IndyCar headed to a doubleheader in Ohio sd RJ takes the reigns with King and Chris DeHarde!

Talking Points from Mid-Ohio
– Josef Newgarden reduces Scott Dixon’s points lead from 96 to 72
– Race 1: Will Power wins from pole position in a Penske 1-2
http://www.imscdn.com/indycar_media/documents/2020-09-12/indycar-race-results.pdf
– Race 2: How big was Colton Herta’s win, Andretti Autosport sweeping the podium towards the end of a woeful 2020?
http://www.imscdn.com/indycar_media/documents/2020-09-13/indycar-officialrace2results.pdf

News
– IndyCar makes it official, Music City Grand Prix at the streets of Nashville
– AJ Foyt makes it official, Sebastien Bourdais is back for 2021 (and the end of 2020)
– Penske makes it official, Scott McLaughlin is coming to IndyCar for the St. Petersburg GP
– IMS makes it official, the Harvest GP will be open to 10k spectators

News that isn’t IndyCar [time permitting]
– Alpine buys out Rebellion Racing’s P1 programme, Peugeot commit to Hypercar for 2022, and LMDh specs revealed for 2022-23
– Bubba Wallace now a free agent

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So, a brand new race at Mugello and an interesting one it was. Hamilton had to work hard for win #90 and we had not one, but two red flags as Ferrari limped through their 1000th GP! We also got a chaotic F3 season finale, and F2 too!

Formula One Grande Premio della Toscana 1000 (at Mugello!)
Lewis Hamilton wins #90, and if his shirt makes you uncomfortable, good – I hope he continues to beat all of your favourites for many years to come and suck all of your enjoyment of F1 away from your cold, shitty body
Sebastian Vettel is free now! The Aston Martin deal is official!
Not one, but TWO multi-car accidents before completing a single racing lap! This sport wants you to pay nine figures to enter!
It’s time for another round of Valtteri Bottas discourse™
Alexander Albon finally, FINALLY gets his first podium for Red Bull
Is the Renault…good? Yeah, Ocon’s brakes failed, but RIC almost shithoused a podium (4th)
Stroll crashes out of the podium fight, Perez salvages 5th on the weekend that he gets shown the door at Racing Point – NOR 6th, KVY 7th
Somehow, some way, the plucky Italian minnows Ferrari manage to salvage 8th (LEC) and 10th (VET), but let’s not take Kimi Raikkonen’s pit lane infringement out of context, as entering pit lane past the designated entry line was okay in the early 20th century
George Russell finishes just outside the points in 11th, after bogging down on the final restart and burning up his tyres, kismet isn’t real
Grosjean drove this race with a car duct taped together and finished the race

FOR THE FORMULA 3 CHAMPIONSHIP…OF THE WOOOOOORLD
Oscar Piastri overcomes the odds – a grid penalty in race 1, finishing outside the points, but 7th in race 2 is enough to clinch the 2020 title even when he never qualified on the front row for a Race 1/Feature Race
It’s Piastri’s second straight single-seater title (2019 Formula Renault Eurocup), now the 8th rookie to win the GP3/International F3 Championship since 2011 (Bottas, Kvyat, Lynn, Ocon, Leclerc, Russell, Schwartzman)
Captain America vs Iron Man – Logan Sargent and Lirim Zendeli’s lap 1 crash in Race 2 costs Sargent the title
Four straight podiums for Pouchaire to end the season just not enough in the end
Vesti wins Race 1, Lawson wins Race 2, to round out the Top 5 in the standings

Formula 2 is there too, let’s talk about it
Feature Race: Another alternate strategy victory for Nikita Mazepin! A Hitech 1-2, Deletraz makes a late surge to 3rd – and Dan Ticktum has an entire podcast on the radio!
Sprint Race: Christian Lundgaard wins lights-to-flag as he’s back on form! Mazepin collides with teammate Ghiotto to undo all that hard work! Deletraz on the podium again, first podium for Juri Vips

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Just when you thought MotoGP couldn’t get any wilder, Frankie Morbidelli gives us our 4th new winner in 2020! We also shine on the VR46 Academy as Bagnaia while still on crutches takes 2nd, with the man himself just missing out on a podium thanks to Joan Mir stealing one at the death. All while Rossi was on viagra. Trust me on this one.

We also have an important discussion on equality within the sport as MotoGP’s gone napping in that department.

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In the 2nd part of the Doubleheader, we say goodbye to Williams, say hello to Jimmie Johnson in an IndyCar, and Sergio Perez saying goodbye to Racing Point. Full setlist is down below:

The end of Williams as we know as the Williams family (Sir Frank and Claire, plus CEO Mike O’Driscoll) leaves the sport after Monza as new managers at Dorliton Capital group take over;
Simon Roberts assumes control as new deputy team principal – new board includes Dorilton co-founder Matthew Savage and Darren Fultz, as well as former racing driver James Matthews – and Graeme Lowdon is involved somehow?

