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Denver: Dover and OWRS
make it official Dover Motorsports, Inc. (NYSE: DVD - News)
today announced that its wholly owned subsidiary, Grand Prix Association of
Long Beach, Inc. ("Grand Prix"), has reached an agreement with Open Wheel
Racing Series, LLC ("OWRS"), the successor to CART, Inc. and owner of the
Champ Car World Series, to transfer to OWRS certain assets and rights that
Grand Prix has relative to the organization and promotion of the Grand Prix of
Denver, subject to certain conditions and approvals. Grand Prix has a
multi-year agreement with the City of Denver pursuant to which it is entitled
to stage an annual auto racing event in and around the PepsiCenter in Denver.
Grand Prix has assigned to OWRS its rights in its agreement with the City,
subject to the consent of the City. Economic terms were not disclosed.
3/25/04
Olympian hurls allegations at
VilleneuveUPDATE This Canada.com
article says that Jacques Villeneuve didn't receive $12
million US under the federal sponsorship program, the driver's camp
said Thursday. "It's all false," said Barbara Pollock, wife of Craig
Pollock, who represents Villeneuve. "I don't know who invented it."
She defended the integrity of Villeneuve and her husband. "They have
never negotiated any deal with the Canadian government and have never
received any funds from the Canadian government," she said in an
interview from Villars, Switzerland. Former Olympic gold medalist
Myriam Bedard made the allegation when she testified Wednesday at the
Commons public accounts committee, which is looking into the
sponsorship scandal. Craig Pollock, couldn't be reached for comment
Thursday. Bedard cited her agent, Jean-Marc St-Pierre, as the source
of her "top secret" information about Villeneuve but admitted she
couldn't confirm if it were true. St-Pierre has denied telling her any
such thing. Barbara Pollock said Villeneuve is at a ski resort so may
not have heard about Bedard's allegations. "As far as I'm aware he
probably has not put on the TV or picked up the phone."
More.....3/24/04 - Former Olympian Myriam Bedard made some startling allegations in
regard to the federal sponsorship scandal Wednesday, including that
she heard Jacques Villeneuve was secretly paid $12 million US to wear
the Canada logo on his racing suit. Bedard, who was appearing before a
Commons committee probing the sponsorship scandal, also said she had
been told that Groupaction - one of the ad companies at the heart of
the scandal - was involved in drug dealing. Canadian Press
3/25/04
Overheard
at Sebring Herdez guys said they never stopped working since
they got back from Australia except for the holidays... had more work then
previous 'off-seasons'. Expanded the shop by 60% and never had any doubt
that there would not be 2004 Champ Car season or at least the team management
never indicated that they may be considering alternate plans.........Word at
Sebring is that there is a shortage of Lola chassis and one of the reasons is
that Team Rahal and Fernández Racing's Lola chassis (and all the bits that go
with it like the gearbox, etc.) were acquired by Honda so as to prevent
other Champ Car teams from using them. Honda claims they are for their museum.
Eric Bachelart confirmed the shortage on today's teleconference when he said
he has to use a Reynard for his 2nd car. We hear six new Lolas are being
ordered from England.......The hot babe crew member with American Spirit team
was seen strapping Ryan Hunter-Reay into the car, much to his delight, we are
sure, is
now with the Herdez team so Ryan can look forward to having the best looking
crew member in
Champ Car. We wonder if he requested that she be employed
there........PKVR has NEXTEL on the sidepods and driver suit and not N1
Holdings (like we saw at Long Beach), though that is on the nose of the car,
however only Gonzalez' car and suit had that, Vasser's suit and sidepods were
blank (where NEXTEL is on the other car) and team members had nice hats that
had NEXTEL Racing embroidered on them.........RuSPORT were very busy working
on the car after today's test session. Did not recognized any of the crew
members, wonder if they are the same guys that ran the Atlantic's team.
No sign of another chassis under their tent however it may have been in the
transporter.........Jourdain Jr. was at the track, dressed in civilian
clothes, very casual, with about a 5 day shadow on his face, talking to Bruno
and Tag and Vasser.......Newman/Haas guys say they know nothing about the
third car, however
they said the same thing about the Dallara in their shop at the end of last
season........Nelson Philippe (left) has tongues wagging. This 17-year
old is plenty fast and he's just a rookie up from Barber Dodge Pro Series.
Everyone wrote him off as a rich kid who bought his way into Champ Car.
His family may be wealthy, but there is no question this guy can wheel a car.
Mark C. (Photos courtesy of Champ Car)
3/25/04
Sophomore Bourdais sets
fast lap
Newman/Haas Racing co-owner Paul Newman came to Sebring International
Raceway to watch the second day of Bridgestone Presents The Champ Car World
Series Powered by Ford testing, and his second-year driver Sebastien Bourdais
(#2 McDonald’s Ford-Cosworth/Lola/Bridgestone) decided to give him something
to watch. Bourdais strapped on a set of new tires in the last hour of
today’s cloudy afternoon session on the 1.2-mile Sebring test course and put
up the best time of the two days, stopping the unofficial clocks at 50.55
seconds. Bourdais was the only driver of the day to break 51 seconds according
to Cosworth Racing engineers, leading a day that saw seven Champ Cars on
track.
The rest of the field picked up speed after two full days of testing, with six
of the seven cars moving into the 51-second bracket. Jimmy Vasser (#12 NII
Holdings Ford-Cosworth/Lola/Bridgestone) and Mario Dominguez (#55 Herdez
Ford-Cosworth/Lola/Bridgestone) each made their first appearance of the test,
putting in laps in advance of the season-opening Toyota Grand Prix of Long
Beach April 16-18.
“It was my first day in the car since Australia last year so I just wanted to
knock the rust off,” Vasser said. “We weren’t going for times, we just wanted
to follow the testing plan. We ran over 100 laps and didn’t have any
mechanical trouble so that’s a plus.”
“We tried a lot of things with the car today, changed a lot of different
combinations and were still able to be fast,” Dominguez said. “I feel very
good about how things are progressing with the team and our testing.”
The Rocketsports squad ran a pair of cars for the second consecutive day, with
Alex Tagliani (#8 Johnson Controls Ford-Cosworth/Lola/Bridgestone) running in
the low 51-second bracket. Rookie Nelson Philippe (#17 Lease Plan
Ford-Cosworth/Lola/Bridgestone) also hit the 51 range for the first time,
before taking the last part of the afternoon off.
“We spent the day throwing a lot of things at the car, running diff tests,
geometry testing, and working on things we need to learn at Long Beach,”
Tagliani said. “We aren’t trying to be the champions of Sebring. We learned a
lot for later on.”
RuSPORT spent the afternoon working on the car under the garage tarp, giving
reigning Toyota Atlantic champion A.J. Allmendinger (RuSPORT
Ford-Cosworth/Lola/Bridgestone) a chance to talk to his engineers
face-to-face. Roberto Gonzalez (#21 NII Holdings
Ford-Cosworth/Lola/Bridgestone) fought painful blisters on his hand to
complete a full day of testing, while also performing some exhibition laps at
the end of the day for a commercial film crew from his native Mexico.
The third and final day of testing will take place at Sebring on Friday.
3/25/04
Thursday
test times from SebringUPDATE We have updated the
chart below with the afternoon times. Bourdais remained fastest with a
50.55 sec lap - tops for the two days so far. Mario Dominguez jumped to
2nd quick. Nelson Philippe gets faster with each session, lowering his
time to 51.5 sec., 9/10th clear of American rookie AJ Allmendinger.
Testing continues Friday. 3/25/04 - Sebastien Bourdais has been consistently fastest all morning,
but the guy that has everyone talking is 17-year old Nelson Philippe
who is just 0.1 sec behind teammate Alex Tagliani and 3rd fast
overall. At right Philippe wheels his LeasePlan Lola around
the short Sebring circuit. Photo courtesy Champ Car.
Wednesday
Thursday
Driver
Team
Morning
Afternoon
Morning
Afternoon
1. Sebastien Bourdais
Newman/Haas
51.7
50.8
51.2
50.55 sec
2. Bruno Junqueira
Newman/Haas
52.3sec
50.8
No Time
No Time
3. Mario Dominguez
Herdez
No Time
No Time
52.0
51.0
4. Ryan Hunter-Reay
Herdez
51.7
51.2
No Time
No Time
4. Alex Tagliani
Rocketsports
51.8
51.5
51.5
51.2
6. Nelson Philippe
Rocketsports
53.0
52.2
51.6
51.5
7. Jimmy Vasser
PKV Racing
No Time
No Time
51.9
51.7
8. AJ Allmendinger
RuSPORT
52.6
52.1
52.6
52.4
9. Roberto Gonzalez
PKV Racing
No Time
Unknown
52.9
52.5
3/25/04
Carpentier
officially joins 3-car Forsythe team
Patrick Carpentier joined the top 20 last season in terms of
career starts made in the Bridgestone Presents The Champ Car World
Series Powered by Ford, and will continue adding to that statistic
as part of a three-car Forsythe Racing squad in 2004. The
French-Canadian pilot was officially named to a third car for
Forsythe Racing yesterday, joining Paul Tracy and Rodolfo Lavin at
the Indianapolis-based team. The effort marks the first full-time
three-car Champ Car team in the last 10 years and gives team owner
Gerald Forsythe a driver lineup with 353 Champ Car starts, 30 wins,
23 poles and 75 podiums to its credit. Carpentier will return for
his eighth Champ Car season and is coming off two of his best years
in the championship. He has won at least one race in each of the
last three seasons, including a win from pole last season at Mazda
Raceway Laguna Seca. Carpentier has ended his season in the top five
in each of the last two years, and helped Forsythe Racing to its
first-ever 1-2 race finish when he placed second to Tracy at
Mid-Ohio last season. Tracy will drive the #1 Indeck Forsythe Racing
Ford-Cosworth/Lola/Bridgestone, Carpentier will carry his familiar
#32 on his Indeck Forsythe Racing Ford-Cosworth/Lola/Bridgestone
entry and new team member Rodolfo Lavin will pilot the # 3 Corona
Forsythe Racing Ford-Cosworth/Lola/Bridgestone machine during the
2004 season. “Now that the final details of running three cars has
been worked out by the team I’m really looking forward to testing
next week and the first race,” Carpentier said. “We have a lot of
veteran leadership in this team and we expect to be challenging for
the championship.” The drivers will undertake a busy testing
schedule, beginning with visits to Sebring, Homestead and Fontana to
shake down the race cars and to prepare for the season-opening
Toyota Grand Prix of Long Beach April 18. “It’s been a long winter,”
said defending Long Beach winner Tracy. “I’m fit and ready to go
racing and determined to defend my championship. Champ Car is the
greatest series and I look forward to racing in front of full
grandstands at Long Beach on April 18th and to repeat my winning
streak in California.”
3/25/04
Button tops Thursday in Paul
Ricard
Pos Driver Car Time Laps
1 Jenson Button BAR-Honda 1m11.047s 119
2 Antonio Pizzonia Williams 1m11.201s 129
3 Pedro de la Rosa McLaren 1m11.390s 30
4 Takuma Sato BAR 1m11.422s 80
5 Ralf Schumacher Williams 1m11.520s 104
6 Alexander Wurz McLaren 1m12.358s 31
7 Franck Montagny Renault* 1m12.468s 134
8 Ricardo Zonta 1m12.585s 94
9 Ryan Briscoe Toyota** 1m12.726s 110
*2003 car
**hybrid car
3/25/04
Champ Car Series
lands Justin Wilson
Eric Bachelart, co-owner of Conquest Racing, announced today
from Sebring that they had signed ex-Jaguar F1 driver Justin Wilson
to drive their Lola Ford in the 2004 Champ Car Series.
Bachelart stated that "with a driver of Wilson's caliber and a Lola
chassis their goal is to become one of the top teams in the series."
Wilson said, "I have always followed Champ Cars since Nigel Mansell
came over to compete. I think this is the logical step to keep
my career moving." Bachelart also stated he will announce his
2nd driver by week's end. The 2nd car will be a Reynard
because of a shortage of Lola chassis's. See story on Home page.
3/25/04
Nissan World Series
Firman signs on to
drive in Nissan World Series
This Autosport.com
article says that former grand prix racer Ralph Firman will
contest the Dallara Nissan World Series this season for the two-time
championship winning Gabord Competicion team. The ex-Jordan driver
starts his campaign this weekend at Jarama in Spain. The 28-year
old, who won the Formula Nippon title in 2002, drove for Jordan in
Formula 1 last year, scoring a point in the Spanish Grand Prix. This
year's 18-round Dallara Nissan World Series schedule boasts rounds
in Spain, Portugal, Belgium, Germany, France and China. "I am
delighted to join Gabord Competicion as the team aims to capture a
third successive Formula Nissan World Series title," said Firman.
"The team has clearly dominated the championship in previous seasons
so although I have little preparation time before this weekend's
opening events I know they have everything in place to give me the
chance to do well. There are very few prestigious championships
outside Formula 1 but the Nissan World Series is one of them and to
have been offered this drive comes as a great boost to me. I would
like to thank Gabord Competicion and the Mazel Group for their
support." Firman had previously been linked with a drive with Dale
Coyne Racing in the US-based Champ Car World Series. Gabord won the
series last year with Renault F1 test driver Franck Montagny.
3/25/04
Crashes
accelerated IRL's move to reduce speeds
The slowing speeds at this year’s Indianapolis 500 will come a
year ahead of schedule. That estimate was revealed by Brian
Barnhart, senior vice president of racing operations for the Indy
Racing League, on March 24 at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway during
remarks made on the first day of the 2004 Indianapolis 500 Media
Tour. He said three things came into play in speeding up the process
that will result in the engines used in the IndyCar® Series being
reduced from 3.5 to 3.0 liters starting with the 500. The first of
these was driver Kenny Brack’s crash in the IndyCar Series season
finale at Texas Motor Speedway followed by the death of Tony Renna
at the Speedway in a testing crash, both last October. “I think that
accelerated the program by six months,” Barnhart said. “We were
anticipating making this change in 2005, but with the competitive
nature of Honda and Toyota joining Chevrolet as our manufacturers,
the R & D (research and development) and acceleration of the
technology into the series probably was more than we anticipated.
Speeds started going quicker more rapidly than we thought they
could.” [Editor's Note: Toyota recommended to the
IRL when they came into the series to go to a 3.0 L formula at that
time. Barnhart rejected that idea then but now he's making it
sound like it was his/their idea to go to the reduced engine size
now. Two years too late Brian - just admit you should have
listened to Toyota back then and gain some credibility.]
3/25/04
Junqueira
& Bourdais top Wednesday
testing at Sebring2nd UPDATE We have
corrected Bourdais' fast lap time from Wednesday. Press
Release - PacifiCare driver Bruno Junqueira and teammate Sebastien
Bourdais, driver of the McDonald's® racecar each completed the first
of a two-day test at the 1.65-mile road course at Sebring
International Raceway late yesterday. A total of seven Champ Car
drivers took to the track. The team is preparing for the 2004
season-opening round of the Bridgestone Presents the Champ Car World
Series race, the Toyota Grand Prix of Long Beach on April 18.
While
it was the third test day of the season for Junqueira, Bourdais got
behind the wheel of his race car for the first time since the
season-ending event in Australia on October 26, 2003. Under cloudy
and windy conditions in Sebring both drivers were able to complete
many miles of testing despite a morning set back that was resolved
before the afternoon session. By the end of the day, both drivers
set a 50.8 lap time around the course.
"We
didn't run much in the morning, but we were able to get a lot
accomplished in the afternoon," said Junqueira who completed 180
miles on his first day of testing at Sebring. "We worked on our race
setup and made some long runs. The car was okay but we still need to
improve our race setup. I'm looking forward to running again on
Friday."
"It was great to finally get back in the car for the first time in
four months," added Sebastien Bourdais, who completed 219 miles of
testing. "I took it slow when I first got on track so I could shake
the rust off. As the day went on, I felt more and more comfortable
in the car. We were able to make some progress on Day 1 so we hope
to continue this on Thursday."
Bourdais will run again today while Junqueira will undertake his
second day of testing at Sebring on Friday. Photos courtesy of
Champ Car3/24/04 - We have added the
afternoon times to the table below. Newman/Haas driver Bruno Junqueira turned
the fastest lap of the day at 50.8 seconds around the Sebring short course.
His teammate Sebastien Bourdais ended up 2nd quick, tied with Herdez driver
Ryan Hunter-Reay. Perhaps the surprise of the test was the very
respectable times turned in by 17-year old Nelson Philippe of France.
