Keep racing on proper road courses where it belongs so drivers can pass and actually jockey for position without being constant danger of slamming into a concrete wall. ?
American Le Mans Race In Baltimore Almost Finishes Before It Starts
The Baltimore Grand Prix of the American Le Mans Series is underway, though it’s not off to a great beginning with eight cars being taken out before they even crossed the start.
Yeesh. +Justin Hyde, were you on hand for the festivities?
+Melina M I was. I had just gotten a parade lap in a Viper and was walking back through the pits when I saw replays of the crash. For the first 30 minutes after the start I had done more laps as a passenger than any driver.
It's a hell of a tough course; even in a road-going Viper it's bumpy and tight at high speed, and that rolling chicane in the middle of the front straight isn't a good solution. Several media types had spent part of the pre-race talking to the Riley/SRT engineers about all the prep work that goes into this race — just before they borked a pit stop and took a drive-through penalty. And I forget which team owner complained that he got more information out of the ALMS twitter feed than he did from race control.
That said — once the race got underway, there was plenty of passing and shuffling for position. Outside of Long Beach, Baltimore's the only true street course left in the United States (I put Detroit in a different category; Belle Isle is a mini-road race that's not nearly as fun/scenic as it was when Senna got to throw his McLaren around the RenCen). Despite a full-on 90 degree, 90% humidity Maryland day, there were thousands of fans, who could get close not just to the cars but the race teams themselves. It's only been around four years, and each year it's gotten better. Which is the point of racing in general: when all the drama gets drained, it's not worth doing.