Renault announces a new rebranding as “Alpine” for 2021. Fernando orders 14 new cap designs. RJ needs to come up with a blueberry-centric bet for 2021 if they cash in. Sergio “Checo” Perez is leaving at the end of 2020, your bosses are not your friends, and Aston Martin are probably gonna sign Vettel, unless of course they don’t. Ahem.

BOOM! Confetti! Jimmie Johnson makes two-year Indycar deal with Ganassi official! IndyCar is back this weekend at Mid-Ohio with a capacity of 6k!

World Superbikes: Michael Ruben Rinaldi shocks the world and dominates Race 1 as Redding makes first major error and crashes from 3rd. Redding takes Revenge and takes the Superpole win, Rea wins Race 2 in a “We have less power than you” masterclass!

World Supersports Real Quick: Andrea Locatelli doubles up and takes 9th straight win, Jules Cluzel breaks leg in horrid Rafaelle De Rosa crash at Turn 1

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It was the 129th GP of the hybrid era. 146 since a Ferrari, Mercedes or Red Bull failed to win. 24 YEARS since a French driver topped the podium. On Episode 261, we talk Pierre Gasly, and the Miracle in Monza.

F1: No really, Pierre Gasly won. Seriously. We break down how. There was a massive accident at mid-distance as Charles Leclerc oversteers himself into Parabolica wall, drawing a Safety Car and Red Flag as Kevin Magnussen’s Haas died right by pit entry, causing the pitlane to be closed, however…

Lewis Hamilton and Antonio Giovinazzi box during closed pit lane due to K-Mag failure, both get 10-second stop/go penalties. Pierre Gasly however, beat the clock, gained track position on the restart, Stroll gets a free pitstop under red, and Verstappen retires on engine failure after the restart.

Sainz guns down Gasly at the end, falls maybe 1 lap short, Stroll 3rd after poor 2nd start. Hamilton drives mad, goes from 17th to 7th on restart after serving penalty. We mention Sebastian Vettel suffering an early brake failure and Nicolas Latifi finishing 11th in the final race for Williams as we know it (but more on that in 262)

In F2, we all got dewey-eyed as a Schumacher won in a big red car at Monza. Aww. He took the feature race win after a dream start going from 6th to 2nd in one corner! He would take the W over Luca Ghiotto and Christian Lundgaard after Callum Illot stalled it in the pits. As for the sprint race, Dan Ticktum dominated in hilarious fashion, needing the medical car to get back to pit lane… but his car didn’t have enough fuel for a sample so he was chucked out via DQ. So Callum Illot won instead ahead of Lundgaard and Mick!

And in F3, Frederick Vesti won Race 1 ahead of Frederick Vesti wins Race 1 ahead of Theo Pourchaire and Oscar Piastri goes from 15th to 3rd, Logan Sargeant DNF’s after being spun off, Prema taking the team title back to “Titletown”. In Race 2, Jake Hughes scores a win as Liam Lawson got given a late time penalty promoting Smolyar to his first F3 podium!

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This WAS a review of the 2020 Belgian Grand Prix. The last 5 minutes though were hijacked by the emergence of… Cuffing Season. Listen in, if you dare. Editor’s Note: I haven’t laughed this hard since the Shag, Marry, Kill segment.

In F1, Lewis Hamilton wins from pole… again. A sweet tribute to Chadwick, though. The race’s only major highlights – Antonio Giovinazzi hits inside wall, collects George Russell with a loose wheel, another W for the Halo. It was a catastrophic Ferrari weekend, neither car scores points after a double Q2 elimination, ALL Ferrari powered cars towards the back. However, Daniel Ricciardo almost steals a podium, with Pierre Gasly on fire (dunked Perez through the floor at Raidillon!) We also noticed that Bottas was told not to push against his teammate. Are we done here already?

In F2, there were loving tributes to Anthoine Hubert, a year on from his tragic passing. Yuki Tsunoda and Nikita Mazepin go to war in Feature Race with Mazepin winning… but he gets a 5 second time penalty for repeatedly forcing Tsunoda off track. Mazepin loses his shit, runs into P2 board and nearly hits Yuki, gets suspended 5 place grid penalty. MP Motorsport also collided as Nobu hits Drugovich’s rear.

In the Sprint Race, Tsunoda takes out Illot in Sprint Race, gets 5-second penalty and finishes 9th. Nissany and Ticktum collide at Les Combes, Nissany smashes into wall, Ticktum gets a crippled car and falls to 10th. Shwartzman wins via parting of the leaders, Mick Schumacher 2nd, Zhoutime 3rd, Vips through the Pits takes 11th. Also, Dre dunks on Peter Windsor. #BringBackDavide

And in F3, Zendeli avenges (See what I did there?) Silverstone and takes 1st win in Race 1 from Pourchaire and Beckmann, while Logan Sargeant wins battle with teammate Zesti Vesti to take Race 2 and Championship Lead, Lawson 3rd over Smolyar.

