Mergification

If I’ve done my homework correctly, then today is the 2yr Birthday of that storied Open Wheel Racing Mergification ceremony hosted on SPEED TV, where Kevin “Smiley Face”Kalkhoven and Tony “I WON!” George announced the long overdue reunification of Open Wheel Racing in the US, after what is known as The Split came to an end after an acrimonious 12+ years as the frenzied Popperatzi’s flash bulbs continuously took pictures of Kevin and Tony shaking hands jubilantly.

But it’s been a wild ‘N wooly two years since this ridiculously overdrawn affair occurred, (the merger) as I’ll leave Y’all to ponder if Open Wheel Racing is better off or worse today?

Of the crumbling Champ Car World Series Dynasty, only a handful of Teams still exist in the Indy Car Series today, as Gerald Forsythe is nowhere to be seen, having left Mr. Chrome Horn, nee Paul Tracy High ‘N Dry… While Paul Gentilozzi is now busy trying to resurrect Jaguar’s Sports Car legacy with his RSR GT2 program.

Kevin Kalkhoven along with partner Jimmy Vasser continue trying to mold KV Racing Technology into a front runner in IndyCar, with a revolving cast of Drivers, including The Thrill from the West Hill, (Paul Tracy) whose been moonlighting for them the past two seasons.

Derrick Walker who planned to merge with the IRL seemingly got the Shaft when business partner Craig Gore took his Aussie Vineyards sponsorship and prized driver Will Power to KVRT instead, leaving the longtime CART, Champ Car and IRL Team Owner holding the Bag… As scuttlebutt now suggests that the venerable Scotsman may be trying to work a deal with Robby Gordon for a return to The Speedway this May?

Eric Bachelart has been fighting gamely to stay afloat with his low-bucks conquest Racing Organization, as he continues to bravely field a lone single car entry with a cast of assorted racing drivers, having unfortunately bought brand new Panoz DP1’s just prior to the merger! Yet Bachelart plans to contest 2010 and hopefully Jan “Van Hagar” Heylan will be back in the seat for the fast approaching season? Or will it be “Moana Vye’s” Tomas Scheckter?

Carl Russo and his upstart RuSport Racing Team have long since left the fight, with signature driver AJ Almendinger going’ south to pursue a Tin top career, first for Red Bull before some ex-F1 Piloto named Scott Speed replaced him, with AJ now racing for Richard Petty Motorsports.

AJ’s teammate was a chap affectionately known here at No Fenders as Justin ‘BIG UNIT Wilson, who is one of only two Champ Car drivers to have won an event in Indy Car’s… Can you name the other? (He’s currently seeking a ride…) While the final Hotschue to drive for the amalgamation between Rocketsports Racing and RuSport, which became RSPORTS alongside Wilson, was ‘TAG, a.k.a. Alex Tagliani, who will now drive for the brand new FAZZT Race Team in 2010.

Minardi Team USA, which was a combination of the plucky “Aussie” Paul Stoddart and veteran Champ Car Team Owner Keith Wiggins, who’d run the ex-Tony Bettenhausen Operation under multiple guises, including a stint with Cedric The Entertainer, ran a well oiled machine that saw Open Wheel upstart Bad Bobby D, a.k.a. Robert Doornbos to two wins, third in the overall standings and the series final rookie of the Year honours, as well as being one of the few drivers besides PT to get underneath The Hamburgular’s skin, while his teammate was the blazing fast, crash prone Dan “Speedy-Dry” Clarke.

And while apparently Stoddart is in the Outback on a Walkabout, Wiggins joined the Party in 2008 as HVM Racing and looks set to run Doornbos once again this season, although it’s unclear if a second car will be run? As apparently the long arm of the IHJ, nee Brian Braveheart has given the Black flag to the “Swiss Miss” female Atlantics Standout Simona de Silvestro, who tested for the Team at Sebring and reportedly was quite impressive…

Seeming to have possibly lost their way is the once mighty Newman Haas Racing Team, which moved to the IRL under the auspices of Newman Haas Lanigan Racing, with Justin Wilson replacing departed 4-Time Champ Car Champion Sebastian Bourdais, (The Hamburgular) who was seeking greener pastures in the rarefied world of Formula 1, while The Son ‘O Stash, a.k.a. Graham Rahal was trying to master the art of Oval racing at NHLR, who now apparently is without a ride while the Team is seeking sponsorship, Err dare I say it? Paying Drivers... Although I’d be happy to see Alex ‘Pink Lloyd Shine-On, along with Heideki Mutoh continuing his Dream of being an Indy Car Driver with NHLR, although I still say Milka-licious in the number Double Zero is too much to pass-up for me… (Just wishful thinking, as I know she’s a No. 23 CITGO Girl Thru ‘N Thru…)

Dale Coyne, the proverbial Little Team that Could! Finally broke its Duck with Justin Wilson’s second Indy Car victory last year at Watkins Glen, after a 25yr victory drought, and will be known as the only driver to win in 2009 besides Penske ‘N TCGR. Although Justin has now jumped to Team England, Err Dryer & Reinbold Racing, while DCR expects to have two full time entries, with hopefully Tomas “Rockem-Sockem” Scheckter and whom some are calling Captain America, nee J.R. Hildebrand at the controls.

