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2/27/03
Portland Town Meeting article In
this Portland Oregonian
article, Chris Pook says Portland is vital to CART's recovery.
The article goes on to talk about CART and its future in Portland.
2/27/03
Indy Racing 2Day returns
“Indy Racing 2Day,” the ESPN2 program televised on the same day as
every IRL IndyCar Series event, returns for a fourth consecutive
season in 2003. The 30-minute show includes highlights, driver and
team interviews, news, features and analysis, setting the scene for
all 16 IndyCar Series events. Each show is televised live from the
track, giving fans an in-depth and up-close look at America’s top
open-wheel series. Commentators on the show consist of ABC-ESPN’s
IndyCar Series team: Bob Jenkins, host; Paul Page, play-by-play; Scott
Goodyear, analysis; Jack Arute and Gary Gerould, pit reporters. The
season debut of “Indy Racing 2Day” is scheduled for ESPN2 at noon
(EST) Sunday, March 2 from Homestead-Miami Speedway. The live telecast
of the season-opening Toyota Indy 300 starts at 1 p.m. on ABC.
2/27/03
Denver GP tickets on sale
Tickets for the 2003 Shell Grand Prix of Denver, scheduled for Friday,
Saturday and Sunday, August 29-31, are now on sale, company officials
announced today. Ticket packages for the Labor Day Weekend event,
featuring CART’s Bridgestone Presents the Champ Car World Series
Powered by Ford, range from general admission to reserved seating in
one of the many grandstands strategically located at the best vantage
points around the track. Other ticket choices include an array of
hospitality options including the new “Big Turn Club” near Turn No.
5 that can make any race fan feel like royalty. “Now that the Champ
Car season is underway, people are going to start thinking about
racing in Denver again,” said John Frew, vice president and general
manager of the Shell Grand Prix of Denver. “We want all our fans to
have first choice on great seats, so we suggest they place their
ticket orders sooner rather than later. “We have solicited feedback
from everyone involved with our inaugural race last Labor Day
weekend,” added Frew, “including our fans, the drivers, Champ Car, our
neighbors at Pepsi Center, our vendors and the City of Denver. We are
using that information to improve our product and make the 2003 race
even better. As a result, the 2003 Grand Prix promises to be an
exciting challenge for the drivers and a rewarding experience for the
fans.” Complimenting the top-notch racing at the Grand Prix will be a
variety of family-oriented activities throughout the weekend, as well
as the immensely popular Rock-N-Roar Concert, which last year featured
popular rock band Train at the Universal Lending CityLights Pavilion.
Race fans will again have free admission to the Grand Prix Lifestyle
Expo, featuring the latest high-tech products and services, racecars,
games, and simulators. In addition, the extreme sports demonstrations
will return, as will the kids' fun zone. Ticket prices for the
three-day event range from $40 for a Sunday-only general admission
ticket (no reserved seat) to $105 for a three-day ticket that includes
Saturday and Sunday reserved seating in upper levels of the
grandstands. Pre-paid parking packages are available and can be
purchased when ordering tickets through the Grand Prix ticket office.
Ordering is easy by calling toll free (888) 82-SPEED or visiting the
event’s official web site,
www.gpdenver.com. Race fans wishing to pay by check rather than
credit card can also request a ticket brochure. The second annual
Shell Grand Prix of Denver will be run on an improved 1.65-mile,
nine-turn temporary street circuit around Pepsi Center adjacent to
Denver's Lower Downtown, and feature the cars and stars of Bridgestone
Presents the Champ Car World Series Powered by Ford, as well as the
Toyota Atlantic Championship Presented by Yokohama, Trans-Am Series
for the BFGoodrich Tires Cup and the Fran-Am 2000 North American Pro
Championship.
2/27/03
Best Test Times to Date
Silverstone
Date
Driver
Team
T
Time
Gap
25 Feb
Raikkonen
McLaren
M
0:41.728
-
26 Feb
Firman
Jordan
B
0:42.372
0.644
26 Feb
Webber
Jaguar
M
0:42.395
0.667
27 Feb
McNish
Renault
M
0:42.560
0.832
26 Feb
Sato
BAR
B
0:42.610
0.882
25 Feb
Trulli
Renault
M
0:42.679
0.951
25 Feb
Coulthard
McLaren
M
0:42.883
1.155
26 Feb
Fisichella
Jordan
B
0:43.951
2.223
26 Feb
Alonso
Renault
M
0:44.477
2.749
Imola
Date
Driver
Team
T
Time
Gap
19 Feb
M Schumacher
Ferrari
B
1:20.440
137.180 mph
27 Feb
Villeneuve
BAR
B
1:21.393
0.953
19 Feb
Barrichello
Ferrari
B
1:21.545
1.105
19 Feb
Heidfeld
Sauber
B
1:21.749
1.309
19 Feb
Frentzen
Sauber
B
1:22.117
1.677
27 Feb
Gene
WilliamsF1
M
1:22.650
2.210
27 Feb
Wurz
McLaren
M
1:22.925
2.485
18 Feb
Badoer
Ferrari
B
1:23.022
1.405
26 Feb
da Matta
Toyota
M
1:23.127
2.687
26 Feb
Zonta
Toyota
M
1:23.678
3.238
26 Feb
Verstappen
Minardi
B
1:27.300
6.860
26 Feb
Wilson
Minardi
B
1:27.500
7.060
Jerez
Date
Driver
Team
T
Time
Gap
10 Jan
Badoer
Ferrari
B
1:18.486
126.183 mph
27 Feb
Panis
Toyota
M
1:19.080
0.594
27 Feb
Coulthard
McLaren
M
1:20.062
1.576
10 Jan
Burti
Ferrari
B
1:20.482
1.996
27 Feb
Raikkonen
McLaren
M
1:20.757
2.271
27 Feb
R Schumacher
WilliamsF1
M
1:20.811
2.325
10 Jan
Trulli
Renault
M
1:21.320
2.834
6 Jan
Gene
WilliamsF1
M
1:22.182
3.696
10 Jan
Alonso
Renault
M
1:22.995
4.509
25 Feb
M Schumacher
Ferrari
B
1:25.321
6.835
25 Feb
Montoya
WilliamsF1
M
1:27.999
9.513
Fiorano
Date
Driver
Team
T
Time
Gap
14 Feb
M Schumacher
Ferrari
B
0:56.786
117.257 mph
27 Feb
Massa
Ferrari
B
0:57.378
0.592
20 Feb
Wilson
Minardi
B
1:01.080
4.294
19 Feb
Verstappen
Minardi
B
1:01.200
4.414
2/27/03 Industry News
BMW expects approval from China
BMW expects China's State Council to formally approve its planned
joint venture with Brilliance China Automotive Holdings "during the
next few weeks" in a development that will pave the way for the German
manufacturer to launch its first mainland production line. "We are
confident that State Council approval will be received during the next
few weeks," BMW board member Michael Ganal said at a press conference
in Singapore Thursday. "We are fully in line with our timetable and
remain confident that production can commence by the end of 2003."
The factory, in Shenyang, Liaoning province, will have an initial
annual capacity of 30,000 vehicles, and is expected to rise to 100,000
units within five years. It will produce BMW 3-series sedans for the
domestic market.
2/27/03
Thursday Test Times from Imola
and Jerez
Thursday's times from Imola
1 Jacques Villeneuve BAR-Honda 1:21.393 78 laps
2 Marc Gene Williams-BMW 1:22.650 81 laps
3 Alex Wurz McLaren-Mercedes 1:22.925 58 laps
4 Ricardo Zonta Toyota 1:23.678 68 laps Thursday's times from Jerez:
1 Olivier Panis Toyota 1:19.080 55 laps
2 Luca Badoer Ferrari 1:19.573 26 laps (F2003)
3 Luca Badoer Ferrari 1:20.041 89 laps (f20020
4 David Coulthard McLaren-Mercedes 1:20.062 68 laps
5 Kimi Raikkonen McLaren-Mercedes 1:20.757 41 laps
6 Ralf Schumacher Williams-BMW 1:20.811 99 laps
2/27/03
F1 driver salaries (Approx)
1. Michael Schumacher, Ferrari,
$45 Million
2. Jacques Villeneuve, BAR, $13 Million
3. Ralf Schumacher, Williams, $11 Million
4. JP. Montoya, Williams, $9 Million
5. David Coulthard, McLaren, $8 Million
6. Rubens Barrichello, Ferrari, $7 Million
7. Giancarlo Fisichella, Jordan, $5.5 Million
8. Jenson Button, BAR, $5 Million
9. Jarno Trulli, Renault, $4.8 Million
10. Kimi Raikkonen, McLaren, $4.5 Million
11. Oliver Panis, Toyota, $4 Million
12. Cristiano de Matta, Toyota, $2 Million
13. Heinz-Harald Frentzen, Sauber, $1.5 Million
14. Mark Webber, Jaguar, $1.4 Million
15. Nick Heidfeld, Sauber, $1.3 Million
16. Fernando Alonso, Renault, 1.2 Million
17. Jos Verstappen, Minardi, $800,000
18. Antonio Pizzonia, Jaguar, $600,000
19. Ralph Firman, Jordan, $500,000
20. Justin Wilson, Minardi, $300,000
2/27/03
375,000 expected for season
opener 375,000 people are expected through the
turnstiles in Albert Park in Melbourne, Australia for the
upcoming F1 season opener over the 4-day weekend event.
2/27/03
Pook - no Spa for CART for
awhile " Spa is a pretty exciting racetrack. There
probably would be a fairly substantial disparity in times
between ourselves and F1 there. It's those very high-speed
tracks that the F1 cars, with all their downforce, the grip
they've got on their tires, their braking capabilities with
those carbon fiber disc brakes they've got, can really make
the difference bigger. We had a six-second spread at Montreal
between F1 times and ourselves. At Spa, we could be looking at
as much as 10, 12, 14 second spread. Maybe we ought to wait
for a year or so and let the F1 race sort of disappear there
for a couple years, then maybe we might appear. You never
know."
2/27/03
Pook looking to get more races
on Network TV - Q. Chris, what are we doing
to attract better TV coverage? Everybody in this room tonight
is the hard core fan. For us to expand our series is to expand
the market base, that is like getting better TV coverage.
We've lost ESPN, lost Channel 2, ABC. What are we doing to
address that issue? Target, Texaco, they've left because they
don't think they get the bang for their buck. What are we
doing to get that back? With that the money will come back and
the popularity and success of our series will come back.
Speedvision is 50 to a hundred bucks. That's price prohibitive
for a lot of people. Chris Pook - We're
sensitive to this issue. We inherited the Speedvision contract
when we came in in December of 2001. We're growing our
relationship with CBS. More and more you'll see more races on
CBS. I think we touched on that a little earlier tonight. We
are working with another network outlet for 2004. We do need
to bring it back to the mainstream. We have to walk before we
run. We have to build. We're sensitive to it. We will get it
done. We've got to regain the credibility of the networks.
That's what we're doing. I think Terry Linger, who produces
the show for us, the standard of production now, we get
hundreds and hundreds of e-mails just raving about the
standard of the production. As you said, the problem is
getting the signal into your living room on an economical
basis. That's what we're working on.
2/27/03
It will be hard for ex- CART
teams to return - Two-part question to Chris Pook
last night. Has there been any more discussions with Tony
George about reuniting? What about the teams that have
defected to IRL? How long do you think it's going to be
because those guys get tired of going around in circles?
SCOTT PRUETT: I know Franchitti is not happy about it.
JIMMY VASSER: Some of those guys are already tired of it.
CHRIS POOK: I'm on record on numerous occasions. My office
door is open. My phone is available to be answered. I'm not
going to hold my breath waiting for that phone to ring. I'm
going to get on and do what I've got to do in this series to
get on with what we've got because it's too good to wait
around for somebody to pick up the phone and talk to us. It's
going to be very difficult. It's going to be a very difficult
situation for us if those teams decide they do want to come
back because we have got new teams that have come in in good
faith, put themselves on the line to join our series and
invest in our series. We have got guys that are guaranteeing
loans. One guy's got his house on the line. He's really
committed to building a team. As much as it would be nice
probably to have those teams come back, I don't want to do
that. Morally it troubles me that I would push someone that's
come to help us when we needed them to then later shove them
out the door just because there's a big name that decides they
want to come home. If they want to come home, they can come
home, earn their way to come home. But I'm not going to
trample on someone that's reached out to us and is part of our
new family. That's the way it's going to be.
