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Pook claims no vendetta against
Tracy
This Autosport.com
article says, Champ Car President and CEO Chris Pook
says that he has no vendetta against championship leader Paul
Tracy and that reports in the Canadian media of an altercation
between the two last week in the Cleveland pit lane were
inaccurate. Pook told representatives from the Forsythe team
that he was unhappy that Tracy wore shorts to a PR function at
Cleveland's Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. The CART boss
approached Tracy following preliminary qualifying the
following day at Cleveland last weekend to express his
displeasure, and he was later admonished by executives from
team sponsor Players cigarettes about the public nature of his
action. "It's gotten completely blown out of proportion," Pook
said Saturday in Toronto. "(Paul) blew up for 30 seconds or a
minute and that was it. It was a one-way conversation. The
problem is (the media) didn't see it. They speculated, they
were fed some information and it got blown into a full-blown
controversy. They talked about pushing and shoving and all
kinds of crap, but that's total fiction. It's totally in their
imagination." Tracy, who has emerged as the Champ Car series
biggest star, has been shadowed by controversy throughout his
13-year career. That 'bad boy' image was exactly what Player's
and Forsythe were looking for when they signed the 34-year old
to a multi-year contract. "Paul is a colorful character, and
he's also an extremely good racing driver," Pook noted. "Like
a lot of colorful athletes, from time to time they step across
the line pertaining to the rules of conduct that are expected
of them by their sanctioning body. It's not unlike a wayward
kid. "In the opinion of the CEO, he stepped across the line,
so he got admonished," Pook added. "It's beyond me how it got
to that magnitude, but maybe people were fanning the flames."
7/12/03
Big meetings for CART this week
A reader writes, Dear AutoRacing1.com, Thanks for all
the insight into CART and its potential buyout. I read all the
rumors about Bernie, Forsythe, Kalkhoven and Gentilozzi.
When is it going to happen and is it real? Mario
Lambazzi, St. Louis Dear Mario, A CART Board meeting
and a shareholder meeting will be held Thursday in Indy.
We hear it's possible that a deal may be put before the board
at that time. If it is, and if they vote to accept it,
it can then be announced at the shareholders meeting.
However, the vote by the shareholders must be properly
announced, materials mailed out and a formal vote taken per
the SEC rules. 51% of the outstanding shares owned by
the shareholders must vote to approve the deal. If
approved, all the shares are bought back from the shareholders
at the offer price. Taking a public company private is
very complicated and many times results in lawsuits.
Chris Pook appears very confident that the deal will happen
and be approved. Though he won't comment publicly, he
appears outwardly happier than ever. Some people may
criticize Pook for burning through a lot of CART's cash in the
bank, but if he does land Bernie Ecclestone, and there are
those who still say Bernie won't do it and that it's all smoke
and mirrors, he will have accomplished what he was hired to
do, to save CART and leave it in good hands. We don't
expect Bernie to take a visible role initially. As we
understand it, his contract in F1 with Kirch includes a
non-compete clause, meaning he can't work for a competing
series and still work for F1. However, CART is not being
sold as a competing series to F1, but a complementary series.
However, so as not to raise their ire, we suspect, he will
remain behind the scenes with CART until the new F1 deal is
completed and Kirch (really the banks now) relinquishes
ownership either back to Bernie, or to the F1 manufacturers
who want a bigger slice of the pie. Mark C.
7/12/03 IROC
NASCAR boys make IRL and dirt
track drivers silly again
Glutton for punishment, there is no other way to
describe it. The IRL drivers continue to accept
invitations to compete in the NASCAR, er.....we mean IROC, series,
and they continue to get there heads handed to them on a
platter. The series so heavily favors NASCAR drivers
these days, and the NASCAR drivers stick together, meaning the
open wheel boys don't have a chance and it just makes the IRL
drivers look inferior, and if anything, can't be helping their
careers. When are they going to start running 50% of
these races in IROC "open wheel" cars? Today at Chicagoland,
the NASCAR boys finished 1 thru 7 with the five open wheel IRL
and dirt track drivers 8 thru 12th, i.e. last. Mike
Bliss, the 2002 NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series champion, won
the event, scoring his first career IROC victory. NASCAR
Winston Cup standout Kurt Busch leads the points standings
57-49 over Bliss. Hornish is in eighth place with 26 points
while Giaffone/Sharp are in 10th with 15 points. Castroneves
is in 12th with 13 points. Castroneves will start on the pole
for the True Value IROC season finale Aug. 2 at the
Indianapolis Motor Speedway as part of the Brickyard 400
weekend.
Results from Chicagoland
1) Mike Bliss, No. 4 Violet, 67
laps
2) Ryan Newman, No. 10 White, 67, -3.252sec
3) Kurt Busch, No. 1 Lime, 67
4) Kevin Harvick, No. 7 Gold, 67
5) Mark Martin, No. 2 Rose, 67
6) Greg Biffle, No. 3 Dark Blue, 67
7) Jimmie Johnson, No. 6 Powder Blue, 67
8) Sam Hornish, No. 6 Medium Blue, 67
9) Scott Sharp, No. 11 Red, 67
10) Danny Lasoski, No. 8 Orange, 67
11) Helio Castroneves, No. 12 Green, 39, vibration
12) Steve Kinser, No. 9 Cream, 38, engine
7/12/03
Prodrive improves driver lineup
Care Racing Development is going all out for
Championship honors in the 2003 American Le Mans Series with
its Prodrive Ferrari team and, with this aim in mind, has
signed up two of international sportscar racing’s best known
names in order to supplement its driver line up. David Brabham
of Australia and Dane Jan Magnussen will be donning the
scarlet of Ferrari to race alongside GTS class Le Mans winning
duo Tomas Enge of the Czech Republic and Peter Kox of the
Netherlands. Care Racing founder and instigator of the
Prodrive Ferrari program, Frédéric Dor, explained the decision
to revise the driver line up at this stage of the season: “It
has become clear to me over the last year that, thanks to
Prodrive, we have an exceptional racing car with the potential
to win many races and Championships. The success of our
Ferrari 550 Maranellos being campaigned in Europe by BMS
Scuderia Italia has been fantastic, and Veloqx Prodrive
Racing’s GTS win at Le Mans overcame many people’s doubts
about the reliability of the car and, for me, was a dream come
true. When we returned to the American Le Mans Series, it
also became clear that the level of competition had risen
again and we need to match that progression in order to be
able to truly compete and to win. We know that Tomas and Peter
are a great team, well established with the car and each
other, and we wanted to be able to give them an equal
partnership in the other car to try to win the Championship. Danica and Jerome both performed extremely well at Road
Atlanta, given that they had had little time with the car and
the track beforehand, but the advantage that David and Jan
have is that they know each track very well and – as we know –
can compete together at the highest level. We do not want to
lose contact with any of our drivers so Care Racing is
therefore planning to run a third Ferrari 550 for Danica, who
fitted in with the team so well and who brought so much to us.
This will happen as soon as a car is available to ship to the
US and the necessary arrangements can be made. In the meantime
Jerome will be racing for Care Racing in the Spa 24 Hours, the
same weekend as Sears Point.”
7/12/03
Maia grabs pole in Toronto
Barber Dodge Pro
Series Championship points leader Leo Maia extended his lead
by one point today with his pole-winning time of 1:11.720
seconds on the 1.755 mile temporary street circuit in Toronto
during final qualifying for Sunday's race. Maia will line up
next to Friday's provisional pole winner David Martinez of
Monterrey, Mexico. Dan Di Leo of nearby Markham, Ontario,
Canada, came up just .019 seconds short in his bid for the
pole, and will start the race from the third position next to
Memo Rojas. Antoine Bessette and Nelson Philippe comprise the
third row, with Colin Fleming and Chris Green lining up in the
fourth row. Burt Frisselle and German Quiroga will take the
green flag from ninth and tenth positions respectively. The
pole is Maia's fifth of the season, and moves him one point
closer to his ultimate goal-the Barber Dodge Pro Series
Championship. After scoring fourth on the provisional grid in
Friday's wet qualifying, Maia stepped up in the dry session to
secure the pole.
Pos/#/Driver Hometown/Fastest
Lap/MPH
1/6/Leonardo Maia/Oakland, Calif./01:11.720/88.093
2/47/David Martinez L./Monterrey, Mexico/01:12.366/87.306
3/19/Dan Di Leo/Markham, Ontario, Canada/01:11.739/88.069
4/15/Memo Rojas/Mexico City, Mexico/01:11.853/87.930
5/16/Antoine Bessette/St. Bruno, Quebec/01:12.107/87.620
6/26/Nelson Philippe/Valence, France/01:12.324/87.357
7/28/Colin Fleming/North Hills, Calif./01:12.479/87.170
8/96/Chris Green/Beaconsfield, Quebec/01:12.524/87.116
9/24/Burt Frisselle/Kihei, Hawaii/01:12.586/87.042
10/33/German Quiroga/Mexico City, Mexico/01:12.679/86.930
11/67/Scott Poirier/Deerfield Beach, Florida/01:12.705/86.899
12/23/Ward Imrie/Winnipeg, Manitoba/01:12.897/86.670
13/49/Luis Pelayo/Mexico City, Mexico/01:13.145/86.376
14/31/Al Unser/Corrales, New Mexico 01:13.153/86.367
15/34/Mike Richardson/Kelowna, B.C., Canada/01:14.633/84.654
16/88/Greg Long/Markham, Ontario, Canada/01:15.250/83.960
Track Length: 1.755
Qualifying Record: 01:11.554 (88.297 mph)
Rafael Sperafico July 2002
7/12/03
RuSport to step up to Champ
Cars or IRLUPDATE We spoke to Carl
Russo today about his future plans. Carl is a very
astute businessman and team owner who knows clearly where he's
going and how he wants to get there. "There are multiple ways
to go racing. You can be a participant, a competitor, a
threat to win, a winner, a champion, and ultimately a
dominator. Clearly when you are a dominator, it's time
to move up to the next level. We are not quite there yet
in Toyota Atlantic, though certainly we have proven to be
winners. We will have a meeting after
Toronto and we will decide whether we are ready to do a
partial year in either the IRL or in CART in 2004. We
are not ready to compete full time in either series yet. We are
committed to another year full time in Toyota Atlantics for
2004 and if we do a partial year in 2004 in IRL or CART we
will decide which races at some point in the future." As
for sponsorship, Russo isn't concerned. "As with any
business, first you must capitalize it, then produce and then
sell. Once we are producing (wins) we will be in a
position to sell sponsorship," said Russo. As for the
bright yellow cars, "we went through a lot of trouble to get
the yellow just right. We have every intention of
keeping our cars yellow with black decals, just like the
Jordan team in F1. The high contrast (black on yellow)
is good and we will do our best to convince any sponsor to work with
those colors." It should be noted that the Williams F1
team has exactly this philosophy with their blue on white
color scheme. Another prominent team in Toyota Atlantics told
AR1 they are quite impressed with what RuSport has
accomplished in their first year. We mentioned that to
Russo who said those compliments certainly are appreciated.
One thing is clear with Russo, he places a lot of emphasis on
engineering staff, both on the car and back office or trailer
office staff, who work on getting the car optimized for each
circuit. Walking into their transporter's engineering
office, it appeared better equipped than many Champ Car teams.
This team is going places, and going fast (no pun intended).
As to which series Russo will take his team to, that largely
depends on what happens to CART in the next several weeks.
If CART is looking good for next year under new ownership,
look for RuSport to move to Champ Cars. If CART were to go out
of business then IRL will be their next move. Mark C. 7/5/03 - RuSport Toyota Atlantic team owner Carl Russo in the past has
stated his goal was to advance to a senior open wheel circuit
- either CART or the IRL - in one to three years. Russo told
the Cleveland Plain Dealer newspaper yesterday this season's
success has shaved that third year off the timeline. He said
he is committed to Toyota-Atlantic next year, but might also
test the waters on a limited basis in CART or IRL. Russo also
is committed to developing American, or at least North
American, drivers because "there aren't a lot of American
drivers competing in what is an American series," he said.
7/12/03
Teddy Yip passes away
AR1 has learned that former F1 team owner Teddy Yip passed
away on July 10th. Our condolences to his family.
7/12/03
CART implements no blocking
move
Unbeknownst to most, AR1 has learned that CART has
implemented a no-blocking rule since Milwaukee. That
means a driver can't make any move whatsoever to defend from
being passed. He must stay on the racing line. If
he makes a move to block, even one move, he will be asked to
do a drive-thru penalty or be asked to fall back behind the
guy trying to pass. This rule applies to all of CART's
racing divisions. Mark C.
7/12/03
Stoddart withdraws Silverstone
threat This TSN.ca
article says, Minardi boss Paul Stoddart has cancelled
his threat to protest the results of the upcoming British
Grand Prix after a compromise was reached with other team
owners. Stoddart says his threat to drop traction control from
his cars as well as his opposition to the 2003 rules is "all
gone". The British Grand Prix was supposed to be the race
where traction control and other driver aids were to be banned
under rules passed by FIA at the start of the year. However, a
gentleman's agreement was reached with the governing body
which would allow the electronic aids to continue until the
end of the year. At the Canadian Grand Prix, Stoddart
announced he was withdrawing his support of that agreement
because the richest F1 teams had failed to come through on a
promised 'fighting fund' to help the independent teams.
Stoddart says since his threat, progress has been made in the
area of the fund and while he would not get specific, some
reports indicate Minardi has been guaranteed $8-million to see
out the remainder of the season. The Aussie added he did not
want any controversy to threaten the championship race, which
sees four drivers separated by just 17 points.
7/12/03
Mosley also proposes Sunday
qualifying On the heels of Patrick Head proposing
this, FIA president Max Mosley reiterated the idea of Sunday
qualifying for F1.. "There's a lot of talk at the moment
about the possibility of having the qualifying for the grid on
Sunday morning," Mosley told Radio Five Live Formula One. "The
idea would be to have exactly the same principle qualifying in
the middle of the Sunday morning. On the Saturday you would
have the qualifying on empty tanks, on the basis that that
determines the order you come out for the Sunday qualifying. That would
mean that somebody who went to the race on Sunday would really
get a very full day's entertainment. If we had Friday as a
proper test day then the need for a separate test team would
disappear, at which point the costs for a Formula One team
would come down dramatically." Even if this proposal does not
happen, Mosley said he is happy with the way the new
regulations implemented this season have helped to level the
playing field and turn both Championship races into true
battles. At present the top four drivers in fight for the 2003
title are separated by 17 points, while the Constructors'
table has Ferrari a mere three points ahead of Williams with
McLaren a further 15 points back. "It's worked out probably
better than we could have hoped but it's not entirely the new
procedures," the FIA President said. "There's also been a
leveling up at a technical level, and that's put pressure on
Ferrari that wasn't there last year. All in all, it's looking
like a very exciting end to the season, particularly because
Williams have suddenly come good."
7/12/03
Barcelona Day 4, new McLaren
shows speed Day 4
at Barcelona (Friday) saw the new McLaren MP4-18A top the
timesheets in Barcelona. Alex Wurz posted a fast
1:17.611 during the morning session as eight teams battled it
out. The impressive lap time was not only the quickest
of the final day but also of the week. After weeks of
frustration with the new car, and many delays, this is exactly
the result McLaren would have sought.
1 Alex Wurz McLaren-Mercedes M
1m17.611s* 59
2 Luca Badoer Ferrari B 1m18.324s 109
3 Ralf Schumacher Williams-BMW M 1m18.414s 77
4 David Coulthard McLaren-Mercedes M 1m18.694s 129
5 Allan McNish Renault M 1m18.749s 87
6 Olivier Panis Toyota M 1m18.891s 83
7 Kimi Raikkonen McLaren-Mercedes M 1m18.973s* 28
8 Jacques Villeneuve BAR-Honda B 1m19.013s 70
9 Marc Gene Williams-BMW M 1m19.422s 72
10 Takuma Sato BAR-Honda B 1m19.747s 70
10 Antonio Pizzonia Jaguar M 1m19.892s 92
11 Anthony Davidson BAR-Honda B 1m20.463s 96
12 Neel Jani Sauber-Petronas B 1m21.757s 49
7/11/03
British government agrees to
support racingUPDATE
According to this Guardian
article, There will be no direct government subsidy to
help with the finances of the British Grand Prix, despite the
creation yesterday of a £16m fund designed to help sustain and
develop the UK motor sport industry. The announcement,
coming only a week before this year's race at Silverstone, has
renewed the focus on facilities at the British circuit which
have been consistently criticized over the past few months by
Bernie Ecclestone, the formula one commercial rights holder.