And lets not forget the handful of Champ Car Drivers who never got their fair shot in this much vaunted single seater series, as names such as Simon Pagenaud, Ryan Dalziel, Andrew Ranger, Katherine Legge, (The Other Danica) Oriel Servia and David Martinez come to mind. (HELL! I suppose I need to even mention Bruno “WINEYBAGS” Junqueira here, eh?) Not to mention Mario “Boom-Boom” Dominguez, Jan “Van Hagar” Heylen, Nelson Philippe, Neil Jani and “Christian Comedy,” (Tristan Gommendy) or “Shorty,” a.k.a. Cristiano Da Matta…

And yeah, I realize this story is lopsided, as where’s Darren “DangerMouse” Manning, buddy “Hot Rod” Rice, Townsend Bell, Arie Luyendyk Jr., etc. Not to mention that Ed Carpenter looks to be sitting on the sidelines, Hmm? Perhaps he could seek refuge at DCR?

And notice how I didn’t say anything ‘bout tony George being gone from Indy Car’s pressdog…

But Hey! Let’s get Ready to Rumble… As its almost time to go racing! Not to mention the barking of those fire breathing Honda powered Ethanol lumps being uncorked in Sweet Home Alabama… At Barber Motorsports Park, where a bunch of other drivers will participate with Princess this February 24-26 in preparations for the IndyCar Season Opener in Sao Paolo, Brazil on March 14th, which Y’all can watch on Versus with Bob Jenkins, Robbie Buhl and “Professor” Jon Beekhuis in the Announce Booth, while “LyndieCar,” (Lindy Thackston) Robbie ‘Purple Floyd ‘N BRUT Arute-Arute will potentially be trolling the Pit lane, albeit I’m not sure about the Sao Paolo race which probably will be a remote broadcast with just Messer Jack Arute on location? As I haven’t heard of any Airtimes yet.

And oh yeah, by the way, I think only Justin Wilson and Graham Rahal have won races in Indy Car since 2008, when reunification began for the URGH! “Transition Teams… As after all it was a TAKEOVER, not a Merger! But Hey, I’m looking forward to the 2010 IZOD IndyCar Series, as it sure BEATS the HELL outta some ‘lil ‘Ol Roundy-round SpinCar series, or You-know-Who and her 24/7 media circus! NO? DON’T know who ‘Dat is? Whale just look for the flock ‘O media circle in Birmingham…

Greg Moore – 10 years after

So like always, its hard to believe that a decade has already passed since the fatal tragedy that claimed one of CART’s rising Stars on Halloween occurred, thus taking Greg Moore’s life in the 1999 CART Season Finale’s Marlboro 500 at the California Speedway…

As I can still recall seeing Moore’s Player’s liveried Forsythe Reynard/Mercedes Benz violently Barrel-rolling multiple times along the circuits high bank knowing that it would be a miracle for Moore to escape un-injured; especially at the unabated speed of 200mph plus!

Yet for reasons unknown, the strongest memory of the late Greg Moore I seem to harbor is his overly foolish Bonsai carnival-like maneuver into the Festival Curves at the start of the 1998 Portland G.I. Joes 200, where as “Auntie” Harriet would say… He was acting like a “Hot Head!”

As almost co medically, Moore attempted to leapfrog his way into the lead from P14 and in the process managed to eliminate seven Racers!

Yet obviously the New Westminster native, who grew-up in the Maple Ridge suburb of Vancouver, BC had unbridled talent, as none other than the legendary “Captain” Roger Penske had just inked him to a (Multi-year) contract during the summer of 1999 to become a Penske Racing Driver for the 2000 season before his untimely incident.

Like many “Kanuck’s” Moore played Ice Hockey as a youth and ironically the No. 99 would be assigned to him when he began his Karting career… Thus reputedly having nothing to do with the revered “Great One,” (Wayne Gretsky) although certainly the connection wasn’t lost to Greg, as it would become his Car number throughout his CART career...

