United States GP Paddock Notebook - Friday - MotorSportsTalk

AUSTIN, Texas – Friday at the United States Grand Prix, edition 2015, is in the books. Unfortunately the fans who were dedicated and hearty enough to come out to the track only got one session’s worth of running, with some decent action in free practice one occurring before a deluge occurred to wash out free practice two.

As such, it’s hard to glean too much from today’s times this morning, but it is important to note how long some of the runs were on Pirelli’s intermediate tire.

Perhaps the biggest news of the day was what was unexpected, when Lotus F1 Team CEO Matthew Carter said during the FIA Friday Press Conference that the team’s second driver would be named within the hour. Soon enough, there was confirmation of Jolyon Palmer alongside Pastor Maldonado for 2016.

Here’s a roundup of today’s posts, features and analysis from Friday at Circuit of The Americas:

SESSION REPORTS

PADDOCK NEWS AND FEATURES

THOUGHTS FROM THE TRACK

Eeny, meeny, miny, Renault?

Just as the old children’s song had four possible choices, so too does Red Bull in regards to its 2016 engine situation. Excuse the creative liberty as I opted to swap “Renault” in for “moe” – it rhymes and it also seems to be the most realistic option as it stands. Except if it isn’t.

Red Bull team principal Christian Horner made the media rounds today, first telling Sky Sports tongue-in-cheek that there was a 25 percent chance of choosing Honda next year. Then he spoke to NBCSN’s Will Buxton during the rain-canceled FP2, saying, “Of course there’s a lot of speculation. This week it’s Honda. It was Ferrari last week. Renault before that. There’s a lot of conversation in the background.”

Finally in the FIA Friday Press Conference, Horner reiterated his goal is to keep Red Bull not just afloat but competitive in the future – that is his clear objective – but whether that is with or without the blessing of his ultimate boss, Red Bull’s Dietrich Mateschitz, still remains to be seen.

The saga that seems to have no end date in sight needs a resolution soon, as several in the room noted the urgency of getting something sorted sooner rather than later.

Another engine option for 2017?

Late word came in Friday night, via Auto Motor und Sport and Motorsport.com, that the FIA may push a concept of a low-budget power unit, rumored to be a 2.2L twin-turbo V6 engine – the same engines you see in IndyCar – for 2017. Watch this space to see if or how it develops.

Palmer’s graduation after grad school

Lotus reserve and third driver Jolyon Palmer has made it to Formula 1 after winning the GP2 Series championship after all – just a year late. The Englishman was confirmed late Friday afternoon to join the team for 2016, replacing Haas-bound Romain Grosjean.

Palmer’s appointment isn’t necessarily a surprise – he’s driven or been scheduled to drive in 11 free practice sessions this season – but the timing is. Earlier this month, Pastor Maldonado said he had no preference over a a teammate, but just in the last week or so, said he’d prefer a teammate with experience. Now, he doesn’t have one, as Palmer will find his footing in his maiden Grand Prix season.

Interestingly, poor Palmer has had a rough go of things in his most recent practice sessions. After banking a wealth of laps in seven of his first eight outings, he’s only had nine total laps in his last three, in the Russian Grand Prix FP1 session that barely had any running. At both Suzuka and now today in Austin, Palmer’s been nominated to drive but hasn’t completed any laps.

Rain reigns, part one, with Saturday timetable TBD

The expectation was that FP1 wouldn’t see much running, but it did. Meanwhile FP2 was entirely washed out, with torrential rain then sweeping through the paddock only about five minutes after 2 p.m. CT and local time, when the session was scheduled to start. It marks yet another Friday where there hasn’t been proper running in at least one of the two sessions for the field.

The question, of course is how whatever rain is leftover and hits central Texas stemming from Hurricane Patricia – the Category 5 hurricane which is well on its way to Mexico – will affect the timetable for Saturday’s running. It may be a case where Saturday becomes a complete washout.

The thoughts, prayers and concerns are with those neighbors to the south first, given what by all accounts is shaping up to be a monster of a storm.

“How you doin’?”

On a much lighter note, I don’t know if he got TV time today, but I managed to spot Matt LeBlanc at the Lotus F1 Team garage just before FP2. The former Friends and current Episodes star has been to each of the three previous USGPs at Austin, and kept his streak alive by showing up today – we can only assume he took shelter shortly after this shot.

HOW YOU DOIN' pic.twitter.com/Gi1h7X0uZQ

— Tony DiZinno (@tonydizinno) October 23, 2015

Lotus paid tribute to LeBlanc’s appearance with an excellent play-on-words of Friends episode titles. Each Friends episode begins with the words, “The one where…,” and so Lotus rather astutely called its social media recap of free practice two, “The one where we didn’t actually have FP2…”. Top job, lads.

