Ricciardo emerges in third; revives ‘shoey’ with Patrick Stewart (VIDEO)

By Jun 11, 2017, 4:22 PM EDT
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After only qualifying sixth, Red Bull Racing’s Daniel Ricciardo was not expected to finish on the podium in the Canadian Grand Prix.

But courtesy of a curious two-stop strategy from Scuderia Ferrari that knocked both Sebastian Vettel and Kimi Raikkonen back, a missed opportunity from Sahara Force India to not exchange Esteban Ocon and Sergio Perez with Ocon on fresher tires, and Max Verstappen’s own early race retirement from second place, Ricciardo emerged best of the rest behind the two Mercedes for his third straight third place finish

Although Ricciardo admitted he didn’t have the pace, he instead used a determined drive on Pirelli’s hardest compound this weekend – the softs – to hold on for third place.

“Today I only had fun when I saw the checkered flag!” the Australian laughed on the podium. “I was defending the whole race. We weren’t quick and I couldn’t afford any mistakes. Concentration was testing. It’s so awesome to be here.”

Once he finished his interview with Sir Patrick Stewart, Ricciardo then played to the Montreal crowd’s wishes to revive the “shoey” – where Ricciardo drinks champagne out of his race boot. For good measure, Ricciardo had Stewart do it, as well.

“I think I hear something but yeah… I have to do something,” Ricciardo smiled before gulping down his first “shoey” of the 2017 season.

IndyCar disappointed by delay of video game but aiming to launch at start of 2024

By Mar 27, 2023, 3:00 PM EDT
IndyCar video game 2024
IndyCar
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An IndyCar executive said there is “absolutely” disappointment that its long-awaited video game recently was delayed beyond its target date, but the series remains optimistic about the new title.

“Well, I don’t know how quick it will be, but the whole situation is important to us,” Penske Entertainment president and CEO Mark Miles said during a news conference Monday morning to announce IndyCar’s NTT title sponsorship. “Motorsport Games has spent a lot of money, a lot of effort to create an IndyCar title. What we’ve seen of that effort, which is not completely obvious, is very reassuring.

“I think it’s going to be outstanding. That’s our shared objective, that when it is released, it’s just widely accepted. A great credit both to IndyCar racing, the Indianapolis Motor Speedway, something that our fans love.”

In June 2021, IndyCar announced a new partnership with Motorsport Games to create and distribute an IndyCar video game for the PC and Xbox and PlayStation consoles in 2023.

But during an earnings call last week, Motorsport Games said the IndyCar game had been delayed to 2024 to ensure high quality.

Somewhat compounding the delay is that IndyCar’s license for iRacing expired after the end of the 2022 season because of its exclusive agreement with Motorsport Games.

That’s resulted in significant changes for IndyCar on iRacing, which had provided a high-profile way for the series to stay visible during its 2020 shutdown from the pandemic. (Players still can race an unbranded car but don’t race on current IndyCar tracks, nor can they stream).

That’s helped ratchet up the attention on having a video game outlet for IndyCar.

“I wish we had an IndyCar title 10 years ago,” said Miles, who has been working with the organization since 2013. “We’ve been close, but we’ve had these I think speed bumps.”

IndyCar is hopeful the Motorsports Game edition will be ready at the start of 2024. Miles hinted that beta versions could be unveiled to reporters ahead of the time “to begin to show the progress in a narrow way to make sure we’ve got it right, to test the progress so that we’re ready when they’re ready.”

It’s been nearly 18 years since the release of the most recent IndyCar video game for console or PC.

“(We) better get it right,” Miles said. “It’s something we’re very close to and continue to think about what it is to make sure we get it over the line in due course.”