And finally, Cuffing Season.

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Death, Taxes, Scott Dixon wins. Times 50. Repetitive? Maybe, but the man is a goddamn legend for a reason. The boys review both races for IndyCar’s Gateway!

Race 1: THE REMATCH

Will Power on pole, Patricio O’Ward starts 2nd, here we go GREEN FLAG AND THE CAUTION COMES OUT (Rossi, Andretti, Pagenaud, Veach, Carpenter, Askew, Palou pileup)
Scott Dixon joins the 50 club: Two wins adrift of Mario Andretti (52)
Takuma Sato finishes a close 2nd – but not before a Pass of the Year candidate around the outside of O’Ward (finished 3rd)
Power fades to 17th, two laps down, after a late puncture; Newgarden stuck in 12th, pitted before 2nd caution for weather
Results http://www.imscdn.com/indycar_media/documents/2020-08-29/indycar-officialraceresults-r1.pdf

Race 2

What the fuck was this parade
Newgarden edges O’Ward out of the pits, Power gets stuck behind Carpenter on pit entry
nOt NoW sAtO!!! Late-race crash for pole sitter ends the race under yellow; Please don’t @ us with IndyCar needing the GWC rule
Newgarden takes 16th career win, moving ahead of Sneva, Zanardi, and Montoya – and level with Wheldon
O’Ward ties best career finish in 2nd, Power holds on for 3rd ahead of Rinus Veekay
Rinus Veekay finished 4th after starting 18th, but not before chopping down on Colton Herta and making him extra mad
Results http://www.imscdn.com/indycar_media/documents/2020-08-30/indycar-officialraceresults-r2.pdf

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Almost as big a surprise as his girlfriend. Anywho, the boys return for a review for MotoGP’s 2nd race in Austria, the Styria, with the top class providing an all-time classic and controversy in the junior rounds!

MotoGP in Styria

Holy crap, Miguel Oliveira wins with a brilliant final corner DOUBLE overtake on Jack Miller and Pol Espargaro to take his maiden victory in the top flight! It was also a race of two halves as Joan Mir was the big loser after Maverick Vinales had to jump off a Yamaha that had a brake failure… at 180 miles per hour, causing a red flag! Fabio Quartararo could only manage 13th after numerous brake issues and we discuss their latest mechanical gremlin. And holy crap the title standings, Top 13 covered by 41 points!

In Moto2, Jorge Martin narrowly avoids being gunned down by Marco Bezzechi, only for the win to be taken away from him due to a track limits breach on the final corner! Aron Canet binned it from pole, Remy Gardner finally got back on the podium too, with Tetsuya Nagashima 4th and Tom Luthi 5th. We also had Sam Lowes turn into a bowling ball, getting disqualified for causing a three bike pile up including Jorge Navarro. Turns out, he’ll also get a pitlane start for Misano…

And in Moto3, Celestino Vietti takes first win over Arbolino and Ogura, McPhee bins it with 2 to go as well. Also, Deniz Oncu and Ayumu Sasaki collide in nasty Tech 3 incident (Thank GOD the Dentist won).

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We really ought to retire the catchphrase. Yep, this is a review of the 104th Running of the Indianapolis 500 as Takuma Sato stole Scott Dixon’s lunch money after one of the most dominant displays in the history of the race – The latter leading 111 laps! Some of the key talking points we mention are below:

Start
Scott Dixon immediately takes the lead from Marco Andretti, Zach Veach makes contact with Ed Carpenter on the short chute between 1 and 2

Lap 6 – First Caution
James Davison had a catastrophic brake failure as his right-front wheel caught fire then exploded. It is believed that his front brake line pinched or kinked, clamping the front brakes shut with almost 300 pounds of pressure.

Lap 25
Marcus Ericsson crashes in Turn 1

Lap 84
Dalton Kellett crashes in Turn 3

Lap 93
During the restart, Conor Daly spins out in Turn 4.
Oliver Askew spears into the inside wall avoiding the incident.

Lap 100
The race restarts, Dixon and Rossi leapfrog each other away from the rest of the field.

Lap 122
Alex Palou crashes in Turn 2
Alexander Rossi makes contact with Takuma Sato while leaving his pit box and is penalized for avoidable contact.

Lap 144
Alexander Rossi crashes in Turn 2

Lap 170
Scott Dixon pits for the final time, undercutting Takuma Sato who pitted a lap prior.

Lap 196
Spencer Pigot spun out on the exit of Turn 4 and crashed heavily into the end of the pit wall.
The race ended under caution with Takuma Sato ahead of Scott Dixon.
[20:30]
The Not News (only if we have time)
– Jean Todt visits the 500
– Roger Penske is reportedly flying to Nashville for potential 2021 street race deal.

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