brouhaha: the worst race ever ?

brouhaha n. the confused noise of many voices

the worst race ever ?

Published Sunday, June 19, 2005 by anish | E-mail this post

One of the weirdest races I've ever seen. After the tyre troubles faced by Ralf Schumacher & Rcardo Zonta, 7 teams withdrew from the race leaving only Ferrari,Jordan & Minardi in the race. A race between 6 cars offered no real excitement especially since the Minardis were hopelessly outclassed.

The main culprit was turn 13 at Indianapolis considered to be the only real banked turn in Formula One racing. With an angle of up to nine degrees, it demands a left-right compromise on suspension set-up. The left tyres take the heaviest strain, particularly their shoulders, with tyre temperature increasing in this area as a result. If this temperature is too high for too long, wear rates rise dramatically and can lead to failure. Michelin's request to allow tyre changes for safety reasons without penalising the teams was denied, as were the teams' requests to add a chicane to turn 13; all ruled as being against regulations. No surprises in the results as Schumi won facing no real competetion. His disappointment at the win was however clearly seen at the podium, with Tiago Monteiro being the only one really celebrating the hollow victory.

Things seem grim for out poster boy Narain Karthikeyan. Unable to overtake even his teammate, he was 4th overall and only ahead of the Minardis. His Bridgestone tyres being his saving grace; he was infact 19th on the starting grid, sandwiched between the 2 Minardis.

I think its time the FIA took a long hard look at the regulations and see if the've gone overboard this year.

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