And like most Open Wheel Racecar Drivers, Moore cut his teeth in Go-Karts, winning the 1989-90 North American Enduro Championship before progressing to Formula Ford’s, where in 1991 he was the Formula Ford 1600 Rookie of the Year after finishing fourth overall with one victory.

In 1992, Moore became the USAC West FF2000 (Formula Ford) Champion, having claimed four Poles and four victories enroute to the title, along with being the series Rookie of the Year, before moving onto the (original) Indy Lights series, which he ran in 1993 for his Family’s underfunded Team and finished ninth overall.

In 1994 Greg became the youngest ever winner of a (CART Sanctioned) Indy Lights race at the tender age of 18 when he took the chequered flag at the season opening round in Phoenix, AZ and would record two more wins that season enroute to finishing third in the Championship.

For 1995, Greg joined the Players/Forsythe Racing Organisation and simply crushed the competition enroute to the Indy Lights Championship with a staggering ten wins out of twelve races, including a scintillating five-in-a-row… And thus was destined to make his move up to the “Big Boyz” the following season.

In his Debutant season, Moore scored 84 points and finished as runner-up in the CART/PPG’s Jim Trueman Rookie of the Year standings behind somebody named “Zorro,” a.k.a. Alex Zanardi.

In 1997, Greg then became the Championship Auto Racing Teams youngest ever winner (to that date; since eclipsed by Scott Dixon and Nelson Philippe) at the age of 22 when he beat Michael Andretti to the stripe at the famed Milwaukee Mile and would repeat as winner again just one week later… As I recall screaming at the Telescreen as not one but both of my Home team’s PacWest Racing Drivers; Mauricio Gugelmin and Mark Blundell who were running nose to tail 1-2 both sputtered out of petrol on the final lap and Moore swept thru from third place to claim victory on Detroit’s Belle Isle.

In ’98 Greg was joined by fellow Canadian Patrick Carpentier as Players/Forsythe expanded to a two car operation and Moore would dice with Zanardi at the Emerson Fittipaldi Speedway (“Roval”) in Rio de Janeiro before making a spectacular pass to solidify his fourth Champ Car victory, before later that year he’d pass the Target Boyz duo of Zanardi and Jimmy Vasser to claim the Vanderbuilt Cup in the US 500 at Michigan International Speedway, which was sadly overshadowed by the deaths of three spectators from a flying tyre that bounded over the catch fencing.


The year 1999 would start off very good for the Kanuck, once again taking victory in the season opening race in Miami, this time on the Oval Track at Homestead, which sadly would become his final Indy Car career victory, as Moore would suffer fatal head injuries on his early race incident at Fontana. (As the violent crash registered an incomprehensible 154 G’s!)

And ironically the Halloween race weekend had started out ominously for Greg when he was struck on his “Scooter” by a vehicle in the Paddock, suffering an injured right hand with Roberto Moreno being called-in by Players/Forsythe as a Back-up replacement, although Greg would take the Green flag from the rear of the field, having been cleared to drive with a hand brace.

And as I’ve said before, reportedly it was Greg whom introduced the “Dashley ‘Juan,” nee Dario Franchitti to his future wife (Ashley Judd) at a party of friend Jason Priestley's… As Greg’s posse was known to include the likes of “Mad Max” (Massimiliano) Papis, “TK,” (Tony Kanaan) “REO Speedwagon” (Dario Franchitti) and others I cannot recall, (Greg Moore Brat Pack: Adrian Fernandez, Franchitti, Kanaan, Papis and Jimmy Vasser) as I was overly touched by Dario dedicating his 2009 Indy Car Series Championship at Homestead to his late, great, friend…

Remembering Gregg Moore

Stats
1993-95: CART Indy Lights
1995 Indy Lights Champion

1996-99: CART/PPG Championship
72 Starts; 5 Poles; 5 Wins; 17 Podiums.
First race, 1996: Homestead-Miami Speedway; Homestead, FL
Last race, 1999: California Speedway; Fontana, CA

Portland’s Centennial

Sorry folks, but I just cannot let go of the fact that Portland has been majorly “Dissed” by the Indy Car World Series... Although I suppose I should understand by now that IMS rules the roost and will not play second fiddle to anybody! Yet, while much ado has been made over the fact that this year’s Indy 500 marks the famed Speedway’s Centennial, (Part One) little noise seems to be made about the fact that Portland, Oregon is also celebrating its own Open Wheel Racing Centennial, as its AAA sanctioned road race pre-dates the series first visit to Indianapolis, with Portland’s inaugural race being held on June 12, 1909; while today marks the 100th Anniversary of the Speedway hosting its inaugural event; the National Balloon race, of which IMS founder Carl Fisher was participating in...