Max Mosley, the FIA president, praised the government
initiative announced by the trade and industry secretary
Patricia Hewitt. "The endorsement of motor sport by the UK
government is a welcome example to other countries," he said.
"I feel sure that the industry will now produce some
innovative proposals. "It is good that the government
has got behind an industry with 3,000 small businesses. It
creates a positive atmosphere which benefits every aspect of
the sport, including formula one." The DTI values motor
sport's contribution to the UK economy at about £5bn, with the
industry employing about 40,000 people. Mosley, however,
would not be drawn on the subject of uprating Silverstone, but
an FIA insider took another pot shot at the track by
describing its owner, the British Racing Drivers' Club, as
"landlords letting out a slum property at five-star prices".
7/11/03 - The British Government has agreed to
create a $24m fund to help sustain and develop the UK
motorsports industry. The money will be used to implement
recommendations made by the Motorsport Competitiveness Panel,
which was set up to look at ways of strengthening the
industry. "In a fiercely competitive market we cannot
afford to be complacent," said Trade and Industry Secretary
Patricia Hewitt. "The industry's high tech, high value, high
skills base is exactly where the future of British
manufacturing lies. It is crucial that this industry, which
produces some of the most cutting edge products in the world,
has the backing to innovate and move forward with confidence.
I am particularly keen to back the industry because the
powerful brand of Motorsport can excite people to pursue
careers in high skilled industries such as engineering and
electronics." The FIA responded to the announcement by saying
that "this endorsement of motorsport by the UK government is
a welcome example to other countries. I feel sure that the
industry will now produce some innovative proposals. I believe
the Secretary of State, Patricia Hewitt, should be
congratulated on this initiative."
7/11/03
NASCAR mandates larger hood
bolts
NASCAR on Friday issued a technical bulletin to Winston
Cup teams stating that hood tethers must be attached to the
hood plates using a minimum of 5/16 in. diameter hex head
bolts with heavy duty, large diameter washers and lock nuts.
The provision comes in response to an incident in the late
stages of last Saturday's Pepsi 400 in Daytona, in which the
bolt holding the tether to Robby Gordon's hood failed. The
hood subsequently flew off the car and into the stands,
injuring a female fan. NASCAR spent the week analyzing the
data and information from the incident and determined a
minimum bolt size was necessary to prevent similar instances
in the future.
7/11/03
Martinez
takes provisional pole in Toronto
David Martinez
(photo right by Mark Cipolloni) of Monterrey, Mexico, took the
pole position in first-round qualifying for Sunday's Barber
Dodge Pro Series race in Toronto with a lap of 1:26.900
seconds on the 1.755-mile temporary street circuit. Colin
Fleming of North Hills, California, secured second place on
the provisional grid with a time that was just .049 seconds
slower than Martinez, as Dan Di Leo of Markham, Ontario took
third position with his best lap time of 1:27.257 seconds.
Championship points leader Leo Maia secured fourth on the
provisional grid, with Nelson Philippe fifth, followed by Memo
Rojas and Burt Frisselle. German Quiroga, who finished a
career-best third in the last round, qualified his Gigante
machine in eighth, with Antoine Bessette and Scott Poirier
rounding out the top ten. The half-hour qualifying session
followed a brief thunderstorm which doused the track as the
field was equipped with the Michelin SX rain tire to cope with
the precipitation. The session ran under green conditions
until the twenty-sixth minute, when the red flag was brought
out to end the session after Greg Long, of Markham, Ontario,
spun and suffered car damage. The provisional pole position is
the second of the season for David Martinez, who is now
guaranteed a front-row starting position in Sunday's race.
Pos/#/Driver Hometown/Fastest
Lap/MPH
1/47/David Martinez L./Monterrey, Mexico/01:26.900/72.704
2/28/Colin Fleming/North Hills, Calif./01:26.949/72.663
3/19/Dan Di Leo/Markham, Ontario, Canada/01:27.257/72.407
4/6/Leonardo Maia/Oakland, Calif./01:27.351/72.329
5/26/Nelson Philippe/Valence, France/01:27.943/71.842
6/15/Memo Rojas/Mexico City, Mexico/01:27.948/71.838
7/24/Burt Frisselle/Kihei, Hawaii/01:28.536/71.361
8/33/German Quiroga/Mexico City, Mexico/01:28.876/71.088
9/16/Antoine Bessette/St. Bruno, Quebec/01:28.923/71.050
10/67/Scott Poirier/Deerfield Beach, Florida/01:29.179/70.846
11/23/Ward Imrie/Winnipeg, Manitoba 01:29.266/70.777
12/96/Chris Green/Beaconsfield, Quebec/01:29.320/70.734
13/49/Luis Pelayo/Mexico City, Mexico/01:29.793/70.362
14/31/Al Unser/Corrales, New Mexico/01:30.347/69.930
15/34/Mike Richardson/Kelowna, B.C., Canada/01:30.479/69.828
16/88/Greg Long/Markham, Ontario, Canada/01:33.624/67.483
Track Length: 1.755
Qualifying Record: 01:11.554 (88.297 mph)
7/11/03
NASCAR leads weekend overnight TV
ratings2nd UPDATE The
final ratings are in for CART and the IRL. CART had a 1.1
(tape delayed) with a 3 share and the IRL had a 1.2 (Live)
with the same 3 share. 7/9/03 - We hear that
the Pepsi 400 got a big boost in TV ratings via the small
markets and the final was a 6.0 rating/13 share, up from a 5.2 last
year. A 15% increase in one year is phenomenal as the
NASCAR steamroller keeps chugging along. It was the 10th highest
rated TV show of any type for the week. 7/7/03 -
NASCAR Preview Show NBC 1.5/4 share
Live
"NBC NASCAR": Pepsi 400 NBC 5.1/10 share Live
"NBC NASCAR": Post-race NBC 3.8/7 share Live
IRL: Kansas Indy 300 ABC 1.4/4 share Live
CART: Grand Prix of Cleveland CBS 1.2/3 share Tape Delayed
7/11/03
Junior leads popular driver
balloting Dale Earnhardt Jr. continues to lead
the Grands! Biscuits National Motorsports Press Association (NMPA)
NASCAR Most Popular Driver Award balloting as total votes hit
more than 1.3 million. To thank fans for their enthusiasm,
Grands! Biscuits will award one fan $1,000 and a trip to see
the coveted award presented during NASCAR’s annual awards
banquet weekend in New York City. NASCAR fans nationwide are
casting ballots for the award through
www.mostpopulardriver.com. Fans can vote once each day.
Now through September 1, 2003, at 11:59 a.m. CST, people also
can enter the Winner’s Circle Sweepstakes for a chance at the
grand prize trip to New York City. Official sweepstakes rules
are available on the Web site. "The response from the fans has
been tremendous, and that’s great. The fans are what this
award is all about," said Kenny Bruce, president of the
National Motorsports Press Association, which administers the
award. "Outside of the NASCAR Winston Cup championship itself,
drivers have always wanted to win this award. Because of the
fans’ input, especially in numbers like these, it makes the
Grands! Biscuits NMPA NASCAR Most Popular Driver Award an even
greater honor for these drivers," Bruce added.
7/11/03
Allmendinger takes provisional in Toronto
A.J.
Allmendinger beat his teammate Aaron Justus by 1/2 second to
take the provisional pole for this weekend's Toyota Atlantic
race in Toronto. Allmendinger turned a lap of 1:05.447
to a 1:05.943 for Justus. No one else broke into the
1:05 bracket. Canadian Michael Valiante was third, Ryan
Dalziel 4th and Jonathan Macri 5th. Full
Story
7/11/03
Heavy rain hits Toronto
UPDATE
The cars are on the track now with rain tires and the sun is
out. 7/11/03 - The second practice for Champ cars
never got started because heavy rains are passing through and
there is standing water on the track. There are clear
skies off in the horizon, and it's hoped that the qualifying
session this afternoon will be dry.. Mark C.
7/11/03
Jeff Gordon - no unnecessary
moves
Four-time champion Jeff Gordon sits third in the point
standings, 203 behind leader Matt Kenseth. But don't expect
him to make a risky move just to add Chicagoland to his
resume. "When you're racing for a championship, you have to
pick and choose when you're going to be risky and when you're
not. At Sears Point, I could've taken some risks to make a
move on Robby Gordon and possibly win. I tried to weigh the
risk versus gain and I didn't think it was worth it because I
could have lost second place. We're not in a position where we
can conserve, so we have to push and try to get top fives and
wins. Since we've won at Kansas and it's so similar to Chicago,
I know we can win here. I'd like to get that notch on our
belt."
7/11/03
Heavy rain hits Toronto
UPDATE
The cars are on the track now with rain tires and the sun is
out. 7/11/03 - The second practice for Champ cars
never got started because heavy rains are passing through and
there is standing water on the track. There are clear
skies off in the horizon, and it's hoped that the qualifying
session this afternoon will be dry.. Mark C.
7/11/03
Allmendinger leads early
practice in Toronto
A.J.
Allmendinger topped the speed charts yet again with a fast lap
of 1:12.008, 87.740 MPH around the temporary street
circuit in Toronto. Canadian driver Michael Valiante was 2nd
fast just 0.008 seconds back. Valiante was followed by
Hand, Dalziel, Justus, Macri and Sellers. Figge, Diaz and
Krisiloff rounded out the top-10 for most of the session,
while Patrick moved up into 9th fastest time as the clock ran
out. The session had two brief red flags, both caused by
Garcia. Mark C.
7/11/03
Early report from Toronto
The track is
damp from overnight showers, but the Champ Cars are on the
track and it is dry now for the majority of the lap.
Skies are overcast but brightening and the temperature is a
comfortable 70 degrees. Mark C.
7/11/03
Can CART be bought and killed?
A reader writes,
Dear AR1, You published an article recently that said if
someone such as Tony George wanted to buy CART and then kill
it off in an "unfriendly" takeover bid, it could happen unless
the shareholders voted to accept a "friendly" bid, perhaps at
a lower price. I am worried. Could this really
happen? Tina Lopez, Houston, TX Dear Tina,
Anyone, even Tony George, can come in at the last minute and
make a bid to buy CART for say, $5 per share, instead of, say,
$3 per share. The CART board would pretty much be forced
to recommend the higher bid to the CART shareholders.
However, as we understand it now, there are at least 51% of
the shareholder votes that will be cast to take the bid that
is best suited to ensure CART's long-term success. So
yes, someone can try an unfriendly bid, but they risk losing
and walking away with a tarnished reputation. If the
rumors can be believed that Bernie Ecclestone is indeed going
to be an owner of CART, we expect many teams, drivers,
sponsors, race promoters and manufacturers are going to be
falling over each other trying to get involved in the "new"
CART. It will be the most exciting thing that will have
happened to open wheel racing in North America in the past
decade, and will, hopefully, get it back on the right track
after years of getting beat up by NASCAR. NASCAR will
continue to be the premier form of oval track racing in the
USA, and the new CART series will solidify its position as the
premier form of road racing in North America. The IRL
will lead the charge as the best oval track open wheel racing
in the USA. Each will have a clear niche and hopefully
everyone can stay in the niche and grow with it as best they can.
One would hope we can get past all the politics that have hurt
open wheel racing in the USA for so many years, and focus on
the drivers, the teams and the racing. Mark C.
7/11/03
CART safety team to be
highlighted on NASCAR broadcast
According to the Indy Star, NBC has received permission from
CART to send broadcaster Wally Dallenbach Jr. and a camera
crew to Toronto this weekend for a report on CART's medical
and safety teams. NBC plans to air the report before its
coverage of the July 27 NASCAR race at Pocono (Pa.) Raceway,
site of two fiery crashes in the June 8 race there.
Dallenbach's father is the former CART chief steward.
CART is recognized to have the best emergency medical staff in
the world of motorsports.
7/11/03
Future of Player's team in
question According to a
story on TSN.ca, "Now without Player's being there and
pretty much without a company that is able to support Canadian
drivers, I don't see motorsports being very green in the
future," said Tagliani, who now races for Rocketsports. "I
think it's going to be tough and I'm quite sad to see a
company that did so much in Canada going away like this."
Forsythe says no other company has stepped forward to buy
Imperial's share of the racing team, leaving its future in
some doubt. It's possible that both Tracy and Carpentier could
be driving a blank, white livery for the final three races of
the 2003 season. "We'll race, that's for sure," said
Bexon. "If we have to race white, we'll race white. Maybe
we'll do some nostalgic stuff on our cars, a little
retrospective." "I don't know what the future holds for
Gerry Forsythe's team," said Tracy. "I know I have a contract
with him. What our sponsorship is going to be in the future I
have no idea. More than likely it will lose its Canadian
content." "I don't feel good about it because I've
driven my whole career for tobacco companies. It's going to
hurt motorsports in the short term for probably the next five
to 10 years." [Editor's Note, our conversations
with
Forsythe lead us to believe he is very confident another
sponsor will be found. One rumor is that Labatts Beer
will step up. Labatts has a long history in motorsports
with both Gilles and Jacques Villeneuve.]
7/11/03
Beginning to warm up to Grand Prix
A reader writes, Dear AR1, I'm beginning to buy into the American
Grand Prix Series name.
"What kind of cars are they?"
"They are Grand Prix cars, of course."
"Grand Prix cars? What are they like again?"
"Like Formula 1"
"Aren't Grand Prix cars like Indycars?"
"No, they are like Formula 1 cars, the pinnacle of motorsports. You
know, like Ferrari and Michael Schumacher. Indycars only run on the
ovals at Indianapolis and are much slower and heavier." (you know,
like crapwagons) I can see identity all over that. But
even more importantly and a constant irritation for myself, all the races
that have the "Indy" name in their title, a la this week's Molson INDY
Toronto, will be able to easily replace "Indy" with "Grand Prix" with
a minimal amount of confusion with the public that these are the same
cars..........The Molson Grand Prix Toronto. My only dilemma
with the American Grand Prix Series is the part "American." If this
series is going to run in Europe, Australia, and the Far East, I can
foresee this as becoming a problem. In Europe, many sports over there
(i.e....Soccer) and fans hold or establish strong nationalistic views
towards their teams. Coming in and advertising this as "American"
racing may turn people off. If I was German, or French for that
matter, and I was talking to my French buddy, I would feel some
uneasiness if I told him "American" Grand Prix racing was my favorite
type of racing. F 1 or ChampCar doesn't identify with any type of
nation. Thus, if it is going to just be "American" Grand Prix racing,
then it should probably just stay in the Americas, a la the Western
Hemisphere. Yet, what would be the ultimate would be along
the lines of something I read on this site a long time ago. Let's just
say the American Grand Prix Series is strictly a Western Hemisphere
series, and F1 is solely an Eastern Hemisphere series. Each series is
only 15 races or so. They take the top 9 drivers from each series and
have a 4 race playoff (at yearly alternating tracks) to determine the
true world champion, a la the NFL. You could go even further and have
them qualify for the first race to determine a starting grid. Then the
starting grid is inverted for each following race based on the
finishing order of the previous race. Since it is only a 4 race
"race-off," this would allow anyone who has a mechanical failure the
opportunity to stay in the running for all 4 races by starting at the
top of the grid for the following race. Imagine Montoya or Schumacher
winning the first race while Tracy blew up trying to catch them. In
the following race, Montoya or Schumacher would start at the back and
would have to try to run down Tracy who is starting on the pole! Think
of the marketing implications of that, especially for the TV rights
and the tracks that get to host those final 4 races! NASCAR??
What is that again? Never mind the Injured Retirement League, who will
go out of existence the moment they are dropped from the NASCAR ticket
package. Hummmmm, if Bernie rumors are to be believed, this could
actually happen!!! Food for thought. Derek Hughes, Florida
Bridgestone to use softest tire in
Toronto Quote from Al Speyer, Executive Director,
Bridgestone Motorsport: "With this the first street-course event for
the Champ Cars in three months, it's reassuring for the drivers to
know they'll have a familiar, reliable tire carrying them this
weekend. This particular tire spec has shown itself to be extremely
competitive while at the same time not creating an overabundance of
tire debris - better known as 'marbles' - that can hinder street
racing. It's a fine tightrope Bridgestone walks as official supplier,
to develop tires that possess the grip Champ Car drivers crave to
generate top speeds and negotiate the twisting turns on a street
circuit, while at the same time not depositing too many marbles off
the racing line. This weekend we'll use the 'softest' tire of any in
the current Potenza Champ Car line. We think it strikes a solid
balance that meets both objectives."