***

Join us tomorrow for all of the action from Austin on NBC Sports Live Extra (FP3 at 11 a.m. ET), with NBCSN coverage starting at 12:30 p.m. ET. FP3 will be shown, and will lead straight into LIVE qualifying, projected to start at 2 p.m. ET. For more information on the broadcasting options for the United States GP, click here.

More tomorrow from what is bound to be another abnormal day at the office.

Follow @TonyDiZinno

Vicki Golden has earned a career worthy of a thousand stories and 805 Beer tells at least one of them, as “Inverted Perspective” premiered March 30 on the company’s website and YouTube channel.

Golden did more to break the glass ceiling in SuperMotocross than she ever thought possible. She knows this because riders have never felt the need to explain any of her accomplishments with the disclaimer, “for a girl”.

At this point in Golden’s career, she’s been the first woman to finish top 10 in AMA Arenacross Lites, the first woman to qualify in the Fast 40 in Monster Energy AMA Supercross and the first woman to compete in freestyle Moto X competition, earning a bronze medal by doing so.

Her love for moto came from childhood while she watched her dad and brother ride. By seven she was on her bike and making waves throughout Southern California.

Golden, 30, is still madly in love with the sport and has no plans on moving away but her career is already one to talk about. 805 Beer’s film series wanted to do exactly that.

“I’m taken aback by it all,” Golden told NBC Sports about the documentary. “It’s just crazy to see your story, it’s one thing to live your life and battle everything that comes about but it’s another to just sit there and talk about it.”

805 approached Golden about the feature by asking, “Do you even realize that what you do, and your story is special?”

Golden took the question as a blank canvas to map out the highs and lows of her career and life.

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The title “Inverted Perspective” came from a brainstorming session with Dominick Russo and it highlights Golden’s outlook on the sport of SuperMotocross and her life in general.

“My whole life, my whole career was thinking differently and looking at things that shouldn’t be done and aren’t there, while being able to make a place for myself, where no one thought there should be a place,” Golden said. “It’s inspiring someone to think in different ways. It sums up my life.”

*Vicki Golden is not “fast for a girl”; she’s just fast. – 805 Beer*

While Golden is no stranger to the spotlight, this was the first time she’s been fully involved with the storytelling and creation of a feature about herself.

“It’s not like a full new experience,” Golden said. “Obviously, you get your standard questions about your upbringing and accomplishments, but I’ve never really put into perspective things that happened in my past with my dad and putting that to light. Also, certain other things that maybe got overlooked in previous interviews or films. I wanted to touch on these and Dom wanted to create a story. It’s just cool to see it come to light, it’s a nearly impossible thing to tell somebody’s life story in 40 minutes.”

Golden’s father was left paralyzed after an ATV accident, robbing him the opportunity to ride again. This happened a few months before the father-daughter duo was set to compete in the Loretta Lynn’s Amateur Nationals when Vicki was 12. While she might have been unable to grasp the severity at the time, it’s something she carries with her. Golden continues to ride in his honor.

Years later, an accident in 2018 nearly sidelined the then 25-year-old Vicki when a freestyle accident almost resulted in the amputation of her lower leg.

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Golden 805 Beer — *Vicki Golden has ridden a variety of disciplines in SuperMotocross, which gives her a unique perspective. – 805 Beer*

“Inverted Perspective” highlights her father’s diligence in helping Vicki continue with her career and the kindness and strength he carried while fighting his own battle.

“My dad was the entire reason that I started riding in the first place,” Golden said. “So, to honor his memory and to honor what we went through and how hard he pushed to keep our dream alive and keep everything going – in that sense then, it was really special to be able to honor him and talk about him.”

The 40-minute feature was filmed entirely in black and white, a stark contrast from the oversaturated world of motocross where the brighter the suit the easier it is for fans to find their rider and follow him in the race. By filming in monochrome Russo and Golden had the chance to focus on the race and track from a different perspective.

“It was cool to be able to film it differently,” Golden said. “It created a challenge in the sense of what was going to be more visually impactful for the film.

“I couldn’t be here without the companies that back me but at the same time, it’s not like the logos or colors disappeared, it’s just different lights shed on different spots. It’s just a cool way to do it and to take color away and still be impactful. When you think of black and white, you think of old school, the OG way of doing things.”

United States GP Paddock Notebook – Friday

Vicki Golden and 805 Beer tell a unique story from an Inverted Perspective

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