After a not so stellar season in Barber-Dodge Pro Series, Philippe ended up
just 1/10th of a second behind the highly regarded American, AJ Allmendinger
who has a highly respected engineer in David Brown. Some people were writing
this kid off early. We were not. With Philippe's crew just being
put together weeks ago, the team came away plenty satisfied with today's
results. Mark Cipolloni3/24/04 - Champ Car test times from Sebring Wednesday morning.
Ryan Hunter-Reay was by far the fastest all morning and then in the
last half hour Sebastien Bourdais and Alex Tagliani brought their
times down substantially. (All times are unofficial)
Driver
Team
Morning
Afternoon
1. Bruno Junqueira
Newman/Haas
52.3sec
50.8sec
1. Sebastian Bourdais
Newman/Haas
51.7
50.8
3. Ryan Hunter-Reay
Herdez
51.7
51.2
4. Alex Tagliani
Rocketsports
51.8
51.5
5. AJ Allmendinger
RuSPORT
52.6
52.1
6. Nelson Philippe
Rocketsports
53.0
52.2
7. Roberto Gonzalez
PKV Racing
No Time
Unknown
3/25/04
Oastler steps down as Jaguar
Chief Engineer After a successful twenty
years in motorsport, Jaguar Racing's Chief Engineer Malcolm
Oastler has announced his retirement from the sport to
concentrate on setting up a rural venture with his family in
his native Australia. Malcolm joined Jaguar Racing in 2002
as a consultant on the 2003 racing car, Jaguar R4, and has
since played a critical role in the development and rollout
of this year's challenger, Jaguar R5. Malcolm will work his
notice period and remains with Jaguar Racing until mid June.
"I've had a fantastic 20 year stint playing racing cars, but
I don't think it's something you should do forever. As much
as I love the technical aspects and the people, the lure of
the southern sun and the beach have won the day." said
Malcolm. "I owe a huge debt of gratitude to everyone I have
had the pleasure of working with throughout my career. In
particular, I want to express my sincere appreciation to
everyone at Jaguar Racing. This was far from an easy
decision for me. I have thoroughly enjoyed my time with
Jaguar in helping to make the team competitive. My key
challenge over the past year has been to ensure we produce a
competitive racing car and in the Jaguar R5, I believe we
have achieved that result. A comprehensive development
program over the course of this season will ensure that
remains the case," said Malcolm.
Jaguar Racing's Managing Director, David Pitchforth,
commented: "We are sad to see Malcolm leave given his
valuable input to our program and wish him the very best for
the future. He has contributed an enormous amount to
motorsport over a twenty year period with his designs having
graced everything from Formula Ford to F3000, Indycar and
Formula One, added Pitchforth. "Since joining Jaguar Racing
in 2002, we have benefited enormously from Malcolm's input
into the R4 upgrade program and the design and development
of our 2004 challenger, Jaguar R5. We had agreed from the
onset with Malcolm that his tenure with Jaguar Racing would
be relatively short-term and focused upon what were critical
short-term objectives aimed at ensuring the competitiveness
of the Jaguar R4 and R5," continued Pitchforth. "Malcolm's
role as Chief Engineer allowed him great autonomy and
freedom between various departments and it is a role that
worked very well indeed for both parties. His engineering
experience and acumen have manifested themselves clearly in
this year's racing car. I would like to take this
opportunity on behalf of everyone at Jaguar Racing in
wishing Malcolm all the very best of luck for the future"
concluded Pitchforth.
3/25/04
Monterrey, Mexico reduces
grandstands
The number of grandstands for this year's Monterrey, Mexico race have
been reduced significantly. They seat the same number of people as last
year, because each grandstand is much larger than in the past. The
redistribution was the result of a survey conducted of the fans as to where
they preferred to be seated. Of course the track still has the two
ridiculous Mickey Mouse chicanes that has ruined the racing and made it
virtually impossible to pass. And you wonder why attendance was down
last year? There's only so much follow-the-leader racing one can watch
before even the rabid Mexican fans have had enough. The excuse has been
inadequate runoff at the following corner. Then cut the corner short and
lengthen the runoff area!
2003 Seating
2004 Seating
3/25/04
Forsythe-Racing press
release on Carpentier
Forsythe Championship Racing confirms the detail of its three car
assault on the 2004 'Bridgestone presents the ChampCar World Series powered by
Ford'
Defending World Champion, Canadian hero Paul Tracy will drive the # 1 'Indeck
Forsythe Racing' car, Canadian Patrick Carpentier the # 32 'Indeck Forsythe
Racing' car and new team member Rodolfo Lavin the # 3 'Corona Forsythe Racing'
entry.
Before the Season's first race at Long Beach California on April 18th, the
Team and Drivers will undertake a busy testing schedule, visiting Sebring,
Homestead and Fontana to shake down the race cars and to prepare for the start
of the Season and the demanding street course at Long Beach California.
Paul Tracy is looking forward to getting back into his race car. "Its been a
long winter. I'm fit and ready to go racing and determined to defend my
Championship. ChampCar is the greatest Series and I look forward to racing in
front of full grandstands at Long Beach on April 18th and to repeat my winning
streak in California."
"Now that the final details of running three cars has been worked out by the
Team I'm really looking forward to testing next week and the first race, and
working for the Series and challenging for the Championship" says Patrick
Carpentier.
Rodolfo Lavin had his seat fitting last week, "I'm so impressed with the race
shop and the Team's engineers and crew guys. This is a great opportunity for
me to work with the best Team in the Series and with such experienced drivers,
Champion Paul Tracy and Patrick Carpentier. I look forward to the first race
in Long Beach and doing my best for the Team and my Sponsor Corona - and of
course to racing at home in Mexico very soon."
3/25/04
Sponsors getting harder to
find in NASCAR
This TheStar.com
article says that it may be too soon to call it a crisis, but there is
definitely a financial crunch facing NASCAR's teams. Sponsorship, the
lifeblood of racing, is getting harder to come by. So much so that close to
half the field in Saturday's Busch Series race and as many as seven cars in
Sunday's 43-car Cup lineup at Bristol Motor Speedway won't have primary
sponsors. Oh, there will be names emblazoned on the rolling billboards. But
the money that put the ads there won't be enough in most cases to pay the
driver or crew, nor cover the expenses of getting them to the racetrack. With
the unsteady economy and increasing costs of racing, even teams with winning
cars and star drivers have had trouble securing sponsors this season. "There's
people out there talking about 2005, but next week is not so good," said John
Andretti, who lost his ride with Dale Earnhardt Inc. when the team could not
find a season sponsor for its third car. "You need to get enough races so you
can hold your people to go into '05 with. But that takes at least a 10-race
commitment and that's hard to find right now.''
More.....
Massive
construction project planned for DaytonaUPDATE Added artist
renderings of the planned work. 3/24/04 - The Daytona Beach NEWS-JOURNAL reports that Daytona Int’l
Speedway today is expected to announce a “massive construction
project, which will dramatically change the look of the entire
infield.” The redevelopment includes a “new Nextel Cup Series garage
area, a tunnel under Turn 1 and a different location for Victory
Lane.” Sources said the speedway “may use this opportunity to create
a premium grandstand/suite area along pit road.” The Speedway has
canceled its fall schedule of events “with the hope of completing
all this work in time for Speed Week 2005”
Daytona Beach NEWS-JOURNAL
3/24/04
Newman/Haas team leads
Sebring testing
Newman/Haas Racing earned five wins, seven poles and put a pair of
drivers in the top four of the Bridgestone Presents The Champ Car World Series
Powered by Ford standings last season, but came up 27 points short in pursuit
of its fifth series title. The first day of testing at Sebring
International Raceway saw the Newman/Haas squad declare its intentions to run
at the front this year, as both 2003 runner up Bruno Junqueira (#6 PacifiCare
Ford-Cosworth/Lola/Bridgestone) and 2003 Rookie of the Year Sebastien Bourdais
(#2 McDonald’s/Lola/Bridgestone) put their Champ Cars in the 50-second bracket
to lead Wednesday’s action. Both Bourdais and Junqueira broke 51 seconds on
unofficial time sheets for a lap around the Sebring test course on a day that
saw seven Champ Cars putting in laps. Five teams hit the track in Wednesday’s
10 hours of action, which was the first of three days of testing in
preparation for the season-opening April 16-18 Toyota Grand Prix of Long
Beach.
“It was really good to get back in the McDonald’s car and do some laps,” said
Bourdais, who also drove for a series of pit-stop practices along with
Junqueira. “I hadn’t been in the car in four months, and that was too long for
me, I was itching to get back. I took a little time to get the rust off and I
felt pretty good my second time out of the pits.” "The track was faster
than normal because of the rubber put down by the 12-hour sports car race last
weekend,” said Bourdais’ engineer Craig Hampson. “We had some work to do on
one of the cars but we turned a lot of laps and got a lot done today.”
Alex Tagliani (#8 Johnson Controls Ford-Cosworth/Lola/Bridgestone), Nelson
Philippe (#17 Lease Plan Ford-Cosworth/Lola/Bridgestone), Ryan Hunter-Reay (#4
Herdez Ford-Cosworth/Lola/Bridgestone), Roberto Gonzalez (#21 NII Holdings
Ford-Cosworth/Lola/Bridgestone) and A.J. Allmendinger (RuSPORT
Ford-Cosworth/Lola/Bridgestone) joined the Newman/Haas duo on Wednesday to
test at the Central Florida layout. It would be the most crowded test session
in the young Champ Car careers of Allmendinger and Philippe,
but both drivers
put in full days of testing on a cloudy and breezy Wednesday. "We have
already done some testing but it was nice to get out here with some other
people and see where you stand,” Allmendinger said. “I feel good in the car
and get more comfortable with it every lap. I can’t tell you how much I am
looking forward to Long Beach and that first race.” “I am feeling better
in the car every time I get out,” Philippe said. “This track helps because you
can really recognize when you make changes on the car here. You feel a lot
more of what the car is doing at this track because it moves so much.”
Jimmy Vasser (#12 NII Holdings Ford-Cosworth/Lola/Bridgestone) and Mario
Dominguez (#55 Herdez Ford-Cosworth/Lola/Bridgestone) will join testing on
Thursday. Both were at the track today to observe the testing, along with
fellow 2003 Champ Car combatants Michel Jourdain Jr. and Oriol Servia.
(Photos courtesy of Champ Car World Series)
3/24/04
Target Chip Ganassi Racing
- Looking ahead to Indy 500
Target Chip Ganassi Racing certainly knows what it takes to win races,
championships and the “most famous race in the world”. The team won
unprecedented four straight championship titles (1996-97-98-99,) and added a
fifth with the crowning of Scott Dixon as Indycar Series Champion in 2003.
This year, Dixon is looking to do what Juan Pablo Montoya did in 2000 with the
Target team; win the Indy 500 following a championship series win.
“There’s a certain amount of confidence that comes with a championship and I
think every member of the team feels it,” says Dixon who will take his second
run at the coveted Indy 500 crown. “It’s about knowing what it takes to win
and making it happen on the track. This team has that and we’re going to try
to harness that for this year’s Indy 500.”
Target Chip Ganassi Racing’s British driver Darren Manning is also looking to
make his mark at the Indy 500. He hopes to follow in the footsteps of fellow
countryman Graham Hill, who won the Indianapolis 500 as a rookie in 1966.
“Eight rookies have won this race and I hope to be the ninth,” says Manning, a
newcomer to Indycar series. “But to be the first Brit since Graham Hill would
definitely be an extra honor. I’ve always put this race up there with Le Mans
and the British Grand Prix. My first visit to the Indianapolis Speedway was
last year’s 500. I watched it from the grandstands and saw first hand what it
was all about from a fan’s point of view. I can’t tell you how thrilled I am
to see it from a driver’s point of view this time and have my name included
alongside other Great Brittons like Graham Hill, Jim Clark and Jackie
Stewart.”
The journey to the Indianapolis 500 is different for every driver, team, owner
and race fan. But one thing will always remain a certainty: the road to the
500 is always a memorable one.
“It’s a personal thing,” says team owner Chip Ganassi, who himself has
competed in five races at Indianapolis (1982-86) and was co-owner of the team
that won Indy with Emerson Fittipaldi in 1989. “Indianapolis is the crossroads
of America, and everyone takes a different road to the Indy 500. For Target
Chip Ganassi Racing, Juan Montoya’s win in 2000 was the result of a very
strong group of people working together and bringing the best out in each
other. I honestly believe that as strong a team as we were then, I feel we
have that same package now. The circumstances may be different, as are the
people, but we definitely have the personnel, the team, the drive and the
confidence. Perhaps all those strengths are more amplified when you win a
series championship.”
3/24/04
Long Beach race picks up
Imperial Bank sponsorship
The Grand Prix Association of Long Beach today announced that Imperial
Capital Bank has signed on to become Official Bank and Financial Services
Provider of the 30th Anniversary Toyota Grand Prix of Long Beach. In addition,
Imperial Capital Bank will be the title sponsor of the Historic Grand Prix
race, set to take place Sunday morning, April 18, at approximately 9:45 a.m.
The Imperial Capital Bank Historic Grand Prix will feature vintage racecars
from all three eras of Long Beach racing – Formula 5000, Formula One and early
Champ Cars – competing on the track at the same time. Held in conjunction with
the Historic Motor Sports Association (HMSA), the Imperial Capital Bank
Historic Grand Prix will hold its qualifying session on Saturday, April 17, at
3 p.m. Like the Toyota Grand Prix of Long Beach, Imperial Capital Bank is
celebrating its 30th anniversary this year. Imperial Capital Bank provides its
customers with personal and business banking products and services through its
branch locations in California and Nevada. Through its commercial real estate
lending division, Imperial Capital Bank fills an important niche in the income
property lending area. Imperial Capital Bank also services the business
community through its entertainment and franchise lending divisions. “Our
partnership with the Toyota Grand Prix of Long Beach gives Imperial Capital
Bank the opportunity to capitalize on one of Southern California's most
successful events allowing us to promote our company message to an audience in
a unique environment on the variety of banking services available to
businesses and consumers,” said George W. Haligowski, President CEO and
Chairman of the Board of Imperial Capital Bank. “Our respective organizations
are rich in heritage and the fact that both are celebrating 30th Anniversaries
makes for a logical partnership. The Historic Grand Prix race will showcase
the various eras of racecars that competed at the Grand Prix over the years
and Imperial Capital Bank is extremely excited and proud of being involved
with an activity that is expected to be one of the highlights of the weekend.”
3/24/04
Molson's Bob
Singleton reassures Champ Car fans
Dear Molson Indy Fans – It's been a challenging year for open
wheel racing... from the OWRS buy-out at the end of last year, to
the Indianapolis courtroom in January, to the massive task of
compiling teams and drivers, in a very short period of time I might
add, to put together a competitive field of quality drivers for the
2004 race season… well let’s just say it’s been quite a ride!
I feel it’s important for our fans to know that the Molson Indy is in full
support of Champ Car. I have been working very closely with Paul Gentilozzi and
Kevin Kalkhoven and I am confident that these guys have developed a smart
business plan for the future of the Champ Car World Series.
More......
3/24/04
Paul Ricard Wednesday test
times
1. Antonio Pizzonia Williams-BMW
1m 11.501s 94 laps M
2. Anthony Davidson BAR-Honda 1m 11.728s 127 laps M
3. Takuma Sato BAR-Honda 1m 11.806s 115 laps M
4. Marc Gene Williams-BMW 1m 12.060s 89 laps M
5. Pedro de la Rosa McLaren-Mercedes 1m 12.126s 67 laps M
6. Alex Wurz McLaren-Mercedes 1m 12.317s 98 laps M
7. Ricardo Zonta Toyota-Toyota 1m 12.740s 134 laps M
8. Franck Montagny Renault-Renault 1m 12.989s 112 laps M
9. Ryan Briscoe Toyota-Toyota 1m 14.987s 23 laps M
3/24/04
Hunter-Reay on
Wind Tunnel
Fresh off his signing with Herdez Competition and his first
official test at Sebring International Raceway, American Champ Car
hotshot Ryan Hunter-Reay will appear on SPEED Channel's popular
"Wind Tunnel with Dave Despain" on Thursday, March 25.
Hunter-Reay will share his thoughts on teaming with Mario Dominguez
at Herdez Competition, the future of Champ Car racing, and his
expectations for the upcoming Bridgestone Presents The Champ Car
World Series Powered by Ford season. On-track footage from Hunter-Reay's
test at Sebring will also be shown. "Wind Tunnel" airs at 10:00 p.m.
ET on SPEED Channel. Viewer participation is encouraged, and
questions for Hunter-Reay may be e-mailed in advance to
windtunnel@speedtv.com.