2/27/03
CART's first Portland Town
Meeting a success
- If the first two ground-breaking Champ Car Town Meetings are
any indication, the organization just might have a hit on its
hands. Following up on a very successful initial Town
Meeting in Columbus last season, some of the key members of
the Bridgestone Presents The Champ Car World Series Powered by
Ford traveled to Portland Wednesday night to meet with another
building full of Champ Car racing fans in a forum that
included CART President and CEO Christopher R. Pook and 1996
series champ Jimmy Vasser. More....
|
Full Transcript
2/27/03
Foyt switches to Dallara
A J Foyt IV will make his IRL IndyCar Series debut in a
Dallara chassis at Homestead this weekend, after his team
decided on a last minute switch from rival constructor Panoz G
Force. The team made the change after Foyt IV crashed his
original G Force chassis recently. The team's second driver,
Shigeaki Hattori, will still run in a G Force. Both cars will
be powered by Toyota engines. "Other teams are running
Dallara, which seem to have more downforce or more grip, which
is what you want on the short tracks and flat tracks like
Homestead," said Foyt IV, who completed all his pre-season
testing in a G Force. "I'm anxious to get my first race in the
Conseco [No.] 14 under my belt. My goals are pretty simple. I
want to qualifying decent, run all day and finish the race."
2/27/03
Dan Marino Grand Marshal
Legendary Miami Dolphins Quarterback Dan Marino will serve as
Grand Marshal for the Toyota Indy 300, the season-opener for
the IRL IndyCar Series, set for Sunday, March 2 at 1 pm (ABC)
at Homestead-Miami Speedway. As Grand Marshal, Marino will
give the command "Lady and Gentlemen, Start Your Engines"
prior to the running of the Toyota Indy 300. "I'm looking
forward to helping kick off the 2003 IndyCar Series at the
Toyota Indy 300 at Homestead-Miami Speedway," said Marino.
"It's going to be exciting to see these cars and drivers
compete at speeds over 200 miles-per-hour." "We're honored to
have Dan Marino, one of the greatest athletes in the history
of South Florida, serve as Grand Marshal for the Toyota Indy
300," said Curtis Gray, President Homestead-Miami Speedway.
"Fans will have the unique opportunity this weekend to see Dan
give the most famous words in all of racing - 'Lady and
Gentlemen, Start Your Engines.'"
2/27/03
Cheever loses Dudot
In this ESPN.RPM
article, Eddie Cheever was blowing Bernard Dudot's
horn for his engine program. Well Eddie just lost him.
The man regarded as the father of Renault's ultra-successful
V10 Formula 1 engines of the mid-'90s, Bernard Dudot, has
rejoined the French manufacturer as it struggles to get to
grips with its radical wide-angled engine of 2003. Dudot, 64,
will assist Flavio Briatore, managing director of the Renault
F1 Team, in running the team's engine department at
Viry-Chatillon near Paris. Renault has admitted that its
current V10 engine is down-on-power compared to its rivals.
2/27/03
Williams wastes $200 million
Frank Williams has gone on record that his team's new car is
not on pace with the Ferrari and has zero chance of winning
races. Imagine that, a $200+ million annual budget and
no chance of winning! Why don't you and Ron Dennis write
another letter to Max Mosley, or threaten to sue the FIA again
Frank. Sure Frank that will fix your woes. It's
time to strip all the ridiculous technology out of F1 and get
back to some real racing. Mark C.
2/27/03
Rusty backpedals We
bet NASCAR had a little talk with Rusty Wallace. At Rockingham
last Friday, Rusty Wallace was quoted in a Dodge news release
as saying, "I don't know why they (Chevrolets) were so good at
Daytona. Four or five of them were cheating really, really
hard and didn't get caught. The NASCAR guys know it, and
they're out for them when they get to Talladega." Wallace
didn't single out any specific teams or drivers, but many in
the Chevy camp are wondering why Wallace is alleging that
others were cheating when his own team was busted for using an
unapproved carburetor in a pre-Daytona 500 qualifying race.
Asked to clarify his comments this week, Wallace said, "I'm
not making comments about any Chevrolet team. I want to put
that on the record. I just thought there were a lot of
peculiar things going on, and NASCAR has informed me they're
going to be looking for everybody at Talladega."
USA Today
2/27/03
Just call him Al The
Canadian Pres
article talks about the newest Al Unser. The
slender youngster with the big smile is the fourth generation
of racing Unsers. Al Unser has a great tradition to follow -
and a lot to live up to. "People couldn't figure out what to
call me," said the 20-year-old aspiring driver with the famous
name and familiar face. "I kept saying, 'I'm just Al,' and,
eventually, that's what I told people to call me, "Just Al."
"I got out on the road a little bit and I realized I needed to
stop speeding and maybe do this on a road circuit," Unser
said, grinning. "I just started really liking racing, and
watching my dad and the cars got me real excited. I just felt
like I wanted to do it and, once I got in the car, I felt
relieved. This is what I want to do." "That's where I got my
first real racing," he said. "In the regionals, I started
winning right away." "I didn't expect it to happen so fast,"
said his mother, Shelley, who divorced Little Al in 2001. "We
blew through the ladder system - regionals, nationals, driving
schools and he needed more experience." With some scholarship
money from the Skip Barber school, but no primary sponsor,
Unser has moved to CART's Barber-Dodge Series.
His father hasn't been around much since the divorce, but he
took his son to Homestead, Fla., last week as a spotter for
his IRL test and came to St. Petersburg, to watch the
youngster's race. "Dad is happy I'm doing this," Unser said.
"He's busy with his own racing, but he has so much experience.
He helped me a lot, just telling me things about the car."
After years in CART, Little Al is competing in the all-oval
Indy Racing League, but the son says he isn't worried in which
series he winds up. "I'd race NASCAR, I'd race CART and I'd
love to race in the Indy 500. I'll race anything," the newest
racing Unser said, sounding very much like the family members
who preceded him.
2/27/03
St. Pete TV Ratings
As long as CART continues to have its races broadcast on SPEED
Channel and not CBS, and as long as CART fails to promote the
drivers into household names, its TV Ratings will continue to
be abysmal. Here is the tally for the weekend. A
0.2 just isn't going to cut it. While the IRL is moving
more races onto network TV, CART has done just the opposite,
and the results are evident. Most people we talk to
can't even get SPEED Channel from their cable provider. SPEED
and Terry Linger do a great job on the race production, but
they have to realize that for CART to survive, its races must
be moved to network TV, leaving SPEED for pre-race, post-race,
qualifying and re-runs. The SPEED guys may not like what
we say, but the facts are the facts.
Show/Date/Network/Time/Rating/Households
G.P. of St. Petersburg re-air 02/23 - Speed 9:00p-11:30pm -
0.1 rating - 38,000 households
G.P. of St. Petersburg live 02/23 - Speed 1:00p-3:30p - 0.2
rating - 136,000
Champ Car Pre-race 02/23 - Speed 12:30p-1:00p - 0.2 rating -
120,000
Champ Car Qualifying re-air 02/22 - Speed 1:00a-2:30a - 0.1
rating - 37,000
Champ Car Qualifying re-air 02/22 - Speed 8:00p-9:30p - 0.1
rating - 61,000
Champ Car Qualifying 02/22 - Speed 1:30p-3:00p - 0.2 rating -
101,000
2/27/03
Wallace fined $3,000 NASCAR
officials have fined driver Mike Wallace $3,000 for his use of
inappropriate language during the telecast of Monday's
Rockingham 200 at
North Carolina Speedway. Wallace was penalized under Section
12-4-A in the rule book: "Actions detrimental to stock car
racing."
2/27/03
Blaney crew wins Round 2 The
over-the-wall pit crew for Dave Blaney and the #77 Jasper
Engines & Transmissions Ford team won Round 2 of the
McDonald's Drive-Thru Pit Championship fueled by POWERade at
Sunday's Subway 400 at North Carolina Speedway. Blaney's crew
spent 223 seconds in the pits to edge the crew of Kurt Busch
and the #97 Rubbermaid/Sharpie team by four seconds to earn
the weekly $20,000 prize. The Jasper Motorsports team added
six new team members prior to the 2003 NASCAR Winston Cup
Series season, including four crew members who have provided
immediate dividends for the team's over-the-wall efforts.
Fosters to sponsor Imola
Australian beer-brand Foster's announced today it has taken title
sponsorship of the San Marino Grand Prix from 2003. Held at the
Enzo e Dino Ferrari facility at Imola, in northern Italy, the event is
the third title sponsorship for Foster's Brewing International to add
to the imminent Australian Grand Prix. 'This is another
first for Foster's,' said Managing Director, Richard Scully, whose
company will also headline the British event at Silverstone in July.
The Foster's San Marino Grand Prix, to be held at Imola on 20 April,
is the fourth race on the Championship calendar and first after the
grueling initial flyaway season.
2/27/03
RTL retains German TV rights
German television network RTL has retained the free-to-air broadcast
rights for Formula One. In a four-year extension to its existing
deal, sources report that the network will pay some 85 million euros
per year to beam the pinnacle of motorsports in Michael Schumacher's
home country. 'Formula One is the only sport that can be
re-financed through television,' said RTL's head of information Hans
Mahr.
2/27/03
Zanardi to be Grand Marshall at German
500UPDATE They still await Alex
Zanardi's reply to their offer. The corrected translation -
Hans-Jörg Fischer says, "Alex Zanardi, more than just about anyone,
symbolizes the sport of motor racing - with all its many facets. We
have even greater respect for his wonderful personality and the way in
which Alex Zanardi has come to terms with his fate. It would be an
extraordinary honor for my team and me, for CART and all Champ Car
pilots, as well as for the region of Lusatia, to be able to welcome
him to the German 500 as a member of this great international family."
2/26/03 - This translated brazil.crash.net
article says that Italian Alex Zanardi, former F1 and CART
driver could be the Grand Marshall of the GP of Lausitzring. The
German race will be held on May 11. In 2001, Zanardi had its career
violently interrupted by losing both legs after his car was struck by
Forsythe driver, Canadian Alex Tagliani. The 1997 and 1998 CART
champion will be responsible for pronouncing the famous phrase,
"Gentleman, start your engines", before the beginning of the race.
Zanardi has enormous respect for his wonderful personality and for the
way that he has dealt with his disability. " 'It will be an
extraordinary honor for me, CART, all the drivers, as well as for the
region of Lusatia to attend the race' Zanardi said," as quoted by the
promoter of the race, Hans-Jorg Fischer. Paul Josephson
2/27/03
On the right track The
Roush Racing tandem of Jeff Burton (No. 99 CITGO Ford) and Mark
Martin (No. 6 Pfizer/Viagra Ford) have won three of the five
NASCAR Winston Cup Series races held at Las Vegas Motor Speedway.
Burton won consecutive events in 1999 and 2000, following up the win
by Martin in the inaugural race in 1998. Martin has finished among the
top 10 in all five of his starts while Burton has been in the top 10
four times. Jeff Gordon (No. 24 DuPont Chevrolet) has a pair of
top-three finishes in his last four starts at Las Vegas. He finished
third in 1999 and was victorious in 2001. His success, however, has
only come in the odd years as he has finished 17th or worse in the
even years (1998, 2000, 2002). Dale Jarrett (No. 88 UPS Ford)
has three consecutive top-seven finishes, including a best of second
in 2001. He also is the only driver to win multiple Bud Poles at Las
Vegas, capturing the top qualifying position in 1998 and 2001.
2/27/03
What's the word? “Is
there any way we could just ‘write-off’ these first two (races)? You
know – like just take the loss on the ol’ profit sheet and start the
season with a fresh sheet of paper? No? OK… well, this is not a
38th-place team, and I think everyone knows that. But, we need to
start putting together some finishes to get closer to the front of the
points. I guess that goes without saying, but we struggled in the
first two races last year (29th and 26th place finishes in 2002), and
we were back up to sixth in points after we won at Talladega a few
weeks later. There’s some heartache and some frustration about how
we’ve finished, but no one has panicked and we’re getting ready to go
at it again.” – Dale Earnhardt Jr. (No. 8 Budweiser Chevrolet).
“For me, winning here probably would be the biggest thing
for me in terms of winning a single race. The Daytona 500 and the
Brickyard 400 at Indianapolis are right up there, but I can’t imagine
anything being any bigger than winning in Vegas.” – Las Vegas
native Kurt Busch (No. 97 Rubbermaid Ford). “Vegas could be
a good weekend for us. If you can say that before you get to a
blackjack table, that’s a pretty good feeling.” -- Ken Schrader
(No. 49 Dakota Imaging Dodge), who is looking forward to the UAW-Daimler
Chrysler 400 after a good test session during NASCAR Preseason Thunder
at LVMS in late January.
