Monday, March 25, 2013

IndyCar St. Pete GP

That was a satisfying race. A very satisfying race. How satisfying was it? And, for whom? What great questions, Internet. Let's look at the Bacchanalia of data:

Race Finish Driver Starting Position Laps Led Laps Completed Race Score
1 Hinchcliffe 4 26 110 67.82
2 Castroneves 5 42 110 73.09
3 Andretti 7 0 110 54.00
4 Kanaan 11 0 110 58.00
5 Dixon 20 0 110 72.00
6 de Silvestro 3 0 110 34.00
7 Viso 22 0 110 68.00
8 Sato 2 0 110 24.00
9 Wilson 13 0 110 42.00
10 Tagliani 17 0 110 46.00
11 Bourdais 21 0 110 50.00
12 Kimball 14 0 110 32.00
13 Rahal 15 0 110 30.00
14 Carpenter 23 0 110 42.00
15 Jakes 18 0 110 28.00
16 Power 1 26 107 2.31
17 Servia 12 16 104 15.42
18 Hunter-Reay 8 0 79 1.64
19 Hildebrand 24 0 78 21.09
20 Saavedra 9 0 72 -2.40
21 Vautier 6 0 69 -8.82
22 Beatriz 25 0 55 11.00
23 Newgarten 16 0 50 -0.36
24 Pagenaud 19 0 26 1.64
25 Franchitti 10 0 18 -2.91


As always (with IndyCar races) my numbers come from Indycar.com/stats.

So, observations on the scoring as well as general observations (this week, at least, done in award form):

- Race Score Podium 1) Castroneves 73.09; 2) Dixon 72.00; 3) Viso 68.00

- Now, that is a controversial three-spot! I don't disagree that the best and second best drives go to Helio and Dixon, but the algorithm and I might just have words about Viso edging Hinch. But, this is meant to spark thought. What do you think? Is moving up from P22 to P7 better than winning from the second row, while leading 26 laps? Let's ponder that.

- The "Flashes of Brilliance" Award for driver who impressed me, but whose Race Score fails to do so: Tristian Vautier. The IndyCar Rookie of the Year (Number 1 in a field of 1) looked VERY VERY good before retiring the car with mechanical problems. Keep your eyes on this guy. I don't think he'll finish in negative numbers very often.

- The "I Was Right" Award for thing I said that somehow wound up being true: I said Bourdais would look much better at St. Pete this year. (Not really a stretch, I know.) But, without the Lotus, and with an entire race completed, Bourdais jumped up from P21 to P11 and finished with a Race Score of 50.00.

- The "Robbed by Qualifying" Award goes to Simona de Silvestro. A good run for de Silvestro, holding on to P3 for a long period toward the end of the race before losing her tires in a nasty nasty way (trivia: What goes off faster, those Street Circuit Reds or the Pirelli "Hards" that were at Sepang for the F1 race?) at the end. Simona's finish in sixth spot is impressive, but her Race Score numbers would have been even better if she hadn't started inside the second row. Instead, she has a respectable Race Score of 34.00 and winds up just out of the points in...

The Race Score World Championship

R.S. Standings Driver Race Score RSWC Points
1 Castroneves 73.09 25
2 Dixon 72.00 18
3 Viso 68.00 15
4 Hinchcliffe 67.82 12
5 Kanaan 58.00 10
6 Andretti 54.00 8
7 Bourdais 50.00 6
8 Tagliani 46.00 4
9 Wilson 42.00 2
10 Carpenter 42.00 1


- Yes, that's right Ed Carpenter. Ed gets 1 RSWC point (Wilson wins the tiebreaker for finishing higher). I hereby go on the record saying that Carpenter finishes in top 10 in the RSWC this year.

- Remember what I said about Bourdais? I feel super-smart now.

- Tagliani picks up 4 points after not being seen much on television. Really nice livery, though! Really nice.

Well, that's that I've got for now. I might come back with an F1 Bonus Blog later this week, but don't be surprised if I don't. It's Holy Week. I'm busy. See you in Barber! (I'll surely blog before Barber, but that sounded good.)

-- Guido

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