7/10/03 USAC
Walt Johnson dies
Walt Johnson, former AAA and USAC midget owner and long time USAC
official took the final checkered this morning at 5:45. He evidently
fell and hit his head, went into a coma and died from injuries
sustained. He fielded cars for some of the greats including Bullet Joe
Garson who won a AAA race at the Fresno Airport Speedway in April of
1955. Walt had so many friends in racing and was friends with some of
the greatest names in our sport. As an official he was known by the
competitors as a helpful friend who was always in the pits rounding up
drivers and cars for "The next race". He will be missed greatly by USAC; the races will not be the same
without him. Walt and his wife , Pat, were a fixture at the
Western States races for as long as one can remember and our
thoughts and prayers are with her and her son Walt Jr.
Dennis Johansen
7/10/03
Barrichello fast in Barcelona
Wednesday
Driver Team T Laps Time Gap
1. Barrichello Ferrari B 102 1:17.830 135.942 mph
2. Gene WilliamsF1 M 125 1:18.022 0.192
3. R Schumacher WilliamsF1 M 95 1:18.414 0.584
4. Firman Jordan B 61 1:18.426 0.596
5. Panis Toyota M 83 1:18.672 0.842
6. Raikkonen McLaren M 110 1:18.726 0.896
7. Webber Jaguar M 105 1:18.788 0.958
8. Sato BAR B 47 1:19.340 1.510
9. Heidfeld Sauber B 102 1:19.489 1.659
10. Button BAR B 92 1:19.528 1.698
11. McNish Renault M 98 1:19.867 2.037
12. Villeneuve BAR B 100 1:20.028 2.198
13. Coulthard McLaren M 45 1:20.078 2.248
14. Wurz McLaren M 7 1:28.486 10.656
7/10/03
The dark side and bright side
of NASCAR's
popularity
Chad Knaus, crew chief for Jimmie Johnson, hits the nail on the
head when it comes to explaining NASCAR's popularity. In this
Chicago Tribune
article, he was asked, "How do you account for
racing's increased interest and attendance throughout the
country?" Chad said, "One reason is because fans can relate to
this sport and its personalities. You have roughly 43 drivers
in this sport who appeal to a wide range of people. When fans
relate, they tune in to the races or come to the races to pull
for these guys. Drivers are around for a long time and with
the same teams and sponsors for a long time, so you keep your
current fan base. My second thought is that racing is a family
sport." The dark side to NASCAR's popularity (more and more TV
commercials) is explained in this other Chicago Tribune
article by Ed Hinton.
7/10/03
Jordan
lands Piaggio Jordan has concluded an agreement with
Piaggio which makes the UK’s scooter market leader the
Official Scooter Supplier to the Jordan Ford team for the 2003
season. As part of the agreement, secured by Jordan’s
licensing agency Copyright Promotions Licensing Group, Piaggio
will produce a special edition Piaggio NRG MC3 sport scooter
for Jordan and 400 special edition Jordan NRG scooters will be
made available in July from Piaggio dealerships across the UK.
The power and performance of the NRG, not to mention the
racing elements featured in its design, make it a perfect
match for the high profile and colorful Jordan team, and
their drivers, the Italian superstar Giancarlo Fisichella and
British newcomer Ralph Firman. Commenting on the agreement,
Mike Hall-Taylor, Head of Jordan Brand Ltd., said, “The racing
heritage of the Piaggio owned Gilera brand and unrivalled
performance of Piaggio scooters creates an ideal platform for
both Jordan and Piaggio to complement our respective business
activities. We look forward to developing the relationship and
a successful launch of the limited edition Jordan/Piaggio NRG
scooter.”
7/10/03
CART management changeUPDATE It was announced that CART
Marketing Vice President Steve Fusek has resigned from the
company, effective on Monday, CART Vice President of
Communications Adam Saal confirmed to AR1 yesterday. David
Clare, Chief Operating Officer of the sanction and promotion
organization, would be heading marketing for the company on an
interim basis. Fusek, 41, was hired by CART on January 7,
2002, as Vice President of Marketing. The Marketing Department
in CART now includes three directors and a total Marketing
staff of 13. 7/8/03 - You will hear of some CART management changes that took place this
week, but out of respect for the individuals involved, we await a
CART press release.
7/10/03
Pollock calls for standing
starts This Toronto Sun
article says, Given the chance to design a new CART,
Craig Pollock said the first thing he would do is change the
name. "Maybe the American Grand Prix Series or the Formula
America Series," he said. Pollock would incorporate some of
the more successful F-1 formats, such as a standing start and
one-lap qualifying. "Racing is emotion and nothing says
emotion like the standing start in F-1," he said.
[Editor's Note, Amen!]. He has more to say in this
National Post
article.
7/10/03
Imrie to make CART Barber Dodge
Pro debut Race driver Ward Imrie of Winnipeg,
Manitoba, will make his professional racing debut this weekend
at the Molson Indy Toronto. He will compete in the Barber
Dodge Pro race on Sunday. This weekend’s race will mark a new
peak for the highly touted twenty-year-old. A kart racer from
age eight, Imrie has been making his mark in cars the past few
seasons and has his sights set on a professional career. With
funding won last year in the Barber Formula Dodge National
Championship and some sponsorship from Jan Kelly Marketing and
Russ Bond Agency, Imrie is set for the biggest race of his
career. “This is a huge event and I’m very excited to be part
of it,” said Imrie who is in Toronto preparing for the
weekend. “This city is race-crazy right now and you can feel
everything building up for the weekend. To say I’m looking
forward to this race is an understatement. I’ve dreamed of
something like this and I’m not really sure how it will feel
when I go out on that circuit with grandstands full of people
watching. It will be amazing.” Although Imrie will face a
talented crop of drivers who have already raced six times this
year, he expects to hold his own come race day. He performed
very well at a series test session a few weeks ago and has
targeted a top-five finish this weekend. Russ Bond is working
hard for Imrie behind the scenes. His company, the
newly-formed Russ Bond Agency is seeking sponsorship for Imrie
with the intent of taking the talented racer to a top-level
professional series. “We are very proud to have Ward as our
first driver to compete in a professional series race,” said
Bond. “We expect big things from him in the coming years and,
hopefully, we will be able to announce a full 2004 program for
him soon.”
7/10/03
Kanaan leads Nashville testing
IRL IndyCar Series points leader Tony Kanaan recorded
the fastest lap July 9 during the Open Test at Nashville
Superspeedway, leading a pack of four drivers faster than 205
mph. Kanaan’s top lap was 22.7789 seconds, 205.452 mph in the
No. 11 Team 7-Eleven Dallara/Honda/Firestone. Drivers tested
under the lights on the 1.33-mile concrete oval in preparation
for the Firestone Indy 200 on July 19 at Nashville. Fifteen
drivers turned a total of 2,000 laps during the incident-free
test. The event was interrupted for nearly 90 minutes due to
rain. “We had a pretty good car right out of the box,” Kanaan
said. “We’re pleased with what we have. The track is fun.
Concrete is different to drive than asphalt, but I’m pretty
pleased.” Two-time Indianapolis 500 winner Helio Castroneves
was second fastest at 22.8042, 205.225 in the No. 3 Marlboro
Team Penske Dallara/Toyota/Firestone. “We started with a
qualifying setup”, Castroneves said. “We were working very
hard to find a setup for a concrete surface, which is always
very difficult. It seems to be good, obviously.” Bryan Herta,
winner of the Kansas Indy 300 on July 6, was third at 22.8146,
205.132 in the No. 27 Archipelago/Motorola
Dallara/Honda/Firestone. “We made good progress,” Herta said.
“I would say that we’re not 100 percent happy yet, but we’ve
got a lot better idea what we need for the race car when we
come back. It gives us a little bit of a head start for next
weekend.” Scott Dixon was the fourth driver past the 205-mph
mark, turning a top lap of 22.8605, 205.010 in the No. 9
Target Chip Ganassi Racing Panoz G Force/Toyota/Firestone.
Rookie Dan Wheldon rounded out the top five at 22.8564,
204.757 in the No. 26 Klein Tools/Jim Beam
Dallara/Honda/Firestone, as Andretti Green Racing put its
three drivers in the top five on the speed chart.
7/10/03 Industry News
Too funny
- Man shoots his truck A Florida man shot his truck
Wednesday morning while trying to fend off a tow truck driver
that had come to repossess the vehicle, police said. The
incident began shortly before 9 a.m. when the tow truck pulled
up outside a home on the 7300 block of Branch Street in
Hollywood, Florida to repossess a late model silver Toyota
truck, police said. The owner of the vehicle exited his house
with a pistol in hand and fired several shots at the tow
truck. One hit the right side of his own truck, Lt. Tony Rode,
police spokesman, said. The tow truck driver sped off. No one
was injured. The gunman fled in a car after the shooting.
Later in the afternoon, Rode said Brian Wagner, 39, turned
himself into police shortly before 2 p.m. in the case. Police
were interviewing him. Charges are pending in the case, Rode
said.
7/10/03 Industry News
Bridgestone/Firestone trucks to
carry new look Bridgestone/Firestone North American
Tire, LLC (BFNT) unveiled its newest marketing initiative – a
clean, crisp montage of images representative of the
Bridgestone and Firestone brands emblazoned on the trailers of
more than 200 of the company’s 18-wheel commercial trucks that
travel the United States. The Bridgestone brand is represented
on one side of the trailer montage and the Firestone brand on
the other. Each side of the truck’s cab also bears a
representative image of a tire tread imprint specific to
either the Bridgestone or Firestone brand. The “traveling
billboards” feature a cross section of tires from the
Bridgestone- and Firestone-branded family of products.
Represented on the Bridgestone-branded side of the trailer are
pictures of the brand’s ultra-high performance passenger,
motorcycle, commercial truck and racing tires representing the
brand’s fitments on an Enzo Ferrari motorcycle, 18-wheeler
and a stylized Grand Prix racecar, respectively.
7/10/03
More on what Pollock thinks
about CART This Toronto Star
article says, Craig Pollock doesn't necessarily want
to see a country run by a dictator. But the former principal
of Formula One's British American Racing and current co-owner
of CART's PK Racing feels a dictatorship works in professional
sports. And a dictator, he thinks, is the one person who might
be able to salvage the decaying CART series and make it work
[Editor's note, the new CART will be run like NASCAR, the IRL
and F1 - like a dictatorship]. "If everything has to be run
through a board of directors, the team beside you has passed
you," said the school teacher turned racing magnate, who is in
Toronto to oversee his team in Sunday's Molson Indy. "You're
fighting for the same sponsor as any of the other open-wheeled
or NASCAR series and sometimes even in other sports. By the
time you go to a board (for approval) the other guy's gotten
him." The one person who is synonymous with sports and
dictatorship is Bernie Ecclestone, who runs Formula One with
an iron fist. Ecclestone's name has been linked to a possible
purchase of CART, even before the series put itself up for
sale last month. But Pollock said Ecclestone denied to him
that he was interested in buying the series, at least not by
himself [Editor's note, that is correct, Bernie will not buy
CART by himself]. Pollock said that while Ecclestone is
"definitely the right dictator for F1," at almost 73 years of
age, his energy level might be too tapped to run two series
[Editor's note, Bernie has gone on record that he has no plans
on retiring and loves racing too much to ever walk away].
Gerald Forsythe, who is co-owner of CART's Player's/Forsythe
team; Kevin Kalkhoven, Pollock's partner in CART's PK Racing;
Ecclestone and a combination of all three parties have been
reported to be interested in acquiring the series [Editor's
Note, yes CART will be bought by more than one party]. CART
began this season with a "war chest" of $120 million (U.S.)
but will be left with less than half that amount after the
season because it is running six races and supporting a number
of teams that have been unable to find full sponsorship
funding. Pollock said his personal opinion is that CART should
be privatized and needs re-capitalization in the "hundred of
millions of dollars" to remain viable. "You've got to get
enough money in there to keep the series going at a
professional level," he said, adding he does not agree with
CART's current strategy on using a single engine manufacturer,
a single tire maker and two chassis builders. He feels the
series should be open to competing manufacturers to bring in
sponsorship dollars [Editor's note, that is exactly what will
happen for 2005, and in fact, we may see some movement in that
area for 2004].
7/10/03
Manning impressing peers on and
off the track This AP
article talks about CART rookie Darren Manning and the
impression he is making in the CART paddock with his
aggressive driving and charming personality.
Darren Manning had just finished the final forkful of dinner
when a group of young fans nervously approached the British
driver inside his team's hospitality tent. "Can we take our
picture with you?" asked a giggling teenage girl. "Of course,"
said Manning, who sprang from his chair, wrapped his arm
around her shoulder and flashed one of his podium-finish
smiles. "Go on, take as many as you'd like." If CART handed
out a Mr. Congeniality Award, the rookie with Walker Racing
would be this season's runaway winner. The 28-year-old Manning
isn't your typical first-year driver, though. His poise and
charisma have won over open-wheel racing fans and his
fine-tuned driving skills have earned him the respect of
competitors. "I like him," said series points leader Paul
Tracy. "He's very fast and has already had some really good
results. And, he's got, what? Personality?" Yeah, by the
truckload. Watching Manning interact with fans last weekend at
the Cleveland Grand Prix, it's easy to see why he's so
likable. During an autograph session for fans, Manning had
time for everyone. One minute, he was sharing a laugh. The
next, he was giving one. "He's just a great guy," said Melissa
Kliethermes, Walker's public relations director, who sometimes
has to pry Manning away from his fans. "I call him Chatty
Cathy." Manning's easygoing nature and boyish charm have
served him well during a 15-year career that began on go-cart
tracks in England, swerved through Formula One test tracks
across Europe, briefly pit stopped in Japan and has parked --
for now -- in CART.
7/10/03
Bridgestone denies rumors it will quit
F1 Bridgestone have angrily denied suggestions they plan to
pull out of F1 at the end of 2004. There has been some
speculation that Bridgestone might be tempted to quit the sport in 18
months’ time but they have moved quickly to deny this. A company
spokesperson said: "It is unfortunate to see some members of the media
speculating, without grounds, that Bridgestone will withdraw from the
FIA Formula 1 World Championship at the end of 2004. "Bridgestone
Motorsport would like to clarify that contrary to such media reports,
it has no intention of withdrawing from the FIA Formula 1 World
Championship." Motorsport director Hiroshi Yasukawa added: "There has
never been a moment that Bridgestone has thought of withdrawing from
Formula 1 since our entry back in 1997. "Formula 1 has played a vital
tool in our worldwide brand and marketing strategies and since
entering Formula 1 in 1997, our brand awareness has increased
dramatically. "With six races remaining, this year is undoubtedly a
highly competitive season. We relish this top level competition and
remain as committed and as passionate about our involvement in Formula
1 as ever. "We are looking forward to a battle royal with our rivals
in the second half of the season!"
7/10/03
Pollock thinks CART should be in North
America only According to this Canadian Press
article, if CART team owner and Jacques Villeneuve manager
Craig Pollock were to be one of the buyers of CART, that would likely
be the end of CART's attempt to become a worldwide series with races
in Europe and Asia as well as it's North American base. "I'd prefer to
see it as mainly a North American series, with Canada, the U.S.,
Mexico and the race in Australia," said Pollock. "That's where the
market is. "I don't see Europe as a market." With that said, AR1
can tell you that Pollock will not be one of the buyers, and the
series will remain a worldwide series, but the focus will remain North
America, at least for the immediate future.
ISC lowers earnings estimate
ISC on Wednesday said its quarterly earnings fell as rainy weather
kept fans away from races. The Daytona Beach, Florida-based
company also cut its earnings outlook for its fiscal third quarter and
2003. International Speedway said its earnings for its second
quarter ended May 31 were $12.5 million, or 24 cents a share,
including a noncash charge of 3 cents a diluted share for net book
value of assets removed due to racetrack configuration. International
Speedway earned $14.4 million, or 27 cents a share, a year ago.
A.G. Edwards & Sons Inc. analyst Timothy Conder said the company had
``a decent quarter overall'' despite having some weather issues.
Conder said the stock was down on Wednesday as investors had not
expected the lowered earnings outlook. Conder has a long-term price
target of $48 and a ``buy'' investment rating on the company.
The company in the conference call said advanced ticket sales for the
remainder of 2003 are slightly below prior-year levels but ticket
sales for several major events have increased. The auto sports
promoter said the economy continues to put pressure on event
attendance and revenue. The company said it cut its
current-quarter outlook mainly due to less-than-expected attendance at
its Pepsi 400 event over the past weekend. It also has not signed a
title sponsor for its upcoming August Cup race in Michigan.