During the broadcast, viewers may also call 1-866-W-TUNNEL to ask a
question.
3/24/04 Star Mazda
Moses
Smith - New team, sponsor, & car Moses Smith headed to
Sebring for the first of 10 events to take place in the hunt for the
2004 championship title. The theme for Sebring this year can
be summed up in one word - - -NEW. Moses is joining a new team, has
a new title sponsor and the biggest new of all, he is competing in a
new car. All of these elements came together two weeks before the
Sebring event; except for the new car, which arrived only one week
before the event. Moses’ new team is American Speed Factory, located
in Florida. The American Speed Factory will be supporting Moses’
efforts throughout the season. The new title sponsor on the car is 3
Dimensional Services. Along with this new title sponsor, HASA Pool
Products has signed on again for another exciting season of racing.
3/24/04
NASCAR comes to
Manhattan On any given weekend, more people in New York
watch NASCAR races on TV than virtually every other market in the
U.S. However, with the nearest NASCAR NEXTEL Cup Series track hours
away, many New Yorkers find it difficult to experience America’s
number-two spectator sport. NASCAR is now starting its engines
to bring the sights and sounds of stock car racing to the Big Apple.
Stock car racing’s sanctioning body is partnering with Buster’s
Garage, a new bar/restaurant located on 180 West Broadway, which
will be NASCAR’s New York meeting place. Buster’s Garage will show
televised NASCAR races each week and run special race-themed
promotions to provide local fans with a place to gather and cheer
for their favorite drivers in the 2004 season. The first fan party
is slated for the Samsung/Radio Shack 500 at Texas Motor Speedway on
April 4, 2004 (FOX, 1 p.m. Eastern). More.....
3/24/04
Plane from
Darlington missingUPDATE Rescuers
searched into the evening Tuesday for signs of an aircraft that was
carrying six people when it was last heard from on Sunday as it flew
from South Carolina to Illinois. Air patrol rescuers had already
flown the entire Kentucky flight segment in search of wreckage and
were continuing those efforts, said 1st Lt. Michael Brown, public
affairs officer for Kentucky Wing Civil Air Patrol. "We are trying
to find these people and bring them home alive," Brown said. Tuesday
night, a crew spotted debris near Harlan. It's not clear if it's the
debris from the plane. The search will resume Wednesday.
wkyt.com3/23/04 - A private plane bringing six people
back from a NASCAR race [Darlington] in South Carolina disappeared
on its way to Bloomington, IL Sunday. Emergency crews continued to
search for the plane early this morning. The six-seat, single-engine
Piper Saratoga II was carrying pilot Curt Piercy [used to drive ARCA]
and his wife, Linda Piercy; Don Maurer Jr. and his wife, Amy Maurer;
Amy Maurer's brother, Brad Webb, all of Carlock; and Webb's
girlfriend, whose name wasn't available, according to family
friends. They were returning from NASCAR races, friends said. The
Carolina Dodge Dealers 400 race was Sunday in Darlington, SC. Curt
Piercy has more than 475 hours as a pilot and 50 to 55 hours flying
planes with retractable gear, like that of the missing plane, he
said. Curt Piercy owns Piercy Auto and Truck Body in Carlock, and
Don Maurer Jr. runs Don Maurer Wrecker Service in Carlock with his
father.
The Pantagraph
3/24/04
Oval tracks to be
re-measured
Size does matter -- especially when it comes to racetracks.
And with the SAFER barriers installed at many NASCAR tracks, the
dimensions of the circuits have changed. "We're going to have to
re-measure all the tracks where we've put in the SAFER wall," says
Jim Hunter, V.P. of corporate communications. "I don't have any idea
how it will affect it, but I'm sure it will affect it to some
degree." The SAFER walls at Darlington come out 30 inches from the
outer wall. NASCAR measures tracks 15 feet in from the outer wall,
but it doesn't expect changes in dimensions to be significant enough
to affect records.
FoxSports/Sporting News
3/24/04
F1 cars too fast now Formula
1 drivers have called on motor racing’s chiefs to curb the speed of
the current generation of cars because they are too fast according to
this week's Autosport Magazine. Advances in aerodynamics
allied to performance gains caused by the
tire war between Bridgestone and Michelin have led to a dramatic
escalation in the speed of cars this season. Michael
Schumacher’s pole position time, set with 10 laps’ worth of fuel on
board, was four seconds faster than Fernando Alonso’s best from last
year – and more than six seconds better than that achieved during the
inaugural race at Sepang in 1999.
Jarno Trulli, one of the directors of the Grand Prix Drivers’
Association, believes action must be taken before the cars get too
fast for the current generation of tracks. “Normally as racing
drivers we are happy to go faster, but now the cars are too fast,”
said Trulli. “It’s something that the technical people have to sort
out.” Jaguar’s Mark Webber added: “A lot of it’s to do
with the tires. Also, a lot of teams have done a good job
aerodynamically.”
3/24/04
Bahrain bosses tried to cancel GP
Autosport Magazine reports that Bahrain bosses were so worried about
the lack of progress at their new track that they tried to get the
grand prix cancelled two weeks ago. But circuit boss
Philippe Gurdjian revealed last week that his request to have the
event dropped for a year was rejected by Formula 1 supremo Bernie
Ecclestone. Gurdjian said: “The race will go ahead but we will
not be 100 per cent ready, although the track is finished. Two weeks
ago we thought there was no way we could hold the race and we decided
to cancel it, but Bernie said no. So we just had to get more people in
to get the job finished.”
3/24/04
Interview with Leonardo
Maia and Al Unser Jr.
CART Barber Dodge transplant Leonardo Maia and Al Unser Jr. were
guests on this week's IRL media teleconference. Both drivers talk about
the upcoming season.
Transcript
3/24/04
Williams team set for Paul Ricard test
On Wednesday the BMW WilliamsF1 Team will begin a three day test
program at the Paul Ricard Circuit in France with four drivers on hand
for testing duties. After the obvious improvements made in time
for the second race of the season in Malaysia, the BMW WilliamsF1 Team
lies in second position in the Constructors' Championship with 17
points. Ferrari, however, still appear to be a step ahead. More...
Tony George eyes Toronto
for 2005 OWRS moves to lock IRL out of Canada and MexicoUPDATE We have it on good word
that OWRS is working closely with Molson to lock Tony George completely out of
Canada for a very very long time. Now that Molson sees a full grid set for
Long Beach, it's curtains for the IRL in Canada. Ditto for Mexico - OWRS
has moved swiftly to lock the IRL out of that country as well. Of course the
cartel could build an oval track out in the suburbs somewhere and go racing,
but we doubt anyone would pay to watch. Oval track racing is strictly an
American thing. 3/21/04 - Choosing his words carefully, and emphasizing again and again that all
the conditions had to be right, Indy Racing League founder Tony George said
Saturday that the IRL would love to race through the streets of Toronto in
2005. George, who owns the Indianapolis Motor Speedway and promotes the
three biggest races in the world, attendance-wise - the Indy 500, Brickyard
400 for NASCAR stock cars and the U.S. Grand Prix for Formula One - insisted
that the IRL was not interested in challenging the Champ Car series for the
rights to sanction the race. But "if there was an opportunity, it would
be one that would be high on our list to pursue,'' said George, who has said
four or five road or street course races will be added to the all-oval series'
2005 schedule.
The Champ Car series (formerly known as CART) has sanctioned the downtown
Toronto street race sponsored by Molson's since 1986. Through the years, fans
have watched some of the world's top open-wheel drivers race in Toronto -
Danny Sullivan, Mario and Michael Andretti, Emerson Fittipaldi, Al Unser Jr.,
Nigel Mansell and Canadians Jacques Villeneuve and Paul Tracy among them.
But in recent years, many of the drivers and teams have left Champ Car to race
in the rival IRL, including fan favorites Dario Franchitti, Helio Castroneves
and Tony Kanaan. More important, engine manufacturers Toyota and Honda also
went to the IRL, taking their massive promotional budgets with them.
Champ Car's schedule calls for it to open the season next month in Long Beach,
Calif., and race in Toronto in July. Whether it will be able to is anybody's
guess: high-profile owners Adrian Fernandez and Bobby Rahal have defected in
recent days and Champ Car has only 12 confirmed drivers and cars - 16 to 18
are needed to fulfill most contractual obligations.
George, speaking to the Star in Phoenix where the IRL's Copper World 200 is
scheduled for Sunday, talked during the interview as if he was walking on
eggs. It is apparent that he does not want to be seen as publicly undermining
Open Wheel and/or their race partners in any way.
George said, however, that there had been contact with Molson Sports and
Entertainment Vice-President Bob Singleton, who is general manager of the
Molson Indy. "From time to time, we've been contacted by Bob,'' George
said. "It's always been a little bit uncomfortable having conversations
because of, you know, the general political climate that we've been in the
last two years. "Again, I would think it would be up to him to decide
when would be the appropriate time to contact us and, hopefully, he would be
understanding of the sensitivity we have to it being the right timing.''
George knows that Champ Car is full of people who are passionate about the
series - he suggested, for instance, that Tracy might not be eager to drive in
the IRL - and that it will not go away all that quietly.
Having said that, he has announced that the IRL will expand next year and he
wants to go to geographical locations that will be best for his series. And
although he bobbed and weaved throughout the interview, it is clear that he is
intrigued by Toronto.
"We're interested in expanding the IRL into new markets, and that would
certainly be a new market for us. We're also interested in associating
ourselves with promoters and organizers who are committed. Certainly, Molson
has demonstrated a strong commitment to open wheel racing over the years.
Toronto Star
3/24/04
Kalkhoven challenges Tony
George
During the press conference that took place in Monterrey, Mexico
Tuesday, the green flag was waved to a whole series of promotional and media
activities all focused on the Tecate-Telmex Monterrey Grand Prix. One of the
owners of OWRS, Kevin Kalkhoven made everything clear about all the doubts of
the future of the Champ Car World Series and said, “to make everything very
clear and to finish once for all with all of these different declarations, I
want to make a public challenge to Tony George today. I bet him $100,000 USD
that on the 18th of April in Long Beach there will be at least 18 Cars” after
this declaration he emphasized by saying "and I am completely sure that is the
way it will be (there will be at least 18 cars competing at the beginning of
the season on April 18th), and if I win, I will give the money to charity” he
concluded. TV Azteca also announced that they will televise the race in
Mexico.
3/23/04
Karting series ink 5-year
deal
The Snap-on Stars of Karting and the World Karting Association (WKA)
announced today a 5-year alliance. Officially, through the “2008 season, the
Stars Of Karting recognizes the WKA as the official feeder, and support
program for all of its series” championships. With the new cooperative effort
between the two organizations, WKA officially recognizes the Stars Of Karting
program as the highest level of Professional Sprint Karting competition that a
WKA member can compete in. Randy Kugler stated, “WKA’s relationship with the
Stars of Karting has been beneficial for both parties. Stars of Karting offers
an opportunity for our Manufacturer’s Cup drivers to step it up to the CIK
International style of racing. The high profile and visibility offered through
the Stars of Karting benefits not only WKA, but also our entire sport.
Television coverage in “2003” was unprecedented thanks to the Stars program. The
future looks very bright for karting. The entire WKA organization has been a
great help to the Stars series, and we want to continue to be able to rely on
the experience and infrastructure their organization provides, said Stars Of Karting’s Paul Zalud. “Adding another grass-roots regional racing program to
the schedule would not be in the best interest for the karter,” continued
Zalud. “The Stars organization doesn’t want to operate its own regional
program, especially when forming an alliance with WKA makes so much more sense
for both organizations. We want to help bring the WKA out west, and look
forward to being a significant part of a true National Championship series,
where there is a clear, and concise structure from first introduction to our
sport, all the way to top.”
3/23/04
Lowe's to add SAFER
Barrier
Lowe's Motor Speedway will have steel and foam energy-reducing
barriers, known in the motorsports industry as SAFER barriers, installed in
time for its NASCAR events in May. The SAFER barriers, which utilize foam
blocks positioned behind rolled steel tubing for a total thickness of 30
inches, will cover approximately 6,100-linear feet of concrete walls around
the 1.5-mile, high-banked superspeedway. As the most extensive installation of
the SAFER barriers to date at any speedway, the Lowe's Motor Speedway project
will include placing the energy-absorbing barriers in front of approximately
4,000 feet of outside retaining walls in the turns; 1,351 feet along the
frontstretch quad-oval; and 796 feet on the insides of Turns 2 and 4.
Materials for the SAFER barriers were ordered Monday and are expected to
arrive for installation on April 22. Speedway officials estimate the
installation will take approximately three weeks to complete. A majority of
the work will be performed at night to minimize the impact to the speedway's
track rental customers.
3/23/04
Vasser labels Tony George
a hypocrite
This Champ Car interview with
Jimmy Vasser says, Vasser is outspoken in declaring his disgust for much of
the rhetoric coming from the Indianapolis Motor Speedway. “Tony George has
said so many incredible things, like it was always his vision to have road
racing. I about died when I read that! Of course, he’s also made some
comments about the number thirty-three not meaning anything to his big race
anymore. What does that say to all the guys who worked and struggled so hard
over the years and hung it on the line to be one of those thirty-three guys?
“I’m afraid I have to say, can you please stop this hypocrisy? Does he
really think we’re all that stupid? Does he really think the fans are
that stupid? The other hypocrisy from Tony was this talk about there needs to
be one series. What happened three years ago and all the other times we tried
to find a way to do that? Everyone else was saying that and Tony was saying
no. Let’s remember, he started his series. He’s the guy who split it into two
series.”
3/23/04
Forsythe
decides to field 3 cars, including CarpentierUPDATE In case you doubted this
report - you can now read about it on the Forsythe-Racing website. 3/22/04
- In an AutoRacing1.com exclusive, we have learned from Gerald
Forsythe that Forsythe Racing has decided to field three cars for
the 2004 season for Canadians Paul Tracy and Patrick Carpentier, and
Mexican Rodolfo Lavín. Expect an announcement from the team in
a few days. The news will certainly be welcomed in Canada
where everyone was upset that Carpentier was being cast aside.
We also understand that the sponsorship picture is looking up.
This news item is not on our rumors page for a reason.
3/23/04
Tecate Thunder Thursday
kicks off LB weekend Downtown Long Beach will gear up for the 30th
Anniversary Toyota Grand Prix of Long Beach with the “Tecate Thunder Thursday
on Pine,” an exciting street party to be held along Pine Avenue between 1st
and 3rd streets on Thursday, April 15 from 3 p.m – 10 p.m. From 3 p.m. – 6
p.m., ESPN Radio 710 AM will broadcast live with the “McDonnell – Douglas
Show” from the patio at Mum’s Restaurant, 144 Pine Avenue. Meanwhile, the
Grand Prix Association will stage an exciting pit stop demonstration with the
Newman/Haas Racing team. The festival atmosphere on Pine Avenue will be fueled
with a specially choreographed dance troupe and drum line beating down the
street amidst displays of Grand Prix race cars, Trans-Am Series race cars, and
classic and custom cars. In addition, there will be live performances by
Zander and Cinderglass, bands known for their eclectic mix of rich vocals and
funk rock, and D.J. Tony Remix will provide entertainment. Sponsored by the
Downtown Long Beach Associates (DLBA), the Grand Prix Association of Long
Beach, Tecate, 689 Design, and King’s Fish House, Tecate Thunder Thursday on
Pine serves as a kick-off to the racing action and excitement of the April
16-18 Toyota Grand Prix of Long Beach which attracts approximately 200,000
visitors annually to the Downtown area.
“The event planned for Downtown’s Pine Avenue will provide an opportune way to
attract more visitors to the central business district and have them
experience first-hand the wide array of restaurants, retail and entertainment
options there are to enjoy along the lively corridor,” said Kraig Kojian, DLBA
President & CEO. “This is a great way to kick off our race weekend,” said Jim
Michaelian, president and CEO of the Grand Prix Association. “We’re looking
forward to seeing a large crowd on Thursday evening and bringing the cars and
stars of the Toyota Grand Prix of Long Beach to Pine Avenue.” Tecate
Thunder Thursday on Pine is free to the public. For more information, please
call 800-452-7829, ext. 501 or visit
www.downtownlongbeach.org.
3/23/04
Carpentier
tries out Ford Focus MidgetUPDATE Here are some quotes from Patrick
Carpentier on his upcoming Midget race. 3/23/04 - Recently Champ Car driver Patrick Carpentier went to Irwindale Raceway
in California to test a Ford Focus Midget in preparation of this Saturday's
race at the same track. He will be joined by fellow Champ Car driver Michel
Jourdain Jr. Jimmy Vasser was also supposed to compete, but other
responsibilities prevented that from happening. Both drivers will be at
the track on Friday as well.