Balloon races at Indianapolis

So, it’s a bit funny to me how I’m assuming that there’ll be NO mention of this fact by Indy Car, which seems sad to think that there still is an unspoken rift between CART/Champ Car and the IRL, of which I suppose will linger on for several years to come, sorta like the Civil War?


Truesports; Scott Pruett

And although my earliest memories of Open Wheel Racing cars is those bygone days of the early 1970’s with ABC’s Wide World of Sports Jim McKay at the microphone over Memorial Day weekend... much of my zest for this unique series spawn’s from traipsing about the grounds Of PIR for over two decades and the yearly pilgrimage on Father’s Day weekend to watch the Champ Cars.

Portland Celebrates 90th Anniversary

It was here that battle lines were drawn over whether you were an Andretti or Unser “Hater!” As the elder generation gave way to the mighty skirmishes between Mikey and Little Al, although John and Jeff Andretti would also take turns at Portland, along with Mario’s farewell tour, whose teammate was none other than “Il Lione,” a.k.a. Nigel Mansell or better known as BLOODY NIGE!

There was Scott Pruett persevering in the struggling Truesports chassis, which always seemed to be one step behind on engine choice, while Randall was always quick to give a driver a new nickname like “Stevie Johnson” (Stefan Johansson) and Raul Boesel being the originall Boom-Boom Smash-Smash BRAHMA! Who was at the time being sponsored by Brahma Beer.

Yet, one of my most favourite memories is the Pub we made our yearly destination sporting a life-size cardboard cutout of Bobby Rahal, who I used to call “Boobie Ruble,” of which Meesh has a much more diabolical spelling of... As Rahal senior was resplendent in his Miller High Life racing overalls and somebody had cleverly stuck a note underneath his arm saying “Need two tickets for Indy!” Since this was the year that the Three time CART Champion had switched to Honda “Lumps” and looked set to fail qualifying for the 1994 Indy 500 before making the painful decision to switch to a customer Penske/Ilmor chassis instead to satisfy his sponsors...

Then there was the year when a person by the name of Robby Gordon asked me if the seat next to me in the Grandstands was taken? As he and his girlfriend sat thru the entire Trans Am race, as I tried having a casual conversation with him, while my friends tried heckling him... As this was his Rookie season in CART, driving for ‘Ol Super Tex... Before I got his autograph the following year when he’d jumped to Derrick Walker’s “Team Valvoline” and Robby seemed none too impressed with me when discovering my pen was running dry of ink!


ARS Chassis with Buick V-6

Or watching a very “Young Lion” named Jon Beekhus kicking ARSE in the ARS... (American Racing Series) which I believe was the pre-cursor to the original Indy Lights series, as the ARS chassis were motivated by normally aspirated Buick V-6’s...

And then there was the SCCA Trans Am, which just had some of the NARLIEST Pony Cars going fender to fender, as this was during the era of Factory backed “Works” teams featuring the Ford Mustang, Chevy Camaro and Dodge Avenger(?) With Tommy Kendall, Dorsey Schrader, Ron Fellows, Scott Sharp and the Archer Brothers to name a few; while there was our local PacWest Racing team making good, as Mark Blundell captured the team’s very first victory in what must arguably be Portland’s closest finish, beating Gil De Ferran in a drag race, with Raul Boesel in third for CART’s closest ever 1-2-3 finish in its history.

Patrick Racing; Alfa Romeo

And witnessing “Mr. Hollywood” or “Sully” (Danny Sullivan) going from the highs of CART Champion in 1988 in the beautifully prepared gold Penske PC-17/Chevrolet Miller High Life to the lows of struggling while driving for Pat Patrick in the hugely uncompetitive Alfa Romeo powered Lola T91/00 chassis.

Along with Marlboro Team Penske’s three car armada simply crushing everybody in its wake, while “My Boy Dirtmann” (Robby Gordon)
Pipped ‘Ol Bloody Nige for fourth place on the final lap coming onto the front straight... (Remember that Randall?)

Then the tide turned red, as those pesky Target/Chip Ganassi cars ruled the roost in CART, winning an unprecedented four consecutive Championships (1996-99) as Jimmy Vasser, Alex Zanardi and Juan Pablo Montoya flexed their muscles on track, before Kenny Brack had what was deemed a sub-par season driving for The Cheepster!”