2/27/03
Survey assessment spot on2nd UPDATE Another reader writes,
CART should pay you for doing your survey - was excellent! I hope they
at least read it. The question is, how are they going to build driver
recognition if they fill the series up with f1 want-a-be's who are
only there because can't get a ride in f1 and who clearly have no
plans for a career in Champ Cars, and who will check-out the minute
the get and F1 offer? The "feeder series" idea and driver recognition
are clearly incompatible. Donn Kelly, Chicago Dear Donn, You
are absolutely correct. The only way CART can grow is for the
drivers to become heroes. As long as CART is positioned as a
feeder series, the heroes (i.e. the best drivers) will go to F1 as
fast as they came. CART is going to have to build its series into a
final destination while at the same time dealing with always losing
its best drivers to F1. Not an easy scenario to deal with,
unless one believes that Bernie will grow CART into a North American
F1 to maximize his return on his investment. Stay tuned....Mark
C. 2/25/03 - Another reader
writes, I agree that the drivers have to become stars and
household names. When I watch the races I'm cheering for my
favorite drivers, not paint schemes on cars. In fact, it was
interest in the drivers that got me hooked on CART. My husband
is a long-time motorsports fan, and has always watched CART.
While passing by the TV, I happened to see the Target ads with
Jimmy Vasser and Alex Zanardi. Pretty soon, I was asking, "How
are Jimmy and Alex doing this week?" Then, I was sitting there
watching the races and learning about the series, the other
drivers, etc. Now, I am a certified CART fanatic. The
personalities of the drivers hooked me and got me interested
in the sport. Vasser is still my favorite driver, but any
given Sunday will find me rooting for a number of drivers to
do well. I'm looking forward to first victories for Servia,
Jourdain and Tags this year, and the new rookie field includes
several with great promise--both as drivers and personalities.
Which brings us back to making stars of the drivers. I never
understood why Target only showed the Jimmy and Alex ads
during CART races. Maybe showing them during other programming
would have attracted new viewers to CART. Wouldn't that have
benefited both CART and Target, which would have gotten even
more exposure for their sponsorship dollars? Honda had some
great ads featuring CART teams (Remember Gil de Ferran making
FedEx deliveries, or the TKG engineers' groupies?) and they
only showed them during CART races. Let's hope that if CART
attracts more consumer products companies as sponsors, those
sponsors exploit the sponsorship fully by using the drivers
and teams in advertising. And that they run the ads somewhere
besides CART races. Are you listening, Ford? Cathy Stucker
Sugar Land, Texas P.S. My answer to question 5 on the
survey is "Chris Pook has a bigger hammer." Would that count
as correct? Dear Cathy, I have heard people say Chris quietly
carries a screwdriver just in case he's confronted with
someone carrying a hammer. Mark C.2/25/03
- A reader writes, Dear Scott Morris/AR1, Your article on
the survey of CART fans at St. Pete was excellent. I
recently read somewhere that the IRL is focusing solely on
promoting drivers within their series. I agree with your
assessment of CART, make your drivers household names and the
sponsors will follow. CART MUST RETAIN drivers and build a FAN
following, not "event attenders" Evan Pridham
Dear Evan, Yes, Scott's survey pretty much confirmed what we
have suspected for years. Until CART can retain and make
the drivers household names and/or heroes, their event
attendance will be super (they really do have the best venues)
but their TV attendance will be only as good as the IRL, which
suffers from the same problem. SPEED does an excellent
job in their CART TV broadcasts, perhaps the best in the
business. However, because they do not yet reach enough
households, it's killing CART in the sponsorship area and it's
hard to grow driver recognition if enough eyeballs are not
watching week in and week out. SPEED executives are
going to have to recognize this and allow CART to put more
races on network TV in 2004, at least 2/3 of them. Then,
as SPEED households grow, the revised agreement would allow
races to slowly be moved back onto SPEED, say 1 race for each
5 million households added. Performance based agreements are
common today and that is what CART needs from SPEED.
Mark C.
2/26/03
Williams confident of renewed BMW deal
Williams are confident of continuing their Formula One partnership
with BMW after an existing deal expires at the end of 2004, team
principal Frank Williams said on Wednesday. "We had a long meeting
with BMW yesterday on a contract and made a lot of progress. We
believe we'll do a deal, we're hoping to do a deal. We're optimistic,"
he told reporters at the team factory. Asked how long it might take,
he replied: "A month or two. We've got some races in the way now."
"BMW have always been very long-term people," added Williams. "They
may have another option like buy another team or start their own team
but the latter would probably take them two or three years. "They
wouldn't want to come in and go to the back of the field."
2/26/03
Williams has aero problems
Technical director Patrick Head told reporters at the team's factory
near Oxford on Wednesday that the FW25 was currently slower than
expected. "I am of the view that our car isn't performing well
enough," he said. "It's not going as well as we want it to and we
recognize a few handling problems which we don't want to be there. We
can measure a few aerodynamic characteristics which we think are
driving these problems." "I think we've got some work to do but I'm
very confident that the car is a good step forward for us," said Head.
"We are still in the process of exactly understanding the reasons and
it could be as simple as a guide vane deflecting under load which we
might fix overnight. Or it could be much more complex. "I don't think
we're in any sort of trouble like Jaguar at the beginning of last year
but we're not where we want to be and we're working hard on it."
Williams acknowledged that BMW, whose engine is generally considered a
match for Ferrari's on power, were not very happy with the situation.
"But they recognize, especially (motorsport director) Gerhard
(Berger), that what you see in testing is not necessarily what you see
in racing," he said.
2/26/03
A
day of tennis for the Penske boys Marlboro Team Penske
drivers Gil de Ferran and Helio Castroneves, who will be competing in
Sunday's Indy Racing League (IRL) IndyCar Series season-opening Toyota
Indy 300 at Homestead-Miami Speedway, participated in an exhibition
tennis match for the media this afternoon with professional tennis
stars Anna Kournikova and Jan-Michael Gambill at the Tennis Center at
Crandon Park in Key Biscayne, FL. Kournikova and Gambill are in
Florida preparing for next month's NASDAQ-100. The doubles team of
Castroneves and Kournikova dominated partners de Ferran and Gambill
winning four of the five games played.
Photos and More...
2/26/03
Williams and Dennis respond yet
again to Mosley In their letter of reply today,
Frank Williams and Ron Dennis defended their actions and
willingness to go to court in Switzerland to argue over the
Concorde Agreement, the secret document which governs F1. "We
do not want to be drawn into an unseemly public debate," said
Williams and Dennis in their letter to Mosley. "We made our
position entirely clear in our letter to the FIA of 20th
February. We believe that the FIA is in breach of contract, we
disagree with a number of the changes you have imposed and we
are concerned that the FIA Technical Working Group members
have expressed a view that the changes could increase the
safety risk. "In the event that the FIA does not confirm that
they will seek the agreement of all the teams with respect to
the recent changes to the Technical and Sporting Regulations
that they intend to impose by close of business today, we will
commence arbitration proceedings under the Concorde Agreement
which will resolve these issues in a confidential and
dignified manner. "Williams F1 and McLaren are passionately
committed to Formula One, our goal is to ensure that the
future of the sport is stable, well run and professionally
administered. "To that end we remain willing, without
prejudice to our legal position, to have a formal, private
meeting with the FIA at any time to discuss how we can improve
Formula One."
2/26/03
Wednesday test times from
Silverstone
1 R. Firman Jordan 0.42.372 30
Laps
2 M. Webber Jaguar 0.42.395 13 Laps
3 T. Sato BAR 0.42.610 18 Laps
4 A. McNish Renault 0.42.742 128 Laps
5 J. Trulli Renault 0.43.552 25 Laps
6 G. Fisichella Jordan 0.43.951 22 Laps
7 F. Alonso Renault 0.44.477 25 Laps
2/26/03
Wednesday test times from Jerez
1 Michael Schumacher Ferrari
1:25.616 54 laps
2 David Coulthard McLaren 1:26.384 44 laps
3 Kimi Raikkonen McLaren 1:27.010 49 laps
4 Olivier Panis Toyota 1:28.725 25 laps
5 Juan Pablo Montoya Williams 1:29.195 39 laps
2/26/03
Wednesday test times from Imola
1 Marc Gene Williams-BMW 1:22.918
47 laps
2 Jacques Villeneuve BAR-Honda 1:22.943 17 laps
3 Cristiano da Matta Toyota 1:23.127 66 laps
4 Alex Wurz McLaren-Mercedes 1:23.533 28 laps
5 Justin Wilson Minardi-Cosworth 1:23.934 24 laps
6 Jos Verstappen Minardi-Cosworth 1:26.352 12 laps
2/26/03
Gonzalez trial set
- According to this Monterey Herald
article, In September 1999, Uruguayan race car driver
Gonzalo Rodriguez was killed in a spectacular crash at Mazda
Raceway Laguna Seca. Beginning Monday, jurors will decide if
Rodriguez was a casualty of the inherent danger of racing or
the victim of "reckless" conditions at the Monterey race
track. Rodriguez, racing for Team Penske, was entering the
corkscrew in Turn 8 during the practice laps of the Shell 300
Honda Grand Prix of Monterey when he lost control of his
Indy-style car. Traveling between 70 and 80 mph, the car
skidded off the track and hurtled through a gravel trap,
slammed into a wall of tires and then into a concrete barrier.
The car went airborne, flying over the barrier and landing
upside down on a grassy hill. The 27-year-old Rodriguez
suffered massive head and neck injuries and was pronounced
dead at Community Hospital of the Monterey Peninsula. A year
later, Rodriguez's parents filed a $25 million wrongful death
lawsuit against the Sports Car Racing Association of the
Monterey Peninsula (SCRAMP), which operates Laguna Seca, and
Championship Auto Racing Team (CART), which sponsors the Honda
Grand Prix among other races in the CART series. At the heart
of the lawsuit were claims that the track's gravel pit was too
small to slow a car leaving the track and that the barriers
beyond the pit were insufficient to save a driver's life.
Rodriguez's parents, Ruben Rodriguez Saldias and Lillian
Bongol-Rodriguez, accused the defendants of negligence and
reckless disregard for their son's life......The trial, in the
Monterey courtroom of Judge Robert O'Farrell, is expected to
last more than three weeks. Among the witnesses scheduled to
testify are former champion race car driver and Team Penske
owner Roger Penske; Timothy Cindric, president of Penske; and
former champion racer and retired CART chief steward Wally
Dallenbach.
2/26/03
Mario won't watch Michael race
until Indy According to
this Express Times
article, Mario Andretti will be among the missing this
weekend when his son kicks off his final, abbreviated season
as a driver in the IRL IndyCar Series Toyota 300 at
Homestead-Miami Speedway in Florida. Michael Andretti plans to
drive his No. 7 7-Eleven Big Gulp Honda-powered Dallara in the
first four races, then retire -- win, lose or crash -- after
the Indianapolis 500 in May. Mario, a legend of a driver and
the most recognizable name in auto racing history, also said
he would miss Michael's second and third races. Mario said he
would be out of town while the new team gets its feet wet in
the IRL. "I will be at Indianapolis," Mario said, to witness
Michael's final race as a driver. "This week I have a previous
commitment I made to Al Unser to be in L.A. (Los Angeles) to
receive an award at the Paralysis Project of America banquet."
He said he would miss the next two races, in Japan and
Phoenix, because of an evolving business commitment. "It's no
secret how I feel about the IRL," Mario said. "But I support
Michael with all my heart. I'm still his staunchest fan. I
will be there in heart and spirit on Sunday. Believe me, I
will be riding every inch with him." "I have mixed feelings
about Michael retiring," said Mario, who won 18 races and a
CART championship in his 40s. "He's still at the top of his
game. If he retires after Indianapolis, like he says he is, he
will be leaving a lot in the garage. Look what I did in my
40s." Mario said, as a parent, he's glad in a way that Michael
will be out of harms way as a car owner and not as a driver.
"As race fan, I'm really sorry if he goes," Mario said. "He's
one exciting driver. I hate to see him go -- and maybe he
won't if he's in the running for the point championship at
Indy." Only A.J. Foyt and Mario have won more races than
Michael. "He could easily become the all-time leader," Mario
said.