3/23/04
Family owned business
outlook bleak
We found the following comment in a McKinsey report. We thought we'd
leave you to your own conclusions, which you might find somewhat thought
provoking given the family owned business of the IRL and
NASCAR.....Family-owned businesses-companies in which a family has a
controlling stake-face a sobering reality: the statistical odds on their
long-term success are bleak. In fact, a number of studies, taken together,
suggest that only 5 percent continue to create shareholder value beyond the
third generation. This statistic should come as no surprise, given the
business challenges any company faces in increasingly competitive markets, to
say nothing of the difficulty of keeping growing numbers of family
shareholders committed to continued ownership. One kind of risk for these
businesses comes from the generations that follow the founder, whose drive and
business acumen they might not match, though they may insist on managing the
company. By the time the third generation takes over, the scene is set for
squabbles among members and branches of the ever-expanding family. Rather than
looking after the interests of the business, they may fight over the size of
the dividend payouts, the composition of the board, or who gets to be chief
executive officer.
3/23/04
What's the story with TV?
A reader writes, Dear AutoRacing1.com, Have you noticed that so far
there has been no TV promotion for Long Beach? I have yet to see any of the
cross promotion by the Viacom's MTV Networks as promised by the new Champ Car
TV deal. There is no mention of the Champ Car shows even listed on Spike TV's
web site. I've tried to watch some Spike TV (very painful) but I have yet to
see any promotional spots. I mean we are only twenty five days away from the
first show. It's like starting to promote a race the week before it is run.
Without some very strong and creative cross promotion by Viacom's MTV Networks
I'm afraid Champ Car is going to have another Speed Network on its hands. I
had an office from 1984 to 1990 at the old TNN. In those days we had a very
loyal group of motorsports fans that watched TNN. Since Viacom purchased TNN
in 2000 there has been a major change in the viewership. I hope I'm wrong for
the sake of the series, but I have my doubts the ratings are going to be very
good. Champ Cars need as many shows as possible (live or tape delayed) on CBS.
This is costly but the series and the teams need something to work with to
gain and keep sponsorships. I have also heard very little as to a
strong international TV package. I get the feeling that the international side
of things is getting a back seat to the US domestic TV package. If Champ Car
is going to be an international series they must have a strong international
package. Look at the money F1 brings in the door with its TV distribution
deals. These guys don't seem to grasp the concept that TV is their biggest
marketing tool. Without it the series is doomed. Doug Parr
Dear Doug, While we agree OWRS needs to engage the entire Viacom family, one
must not forget that the TV deal was not finalized until days before the Long
Beach Season Premiere. They have a lot of work to do in a few short
weeks before the season opener in Long Beach. If they advertise too soon,
people will forget the date and time - short term memory. They must ramp
up their cross-promotion ads the two weeks prior to LB. As for international
TV, we could not agree more. Supposedly that's coming together.
Again, time is not on their side. Mark C.
3/23/04
Rocketsports drivers to
test at Sebring
Rocketsports Champ Car World Series drivers Alex Tagliani and Nelson
Philippe will head to Florida to test both the No. 8 Johnson Controls Lola and
the No. 17 LeasePlan Lola. The Rocketsports duo will spend three days testing
in Sebring, followed by two days in Homestead. “I know the Sebring track well
and look forward to getting a better feel for the Lola on a longer track,”
said Philippe, who recently tested the Lola on the shorter Firebird track in
Phoenix with Rocketsports. “This will also be my first opportunity to work
with the entire team and have both Rocketsports cars as well as other Champ
Car drivers on the track. “I began working with my engineer, Alain Clarinval
at the Phoenix test and feel very confident of his guidance,” added Philippe.
“We’ll have the advantage of working together for five solid days on two
different circuits before the season starts, so we’ll be well prepared.”
Philippe’s senior teammate, Alex Tagliani in the No. 8 Johnson Controls Lola,
anticipates good results at the Florida tests, and a successful season for
Rocketsports. “This season promises to be a great one for Rocketsports. As a
team, we have more experience together, we know what we want and how to get
it. Rocketsports has grown and changed as well. We have the benefit of two
cars to develop and the input of different engineers,” explained Tagliani. “I
met with my new engineer, Brian Ma, several times between the seasons. I’m
eager to get into the car and put all of the concepts we discussed into
practice,” said a very confident and sure Tagliani.
3/23/04
PacifiCare renews
Long Beach sponsorship
The Toyota Grand Prix of Long Beach today announced that
PacifiCare Health Systems Inc. will return as the Official
Healthcare Insurance Provider of this year’s 30th Anniversary race.
PacifiCare, which is also the title sponsor of Bruno Junqueira’s #6
Newman/Haas Racing entry, will donate $150,000 to the Dream
Foundation and grant "Race Dreams" to terminally ill guests at six
of the race events this year, including the Toyota Grand Prix of
Long Beach. The company also sponsors the 2004 Bridgestone Presents
the Champ Car World Series Powered by Ford. "This partnership with
the Toyota Grand Prix of Long Beach, Paul Newman, Carl Haas and
Newman/Haas Racing helps us extend the PacifiCare brand – both in
name and meaning - by being associated with a sport and team of
quality and achievement" said Howard G. Phanstiel, president and CEO
of PacifiCare. "PacifiCare is evolving into a leading consumer
health organization. After a successful 2003 season on and off the
track, it is essential that we continue to pursue a variety of mass
marketing initiatives. We believe this partnership with the Toyota
Grand Prix of Long Beach, Champ Car and Newman/Haas Racing is one of
the most cost-effective means of generating product awareness to a
large, diverse audience in a very short amount of time."
3/23/04
Tickets go on sale
for Monterrey
A press conference was held today in Monterrey to announce the
pre-sale of tickets for the 2004 Tecate/Telmex Monterrey GP in
Mexico. In attendance were the four Mexican drivers Michel
Jourdain Jr., Rodolfo Lavin, Roberto Gonzalez, and Mario Dominguez.
The pre-sale tickets are discounted 30%. After April 17th the
discount is 15%.
3/23/04
McLaren tops
charts at Paul Ricard testing Tuesday Name Team T Laps Time Gap
Alexander Wurz McLaren M 100 1:12.825 127.687 mph
Pedro de la Rosa McLaren M 37 1:12.857 0.032
Ricardo Zonta Toyota M 90 1:14.003 1.178
3/23/04
Formula Renault to run with Champ Cars in Vancouver
North American Formula Renault announced today that it has
expanded its 2004 schedule and will see the series bring its
exciting standing starts and close racing to Vancouver to race at
the beautiful Concord Pacific Place during the Molson Indy Vancouver
event, on the weekend of July 23-25 with the Champ Car World Series.
“This is a fantastic addition to our schedule,” said North American
Formula Renault General Manager Brett Ross. “We are excited about
the opportunity to be in Vancouver, as the race is a fantastic event
that the entire city gets behind. We are looking forward to putting
on a great show for the very enthusiastic Canadian race fans.”
The 1.781-mile temporary street course set with Mt. Garibaldi in the
background, and the ocean close by, provides a scenic background for
the race fans, who attend the event in droves. The track poses a
significant challenge for the racers, with a variety of high-and
low-speed corners forcing the teams to find the best compromise in
their setups, with the drivers speeding through the course lined
with concrete walls, which offer no compromise at all. The
Formula Renault V6 Championship is the top rung on the North
American Formula Renault Championship ladder, which also includes
the North American Formula Renault 1600 Championship and the North
American Formula Renault 2000 Championship. The Formula Renault V6
is expected to make its North American competition debut in the
latter stages of the North American Formula Renault 2004 season.
3/23/04
Rooting for OWRS
After reading the scads of "Hot News" and "Rumors" sections over the
past few years it has impressed upon me in a heavy-hearted way to write to you
at this time. Having been involved with a company that WAS a very integral
sponsor (Simple Green) of CART for 3 years... it pains me, yet, inspires me,
that valiant individuals such as Gentilozzi, Kalkhoven, and Forsythe have
stepped up and shown themselves. The pain I feel is because I wish that there
had been more individuals with the drive, competitiveness, ethics and loyalty.
These 3 are good individuals that are trying to do some GOOD for Open Wheel
racing in America. I applaud them and thank them!
I have known Mr. Gentilozzi from the Trans-Am days before CART entered my
professional life and will say that he is one of the BEST people I have ever
known! He is one that understands what it takes to bring VALUE to a sponsor's
dollar and I will NEVER forget that...apparently all too many do! Whatever the
rift that has taken place to lose such big names to the IRL does not matter to
me...the fact that HE and his partners are doing what they are doing to keep
the series going will have me rooting, and helping in ANY way I can forever.
Also...Paul Tracy and Jimmy Vasser, YOU guys are gold and are ALWAYS going to
be heroes in my heart! ve dealt with you both and am thrilled that I had the
honor to do so...BEST of luck to you BOTH this year. AS far as the others who
went for the money...may your luck run out. I will NOT feel your pain! Good
Luck to Champ Car in 2004 and BEYOND...I will be rooting for you at EVERY
turn....yes, EVEN the right hand ones! Mark Carter, (EX-VP Marketing Simple
Green)
3/23/04
More on Penske vindication
article
Another reader writes with regard to the Penske feeling vindicated
about moving to the IRL article that appeared on the SPEED TV website.
Dear Autoracing1.com, Yes, he must certainly feel vindicated by all 10,000 or
15,000 fans in the stands yesterday. Of course, that number amounts to about
10% as many as will show up in Long Beach, 5% of the Surfers' crowd and 3% of
the Mexico City crowd will only add to that vindication. In fact, the lowest
attended races on the OWRS calendar this year will likely draw three to four
times as many fans, all of whom will pay.
It is the ultimate irony that the series started by the team owners is the one
that over its 20+ years of existence has given the fans what they wanted most
- a diversity of tracks, cars, drivers and owners. On the other hand, the one
supposedly created for the fans and the promoters - the guys who supposedly
know the fans - has failed to capture the public's imagination, even 8 years
after its first race.
There is no evidence that interest is gaining, either. There didn't appear to
be anymore people in the stands in Phoenix this year than were there in 1996.
Of course, I am only guessing based on video footage on Speed News because I
didn't waste my time watching it - I had weeds to pull in the yard. In fact,
the IRL has not only failed to capture the imagination of fans, but they have
actually ruined the Phoenix race, which used to routinely draw 60K to 70K.
They ruined New Hampshire - used to get 40K or so - so that neither the IRL
nor OWRS goes there anymore. They've done the same in Miami as they've done in
Phoenix. Michigan was worse off last year under the IRL than it was before
under CART. And demand for seats at Indy, itself, has declined to the point
where there is no longer a backlog of years for fans to get seats, but
actually empty seats on Memorial Day Sunday. Now they are threatening to do
the same thing to Long Beach, Toronto and Mexico City. Haven't
they done enough damage to vindicate Tony's and Roger's decisions? Jim
Allen, Virginia
3/23/04 Industry News
Mario
Andretti featured in new Firestone commercials
With a hip new rendition of its popular theme song and images that
evoke America, Bridgestone/Firestone North American Tire, LLC (BFNT) today
announced that it will launch a new, national advertising campaign for
Firestone as part of its commitment to the nearly 104-year-old brand.
The national television blitz rolls out March 21 and brings back a completely
revitalized and modernized version of the theme song, “Where the Rubber Meets
the Road,” which last ran as part of a Firestone brand ad campaign in 1988.
“The Firestone brand is back through the loyalty shown by our consumers, our
dealers and our employees. This campaign is just one more example of how we
continue to energize the brand,” said John Gamauf, BFNT president of consumer
replacement tire. “We are excited about this new initiative which draws on our
heritage while reaching out to the next generation of Firestone consumers. It
was a great brand ad back then and it’s even better now.”
Some of the highlights include the following: The ad shoot used
four-and-a-half miles of film, took five days of filming, and used five
different cameras, 22 models, 30 extras, four stunt drivers, one helicopter
pilot, 98 crew members, 14 vehicles, 56 tires, 123 hours of edit time and one
world-renowned Indy 500 winner. Champion race car driver Mario Andretti is
featured in two of the three new spots, which were produced by New York
City-based Grey Worldwide.
“It’s an exciting challenge to reinvent a classic ad campaign,” said Ron
Castillo, creative director and managing partner of the Fresh Grey unit of
Grey Worldwide, NY. “You have to find a balance between respecting the
original while modernizing the look and feel of the spots. Updating the theme
song was key to this process. We created numerous demos before finding the
appropriate mix of nostalgia and current musical influence. With the support
of an incredibly enthusiastic group of clients, we feel we delivered a
campaign that takes Firestone confidently into the future while tipping its
hat to the brand’s proud heritage.”
The three variations of the 30-second brand spots are designed to emphasize
the company’s heritage, quality and value. As opposed to taking a
product-focused approach, Firestone has developed a brand campaign to support
its Firestone image across its many product lines.
Tracy one of most
important in history of Champ Car
A reader writes, Dear Autoracing1.com, I just wanted to say how much I
admire guys like Paul Tracy. Granted, Paul hasn't always been perfect in his
career. The spinout at Fontana on the restart a few years back, and his
run-ins with Dario when they were teammates come to mind. However, we all know
this guy is plain fast and you have to feel for him after the scam at Indy in
the 497.5. Also, you know he could have taken the Honda/Toyota/Oval Cartel
cash and jumped ship with all the others. But Paul has stayed true to ChampCar
and given them a "name" to build around. If ChampCar comes through this
current down spell, I think Paul Tracy has to go down as one of the most
important figures in the history of the series. Brian Carroccio, Lugano,
Switzerland
3/22/04
***Reader
Comment***Dumbed Down DrivingUPDATE We were reminded that Kasey
Kahne tried his hand at Toyota Atlantics in 2001, failed miserably, and
decided on a career in oval track racing which requires far less driver
talent. He's becoming a future star on the ovals. 3/22/04 - Dear AutoRacing1, Your comments and those of your readers are
spot on regarding how easy and dumbed down racing in the US has
become. Ponder for a moment the drivers in NASCAR that are a
making a rapid rise i.e. "Young Gun status" in the Nextel Cup Series.
Kasey Kahne has quickly mastered the Nextel Cup car along with Kyle
Busch. With a limited racing resume and experience, how easy has it
become to step into a stock car and go fast right out of the box?
Granted he is with a tremendous racing organization with factory
sponsorship, but I would wager that Kasey Kahne would not have
mastered the Champ car without paying his dues in the ladder series
for open wheel racing. I can guarantee he would not step into an F1
car and and sit on the front row, nor could he sit in John Force's
funny car and go out and dominate the way he has in stock cars.
There are a host of young gun drivers from Champ Car, Toyota
Atlantics, and other ultra competitive series that would eat Kahne,
Busch, Gaughan, Vickers, and others for lunch! It's a
scary thought, but run this scenario through your thought process:
Take an attendee at any NASCAR driving experience school, strap him
or her in a full blown top of the line "Cup Car" and turn him loose
on the track. I will theorize that this person could get this
car around the track in a time comparable with some of the current
field fillers. Take this same person and put them in a Champ Car, F1 car, a
fuel dragster or funny car, and watch them flounder! The real racers
like Tony Stewart, Earnhardt Jr., Ryan Newman, and Robby Gordon have to be concerned about these kids coming in and
mastering the cars so quickly! These young kids are very talented
and will be great racers, but I cannot see them at such a young age
being challenged by motoring around in dumbed downed slug mobiles for
very long. They will want to go faster and seek a higher
degree of difficulty and you are not going to get that in the oval
racing series that includes the IRL and Nextel Cup, or as you refer
to them as the oval cartel. Just a thought. Bill Kinsey. Kingman,
Az.
3/22/04
TMS to install SAFER
Barrier
Texas Motor Speedway will install the new Steel and Foam Energy
Reduction (SAFER) barriers this summer in an effort to improve driver safety.
"This is a step in the right direction where safety is concerned," said
speedway general manager Eddie Gossage. "The safety of both our drivers and
fans is always our number one priority and we will take every possible
precaution to ensure that. "We are currently wrapping up a $400,000 upgrade to
our crash fence. We have reinforced the existing fence on the outside crash
wall and have constructed a new 10-foot fence on top of the inner crash wall."
The speedway's parent company, Speedway Motorsports, Inc. has placed Wes
Harris, SMI vice president of development, in charge of the project. Exact
dates for the installation have yet to be determined. The steel tube and foam
SAFER barrier was developed by the University of Nebraska, the Indy Racing
League and NASCAR. John Rohde, associate professor of civil engineering for
the University of Nebraska, met with speedway officials in late January to do
a site survey. "The meeting went quite well," said Gossage. "We are all on the
same page here. We want to do all we can to improve safety in an inherently
dangerous sport."