Or watching De Ferran take an improbable victory in the low budget Walker Racing entity vs. the big Guns of Penske, etc. by putting his Goodyear tires to good use over the opposition, as Derrick Walker called another crafty race for his charge, while Team Rahal triumphed at Portland with Max Papis, with Brack and Vasser driving that wonderful looking white/yellow Shell car, along with Mexican Michele Jourdain Jr’s brief tenure with the team.


Walker Racing; Scott Goodyear

And I’ve completely left out the “Kuh-Nuck’s” (Not on purpose Meesh & CAM-Wow) as there was Scott Goodyear, Ross Bentley, and John Jones off the top ‘O my noggin... Not to mention somebody named PT, as Mr. Chrome Horn (Paul Tracy) and Dario Franchitti were always a force to be reckoned with at Team Kool Green, along with some cats nicknamed Jack Vanilla, (Jacques Villeneuve) Pat the Carpenter (Patrick Carpentier) and TAG. (Alex Tagliani) And let’s NOT forget the late, great Greg Moore, whom I recall watching cause a massive seven car pile-up into the Festival Curves by going into the corner on the start overly aggressive and ultimately flying off track...

Or “Shorty” (Cristiano da Matta) scoring his final Champ Car victory whilst driving for PKV Racing before his horrendous testing accident at Road America, while Portland was also the site for first time CART/Champ Car maiden victories for: Al Unser Jr., Alex Zanardi (Mark Blundell) and AJ Allmendinger.


Dorsey Schroeder; Tom Gloy Motorsports

And lastly, all of the years making countless sarcastic cracks at “King Hiro” (Hiro Matsushita) Lyn St. James, Scott Brayton, Willy T. Ribbs and all of the other perennial back markers who drove for Dick Simon Racing and Dale Coyne Racing respectively, of which was totally uncalled for, but, hey! If we knew now what we didn’t know then, eh? Thus Salute Portland! And may be some day (SOON?) in the hoped for near future the leadership of the Indy Racing League will see fit to return to the Pacific Northwest of which could potentially once again attract its dedicated fans from California, Portland, Seattle and Vancouver, BC, eh? As it’s now going on three years without a FRILLIN’ race...

PIR Photos

Past Race Winners: Portland Champ Car Event

June 17, 1984 Al Unser Jr; June 16, 1985 Mario Andretti; June 15, 1986 Mario Andretti; June 14, 1987 Bobby Rahal; June 19, 1988 Danny Sullivan; June 25, 1989 Emerson Fittipaldi; June 24, 1990 Michael Andretti; June 23, 1991 Michael Andretti; June 21, 1992 Michael Andretti; June 27, 1993 Emerson Fittipaldi; June 26, 1994 Al Unser Jr.; June 25, 1995 Al Unser Jr.; June 23, 1996 Alex Zanardi; June 22, 1997 Mark Blundell; June 21, 1998 Alex Zanardi; June 20, 1999 Gil de Ferran; June 25, 2000 Gil de Ferran; June 24, 2001 Max Papis; June 16, 2002 Cristiano da Matta; June 22, 2003 Adrian Fernandez; June 20, 2004 Sebastian Bourdais; June 19, 2005 Cristiano da Matta; June 18, 2006 A.J. Allmendinger; June 10, 2007 Sebastian Bourdais.

My ’07 Portland Race weekend re-cap

Zeppelin von Champ Car

Obviously the face of Open Wheel Racing has changed dramatically since the Spring of 2006, which was also Pre-No Fenders…

Yet, interestingly, on Monday following the Roadster Show, RuSPORT announced new primary sponsorship for Justin’s No. 9 Champ Car, with new primary sponsorship from CDW, while just two days later, (Wednesday) Oriel Servia was signed to replace Cristiano “What’s duh Matter?” da Matta at PKV Racing as the ever growing Black Hole nebulous shadow of the Zeppelin von Champ Car was ever increasing in size.

Meanwhile Captain Kevin “Smiley-Face” Kalkhoven and Co-pilot Jerry “What me Worry?” Forsythe were busy sawing away at the recalcitrant controls… “Drop ballast, All hands to the left side of the Gondola, Schnell- Schnell!

Thus, here’s a quick all speed reverse look back from the surviving members of the Zeppelin von Chump Carzs… As ironically Toyota was sponsoring the Long Beach GP, although they had Pulled-Out” of all open wheel racing in the US after having their BUTTS SPANKED by the then dominant Honda Indy engine. Nevertheless Toyota has retained its title sponsorship of the LBGP and actually had CCWS’s LARGEST field in quite some time in the series swan song this April… You know, when we had that most PATHETIC two Open Wheel races in two countries on the same weekend!


