And I forgot to mention the excellent Easter day birthday gift Derrick Walker received in “Los Wage$” as he notched his first Team victory since Portland, 1999. DAMM! That was a long time ago… And Will Power became the first “Aussie” to win a Champ Car race, so Kudos to Team Australia.
And never fear if you were worried about Rick “Insert $ponsor Here” Benjamin. As I was scribbling furiously during reviewing the tape of Friday morning’s Bahrain GP action, I found ‘ol “Ricky-boy” calling the action for the Hooters Pro Cup race as the VCR sat in pause mode…
Continuing on a high, Will Power seems to be the strongest driver to challenge the might of N/H/L Racing at the moment as he “pipped” Sebastian Bourdais for the provisional pole on Friday. Actually “Sea Bass” was the meat of a Team Aussie Bit-O-Mite” sandwich…
And what the HELL is wrong with Justin Wilson? I mean, c’mon. Getting out qualified by a Dale Coyne entry? Ok, so it was “Whiney-Bags” behind the wheel, but still you’d expect Wilson to be further towards the sharp end of the grid! As it appears that his new teammate “TAG” is getting the better end of their technical partnership, eh?
Of course I have to wonder if Wilson is having his own personal “New Car Blues?” I believe he’s the tallest driver in Champ Car at 6’3” and I wonder if he’s having trouble inserting his lanky frame into the Panoz DP-01 cockpit.
Interestingly on race day they noted how Wilson had stayed late inserting extra foam padding into his “office” the day before. So I just hope that the Panoz designers didn’t make the cockpits too small…
It was also noted that the gearbox manufacturer had brought new software updates for this weekend’s race and that the paddle shifting is getting quicker. Of course it’s not as quick as the seamless shift transmissions in Formula 1. Yet the software changes are the same for all drivers in Champ Car and the drivers have to make the difference on track vs. “unfair” technical advantages.
And speaking about New Car Blues, Champ Car court jester “Sand Dune” Tracy will now be known as “Crash” as he had a “weird” accident during the Saturday warm up session...
Tracy had a “huge” impact with the jersey barriers at 35mph and suffered a compression fracture of a lower back vertebrae. “Crash” will be out of action for 3 months.
This led to Forsythe’s scrambling to find a replacement. Fortunately Oriol Servia was on hand and jumped into PT’s Panoz late Saturday to once again fill in as “Super Sub.” (This title previously belonged to Roberto Moreno before he landed a quality full time CART ride in the late 1990's. Hopefully the same will happen for Servia)
As Robin Miller interviewed Gerry Forsythe about Servia’s “audition” Forsythe answered that if he wins a race he’ll be pretty assured of a drive…
And on the flip side it was wonderful to hear Cristiano da Matta’s voice being interviewed during the beginning of the race. Da Matta definitely sounded like he’s ready to get back into the cockpit, yet still needs doctor’s approval in regards of another potential head injury before being allowed aboard a Panoz…
Friday Qualifying Report
Saturday Qualifying Report
And never fear if you were worried about Rick “Insert $ponsor Here” Benjamin. As I was scribbling furiously during reviewing the tape of Friday morning’s Bahrain GP action, I found ‘ol “Ricky-boy” calling the action for the Hooters Pro Cup race as the VCR sat in pause mode…
Continuing on a high, Will Power seems to be the strongest driver to challenge the might of N/H/L Racing at the moment as he “pipped” Sebastian Bourdais for the provisional pole on Friday. Actually “Sea Bass” was the meat of a Team Aussie Bit-O-Mite” sandwich…
And what the HELL is wrong with Justin Wilson? I mean, c’mon. Getting out qualified by a Dale Coyne entry? Ok, so it was “Whiney-Bags” behind the wheel, but still you’d expect Wilson to be further towards the sharp end of the grid! As it appears that his new teammate “TAG” is getting the better end of their technical partnership, eh?
Of course I have to wonder if Wilson is having his own personal “New Car Blues?” I believe he’s the tallest driver in Champ Car at 6’3” and I wonder if he’s having trouble inserting his lanky frame into the Panoz DP-01 cockpit.
Interestingly on race day they noted how Wilson had stayed late inserting extra foam padding into his “office” the day before. So I just hope that the Panoz designers didn’t make the cockpits too small…
It was also noted that the gearbox manufacturer had brought new software updates for this weekend’s race and that the paddle shifting is getting quicker. Of course it’s not as quick as the seamless shift transmissions in Formula 1. Yet the software changes are the same for all drivers in Champ Car and the drivers have to make the difference on track vs. “unfair” technical advantages.
And speaking about New Car Blues, Champ Car court jester “Sand Dune” Tracy will now be known as “Crash” as he had a “weird” accident during the Saturday warm up session...
Tracy had a “huge” impact with the jersey barriers at 35mph and suffered a compression fracture of a lower back vertebrae. “Crash” will be out of action for 3 months.
This led to Forsythe’s scrambling to find a replacement. Fortunately Oriol Servia was on hand and jumped into PT’s Panoz late Saturday to once again fill in as “Super Sub.” (This title previously belonged to Roberto Moreno before he landed a quality full time CART ride in the late 1990's. Hopefully the same will happen for Servia)
As Robin Miller interviewed Gerry Forsythe about Servia’s “audition” Forsythe answered that if he wins a race he’ll be pretty assured of a drive…
And on the flip side it was wonderful to hear Cristiano da Matta’s voice being interviewed during the beginning of the race. Da Matta definitely sounded like he’s ready to get back into the cockpit, yet still needs doctor’s approval in regards of another potential head injury before being allowed aboard a Panoz…
Friday Qualifying Report
Saturday Qualifying Report
