[Anonymous]

So other than the F1, there were 2 more races over the weekend. Did anyone else watch them?

The first round of the FIA GT1 World Championship took place on the sans-chicane-followed-by-hairpin layout around Yas Marina, and The IndyCars took to the Streets of St Petersberg in Florida, which is half airport, and half twisty streets.

The GT1 race wasn’t too bad. There was some argy-bargy and some close racing, plus it was at night so the while thing was floodlit. But whether you’re in an F1 car, a GP2 car, a sportscar or a go-kart… that track does just not allow for overtaking. Shame the Nissans got done over though, the new JRM ones look brilliant in black. The field is down by 4 cars this year now that Maserati have left… and the entries from BMW and Lexus never materialised. The cars sound great though, and it promises plenty of action throughout the year.

As for the IndyCar. It’s the first time I’ve ever watched a race all the way through. Seems they have similar gimmics to F1. 2 tyres to use, a ‘push to pass’ button, which is more a engine boost rather than KERS.

There were 4 ‘Full Course Yellows’ in the first half hour as they all struggled to comprehend that going from a runway to a city street 5-cars-wide just won’t work.

It was fairly processional once it settled down. There were a few overtakes, and plenty of wings being clipped by the trackside walls. As several said on twitter, it seems these guys don’t seem quite as professional as those in F1. Maybe thats why the race was good fun. The cars were close, especially the battle for 2nd in the last 20 laps. Danika dropped the F-bomb live on the radio, something FOM would never let happen. The on-board cameras spin around to show a 360 degree view of the surrounding cars. And the track was dry, dusty, bumpy and had a real good mix of long wide straights, and twisty tight streets. Looking forward to the next round at the Barber circuit.

Plus, Takuma Sato scored a career-best 5th place, and didn’t manage to barrel-roll sideways at 150mph into 5 other cars. Which was a shame… I was waiting for that to happen.

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