Dale Coyne Racing
Cristiano Da Matta/Mario Dominguez
Jan Heylen

Simply known as the little team that could! Coyne recognized early in his driving career that perhaps he’d be better suited to taking the route traveled by such luminaries as Penske, Haas and Ganassi… As in focusing upon the managerial side of the fence, Ahem Mr. Roth!

The team started off with brilliant performances by Cristiano Da Matta who was making his return to the series after driving for Toyota in Formula 1, while rookie Jan “Van Hagar” Heylen was also busy impressing in the under funded Sonny’s Barbeque car.

Forsythe Championship Racing
Paul Tracy
Mario Dominguez/AJ Almendinger/David Martinez

Not sure what to say about Mr. Forsythe, as I was led to believe that many of CCWS’s problems stemmed from Paul Gentilozzi’s mis-management. (Can you say SCCA Pro Racing Trans Am?) Yet it was Forsythe who had sour grapes and left Paul Tracy standing at the altar upon the “Uni-fish-ication” of Open Wheel Racing this February.

And while Mr. Chrome Horn was without a doubt the team leader, after the incredulous firing of AJ “Wall-Dinger,” the Californian got engaged, hired by Forsythe and went on to win his first of five races that season in a span of just ten days. Yet, once again another “Yank” went for the easy money and DEFECTED to RASSCAR for 2007 behind the wheel of “Juan ‘O” Deeter Majestic’s Toy-yoter’s.

MiJack Conquest Racing
Andrew Ranger
Charles Zwolsman Jr.

This team has been owned by Eric Bachelart with long-time partner and “Money-man” Mike Lanigan of MiJack, before ultimately splitting to become the third wheel (Amigo) at the reformulated Newman Haas Lanigan Racing outfit in 2007, which saw Bachelart scramble to scrape by with a one car effort in Champ Car’s penultimate season.

And perhaps its just me, but I’m sure that everyone would prefer to see the three “KUH-NUCK” racing drivers Andrew Ranger, Alex Tagliani and Paul Tracy pounding’ round Edmonton City’s Centre INSTEAD of Marty “Gerritol” Roth, eh?

Newman Haas Racing
Sebastian Bourdais
Bruno Junqueira

What can I say about one of Champ Car’s most DOMINANT teams, which would ultimately see The Hamburgular (S. Bourdais) re-write the history books on his way to an unprecedented four consecutive championships before departing for Formula 1.

Yet “Junky” was back (literally) from his surgically repaired backside, grabbing pole position ahead of Almendinger with Sea Bass and Wilson starting on row two as it was most impressive of Newman/Haas to have returned Bruno to his seat in what would ultimately be his last season at N/H, while current driver Graham Rahal was then toiling away in the Atlantics championship and would finish runner-up to Simon Pagenaud, who’s now co-driving Gil DeFerran’s ALMS Acura LMP2 prototype.

PKV Racing
Oriel Servia
Katherine Legge

The 2006 Long Beach, CA race was the venue of team co-owner and 1996 Champ Car Champion Jimmy Vasser’s unofficial final start at that years Long Beach race, before coming back for another “One-off” Champ Car farewell drive aboard a third KV Racing Technology entry this April.

If memory serves me correctly? (Shush! Danny!) This was the weekend that Servia demolished NOT one but two Lola tubs and actually raced aboard Legge’s back-up chassis, of which the team mockingly made reference to with a sticker adorning the racecar’s nose. Servia would be unceremoniously dumped from the team the following season, only to return once again for this year’s season, while Legge, who still has MORE major career wins then somebody named Princess… Is now keeping busy giving Ralfanso (Ralf Schumacher) grief in the German DTM series.

RuSPORT
Justin Wilson
AJ Almendinger/Cristiano Da Matta

Of course everybody remembers RuSPORT, eh? As this was the year that team owner Carl Russo did the unthinkable and FIRED the driver he’d built the team around… As AJ Almendinger was let go to make way for Da Matta who in turn was replaced at Dale Coyne by Mario “BOOM BOOM” Dominguez… As Mario had lost favour at Forsythe after punting PT twice out of races in the first four events and would ultimately get the short straw in the three driver Monty.

Sadly, Da Matta would nearly perish in the freakish testing accident at Road America later that summer, when a wayward Deer decided to high jump the 8’ fence topped with barbed wire… Hmm? Perhaps this critter should be competing in Beijing shortly?

Da Matta has since made a full recovery and competed for Bob Stallings Grand Am team in a second Daytona Prototype co-driven by ex-boss/teammate/friend Jimmy Vasser at Laguna Seca this May.