More...
2/26/03
FIA to allow cameras in Drivers
Meeting FIA President Max Mosley said on Tuesday
that he wants to allow television cameras into the drivers'
pre-race meeting, which has until now been a closed-door
gathering. FIA delegate Charlie Whiting talks over any issues
with the drivers. "One of the downsides of stopping the
teams refuelling between qualifying and the race is that they
wouldn't want to go out in the warm-up on Sunday morning,"
Mosley told Reuters. "People have got into the habit of
watching the warm-up so we need to replace it with something.
The idea we are working on at this very moment is replacing it
with the drivers' meeting and allowing the television in there
to cover it." "With the television cameras there, the drivers
could discuss perhaps the incident that happened in the last
race when one of them ran into the other, or something that
happened in practice. There's always something to discuss."
"We feel that this would bring the television viewer more into
personal, intimate contact with the drivers and see them as
they are when they are really talking genuinely and not just
giving an interview."
2/26/03
Advance
purchase tickets for London Trophy race
- Advance purchase tickets for one of the most exciting race
weekends of the British motorsport calendar, the London Champ
Car Trophy, are now on sale. Champ Cars headline a feast of
motor racing entertainment with Touring Cars, Porsche Cup,
Formula Renault, Formula Ford, and Renault Clio’s supporting
the British round of the Champ Car World Series. All this
action, together with karting, a free funfair, children’s
activities and sideshows will take place at Brands Hatch
circuit on Spring bank holiday, 3 – 5 May. The weekend of
entertainment offers great value for money with ticket prices
starting at just £10 for Saturday practice day, £15 for Sunday
qualifying and £40 for race day on Monday when bought in
advance, with all children under 15 being given free entrance.
The Champ Car World Series is renowned in the USA for bringing
fans up close and personal to the stars and personalities of
this international racing series and promise to bring this
unique style to Britain. An all-driver autograph session with
the Champ Car drivers on qualifying day is an added bonus for
spectators and, with paddock pass tickets at only £10, fans
can also tour all the teams’ pit garages and watch the cars
being prepared for the race. The London Champ Car Trophy is a
weekend for all the family to enjoy. It offers motor racing
fans non-stop track action from the turbo charged, 200 mile an
hour Champ Cars and wheel-to-wheel action of the British
Touring Car Championship saloon and production cars, to the
thrills and spills of Formula Ford single-seaters, sporty
Porsche’s and Clio’s. Champ Car racing boasts an illustrious
roster of past drivers including Jacques Villeneuve, Nigel
Mansell and Mario Andretti. Children will have the chance to
experience mini quad bikes, bouncy castle, climbing wall and
many other attractions. The London Champ Car Trophy race
weekend at Brands Hatch circuit will be round 4 of the
Bridgestone presents the Champ Car World Series powered by
Ford. The series races in the USA, Mexico, Australia, Canada
and Europe. Champ Cars are thoroughbred racing cars that reach
speeds in excess of 200 miles per hour, showcasing the
technical expertise of manufacturers such as Ford Motor
Company, Lola Cars, Reynard Motorsport and Bridgestone. The
London Champ Car Trophy booking line is 0870 850 1023. The
event website will be available from March 10 at
www.londonchampcartrophy.com
2/26/03
Bridgestone hits gold with CART
- When Bridgestone Motorsport announced its intention to
become Presenting Sponsor of the Champ Car World Series in
2003, the company promised an aggressive market activation
plan in conjunction with the racing. If the opening event of
Bridgestone Presents The Champ Car World Series Powered by
Ford is any indication, Bridgestone has kept that oath. A
pre-race promotion utilizing nearly 100 independent
Bridgestone tire dealers throughout Florida, under the Morgan
Tire and Auto (MTA) umbrella, generated interest and
enthusiasm in the Grand Prix of St. Petersburg, increased
business at the retail outlets and augmented attendance at
race weekend. "We're very pleased with the overall results of
the entire program," said Al Speyer, Executive Director of
Bridgestone Motorsport. "The cooperation and hard work of
everyone involved at Bridgestone, Morgan Tire and Auto, Dover
Motorsports and Champ Car made this a most successful
endeavor. It was truly a win-win situation." The deal between
MTA and race promoter Dover Motorsports saturated central and
western Florida with pre-race publicity and exposure. Race
fans could visit any of 74 Tires Plus or 20 TireStarz
locations and pick up vouchers to exchange for free admission
to Friday's on-track activities at the Grand Prix of St.
Petersburg. In addition, they could register for a pair of
race-day tickets to be given away in a random drawing at all
94 participating outlets. Colorful banners promoting the
giveaways were displayed at each location. Extensive radio and
newspaper advertising drew notice to the promotion.
Bridgestone supplied its popular show truck, complete with
racing and performance show cars, to numerous participating
locations. Champ Car drivers Bruno Junqueira, Mario Dominguez
and Roberto Moreno made store appearances in the weeks leading
up to the race. Moreno's visit was so popular that the
overflow of fans was parking in a neighboring rival tire
dealer's lot and walking across the street to meet him. Store
employees embraced the promotion as well by competing in a
Bridgestone passenger tire sales incentive contest, with the
top performers earning race-day tickets and pre-race
entertainment in the MTA hospitality tent. There they were
treated to visits from Championship Auto Racing Teams
President and CEO Christopher R. Pook and Champ Car driver
Jimmy Vasser. "This was a tremendous promotion and the proof
is in the results," said Richard Siegel, Vice President of
Marketing for Tires Plus. "On the climactic weekend of the
promotion, the week before the race, we charted a sizable
increase in traffic to our retail outlets, and the Tampa area
locations established a record three-day profit. We could not
be happier with the outcome and with the cooperation from
Champ Car, Dover Motorsports and Bridgestone Motorsport. We're
eager to investigate other race markets where we can activate
a program like this." That is music to the ears of those at
Champ Car. It's the precise type of marketing platform that
President and CEO Pook has been preaching. "We're very happy
that the Champ Car World Series was able to provide such a
successful platform for both Bridgestone and Morgan Tire and
Auto," said Pook. "This is a perfect example of how Champ Car
events like the Grand Prix of St. Petersburg can help activate
local businesses and take promotional opportunities to a new
level." It's also what Bridgestone envisioned when it stepped
up to back the Champ Car World Series more extensively in
2003. "Our primary goals," explained Speyer, "are to showcase
the technological strengths of the Bridgestone race tires and
to increase the exposure of the Bridgestone brand in general.
The MTA program in St. Pete helped us achieve both and we
intend to use it as a model for other regions around the
country." Bridgestone
2/26/03
FIA clarifies new rules
This FIA issued this press
release today clarifying many of the new F1 rules in
place in 2003 starting in Australia. An interesting
read.
2/26/03
Hwy 3 in honor of Earnhardt On
March 3rd, 2003 in front of Dale Earnhardt Incorporated Teresa
Earnhardt will unveil the first official NC Highway 3 sign. A
ceremony will begin at 12:00 with Teresa Earnhardt and other
North Carolina State and local officials attending. Governor
Easley signed the bill this past fall to switch NC Highway 136
to NC Highway 3 in honor of NASCAR Champion Dale Earnhardt.
Highway 3 (Dale Earnhardt Highway) is a 28 mile highway that
runs past Dale Earnhardt Inc headquarters, through Iredell and
Cabarrus counties and Kannapolis, NC, the hometown of
Earnhardt. Dale Earnhardt Inc, is located at
1675 Dale Earnhardt Highway # 3, Mooresville, North Carolina
28115
2/26/03
Audi rejects F1
German newsagency DPA is reporting that Audi chief executive
Martin Winterkorn has confirmed that Audi company has no plans
to enter F1. Winterkorn says that the company which has been
dominant at Le Mans in recent years will spend less on the
sport this year but will up the budgets again in 2004. "We do
not envisage entering Formula 1," he said, noting that the
huge costs involved would not make it worthwhile for the firm.
2/26/03
More on #15 cheating Pandora’s
Box was recently opened in the NASCAR Winston Cup garage when
Rusty Wallace publicly used the C word on the record —
instances of competitors blatantly calling each other cheaters
being as rare as a scone with tea in the garage. In less than
demure fashion, Wallace said, "I don't know why they
[Chevrolets] were so good at Daytona. They had more power and
a little less coefficient of drag. Four or five of them were
cheating really, really hard and didn't get caught. The NASCAR
guys know it, and they're out for them when they get to
Talladega.” There’s no doubt that rumors fueled the subsequent
chatter at Rockingham, N.C. regarding what NASCAR might have
found in post-race inspections on the No. 15 NAPA Chevrolet.
But noise does not make fact. Additionally, Dale Earnhardt
Inc. staff vehemently deny any wrong doing in connection to
any of their Daytona 500 entries. Nonetheless, two aerodynamic
issues quickly became the focus. Firstly, the rear decklid of
Michael Waltrip’s race winning car. DEI’s chief technical
personnel admitted to one garage crew chief that there was a
problem with the decklid of their car and NASCAR levied a
heavy fine on his team. Winston Cup director, John Darby
confirmed to www.teamfordracing.com that there was indeed a
problem with the No. 15 car. However, he specified it was a
non-performance-enhancing item. The problem, as described by
Darby, dealt with one of the lock pins that holds the decklid
closed, which had vibrated loose during the race. The second
issue dealt with alterations to the underside of the car
before it went on display in Daytona USA. Darby said there was
no issue beyond the loose decklid pin. “From our inspection
process during Speedweeks we didn't see anything in pre- or
post-race [inspections] that was a factor.” Darby added the
camera shell removed early in the Speedweeks inspection cycle
by NASCAR, like the decklid pin, had no performance enhancing
properties, and therefore was not subject to penalty. However,
performance enhancing and non-performance enhancing violation
penalties are not always clearly viewed by all parties. When
NASCAR found an illegal spring, which had zero
performance-enhancing effect according to Roush Racing, in
Mark Martin’s car following the Nov. 3, 2002, Rockingham event
the violation brought the team a $5,000 fine and deduction of
25 championship points. “We're always looking and learning to
try to stay up with everything that's going on,” Darby said
regarding the inspection process. “The great thing about that
is that [the] garage is a real valuable tool in helping us
with that.” Any grumbling in the garage calling for Wallace to
receive a point deduction for the illegal carburetor found
after his Gatorade 125 qualifying race was quashed considering
the race was a non-point event. He was penalized a qualifying
position for a qualifying infraction. This spotlight on the
inspection process doesn’t have Darby looking to Talladega
Superspeedway’s event with special considerations. “I won't
say that we're ready for anything, or laying the weeds looking
for something in particular. But every event we run we learn
more and we'll continue to apply whatever procedures we need
to.”
Ford Racing
2/26/03
More CART/F1 Forsythe/Bernie
talk - This TSN.ca
article talks about the rumors circulating of a
possible Bernie Ecclestone buy into CART, or some sort of
closer ties between CART and F1. We do know that Chris
Pook is supposedly heading to Europe this week to meet with
Ecclestone. Mark C.
CART/Octagon playing the London
theme
- UPDATE Click on the Logo to the
right to see the full advertisement being run in the UK for the
upcoming CART/BTCC weekend at Brands Hatch. Note the connection to
London that is being made, which is brilliant as CART establishes
itself as a "Big City" racing series worldwide. Brands Hatch is
on the outskirts of London. 2/21/03 - In this article
we published by Gary Parravani, we suggested that CART play
the big city London theme and they are. Advertising has
started in the UK and they are calling the race the London
Champ Car Trophy.
Brands Hatch is located very near London, the biggest city in the UK
(and one of the biggest in the world). Brands (as it’s
affectionately known) resides just outside the south east quadrant
of the M25 motorway. For those of you that don’t know, the M25 is a
huge circular freeway that surrounds London and approximately 16
million people. In logical terms if you want a huge crowd at a race
it makes sense to race where there is a large population!
Chris Pook is adamant that CART race as close as possible to
big cities. We never heard of any race at Brands
previously tied directly to London, but it makes perfect
sense. Mark C.
2/26/03
Brands
Hatch Improvements
Click on the image to the right to see the changes currently being
done to the Brands Hatch circuit. The Dingle Dell chicane is
being eliminated for the World Superbike race in 2003 and for CART in
2004. The gravel trap outside of Paddock Hill Bend (Turn 1) is
being paved with asphalt and the spectators moved back 10 feet.
