The Memorial Day weekend means only one thing - it's the greatest weekend for racing fans, it's the weekend where the need for speed is met in a big way. It's a time to honor those who have fallen battling opponents in what is literally a race against time. Unlike in military battles, racing has the rare distinction of brewing enemies within the same camp. Team managers have to constantly shoot down bursts of ego with the cannon of leadership and the proverbial "drawing of the line" as Hercule Poirot might have said it.
The Memorial Day weekend is the 66.66% weekend featuring 2% milk. The winning drivers represent an elite 1% of the entire population of racing drivers. What's the 66.66% all about ? The Memorial Day weekend is when we get 2 out of 3 of the biggest racing events of the year out of the way all in one day - the last Sunday of May.
One of the commandents of racing should be "thou shall keep this Sabbath holy". It's on this Sabbath that the racing faithful get to witness the Monaco Grand Prix and the Indy 500. It's not 100% until the 24 Hours of Le Mans is out of the way later in June. The Monaco Grand Prix, The Indy 500 and the 24 hours of Le Mans make up "The Holy Trinity of Racing" and there has only been 1 driver who claimed this Triple Crown and that is Graham Hill (GBR). Look at all those chaps who came tantalizingly close to the Triple Crown and it also goes to show that F1 world champs can be moulded without having won at Monaco!
The Indy 500 and the Monaco GP are polar opposites as far as speed goes. Where the Indy 500 sees speed in excess of 225 mph, Monaco features the slowest corner on the F1 calendar at 25mph. At Indy, the drivers have to avoid running into the wall as they exit out of the turns and at Monaco you have to just avoid the barriers at every second of the lap. Horsepower is a waste at Monaco you could say.
The overtaking is also on polar opposites of the temperature and pressure scale. The Indy 500 features about 800 overtakes on an average every year. The Indy 500 definitely overtakes the Monaco gp for the number of overtakes because in Monaco it's impossible to overtake with the only place to overtake being the run out of the tunnel into the Nouvelle chicane.
The winner of the Indy 500 gets to the drink the 2% milk and kiss the bricks while the winners of the Monaco Grand Prix get to have their backs turned to royalty and kiss Princess Charlene who is always dressed in the latest fashions. On the Monaco podium it's fire resistant racing suits vs. very expensive suits which are not fire resistant. Mortality awaits all even those of royalty. The cumulative wealth of those witnessing the Monaco Grand Prix trackside far exceeds the cumulative wealth of those witnessing the Indy 500 trackside. In racing you can say that wealth is health. You can hire the healthiest drivers the wold produces but if you don't have the wealth it's all useless.
I close my thoughts looking forward to the 24 hours of Le Mans race - a race which has produced victors and victims over the years. Germany's Nico Hulkenberg who was last year's overall winner at Le Mans has the rare distinction of having never stood on the podium in his long F1 career - how about that for a stat! This closes out 100% of my thoughts on racing for the year.
Oh! Detective Columbo has one more thing to say.....it always rains at Le Mans.
The Memorial Day weekend is the 66.66% weekend featuring 2% milk. The winning drivers represent an elite 1% of the entire population of racing drivers. What's the 66.66% all about ? The Memorial Day weekend is when we get 2 out of 3 of the biggest racing events of the year out of the way all in one day - the last Sunday of May.
One of the commandents of racing should be "thou shall keep this Sabbath holy". It's on this Sabbath that the racing faithful get to witness the Monaco Grand Prix and the Indy 500. It's not 100% until the 24 Hours of Le Mans is out of the way later in June. The Monaco Grand Prix, The Indy 500 and the 24 hours of Le Mans make up "The Holy Trinity of Racing" and there has only been 1 driver who claimed this Triple Crown and that is Graham Hill (GBR). Look at all those chaps who came tantalizingly close to the Triple Crown and it also goes to show that F1 world champs can be moulded without having won at Monaco!
 |
| Source:Wikipedia |
The holiest Sabbath of racing starts early at 7AM CST and I wouldn't miss seeing the Monaco Grand Prix live on TV for the world. It's a race track that separates the men from the boys - especially when it rains - as 2016 podium finisher Sergio Perez (MEX) pointed out after the race. The Indianapolis 500 is an American Classic but I just can't suffer through those cars going around an oval, lap after lap, although it provides some spectacular accidents. It's almost like watching baseball hoping that a massive fist fight breaks out. I just don't have the Will Power to do it. One could also say that F1 can also produce spectacularly boring races.
The Indy 500 and the Monaco GP are polar opposites as far as speed goes. Where the Indy 500 sees speed in excess of 225 mph, Monaco features the slowest corner on the F1 calendar at 25mph. At Indy, the drivers have to avoid running into the wall as they exit out of the turns and at Monaco you have to just avoid the barriers at every second of the lap. Horsepower is a waste at Monaco you could say.
The overtaking is also on polar opposites of the temperature and pressure scale. The Indy 500 features about 800 overtakes on an average every year. The Indy 500 definitely overtakes the Monaco gp for the number of overtakes because in Monaco it's impossible to overtake with the only place to overtake being the run out of the tunnel into the Nouvelle chicane.
The winner of the Indy 500 gets to the drink the 2% milk and kiss the bricks while the winners of the Monaco Grand Prix get to have their backs turned to royalty and kiss Princess Charlene who is always dressed in the latest fashions. On the Monaco podium it's fire resistant racing suits vs. very expensive suits which are not fire resistant. Mortality awaits all even those of royalty. The cumulative wealth of those witnessing the Monaco Grand Prix trackside far exceeds the cumulative wealth of those witnessing the Indy 500 trackside. In racing you can say that wealth is health. You can hire the healthiest drivers the wold produces but if you don't have the wealth it's all useless.
I close my thoughts looking forward to the 24 hours of Le Mans race - a race which has produced victors and victims over the years. Germany's Nico Hulkenberg who was last year's overall winner at Le Mans has the rare distinction of having never stood on the podium in his long F1 career - how about that for a stat! This closes out 100% of my thoughts on racing for the year.
Oh! Detective Columbo has one more thing to say.....it always rains at Le Mans.