3/22/04
Trans-Am announces
engine builders challenge
This year, CRD Engine Development, Huffaker Engineering and
Rocketsports Racing will sponsor the Engine Builders’ Challenge, a
new contingency program for Motorock Trans-Am Series competitors.
Each engine builder will offer a contingency award to those drivers
using the companies’ respective engines. Each engine builder will
post race contingencies of $1,000 in cash or product certificates at
each race, as well as a year-end bonus of $2,500 in cash or product
certificates. Teams must display contingency decals on both sides of
their cars to be eligible. “This new program will showcase one of
the most important parts of a Trans-Am race car—its V-8 racing
engine,” said Motorock Trans-Am Series Executive Director John
Clagett. “Creating a competitive engine program requires great
skill, care and expertise. CRD Engine Development, Huffaker
Engineering and Rocketsports Racing all have decades of experience
in supplying some of the most powerful and competitive engines in
motorports. We’re excited this year to recognize both their
dedication to Trans-Am and their long-standing commitment to
excellence.”
3/22/04
IMS to induct 5
drivers
Five legendary names from the Indianapolis 500 will assume
their place among racing legends May 21 at the 2004 Auto Racing Hall
of Fame induction ceremonies. The event is taking place at the
Indianapolis Marriott Downtown in conjunction with the annual "500"
Oldtimers' Club Banquet. Indianapolis 500-winning drivers Emerson
Fittipaldi and Tom Sneva, and team owner John Zink are expected to
attend the ceremony, while driver Mark Donohue and team owner
Lindsey Hopkins will be inducted posthumously. The Auto Racing Hall
of Fame honors drivers, team owners, mechanics and event officials
who have made significant contributions to the success and colorful
history of the sport of open-wheel racing.
3/22/04
Formula 1 gets big
TV ratings in Germany
Sunday's Malaysian GP, shown in Europe in early morning,
pulled in 9.62 million viewers in Germany alone. And the
NASCAR folks think NASCAR is popular? Germany has a small
fraction of the population of the USA. The share was 62.1% of
the households in Germany. Worldwide, the average F1 race gets
over 100 million viewers.
3/22/04
Champ Car media
teleconference
Here are some highlights from today's Champ Car media
teleconference with Herdez team Keith Wiggins and Ryan Hunter-Reay,
full transcript later.
3 days of testing
this coming week (starting Wednesday) at Sebring: 10 to 11 cars will
be there
Hunter-Reay: Lola
is easier to drive than Reynard, which was plagued by understeer
everywhere
Hunter-Reay: This
year we will see some F1 talent in the series plus we have back all
the best drivers from last year
Wiggins: A lot of
issues have been created by the competition but the series left
itself vulnerable because of the bankruptcy and the way it was run
in the past. The series has come out stronger now. Some people make
business decisions based on money, we feel Champ Car is still the
best series in the world. We have a stronger group of drivers this
year.
Wiggins: How do you
address those people who spread muck saying the series is dead? Does
that make you more determined to see the series succeed? Absolutely.
Hunter-Reay: Champ
Car is the top level of road racing in North America and I like the
diversity of drivers from other countries. I look forward to
racing for the USA.
Wiggins: Even
though people were saying series was dead, we had more calls from
drivers in the off-season than ever before - we were talking to 10
drivers, some very good drivers.
Hunter-Reay:
Push-to-pass - can definitely feel the extra HP of the button, more
so if you push it coming off a corner than if you push it half way
down the straight. It should make for some interesting situations
and you have to be smart about when you use it.
3/22/04
Paul Tracy
featured in DUB Magazine
The current issue of DUB Magazine
features Paul Tracy. This magazine usually features rappers
and athletes with their pimped out cars. The article focused
on Tracy's SL500 Lorinser, his H2 Hummer, and Ferrari. The title of
the article reads Paul Tracy-Think You Can Beat Him, and throughout
the article Champ Car car racing was mentioned several times -- Winning the
Indy Lights title in 1990, he made his CART debut in 1991 driving for Dale
Coyne Racing, then signed with Team Penske as a test driver, taking part in
three more races that season. His first full year of CHAMP CAR competition
came in 1993 and he made the most of the opportunity......As the number one
bad boy of CART, you have been the topic of more commentators and fans for the
greater part of your career. Has this edge and image worked for you or against
you? Mark C.
3/22/04
Kyle Petty: Bristol like a big
TV screen
“You hear all of the talk about adding new tracks and adding
new markets, and that is something NASCAR – all of us –
should be concerned with. This series has grown
tremendously, especially over the past few years, and we’ve
added a lot of new markets, and brought in new fans along
the way. That’s been a good deal for all of us. Adding
places like southern California and Kansas City and Chicago
is a big deal, and it adds greater value for sponsors like
Georgia-Pacific or Brawny or Coca-Cola or Cheerios.
“Bristol, let’s face it, isn’t exactly Los Angeles when it
comes to market size but it’s an important place for the
series too. This is one of those tracks that really grabs
the race fan’s imagination, and it has some great shows.
Look at Bristol as a giant television studio. The studio
audience just happens to be 130,000 people or so – but this
crowd doesn’t need ‘applause’ signs. They know who they love
and they know who they don’t. They are into the race, into
the whole ‘Bristol experience,’ well before race time.
“The race itself, well, it can get pretty wild. At times, it
can be kind of fun. Other times – like this race last year –
it’s not so much fun. It’s hard to believe you can go that
fast at a half-mile, but you are really moving. When you
stop like I did, it hurts. Man, it was one of those hits
that I was still feeling a week or so later. But as fast as
we run there, it’s easy to see how those kinds of wrecks
could happen. Running well at Bristol is fun, a lot more fun
than being the Sports Center highlight that evening. It’s a
constant of turning left, turning left, turning left. You
never seem to straighten the car out. I know they have two
straightaways there because I’ve seen them, but after 500
laps there you are hard-pressed to remember ever actually
being on them. It’s a constant of turning lap, staying low,
getting what you can get.
“The ‘bump-and-run’ is probably the preferred passing
method. You tap the guy in front of you a little bit, maybe
get him a little loose in the corner and then duck
underneath. By the midway point of the race, you have moved
from the ‘bump-and-run’ to the ‘hit-and-get-out-of-my-way.’
The passing hits seem to get a lot harder the later you get
into the race. Guys get frustrated and tempers start
flaring.
“Keeping your temper is pretty important. Guys are going to
rub and beat and bang at Bristol. It’s just the way the
place is. If a guy hits you and you can kind of let it go –
or at least not let it dictate the way you drive and the way
you run your race – you’re a lot further along than most
everybody else. It’s hard to do, believe me. But it’s pretty
key to having a good race and a good finish. We’re
progressing and we’re doing some good things with this
Georgia-Pacific/Brawny Dodge. We think we can have a good
car at Bristol and, with a little bit of luck, a pretty good
finish too. It’s a place where Petty Enterprises cars have
run well, especially in the last few years, and we’re
looking forward to seeing what we can do this week.”
3/22/04
***Reader
Feedback*** Penske SPEED TV article
Dear AutoRacing1.com, "America will never produce another
World Driving Champion if the Oval Track Cartel is allowed to
monopolize racing in the USA." -AutoRacing1.com. I fully agree,
but I say, what difference does that make to the OTC? They're a big
fish in a small pond. That alone should make them happy. If you
don't have to compete against someone who can beat you, then you
can't be beaten, right? TG and the Frances don't have to worry about
producing a World Driving Champion, because they've got all they
need in the good ole US of A. But we'll never know how the OTC might
compete on the world stage, because they won't bother to risk it.
Another point I'd like to make from the same article is about our
buddy Roger Penske. He's now saying, "I don't want to be the one who
says they won't survive," according to the SPEED article. What a
change of tune from the days of "There will be one OW series in 18
months." Sounds to me like he's running a bit scared. Rich
McGuigan Dear Rich, We don't see the oval track cartel
ever giving up trying to kill the Champ Car Series. It remains
to be seen whether the rumors of an OWRS lawsuit to stop them pan
out to be true. We believe Mark C.
3/22/04
Penske says he's
vindicated
In this SPEED TV
article, Roger Penske says that he made the right move
switching to the IRL years ago and recent defections by Rahal,
Fernández and Patrick support that notion. He goes on to say,
"It’s an expensive dance to support OWRS just to run a couple of
cars," Penske said. "They could come over here and run with the best
guys in the business." That's right Roger, they could, but as
each of the three OWRS owners have told AutoRacing1.com, they firmly
believe in what they are doing because they want to preserve road
racing in North America, in particular Champ Car racing. They
are in it for the long haul despite attempts by the oval track
cartel to put it out of business. Sure the IRL is going to run
some road races, perhaps 4, maybe 5, but the IRL, which is part of
the oval track cartel, is never going to do justice to road racing
because their focus is the ovals where they own tracks and make
their money. Watching the F1 race from Malaysia yesterday
underscored how pathetic NASCARized American racing is - slow and
lethargic. As Lauda says, "lazy racing." The F1 cars are
super fast. Their cornering speeds on the road courses almost
defy physics. To drive those machines takes extra special
talent. America will never produce another World Driving
Champion if the oval track cartel is allowed to monopolize racing in
the USA. Their idea of dumbed-down slow cars will produce
drivers with slow "lazy" reflexes who will embarrass themselves and
the USA when they try to step into a F1 car for a proper test.
America's only hope to produce an American World Champion is the
Champ Car road racing ladder system. With that said, the
current Champ Cars are overweight Sherman Tanks (same weight as an
IRL car) that look pathetically slow compared to a F1 car.
It's so noticeable now that soon Champ Car drivers will lose the
ability to step into a F1 car and be competitive. OWRS must
take significant weight out of the next generation Champ Car, add a
screaming V10, and distance itself as much as possible from the
overweight and slow NASCARized IRL cars and its low-revving,
uninteresting to road racing fans, V8. In Champ Car's heyday,
we saw comparisons drawn between Champ Cars and F1, bragging rights
if you will. Now F1 cars have leapt so far ahead of the 4-year old
Champ Car design that there isn't much to compare anymore.
And the tire war in F1 has led to soft sticky tires that some would
say should produce a lot of marbles and ruin overtaking. We
saw more overtaking in the Malaysia race (except for the lead,
dominated by Schumacher) than you will ever see in a Champ Car or
IRL race, both of which run on hard spec tires. To watch the
F1 drivers manhandle their cars on proper sized wheels and tires is
quite noticeable and interesting to the spectators. The cars
really dance around and you can see the drivers REALLY driving the
cars. Contrast that to American drive-around-on-rails racing.
The sooner Champ Car gets back to a proper tire war, with F1 size
wheels and tires, the sooner we will see the drivers be able to
overtake as the tire performance changes throughout the life of the
tire. The current Bridgestones are so good, so consistent,
that we have lost some of the entertainment value produced by
drivers racing on tires of varying degrees of performance. The
next generation Champ Car must be lighter, a bit smaller (F1 size),
use F1 tires and wheels, be noticeably faster than the current
generation car, and scream like a son-of-a-gun to bring some real
excitement back to American road racing.
Has NASCAR peaked?
NASCAR is taking an in-depth look into why television ratings for
the past two Nextel Cup races have dropped off significantly over last
season. Ratings for the March 7 race at Las Vegas on Fox were down 16
percent from 2003, while last weekend's race at Atlanta on Fox was
down 10.9 percent. "We're monitoring the TV ratings and trying to
figure out what has caused the drop. We know that other sports are
down as well in the last two weeks, but we want to figure out if it is
more than what's out there in TV land, or if it is specific to the
sport itself," said Jim Hunter, NASCAR's vice president for corporate
communications.
3/21/04
Montoya blames Ferrari
tactics
On Sunday in Sepang Juan Montoya had closed to within 3.7s of Michael
Schumacher's leading Ferrari just prior to their third and final pit stops.
Montoya stopped on lap 39 with Schumacher pitting a lap later, but
unfortunately for the Colombian, he rejoined just behind Rubens Barrichello in
the second Ferrari, who ran another five laps before stopping. From a regular
pace in the low 1m36s bracket, Barrichello slowed to 1:37.2 and then 1:37.9
before speeding up again just prior to his last stop. By this time, Schumacher
was 9.2s in front of Montoya. Montoya tried to pass Barrichello and said: “I
got a run on him, I think it was into Turn 4, but as soon as I moved he closed
the door straight away and his pace backed off. I was on new tires and there
were 12 laps to go, but there was no point even trying to pass. It was a shame
because even cruising I could lap in the 1:36s no problem, but I just backed
off. It was better to go home with eight points than to be out of the race.
It's a good result for me and for the team.”
3/21/04
Papis helps Corvette team
to dominate win at Sebring The General Motors Chevrolet Corvette
Racing team took an impressive flag-to-flag GTS victory at the Mobil 1 Twelve
Hours of Sebring on Saturday. Ron Fellows, Johnny O’Connell and Max Papis
claimed the class victory in the #3 Corvette C5-R. “This is an historic race
and it is great for us to win here three times in a row,” said Doug Duchardt,
director of GM Racing. “Sebring was our nemesis in the beginning of our
program and we’ve really put a lot of effort into developing the Corvette for
this track. I believe we showed this weekend that we had the fastest car. This
is a great win for the team and we are really looking forward to going to Le
Mans and being competitive at La Sarthe.”
The #3 Compuware Corvette C5-R of Ron Fellows, Johnny O’Connell and Max Papis
started Saturday’s race from the GTS pole position, 10th overall, after
qualifying at a record-setting 1:57.052. The trio briefly surrendered the lead
to the partner #4 Corvette C5-R, but again took over the lead on lap 30 and
held on for the remaining 299 laps. “The quality, determination and work ethic
of this team never ceases to amaze me,” said Doug Fehan, GM’s program manager
for Corvette Racing. “All winter this crew absolutely dedicated themselves to
improving what we do and today was the culmination of that. It was just an
amazing performance for Chevrolet and Corvette.”
Ron Fellows and Johnny O’Connell notched their third straight win together at
Sebring; new teammate Max Papis recorded his first win in his first ever drive
in the Corvette C5-R. “Today we did not just win, we dominated,” said Max
Papis, driver of the #3 Corvette C5-R. “To be able to win here and finish
fourth overall is amazing. This is the best welcoming the GM family could ever
give me. I give thanks to everyone on the crew for working very hard in the
wintertime and I am excited for Le Mans.”
3/21/04
Foyt IV still a moving
chicane
Last year AJ Foyt IV, in his rookie year, was usually the slowest car
on the track and crashed on numerous occasions. Then his grandfather
started dialing more downforce into his car so he would not crash and the
extra drag just led to an even slower car. The good drivers trim the car
out for speed. This year, Foyt continues to be a moving chicane,
finishing laps down. Today at Phoenix he finished three laps down again.
Meanwhile, rookies like Ed Carpenter, Mark Taylor and Kosuke Matsuura (who
never saw an oval in his life before this year) are easily faster than Foyt.
Nice kid, but clearly, he either didn't inherit his grandfather's driving
talent or his team is dreadful.
3/21/04
Fernández breaks gearbox,
finishes dead last
Adrian Fernandez’s fast-paced learning curve in the IRL IndyCar®
Series came to an early end today with a gearbox problem in the Indy 200
Copper World Classic. Fernandez, who first drove an IRL car on Friday, made a
mistake while downshifting prior to the start which, in turn, broke the
gearbox. The team immediately returned to the garage, but would have been
unable to make the necessary repairs in time to return Fernandez to the race
track. “Obviously, we are not happy about what happened but that’s racing.
This was a big part of not being familiar with the car. I made a mistake on
the downshift prior to the start of the race. The throw [distance the shifter
moves] is a lot longer than what I am used to (in the more sophisticated Champ
Car gearbox), so when I went down the gears I actually didn’t go down the
amount I should have. I stayed in the middle of the gearbox and that is really
what broke the gearbox. I’ve never had to do that before because I always came
into the pits; I never had to do that on the race track. It seems that you
have to be a lot more positive with the gearbox when you are in very low revs,
which was something I didn’t know. It’s just learning. Even though we didn’t
finish, I learned something which is positive, and I learned a lot of things
through the weekend. We learned a lot of things to prepare better for Motegi.
The guys did an amazing job and it was just unfortunate that we couldn’t
finish the race to at least get the miles.”