The debris fencing all around the circuit is being beefed up. In
order for CART to move to the longer GP Circuit in 2004, Hawthorne
Bend will need to be reconfigured into a chicane with a proper runoff
area created because the Champ Cars would approach that corner
at a very high rate of speed. At some point the pits and paddock
need to be moved to the Pilgrims Drop straight, because there are not
enough garages and the pits are too short for more than 20 cars.
Because Pilgrims Drop is steep downhill followed by a steep rise to
Hawthorne Bend, the pits will need to be raised above the track
surface (pit lane can't have too much elevation change) using a
flatter vertical curve, and a concrete wall is needed between the
track surface and the elevated pit lane. This will be a major
expense, but rumor has it Bernie has his people looking into it.
The good news is that none of the improvements would extend outside
the boundaries of the existing track limits - all changes would be
done within the confines of the existing circuit, making environmental
approvals a bit easier. Yes, trees will need to be cut down, but
that can be mitigated by planting four new trees for everyone cut
down. Mark C.
2/26/03
CART drivers to remain unknowns
On today's CART
teleconference a question was asked by AutoRacing1.com whether
Ford, Bridgestone or Pacificare had any plans to feature CART drivers
in their TV ads, ads that might be shown during CART races, or during
any TV broadcast for that matter. All three companies stated
they had no plans to use CART drivers in their TV ads, instead using
them for local market promotions. While this may help those
companies in the local markets, the couple of hundred people that meet
those drivers pale in comparison to the millions a TV ad can reach.
One needs to look no further than the Target Alex Zanardi/Jimmy Vasser
TV ads that were a big hit and brought those drivers a lot more name
recognition. One can argue that during that time Zanardi was by
far the most recognizable CART driver to the general public.
It's not like it would cost CART sponsors any additional money.
Instead of hiring a spokesperson to do the TV ad, they can probably
hire the driver free of charge (would do wonders for the drivers
career) and produce the same number of TV ads as they were going to
produce anyway. Whether these ads get shown during soap operas,
NASCAR races or even the Super Bowl, it exposes these drivers and
their names to people while they are promoting Ford Cars, Bridgestone
Tires or any other product. If CART grows because their drivers
become household names, the TV ratings go up and the sponsors benefit.
It's a vicious circle that needs to start somewhere. As long as
CART's drivers remain unknown to the general USA population, TV
ratings will remain low. Our informal
survey done at St. Pete
this past weekend supports what we have long suspected, most of the
fans at the "great" events CART puts on have no clue who the drivers
are. This is now elevated to CART's #1 problem. They
Cancelled the Funeral,
now it's time to address the other problems. (Related article -
Do heroes make a sport, or does a
sport make heroes? It's time to engage CART's sponsors)
Mark C.
2/25/03
22 cars in IRL season opener The
IRL finally released the entry list for this weekends season opener in
Homestead. With the last minute addition of Fisher, the list
shows 22 potential starters. 26 cars started last years event.
In a year when the IRL is supposed to be growing and CART dying, 22
starters is a 15% drop from a year ago. Brian Barnhart predicted
over 30 cars for the IRL this year, saying they might have to turn
some away. 22 means he missed by 26%.
2/25/03
Lauda hails rules changes
Niki Lauda has cheered Formula One's rule changes for 2003 (and
beyond) as just what the sport needs. "I think what has been changed
is a big step forward," the Austrian, dismissed as Jaguar team boss
last November, told reporters at a news conference organized by
Germany's RTL television Tuesday. Triple champion Lauda praised in
particular the decision to ban refuelling between the new single-lap
qualifying Saturday and Sunday's race. "I think altogether this is the
best rule change I have ever seen in Formula One because it will make
it more attractive," he said. "We will not have the same boring kind
of races we had in the past and I think this was the biggest problem
to overcome and I think it was a perfect job." "In the past the teams
were thinking about what needed to be changed but they never could
find an agreement," he said. "So finally Max took over in a very
dramatic way and changed a lot of things around. There are more
unknowns now -- how the grid will be coming together. "I was always
complaining about all this computer help to the driver because in the
end there's less effort for the driver to control the car if the
computer does the job," said Lauda. "Last weekend I was together with
(Ferrari's world champion) Michael Schumacher and I discussed it with
him. He basically says that 'If I am a good driver, I will be able to
drive like a computer." "From this point of view, I think it's back to
where it should be, for the man to drive the car and not the
computers." "For starts all you do is push a button. In the old days,
if you screwed up the start at Monte Carlo where you have too much
wheelspin you lost the race." "So from the driver point of view it
will be much more difficult, more exciting and you will see some
differences in race results. "I think this is what a race should be."
2/25/03 Industry News
Chrysler profits plunge
Chrysler's per-vehicle operating profit fell 76 percent in the fourth
quarter of 2002 compared with the third quarter as the company boosted
incentives to fend off General Motors. "There was a big step upward in
marketing costs in the fourth quarter that is completely related to
the extraordinary aggressiveness, especially of General Motors," said
Juergen Schrempp, chairman of DaimlerChrysler, in a conference call
with analysts last week in Germany.
2/25/03
Last minute deal will see Fisher in
season opener Sarah Fisher will drive in the season-opening
Toyota Indy 300 on March 2 after Dreyer & Reinbold Racing secured a
primary sponsor for Fisher’s entry for the event, team officials
announced Feb. 25. WeGotGear, a female-owned business founded in 1999,
will be the primary sponsor of the No. 23 Dallara/Chevrolet/Firestone
driven by Fisher at Homestead-Miami Speedway. WeGotGear offers
corporate premium and promotional products for major clients. “We Got
Gear stepped in to help get the season started,” team co-owner Dennis
Reinbold said. “We’re grateful for their support in making this first
race possible for the No. 23 team.” Additional supporters on Fisher’s
car include Chevrolet, and longtime team sponsors Purex and Aventis
Pharmaceuticals. Talks continue with multiple sponsors for the
long-term support of Fisher’s entry, Reinbold said. The focus remains
on a full-season effort to ensure her participation with the team, he
said.
2/25/03
Female golfer will further erode Indy
500 TV Ratings This Valvoline
article says Annika Sorenstam's decision to be a "driver" in
the Bank of America Colonial, the tradition-steeped PGA Tour event
heretofore made famous by legendary Ben Hogan, is an unfortunate turn
for another icon trying to reconnect with the public's sweet spot —
the Indianapolis 500. The Colonial, like Indy, is scheduled for
Memorial Day weekend. This impending tsunami of Sorenstam publicity
might result in a TV ratings bogey for the already challenged
"Greatest Spectacle in Racing." You can write it down right now: The
Sorenstam Saga — the world's greatest female golfer will become the
first woman to play in a PGA tournament since 1945 — is guaranteed to
exhaust the available media oxygen supply during those seven days.
That will be much to the delight of the CBS and USA networks, whose
cameras will televise Annika's every swing, and to the fret of ABC and
ESPN on-site at Indy. Yet, I am certain, even World News Tonight and
SportsCenter will lovingly devote more minutes to Sorenstam May 19-25
than they will to all 33 starters at Indy combined. This comes
at a crucial moment for the 500, already facing it's most important
running since the IRL-CART showdown in 1996, because of elevated
expectations (cited even by ABC Sports President Howard Katz) caused
by the presence of Honda and Toyota as well as Michael Andretti's
retirement. While it may still claim the title as the world's largest
single-day sports event, there is no question Indy is struggling with
attendance, sponsorship, marketing and TV ratings issues. After years
of not unexpected viewership declines following the League's split
from CART, ABC's numbers went up with the return of Team Penske in
2001, only to experience a troubling drop last May. Fox publicists,
meanwhile, gleefully were making the reporter rounds at the Daytona
500 with statistical currency, which bought a lot of credibility for
their own spotlight attraction. Such as this, in the St. Louis
Post-Dispatch: "The last time Indy beat Daytona in the television
ratings was in 1995, and last year Daytona more than lapped Indy.
According to Nielsen Media Research, Daytona was seen in 10.9 percent
of U.S. homes with a TV set, Indy in 4.8. In the last three years
Daytona has drawn an 81 percent larger audience than Indy. In fact, 16
Winston Cup races beat the Indy 500."
2/25/03
News on Portland Town meeting
A Portland reader writes, Dear AR1, It appears that CART has done a
good job getting the word out to the local sports radio media for the
Portland Town meeting. I listen to Portland's KFXX Sportsradio 910 The
Fan, and every 20 minutes, The Fan is promoting the event in their
"20/20 Sports update" segments. They are traditionally a "stick and
ball" sports station, but they do cover all things CART when they
relate to Portland....Bronson Graff, Portland, OR
2/25/03
Fultz to attempt Cup qualifying Jeff
Fultz might not be a name that race fans instantly recognize, but he's
hoping that will all change at Atlanta Motor Speedway when he attempts
to make his Winston Cup debut in the March 9 Bass Pro Shops MBNA 500.
Fultz will also attempt to make Saturday's ARCA 400, putting even more
pressure on this young driver. Fultz was at Atlanta Motor Speedway on
Tuesday with four NASCAR Winston Cup drivers -- Jamie McMurray, Robby
Gordon, Elliott Sadler and Brett Bodine -- all testing for the March 9
Bass Pro Shops MBNA 500. Bodine set the fast time during Tuesday's
test, posting a lap of 29.56 seconds (187.551 mph). Choosing Atlanta
as the track to make the leap from part-time ARCA RE/MAX and NASCAR
Busch Series driver to NASCAR's most elite series wasn't hard for
Fultz. "I like Atlanta - I like its banking and its fast speeds," said
Fultz. "Although I've never run a race here, I'm comfortable with the
track and it was the only logical place to attempt my first Winston
Cup race." The full-time fabricator and test driver for Jasper
Motorsports is running a limited ARCA RE/MAX Series in 2003 for Jim
Craig Racing. Fultz will attempt to make his Winston Cup debut for CLR
Racing in the No. 57.
2/25/03
Delphi sponsorship extension
for Chicagoland race Chicagoland Speedway and Delphi Corp.
announced an extension Feb. 25 for the title rights to the
Indy Racing League IndyCar Series event that will take place
Sept. 7, 2003, continuing the entitlement of the Delphi Indy
300 through the 2003 season. “Delphi has been a tremendous
partner during our first two seasons and an integral part in
expanding Chicagoland Speedway’s popularity in local and
national markets,” said Matthew Alexander, vice president and
general manager of Chicagoland Speedway. “In the first two
Delphi Indy 300’s, we have crowned the 2001 IRL champion and
seen the closest finish in IRL history in 2002. “We look
forward to continuing our relationship with Delphi in 2003 and
providing more unbelievable IndyCar Series racing at
Chicagoland Speedway.”
2/25/03
Ticket sales going well in
Germany
Marc-Thorsten Lenze, spokesman of EuroSpeedway Lausitz, is
particularly pleased at the fans' response to ticket sales for
the German 500. "Together with CART, we have chosen the right
strategy. Our fan-friendly ticket prices starting at 49.00
euro have met with a very positive response from fans. In
particular, we are finding that people are buying additional
tickets to the ones they bought last year, which are still
valid, for friends and relatives." There are three categories
of tickets, all of which are valid for three days: gold
(149.00 euro), silver (99.00 euro) and bronze (49.00 euro). A
euro = to approx. $1 US dollar
2/25/03
Sponsor for BAM at Vegas dakota
imaging, inc. will sponsor Ken Schrader and the #49 BAM Dodge
team in this week’s UAW-DaimlerChrysler 400 at the 1.5-mile
Las Vegas Motor Speedway. The company is a leading provider of
high-volume transaction processing systems and services. "dakota
imaging was with us as a sponsor some last year, and it’s
great to have them back with us," said Beth Ann Morgenthau,
owner of BAM Racing. "With a nationwide audience on FOX and
over 100,000 people in a sold out Las Vegas track, this should
be another good experience for them, and for us."
2/25/03
Raikkonen tops Silverstone test
times
Place Driver Team Time laps
1. K. Raikkonen McLaren 0.41.728 28
2. J. Trulli Renault 0.42.679 110
3. D. Coulthard McLaren 0.42.883 15
4. A. McNish Renault 0.43.018 154
2/25/03
New Honda engine helps
Villeneuve top test times at Imola "It's a fast car,
but we seem to have lots of mechanical problems at the
moment," Villeneuve told Autosport. "This specification of
engine is a bit less driveable than the original. We'll have a
later specification tomorrow, so we'll have to see how that
is. The car is fast, but if it can't make it to the first
pit-stop then it's no good, is it?" Tuesday's times
1. Jacques Villeneuve BAR-Honda 1:22.86 30 laps
2. Marc Gene Williams-BMW 1:24.43 72 laps
3. Cristiano da Matta Toyota 1:25.85 44 laps
2/25/03
Mosley berates Ron Dennis
In his letter to Ron Dennis, Max Mosley berates Ron Dennis for
not caring about the small teams. "Your main 'proactive'
work in the past twelve months seems to have been to try to
prevent at all costs (including taking Bernie to arbitration)
Minardi receiving money which I and at least two leading
counsel believe is clearly due to them," Mosley said in his
letter. "This was money which would have gone to Prost had he
continued, never to either of you, yet you are apparently
doing your utmost to grab it at Minardi's expense.
