Posted on 04/24/2008 10:43:23 AM PDT by PercivalWalks
Weight isn’t the only factor here.
Women are supposed to have more physical endurance than men so maybe the men can whine about that too.....Whaaaaaaaa!
Of course, they conveniently omit the fact that men are generally stronger ( and driving an Indy Car does require strength, just to resist the G-forces) so weight and strength become a trade off.
The men should get over it, or the teams should hire female drivers if they think they have such an advantage.
She could get 10lbs worth of silicone implants.....
Robby Gordon shows his lack of class yet again. Simply having a lighter driver does not guarantee performance -> remember Teo Fabi and the Porsche Indy Car effort? He was TINY and the car was designed for his jockey like frame.
Robby seems to find fault with everyone else and never himself. He talked himself out of open wheel racing and will probably do the same in NASCAR.
Danica is married.
So suck it up Robby-girl, no one likes a whiner.
I agree with this....Weight IS a critical factor.
Sorry ladies, but this isn’t some attack on your ovaries.
If there was a 100 pound man or midget being put in one of these cars, I would have the same concerns about an glaring unfair advantage.
Its just too extreme a difference in weight compared to all the other drivers.
I think Danica has proven she’s a driver who can compete on the Indy Car level so I have no problem with her jumping in an IRL car and going for it.
Good for her. But the weight issue needs to be addressed.
How much of that 200 pounds is beer and barbeque weight? Have the men considered losing any weight?
-PJ
I could go either way.
We all know that women are handicapped in their driving ability so any disadvantage that the men have in their machines would be offset by their inherently better driving skill.
Seriesly.....nothing but respect for ANYONE with the cojones to even sit down in one of those.
I remember once.....quite a few years and 40 pounds ago....I thought I was doing good at a Pirelli test&tune atop a brand new factory spec GSXR1000 with Pirelli slicks at a track in virginia. I came out of the #8 bank in second gear at 8k rpm.....a little bit of wheel spin until the front tire finally touched down as I changed into 3rd at 13k rpm. I heard the most deafening gawd-awful noise and was passed by a flat black F1. I forgot all about the data I was supposed to be collecting for the tires and had to make something up...
I will never forget the power coming out of that thing as it passed. Friggin awesome. I was shaking for two hours after that ride.
The simple fact is that weight has a huge effect on the performance of a race car. Both in accelleration and turning. I don't really know too much about this in auto racing, but in the case of motorcycle racing, losing 5 pounds of weight is equal to gaining an additional horse power in acceleration. Plus it allows the bike to decellerate much faster, and it allows the bike to turn much faster as well. A 75 pound weight difference is about equal to a 15HP difference, a HUGH difference in racing.
Mark
Yes, the requirement for all IRL male drivers to be fat bbq junkies. Thats why they are hired. Look at the picture of Danica and that other driver. He’s obviously eats nothing but bbq and drinks beer. I’m sure he could drop to 100 pounds like her if he just laid off the junk food.
Yep.
When I was racing, I only weighed about 135 lbs soaking wet. We had to add weight to the car in order to get over the minimum “wet weight”.
Actually, we looked at it as an advantage because we could choose WHERE to put the weight.
:)
Danica is married to Paul Hospenthal, a physical therapist in Phoenix.
FWIW that is Helio Castroneves who won the last segment of Dancing With The Stars.
I could sense the sarcasm in your post.
All drivers are exceptionally fit bordering on athletic.
There’s a saying in Drag Racing, “Weight reduction starts with the driver.”
She should put some clothes on then and quit distracting dirty old Freepers from my work . I mean from their work .
Stewart at 200lbs? Yeah, riiiiight. Looks to me like Tony’s fast approaching Jimmy Spencerville...
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