After Da Matta’s nightmarish testing accident, Russo effectively threw in the towel in what started the team’s way towards eventual shut-down, as Kalkhoven enticed former business partner Dan Pettit to purchase the team for ’07. After a lackluster season, Pettit closed RuSPORT’s doors in order to join forces with Gerald Forsyte in the reconstituted Forsythe/Pettit Racing for 2008, when the team effectively threw Paul Tracy under the bus…

Ironically Forsythe/Pettit Racing was busy contesting the Formula Atlantic championship in Alberta this weekend with Canadian James Hinchcliffeand Mexican David Garza.

Also, FPR apparently announced on July 15th that they would be joining the Firestone Indy Lights championship in 2009 and are now also close to announcing deals to compete in both Indy Car and ALMS next year...

Team Australia
Alex Tagliani
Will Power

The Team Aussie set-up was made by long time racer Derrick Walker, who gained an infusion of cash from new team co-owner Craig Gore, who unceremoniously split with Will Power to the cozier confines of KV Racing Technology this season.

Thus it seems a tad ironic that Walker is trying to once again resurrect his Indy Car aspirations out of a “One-off” race with Paul Tracy behind the wallet of Tony George and his third Vision Racing Dallara chassis, as the Subway car hopes to keep itself “Fresh” the entire weekend, as Tracy has clearly been the fastest of the three Vision drivers… Along with being the oldest! Good luck PT and Derrick and watch your backsides… As some dude named EJ (NOT Ernesto) Viso may wanna borrow your pit stall, eh?

Hopefully, Tony George and Indy Car will do the RIGHT thing and re-instate Portland to the 2009 Indy Car World Series calendar, which as I’ve previously noted will be the 100th Anniversary of the FIRST Indy Car race…

Long Beach

With all of the Motorsports world in a lather of euphoria over Dan-Dan-Danica… Wait? Did I hear Helio Castroneves correctly? Saying he was told to PULL OVER for Danica…

But, wait a second we’ve got the second half of our tape delayed Double Header to run in the Sunshine state, where there will be MORE racing cars on the grid for a Champ Car race since 2002…

And while the IRL gang was busy trying to keep dry, Justin “Buckshot” Wilson was busy securing Friday’s provisional pole ahead of Oriel Servia, with Alex Tagliani third fastest, followed by Dominguez and St. Pete winner Graham Rahal. Paul Tracy was eighth quickest while Jimmy Vasser was mired in 15th.

Saturday’s final Qualifying session saw Justin Wilson retain Pole position, as the lanky Brit would be the only driver to run a lap under 67 seconds and eclipsed fellow Mic-Dougal’s driver Sea Bass’s qualifying lap of last year by 0.6 seconds. Meanwhile, the little team that could continued its heady performance as re-united Canadian ace Alex Tagliani finished just 0.182 seconds adrift of Wilson’s time to line-up second for Derrick Walker.

Row two saw Conquest’s Franck Perera edge out ex-Walker driver Will Power, with Mr. Chrome Horn moving up to the inside of row Three with his teammate for the weekend, Franck Montagny alongside.. Rolling off in P7 was Nelson Philippe, the highest placed member of the HVM Minardi triumbrant with Enrique Bernoldi alongside. Starting ninth was Wilson’s teammate Graham Rahal with Mario Boom Boom Dominguez rounding out the top ten in his Pacific Coast Motorsports ride.

And while obviously Dan-Dan-Danica was the headline story, all of the announcers, including Marty Reid did mention that the Stork had indeed stopped by the Wilson household during the opening segment of Sunday’s broadcast, but once again the IRL regulars got first billing.

And dare I say it? I believe there were more lead changes in the Long Beach finale then some Roundy-round race over in Japan? As it was quite entertaining to me listening to Mr. Reid and Scott Goodyear having to explain the Champ Car format of qualifying and racing, with Marty even saying how he liked the idea of having “Turbo-boost…”

And making IRL regulars squirm even further? Long Beach saw the final standing start of a Champ Car race a la Formula 1… With Wilson having apparently chosen the wrong side of the grid to start upon as Power “Willed” his way past the leader into turn one, with Wilson tucked in behind in formation as the cars roared around the tight street circuit. Paul Tracy demonstrated what happens if you’re off by just a few inches when he kissed the wall with a rear tire, which would ultimately lead to his demise as the team would struggle to repair a damaged CV grease boot clip!