Furthermore, Ron's public utterances on Minardi speak for
themselves." Mosley said: "I note you seek credit for the
Mercedes engine offer yet, as Mercedes themselves confirm in
their letter of 14 January 2003, this has only become possible
because of the single engine rule in 2004 - the rule you both
did your utmost to prevent. Incidentally, you describe the
Mercedes engine as "low-cost". At 625,000 Euros (over
£400,000) per race, this gives a whole new meaning to the
phrase. The rumor that Jordan may be having to pay nearly 20
Euros million in 2003 does not make 10 Euros million "low
cost." Full Mosley letter.
2/25/03
Mosley takes swipe at Toyota
spending In this Planet F1
article, Max Mosley indirectly takes a swipe at Toyota
- "We are currently seeing a money-spending contest with one
manufacturer (and it's not Ferrari) employing upwards of 1000
people and virtually unlimited resources in an attempt to win
the FIA Formula 1 World Championship," says Mosley. Toyota
entered the World Sports Car Championship and then swiftly
withdrew without achieving Le Mans success. They have also
made a sudden withdrawal from the World Rally Championship in
recent years as well as CART. Each time they have done this
they have left the series reeling. Whereas Mosley can
see a reason for a top marque like Ferrari staying in F1, he
is not so convinced about the volume car manufacturers'
involvement. And he can do nothing to stop them spending their
money. "There is nothing wrong with that, the rules don't
prohibit it. But we cannot stop that manufacturer stopping
tomorrow if, for example, its shareholders stage a revolt. In
trying to make sure that Formula 1 can continue irrespective
of the number of major manufacturers involved we are not being
hostile, merely realistic."
2/25/03
Did police go easy on Stewart? Ormond
Beach police have started an internal investigation into the
Feb. 9 traffic stop of NASCAR bad boy Tony Stewart. Police are
investigating whether two officers involved in Stewart's early
morning traffic stop let him off too easily because of his
superstar status, Ormond Beach police spokesman Sgt. Mark
Walker said. Stewart, the defending Winston Cup champion, was
pulled over in a yellow Ferrari just before 1 a.m. Feb. 9
after Patrol Officer Anthony Zimmerer saw the car fly past him
on the Granada Bridge, Walker said. Zimmerer said another
passing vehicle prevented his radar from accurately clocking
Stewart's speed, Walker said. Stewart was stopped by patrol
officer Michael Bakaysa. Then he got a warning, rather than a
ticket, from Zimmerer. Stewart's spokesman, Mike Arning, said
Monday he could not confirm or deny reports that Stewart
discussed the traffic stop on a local radio show Feb. 12.
Daytona Beach News Journal
2/25/03
Warner Bros, IMAX team up for
NASCAR According
to this Variety
article, Warner Bros. is teaming up with Imax for the
first time to make a 45-minute documentary about NASCAR auto
racing. "NASCAR: The Imax Experience 3D" started production
recently to coincide with the racing league's Daytona 500.
This year marks the race's 45th anniversary. Warner will
distribute the film exclusively to Imax theaters in spring
2004. The documentary will transport fans directly into the
driver's seat and provide a history of the sport told from the
viewpoint of some of its most prominent drivers.
2/25/03
Toyota F1 investment may never
pay off According
to this Bloomberg Financial
article, Toyota Motor Corp. may not reap rewards from
its hundreds of millions of dollars of investment in Formula
One racing for about a decade -- and then only if it starts
winning, investors and analysts said. Executive Vice President
Akihiko Saito, announcing a second season for Toyota in the
world's most-watched motor sport, said he aims to have drivers
``on the winners' podium'' in 2004. The world's third-largest
automaker earned two championship points and reached the top
10 in nine out of 17 races last year. ``It would take about 10
years for any automaker to have the F-1 strategy pay off,''
said Brendan McMahon, chief executive of FutureBrand Inc., a
unit of Interpublic Group of Cos., the world's largest
advertising agency. If it succeeds, ``Toyota can begin to be
seen as a brand that is about performance, advanced technology
and ultimately, who knows, racing spirit,'' he said. ``It will
take time to see that F-1 is having a positive effect on
Toyota's business,'' said Norihiko Kamada, who helps manage
$1.2 billion in funds for Chuo Mitsui Asset Management Co.,
including Toyota shares ......Formula One investment ``didn't
do a great deal for Honda'' in terms of raising European
market share and luring younger customers, Autopolis' Maxton
said. ``If you want to create a sexy image of aspirational
products, why not create sexy, aspirational products?''
2/25/03
Toyota denies they will join
the GPWC Toyota
are still undecided about whether or not they wish to become
the sixth manufacturer to join the GPWC, the company set up by
Fiat, BMW, DaimlerChrysler, Ford and Renault. However Toyota
boss Ove Anderson has denied the reports in the Sunday Times
that he is joining the GPWC. He insists Toyota is still
considering its options.
2/25/03
Mosley responds to Dennis/Williams
letter FIA President Max Mosley has replied to the recent
letter from Ron Dennis and Frank Williams about the changes to the F1
regulations. Mosley accused the two team bosses of being "unfocused"
in its response to his proposals and does not indicate that the team
bosses agree with some of the changes. "It is impossible to have a
dialogue if the response to a carefully considered set of proposals is
a collection of vague claims and confused criticisms with no
discernible attempt to address the arguments," Mosley wrote, although
he went on to address the various issues raised by the teams. "Even if
the entire FOM income were distributed among the teams, current cost
levels would be unsustainable," Mosley said. He went on to point out
that nothing had changed since the two teams agreed to sign the
Concorde Agreement in 1998. Mosley also challenged the teams to show
how the rules will "dumb down" the sport and suggested that the teams
hire two halls and publicize that one would feature F1 drivers and the
other electronics experts and see the result. He also challenged the
argument that the FIA is being pessimistic. On the issue of the
manufacturers Mosley was outspoken, pointing out that they do not
consistently support the sport but come and go at will. "They are
answerable to their shareholders not to the sport," Mosley wrote.
"They can and will leave the sport whenever it suits them. This is not
a criticism, it is a fact. We must never be so naive as to believe we
can rely on them. The top executive is an employee. He could be out of
the job next week. It would be folly to allow F1 to be at the mercy of
personnel and policy changes in the major manufacturers."
St. Pete looks set for a long future
As long as CART keeps this race the weekend after the Daytona 500, the
St. Pete race looks like it will only get better from here.
Weather-wise, a great place to be racing this time of year. Now
if they can just move the Miami race to November when it is cooler,
CART can bookmark its seasons with warm-weather Florida event.
This St. Pete Times
article pretty much sums up the race weekend for CART.
2/25/03
Haberfeld's moves
A reader writes, Dear AR1, I sure hope no one starts jumping all over
Haberfeld for those two moves he put on Junqueira. Maybe I don't see
it correct, but he only made ONE move (although very early down the
straight, but it was still one move!) That is allowed and made for
great racing! Don't penalize and restrict a guy for making a pass
tough, that is the name of the game and was very exciting. I
distinctly remember Villeneuve doing the same thing to Al Jr down the
front straight at Portland. Al followed him the whole way down the
straight only to cut back to the left at the end to take the best line
and hung Villeneuve out to dry as he had already committed himself to
the inside line. He overshot the corner and Jr. overtook him. It was
great racing and I'd sure hate to see the stewards penalize some
rookie for doing the same. After all, isn't this one of the pluses of
having the rookies in the series? The event was awesome! Access
to the track was easy, park and ride speed was adequate (although
bigger future crowds will need more buses!!), never had to wait for an
open port-a-potty, easy access around the track (although recommend
placing some hay or straw over the area behind the front straight
bleachers- it was all black mud and everyone was jumping over it),
numerous activities for the kids (rockclimbing, X-games type events),
the jumbotron TV's were great (but would recommend placing them higher
and farther back from the front straight to allow better viewing for
everyone), TURN ONE!!!!!!! (almost perfect- paint for runway 6
factored into braking), crowd was pleasant (redneckless) and excited,
the Andretti stand was MARIO only!, any Team Green apparel was on
sale, and most of all, I heard numerous "The IRL Sucks!!!!" It
reminded me of a mini Long Beach GP. This one is here to stay. And I
have to say, I've always been a big proponent of the 1999 era with
900hp traction controlless cars, but damn, this new formula rocks too!
Let's keep it (performance levels in terms of engine, well, maybe
800hp sounds nice) but we have to make the cars shorter and skinnier
to shave some weight! Derek Hughes, Jacksonville, FL.
Dear Derek, you are absolutely correct. A driver is allowed one
move when being passed and he is allowed to use the entire race track.
It was refreshing to see some aggressive driving again. It looked like
a F3000 race out there at times and the fans loved it. If CART
penalizes Mario, we will be surprised, unless he did indeed make more
than one move on a given pass attempt. As for the new formula, yes it
is good and proves beyond any doubt that in 2005 and beyond, CART must
issue a standard ECM to all engine manufacturers to prevent traction
control from being used ever again. As for the weight of the
cars, we would like to see about 100 pounds taken out of the car as
long as it can be done economically. That will make the car
still heavier than a F1 car, so when they use the same engine (a
no-brainer) the F1 cars will still be faster. Mark C.
2/24/03
A lap around Monterrey This
link will take you to a Real Video file of a lap around the
Monterrey, Mexico race track, which is almost ready for the upcoming
CART race. Take note of all the grandstands. Courtesy
of El
Norte
2/24/03
Concerned over Road America2nd UPDATE Dear AR1, I have been
reading the various comments from readers regarding the Road America
track. I hope things work out so that this track can stay on the
schedule. As for the fact that the track is not "close", this might be
a
relative term. I would love to have only a 3 hour drive to see a Champ
Car race. Not a lot of options to see a Champ Car race when you live
in Nebraska (without the expense of flying, that is). Thankfully, we
now have the Denver race (and possibly a Chicago street race) which is
an 8 hour drive. I guess its all in how you look at it. Thanks,
Kevin Kelch Omaha, Nebraska2/23/03 - Dear Ms. Sanders,
After reading your recently published comments on AR1 I find
myself compelled to respond regarding CART’s future at R/A. I
agree with you that the annual pilgrimage to R/A to watch
CART’s best run North America’s premier natural terrain road
coarse is truly one of the jewels in CART’s annual line-up.
But the problems with a Champ Car race at R/A are not of
CART’s making. The problem with R/A is it’s located in the
middle of nowhere! Poor location contributes to paid
attendance that has never seemed to live up to the stature of
the event. It’s seems only hard core CART fans will make the
pilgrimage to the beautiful Kettle Moraine. I think the real
“problem” with R/A, again, besides it location and a lack of
affordable accommodations (camping, while quant when we were
younger, is now defined by my wife as a suite at The American
Club, now much easier to secure since Team Penske went off to
race Crapwagons), is R/A management and the Sheboygan County
Bureau of Tourism (or what ever they call it). R/A management
has not promote/advertised the race nearly enough in Chicago
or Milwaukee to attract a new fan base to a race that is not
supported by enough secondary entertainment to make it a
“packed weekend of family entertainment” worth the almost 3
hour drive and from Chicago. Sheboygan County and Elkhart Lake
have invested little over many years to expand the immediate
infrastructure to support R/A and attract both additional
tourism and race fans, who long ago outgrew their pup tents.
R/A is a great race but I can get a beer and a good brat here
in Chicago! It’s not CART’s fault R/A’s date may need to
replaced with an event located in a major population center.
It’s the realities of the marketplace. Given the choice I’d
rather see a CART race on Chicago’s lake front with weekend
attendance topping 150,000. Let the faithful in Wisconsin come
south for a change. Respectfully, J.N. Anderson, Chicago,
Illinois2/23/03 - A reader writes, Dear AR1,
I am very concerned about the situation that is happening with
Road America and have been following the happenings closely
through your updates. The latest have me very disturbed… Road
America's 2003 CART race is by no means secure. All I can say
is that I have been a staunch supporter of CART for many years
and if this happens - if Road America is removed from the
circuit – I will have lost all faith in CART management. I am
already questioning some of the decisions that are being made
about the future of CART and this will be the last straw.
