2011 Edmonton Indy Preview - A Bump And Run Affair, Race 11 of 18
Rexall Edmonton Indy Speedway - Edmonton City Centre Airport IndyCar race track configuration detail - pre-2011 in yellow / 2011 configuration in blue. Image Credit: KVRT (2011)
2011 Edmonton Indy Preview - A Bump And Run Affair, Race 11 of 18
From the frying pan and into the fire. After the exciting, yet full course caution plagued Honda Indy Toronto, the IndyCar Series (ICS) heads on over to the Canadian province of Alberta, and the temporary road course set up on an airport runway/tarmac in Edmonton.
This year, the course layout changes from a course that tracks around clockwise with long, high speed turns and few real straightaways, to a course that tracks counter-clockwise and features 11 turns, a nasty hairpin turn that separates two long straights made from a landing/takeoff runway, and another slightly curved straight that dives into another "Turn 3" situation similar to the Turn 3 at the end of the only high speed straight in Toronto.
If NASCAR tactics of tap, spin, and run worked for Dario Franchitti to increase his points lead over Will Power, look for at least three areas in Edmonton to promote the same type of carbon-fiber, wheel bumping close competition in order to gain advantage.
Turn 1 out of the pits and at the end of the long straight past the Start/Finish line (the longest of the new layout). The corner is an unusual left hand power turn (120%) that leads to a straight with a slight right-hand kink (Turn 2).
The second kinked straight ends in another hard left-hand turn (curved 180%) that tracks through a curvy section that was used in the previous layout.
Lastly, starting at turn 10, a long straight made from a landing/takeoff runway that ends in a nasty hairpin that starts the process over again with the longest straight in the new course.
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