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David Betts wrote:
> On Sun, 25 Aug 2002 10:46:31 +0100, Steve Campbell
> <the.goondens…@ntlspamworld.com> wrote:
> >ymenard wrote:
> >> F1 teams were going around 325-330km/h at the end of the backstretch.
> >> Cart
> >> teams were around 295-300km/h. (source is the RDS broadcast).
> >Based on the kinds of speeds those things can achieve on ovals, do you
> >think this suggests they are running more downforce than the F1′s?
> No. It suggests that they are slower out of the preceding corner and
> less accelerative because of their greater weight.
Eggzackly. Which debunks the myth that CART cars could be faster than
F1 cars on a circuit with long straights. The run from the hairpin to
the pit entrance is probably the longest flat-out section in F1, but the
CART cars are approx 20mph slower at the fastes point: I guess 192mph vs
212mph. The reason CART cars are fast on ovals is that it tkes them
2-2.5 miles to get up to speed and they can run ultra low drag wing
settings because they don’t need to decelerate for chicanes or hard
curves.