Something must be done to keep this historic and extraordinary
track (which is loved by fans and drivers alike) a part of the
CART repertoire!! Regards, Jennifer Sandstrom, Palatine, IL
2/24/03
Jordan flies in the Cheap seatsAccording to this
Reuters
article, When Eddie Jordan flew to Barcelona for a recent
Formula One test, he bought a ticket from a budget airline and joined
the queue of ordinary passengers. It is an example that Ferrari
president Luca di Montezemolo and McLaren's Ron Dennis are unlikely to
be following this season. Jordan likes the celebrity lifestyle as much
as any other Formula One bigshot but times have changed and the Irish
entrepreneur is swapping his private jet for less expensive transport.
The anecdote has less to do with Jordan's financial situation,
seemingly stabilized after the loss of title sponsors Deutsche Post
last year, than with the message that the boss wants to send to his
staff. The man who flew his entire team to the Belgian Grand Prix for
one euro each on Ryanair last year has become a fellow traveler in the
cheap seats. Belt-tightening is the order of the day among Formula
One's smaller independent teams as recession bites and sponsorship
money becomes harder to find. Jordan has asked all his employees to
focus on saving money, trying every week to reduce unnecessary
expenditure by doing something just as well for less. "We've been
doing what is prudent to make sure that we're in Formula One for the
long term," he said, two weeks before the start of the season in
Australia on March 9.
2/24/03 Industry News
Lilly, 3M halt drug tests
This Bloomberg
report says, Eli Lilly and Co. and 3M Co. suspended studies of
an experimental drug called resiquimod that the companies were
developing to treat genital herpes. Preliminary data from late-stage
studies of more than 1,000 patients with the sexually transmitted
disease didn't show resiquimod was effective in controlling outbreaks,
Lilly spokeswoman Terra Fox said. Halting the trials will delay any
potential bid for approval of the compound, which the companies had
planned to submit to U.S. regulators in 2004, Fox said. Lilly and 3M
will continue to analyze the drug's effects and may consider new
trials. St. Paul, Minnesota-based 3M, the maker of Scotch tape,
already sells a topical cream called Aldara to treat genital warts.
2/24/03
Rockingham TV ratings increase Fox
earned a 6.3/13 overnight Nielsen rating for its coverage of
yesterday's Subway 400 Winston Cup race at North Carolina Speedway, an
11% increase over last year's 5.7/13, according to the Sports Business
Daily. The race, which saw Dale Jarrett victorious over Kurt Busch
after a late-race battle, was the top sports event on television this
weekend, well ahead of the 5.1/10 that ABC drew for its final-round
coverage of the PGA's Nissan Open. Fox's pre-race coverage drew a
4.2/10 to rank third. Winston Cup
Scene Daily Newsletter
2/24/03
McMurray wins rain-delayed BGN race Jamie
McMurray, driving the #1 Yellow Dodge owned by James Finch, dominated
the rain-delayed Rockingham 200 at North Carolina Speedway on Monday
scoring a 1.908 second win over second place David Green. Green,
driving the car vacated by McMurray after he signed to drive for Chip
Ganassi on the Winston Cup circuit, used a last lap pass to beat Todd
Bodine off the fourth turn on the final lap for the second place
finish. Bodine was third, followed by Randy LaJoie, Jason Keller, Mike
Bliss, Kevin Grubb, Brain Vickers, Johnny Sauter and Kevin Harvick.
“It was so fast,” said McMurray, after winning his third career NBS
race in 37 starts. “We were almost scared to do anything to it because
car was so good.” With McMurray running his own race at the front the
best racing on the track was between veterans Green and Bodine. Bodine
had the spot until Green took it on the final lap. “I made two or
three mistakes there near the end and then I had my hands full holding
(David) back and he got the spot,” said Bodine. “We had a good setup
but sixty laps in the car starting pushing and we just never could fix
it. We stayed close because we had great pit stops and the cautions
fell just right at the end.” Green, basically out of a ride for the
last two seasons, was overjoyed when he got the call to drive the #37
Timberwolf Chevrolet. “I was just happy to hear someone wanted an
experienced driver,” said Green, who humbly agreed it was a
combination of his experience and the determination of the crew that
pushed them to the second place finish. “Our car was loose for most of
the day,” explained Green. “The crew got it right on the last pit stop
but we didn’t need all those cautions.” Coy Gibbs, in the MBNA
Chevrolet, was the highest finishing rookie. Gibbs, a true rookie
making his first start on the demanding asphalt at The Rock, said he
was glad to bring the car home in one piece. “I spent the whole day
trying to keep the car out of the wall,” said Gibbs, who somehow
managed a 14th place finish after starting 26th. “I was really loose
all day and that is not the thing to be here. You shut out as many
distractions as possible and worry about just yourself and your car.
“That’s how you survive.” McMurray pocketed $45,700 for the win and
now leads the point standings 340-315 over Todd Bodine. Kevin Harvick
is third, followed by David Green and Randy LaJoie. Stan Creekmore – NASCAR
Editor
2/24/03
Olive Garden team to use Pirellis Team
Olive Garden Ferrari today announced it has selected Pirelli P Zero
racing tires for its attack on the factory Corvette effort in the
American Le Mans Series GTS championship this year. Olive Garden
President Drew Madsen lauded the selection. “So much of what we do is
inspired by close ties to Italy -- that makes Pirelli a wonderful part
of our team. Together with our co-sponsor Coca-Cola, we welcome
Pirelli to Team Olive Garden Ferrari and we’re thrilled to work with
them. Adding their technical support and expertise to the team’s
resources makes us even more excited about the new compet- itiveness
we expect to achieve in the ALMS GTS Championship this year.”
2/24/03
Doran team to use Michelins Kevin
Doran, head of Doran-Lista Racing, announced today that his team has
entered into a technical partership with Michelin for the 2003
American Le Mans Series, which begins with the Mobil 1 12 Hours of
Sebring at Sebring International Raceway in Sebring, Fla., on March
15. Engineers from Michelin North America, which is based in
Greenville, SC., will provide expertise in tire compound selection to
the team on-site at the different events, and will also provide data
such as tire temperatures, etc. for comparison during practice
sessions and before, during and after the races. “We have known Kevin
Doran for a number of years, dating back to the mid-eighties,” said
Herb Johnson Jr., Michelin’s director of motorsports. “He has been one
of the most successful team managers ever, and he has a tremendous
reputation in sp0fl.s car racing. We’re pleased to be a part of the
Doran-Lista program, We hope that through this partnership we all will
have many trips to the winners’ circle.” “Michelin’s product and
technical support are fantastic,” said Doran, “and I’m looking forward
to working with them this year..” “I’m very pleased to be driving on
Michelins because I think they make one of the best tires in sports
car racing,” said Didier Theys, lead driver for the Lebanon,
Ohio-based team. “I was one of the official Michelin drivers back in
1983 in Formula 3, and at that time I worked with some people who are
still with Michelin today,” Theys noted. “It is a great company. “I
think almost all of our primary competition in ALMS this year will be
on Michelins, so that should make the races even mom competitive,”
Theys added. Go-driver Fredy Lienhard Sr. concurred. “Michelin tires
are great, and this is definitely a plus for our team,” he said
2/24/03
Another Mack to enter IRL ranks Veteran
karting and NASCAR short-track driver Lloyd Mack will make his IRL
Infiniti Pro Series debut with Sam Schmidt Motorsports in the Miami
100 on March 2 at Homestead-Miami Speedway. Mack, 21, is the younger
brother of IRL IndyCar Series driver George Mack, who became the first
African-American driver to compete full time in the IndyCar Series, in
2002. Lloyd Mack will drive the No. 6 Sam Schmidt Motorsports
Dallara/Infiniti/Firestone entry with backing from On-Line Financial
Services and Barstow Orthopedics. Mack will be the first
African-American driver to compete in the Infiniti Pro Series, the
IRL’s official development series. “I’m very excited about it,” Mack
said of his debut. “My goals are to try to get as many top 10’s as
possible and try to get in the top 10 in points at the end of the
year. There’s a lot of competition in the Infiniti Pro Series, and
that’s one of the main reasons I accepted the offer from Mr. Schmidt
to run it. “I think it’s an excellent stepping ground for me to try to
eventually get to the IRL (IndyCar Series).” Mack, who lives in Chino,
Calif., won numerous regional karting championships and more than 100
karting victories between 1991-98. He finished second in the 1998
International Karting Federation Grand Nationals. Mack also finished
in the top five in each of his five starts in the NASCAR Grand
American Modified Series in 2002 and has competed in the NASCAR Super
Late Models division.
2/24/03
CART stock watch
Today's NYSE Trading In MPH
MPH closed at $3.39 Up $0.04 on Volume of 32,100 shares.
$2.74 Bid - $3.70 Ask on close.
Session Low/High $3.30 / $3.49
MPH Value Change Up 1.19%
DOW Jones Down 159.87 or 1.99% on Volume of 1.49 billion
shares.
NASDAQ Down 26.65 or 1.98%
S&P 500 Down 15.59 or 1.84%
Courtesy of C3I.AndersonGroupe - Chicago www.andersongroupe.com
2/24/03
Mishap Mars Subway 400
Pre-Race Show3rd
UPDATE All but one of the four injured parachutists
were treated and released. The other four parachutists landed
safely. Injuries included facial laceration, a back injury and
a broken wrist and ankle. The injured jumpers were: 1) Colonel
Leonard H. Kiser, senior Army National Guard advisor for US
Army Special Operations Command, 2) Sgt. 1st Class Stuart J.
Goodall, a civil affairs team leader with 96th Civil Affairs
Battalion, 3) Major Anthony C. Dill, executive officer for 3rd
Battalion, 3rd Special Forces Group (Airborne), 4) Air Force
Capt. Jesse L. Peterson, detachment commander for Detachment
5, 10th Combat Weather Squadron. 2/23/03 - An investigation into an accident that
injured four members of the eight-man parachute team named the
Black Daggers has been started by the U.S. ARMY Special
Operations Command according to Barbara Ashley, U.S. ARMY
Special Operations Command Center Public Relations.
Identification of the four injured team members is being
withheld until completion of the investigation. That said,
Ashley confirmed the two jumpers transported to Womack Army
Hospital in Fayetteville (NC) are listed in stable condition.
The jumper transported to First Health Moore Regional Medical
Center in Pinehurst (NC) was treated for lacerations but no
update was available on his status. No status was listed for
the jumper airlifted to Carolina’s Medical Center in Charlotte
(NC) however sources said the jumper suffered a back injury.
2/23/03 -
Three of the eight member U.S. ARMY Special Operations Command
Parachute team, The Black Daggers, were transported to local
hospitals for treatment of injuries sustained during a
pre-race show at North Carolina Speedway. A fourth member of
the team was transported to First Health Moore Regional
Medical Center in Pinehurst (NC) for treatment of minor
injuries. One member of the team was airlifted to Carolina’s
Medical Center in Charlotte for further evaluation, while two
members of the team were taken via ground to Womack Army
Hospital in Fayetteville (NC). The remaining four members of
the team were treated and released in the infield care center
at the Speedway. Major Anthony Risi, a member of the team,
stated it was not uncommon for the team to jump in adverse
windy conditions. “The reading on the ground was 15 knots, “
said Risi, “But, the thing we didn’t know was the speed at
which the winds were bouncing off the buildings and stands.
There was just no way to tell.” Before being secluded by ISC
officials Risi appeared to be telling his men that there was
really no reason for concern for the health of their comrades
with the exception of the one airlifted to Charlotte for
further observation. 2/23/03 - Swirling
winds inside of North Carolina Speedway forced several members
of the US Army Special Ops parachutists team off course during
a pre-race show before the start of the Subway 400. One member
of the team landed near the gas pumps, inside the garage,
while another landed between and iron fence and the front of
the #8 Budweiser hauler. A third member of the team landed
amid service trailers parked in the infield. It was reported
that at least two members of the team were transported to a
local hospital. – More to Follow Stan Creekmore – NASCAR
Editor
2/24/03
IRL beefs up sales and
marketing departments According to this Indy
Star
article, The Indy Racing League went on a hiring spree
in the off-season, hoping the extra hands can raise its
profile and its profits. IRL hired help in sales, public
relations and marketing, increasing those staffs to 25 from
16. The racing circuit, which started in 1996 with five
employees and a lot of help from the Indianapolis Motor
Speedway, now has 52 employees, all dedicated exclusively to
the league. "The last couple of years, we've tried to make the
league a free-standing entity," said Fred Nation, executive
vice president of communications for Hulman & Co., parent of
IRL and the Speedway. The goal is to make the IRL, which still
continues its rivalry with Championship Auto Racing Teams,
into the slick, well-marketed and well-followed sport that
professional basketball and NASCAR have become. "NASCAR has
done a superb job of marketing stock car racing," said Ken
Ungar, the IRL's senior vice president of business affairs.
