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#2
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INDYCAR: Teams Caught Using Methanol in Practice Written by: Robin Miller Indianapolis, Ind. - 5/21/2007 Honda's Robert Clarke notified IRL officials about the illegal addition of methanol to the fuel during practice for the "500". (LAT Photo) The Indy Racing League is running only ethanol in its cars this season. Except for last week when a couple of teams illegally used a little methanol to gain some horsepower. SPEED has learned that Honda engineers caught the cheating during the first week of practice and informed IRL officials. "All I'm going to say is that we saw methanol in the fuel and there was also some water involved so obviously it was to help create more power," said Robert Clarke, president of Honda Performance Development. "I'm not going to say who was doing it or how they were doing it but we stopped it by removing the air temperature sensors from everybody's car. "And we caught it before qualifying." According to several mechanics in Gasoline Alley, the air temp sensor was used as a decoy so the methanol could be fed or sprayed directly into the fuel injectors. The air is cooled by raw fuel, which makes the mixture richer and, hence, more powerful. A funny reading alerted the Honda engineers. "We saw it in the exhaust temperatures, they were very high, off the scale," said Clarke. "So we informed the IRL and then sent a letter to the other teams informing them of what happened. "We also reminded the teams in question of what their contract said." Unlike NASCAR, which publicly calls out its cheaters, the IRL opts to keep most of its improprieties in house. "The primary reasons for doing that is that's more the way things traditionally have been done in open wheel racing," said John Griffin, IRL vice president of communications. "We prefer to handle it internally and there's always the sensitivity of team's sponsorship relationships." The fact Honda leases all its engines and controls them at the track makes this situation unique. "I guess I'm surprised we haven't seen this before," said Clarke. "But spec racing breeds this kind of thing." In addition to the engine shenanigans, it was also believed the IRL confiscated three or four illegal rear wings following the last race at Kansas City. |
#3
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Of course the IRL looks the other way on the subject of cheating. You can't have a full field if you suspend drivers and teams. Engine leases? Wasn't that another one of the evil things that TG was going to do away with?? |
#4
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This just stinks of favoritism and Miller again exposed another of Boy Georges dirty secrets. |
#5
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On May 22, 10:09 am, Dave-E <davegt... (AT) aol (DOT) com> wrote: Of course the IRL looks the other way on the subject of cheating. You can't have a full field if you suspend drivers and teams. Engine leases? Wasn't that another one of the evil things that TG was going to do away with?? It was the sponsor consideration that caught my eye. Do the bigger sponsor's teams get more consideration? Can you just pay a fine instead of losing starting positions? What about cheats caught after the race? I wonder if a team is from a competing series -- do they recieve the same consideration? This just stinks of favoritism and Miller again exposed another of Boy Georges dirty secrets. |
#6
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It's called the Unfair Advantage. Teams pushing the limits. Nothing wrong with that. |
#7
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On May 22, 10:09 am, Dave-E <davegt... (AT) aol (DOT) com> wrote: Of course the IRL looks the other way on the subject of cheating. You can't have a full field if you suspend drivers and teams. Engine leases? Wasn't that another one of the evil things that TG was going to do away with?? It was the sponsor consideration that caught my eye. Do the bigger sponsor's teams get more consideration? Can you just pay a fine instead of losing starting positions? What about cheats caught after the race? I wonder if a team is from a competing series -- do they recieve the same consideration? This just stinks of favoritism and Miller again exposed another of Boy Georges dirty secrets. |
#8
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INDYCAR: Teams Caught Using Methanol in Practice Written by: Robin Miller Indianapolis, Ind. - 5/21/2007 Honda's Robert Clarke notified IRL officials about the illegal addition of methanol to the fuel during practice for the "500". (LAT Photo) The Indy Racing League is running only ethanol in its cars this season. Except for last week when a couple of teams illegally used a little methanol to gain some horsepower. SPEED has learned that Honda engineers caught the cheating during the first week of practice and informed IRL officials. "All I'm going to say is that we saw methanol in the fuel and there was also some water involved so obviously it was to help create more power," said Robert Clarke, president of Honda Performance Development. "I'm not going to say who was doing it or how they were doing it but we stopped it by removing the air temperature sensors from everybody's car. "And we caught it before qualifying." According to several mechanics in Gasoline Alley, the air temp sensor was used as a decoy so the methanol could be fed or sprayed directly into the fuel injectors. The air is cooled by raw fuel, which makes the mixture richer and, hence, more powerful. A funny reading alerted the Honda engineers. "We saw it in the exhaust temperatures, they were very high, off the scale," said Clarke. "So we informed the IRL and then sent a letter to the other teams informing them of what happened. "We also reminded the teams in question of what their contract said." Unlike NASCAR, which publicly calls out its cheaters, the IRL opts to keep most of its improprieties in house. "The primary reasons for doing that is that's more the way things traditionally have been done in open wheel racing," said John Griffin, IRL vice president of communications. "We prefer to handle it internally and there's always the sensitivity of team's sponsorship relationships." The fact Honda leases all its engines and controls them at the track makes this situation unique. "I guess I'm surprised we haven't seen this before," said Clarke. "But spec racing breeds this kind of thing." In addition to the engine shenanigans, it was also believed the IRL confiscated three or four illegal rear wings following the last race at Kansas City. |
#9
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Georges dirty secrets. Lenny I thought you didn't like Robin Miller. |
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Now to answer your question a team from another series won, but didn't get credit for it now did they. |
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Frankly it was Honda not the IRL that caught the cheating. The IRL isn't likely looking, if they are it likely isn't too hard, so they are not likely to catch much of anything but the worst cheats. By worst I mean the dumbest. |
#10
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INDYCAR: Teams Caught Using Methanol in Practice Written by: Robin Miller Indianapolis, Ind. - 5/21/2007 Honda's Robert Clarke notified IRL officials about the illegal addition of methanol to the fuel during practice for the "500". (LAT Photo) The Indy Racing League is running only ethanol in its cars this season. Except for last week when a couple of teams illegally used a little methanol to gain some horsepower. SPEED has learned that Honda engineers caught the cheating during the first week of practice and informed IRL officials. "All I'm going to say is that we saw methanol in the fuel and there was also some water involved so obviously it was to help create more power," said Robert Clarke, president of Honda Performance Development. "I'm not going to say who was doing it or how they were doing it but we stopped it by removing the air temperature sensors from everybody's car. "And we caught it before qualifying." According to several mechanics in Gasoline Alley, the air temp sensor was used as a decoy so the methanol could be fed or sprayed directly into the fuel injectors. The air is cooled by raw fuel, which makes the mixture richer and, hence, more powerful. A funny reading alerted the Honda engineers. "We saw it in the exhaust temperatures, they were very high, off the scale," said Clarke. "So we informed the IRL and then sent a letter to the other teams informing them of what happened. "We also reminded the teams in question of what their contract said." Unlike NASCAR, which publicly calls out its cheaters, the IRL opts to keep most of its improprieties in house. "The primary reasons for doing that is that's more the way things traditionally have been done in open wheel racing," said John Griffin, IRL vice president of communications. "We prefer to handle it internally and there's always the sensitivity of team's sponsorship relationships." The fact Honda leases all its engines and controls them at the track makes this situation unique. "I guess I'm surprised we haven't seen this before," said Clarke. "But spec racing breeds this kind of thing." In addition to the engine shenanigans, it was also believed the IRL confiscated three or four illegal rear wings following the last race at Kansas City. |
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