7/10/03
CART draws big in Canada
The Molson Indy Toronto is the first of three CART Champ Car races to
take place in Canada this year, and all continue to be extremely
popular. The Toronto race has drawn three-day crowds in excess of
160,000 people in each of the last nine years that the Champ Cars have
raced on the streets of the Ontario capital. In 2002, the Molson Indy
Toronto at Exhibition Place drew a weekend total of 168,421 fans, the
Molson Indy Vancouver at Concord Pacific Place drew 161,728 and the
inaugural Molson Indy Montreal at Circuit Gilles Villeneuve drew
172,000. In total, the wildly popular Molson Indy Champ Car races
north of the border accounted for 502,149 spectators, or 19 percent of
CART Champ Car's all-time record attendance total of 2,686,640 last
season. Much of the focus this weekend will fall on Canadians Paul
Tracy, Patrick Carpentier and Alex Tagliani but the fans enjoy all
things CART.
7/10/03
ChampCar
Aussie race is hot property
Prime grandstand seating and corporate packages are proving to be hot
property for this year's Lexmark Indy 300 to be held on the Gold Coast
from October 23 to 26. With more than three months to go to this
year's 13th anniversary Event, seats in the 30 grandstands around the
track are selling fast and 85 percent of corporate hospitality
packages have been sold out. The two most popular grandstands on
current sales are Brabham Grandstand Six located on the first chicane
- the Lexmark Chicane, and Andretti Grandstand 12 located in the V8
Supercar Paddock overlooking ANA Corner. Enthusiasts are encouraged to
get in quickly before the grandstand seating sells out. Lexmark Indy
300 General Manager James Ashworth said he expected the two most
popular grandstands to be sold out by the end of the month. "There has
been a trend in recent years for grandstand seating to sell out well
in advance of the Event," said Ashworth. "Spectators realize that all
of the grandstands offer prime viewing positions with a variety of
creature comforts. "The demand for grandstand seating last year and
early this year has prompted us to increase the size of some
grandstands. This year we will have over 400 more grandstand seats."
Spectators have a choice of 30 grandstands in 2003 including the three
new grandstands built for the Event last year. The aim is to reach a
four-day attendance record of more than 300,000. While grandstand
seating is early 'hot property' so is the demand for corporate
hospitality packages. "Many corporations have made this Event a 'must'
on their calendar and we are delighted that 85 percent of the packages
have already been sold," said Ashworth. "There is a corporate
hospitality package to suit every need, with the variety of options
available making the Lexmark Indy 300 one of the most popular sporting
events for corporate types in Australia. Once again we encourage people
interested in a corporate package to book very soon to avoid
disappointment." More than 7000 corporate employees are expected to
attend the 2003 Lexmark Indy 300 each day over the four days of the
Event. Corporate memberships range from Icebreak Business Club
memberships for individuals to hospitality for more than 100 people.
Tickets for the Lexmark Indy 300 are now available through Ticketek on
phone 1300 303 103 or via the website
www.ticketek.com. Corporate
hospitality packages can be purchased from the Lexmark Indy 300 Sales
Team on phone +61 7 5588 6800.
7/9/03
Williams tops time sheets in Barcelona
Pos Driver Chassis-engine Tires Time Laps
1 R Schumacher Williams-BMW M 1m17.908s 98
2 M Gene Williams-BMW M 1m18.383s 92
3 K Raikkonen McLaren-Mercedes 1m18.836s 83
4 R Barrichello Ferrari B 1m118.838s 81 79
5 N Heidfeld Sauber-Petronas B 1m18.861s 26
6 J Button BAR-Honda B 1m18.993s 91
7 T Sato BAR-Honda B 1m19.201s 75
8 C da Matta Toyota B 1m19.476s 80
9 A McNish Renault M 1m19.546s 146
10 M Webber Jaguar-Cosworth M 1m19.736s 86
11 R Firman Jordan-Ford B 1m1m19.740s 63
12 P de la Rosa McLaren-Mercedes 1m19.954s 38*
13 A Wurz McLaren-Mercedes 1m20.217s 32*
15 A Davidson BAR-Honda 1n20.568s 115
7/9/03
Three Cup teams caught cheating
Three NASCAR Winston Cup Series teams – Dale Earnhardt, Inc.,
Morgan-McClure Motorsports and Petty Enterprises – received monetary
fines and forfeited championship driver and owner points for rules
infractions that occurred during last week’s Pepsi 400 at Daytona
International Speedway, NASCAR officials announced today. The No. 15
DEI Chevrolet was found to have an unapproved carburetor modification
during opening-day inspection. The result was a $25,000 fine for crew
chief Richard Labbe, the loss of 25 NASCAR Winston Cup Series
championship driver points for Michael Waltrip and the loss of 25
NASCAR Winston Cup Series championship owner points for Teresa
Earnhardt. Labbe also received an additional $500 fine for an
unapproved roof strip, which was found during the opening-day
inspection period as well. The No. 4 Morgan-McClure Motorsports
Pontiac was penalized for having an unapproved fuel cell container
modification that was found by NASCAR officials during pre-race
inspection. Crew chief Chris Carrier was fined $25,000, Stacy Compton
forfeited 25 championship driver points and Larry McClure forfeited 25
championship owner points for the infraction. The No. 45 Petty
Enterprises Dodge was found to have unapproved rear jacking bolts
during opening-day inspection. Crew chief Steven Lane was issued a
$25,000 fine while Kyle Petty forfeited 25 championship driver points
and Pattie Petty forfeited 25 championship owner points. All parties
were in violation of Section 12-4-A (actions detrimental to stock car
racing) and Section 12-4-Q (Any determination by NASCAR Officials that
parts and/or equipment in the Event do not conform to NASCAR rules) of
the NASCAR Winston Cup Series Rule Book.
7/9/03
CART Ministries website The
newly updated site for Champ Car Ministries is now accessible on the
web. Information on the Ministry, its history, mission and chaplains
is available at
www.cartministries.org as well as
www.champcarministries.org
. Catholic Mass and non-denominational chapel schedules will be
available prior to each event weekend. All are invited to stop by and
check out the site.
7/9/03
Did you know?
Did you know that since its inception, the IRL has run 79 races
and in those 79 races drivers suffered 115 injuries? That
equates to 1.456 injuries per race weekend, the majority of them
broken bones or head injuries. One has to think that statistic
must make more than a few drivers lose sleep worrying if they might be
next. The IRL is going to have to improve the safety for its
drivers or risk an eventual boycott. By contrast, during that
same period CART drivers suffered just 48 injuries in 141 races, or
0.34 injuries per race weekend. Since CART has dropped the
majority of its oval races, their injury rate is dropping rather
quickly. The IRL is trying to be the leader, but we don't think
this is the category they wanted to lead. It's time for the
drivers to stand up and be heard, the call for better safety must be
loud and clear. They can start by demanding every oval track
install the SAFER Barrier system. It's the humane thing to do.
Source
7/9/03
Statement from Felipe Giaffone
“I’m glad to say I’m feeling fine right now. It was a hard
crash, and the bad thing is that I kept awake the whole time. I saw
the wall getting close. I felt every bit of the pain the whole time. I
still feel some pain, but the doctors say it’s normal, as it’s been
only a couple of days since the surgery. I can already bend my right
leg, and sit down to eat, for example. My other leg, the left one, is
still swollen, and I ordered some more exams on Tuesday to see if it’s
really okay. It has to be good soon, so I can start rehabilitation
quickly and use it to support my body. Doctors said I’ll be ready to
start physiotherapy next Thursday (July 17). Since the accident, I’ve
received an incredible amount of support from the entire Indy Racing
community. Brian Barnhart came here on Tuesday. Morris (Nunn, team
owner) comes every day. Other drivers and friends have sent nice
messages, and these things help me to keep on going. It’s just amazing
how the rescue team, the doctors and all of the IRL staff have given
all the best for me so far, in a very professional and lovely way.
It’s in these hard times that we feel how important the love is that
we get from people we work with and compete against.”
7/9/03
Nashville on ESPN2
The Firestone Indy 200 IndyCar Series race at Nashville
Superspeedway will be televised live at 8 p.m. (EDT) Saturday, July 19
on ESPN2.
7/9/03
Fisher to conduct Girl Scout workshop
IndyCar Series standout Sarah Fisher will conduct a special Car
Care Badge workshop for Junior, Cadette and Senior Girl Scouts from
the Girl Scouts – Irish Hills (Michigan) Council on July 25.
The event is in conjunction with the annual Jackson RaceWeek Festival
– a series of community events that leads into the Firestone Indy 400
weekend July 25-27 at MIS. The workshop will take place from 4:30-5:30
p.m. (EDT)
July 25th as a part of Jackson’s Pit Row in downtown that
evening. The events include an autograph session with all of the IRL
IndyCar Series and Infiniti Pro Series drivers and many of the NASCAR
Craftsman Truck Series drivers. The evening will also feature a
classic car show and go-kart challenge race that will feature several
drivers who will be competing at MIS throughout the weekend. This May,
Fisher announced that she’s supporting the Girl Scouts’ new “Girls Go
Tech” campaign throughout the remainder of the Indy Racing League
season. The “Girls Go Tech” campaign encourages girls to explore and
excel in science, math, engineering and technology. Fisher’s car wing
and driver suit will sport the Girl Scout servicemark throughout the
remainder of the IndyCar Series season, including the Firestone Indy
400 on Sunday, July 27 at MIS.
7/9/03 IROC
Sharp to replace Giaffone
Scott Sharp is replacing the severely injured IRL driver Felipe
Giaffone for the final two rounds, including the IROC at Indy on Aug.
2 at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway. Giaffone suffered a fractured
right femur and fractured pelvis in an accident during the Kansas Indy
300 on July 6 at Kansas Speedway. Sharp previously competed in IROC in
1994 and 2002. “Felipe is a great guy, and I have a lot of respect for
him,” Sharp said. “It’s a shame to see what happened to him last
weekend, and I hope with the little bit of experience I gained last
year in the IROC series, I might be able to help him out and will try
hard to finish as far up in the standings as possible for him. I’m
really glad to do it.” The 100-mile race at Chicagoland will be
televised at 9 p.m. (EDT) on ESPN on July 12.
7/9/03
Town Hall meeting returns to
Columbus The successful CART Champ Car Town Meeting
series will return to its unofficial home site on July 15th as
the fan forum comes back to Columbus, Ohio - site of the
inaugural meeting a year ago. The Town Meeting series brings
some of the stars of the Bridgestone Presents The Champ Car
World Series Powered by Ford to public venues where fans
participate in a question-and-answer session with drivers and
officials from CART Champ Car and its partners. The Columbus
Town Meeting will feature another stellar lineup that will
include team owner Bobby Rahal and Toyota Atlantic driver
Danica Patrick from Hilliard, Ohio-based Team Rahal. CART
Vice-President of Racing Operations John Lopes and CART Champ
Car rookie points leader Sebastien Bourdais of Newman/Haas
Racing will also join fans with SPEED Channel's Calvin Fish
serving as the host for the evening. The meeting will take
place at the Scarlet Ballroom of the Buckeye Hall of Fame
Café, located near the Ohio State University campus at 1421
Olentangy River Rd. The doors will open at 6 p.m. with the
90-minute forum to begin at 7 p.m. The meeting comes in
advance of the CART Grand Prix of Mid-Ohio, which runs August
8-10 at the Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course. Admission to the free
event requires an on-line registration, which can be done at
www.midohio.com.
7/9/03
F1 considers race-day changes
to woo back fans
This Bloomberg
article says, The managers of the 10 teams plan to
meet to discuss how to stop attendances falling. They haven't
set a date. Proposals include holding a qualifying session on
the morning of each Grand Prix, instead of the day before, and
staging a race involving celebrities. The biggest attendance
decline after 10 races this season was at the San Marino Grand
Prix in April in Imola, Italy. About 82,000 fans turned up, a
decline of 23,000 on last year and almost 100,000 down on the
2000 race. Not Worried Formula One Management, the commercial
rights-holder headed by Bernie Ecclestone, said there has been
a ``slight'' decline in ticket sales this year. It didn't have
figures available for all of the races. ``The decline is in
line with other sports,'' said FOM spokesman Norman Howell.
``We're not overly concerned.'' Organizers defended ticket
prices, saying fans get value for their money. A soccer match rarely
lasts more than two hours, while Roger Federer took about the
same time to defeat Mark Philippoussis to win the Wimbledon
tennis championships last weekend. ``We've having one of the
best championships for years,'' Ron Dennis said. ``We've had
six different race winners. Three or four drivers could win
the title.'' TV ratings rose from last year in some parts of
Europe for some races, according to TV Sports Markets
magazine. No overall figures were available. About 3.4 million
more viewers, a 28 percent rise, saw the Austrian Grand Prix
on Germany's RTL when Michael Schumacher overcame a pit-lane
fire and passed Raikkonen on a bend. A million more saw the
Brazilian race on the U.K.'s ITV as 11 drivers, including
Schumacher, crashed on a rain-soaked track. As yet, fans
aren't flocking to the circuits. ``We need to do something
extra,'' said Paul Stoddart, the Minardi team manager, who
suggested a 10-lap race in which celebrities drive or ride in
two-seater cars. ``My idea's not bad. It would create huge
interest.''
7/9/03
Firestone to also sponsor
Nashville race
Firestone will sponsor the IRL IndyCar Series event on
Saturday, July 19 at Nashville Superspeedway, the start of a
three-year sponsorship agreement between Bridgestone/Firestone
and the track, Bridgestone/Firestone and track officials
announced July 9. The Firestone Indy 200 starts at 8 p.m.
(EDT) and will be broadcast live by ESPN2 and the IMS Radio
Network. Bridgestone/Firestone, based in Nashville, Tenn., is
the Official Tire of the Indy Racing League. Firestone is the
only tire to compete in all 79 IRL IndyCar Series races since
the series’ debut in 1996. The company has recorded 698
victories in various open-wheel series. “It’s a great honor
for us to serve as title sponsor for Indy Racing League events
in our corporate front yard,” said Al Speyer, executive
director of the Firestone Racing program. “Nashville is home
to Bridgestone Americas Holding, Inc. and
Bridgestone/Firestone North American Tire, LLC. We have opened
a new a distribution center just a few miles from Nashville
Superspeedway, and we have several other facilities in this
area, including tire manufacturing plants in La Vergne and
Warren County. “Many of our associates will be at the July 19
race this year and other IRL races in the future, taking great
pride in our company’s involvement with the fastest automobile
racing in Tennessee.” The sponsorship of the Nashville event
further increases the company’s involvement with the Indy
Racing League. Firestone and Michigan International Speedway
officials announced July 8 that Firestone will sponsor the
IndyCar Series event on July 27 at MIS, the Firestone Indy
400. Firestone also sponsors the IndyCar Series race Aug. 24
at Nazareth Speedway, the Firestone Indy 225. This is the
third consecutive year that the IndyCar Series has visited the
unique, 1.33-mile concrete oval. “Our long-term relationship
with Firestone is important to the future success of the IRL
IndyCar Series in Nashville,” said Cliff Hawks, executive vice
president and general manager of Nashville Superspeedway.
“This long-term partnership with Firestone provides us with a
strong community tie-in and gives us the opportunity to
promote the event on a national level.”
7/9/03
Miami race increases community
involvement When CART’s turbocharged Champ Cars come
screaming through Miami’s downtown streets again September
28th for the second annual Grand Prix Americas, the effects of
the race will be felt far into the community surrounding the
1.314-mile circuit in Bayfront Park. The South Florida region
that hosts Round 16 of the Bridgestone Presents The Champ Car
World Series Powered by Ford and beyond will benefit from
initiatives introduced by the recently formed Grand Prix
Americas Foundation. Miami Mayor Manny Diaz launched the Grand
Prix Americas Foundation, which hopes to raise more than
$250,000 to benefit charitable organizations, including Cody
Unser’s First Step, the Miami Project to Cure Paralysis, the
Camillus House, the Miami-Dade College Foundation and the
Children’s Home Society of Florida. The major fundraiser for
the Grand Prix Americas Foundation will be the Magic in Miami
Charity Gala taking place Thursday night of race week,
September 25, 2003 at the InterContinental Miami Hotel. In
addition, the Grand Prix Americas will donate one dollar for
every ticket sold on Saturday, September 27, 2003, and during a
specific time frame will offer a five percent donation on all
tickets sold. “It’s great to see the Grand Prix Americas
contributing to our community,” said Mayor Diaz. “Building on
the success of last year’s race, the Charity Ball promises to
raise much needed funds for these great organizations.” Diaz
was joined in Miami by Ambassador for the Miami Project to
Cure Paralysis, Marc Buoniconti, President and General Manager
of Grand Prix Americas, Chuck Martinez, and Cody Unser, who
leads her charity First Step, in announcing the foundation’s
goal at the Miami Project to Cure Paralysis. “The
establishment of this foundation is another example of our
focused commitment to Miami,” said Martinez. “These charities
represent vital issues facing our communities.” The Grand Prix
Americas Foundation will be headed by a Board of Directors
comprised of local community leaders. Also serving as honorary
co-chairs of the Grand Prix Americas Foundation are Mayor Diaz
and current Champ Car team owner Emerson Fittipaldi of
Fittipaldi-Dingman Racing. The Grand Prix Americas is Round 16
of 19 in the 2003 Bridgestone Presents The Champ Car World
Series Powered by Ford, hosted in Miami’s Bayfront Park on a
1.314-mile temporary downtown street circuit. Call (888)
248-RACE for ticket information or catch all the action live
on SPEED Channel September 28th at 12:30 p.m. ET.