3/21/04
Chevy to power Patrick and
Unser out of Walker Racing shopUPDATE Here is the Patrick
Racing press
release. 3/21/04 - Partnerships that produced a total of 26 open-wheel victories, two
Indianapolis 500 titles and two national championships will be renewed when
Chevrolet powers Patrick Racing and driver Al Unser Jr. in the IRL IndyCar
Series. GM Racing IRL program manager Joe Negri announced today at Phoenix
International Raceway that Patrick Racing will use Chevy Indy V-8 engines in
2004, starting with the team's IRL debut at the Indianapolis 500. "GM Racing
and Chevrolet are pleased to add a team owner and driver who are proven
winners to Chevy's IRL lineup," said Negri. "Chevrolet and GM have enjoyed
great success in the past with Pat Patrick and Al Unser Jr., and we look
forward to an even more successful future with this championship-caliber
combination." Chevy Indy V-8 engines propelled Patrick Racing to 10 CART
victories, the 1989 Indy 500 crown, and the 1989 Indy Car World Series
championship with driver Emerson Fittipaldi. Al Unser Jr. won 14 CART races,
the 1990 national championship and the 1992 Indianapolis 500 with turbocharged
Chevy Indy V-8 powerplants. Unser also scored his first two career IRL
victories with GM engines. The Patrick Racing team will use a new 3.0-liter
version of the naturally aspirated Chevy Indy V-8 that will be introduced at
the Indy 500 in May. Indy Racing League veteran Steve Newey will be a
vice president and technical director for the team. Most recently, he was Vice
President of Racing Operations for Kelley Racing. He said the team, with
garage space and equipment leased from Walker Racing, expects the car to
arrive in about a week. “We are about three-quarters fully staffed,” Newey
said. “We hope to be on track mid-April to do a shakedown test prior to
attending the Indianapolis Open Test.”
3/21/04
New aerodynamics
leads to safer, more boring races
The IRL changed the downforce on the IRL cars over the winter
so the cars don't run in packs as much, which had led to numerous
accidents in the past. Now the cars are strung out more and we
are seeing less accidents so far this year. However, this
means less NASCAR-type artificially contrived finishes, but the
drivers are not getting hurt as much, so the changes are doing their
job. The cars also looked slower this year, the result of less
downforce and less HP. Kanaan led all but 9 laps today and
yesterday in the IPS support race, Thiago Medeiros led the entire
race and lapped the entire field in yet another yawner.
Leon Skowronski
3/21/04
Jeff Gordon takes hard hit in
Darlington, saved by HANS Device
Jeff Gordon is having a pretty miserable year so far in 2004
and it got significantly worse today, and he might have been
killed had it not been for the HANS Device. Gordon
plowed headfirst into Andy Hillenburg's spun out car just 28
laps into Sunday's Carolina Dodge Dealers 400. Hillenburg
was running well off the pace, and had already been lapped
when Tony Stewart tapped him entering Turn 2 on Lap 28.
Hillenburg spun, and came to rest sideways in the track's
high racing lane, and was stationed there as Gordon entered
the corner. Gordon's spotter advised him to go low, but
Elliott Sadler occupied that groove. Forced high with no
alternative, Gordon experienced the hardest head-on
collision of his career. "I'm OK. I'm gonna be pretty sore
tomorrow," said Gordon, a six-time Darlington winner who
finished 41st Sunday. "I haven't taken a hit like that,
possibly ever, and certainly not a head-on shot." That
is exactly the kind of hit the HANS Device was made to
protect against. Though sore, Gordon escaped virtually
unscathed. "The HANS device did its job, thankfully. The
belts did their job," Gordon said. "It's just unfortunate. I
don't know what happened with Andy getting spun, but I'll
tell you what, there's a bunch of cars out there than don't
belong. They're way off the pace and in the way."
Non-competitive "field-fillers" have been a hot topic all
year. Often, these under-funded teams are forced to park
early after being deemed incapable of reaching the required
speed.
3/21/04
Lola gets 1-2-3 at
Sebring The American Spirit Racing team took a surprise
victory in the new Prototype 2 category at the Sebring 12-hours at
the weekend when John Macaluso, Ian James and Mike Borkowski raced
to a 16-lap victory over the similar Rand Racing Lola B2K/40 of Bill
Rand, Mike Fitzgerald and James Gue. The ASR team, founded just two
weeks before the big race, nursed an ailing gearbox from early on.
"The gearbox started acting up real early in the race, and we didn't
think that we would make it," said Macaluso. "We just paced
ourselves. It wasn't a pretty win, but we were there at the end."
Clint Field, William Binnie and Rick Sutherland made it a Lola 1-2-3
when they took the final step of the podium in their Judd-powered
Lola B2K/40 to round out an impressive day for Lola, as this car was
undertaking its first ever race with a Judd engine.
3/21/04
***Reader
Feedback*** Letter to Adrian Fernández
A reader writes, Dear Mr. Fernandez, There are a few things
missing in your decision to leave Champ Cars. Integrity, loyalty,
honesty, and COMMON SENSE! The reasons you've given for leaving to
the press, lack all of these as there are too many questionable
points in your story! And if you considered real facts, what's best
for your sponsors, your fans, and the series you were in, based on
just the facts, not the passionate opinions your decision doesn't
make sense! For instance the IRL TV ratings are low and the
trend of the last year was they were going lower which has already
continued into this year. This means that nobody is watching and
there is little exposure value. Compound this with the IRL's
attendance figures. 4 of the 16 races are well attended (one of
those-Indy 500 is now losing attendance). Well now we see there are
not really many IRL fans! This equates to poor sponsorship value
since there isn't any exposure. Now Champ Car's TV ratings may be
low also but they were cumulatively higher than the IRL's.
Attendance figures show that out of 18 races held, 13 races were of
high attendance the remaining five showed at least half capacity,
and the cancelled Fontana race would have been half attendance which
is a big number still. This shows a higher value for your sponsors.
It becomes more obvious that Champ Car is better viewed than the IRL
when you look at the track attendance at the races where Champ Car
used to go and the IRL goes to now. Fontana, Gateway, Homestead,
Nazereth, Michigan. They don't get more than 10,000 paying
customers! It also shows that fans do not follow the big teams over
to the IRL. NASCAR owns the market the IRL is in. This market
will not embrace the IRL in a sustainable way. The Open Wheel fan is
a different breed of fan and appreciates the Champ Car. They don't
like the "dumbed down draft catchers". They like the high tech and
super skill of Champ Car and Formula1. Now Tony George has stated
the IRL will go road racing. Do you really think people want to see
this kind of racing on road and street courses if they don't show up
for the oval races this league was originally designed for?
Furthermore Americans don't like the bully. The press coming from
Tony George and the IRL faithful will only make the Champ Car fans
more passionate. The World's fans don't like to be lied to which
Tony is famous for. You're going to find that the reason the IRL
appears to be winning this war is only because of the money invested
into it by even the IRL's own enemies! The truth is with all the big
name drivers and teams moved to the IRL, the fans didn't follow. The
IRL is losing and has been losing. They just spend a lot of money
and time to make it appear as they are winning! So now why did
you leave for the IRL? Rick Main
3/21/04
Seen in Phoenix
Those looking for rides in Phoenix this weekend include Buddy
and Jaques Lazier, Felipe Giaffone, Vitor Meira and Oriol Servia.
We see less of the USACers wearing Road To Indy hats this year,
finally coming to the realization that the road to Indy is through
road racing and the Champ Car ladder system, not through the small
ovals that USACers race on. They were fed a line of baloney
for years and fell for it.
3/21/04
Champ Car talent much higher
for 2004
While some keep focusing on the big names that have moved from
Champ Car to the IRL in recent years, they are overlooking
the fact that in 2004 the Champ Car driver talent pool will
actually be much higher. Let's overlook the negative
PR hype being thrust upon Champ Car and do an honest
assessment.
Confirmed or rumored drivers
Mario Haberfeld - Plenty
fast, just needs a Lola, which he should have in 2004
Justin Wilson - Lighting fast. F3000 Champion.
Will challenge for wins first year
Michael Keohane - This Irishman was fast in Europe.
Ralph Firman - In F1 he more than
once outqualified highly regarded teammate Fisichella
Gastón Mazzacane - Had a
disastrous F1 career driving for terrible teams.
Questionable
Ricardo Sperafico - Very competitive in F3000. Will
open a few eyes if he gets a ride
Patrick Carpentier - A proven Champ Car winner
Paul Tracy - A proven Champ Car Champion
Rodolfo Lavín - Questionable. Must prove himself
Jamie Melo - If he lands a ride, this Brazilian will open
some eyes
Mario Dominguez - A proven Champ Car winner now that he is
in the right team
Ryan Hunter-Reay - A proven Champ Car winner, this kid is going to bust out big
time in 2004
Bruno Junqueira - A proven Champ Car winner
Sebastien Bourdais - A proven Champ Car winner
Michel Jourdain Jr. - A proven Champ Car winner.
Driving for Newman/Haas - look out
Jimmy Vasser - A proven Champ Car winner and champion
Roberto Gonzalez - Questionable. Must prove himself
Alex Tagliani - Plenty fast. Can win more races
Nelson Philippe - Questionable. Must prove himself
AJ Allmendinger - This rookie has winner written all over
him
Michael Valiante - A true superstar talent if only he can land a ride
Jonathan Macri - A proven Toyota Atlantic race win contender, still
questionable
Conclusion:
Certainly the talent can be better, but 2004 looks to be
quite exciting indeed. Lost to the IRL for 2004 are
Fernandez (close to retirement age) and Manning (a loss for
sure). If Champ Car makes it through 2004 with a successful
season, more drivers will look at Champ Car as a viable
place to race. OWRS is just going to have to counter
the negative aura that surrounds the series right now.
Leon Skowronski
3/21/04
Ralf blames Webber
For the second race in a row, Ralf Schumacher has defended
himself after being blamed for a collision. After banging wheels
with Juan Pablo Montoya during the Australian GP, Ralf was described
as 'not clever' by his Williams teammate. Ralf's response was to
blame Montoya and warn the Colombian that next time he would drive
him off the road. Now, having been blamed by Mark Webber - who
could be his Williams teammate next season - for their collision in
Sunday's Malaysian GP, Ralf has once again responded by insisting
that the clash was anything but his fault. According to the
Aussie, " Ralf drove into the back of me because he was pi**ed off
that I'd overtaken him", but the German has a rather different
interpretation of events. "At the third lap I had contact with
Webber and my front wing was damaged, causing massive understeer,
especially in sector two which was obvious from my times," he said.
"I was trying to overtake Mark but then I realized there was not
enough room and I backed off, trying to avoid the collision, however
Mark didn’t give me enough space."
3/21/04
More public
embarrassment for Toyota
After the debacle of Melbourne, there was yet more public
embarrassment for the beleaguered Toyota in Malaysia. Having
promised points in every race when they launched the TF104 in
January, there were red faces in Cologne two weeks ago when, at the
season-opening Australian GP, the two Toyotas could only lap at the
same pace of the Minardis and approximately two seconds shy of the
Ferraris. But if those problems weren't obvious to the naked eye
during the race, the team's shortcomings were all too obvious in
Malaysia.
With Olivier Panis and Cristiano Da Matta struggling in the
midfield, the first prolonged sight television viewers had of a
Toyota was when Panis drove into the pits. Alas, it wasn't for a
stop. Apparently called in by mistake due to a 'radio communication
problem', the Frenchman simply carried on past the Toyota garage and
down the pit-lane straight without stopping - but not without making
his feelings clear by gesticulating angrily to team personnel on the
pitlane wall. And if that wasn't embarrassing enough for Cologne
executives, two laps later Panis was called back into the pits - but
only by race stewards penalizing Olivier for speeding when he drove
along the pit straight remonstrating to his team bosses. On this
occasion, Panis merely settled for a mournful shake of his head.
Planet F1
3/21/04
Brack badmouths Champ Car
It's clear the press is on by the IRL to badmouth Champ Car and bring
it to its ultimate demise. Two articles in the Toronto Star, who appear
out to help kill the series, assures us the newspaper is now in the IRL camp.
In this
article (see article below too) Kenny Brack does his best to belittle
the Champ Car series. The IRL is winning the media war and Champ Car has
been unable to respond because it has had far too little good news to report.
However, that is expected to change soon.
3/21/04
Goodyear has lost their
way A reader writes, Dear
AutoRacing1.com, Regarding your blurb about the Corvette race team
dumping their Goodyears. It is truly sad when an American company of Goodyear's
stature can't stand the heat of competition and instead decides to focus in a
market where they know they'll never be challenged (NASCAR). It used to be
when Goodyear was in F-1, I took tremendous pride as an American that
Goodyear's F-1 tires where manufactured in Akron, Ohio. They withstood the
challenge from Pirelli, and Michelin's first foray into F-1, and they didn't
shy away when Michelin shod McLarens won the championship in the mid-80's,
they just simply stepped up their game. Now...at the first hint of competition
they simply wither away. Unfortunately, this has severely tarnished their
image as a producer of high performance tires. I used to be a hardcore
Goodyear supporter, and would buy nothing but "Gatorbacks" for my Mustang GT's.
Not anymore, I just replaced the OEM Goodyears on my Mustang with Michelin Pilot
Sports, and the extra cost is definitely worth it. Joe Angers
Dear Joe, Goodyear has clearly lost their way as the best tire manufacturer in
the world, be it race tires or passenger car tires. There needs to be a
culture change at the company if we are going to see them return to the top.
Leon Skowronski/AR1
Observations from Sebring
We spotted Toyota Atlantic President Vicki O'Connor making the rounds
at Sebring, as well as ex-CART and IRL driver Richie Hearn who was there
because he owns a Star Mazda team. Star Mazda ran as a support race to
the 12 Hour event. With up-and-coming drivers like Michael McDowell, Luis Schiavo, Moses Smith and others, the series is much more competitive than most
other development series in America. Joey Hand, Jeff Bucknum, Chad
Block, Scott Bradley, Guy Cosmo and a very long list of others have all come
from Mazdas. Since the cars are only $70k to own, a season runs around $180k
to run and the cars are almost as quick as an Atlantic car, we may find more
drivers coming from there in the future......There were
Fran-Am people there joking casually that they were all looking for jobs.
Justin Wilson was interviewed and said he is staying on in Sebring and would
be testing a Champ Car later in the week (Thursday and Friday - rumored to be
Conquest Racing). Pierre Kaffer, who would have been driving a Champ Car
this year if they didn't drop Germany from the schedule, looked most
impressive in his Audi debut. He shared the winning car and was slicing
through the field with some daring moves. This German appears to be a
real racer....Champ Car's loss.......The Corvette is super quick now that it
has dumped its junk Goodyear tires. The drivers were heard raving about their
new Michelin tires, winning by a massive 22 laps. Time and time again we
have seen Goodyear get beat by its rivals, in all series. They love
NASCAR, where they are the exclusive tire.....At the Hall of Fame Induction
Bobby Rahal made a quick exit, and did seem to be a bit on edge. About
twenty minutes after Rahal left, a shiny Gulfstream took off and headed north.
Just guessing that was him. Oh yeah. Howard Turner, President of HSR, sat at the table with his
baseball hat on the entire time. It was a tablecloth affair with wine and
dessert. We were not the only one to comment on this. Mario was his usual
amiable self. Sterling Moss was exchanging racing stories from back in the day
with everyone and signing autographs 30 minutes after all the other guys had
left.
3/20/04
Foreign road racer laps
IPS field at Phoenix
Demonstrating once again that road racers reign supreme, in today's
Menards Infiniti Pro Series Phoenix 100, Brazilian road racer Thiago Medeiros
dominated the race, lapping the field en route to his second career victory.
Medeiros' Sam Schmidt Motorsports teammate, Arie Luyendyk Jr., finished
second. Rookie Leonardo Maia finished third in his Menards Infiniti Pro Series
debut. Medeiros became the first Menards Infiniti Pro Series driver in history
to win a race by more than a lap.
THIAGO MEDEIROS (No. 11 Sam Schmidt Motorsports
Dallara/Infiniti/ Firestone): "After Homestead, I said that I wanted to win at
Phoenix and lap the field. It was a joke between me and my manager, and
fortunately, it came true. The car was awesome for the whole race. We had a
very good balance, and I'm very glad with the result that we got. The car was
unbelievable. We had a little push, but I could keep a good rhythm. As soon as
I started the race, I knew I could stay at the front because it's a very tough
track, and it's hard to overtake. It was the same with me last year with Mark
Taylor. When you are underneath somebody, the car has a big push. I just tried
to get a good start and have some distance to negotiate good passes on the
other guys." (About being the only Menards Infiniti Pro Series driver to lap
the field): "We made history here. I'm very happy. We were quickest here in
the Open Test, and now I'm looking forward to Indy. I'm very happy to be
leading the championship."