"What we're interested in is looking at the best practices in
all sports." But the IRL must climb some big hills if it wants
to reach NASCAR's heights. Attendance lags at nearly every IRL
event except the June race at the Texas Motor Speedway and the
Indianapolis 500. Even the 500 hasn't returned to its pre-IRL
form, when qualifications and Carburetion Day drew large
crowds. And while NASCAR is the king of sport sponsorships,
some IRL drivers struggle to land such deals. Sarah Fisher,
one of the league's most popular drivers, is still without a
sponsor this year. So was former Indianapolis 500 winner Buddy
Lazier until late last week, the IRL said. That's why the
first step in IRL's ambitious marketing plan is to improve
attendance at all 16 races. To do it, the league wants to make
each race a big event. That means pumping up the pre-race
fireworks and entertainment. It also involves The Fan
Experience, a mobile entertainment and ticket-selling
promotion designed to drum up interest before each race. The
Fan Experience lets visitors race interactively, try their
hand in a pit-stop competition, buy IRL merchandise and listen
to live music......The IRL also hired John Griffin, a
seven-year NASCAR employee, to run its public relations
department, and Tom Savage to put IRL and its drivers in the
media beyond the sports pages. Griffin said. Activation is
lingo for connecting the racing team and driver to the
products. Earnhardt cutouts in the beer aisle are a prime
example.....IRL's marketing department plans to do more
teaching and helping companies to activate their sponsorships,
Griffin said, as well as preparing ready-made materials for
teams to pitch themselves to potential sponsors. Is IRL doing
all this to steal fans from CART? Not at all, Ungar insists,
even though the leagues have fought over drivers and teams for
seven years....."Really, they're pursuing a different market
and a different sports fan," Ungar said of CART. "The real
target is the casual sports fan, not fans of CART or NASCAR."
2/24/03
Lazier & Hemelgarn hookup again Hemelgarn
Racing and Buddy Lazier, the most enduring team-driver
partnership in Indy Racing League history, will compete in all
16 IRL IndyCar Series events this year, team owner Ron
Hemelgarn said. Hemelgarn and Lazier have teamed up to start
in 70 of the 71 races in IndyCar Series history since 1996.
They have combined to win a record-tying eight races,
including the 1996 Indianapolis 500, and the 2000 IndyCar
Series championship. Lazier has recorded 25 top-five finishes
and 39-top 10 finishes during his career, both series records.
Lazier, 35, from Vail, Colo., will drive the No. 91 Hemelgarn
Racing Dallara/Chevrolet/Firestone starting at the
season-opening Toyota Indy 300 on March 2 at Homestead-Miami
Speedway. The team is working feverishly to put the finishing
touches on its new car. Delta Faucet and Life Fitness remain
as associate sponsors. “Even without testing, I think we can
definitely be a contender in Miami,” Lazier said. “I know the
track and more importantly, I am confident in the ability of
my team. I think we’ll shock everybody and finish strong.”
Said Hemelgarn: “I realize we’re starting the 2003 season
later than we’d like, but I feel my team and driver have
always responded well to pressure. Our team is building a new
car as we speak. When we arrive in Miami we will spend all
practice sessions working on race setups. “If our history of
adversity repeats itself, we’re in good shape. In 1996, we
were unable to test for the Indy 500 because Buddy lay in the
hospital with a broken back. The results – we won!”
2/24/03
Kruse to sponsor Kelley Racing Kelley
Racing announced today hat Kruse International will serve as
an associate sponsor on the No. 31 and the No. 8 entries for
the 2003 IndyCar Series season. Tom Kelley, owner of Kelley
Racing, was pleased to welcome Kruse International to the
team. “I’ve had a long association with Kruse International,”
Kelley said. “Their auctions and museum facilities have always
been first-class and we’re pleased that Kruse International is
going to align its collectible auction properties with Kelley
Racing.” Kruse International, headquartered in Auburn, In., is
the world’s largest collector car auction firm with 52 years
of experience, selling more vintage and collector cars than
all other auction firms combined. Kruse International first
became involved with Kelley Racing as a partner in 2002 on the
No. 78 Kruse Special that Tony Renna piloted in the last four
races of the Indy Racing League season.
2/24/03 Industry News
General Motors responds to Bill
Gates
At a Computer Expo (COMDEX) show in Las Vegas, Bill Gates
reportedly compared the computer industry with the auto
industry and stated, "If GM had kept up with technology like
the computer industry has, we would all be driving $25.00 cars
that got 1,000 miles to the gallon". In response to Bill's
comments, General Motors issued a press release stating: If GM
had developed technology like Microsoft, we would all be
driving cars with the following characteristics
1. For no reason whatsoever, your car would crash twice a day.
2. Every time they repainted the lines in the road, you would
have to buy a new car.
3. Occasionally your car would die on the freeway for no
reason. You would have to pull over to the side of the road,
close all of the windows,
shut off the car, restart it, and reopen the windows before
you could continue. For some reason you would simply accept
this.
4. Occasionally, executing a maneuver such as a left turn
would cause your car to shut down and refuse to restart, in
which case you would have to
reinstall the engine.
5. Macintosh would make a car that was powered by the sun, was
reliable, five times as fast and twice as easy to drive - but
would run on only five percent of the roads.
6. The oil, water temperature, and alternator warning lights
would all be replaced by a single "This Car Has Performed An
Illegal Operation" warning light.
7. The airbag system would ask "Are you sure?" before
deploying.
8. Occasionally, for no reason whatsoever, your car would lock
you out and refuse to let you in until you simultaneously
lifted the door handle, turned the key and grabbed hold of the
radio antenna.
9. Every time a new car was introduced car buyers would have
to learn how to drive all over again because none of the
controls would operate in the same manner as the old car.
10.You'd have to press the "Start" button to turn the engine
off.
2/24/03
How the local media gets behind a Champ
Car race
This
link from the St. Petersburg Times shows how a local newspaper
gets behind a ChampCar race. Click on START YOUR ENGINE for a virtual
tour of the track. Other nice features include panoramic views with
"CLOSER LOOK" and some introductory lessons on "A PIT STOP."
Hogan joins Jaguar RacingJaguar Racing
today announces a new Sporting Director with the appointment of John
Hogan (59). In addition to his role as Sporting Director, John will
also assume all marketing and acquisitions responsibilities in the
role of Commercial Director. John joins the team with immediate
effect. Story
2/24/03
Mansell might become a CART team owner
In this short Autosport
interview from yesterday at St. Pete, Nigel Mansell says he
might consider becoming a CART team owner. And in this
interview, Emerson Fittipaldi says now is the perfect time
become a team owner. Speaking of becoming a team owner, Eddie Irvine
was quoted as saying he wanted to start a CART team when he retired
from driving. Well, he's retired. Wonder if anyone from
CART has contacted him about this yet.
2/24/03
European CART coverage
As an update on the Eurosport situation, the European viewers ended up
with the whole race covered (as live) 1 hour after the race finished..
bad news is that it was supposed to start an hour earlier (so anyone
that set their VCRS would have missed it ) good news is they were
gonna show 45 mins of highlights, but instead showed he whole race..
good enough for me!!! Although I’m in England I was watching European
Eurosport not British Eurosport, so I don’t know about the BE
coverage. Damn, those new champ cars are great to watch, though! And
the St. Pete circuit puts some of the other street circuits to shame!
Gary Parravani, England
2/24/03
CART fan speaks positive about St. Pete
Dear AR1, I just got back from the Grand Prix of ST. PETE and I have
to say this, this race was a first class operation, whether it be the
track, the action or the fan hospitality. I was at Belle Isle
inaugural race and this one definitely out staged any first time race
in memory. The city of ST. Pete should also be applauded, throughout
the weekend I saw the mayor shaking people's hands and thanking them
for coming. The lines in the Paddock during the autograph session was
impressive especially since they were mostly waiting on Rookies whom
aren't very recognized. You can sense people were excited about CART
and there was no mention of the Andretti's the Ganassi's and so on. In
fact, the most impressive part for me was Sebastian Bourdais, this kid
was fast, faster and fastest and with any luck he would have dominated
the race had his team not made a boneheaded move and no pit him under
the yellow. It was very difficult to see him put a tire off the racing
line and while listening to his radio contact toward the second half
of the race, he was driving behind his teammate (Junqueira) who was
battling another driver for 3rd place and Bourdais 6 laps down, I can
hear his engineer telling him "calm down Sebastien the two ahead of
you are battling for position, don't ruin their race" and he was
replying "well, they're not fast enough they need to move it". This
was music to my ears, this kid is aggressive and good, reminded me of
a young Montoya. Montoya replaced a Champion in Zanardi who went to F1
and out raced his veteran teammate (Vasser). This kid gives me the
same itching feeling. I don't want to make too much of it, but I
thought I would bring it to your attention, maybe an article comparing
Montoya and Bourdais' careers. Lets not forget that he wasn't fazed by
Tracy on his tail during every restart. I was sure Tracy would make
the kid nervous but he wasn't shaking that's impressive enough for me.
Lastly, this was an awesome show and I loved it, hope you guys did
too. Sincerely, Ray Jaber Dear Ray, your letter is pretty
typical of the ones we have been receiving. CART hit a home run with
this one. Mark C.
2/24/03
CART take notice - two thumbs
up for St. Pete
Almost to a man, the CART drivers now think St. Petersburg is
the best temporary street from a racing standpoint, on the
entire schedule. CART would be wise to improve some of
its other Mickey Mouse street circuits if that type of circuit
is going to become its mainstay. St. Pete had it all -
it was wide, fast, smooth and it had a good combination of
fast, medium and slow corners. Tracks like Denver and
Miami, while in good markets, leave a lot to be desired in
terms of racing and passing. The difficulty with street
circuits are the constraints one has with closing streets and
disrupting traffic. CART is either going to have to work
harder at mitigating those situations, move the track to a
better part of the city, or, if the city doesn't want to
cooperate, move to another city altogether. If fans want
to watch a good parade, they can go to NY City and watch the
Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade. When a town has a real
parade, don't they close down major streets? You bet
they do. Mark C.
2/24/03
New rules put the driving back
in CART
It is clear from watching the CART season opener at St.
Petersburg, that the new CART regulations are doing what was
intended. Without traction control, the cars are getting
sideways in the corners, and we saw lots of 4-wheel drifts.
Wheel spin was also something the drivers had to manage.
Paul Tracy stated, "It was tough. I mean, the tires definitely
you really had to manage, you know, your tires. No traction
control, the engine, how much power it has, off that hairpin
it was easy to come off that corner and light the things off,
wheels spinning all the way out of the corner. You really have
to pay attention. That middle stint, when I was behind
Monteiro, I was really trying hard to get by him. I kept
spinning the tires off the corner. The last couple laps of
that stint I was really having a hard time because I wore my
rear tires out." The driving is back in CART.
Racing is supposed to be about driving ability of the athlete
behind the wheel, and that is what you need to be fast in CART
now. This has contributed to a bigger gap from the front
to back of a CART grid, much more than in recent years.
Traction Control and 100% throttle racing (IRL) take all the
skill out of driving and make the gap from top to bottom
small. That's because there is little driving skill
needed. CART's traction control computers used to manage
wheel spin and 100% throttle racing cars are so glued to the
track with huge amounts of downforce, just about anyone can
drive them - HP wins races in that case. F3000 and CART
are now the best bad-ass racing going right now.
Racing's not supposed to be a circus, nor a "show," it's
supposed to be about the athlete - "Real Racing, Real Sport."
Mark C.
AutoRacing1 is an independent internet online publication and is not affiliated with, sponsored by, or endorsed by CART Inc., NASCAR, FIA, FedEx, Winston, or any other series sponsor. This material may not be published, broadcast, or redistributed without permission. User agreement & disclaimer
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