7/9/03
CARA Charities Shop Tour
planned
Getting a “close-up” view of two of auto racing’s top
racing headquarters and meeting a former Indy 500 winner in
one night is a racing fan’s dream. Open-wheel racing fans
will have that unique opportunity on Friday, Sept. 26, during
Indianapolis’ U.S. Grand Prix Week. The U.S. Grand Prix is set
for Sept. 26-28 in Indy. Two of the IndyCar racing’s top teams
--Panther Racing and Target Chip Ganassi Racing – will open
their racing shops to a selected group of racing enthusiasts
with special tour and presentations, cocktails and dinner as
part of the CARA Charities’ “Indy Car Shop Tour.” The popular
event, hosted by ABC-TV and ESPN-TV’s Bob Jenkins, will begin
at 4:00 p.m. (EST) at the famed Columbia Club on Monument
Circle in downtown Indianapolis. Private buses will transport
the guests to the racing shops with special tours and question
and answer periods. The guests will return to the Columbia
Club for a cocktail party, buffet dinner and presentations by
1998 Indy 500 champion Eddie Cheever, owner of Red Bull
Cheever Racing. Tickets for the special “Open Wheel Shop Tour”
are now on sale at $150 per ticket and include the custom
coach transportation, the shop tours, the cocktail party and
dinner and the special racing presentation. Call CARA
Charities at (317) 299-2277 or e-mail at
Carachar@aol.com for
reservations. “The only similarity between Formula One and the
Indy Car Series is the basic open-wheel formula,” said
Cheever, the 1998 Indy 500 winner and veteran Formula One
driver. “Formula One has taken the extreme approach to be
successful in road racing. Over the past nine decades, with
the Indianapolis 500, Indy car-style racing has taken the
extreme approach in oval racing and pure speed. To be able to
view the race shops of Ganassi and Panther and attend the
Unites States Grand Prix will give fans an insider view of
these two cultures.” Cheever has a great perceptive on racing
cars, having driven in Formula One, GTP sports cars, Champ
Cars and IRL Indy Cars throughout his 20-year career. “Last
year was the initial Shop Tour and it was exciting for the
racing fans to experience the inside look of the racing shops
and the behind-the-scenes insight of a racing champion,” said
Jenkins, the host for ABC-TV television broadcasts. “The idea
that a fan can receive this kind of access to top racing teams
as well as a great party and dinner is a fan’s delight. It is a
great evening.” The “Open Wheel Shop Tour” is one of several
major fund-raising events held annually by CARA Charities.
CARA Charities was founded in 1981 and has distributed over
$3.25 million dollars to numerous racing and community
organizations. CARA serves the community through charitable
work and promotes the friendship of all those involved in the
motor sports family.
7/9/03
Unfriendly takeover bid for
Dana Corp.
This AP
article says, Auto parts maker ArvinMeritor Inc. said
Tuesday it will make an unsolicited, $2.2 billion takeover bid
for Dana Corp. (which is big in NASCAR) after failing to get
its larger rival to discuss a possible buyout. Troy-based
ArvinMeritor said it will offer $15 in cash for each
outstanding Dana share, a 25 percent premium over Dana's
closing price Monday. But stock market investors were betting
the price could go higher. In trading Tuesday on the New York
Stock Exchange, Dana shares rose 35 percent, or $4.18, to
close at $16.20. ArvinMeritor shares fell 67 cents to $20.33.
Because Dana shares are now trading above ArvinMeritor's offer
price, Merrill Lynch analyst John Casesa said it's likely
either that ArvinMeritor will boost its offer or another
bidder will step in. "There exists the very real possibility
of new bids from financial buyers seeking to create value by
breaking Dana into different operating entities," Casesa said
in a research note. Dana, based in Toledo, Ohio, said it would
review the proposal and make a recommendation to its
shareholders within 10 days after the tender offer begins.
7/9/03
NASCAR leads weekend overnight TV
ratingsUPDATE We hear that
the Pepsi 400 got a big boost in TV ratings via the small
markets and the final was a 6.0 rating/13 share, up from a 5.2 last
year. A 15% increase in one year is phenomenal as the
NASCAR steamroller keeps chugging along. It was the 10th highest
rated TV show of any type for the week. 7/7/03 -
NASCAR Preview Show NBC 1.5/4 share
Live
"NBC NASCAR": Pepsi 400 NBC 5.1/10 share Live
"NBC NASCAR": Post-race NBC 3.8/7 share Live
IRL: Kansas Indy 300 ABC 1.4/4 share Live
CART: Grand Prix of Cleveland CBS 1.2/3 share Tape Delayed
7/9/03
Busy testing schedule for da
Matta Having to retire in Canada and at the European
Grand Prix, Cristiano da Matta really wanted to finish the
race in France. He succeeded, even if he missed the points by
a few positions. But for Toyota and da Matta, the most
important was to have a reliable car. "I retired from the
Canadian and European Grands Prix shortly before the end of
the race, so more than anything we wanted a two-car finish in
France. And we got it," mentioned Cristiano. "But in terms of
performance, we weren't quite as good as expected at
Magny-Cours, said the Brazilian. On paper we expected the
track to suit our TF103 because it has lots of medium and
high-speed corners, and in the end it wasn't too bad because
Olivier managed to finish eighth, which was particularly nice
in front of the French fans. However, from my own point of
view we were not as strong as I had initially hoped. I think
we never recovered from the lack of dry running on Friday,
when the hour of free practice in the morning was hit by rain.
I opted for intermediate tires and, while I think that was the
correct tire choice at the time, I was surprised at how dry
the track was. We had just a few laps on Saturday morning in
which to do a proper evaluation of the two Michelin options
available to us and I think we made the wrong decision by
opting for the harder compound and a two- stop strategy in the
race," added the Toyota driver. "It meant that we had to
qualify with a lot more fuel than the guys on a three-stop
strategy, and my whole race was compromised by the abrasive
track surface, which meant I had a lot of tire graining. To
finish 11th was about as much as I could have hoped for. Many
drivers were on three-stop strategies, so I struggled a bit
for pace because I always had more fuel on board than them. My pitstops were also longer than the others because I had to
take on more fuel and I eventually lost track position to
Antonio Pizzonia, which was a bit frustrating." The next
meeting is at Silverstone for the British Grand Prix in about
ten days. Cristiano is hoping to finish that race in the
points. "We now look forward to Silverstone in two weeks time,
where I am pretty confident we can get a good result. The car
was very competitive when we tested there a month ago and we
have some new parts coming for the race weekend, which should
make it handle even better. But, before then, I have a very
busy schedule." said Cristiano. "I flew straight from
Magny-Cours to Barcelona for testing and I then go to England
on Friday, where I am attending the Goodwood Festival of
Speed. I have no idea what to expect, but I am told that I
have to drive the TF103 up the Goodwood hill, which sounds
interesting! I enjoy the history of motorsport, so I am
looking forward to seeing all the old cars. I hope to see lots
of you at Goodwood too. If you are coming, pay me a visit at
the Toyota stand," concluded Cristiano da Matta.
Toyota
7/9/03
Slowly,
teams are gaining sponsorship The exposure gained by racing
in the Champ Car World Series is starting to help the newer teams in
the paddock earn sponsorship for their race cars. Sebastien Bourdais
carried fast-food giant McDonald’s to Victory Lane last weekend in
Cleveland in the first of a three-race deal between them and
Newman/Haas Racing. The #7 Fittipaldi-Dingman Racing machine driven by
Tiago Monteiro signed a deal with Carrera sunglasses as an associate
sponsor while the #27 PK Racing entry with Max Papis behind the wheel
inked a deal with Japhiro Swiss Watches. Walker Racing signed an
associate deal with Air China for the #15 car of Darren Manning while
Geoff Boss in the #11 Dale Coyne entry has sponsorship from Lacoste
and Cross Pens. Gevril watches has also done a deal with the #34
Mi-Jack/Conquest machine driven by Mario Haberfeld.
7/9/03
Dude, where's my kart?
For most Southern California teenage boys, the summer means sun, sand,
ocean and girls in bikinis. But for Alan Sciuto and Billy
Johnson, the summer means pavement, tire rubber and driving hard.
While most guys in So-Cal are yelling "Dude, where's my (surf) board?"
-- it's "Dude, where's my kart?" for Sciuto and Johnson as they
prepare for this weekend's Snap-on Champ Car "Stars of Tomorrow"
presented by RACER national karting series event at Infineon Raceway
in Northern California. Story
Sponsor David Rutledge
Prospective CART Champ Car racer, David Rutledge, a first place winner
in Long Beach, Toronto, Montreal and runner up in the Toyota Atlantic
Series has opened up sponsorship of his Champ Car World Series
pursuits to his broad base of fans. The new program,
www.sponsordavid.com," gives
racing fans the opportunity to live a dream and get directly involved
in the sport they love," says David. When the Canadian Federal
Government announced legislation to put an end to sponsorship of
sporting events by tobacco companies, David, currently ranked among
the top racers in the world, went to work to develop other sources of
support. Together with Dori O’Neill, Executive Vice President of
Essentially Yours Industries (EYI), a nutritional supplement company
based in Surrey, BC, 25 year-old David created a unique online
sponsorship program,
www.sponsordavid.com. The growing sponsorship package to be valued
at more than $1,000 is offered on the website at $119 (US), and
includes a discount shopping card, monthly newsletter, coupons,
giveaways and merchandise supplied by David’s corporate sponsors.
Other perks include a VIP invitation to special events and the chance
to win a Fantasy Race Weekend at an upcoming CART race. "Our goal is
to make our sponsors feel like they are right there with David as he
races. They, in fact, will be part of the Team," comments co-creator,
Dori O’Neill. Now online,
www.sponsordavid.com will be updated regularly as more news,
products and services become available from additional corporate
sponsors. Media information regarding the David Rutledge bio,
interview questions, downloadable images, and previous press releases
are available at:
www.sponsordavid.com/mediaroom.html.
7/9/03
What's David Clare's opinion?2nd UPDATE Concerning
the article titled "What's David Clare's opinion?" I don't have a clue
what reader Maury Williams is talking about concerning a tennis
tournament. What I do know is that last year one of our group was
flying down to
St. Petersburg from San Francisco. On the plane she
struck up a conversation with some people who asked why she was going
there. She mentioned the CART race. They looked at her blankly. She
mentioned the Grand Prix of St. Petersburg and they said, "Ohhhh, Grand
Prix Racing". We've run into that before. In a lot of areas, this
particular type of street course racing seems recognizable as Grand
Prix racing. Are they thinking of Monaco perhaps? Lynda Polk
Dear Lynda, Bingo! As we said, Grand Prix is a branded
term that everyone recognizes. The famous movie Grand
Prix did a lot to help brand that name for auto racing. Recall recently on our Rumors
page we checked out who owns the domain www.AmericanGrandPrix.com and lo and behold it's been
registered by a company called
Business Exchange in Chelsea, London. Why would anyone in the
UK care about owning a domain name with "American" in it? Well
it just so happens that Bernie Ecclestone is from Chelsea, London.
Hmm.... Mark C.7/8/03 - Another
reader disagrees, American Grand Prix? Instant recognition?
That’s a tennis tournament, right? I hope to catch Anna Kournikova and one of the other new Russian players there.
There are also IMSA races called Grand Prix. Grand Prix is
going down the wrong road. Too many non-racing references
competing with it. You’d have to explain what American Grand
Prix is for a long, long time and still have competing events.
Now American F1 would be unique. But as a champ car follower
since the ‘60s, I don’t understand the preoccupation that CART
has to turn into a F1 series. There already is a F1. ChampCar
is and has been unique with four types of racing venues.
That’s the series Mario Andretti wants to be associated with.
That’s the series I as a fan want to attend and watch. You may
be “leading” the vocal charge to an American F1 series, but
I’m not following. The last thing I’m interested in is racing
in Beijing, Paul Ricard or the Andes. Miami and St. Petersburg
were two of the smartest decisions made by CART management
over the past two years. Maury Williams, Dayton, Ohio
Dear Maury, The dictionaries we checked (four of them) did not
refer to Grand Prix as a tennis tournament. One also
referred to it as a horse race. All four referred to it
as some form of automobile road racing, and that is pretty
much what CART is - the premier road racing series in North
America. We will just have to see what the new ownership
of CART decides, to remain oblivious to 99.9% of the
world population (with the ChampCar name), or adopt a name (that
includes Grand Prix) 99.9% of the world population and all the
dictionaries in the world recognizes. As far as we are
concerned, this one is a no-brainer, but who are we to say?
Mark C.7/7/03 - A reader writes, Dear AutoRacing1.com, I read Mark Cipolloni's
interview with David
Clare. Quite interesting. Did he comment on whether the
2005 cars will be flat bottomed or what the series will be called when
it is sold? Lyle Nanders Dear Lyle, I did not
discuss ether topic with David Clare. I would think CART would
go to flat bottom cars only if they drop all the ovals. The
large sidepods needed for ground-effect tunnels help to protect the
driver when they slam the hard concrete oval track walls. As for the
name of the series, as I have stated previously, it needs to contain
either the words "Grand Prix" or "F1" if it is ever going to catch on
with the mainstream public. Both are branded terms that the public
recognizes. ChampCar is not branded. Never was and never
will be. Walk down the street and ask 100 people what a ChampCar
is and you will get 100 blank stares. CART will spend hundreds
of millions of dollars trying to make ChampCar a branded name,
when it can simply change the name to the CART American Grand
Prix Series and get instant overnight name recognition. The
CART part of the name would represent the sanctioning body, much
like the FIA is the sanctioning body for the FIA Formula
One World Championship or NASCAR is the sanctioning body for
the NASCAR Winston Cup Series. Grand Prix is a
recognized term. We checked four dictionaries for Grand Prix
and found these four definitions 1) Any of several competitive
international road races for race cars of specific engine size over an
exacting, usually risky road course; 2) one of several international
races; 3) a long distance auto race on a road course; 4) one
of a series of international formula car races. The fact
that all four dictionaries had it as a definition says a lot about
just how widely recognized Grand Prix is. You can check 100
dictionaries and not a single one will have a definition for a
ChampCar. It's simply irrelevant. And the beauty of Grand
Prix is that whatever company may sponsor the series, they will
always be called American Grand Prix cars. Some people may take
exception to the American part of the name. If so, I suppose the
Sponsor Name Grand Prix Series would work, where Sponsor
Name is the soon to be announced series sponsor (or so I hear).
Mark C.
7/9/03
Winston Cup leader bonus reaches $180,000
It’s been 48 races since the NASCAR Winston Cup point leader
won a race and took home the NASCAR Winston Cup Leader Bonus. If the
winner of the Tropicana 400 is also the NASCAR Winston Cup points
leader, he’ll add another $180,000 to his winnings. Kenseth leads the
series points and has the only realistic shot at claiming the bonus
this week. In the very unlikely event that Kenseth fails to start the
Tropicana 400, Earnhardt is the only other driver who could win the
bonus. Should someone win the bonus this weekend, it would be the
second-largest payout in the history of the program. Bobby Labonte
(No. 18 Interstate Batteries Chevrolet) collected the biggest
paycheck, $190,000, with a win at Indianapolis in 2000. The $10,000
bonus is available following every NASCAR Winston Cup Series race. If
the point leader does not win the race, the bonus rolls over to the
next week.
7/9/03
Biffle proves NASCAR farm system works
Greg Biffle (No. 16 Grainger Ford) has provided the latest
example of how well NASCAR’s unofficial “developmental system” works.
Biffle, who has won championships in the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series
(2000) and NASCAR Busch Series (2002), got his first career NASCAR
Winston Cup win last Saturday night, in the Pepsi 400 at Daytona
International Speedway. Biffle leads the Raybestos Rookie of the Year
standings. One of Biffle’s main goals is to become the first driver to
win championships in all three of NASCAR’s national series. “I won’t
give up this NASCAR Winston Cup program until I win a Winston Cup
championship,” Biffle said. “Before I retire I want to win one, maybe
a couple of them.”