ARIE LUYENDYK JR. (No. 5 Sam Schmidt Motorsports Dallara/Infiniti/ Firestone):
"I knew from the very first lap that my car wasn't as good as Thiago's
(Medeiros). We were struggling with a car that had an overall grip loss. The
back end wasn't any good, and the front end wasn't good, either. Entering the
corner, we had a lot of push, and coming out, it was really loose when I was
on the throttle. I knew it was going to be a handful, so I was just trying to
conserve my tires and wait for a yellow, but it never came."
LEONARDO MAIA (No. 33 Brian Stewart Racing Dallara/Infiniti/Firestone): "I'm
still a little dizzy. I'm not used to these ovals. It was really fun. I think
a couple of cars went to an understeer. We started our car off expecting that,
so I had plenty of adjustments I could make inside the cockpit to counteract
that. I tried to get some clean air as I was going through traffic. I wanted
to be able to run the last 10 laps with a good car. I had a good car, and I
was able to pass my teammate. I'm sure we (Maia and teammate Jesse Mason) gave
Brian (Stewart) a little bit of a heart attack. It's clean and really good
racing against Jesse. It's really clean. He won't give me an inch, but he'll
give me a half-an-inch."
3/20/04
Skip Barber National: Moon
Flies and Ramos Rambles
With two big changes for 2004 -- the 30 identically prepared Formula
Dodges now on BFGoodrich tires and a new $190,000 championship prize fund --
the Skip Barber Formula Dodge National Championship Presented by RACER opened
its season with a double-header at Sebring International Raceway, supporting
the 52nd annual 12-hours of Sebring. More.....
3/20/04
Sebring dwarfs Rolex 24UPDATE Officials announced a
record Sebring crowd of 115,000. 3/20/04 - A reader writes, Dear AutoRacing1.com, I just caught the beginning of
the 12-Hours of Sebring on Speed Channel. Wow, what a large crowd.
There looks to be well over 100,000 in attendance. When I went to the
Rolex 24 this year, I estimated the crowd at 10,000 max. This goes to
show you that road racing fans simply won't support dumbed down NASCARized
road racing. This is something the IRL doesn't understand, nor does
NASCAR. Dumb American goobers might like to watch dumbed down
goobermobiles drone around in circles for hours, interrupted on occasion by
the ambulance carting off another hapless crash victim (driver), but those
with any intelligence, who understand what driving talent is, simply won't
stand for it. Marty Conway, Chicago, IL
3/20/04
The IRL has few real fans
A reader writes, Dear Autoracing1.com, I just got back from Phoenix.
Was there yesterday too. I went with an open mind. My first IRL
race. Hardly anyone was there both days. I am used to going to
Champ Car races where people come out Friday, Saturday and Sunday to watch
their favorite drivers. If the IRL has fans, they must not be very
dedicated ones because they stayed away in droves both days I was there.
I now believe for myself that the attendance we see at IRL races is a facade
of free race day ticket giveaways. They have no real fans. Just
moochers who take a free handout every year. OK, I admit, I am a Champ
Car fan, and perhaps a bit biased, but this IRL thing is a complete joke of a
series. I hope the traitors like Fernandez, Rahal, Penske, Ganassi and
Andretti feel good about staring up at all that bare aluminum. The IRL
can steal all they want from Champ Car. The fans remain loyal to Champ
Car, while the IRL gets to nurture the freeloaders. The "real" fans like
me have spoken. As far as I am concerned I have been to my last IRL
event. I have a headache listening to those cars drone around in
circles. I have more important things to do with my time - my toilet
bowl needs cleaning. Henry Edwards, Phoenix, AZ
3/20/04
Transnet Racing announces
2-car effort
Transnet Racing announced today its driver line-up for the upcoming
2004 Toyota Atlantic Championship. Alex Garcia will return for a second full
season, driving the Transnet Racing #9 Swift 014 and he will be joined by
Jonathan Bomarito, who will be driving the Transnet Racing #8 Swift 014.
Garcia, from Caracas Venezuela, started all 12 races of the 2003 Toyota
Atlantic Season finishing in 11th position in the points race for the
Championship, with best results of 6th at Cleveland and 8th at Laguna Seca.
Jonathan Bomarito hails from Monterey, California, and in the last few years
has built quite a reputation as one of the top up and coming young American
drivers. The year 2003 was highlighted when Jonathan came out on top of a
super competitive field winning the U. S. Formula 2000 National Championship
with a great display of speed and control while in the process beating some
tough competition in that always ultra competitive series.
“These are exciting times at Transnet Racing” commented Team Manager John
Hayes, “we feel that Jonathan has a bright future ahead of him and we are
absolutely delighted to have the opportunity to work with him during this
period of his career. I believe that he and Alex will make a great line-up of
drivers for us this year and will complement each other very well. Next week
we will be announcing the rest of the new members of the Transnet Racing squad
in preparation for debuting two full race teams at Long Beach.”
3/20/04
Reader claims industrial
espionage against Champ Car2nd UPDATE A reader writes, Dear
AutoRacing1.com, I agree totally with Lino Manocchia. Both the
Orange County Register and the Long Beach Press Telegram have IRL
shills for writers who appear out to kill the event that put Long
Beach on the map and led to the revitalization of the city. If
those twits think that the IRL can come into Long Beach and replace
Champ Cars, I suggest they remember Cleveland where the fans revolted
when they tried to replace Champ Cars with Crapwagons. Long
Beach is a big race for Champ Car fans, and they simply would not come
out to watch IRL Crapwagons race. Adam Steinberg, Irvine, CA.
3/16/04 - A fellow journalist takes a
swipe at the hack job done by Doug Krikorian of the Long Beach
Press Telegram against Champ Car. It is unfortunate that The
Long Beach Press-Telegram tends to ignore the city's most famous
annual event -- the Toyota Grand Prix of Long Beach -- for 11 months
of the year. It is even more disappointing that columnist Doug
Krikorian has taken a "doom and gloom" prediction for the 2004 race.
Sadly, Mr. Krikorian only presented this
"imminent end of the world" scenario for the Long Beach race (and he
did so without indicating the cause of the problem -- the greed of
Indianapolis Speedway owner Tony George, supported by millions of
dollars from automakers Honda and Toyota -- perhaps because of the
continued financial support of the LBGP by Toyota). He failed to do
what any good writer must do, he did not present the other side of the
story. If he had taken the time to do so and made the effort to
question representatives of the new OWRS sanctioning body, he would
have learned that there will certainly be more than 12 cars on the
grid for the LBGP.
The three principals in the new OWRS --
Paul Gentilozzi, Kevin Kalkhoven and Gerry Forsythe -- are all
millionaires who are committed to make the new series a success in the
long run. If that requires additional expenditures to field additional
teams, they will do what is needed. Neither Rome nor the Long Beach
Grand Prix were built in one day, and OWRS will grow with time. Mr.
Krikorian chose to take a negative approach to this year's event, a
time of definite rebuilding. And though columns are supposed to
express the author's opinion, the interest of journalistic fairness
certainly requires that the facts be presented in a fair and balanced
manner. Mr. Krikorian has not done this -- and from the words in his
column it appears he has not even made the attempt. On April 18, I
think he and those readers he has misled with his disillusioned view
will see that the OWRS and the LBGP are quite a bit healthier than he
indicated.- Lino Manocchia, US correspondent, Corsa News (Italy)3/16/04 - A reader writes, Dear AutoRacing1.com, When I read
articles like this in the Long Beach Press Telegram
that cause uncertainty about Champ Car, and in particular
the upcoming Long Beach race, it's clear to me that the Oval
Track Cartel is up to no good behind the scenes. By causing
uncertainty in the media, they will destroy ticket sales and
destroy a key race for Champ Car with the ultimate goal of
eventually taking over the race from Champ Car. I call it
industrial espionage for lack of a better term. It's this
continued uncertainty and Champ Car's inability to
counteract it that has contributed to its downfall.
Larry Wilson, Los Angeles
3/20/04
Qualifying track-notes:
Sepang
McLaren looks set to improve its pace in Sunday's Malaysian GP.
'Overall our speed is better than in Melbourne,' said team CEO Ron Dennis.
Kimi Raikkonen lines-up 5th, and David Coulthard is 9th. 'Our speed is
even better in race conditions,' he promised.
DIFFERENT STRATEGY
Ferrari drivers Michael Schumacher (pole) and Rubens Barrichello (3rd) are
probably on different race-strategies, according to BMW boss Mario Theissen.
'The performance of Mark Webber is definitely to praise,' said the German.
It is the Australian's - and Jaguar's - first-ever front-row F1 start.
Fernando Alonso probably should be in Webber's spot on the Sepang grid.
'However, motor racing is not about ifs,' said Renault tech-head Pat Symonds
in reference to the Spaniard's trip into the kitty-litter near the end of his
run.
3/20/04
Pantano debuts one-engine
penalty
What else can go wrong for F1-rookie Giorgio Pantano in Malaysia?
The Roman does not know why he's so slow at Sepang but to rub salt into the
wounds, his EJ14 gearbox packed-up just before he was due to start qualifying.
'I went into the T-car but it wasn't the same [as the race version].
VERY SLIPPERY
'The rear was very slippery and we need to see if there is anything we can
do.' Worse still, because the car featured a different V10-unit, Pantano
became the first driver to try-out a new penalty which drops him to the rear
of the grid. 'The spare was set-up for Nick,' said Jordan engineer-head
James Robinson.
Schumacher tops Malaysia
practice 3
Michael Schumacher returned to the top of the time sheets in the third
free practice session for the Malaysian Grand Prix Saturday morning. The world
champion set a time of 1m33.931s, 0.784s faster than second-place Fernando
Alonso. The Ferrari driver waited until halfway through the session,
which until that point had been fought out between Renault and WilliamsF1, and
with his first flying lap of the morning, set the quickest lap time recorded
so far this weekend. Schumacher attempted another run late in the
session but spun at one of Sepang's tight hairpins before abandoning his lap.
Yesterday's top runner Kimi Raikkonen failed to record a lap time despite two
warm-up runs. P. No Driver Team - Engine Tires Times Ave/Gaps Laps
1. 1 M. SCHUMACHER Ferrari B 1'33"391 213.669 Km/h 7
2. 8 ALONSO Renault M 1'34"175 + 0'00"784 12
3. 4 R. SCHUMACHER Williams BMW M 1'34"239 + 0'00"848 8
4. 2 BARRICHELLO Ferrari B 1'34"362 + 0'00"971 9
5. 5 COULTHARD McLaren Mercedes M 1'34"415 + 0'01"024 9
6. 7 TRULLI Renault M 1'34"482 + 0'01"091 14
7. 3 MONTOYA Williams BMW M 1'34"547 + 0'01"156 12
8. 14 WEBBER Jaguar Cosworth M 1'34"770 + 0'01"379 5
9. 9 BUTTON BAR Honda M 1'34"839 + 0'01"448 11
10. 11 FISICHELLA Sauber Petronas B 1'35"516 + 0'02"125 9
11. 16 DA MATTA Toyota M 1'35"678 + 0'02"287 4
12. 10 SATO BAR Honda M 1'35"697 + 0'02"306 16
13. 17 PANIS Toyota M 1'35"697 + 0'02"306 10
14. 12 MASSA Sauber Petronas B 1'35"813 + 0'02"422 10
15. 15 KLIEN Jaguar Cosworth M 1'36"106 + 0'02"715 8
16. 18 HEIDFELD Jordan Ford B 1'37"194 + 0'03"803 9
17. 19 PANTANO Jordan Ford B 1'38"302 + 0'04"911 11
18. 21 BAUMGARTNER Minardi Cosworth B 1'39"013 + 0'05"622 13
19. 20 BRUNI Minardi Cosworth B 1'39"209 + 0'05"818 11
3/19/04
Fernández
turns first laps in IRL car
Adrian Fernandez turned his first laps aboard the #5 Quaker State/Telmex/Tecate
Panoz G Force/Honda/Firestone today in opening practice for the Indy 200
Copper World Classic at Phoenix International Raceway (PIR) this weekend.
Fernandez, who was ninth quickest in the afternoon session, logged a total of
74 laps during his two hours of track time today.
Fernandez has made three starts on the one-mile desert oval. In 1992,
Fernandez won at Phoenix in his Indy Lights debut. He also contested two CART
events at PIR in 1994 and 1995. His best finish was 10th in 1994.
Adrian
Fernandez, #5 Quaker State/Telmex/Tecate Panoz G Force/Honda/Firestone:
“It was a good day. Obviously, we have a lot to catch up on. There are a lot
of things to get used to – the car, the engine power… just so many things. I
was trying to stay away from the other drivers and just focus on what we were
doing. We were pretty lost this morning with the setup of the car. We came
back a lot this afternoon. We caught up a second. We were more balanced
towards the end. The temperatures are pretty high, but it is the same for
everybody.
“We
are just learning the car; John [Dick, race engineer – Kosuke Matsuura] and
all of us are learning the car and trying to understand what it is doing. We
made some changes and found a second so hopefully tomorrow, in preparation for
qualifying, we can get a better car in that respect. It is too much to expect
to have everything perfect for this weekend. My aim for this weekend, as it
was today, was just to learn. The guys really did a terrific job in preparing
the car over these few days and we haven’t had any mechanicals.
“The support of Honda and everyone in the series has really been good, and
Brian [Barnhart, senior vice president of racing operations for the IRL] gave
me the two [practice] sessions this morning to catch up on some time. It was a
nice feeling to be welcomed, and they received us with open arms. Everybody
has been very good in trying to explain the rules and other things, and get me
up to speed as quickly as possible in the transition from one series to
another. In general, I am very happy. Obviously we would like to be faster,
but we are going in the right direction.” Photos courtesy of Fernández
Racing.
3/19/04
Coyne announces plans to
field 2-car Champ Car team
Long-time Champ Car competitor Dale Coyne Racing today announced plans
to field two cars in the entire 2004 Bridgestone Presents The Champ Car World
Series Powered by Ford season. "When I came on board at Champ Car, many people
told me the loyalty and dedication that Mr. Coyne had for our sport," said
Champ Car president Dick Eidswick. "Dale Coyne Racing has been part of the
Champ Car family for more than 20 years and has played a major role in
recognizing and developing young talent through the years. We are pleased to
have an owner the caliber of Dale Coyne continue our vision and growth for the
future."
The team will announce the drivers of its two-car effort in the near future.
The Plainfield, Ill.-based operation is also busy preparing its Ford-powered
Lola chassis for testing. "We have had a long, successful relationship
with Champ Car since our beginnings back in 1984," said Coyne, a former Champ
Car driver. "Now is the time that those of us who believe in the product must
support the series. We plan to have our drivers finalized within five to 10
days, and will begin testing immediately thereafter." [Editor's Note:
Drivers are rumored to be Irishman Michael Keohane and F1 driver Ralph Firman]
Last year, Dale Coyne Racing entered two cars in all 18 rounds of the Champ
Car World Series, with drivers Gualter Salles, Geoff Boss, Joel Camathias,
Alex Yoong, Roberto Gonzalez, and Alex Sperafico each making starts for the
team. Salles earned the squad's best result of the season with a sixth place
run at Surfers Paradise.
3/19/04
Retirement
homes get hands on IRL tickets Out of the max 200 - 300 people that
were at Phoenix Friday to watch the IRL cars drive in circles, an awful lot of
them were "suspiciously" old and seemed to be in groups! One wag quipped, "It looked like a
retirement-center got its hands on the Friday "tickets." In photo at
right, Adrian Fernández and Tom Anderson, co-owners of Fernández racing, stare
up at the vast array of empty grandstands. Is anyone happy droning around at
oval tracks with no one there to watch? Why bother? Photo by
Darrell Ingham/Getty Images
3/19/04
Tecate
and Telmex confirm Champ Car commitment
Today OCESA Entertainment, a division of Group CIE, announced the
culmination of a series of agreements with the Government of the State of Leon
with Tecate Beer and Telmex - two sponsors who chopped Adrian Fernandez's
budget so they can do more race and track signage marketing in the Champ Car
series. The Tecate-Telmex Monterrey Grand Prix will proceed while
Fernández is at Indy preparing for the 500.
After these agreements being reached the OCESA Entretenimiento company, which
acted as the operator of the race in the 2002 and 2003 versions, take
full control of all activities on behalf of all the parties involved.
George González, Director of OCESA Entretenimiento, stated: "Through the
conclusion of these important agreements, all the parties involved will have
the possibility to do what we know best, that is, the Government will be
engaged in promoting tourism and economic development of its State through the
projection achieved by a race of this level; CCM will promote its product
associating its brands with such an important event; and we will be devoted to
further expand the entertainment offer for all types of audiences, striving
for more efficient operations to guarantee high quality shows" he said.
