Reverse on the Left: 2016-05-22

Friday, May 27, 2016

Dope Vid. #83

Video courtesy of VWHome.

Thursday, May 26, 2016

What to watch this Memorial Day Weekend (May 26th - June 1st)

Formula 1 - Monaco Grand Prix. From Circuit de Monaco. Practice 1. Thursday @ 8am - 9:30am (NBCSN(HD) live
V8 Supercars. Perth. Thursday @ 8pm - 9pm (CBSSN(HD)) delayed airing from 5/8
Formula 1 - Monaco Grand Prix. From Circuit de Monaco. Qualifying. Saturday @ 8am - 9:30am (NBCSN(HD)) live
Formula 1 - Monaco Grand Prix. From Circuit de Monaco. Race. Sunday @ 7:30am - 10am (NBC(HD)) live
IndyCar Series - The Indianapolis 500. From Indianapolis Motor Speedway, from Speedway, Indiana. Sunday @ 11am - 3:30pm (ABC(HD)) live
Chasing Classic Cars. Tuesday @ 7pm - 7:30pm (VelocityHD) replay
Motorweek. Tuesday @ 7:30pm - 8pm (VelocityHD) replay
Top Gear America. Tuesday @ 9pm - 10pm (HistoryChannel(HD)) new
Legendary Motorcar. Tuesday @ 10pm - 10:30pm (VelocityHD) new
Wheeler Dealers. Wednesday @ 6pm - 8pm (VelocityHD) replays

The first super motorsport weekend of the year is upon us; the 100th Indy 500 runs Sunday at noon on ABC and F1 in picturesque Monaco runs Sunday 7:30am on NBC. Last we left off, there were tears, metal and yellow flags waving as the silver arrows came together on lap 1 of the Grand Prix of Spain. In front of the crowd, in front of the competing manufacturers and in front of the boss of Mercedes-Benz. Afterwards it looked like Red Bull were going to take a 1-2 finish with Ricciardo and newly appointed Verstappen trying to out run the looming Ferrari's of Raikkonen and Vettel, with local favorite Sainz in between. Verstappen hopped right into the Red Bull after being promoted to the main team, running faster than Ricciardo through practice and most of qualy; the kid has got the goods. After a few more laps went by Sainz was out of the picture and it became a Red Bull vs. Ferrari race to see who could make up the most on Petronas AMG Mercedes in this fortunate turn of events for the rest of the field. Tire strategy between Ricciardo and Verstappen changed with about 25 laps left and it turned out to be the overall difference, but before finding out whether Ricciardo was going to work his way onto the podium his rear tire sprung a leak on lap 65/66, forcing him into the pit for a final tire change; he still finished P4 due to the gap on Bottas. The Spanish natives had mixed results; Alonso DNF'd with a power unit failure and Sainz in the Toro Rosso finished P6 much to the delight of the crowd. When the checkered flag dropped, young Max Verstappen held off the nipping advances of Raikkonen to claim his first GP win, the youngest in F1 history (18yrs), followed by both Ferrari's. Current driver standings: Rosberg, Raikkonen (-39), Hamilton (-43), Vettel (-52), Ricciardo (-52), Verstappen (-62). Things have gotten pretty interesting. Thoughts on the Mercedes incident? I think that Nico went pretty far out of his way to push Hamilton wide, who had a run, so he has to be ok with whatever happened after pushing him onto the fairway. It was a racing incident between two drivers than don't want to give an inch to the other. I think the punishment has been done and served on both sides.

When it comes to tracks that don't allow easy passing, Monaco is at the top of the list. Pole qualifying drivers win the majority of the time here and Nico will be looking to keep his home winning streak going. Ferrari is still closing the gap to the Mercs and power doesn't really matter much on this track; it comes down to aero and the driver commitment. Red Bulls are looking strong even being down on power so anything can happen at this point.

Enjoy your Memorial Day weekends and salute a veteran.