7/8/03
From the archives
Chicagoland Speedway’s archives are pretty thin, since it has
hosted only two previous NASCAR Winston Cup races. But Chicago itself
has some intriguing NASCAR history, starting with the years the NASCAR
Winston Cup Series raced at Soldier Field – home of the Chicago Bears.
Soldier Field was the site of a NASCAR Grand National (now NASCAR
Winston Cup Series) race in 1956. A quarter-mile oval race track,
added to the stadium in 1935, was expanded to a half-mile in ‘56.
Fireball Roberts won the race on July 21, 1956 and collected $850 in
prize money. Jim Paschal, Ralph Moody, Speedy Thompson and Frank Mundy
rounded out the top-five finishers in NASCAR’s only appearance at the
facility. The race track was removed from Soldier Field in 1970, one
year before the Bears relocated from Wrigley Field. According to the
Stock Car Racing Encyclopedia, the track was removed following
protests from “hippies” who objected to the city financing auto
racing.
7/8/03
CART management changes
You will hear of some CART management changes that took place this
week, but out of respect for the individuals involved, we await a
CART press release.
7/8/03
Toronto Track Talk The
1.755-mile downtown temporary street circuit is structured around
Toronto’s Exhibition Place, home to more than 100 special events,
trade and consumer shows annually. Eleven turns and the fast Lakeshore
Boulevard straightaway as well as a variety of track surfaces make for
exciting racing and leave drivers and their engineers chasing the
optimum setup. Fernandez Racing Race Engineer David Watson estimates
top speeds of over 190 mph with minimum speeds in the 42 mph-range as
drivers navigate through a series of slow and medium-speed turns from
asphalt to concrete, with Turn One leading onto the fastest
straightaway. Throughout the course of the 112-lap race, drivers will
make 16 gearshifts per lap, and experience a maximum G-force load of
3.4.
7/8/03
Skinner to drive truck
Mike Skinner was hired Tuesday to drive the next two races in
NASCAR's Truck Series. Skinner, the 1995 Truck Series champion, has
been out of a job since last month when he was fired from his Winston
Cup ride at Morgan-McClure Motorsports. He'll drive for Billy Ballew
Motorsports beginning this weekend at Kentucky Speedway. Skinner is
filling in for Rich Bickle so the team can assess its program. "Billy
has asked me to come in and help evaluate his team for the next two
events and I am available to help him do that at this time," Skinner
said. "We plan to take a look at all the aspects of his operation and
help the organization move forward. We will evaluate everything from
the chassis to the engines to the team and even the driver."
7/8/03
Coyne to debut Sperafico
Dale Coyne Racing will welcome the CART Champ Car debut of Alex
Sperafico (#19 Dale Coyne Racing Ford-Cosworth/Lola/Bridgestone) this
weekend at Toronto as the former Barber Dodge Pro Series and FIA
International F3000 driver will stand in this weekend for Gualter
Salles. Salles, who has been in the #19 car for three of the last four
events, will miss the Toronto event due to a previous commitment.
Sperafico, who tested the Coyne car last week at Mid-Ohio, is no
stranger to those in the CART Ladder System as he competed in parts of
three seasons in the BDPS and took a season-opening victory in 2001 at
Sebring. He ran nine races in the FIA International F3000 Championship
last season with European Minardi and finished seventh in the BDPS
season opener this year at St. Petersburg.
7/8/03
Video highlights available online
Video highlights of each Barber Dodge race are available on the
CART Champ Car website. They are very easy to get to: Go to
www.cart.com, and click on the videocamera icon. Select the race you
would like to see highlights of, "Cleveland [or Toronto, etc.) Race
Highlights." Click there, and a pop-up appears. You'll then see a
scroll menu for Champ Car, then Toyota Atlantic, then Barber Dodge.
Select your preferred viewer (e.g., Real Player, Windows Media,
QuickTime) and up will come the Barber Dodge video highlights, usually
2 to 4 minutes in length, with sound. The Barber Dodge highlights are
posted within hours of each race's conclusion. Within the next 2
weeks, Barber Dodge will have a click-through to the CART video pop-up
via the www.barberdodge.com home page.
7/8/03
Firestone to sponsor MIS race
When Al Unser parked in Michigan International
Speedway’s victory lane in September of 1974, he had no idea
that he would be part of Firestone history. Unser just
happened to be the last driver to win an open-wheel race on
Firestone tires before their initial exit from racing at the
end of the 1974 season. Fast forward 21 years later to the
site of Unser’s final victory and a place that has been known
for its great open-wheel finishes during its storied 35-year
history, Michigan International Speedway. In 1995, Scott
Pruett edged out Al Unser Jr. by .056 seconds, which was the
second closest race in open-wheel history at the time.
Firestone – making its return to open-wheel racing in 1995 –
captured its first open-wheel triumph since the company
returned to racing at the beginning of the 1995 season with
Pruett behind the wheel of the Firestone sponsored car for
Jackson, Michigan businessman Pat Patrick. Including that
historical July day in 1995, Firestone has gone on to capture
698 documented open-wheel victories and is the only tire to
compete in all 79 IRL IndyCar Series races since the series’
inception in 1996. Officials at both companies announced today
that Firestone will return to the site of their comeback win,
but this time as the title sponsor of the 2003 IRL IndyCar
Series race at Michigan International Speedway. The Firestone
Indy 400 will be run on Sunday July 27, and will be the
exciting climax to an action packed weekend at the two-mile
superspeedway in Michigan’s Irish Hills.
7/8/03
Bill Riley to Leave R&S for
Robert Yates Racing
Riley & Scott Racing LLC today announced that company
technical director and co-owner Bill Riley is leaving to
become the chassis engineer for Robert Yates Racing and its
two-car Winston Cup program, effective July 21, 2003. Bill
will retain his interest in the company, and his day-to-day
responsibilities are to be fulfilled by company President Bob
Riley and Vice President Ron McMahon. “I’m sorry that Bill is
leaving, but an opportunity of this nature is very rare, and
we support his decision”, said Bob, “Between the staff and
myself, we plan to develop an even stronger company to serve
our customers. Bill may be able to help us get the message out
to a new market about the capabilities of this company, so we
are looking at it as a positive”. In fact, Riley & Scott is
not new to NASCAR, or Robert Yates Racing. “We were
consultants to RYR from 1992 to 1996”, said Bill, “and my
father, Bob, has an even longer history with the Yates group.
I’m very excited about the opportunity, and look forward to
getting started this month.”
7/8/03
Two-hour
special on the life of Dale Earnhardt
NASCAR and music fans will enjoy a night of memories
and music Thursday, July 10th, when FOX presents The Dale
Earnhardt Tribute Concert from 8:00 PM – 10:00 PM EST. Hosted
by Teresa Earnhardt, the two hour special features
performances by Alabama, Brooks & Dunn, Kenny Chesney, Sheryl
Crow, the Goo Goo Dolls, Hootie & the Blowfish, and Delbert
McClinton. A montage of video highlights of the seven-time
NASCAR Winston Cup champion is also highlighted on the special
along with celebrity tributes, videos and memories. Before
thousands of fans, The Dale Earnhardt Tribute Concert
originates from the hallowed start-finish line at Daytona
International Speedway in Daytona Beach, Fla., a track where
Earnhardt was the winningest driver in history as well as the
site of his untimely death in 2001.
7/8/03
Good TV coverage in Mexico
A reader writes, Dear AutoRacing1.com, I watched this
weekend's races while in Mexico City. The coverage was very
good in my opinion. Fox Sports showed the race with more in-car footage and overhead shots, less commercials and a lot of
the commercials were with either Michel or Adrian. Also, a
lot of commercials with Michel about the race there. Of
course because of the translation issue they didn't show any
pit reports during the race, however, that made for more
actual race coverage. The race showed very well to me even
without understanding the commentary. Naturally, a lot of
coverage was about the four Mexican drivers, but all in all I
thought the coverage was very good. Sam Mancuso Davie,
Florida
7/8/03
NASCAR's redneck image still
exists
This CNSNews.com
article says there is agreement that there is a
perception that stock car racing is a good ole' boy's southern
redneck cracker sport.
7/8/03 Industry News
Safer Barrier to be installed
at three tracks
The impact-absorbing SAFER barrier will be installed at
Richmond International Raceway, New Hampshire International
Speedway and Homestead-Miami Speedway this year. The barrier,
a short-track version of the wall that has performed well
since making its debut last year at Indianapolis Motor
Speedway, will not be ready for the July 20 NASCAR race at New
Hampshire.
7/8/03
Kyle Petty rips engine builder
In response to his cars' disappointing qualifying runs,
Kyle Petty criticized his team's engine program and engine
builder Mike Egge, saying his engines simply didn't have
enough power. Although Petty appeared to be competitive
Saturday, he wasn't any happier with his engine after the
race. "We were a lap short on gas and about 100 horsepower
short," said Petty, who finished 23rd. "We still didn't run a
lick. We just drafted." Petty's public criticism of Egge led
to a confrontation between the two over the weekend, although
details were scarce. "I had a discussion," Petty acknowledged.
"It was heated on both sides." Attempts to reach Egge at the
team's Mooresville, N.C., shop were unsuccessful. Petty said
he has given Egge and his staff credit when it's due. "Last
year I thought they were the best of all the Dodges," Petty
said. "Right now they've fallen to the back of the pack."
7/8/03
Aikman-Staubach team may do
Busch first
Bill Saunders, the managing partner of the Hall of Fame
Racing team of Roger Staubach and Troy Aikman, said Monday the
team probably will compete in the NASCAR Busch Series in 2004
instead of Nextel Cup. The former Cowboys quarterbacks
announced in January the formation of the team and their plans
to race Winston Cup in 2004, which switches naming rights to
Nextel Cup. But they have not been able to secure the
sponsorship dollars needed to run in the Cup series next
season. "Running in Cup next year is unlikely at this point,"
Saunders said. "It probably will be 2005, but that's not to
say we won't be ... racing in 2004. We are still in
negotiations on that and probably will finalize things within
30 days." Saunders said they don't know if the team will run
one or two Busch cars next year. He said an announcement on a
sponsor and a driver, or drivers, probably would be made soon
in Dallas. "But we probably would unveil a car at a Busch
event later this season," Saunders said. "All this depends on
completing an agreement with a sponsor. Nothing is done yet,
but things are progressing." The going rate to sponsor a
competitive team in the Busch Series is $4 million to $5
million a year. The top-tier teams in Winston Cup receive
sponsorships from $12 million to $15 million.
Dallas Morning News
7/8/03
Bid
launched to save Rio track. Will CART ever return? UPDATE
Rio has entered the race to host the 2012 Olympic Games after
it beat off the challenge from Sao Paulo to become Brazil's
official candidate - and now bids to become the first South
American city to host the event. Rio joins a powerful lineup
of serious contenders for the event which already includes New
York, Moscow, London, Paris, Madrid, Leipzig and Havana. We
hear the Olympic bid will include the use of the
revitalized race track area that is also planned to be used to
host the 2007 Pan-American games. Chris Pook and David
Clare said they want to race in urban areas. Well here
is a track that has both an oval and a road course in an urban
area. AR1 is of the opinion that Emerson Fittipaldi and CART
should work toward getting the race back at this facility
rather than on a street circuit, especially if there are plans
to upgrade the surrounding area to host the games. As can be
seen in these photos, upper left and right, the race was a sellout the
last time CART raced at the track in 2000. 4/29/03
-
According to Autosport, fears that the Rio Jacarepagua circuit
will be lost to a housing development have been alleviated
following moves by the country's motorsport federation.
The Pan-American Federation Games, which are due to take place
in Rio in 2007, will now be held at the track, and the area
around the circuit will be developed with new buildings,
making it more attractive as a motor racing venue. CART
had a sellout crowd the last time it raced there. The
plan was to race on the road course in 2001 when the race was
cancelled. We believe the road course would attract even
more fans because Brazilian fans are road racing fans, first
and foremost.
7/8/03 Industry News
Ecclestone to sell home for
record amount Bernie Ecclestone is selling his
London home for a world record-breaking $140 million. The
72-year-old billionaire Formula One tycoon has not spent a
single night in the property since buying it 18 months ago for
$106 million. But now he is set to make a $34 million profit
on the home - two former embassy buildings in Kensington put
together - which will become the most expensive residence in
the world. The previous owner, Nasser David Khalili, bought it
for $65 million in 1995 and spent millions refurbishing the
place. Marble from the same quarry as the Taj Mahal was used
to fit it out with Turkish baths, a 115ft swimming pool, a
gym, a hair salon, a ballroom, an oak- panelled picture
gallery and parking space for 20 cars. There are also 12
massive bedrooms and a cinema room. Ecclestone - who is worth
$3.85 billion and is Britain's fifth richest person - bought
the houses in February 2002. A source said: "Bernie hasn't
spent one night in the house. He lives in a house in Chelsea
with his wife and kids. "It was obviously just an investment
to him rather than a home. It's stunning but isn't a cozy
family place." The $34 million profit can be used to buy his
share of CART should he choose to.
7/8/03
Ticket sales for British GP
70,000 tickets have been sold so far for this year's British
GP at Silverstone, up from last year when ticket sales were
capped due to inadequate parking facilities, but down from the
90,000 the promoter was hoping for. At $170 a pop, do
you wonder why?
7/8/03
Can Miami be lighted?
A reader writes, Dear AutoRacing1.com, I read Mark Cipolloni's
interview with David
Clare where he asked if the Miami race could be a night race. He
said he had not thought of it. After sitting in that heat last
year and leaving early because I just could not take it anymore, I beg
for CART to do that. Jeff Simmons, Orlando, FL.
Dear Jeff, Lighting a street circuit presents issues with shadows
because of the fencing, trees, buildings, etc. in close proximity to
the racing surface. We do agree with you that last year's heat
was unbearable and had a very negative impact on attendance.
CART either needs to move this race into a cooler month like November
(as the last race of the year) as previously mentioned by Chris Pook,
or it needs to be made a night race. Miami certainly is a "night
party" kind of town, so a night race would become an instant success.
The lights could be mounted on trucks, like it was done in Milwaukee
and Cleveland, and/or on top of buildings. Because Miami is run
in a very confined area, they won't require as many lighting trucks as
Cleveland, but they will require strategic placement of more smaller
lights to light the shadow areas. The Miami track is landlocked
right now, so there isn't room for many more grandstands to help pay
for the added lighting costs ($350,000 for Cleveland). However,
see our rumors page regarding grandstand seating for Miami.
Mark C.
Brands Hatch could be plowed under for
housing
This Yahoo Sports article
says, As had been predicted when the Kent circuit was put up for sale
by current owner Octagon Motorsport, Brands Hatch has already become a
target for property developers eager to get their hands on a prime
piece of southern English real estate. With the clamor for housing in
the south-east of the country growing, the news that a piece of the
Kent countryside could be up for grabs ignited interest among
residential and leisure developers over the weekend, with appointed
sales company Jones Lang LaSalle reporting a number of enquiries about
the proposed sell-off. Brands Hatch is just one of four Octagon-owned
circuits up for sale, along with Snetterton, Cadwell Park and Oulton
Park and, although Jones Lang LaSalle hopes that all four can be sold
as a going concern to a buyer interested in keeping them active as
race venues, it is also resigned to the fact that each will attract
individual interest from developers. Brands itself is expected to
fetch around £35million, with a £70million price tag being
attached to the four circuits combined. According to Britain's Daily
Telegraph newspaper, the national motorsport body is keen to ensure
that each circuit is retained for racing use, but admits that it is
powerless to prevent them falling into 'the wrong hands'. "We hope any
buyer has the long-term future of British motorsport in mind, but it's
very difficult for us to do anything if they do not," the Motorsport
Association's Colin Hilton confessed, "The sale of the circuits is a
commercial deal and we have no immediate authority to intervene."
Hilton revealed that there is at least one ray of hope for British
race fans, with bids for Brands Hatch, at least, expected to come from
pro-racing parties. "We are supporting a bid from one of the major
clubs in Britain - not financially, but vocally - and I hope that
would give more credibility to that bid," he told the newspaper. "We
are concerned that the circuit should remain in use for British
motorsport and, from what we have been told, that is the aim." Brands
Hatch, like Oulton Park and Snetterton, regularly plays host
to the premier British Touring Car, Formula Three and GT series, but also
hosts international events such as the World Superbike Championship
and, as of this year, the CART Champ Car World Series.