On the other hand, Erick Jurgensen, General Director of the Fundidora Park
said that he feels "very pleased with the agreements reached, because they
will allow us to focus on our tasks". Additionally, he commented that "we will
grant all the logistic, safety, dissemination, and service support to offer
the people of Monterrey the show they deserve this next May 21, 22, and 23."
To conclude, various movements were announced within the race organization,
which will now be totally entrusted to OCESA Entretenimiento. These movements
were:
Once the technical transfer
period agreed with Forsythe Racing, which has been successfully carried out,
is concluded, Joe Heitzler will return to the United States in order to
establish and pursue new projects.
The promoter in charge of the
two Champ Car races in our country, and who will represent the interests of
all the parties involved will be OCESA Entretenimiento, through its
sponsoring, promoting, venue management, ticketing and public relations areas.
Jorge Lozano will be
responsible of the race in Monterrey, who has significant experience within
the group and had been in charge of car racing and / or other sportive
projects in companies like Tecate and Telmex, which are sponsoring this event.
"George González, Director of
OCESA Entretenimiento, explained: "We are starting a new stage of Ocesa's
international motorsport project. We would like to thank Joe Heitzler for his
commitment and high level of professionalism, and he will always be linked to
this project enriched by all the value added by him in recent times."
Gerald Forsythe, as a partner in this project with
OCESA Entretenimiento said that "I am very satisfied with the results of this
first phase in which we had reached high quality goals. Joe Heitzler
leadership together with his team allowed the partners to have the highest
attended races of the 2003 CART season. I personally thank Joe for the great
achievements he reached for the partners during this period."
Finally, Joe Heitzler said, "It has been an incredible experience to live and
work here in Mexico in the sport of auto racing. I believe that our team
together with the Mexican pilots, Mexican sponsors and the fans presented a
successful product. I thank everyone for the hospitality that has been
extended to me and my family. It has been an honor to be part of the Mexico
City business community and I look forward to continue with this
relationship".
A press conference will be held next Tuesday 12:30 at the Cintermex
Auditorium. Asia-Africa meeting rooms, to communicate more details about the
Tecate Telmex Monterrey Grand Prix 2004.
3/19/04
Phoenix IPS race
qualifying results
Qualifying Friday for the Phoenix 100 IRL Menards Infiniti Pro Series
event on the 1-mile Phoenix International Raceway, with starting position, car
number in parentheses, driver and chassis-engine and speed:
1. (11) Thiago Medeiros, Dallara-Infiniti, 156.836
2. (5) Arie Luyendyk Jr., Dallara-Infiniti, 152.513
3. (42) Billy Roe, Dallara-Infiniti, 152.460
4. (3) Jesse Mason, Dallara-Infiniti, 151.194
5. (10) Rolando Quintanilla, Dallara-Infiniti, 150.473
6. (12) Matt Beardsley, Dallara-Infiniti, 148.899
7. (33) Leonardo Maia, Dallara-Infiniti, 147.840
8. (24) Brad Pollard, Dallara-Infiniti, 147.625
9. (2) Phil Giebler, Dallara-Infiniti, 146.746
10. (91) Paul Dana, Dallara-Infiniti, 146.604
11. (4) Marty Roth, Dallara-Infiniti, 145.596
12. (27) Gary Peterson, Dallara-Infiniti, 143.920
3/19/04
Toyota joins forces with
Toyoda
Toyota Motorsport GmbH (TMG) today announced that it has signed a deal
with Toyoda Mitsui Europe GmbH, one of the world leaders in high-performance
machine tools.
The deal, which took effect shortly prior to the 2004 Formula 1 season opener
in Australia two weeks ago, sees Toyoda Mitsui Europe GmbH become an official
technical partner of the Toyota F1 team Panasonic Toyota Racing.
Through their know-how of automotive part machining, Toyoda Mitsui Europe GmbH
will support Toyota Motorsport in the production of high quality components
for its 2004 race car, the TF104.
Csaba Lerinc, President of Toyoda Mitsui Europe GmbH said of the deal, "As
technical partner of the Panasonic Toyota Racing team, Toyoda Mitsui Europe
GmbH and Toyota Motorsport are together able to meet the key F1 targets of
speed, precision and quick reactions, whether on the track or in the factory."
"It is not just with the proximity of our similar sounding company names that
brings Toyota Motorsport and Toyoda Mitsui together. In fact, Toyoda machine
tools have effectively been working in Toyota automobile plants for over 60
years and it is an honour to take our relationship to this exciting new
level."
3/19/04
Dixon fastest in Phoenix
practice
Target Chip Ganassi Racing’s Scott Dixon set the tone quickly for this
weekend’s Copper World Indy 200. The defending IndyCar Series Champion was
quickest overall in Friday practice on the short one-mile oval at Phoenix
International Raceway with a time of 20.5208 seconds and speed of 175.432 mph.
Dixon’s fastest lap time was set in the morning session but kept him atop the
leader board as the track got more slick and slowed as the temperature rose
throughout the day.
“We had some issues with the car this morning and I didn’t spend very much
time on the track but still put in some fast laps so we know we’re on the
right path.” said Dixon. “The track was a lot slicker this afternoon with the
heat and we went through the tires a little faster than expected. We
concentrated our work on the race set up so it’s a little more difficult to
compare to the others on track. I expect that the heat will be an issue all
weekend long but as long as we take care of our tires in the race we should do
well.”
Dixon’s teammate Darren Manning, who finished 6th in his race debut with
Target Chip Ganassi Racing and the Indy Racing League in Homestead, also
worked predominantly on setting up his Toyota-G Force for Sunday’s race.
Manning ran his fastest lap in the morning session as well, with a time of
21.2723 seconds and a speed of 169.234 mph.
“I’m pretty pleased with the car already and ran in the top ten this morning.”
said Manning of his ninth place overall in combined practice times on Friday.
“This afternoon there was a lot less grip out there than when we tested here
last month so you have to be more conservative with your tires. There won’t be
any side by side racing this weekend but it’ll be important to get a run on
guys in order to pass. We ran a race set up this afternoon that varied quite a
bit from Scott’s and we’ll be comparing notes throughout the weekend and I
expect us to be in good shape for the race.”
3/19/04
Junqueira completes 2-day
test
PacifiCare driver Bruno Junqueira, 27, completed his first two-day
test of the season on the infield road course of The California Speedway late
yesterday. The 2004 Bridgestone Presents the Champ Car World Series Powered by
Ford season will begin on April 18 at the Toyota Grand Prix of Long Beach and
Junqueira hopes to surpass his 2002 and 2003 season-ending rank of second
place in the point standings. "We were able to run 41 miles in the spare car
and 122 miles in the primary car and test many different things," said
Junqueira whose best lap time was a 57.3 around the 1.5-mile road course. "We
had a problem with the right front wheel after a pit stop and I went off track
near the end of the day but overall it was a good test. I've been looking
forward to getting back in the car for a very long time and I can't wait to
test again at Sebring next week." "We had a set list of items to test and we
were able to make a lot of progress," added Brian Lisles, general manager of
Newman/Haas Racing. "We now have direction for the next test which will take
place in Sebring next week with both Bruno and Sebastien (Bourdais)."
3/19/04
Paul Newman speaks
The following is a statement regarding Newman/Haas Racing's
plans for the 2004 racing season. The statement should be attributed
to Paul Newman, co-owner of Newman/Haas Racing. "Any rumor that
Newman/Haas Racing is leaving the Champ Car World Series is a
figment of somebody's imagination. We remain committed to the series
and are looking forward to the Toyota Grand Prix of Long Beach
season-opener on April 18."
3/19/04
Rahal comments on
Wind Tunnel
Below are select quotes from Thursday's, Wind Tunnel with Dave
Despain on SPEED Channel. Bobby Rahal, co-owner of Team Rahal,
announces his move away from the OWRS-owned Champ Car series and his
plans to field a car in the upcoming Indy Racing League event at
Motegi, Japan. Rahal was in Sebring for his induction into the
Sebring 12 Hour Hall of Fame.
About what prompted the decision to leave Champ Car and move to the
Indy Racing League: "It was certainly my most difficult decision in
my professional life given the years of service to CART and Indy Car
Racing but I felt as a business owner I couldn't rely on the passion
that I have. I had to look at it in a little harsher light. I felt
for the benefit of this team and the 65 people who work with me and
their families that we had to commit ourselves to one category or
the other and certainly no matter what you say the Indianapolis 500
is the biggest race in this country and certainly one of the biggest
in the world. I felt like we really had to jump in with both feet
and commit to it and do everything we could to help raise the
stature once again of the (Indy) 500 and make it as popular as it
once was and by doing so I think we will raise the level of open
wheel racing as a whole."
About the positions of driver Jourdain staying at Champ Car and
Gigante: "People shouldn't believe what they read on the Internet. I
was not in Mexico this week. There is a number out there about what
the budget was that is so widely over inflated that it doesn't owe
any comment. We spoke to Gigante and they were fantastic and have
been a fantastic sponsor of ours. We make this commitment to Indy
Car racing and the IRL. Obviously, they had different opinions but
we went about this in a very civilized way and a very classy way I
thought. We are sorry to go our separate ways at least in this
chapter but who knows what the future may hold."
Rahal on Honda incentives and return to Honda power: "There are a
lot of things that are written that are inaccurate. What caused us
to change direction is a realization within our team ... and some of
our other sponsors. Last year, we had a foot in both camps and it
was very difficult for us to do as a team. It made no sense
financially; it was very expensive to do it that way. I think our
Indy Car effort really suffered by being a one-car team. We felt for
us to be successful and particularly successful at Indianapolis we
had to commit 100 percent of our resources and that was the
overriding reason for the making the change. Certainly we are proud
and pleased to be with Honda. I never thought I would be with Honda
again after 1994 when we left them three-quarters of the way through
the year. But the reasons for making the change were reasons that we
assumed to be in our best interest as a team and that meant being
competitive all year long and especially at the Indy 500."
Rahal on the role money played in the decision: "We have never
commented upon any of our financial arrangements with any of our
sponsor contracts in the entire history of Team Rahal. Obviously,
over the course of the years you develop relationships but as I said
before I think there are a lot of people who want to think the worst
and think that the reason you are there is because somebody has
waved a lot of money in front of you. That is not the case. I have
said several times this year during interviews that I felt for open
wheel racing to capture the popularity that it once had it really
needed to be one series and one series only. And I don't think I am
the only one who has said that. There have been people on both sides
of the fence that have said that. All credit to NASCAR, they have
done a fantastic job but if you remember where Indy Car was back in
1995 and you see where it is today, I think we have an obligation to
get back to that point in time and go beyond it as soon as possible
and I think that is what drove the decision from our standpoint."
3/19/04
Lamborghini enters ALMS Lamborghini,
a name that represents glamour, excitement, speed and raw
power in the automotive world, will enter professional
sports car racing competition in the American Le Mans Series
this season with the newly-created Krohn-Barbour Racing
team.
The team, which will campaign a pair of Lamborghini
Murciélago R-GT cars in the GTS class, will make its debut
in Round Two of the 2004 ALMS season at Mid-Ohio Sports Car
Course in Lexington, Ohio, June 25-27. Though a privateer
racing effort, Krohn-Barbour Racing will be officially
affiliated with the Lamborghini factory.
Krohn-Barbour Racing is co-owned by Texas businessman/racing
driver Tracy Krohn and longtime sports car racing team
owner/driver Dick Barbour, marking the return to racing as a
team owner for Barbour for the first time since 2001. The
announcement of the new team was made today at Sebring
International Raceway on the eve of the 52nd annual Mobil 1
Twelve Hours of Sebring, a race that Barbour won overall
three straight years as an owner, and one as a driver,
starting in 1978.
"This is an exciting day for us and is the result of many
months of hard work," said Krohn, who is driving at Sebring
in a Porsche for PK Sport but will be one of the drivers for
Krohn-Barbour Racing when the team makes its debut. The full
driver lineup will be announced at a later date. "We're
going to field a first-class racing team and we look forward
to mixing it up with the other competitors in what we
consider to be the finest professional sports car racing
series in the world."
3/19/04
Friday notes from Sepang The
air was a stifling 37-degrees by the afternoon-session, but
track-temperatures rose to no less than 56 at the Malaysian
GP circuit on Friday.
Ferrari's boss is not getting down-in-the-dumps after
Michael Schumacher (4th) and Rubens Barrichello (10th)
slipped from the top of the times this afternoon. 'We
don't know what fuel our rivals are running,' said Jean
Todt. 'We expect to be on the pace but this should be
a close contest.' Tech-director Ross Brawn said
neither driver is yet happy with the F2004 car. A
new-sticker featured on the Jaguar R5's nose-cone in
Malaysia. It belonged to sponsor YTL, a Malaysian
infrastructure conglomerate that has secured a one-race deal
with the Milton-Keynes based Formula One team.
COOL ASSESSMENT
McLaren boss Ron Dennis offered a predictably cool
assessment of team-driver Kimi Raikkonen's leading-pace in
the stifling heat at Sepang on Friday. 'So far we're
pleased with the consistency and pace of our Michelin tires.
'But it's still early days.'
Cristiano da Matta's Toyota car was not damaged in his
high-speed 'off' in the afternoon-session even if he didn't
make it back out onto the Sepang track. 'We got the
car back to the garage,' said technical director Mike
Gascoyne. 'But we just couldn't clean it out in time
to send him back out.'
Similarly, BAR driver Takuma Sato's brake-problem was not
technically-based. 'He ran over some debris,' said
technical director Geoff Willis, 'which meant his pedal was
held on by some of the debris coming into the cockpit.'
3/19/04
3 of 4 pole sitters times
disallowed The
pole sitters for the P2, GTS and GT classes all had their
times disallowed following post-qualifying technical
inspection in preparation for the Mobil 1 Twelve Hours of
Sebring. A total of five cars had their times disallowed for
various infractions, and they will all have to start the
race from the back of the grid.
In the P2 class, the No. 56 Team Bucknum Racing Pilbeam
MP91/Nissan was disallowed because the car failed the stall
test. With the car heading to the back of the field, the No.
8 Rand Racing Yokohama ADVAN Lola B2K/40/Nissan assumed the
pole position.
In GTS, the No. 4 Corvette C5-R of Corvette Racing was found
to have wing end plates that were out of compliance. The No.
3 Corvette will now sit at the front of the GTS field.
The No. 71 Dodge Viper GTS-R of Carsport America qualified
third in GTS, but their time was disallowed because of
incorrect restrictors. The technical infractions of the
Corvette and the Viper put both of the Barron Connor Racing
Ferrari 575 GTC entries in the second and third spots on the
class grid.
Because the No. 63 ACEMCO Motorsports Saleen S7R qualified
last among the field, now half of the GTS class is starting
from the rear of the grid.
In the GT class, the first and third qualifiers also had
their times disallowed. The No. 43 BAM! Porsche GT3 RS was
found to have their front splitter out too far. According to
a representative of the team, the car was found to be in
compliance during technical inspections during the morning
and prior to qualifying. The splitter was found to be 2mm
too long after qualifying.
The No. 24 McKenna/Alex Job Racing Porsche 911 GT3 RSR,
which had qualified third, will be sent to the back of the
field for having a front spoiler that is too low.
The No. 23 McKenna/Alex Job Racing Porsche had originally
qualified second, but will now assume the GT pole. The new
top three in class will include the No. 66 New Century
Mortgage/Racers Group Porsche 911 GT3 RSR and the No. 45
Porsche GT3 RSR of Flying Lizard Motorsports.
The Race Site
3/19/04
Humpy proposes wider tires
Humpy Wheeler, who runs Speedway Motorsports for Smith, said
he's looking at fatter tires as a possible solution for
boring races at flat tracks.
Winston Salem Journal
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is
now with the Herdez team so Ryan can look forward to having the best looking
crew member 
Mario
Andretti featured in new Firestone commercials
With a hip new rendition of its popular theme song and images that
evoke America, Bridgestone/Firestone North American Tire, LLC (BFNT) today
announced that it will launch a new, national advertising campaign for
Firestone as part of its commitment to the nearly 104-year-old brand.
Tecate
and Telmex confirm Champ Car commitment
Today OCESA Entertainment, a division of Group CIE, announced the
culmination of a series of agreements with the Government of the State of Leon
with Tecate Beer and Telmex - two sponsors who chopped Adrian Fernandez's
budget so they can do more race and track signage marketing in the Champ Car
series. The Tecate-Telmex Monterrey Grand Prix will proceed while
Fernández is at Indy preparing for the 500.
Much
More...click on 2004 archives button below
