Rally Finland used to be known for being a specialist gravel-event only ever won by Scandinavians, until Sébastian Loeb took advantage of seven-times-event-winner Marcus Gronholm’s retirement from WRC to win in 2008. All but the first two of this year’s events have been on gravel, plus I include the gravel-event results for 2011 above. Østberg and Prokop are back after skipping New Zealand. Supposedly, Henning Solberg will return, but he had a hat-trick of very late withdrawals in the three events before New Zealand. Sordo will be absent, and still no sign of Matthew Wilson.
Indycar goes to Mid Ohio, and word is that passing is difficult, so a poor qualification position may be more of a handicap than other venues. Results from this season except for Indianapolis, Texas, Milwaukee and Iowa have been non-ovals, with the road/street results of 2011 in the above image towards the left.
ALMS are also at Mid Ohio. The second Dyson (#20) is again on the entry-list, which managed a top-five in Mosport after two earlier disappointing results, with Marsal back to partner Lux. Level 5 have turned up with two cars but have withdrawn the #95 at both the last two races. I am not sure what is going on, but there may have been some issue on the amount of time in the races that each driver is allowed (with Tucker generally driving in both his cars), and the team chosing which car to race late on, so pick at your own risk.
Pocono is a 2·5 mile super-speedway that is perhaps the weirdest NASCAR track. Its three turns are based on those from three different tracks, Trenton (closed), Indianapolis and Milwaukee, with fourteen, eight and six degree banking respectively. Not only does this make it a nightmare to set up for, but the corners are slow by speedway standards, and shifting gear is involved. It was re-paved earlier this year. This year, races are reduced from 500 to 400 miles. It is not a predictable track, with some drivers distinctly more specialist there than others, so do check the stats on potential picks.
WRC should provide a few solid picks. Indycar has been tricky this season, so best to be selective. ALMS is a mixed bag, with one or two consistent fast cars, but the rest have been up and down in results. NASCAR is probably best avoided unless anyone can be found that has a consistent record at Pocono, so check the stats before deciding to pick anyone. I think it is a week to look for a safe as possible line-up.
WRC links:
Entry List
2012 Results-table (Wikipedia anchored link)
2011 Results-table (Wikipedia anchored link)
2011 Finland Result
2010 Finland Result
2009 Finland Result
Indycar links:
2012 Standings (has option to view oval or non-oval points)
2012 Points/Results table (Wikipedia anchored link)
2011 Points/Results table (Wikipedia anchored link)
2011 Mid Ohio Result (Sean’s site)
2010 Mid Ohio Result (below qualification result)
2009 Mid Ohio Result (below qualification result)
ALMS Links:
Entry List (PDF)
2012 Standings
2011 Standings
2012 Sebring Result
2012 Long Beach Result
2012 Leguna Seca Result
2012 Lime Rock Result
2012 Mosport Result
2011 Mid Ohio Result
2010 Mid Ohio Result
NASCAR links:
Entry List (Page usually turns up by Tuesday.)
2012 Championship points-table
2012 Championship results-table (Wikipedia anchored link)
2011 Championship points-table
2011 Championship points-table without Chase (Can be used to access drivers’ stats pages)
Driver stats page (Brad Keselowski) (Use the ‘SELECT DRIVER’ menu towards the top-right to reach the other driver-pages)
2012 Pocono Result (June)
2011 Pocono Result (August)
2011 Pocono Result (June)
2010 Pocono Result (August)
2010 Pocono Result (June)
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