7/8/03
2004 USGP date could changeUPDATE
This RPM.ESPN.com article
says the date would probably be June 20, 2004, though a season
finale
in October is also possible. Tony George does not want that
late a date
because of potentially cold weather in Indy. 7/7/03 -
This IndyStar.com
article says that the annual Formula One race date at the
Indianapolis Motor Speedway could be changed for 2004, a spokesman for
the track confirmed Monday. The fifth U.S. Grand Prix might be held in
June or early July, or perhaps even in October, according to Fred
Nation, executive vice president of communications. The first four
events at the Speedway, including this year’s race on Sept. 28, have
been held the last weekend of September. Nation said notification from
F-1 will come by the end of the month. It is also possible the
Speedway will retain its normal date, he said. “There have been some
discussions with Formula One to this point as to what we’re going to
do,” Nation said. “Nothing has been decided.” The discussions have
been between track president Tony George and F-1 chief Bernie
Ecclestone, Nation said. Neither George nor Ecclestone could be
reached for comment Monday. There is no questioning the continuation
of the event in 2004, Nation said. The two parties have a contract
that has not been made public. A separate contract is signed
annually
with the specifics of each race, including the date. That has not been
signed yet, he said. F-1 typically releases the next year’s schedule
in tentative form in August. The final schedule is approved by the
sport’s governing body in the fall. The Speedway has long preferred
the September date to provide spacing between the Indianapolis 500,
held in late May, and the Brickyard 400, which has had an early-August
slot on NASCAR’s schedule since 1994. “The two issues are proximity to
our other races and turnaround time (of facilities),” Nation said.
“But there also is merit to having two North American races together
on the schedule for the sake of momentum, to having the race during
summer vacations and avoiding the football seasons.” F-1 traditionally
stages its race in Montreal in mid-June. The Speedway’s race could
slot in behind Montreal’s. The uncertainty is likely one of the
reasons Indy Racing League officials do not expect to announce their
2004 schedule until August.
7/7/03
Reader
questions Kansas attendance figure
Dear AR1, I must question that the 80,000 fan figure posted in
the "Were Kansas fans, fans of the IRL?" article is a stretch. I have
season tickets around the start finish line and there were quite a few
empty seats around me and throughout the track. Maybe they decided to
stand in the shade under the stands all day. In my opinion, the NASCAR
Craftsman Truck race had many more fans than the IRL race. Plus many
fans left early including myself. After several cars went behind the
wall the race was fairly boring. The cars got stretched out and it
became
follow
the leader. I was impressed with Tomas Scheckter. He was making his
way back to the front before he had mechanical problems. I thought he
did an excellent job. In closing, the attendance at the
IRL is not a reflection of interest in the IRL. Fans like myself
attend the race because we don't want to waste our tickets since we
are forced to buy them to get a Winston Cup ticket. I know several of
my fellow season ticket holders give their IRL tickets away. Since the
Ford F-150 is made in KC there is affection towards the truck race and
it is well attended. Stuart Tiller, Omaha, Nebraska Dear
Stuart, The two photos we included do show a fair amount of holes for
the IRL race, so yes, you are correct that there were not 80,000 in
attendance. However, it was a healthy crowd and we are sure the
IRL was quite pleased with it. Mark C. Photo Credit
(Top right - IMS/ Ron McQueeney, bottom left - Toyota)
7/7/03
Cleveland feedback
A reader writes, Dear AutoRacing1.com, All the articles on
Cleveland are correct. The crowd was very large. The paddock and the
stands were both crowded. At the end of the night when Bourdais,
Tracy, and Junqueira were in victory lane they were greeted by many
people offering enthusiastic applause. Cleveland is one of the few
places where fans can be part of the victory celebration. There were
lots of people wearing Champ Car shirts and hats which was great to
see. A great night under the lights! Chris Silhavey Stratford, CT
Another reader writes, Dear AR1, Congrats to CART on a great race from
Cleveland. Watching from England on British Eurosport, there was a
miracle! British Eurosport showed the whole race, at the advertised
time, and had Jeremy Edwards and Stephen Cox for commentary, AND the
coverage commenced before the start of the race, showed post-race
interviews and podium celebrations, and looked forward to Toronto,
with drivers commenting on that circuit and the city. If they carry on
like this, people might start watching! Alright, it was at 1:30 am
Sunday local time, so they could not delay coverage with a live
Under-21 Japan vs. Burkina Faso soccer match even if they wanted to,
but if they keep this up they might even build an audience. How about
Eurosport showing Champ Cars in their monthly preview trailers from
now on? Maybe those Eurosport executives at Cleveland have seen the
light, even if Musco had to bring 21 towers to ram it home. Ed
McFarlane, Goadby, England Dear Ed, In Cleveland on Saturday
Chris Pook had a very good meeting with the folks from Eurosport, or
so he said to David Clare and me right after the meeting. It
sounded like there are bigger and better things planned from
Eurosport. Hopefully that means live coverage in England like
they provide in the rest of Europe. If the Bernie Ecclestone rumors
turn out to be true, one can bet he will help to ensure CART gets
proper TV coverage worldwide. Mark C.
7/7/03
NASCAR junk almost killed spectator
This Orlando Sentinel
article talks about the hood that flew into the grandstands at
Daytona this past weekend from the car of Robby Gordon, a car that had
major damage from a crash, but was allowed back onto the track to
drone around and collect points. This incident may finally put a
stop to NASCAR allowing wrecked cars back out on the track when torn
up bad.
7/7/03
Silverstone investment wasted says
Bernie Bernie Ecclestone has recently invested $30
million of his own money in improvements to the Silverstone circuit,
but he is disappointed with the way in which the money, and the BRDC's
own significant funding, has been spent. "I signed up for the vision
of a new pit complex at Stowe corner," Ecclestone said, "and instead
the money has been spent on a car park for maybe 5,000 cars when one
for 20,000 is needed. I understand that BRDC members have somewhere
nice to put their cars, though." Baiting Silverstone and the BRDC has
become something of a sport in recent years for Ecclestone, who has
been highly critical of circuit access and the manner in which the
BRDC has run its race. He has often been accused of trying to
destabilise the situation in an attempt to gain control himself. It
has also been pointed out to him that circuits in other countries,
such as Brazil's Interlagos, have lam-entable facilities in comparison
with Silverstone, the self-styled home of British motorsport. "That's
right," Ecclestone responds. "The facilities in Brazil are terrible.
But I want to be able to bring people to Silverstone who want to run
their own race in their own country, and say to them: 'This is what
you should aspire to.' How can I do that now?"
The Independent
7/7/03
Giaffone injured in IRL crash, surgery
successful2nd UPDATE
Giaffone, injured in a crash during Sunday’s Kansas Indy 300 at Kansas
Speedway, is in good condition following surgery on his right leg
today at Methodist Hospital in Indianapolis, according to Dr. Henry
Bock, director of medical services for the IRL IndyCar Series.
Giaffone suffered a fractured right femur and pelvis during the Lap 56
accident that also involved the car of Dan Wheldon. Wheldon was unhurt
in the incident. The surgery, performed by Dr. Kevin Scheid,
orthopedic surgeon at Orthopedics Indianapolis (and as we understand
it, CART's Dr. Terry Trammell, who was not mentioned in this IRL press
release), lasted approximately three hours and went exceptionally
well, according to Bock. He anticipates Giaffone to remain at
Methodist Hospital through the end of the week. “The surgery went
extremely well,” Bock said. “Once we see how the rest of the week
goes, as well as the ensuing rehabilitation period, then we can make
some judgment as to how long until Felipe returns to the race car.”
Further updates on Giaffone’s condition will be provided when
available. The hospital address where Giaffone is expected to remain
through the week:
Methodist Hospital
1701 North Senate Boulevard
Indianapolis, IN 46202
Get-well wishes can also be directed to:
Mo Nunn Racing
2920 Fortune Circle West
Indianapolis, IN 46241
317-487-8450 phone
317-487-8451 fax info@monunnracing.com
7/7/03 -
Felipe Giaffone was to undergo surgery at Methodist Hospital
in Indianapolis today to address injuries suffered in Sunday's
race in Kansas City, Kan. Giaffone was held at KU Medical
Center in Kansas City on Sunday night and was transferred to
Indianapolis by private aircraft this morning. He was to
arrive at Methodist about 10 a.m. for surgery with CART's Dr.
Terry Trammell, who specializes in open wheel driver injuries. Laz
Denes, a spokesman for Mo Nunn Racing, said Giaffone was "in
relatively good spirits" Sunday evening, but he was in a lot
of pain. No information on Giaffone's replacement in the final
eight IRL races of the season is expected before Tuesday,
Denes said. Alex Barron drove a third car for the team in the
Indianapolis 500 and finished sixth. Barron also won last
year's IRL race in Nashville, the next stop on the IRL's
schedule. That race is July 19.
IndyStar.com7/6/03 -
IRL driver Felipe Giaffone was seriously injured in Sunday's race at
Kansas Speedway when he crashed hard into the concrete wall after
making contact with Dan Wheldon. Giaffone broke his pelvis and
his right thigh (both extremely painful injuries) and had to be cut from his car after the crash and was
airlifted to KU Med Center. He was conscious and alert, according to a
statement released by the hospital. The oval track carnage
continues. We have updated our Indy Car injury stat table which
shows an IRL driver is 428% more likely to be injured than a CART
driver in any given race. At this point we are beginning to feel
very sorry for the poor IRL drivers.
7/7/03
Bahrain 30% complete and on
schedule Bahrain’s plans to host the first
ever Arab Formula One (F1) Grand Prix in April 2004 are on
track and running smoothly, according to the head of the
organizing committee. “Thirty percent of the construction has
been completed, placing the circuit development 3 percent
ahead of the planned 485-day construction schedule,” Sheikh
Fawaz bin Mohammed al-Khalifa, president of the General
Organization of Youth and Sport of the Kingdom of Bahrain and
of the Bahrain Racing Circuit Company, told a news conference
Thursday at Beirut’s Phoenicia Inter-Continental Hotel.
The Bahrain racing circuit is expected to become operational
by the end of this year, subject to Federation International
d’Automobile (FIA) certification.
7/7/03
Were Kansas fans, fans of the
IRL? The day broke hot. Really hot. Hot enough
that lines to refill water bottles were consistently longer
than lines for beer, and shirts quickly became something you
kept on if only absolutely necessary. However, that didn't
stop about 80,000 people from pouring through the gates at
Kansas Speedway to watch Sunday's IRL Kansas Indy 300. But did
they come to hang out -- or to actually watch a race? "I think
most people are out here just because they have to if they
want NASCAR tickets," said Tony Davidson of Kansas City, Kan.,
as he refreshed himself by downing a 24-ounce can of beer.
"That's why I'm here. Coming out here is like taking your
girlfriend to the ballet. You don't want to, but you know you
have to, to get what you want." Tickets to Sunday's IRL race
are included in a two-weekend, five-race Kansas Speedway RPM
package that includes the NASCAR Craftsman Trucks, Indy Racing
League and Infiniti Pro Series on July 5-6; and the mother of
all Kansas City racing weekends, the NASCAR Busch and Winston
Cup races on Oct. 4-5. Of course, even though fans had to buy
the package that included the IRL race, no one was really
forcing them to show up. It was hardly scientific, but a
random sampling of fans in the infield and grandstands gave
the impression that the majority of Sunday's crowd either
received free tickets from someone else or bought a
season-ticket package because they are Winston Cup fans.
Kansas City Star
7/7/03
Clarence Cagle diesClarence
Cagle, who helped save the Indianapolis Motor Speedway from
oblivion after World War II and served as track superintendent
for 30 years, died July 5 in Daytona Beach, Fla. He was 88.
A memorial service will take place at 3 p.m. (EDT) Friday in
the Ormond Funeral Home, 733 W. Granada Blvd., Ormond Beach,
Fla. 32174. A memorial service will take place in Indianapolis
later this summer on a date to be announced.Full story
7/7/03
Owners give Tracy green light
The owners of Player's/ Forsythe Racing are not about to muzzle
Toronto's Paul Tracy in the wake of a pit lane run-in with CART
Champ Car CEO Chris Pook. Bob Bexon, Player's boss, and his partner
Gerry Forsythe both said yesterday that they have absolutely no
plans to curtail Tracy's colorful character. In an incident reported
in The Toronto Sun, Pook confronted Tracy on Thursday just after the
Scarborough native had captured the provisional pole for Saturday's
Cleveland Grand Prix. Tracy had been involved in an on-track
incident with Team Rahal driver Michel Jourdain, with the Mexican
driver accusing Tracy of blocking. Tracy, according to witnesses,
flipped Jourdain the bird -- an act that was witnessed by Pook.
According to sources Pook sought to discuss the incident with Tracy
before Player's/ Forsythe team members intervened. Michael Bonelli,
an executive with Player's, met with Pook late Friday and said
afterward the situation had been resolved satisfactorily. A CART
official, contacted by The Sun, said only that the meeting had been
previously scheduled and that Pook would have no comment on its
content. But it's understood that the CART boss got his knuckles
rapped by Player's/Forsythe officials for his serious breach of
protocol. "I'm ecstatic with what Paul brings to this team,"
Forsythe said. "There's no way we would even try to change anything
about him." Forsythe said he spent a lot of years trying to entice
Tracy to drive for the team and he knew what he was getting when the
contract was signed. "He's paid to drive a race car and he does that
quite well," Forsythe said. "He may not be the most popular one out
here with some of the drivers but that's too bad."
Toronto Sun
7/7/03
Player's to announce future
involvement in racing
Bob Bexon, President and CEO of Imperial Tobacco Canada
Limited, will hold a press conference on Thursday where an important
announcement regarding the future of the company’s sponsorship of
auto racing activities will be made. On this occasion, Mr. Bexon
will be joined by Team Player’s co-owner, Gerald Forsythe, along
with past and present Player’s-sponsored drivers, including Paul
Tracy, Patrick Carpentier, Alex Tagliani, David Empringham, Claude
Bourbonnais, Lee Bentham, Andrew Bordin, David Rutledge,
Jean-François Dumoulin, Rob MacDonald, Marc-Antoine Camirand and
Aaron Povoledo, to celebrate the achievements of the Player’s Racing
Program, a tradition of excellence which dates back to 1961.
7/7/03
Yoong welcomes mediation offer
In response to the Malaysian Minister of Youth and Sports'
request to all parties in the Minardi-sponsors-Alex Yoong
disputes to settle the issues early and his offer to act as
the mediator, Yoong said, "It is a very welcomed offer as this
can only be good for all parties. I am all for settling the
issues early and I hope that the Minister's offer will also be
equally well received by all parties involved." Yoong
clarified that he had not decided to sue Minardi, "I was under
an advisement from my lawyer earlier this year to consider
legal action but that was when Minardi was in dire straits.
That was before the Canada GP and now it is different. I had
not decided to sue Minardi then and now with Minardi saved we
should accept the Minister's mediation offer as a settlement
will benefit all parties." In the same Malaysian media reports
last week, the Minister also cleared the GO-KL consortium and
Magnum as definitely not the defaulting Malaysian sponsors
referred to by Paul Stoddart. Yoong revealed that Pan Global
Insurance is also not a defaulting Malaysian sponsor, saying,
"I like to also clarify that my long time personal sponsor
since my F3 days and Minardi's 2002 sponsor, Pan Global
Insurance, is also not one of the Malaysian companies
mentioned by Paul as having defaulted. Pan Global and Magnum
had been impeccable Minardi sponsors, in my view, and I'm sure
this is also Paul's view."
7/7/03
Nighttime proves the right time
To say CART and race officials were giddy over the first night road
race in Cleveland only touches the surface of their excitement. Both a
series trying to regain its sea legs and a 22-year event in need of some
spice came out the better for it. "We changed the whole face of the event,"
CART President Chris Pook said. "There was definitely energy around here."
The attendance for the race was 58,471. The attendance for the weekend was
112,232. Many were surprised by the announced numbers in that they were a
negligible gain over the weekend total of 111,438 announced last year, when
attendance and interest was said to be dwindling......"All I know is the
lines were long and the place was crowded," Pook said. "We've hit on
something that works," said Adam Saal, vice president of communications for
Championship Auto Racing Teams following Saturday's U.S. Bank Presents the
Cleveland Grand Prix. "We are very encouraged by this. We could have crested
at better than 125,000 with great weather." A lot of that feeling of
euphoria extends to what is happening with the series behind the scenes.
