[rollei_list] Re: OT - The 1967 Indy 500

> The turbine powered car driven by Parnelli Jones at Indy was almost a 
> whole LAP ahead of AJ Foyt, the next driver, till almost the end of the 
> race, when a bearing in the gear casing failed - nothing to do with the 
> turbine, please note. I don't know how much more convincing it can get, 
> than to be almost a lap ahead.

Lapping the field is not unusual in oval racing. You only need to be 0.5% 
faster 
than the competition on average at Indy to lap the field. If you get lucky with 
the timing of pit stops and caution flags, you don't even have to be that fast 
(for instance, if all of your nearest competitors have pitted and a caution is 
called just before you come in).

FWIW, Jacques Villeneuve effectively lapped the field the year that he won the 
Indy 500, since he was given a one lap penalty part way through the race (he 
ran 
a total of 502.5 miles to everyone else's 500). If I recall, his car was a 
Reynard chassis with a Cosworth engine, not an unusual combination at the time.

Bernard

Other related posts: