Despite problems, IndyCar opener has some value
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}If you take away the slippery surface that postponed qualifying, the opening lap melee in the dust storm and the 45-minute delay for heavy rain, last Sunday's IZOD IndyCar series opener had some redeeming value.
Like four on-track passes for the lead and 95 total passes for positions during the inaugural Sao Paulo 300 -- almost unheard of numbers for a street race.
And when Will Power dove inside Ryan Hunter-Reay to snatch the victory with only a couple minutes remaining, all that other stuff didn't seem quite as catastrophic.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}The patient crowd of 46,000 saw some good, hard racing and a fellow Brazilian (Vitor Meira) on the podium.
"Obviously, it wasn't perfect and the track was too slippery and bumpy in spots," said Tony Cotman, who designed and oversaw the construction of the 2.5-mile course during the past two months. "But once we got racing, I thought it was a damn good show. It's not very often you have a pass for the lead and then you pass the guy right back. I thought the track would be racy and it was."
What Cotman didn't count on was a 60-yard patch of painted concrete (used for Carnivale) creating havoc with cars trying to get traction on the city's busiest street.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}It was so bad that qualifying was called off and moved to Sunday morning while the trouble spot got a makeover.
"The concrete was way too slippery and would not rubber up and I knew halfway through that first practice session we had a problem," said the former chief steward of Champ Car who still runs race control for Indy Lights.
"After looking at the throttle traces and data from a couple teams, it was a no-brainer to cancel qualifying. So I called the city for help and an hour later they were at the back gate with a grinding machine. Turns out it was the only one in South America."
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Crews worked until 3 a.m. and then veteran Davey Hamilton drove the IndyCar 2-seater onto the track at 4 a.m. to test the fix. He reported full throttle on back-to-back laps and went back to bed while the crews started spraying water until 6:30 a.m.
It wasn't the first time Cotman faced and solved a crisis (the street show at San Jose in 2005 had no runoffs, a chicane that barely accommodated one car at a time and a surface that didn't like the sun) but that was not his layout or construction.
Brazil was the first project of NZR (New Zealand Race) Consulting and the former team strategist for Michael Andretti drew heavy criticism from Tony Kanaan in the local media after Saturday's slip up.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Kanaan said, among other things, that Cotman had never driven a race car and never listened to anybody else's opinion.
"I'll take full responsibility for what happened but when you build a track from scratch in two months, there's no room for error," said Cotman. "I'll never do that again.
"I don't think you have to be a race driver to design a track and I always solicit people's opinions. Every driver had walked the Sambodromo prior to the race and I did not get one comment about the surface so I can't have been the only one who was surprised. The top priority is always driver and spectator safety
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}"I want to build a track for the fans, something which puts on an entertaining show, and I think we did that here."
The long straightaway leading into the spacious corner that kicked everybody back onto the front straight proved to be the primo place to pass.
It was kind of like the first turn at Cleveland's Burke Lakefront Airport -- wide and inviting.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}And even snaking into Turn 1 left some overtaking opportunities.
Cotman remains in Sao Paulo until Friday while going over the plusses and minuses while planning for 2011.
"The teams were well taken care of and that was also a top priority," he said. "They were treated well and the city has a lot to be proud of. It will be even better next year."