Rumors of a pending sale of CART to Formula One czar Bernie Ecclestone were
so strong that there were unfounded reports of sightings of Ecclestone in
Cleveland. Pook did say two top executives from Euro-Sport TV were in
Cleveland and were quite impressed. Pook said the European equivalent of
ESPN televised the race live in Europe, Mexico and Brazil. Night racing,
tried earlier this season in Milwaukee on an oval, is considered a success,
just as it has been for NASCAR and the Indy Racing League. "At both
Milwaukee and Cleveland, we clearly had much bigger crowds," Pook said. "Our
sponsors are loving it.".....One area where the Cleveland race continues to
be strong, Pook said, is with grassroots race fans. "Race fans seem to have
a real passion for this particular race," Pook said. "There are people who
come to this race who probably do not go to any other." But the bottom line
is Cleveland appears to be a fixture again on the CART schedule. "Cleveland
is an important market for us," he said. "This is a big part of our urban
market strategy. The Fourth of July works for us. We've just got to figure
out the weather around here."
Cleveland Plain Dealer
Breaking News from the Magny-Cours
paddock - 1 Minardi
boss Paul Stoddart has seemingly eased a threat to protest the
legality of the entire Formula One field at Silverstone.
Threat Eased All team bosses met in France on Sunday before the race at Magny-Cours
and Stoddart later insisted that 'progress has been made.'
He added: 'If we can find an agreement over the next few days we can
do the [regulations] amendment and it can be in place by Silverstone.'
Sunday Qualifying Further changes to the F1 weekend were also mooted at the meeting; a
proposal featuring Sunday qualifying was one, according to pitlane
sources.
Bridgestone knows it has got to up its game to Michelin - and fast.
Learn From Defeat Technical manager Hisao Suganuma says the Japanese marque will learn
from dominant defeat in the French Grand Prix.
He said: 'I am sure the loss of this race will serve only to inspire
us to produce better and faster tires.'
All Bridgestone teams will be in action at Barcelona, Mugello and
Fiorano this week with a 'number of development specifications.'
No Ferrari Crisis BMW-Williams closed a gap in the constructor's world championship to
just 3 points to leaders Ferrari on Sunday.
But Michael Schumacher insists that his marque are not in another
'crisis. Of course we are aware of the situation,' he said.
'But I've extended my championship lead over Kimi and I am confident
we can soon put an end to this current run of poor results.'
7/6/03
Breaking News from the Magny-Cours
paddock - 2 Sir
Frank Williams praised his driver Ralf Schumacher for a brilliant
personal performance at Magny-Cours in the face of recent criticism.
Ralf Praised 'I have always had absolute confidence in him,' the team founder said.
'He has become very consistent. Juan was not on his pace today.'
Despite back-to-back 1-2 victories, however, Sir Frank worries that
his Grove ranks will struggle at their home Silverstone event in two
weeks.
Silverstone Struggle 'Silverstone will be very difficult. Ferrari had the advantage in
testing but that was three weeks ago.'
Jordan will unveil a substantial upgrade to their disappointing EJ13
contender at the British Grand Prix.
Jordan Upgrade
Technical director Gary Anderson admits his drivers are really
struggling with grip at present.
'We are all working hard to improve the whole package,' he said.
Ralf Schumacher knows that a title challenge came alive as he closed
the deficit to just eleven points to his brother in rural France on
Sunday.
Title Challenge 'I have waited a long time [to be in a position to win the
championship] and it might be possible this year,' he said.
McLaren chief Ron Dennis slammed errant backmarkers for failing to get
out of the way of his cars on Sunday.
Blue Flags Kimi Raikkonen, in a crucial title points-chase with Michael
Schumacher, reckons he lost a podium position due to marshals who
didn't wave the blue flags.
'It's understandable that when the first five cars are strung out,'
said Dennis, 'that marshals fail to understand exactly which drivers
are in what position.
'Even so it was extremely frustrating for both David and Kimi to lose
so much time when overtaking backmarkers.'
7/6/03
Breaking News from the Magny-Cours
paddock - 3 Paul
Stoddart has floated the idea of staging 'celebrity races' in
two-seater Formula One cars to spice up the GP weekend spectacle.
The Minardi chief, who owns a fleet of such machines, said his idea
was discussed at a team owner's meeting in Magny-Cours.
Celebrity Stars'We are aware that people have not got much to come to on a Sunday,'
said Stoddart, dropping names like Ronaldo and Kylie Minogue.
'But look at the Australian Grand Prix - non-stop action for four
days. We've got to look after the people who pay our bills.'
Michael Schumacher welcomed David Coulthard's admission of fault for a
racing incident that dates back to Belgium, 1998.
Nice Admission
'I'm glad he finally shares the same opinion as me on this incident,'
said the Ferrari star who was enraged by the crash at a sodden Spa
circuit.
'But it happened so long ago that there's no more to say. But it's
nice, nice to hear him admit it.'
Finally, F1 team BAR was made aware of another court action by sponsor
broker PPGI as it tried to leave the Magny-Cours circuit this
afternoon.
BAR Enraged A new statement issued by the UK-based outfit says BAR is 'completely
within its rights ... to remove its cars ... from the circuit.'
BAR and its partners will meet this week to discuss a counter-suit
against PPGI for damage to the team in France plus defamation and
unfounded statements.
7/6/03
100% throttle racing
"We were flat out throughout the race,” de Ferran said after today's
IRL race in Kansas. “My right foot cramps so much. I was trying to
hold the thing (gas) so flat." Amazing!
7/6/03
Road racer Taylor buries oval
short trackers in Kansas
Despite having to start 13th because of a minor infraction of
the IRL rule book that was found during post-qualifying
inspection, road racer Mark Taylor of England won the Infiniti
Pro Series race today over pole sitter Ed Carpenter by 0.1666
sec in another 100% throttle racing side-by-side finish.
Carpenter drivers for AJ Foyt Racing while Mark Taylor drivers
for Panther Racing. Tom Wood tied a career best by
finishing 3rd. Rookie Taylor averaged 151.988 mph for
his series leading third win of the season. It was the
longest climb (13th to 1st) to victory in the Infiniti Pro
Series history, a one year old series.
7/6/03
Brands Hatch for sale
According to Britain's The Sunday Telegraph newspaper,
American advertising giant Interpublic (owner of troubled
Octagon Motorsports) has put the Brands Hatch, Snetterton,
Oulton Park and Cadwell Park race tracks up for sale. They will
be sold as a block or individually. What affect, if any, this will
have on CART's race at Brands Hatch, remains to be seen, but our guess is
that Bernie Ecclestone will buy the track and make the necessary
improvements to the garages and to the long circuit so that CART can hold a
proper motor race there, rather than a follow-the-leader parade on the
Mickey Mouse short track like we saw this year. Many fans left the race
early because they were not interested in
watching a parade. Mark C.
7/6/03
AT&T can sponsor #49
Car owner Beth Ann Morganthau learned that AT&T will be
allowed to sponsor her #49 Dodge next year. The new title
sponsorship contract with Nextel prohibits other
telecommunications companies from coming into the sport, but
NASCAR agreed since AT&T had been a part-time sponsor this
year for Morganthau's BAM Racing, it could return.
Florida Times Union
7/6/03
More from the Magny-Cours
paddock This
morning the main topic of conversation has been a meeting of
the team principals, intended to facilitate agreement over the
rules that will govern the sport at the British Grand Prix in
two week’s time. That was the race at which driver aids such
as traction control and launch control were to have become
banned. A postponement until 2004 had been agreed, but was
recently thrown into doubt when Minardi owner Paul Stoddart
withdrew his vote in Canada. It is believed that the meeting
went some way towards finding a suitable solution.
7/6/03
Pook says Penske reading old
newspapers With regard to the recent Penske comments
about CART dying in NSSN - Penske, who now has his racing team
in the Indy Racing League, says CART, the racing series he
helped establish, is fading fast. But Chris Pook, current
president and CEO for CART yesterday took exception to what
the 12-time Indianapolis 500 winning team owner supposedly
said. "He's either reading old newspapers or he's out to
lunch," Pook said. Pook also said one team formerly in CART
now racing in the IRL is looking at a return to this series.
While there are at least a half-dozen IRL teams with CART
ties, including teams owned by Chip Ganassi, Michael Andretti
and Penske, Pook said the only one looking at making a move
back "is about the only one we'd want back." We believe Chris
was referring to Mo Nunn Racing.
7/6/03
Tony Stewart ready for HANS
Device
Tony Stewart is about to start wearing a HANS device
while racing. Stewart was the last Winston Cup holdout before
NASCAR made it mandatory in October 2001 for drivers to wear
head and neck restraints in the aftermath of Dale Earnhardt
Sr.'s death from head injuries in 2001. Because he is
claustrophobic, Stewart chose to wear the less-constrictive
Hutchens Device, which uses belts and straps, rather than the
Head And Neck Support, a collar that restricts mobility. But
that is about to change. ``We're still wearing the Hutchens,''
Stewart said. ``But we recently have been working with the
HANS device at test sessions, trying to get more comfortable
with it. Test results that we've seen have shown a pretty big
discrepancy as far as HANS vs. Hutchens.'' The biggest problem
in the switch remains comfort. ``We're trying to see what we
can do to make it comfortable to wear,'' Stewart said. ``Kind
of the same things we had to do with the Hutchens. It took
time to get comfortable with it. We're taking the opportunity
during test sessions to try to fabricate cars with the HANS
device and trying to make it more comfortable for me.''
Tampa Tribune
7/6/03
Hood flies into Daytona
grandstands
One person was injured when the hood from Robby
Gordon's car flew into the Daytona International Speedway
grandstands late in the Pepsi 400 on Saturday night. Gordon's
car had been damaged in a wreck earlier in the race, but his
team was able to make enough repairs to get him back on the
track. With four laps left in the race, the hood sailed off
the car and hit a woman in the frontstretch grandstands.
Although she waved to the crowd to signal she was OK, she was
transported to Halifax Medical Center to be treated. Daytona
officials had no further information on her condition and her
name was not released. Gordon's car sat in the garage area
after the race under a car cover and NASCAR officials had
started an investigation to determine how the hood came off.
AP
7/6/03
Andretti still wants CART/IRL
merger This AP
article says, Mario Andretti thinks CART can one day
get back up to speed. As usual, the always outspoken Andretti
has some pointed views on the troubled racing series, which
has lost sponsors, teams and fans in the past few years. Last
month, CART, a publicly traded company, hired Wall Street
investment firm Bear Stearns to help with its restructuring
while exploring the possibility of selling the series.
Andretti, one of racing's best ambassadors, is confident CART
will survive, and he can foresee a day when it will merge with
the IRL. "I feel damn good about it," he said where CART is
headed. "There are a lot of things that are happening. I'm
hearing good things about the series -- a title sponsor,
things like that. "I'm still bullish about it, and I don't
think I'm wrong." Andretti, who will step down from CART's
board of directors in two weeks to become the series'
spokesperson, feels the best way to get open-wheel racing to
catch up with NASCAR's popularity is for CART and IRL to work
out their differences. "I haven't given up the idea of
bringing the two series together," he said. "I might make
enough noise that they'll start talking. Both series have
assets and we need to bring them together." CART's steady
decline and the sagging state of open-wheel racing in the U.S.
has Andretti concerned. But he remains convinced better days
are ahead. "It's been totally undervalued, and I don't like
that," he said. "We need to bring it back to where it used to
be." [Editor's note: From what we have heard is coming
down in CART, there won't be a merger, nor will CART need
one].
Word from the Magny-Cours
paddock Word In
The Magny-Cours Paddock: Sunday BMW director MARIO THEISSEN
talked up the Williams FW25's vastly improved aerodynamics, so
criticized since the start of '03, in France.
Improved Aero 'Here in France, the aerodynamics
play an essential role so it's obvious the team has made
enormous progress during the last few weeks.' Ralf
Schumacher has pole while team-mate Juan Pablo Montoya is
second for today's French Grand Prix. Tires Blamed
PETER SAUBER blamed poor Bridgestone tires for burying
his German racers down in 15th and 16th places for today's 70
lap race. 'We are not happy with these positions, that's
for sure,' said the Swiss principal. 'The clear
difference to the first half of the table is a matter of
tires, rather than the performance of the car itself.'
Different Strategy Toyota's manager of car
design KEIZO TAKAHASHI confirmed speculation that Olivier
Panis (10th) and Cristiano Da Matta (13th) are on different
strategies. 'Yes,' he said, 'and we hope this will allow
us to fight for points.' Ferrari Behind Scuderia
Ferrari technical director ROSS BRAWN admits that Ferrari have
a lot of work to do to curb a now-clear gap to the
BMW-Williams-Michelin package. 'We know what we have to
do to improve,' he insisted, 'and we will be working flat out,
along with our technical partners including Bridgestone.'
Euphoria Ends PAUL STODDART knew
that the euphoria of provisional pole on Friday wouldn't
continue into the dry Final Qualifying session at Magny-Cours.
He said of Jos Verstappen's 19th, and Justin Wilson's 20th:
'Whatever happens, no one can take those magic moments away
from us when we were P1 and almost P2. 'But rather than
being sad,' concluded the Minardi boss, 'we're upbeat that
we're only a few tenths off the Jordan on the grid today.'
7/6/03
Taylor fails inspection,
Carpenter on pole in Pro race Ed Carpenter was
awarded the pole for the Aventis Racing For Kids 100 after
Panther Racing, which fields the car driven by series points
leader Mark Taylor, was penalized July 5 after failing a
post-qualifying technical inspection. Freedom 100 winner
Carpenter will start from the pole after a qualifying lap of
29.9746 seconds, 182.555 mph in the No. 14 Futaba/Delphi/A.J.
Foyt Racing Dallara/Infiniti/Firestone. It is his second pole
of the season. He won the Freedom 100 from the pole in May at
the Indianapolis Motor Speedway. Carpenter’s lap was a series
record for the 1.5-mile oval, as the Infiniti Pro Series marks
its first anniversary as the Indy Racing League’s official
development series. Rookie Taylor appeared to earn his second
pole of the season with a top lap of 29.9444, 182.739 in the
No. 4 Fulmar Panther Dallara/Infiniti/Firestone. Pursuant to
Appendix B – Technical Specifications, Rule 100 (B) of the IRL
Infiniti Pro Series Rule Book, Taylor’s No. 4 Fulmar Panther
Dallara/Infiniti/Firestone failed post-qualifying technical
inspection and had its time disqualified, moving Taylor to the
back of the starting field, said Roger Bailey, Infiniti Pro
Series executive director. Taylor may appeal the imposition of
the penalty within the time and in the manner prescribed in
Section 12.1 of the Rule Book. An appeal may result in an
increase, decrease or no change to the penalty.
7/6/03
Class warfare breaks out in the
IRL
Looking at the grid in
Kansas, it's clear there are three classes in the IRL.
The Toyota class, or upper class, at the top of the grid.
The Honda class, or middle class, in the middle of the grid,
and the Chevy class, or lower class, at the back of the grid.
There are a couple of Honda drivers mixed in with the Toyotas
but for the most part, that's the way the three classes stack
up. As we have stated on numerous occasions, on 100%
throttle race tracks the only thing that matters is
horsepower.
7/6/03
Japanese vs. Americans
Qualifying for Sunday's IRL race saw the Chevy teams all at
the back of the grid in 17th to 22nd place. As expected A.J. Foyt IV is the slowest Japanese powered car in 16th place
and Sarah Fisher is the slowest of all drivers, starting dead
last in 22nd. Fisher appears to have lost all confidence
after starting in the front row last weekend in Richmond and
then dropping back rapidly through the field once the green
flag dropped as she has done on numerous occasions.
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
Jordan
lands Piaggio Jordan has concluded an agreement with
Piaggio which makes the UK’s scooter market leader the
Official Scooter Supplier to the Jordan Ford team for the 2003
season. As part of the agreement, secured by Jordan’s
licensing agency Copyright Promotions Licensing Group, Piaggio
will produce a special edition Piaggio NRG MC3 sport scooter
for Jordan and 400 special edition Jordan NRG scooters will be
made available in July from Piaggio dealerships across the UK.
The power and performance of the NRG, not to mention the
racing elements featured in its design, make it a perfect
match for the high profile and colorful Jordan team, and
their drivers, the Italian superstar Giancarlo Fisichella and
British newcomer Ralph Firman. Commenting on the agreement,
Mike Hall-Taylor, Head of Jordan Brand Ltd., said, “The racing
heritage of the Piaggio owned Gilera brand and unrivalled
performance of Piaggio scooters creates an ideal platform for
both Jordan and Piaggio to complement our respective business
activities. We look forward to developing the relationship and
a successful launch of the limited edition Jordan/Piaggio NRG
scooter.”
Much
More...click on 2002 archives button below
