Park. Team Principal Asumi Matsuo said that the team may skip the Monster Shootout as well, citing team owner Sakura Ishibashi's unwillingness to lose chassis and engines to accidents in a non-essential event. Impulse's decision marks a first for a team purposefully skipping a VRR sanctioned event. In 2015, Martini Racing had also missed the Monster Shootout, but that was due to the entry being made late. Ishibashi herself wasn't available to comment, but other team officials confirmed the team had been making use of German racing facilities to run private tests.
Almost done entering all of the AI stats to the cars. Not easy when there are a total of 63 cars to enter stats for. Once that is done, I'll post a schedule of when things will be run on my end.
I think that Impulse skipping the test dramatically hurts our ability to collect data and analyze it. We need to have everyone present there to make headway against Chevy and Honda and to thoroughly scout out the new manufacturers. Hopefully they don't skip out on every test.
Hidden Valley test report is completed. Both Saturday and Sunday will have the day's timing sheets posted, with summaries of each session and pictures in a news article format. On Monday, for those that want it, the full test report will be posted as a .pdf available to archive since some may want to keep close track on their progression throughout the season. Each day will have three sessions, the midday session for both days being mock qualifying runs.
ANNOUNCEMENT: Reinitiating the Toshiba Indy Lights Series for 2017. Teams have been limited to two cars each. A GTP member can control both cars in that team or handle their team in the traditional VRR IndyCar style. Drivers, like in the IndyCar Series, must be original. Can be male or female. The series is designed to groom alternative options in the case that a driver in the IndyCar Series is hurt or killed during the season (the gender rules for who people can pick as substitutes still applies. Males pick males, females pick females). For 2017 at least, the series will use cars from the base DW12 2014 mod, and I've compiled a list of available cars and who has reserved what.
#2 Verizon Chevrolet
#3 AAA Chevrolet (Impulse Racing)
#4 Penzoil Chevrolet
#5 Dollar General Honda
#6 Robert Gordon Chevrolet (Impulse Racing)
#7 SMP Racing Honda (Black Rose Racing)
#8 NTT Data Chevrolet (Polaris Motorsports)
#10 Target Chevrolet
#11 Mystic Machine Chevrolet
#12 Verizon Chevrolet
#14 ABC Supply Co. Honda
#15 National Guard Honda
#16 Mi Jack Honda
#17 AFS Chevrolet
#18 Ipiranga Honda (Cat Devil Racing)
#19 Boy Scouts of America Honda (Cat Devil Racing)
#20 Fuzzy's Vodka Chevrolet
#21 Preferred Freezer Chevrolet
#22 Comfort Revolution Chevrolet
#24 Target Chevrolet
#25 Snapple Honda
#26 Suretone Honda
#27 United Fiber and Data Honda
#28 DHL Honda
#33 Always Evolving Racing Chevrolet
#35 Red Bull Honda
#40 Neste Oil Honda
#41 Alfe Heating Honda (Cherokee Motorsports)
#53 Charbroil Honda (Cherokee Motorsports)
#67 Hartman Oil Honda
#68 R&W Honda
#77 HP Honda
#83 Novo Nordisk Chevrolet
#88 United States Marine Corps Chevrolet (Polaris Motorsports)
#91 Stephen A Wynn Chevrolet
#98 Charter Honda
#99 Coca-Cola Honda (Black Rose Racing)
Teams must adhere to their IndyCar manufacturer if they are driving a Chevy or a Honda. Teams not using those two can pick as they please, though both cars must have the same engine supplier. Depending on the amount of entries will depend on how the points systems and qualifying will be handled. And, as I posted some pages back, on page 6, VRR's financial report covered the series on it's own so there won't be any liabilities to teams as far as finances is concerned for the time being.
Black Rose Racing-Honda
#7: Alexis Kazantseva/RUS/SMP Racing
#99: Mia Valdez/AND/Coca-Cola Cat Devil Racing-Honda
#18: Melina Rodriguez/BRA/Ipiranga
#19: David Moore/USA/Boy Scouts of America Cherokee Motorsports-Honda
#41: Ronald Hahn/DEU/Alfe Heating
#53: Keisha Fox/USA/Charbroil Impulse Racing-Chevrolet
#3: Julia Takani/USA/AAA
#6: Tyler Parker/USA/Robert Gordon Polaris Motorsports-Chevrolet
#8: Natalia Kirichenko/RUS/NTT Data
#88: Katrina Ochoa/USA/United States Marine Corps
Day one of the Hidden Valley test is in the books. Results from the three sessions are below. Times sessions were held are in local time for the test, which is in Darwin, Northern Territory, Australia.
Day one of the Hidden Valley test is in the books. Results from the three sessions are below. Times sessions were held are in local time for the test, which is in Darwin, Northern Territory, Australia.
Day one of the Hidden Valley test is in the books. Results from the three sessions are below. Times sessions were held are in local time for the test, which is in Darwin, Northern Territory, Australia.
Well I see one thing shared by all three sessions; Ferrari has a stronghold looming over the top 10 spots, including the main one. Aston Martin and Chevrolet are fighting them on somewhat even level ground, better than Honda, Ford, Audi and Cosworth (How come one team is running Cosworth engines? Are there enough differences to not consider them as Ford engines, like in the old Champ Car days?).
It seems that "top teams + Ferrari power" is a combination the other teams need to be on the lookout for next year. There is hope for the Chevrolet teams, if the 2nd Open Season is anything to go by, but we have to deal with two very strong European manufacturers from now on...
Well I see one thing shared by all three sessions; Ferrari has a stronghold looming over the top 10 spots, including the main one. Aston Martin and Chevrolet are fighting them on somewhat even level ground, better than Honda, Ford, Audi and Cosworth (How come one team is running Cosworth engines? Are there enough differences to not consider them as Ford engines, like in the old Champ Car days?).
It seems that "top teams + Ferrari power" is a combination the other teams need to be on the lookout for next year. There is hope for the Chevrolet teams, if the 2nd Open Season is anything to go by, but we have to deal with two very strong European manufacturers from now on...
If I understand how the engine situation works, a team could opt to build an engine differently than the factory outfit. I believe they have to work with the same base, but updates are run independent from the main development path. Angel or anyone who actually knows can correct me if wrong, but this is how I read it.
Well I see one thing shared by all three sessions; Ferrari has a stronghold looming over the top 10 spots, including the main one. Aston Martin and Chevrolet are fighting them on somewhat even level ground, better than Honda, Ford, Audi and Cosworth (How come one team is running Cosworth engines? Are there enough differences to not consider them as Ford engines, like in the old Champ Car days?).
It seems that "top teams + Ferrari power" is a combination the other teams need to be on the lookout for next year. There is hope for the Chevrolet teams, if the 2nd Open Season is anything to go by, but we have to deal with two very strong European manufacturers from now on...
If I understand how the engine situation works, a team could opt to build an engine differently than the factory outfit. I believe they have to work with the same base, but updates are run independent from the main development path. Angel or anyone who actually knows can correct me if wrong, but this is how I read it.
So it's something a little similar to the whole DPi situation in America, correct? Choose one of the established engine packages or get one of your own which has to be based on the regulations but with some small differences where allowed?
Cosworth is a rebadge of Ford. The team using it opted to use a cheaper option which gets updates at a delayed rate to the standard Ford cars. Base stats are the same between the two. They just get Ford's scheduled updates 5 races later than Ford gets them.
Cosworth is a rebadge of Ford. The team using it opted to use a cheaper option which gets updates at a delayed rate to the standard Ford cars. Base stats are the same between the two. They just get Ford's scheduled updates 5 races later than Ford gets them.
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