And I liked hearing that if TAG’s car looked similar to the leaders… It was because Will Power and Aussie Vineyards had bolted to KV Racing Technology when Craig Gore left Walker holding the bag so to speak… While Newman Haas Lanigan continued the theme with a retro look on the number 06 entry and suddenly Wilson was coasting down the escape road after harassing Power for the lead, apparently victim of an engine failure? Which saw TAG now trying to chase down Power, while Graham Rahal would spend the afternoon demonstrating the laws of physics while trying to force his way past fellow competitors and ultimately end up finishing in the tire barriers on the final lap.

Yet, Power was not to be denied as he led the majority of the race, while Tagliani’s gamble to run the red “Option” tires on his final stint saw him fade, with ex-F1 pilot Montagny the only driver able to somewhat close the gap in the final stages of the race, finishing second. (5.9 seconds behind) Meanwhile some 17 seconds adrift was eventual third place finisher Dominguez, with Bernoldi fourth and Oriel Servia rounding out the top five.

Tagliani wound up falling back to seventh place while Jimmy Vasser finished behind both of his hired guns in 10th and thus Servia will most likely sigh a breath of relief over not having to hear his boss chide him over the radios next week in Kansas, while fellow Nevadan Tracy soldiered home in 11th…

Champ Car on my mind

In regards to this weekend’s Long Beach Grand Prix being the Champ Car World Series farewell event, I was recently asked if (when) ‘lil Napoleon’s takeover, Err, merger of Open Wheel Racing occurred, would I still watch Indy Cars?

Having been a fan of CART/Champ Car for a very long time, I replied that; YES, I’d still watch the series, but I just wasn’t a fan of Ovals… Which inevitably leads to that timeless debate of which came first; The Chicken or the Egg? The Road Runner or the Coyote, Oval tracks or Road Courses, but I digress, since I’ll be watching’ the “Live” broadcast of some ‘lil ‘Ol Street race.

Yet this never ending question between Ovals vs. Road Courses led me to ponder the following? Wasn’t CART full of Oval races? As I recall watching some real doozies on the high banks of Michigan as well as Fontana and ironically, my haziest, early memories of motor racing in general are the yearly summer rides in the back seat of my Grandfather’s white Buick Riviera to the summer cottage on the peninsula, where while the others played on the beach I was busy watching those glorious taped delayed World Wide Sports episodes of the Indianapolis 500 hosted by Jim McKay and Chris Schenkel during the early 1970’s.

It would be nearly another two decades before I’d be re-united with the wail of Open Wheel Racing cars, upon a fellow co-worker informing me about the yearly Championship Auto Racing Teams event at Portland, Oregon, which I first visited in 1987.

Since then, I’ve been fortunate enough to watch the majority of the Open Wheel “greats,” with names like; Foyt, Andretti, Unser, Mears, Sullivan, Fittipaldi, Zanardi, Montoya, Mansell and Villeneuve to name just a few.

And for several years I was even more fortunate to have two race events per season to attend with the addition of the temporary street circuit venue in Vancouver, BC, where unfortunately I witnessed Willy T Ribbs darkest racing moment.

Yet, to be fair, I did attend the 1994 Phoenix Oval race, where Jacques Villeneuve tried to impale himself on the Goodyear pedestrian overpass, a la the Flying Franchitti, but the constant circling of the one mile bullring did little to sway me towards the allure of Oval track racing, as Formula 1 and the Pacific Northwest road racing scene had already firmly affixed it’s grip over me.

But alas, part of what made me so fond of CART and subsequently Champ Car was the variety of circuits they competed on each season; Permanent Road Courses, Temporary Street Circuits and a variety of Ovals, i.e.; Super Speedways and Bull Rings, like the long discarded Nazareth and Phoenix venues. Yet, unlike F1, there were always a multitude of potential victors, instead of just the usual Red cars vs. Silver (Ferrari vs. McLaren) drubbings… Although I did quite enjoy Michael Schumacher kicking der arsen-holes for several seasons!

And I still can remember the bitter distain towards Tony George and his rival Oval only Indy Racing League as one fans T-Shirt in Vancouver, BC read; this is your brain (CART venues) and this is your brain on DRUGS! (IRL Oval track venues) split side by side on the back of the T-Shirt; CART on the Left side and IRL on the Right!

And what truly must be the darkest years of this PATHETIC Split in Open Wheel Racing can be summed up by the following recollection.

Walking to my nearby grocery store in 1998 just hours after the completion of that years Indianapolis 500, while in the check-out line the cashier noted my sundrious racing apparel and asked me wasn’t there a race today? Yeah, the Indy 500 I replied. So, who won? Eddie Cheever, Eddie WHO?

And I swore that I would NEVER set foot in Indianapolis, specifically Tony’s sandbox at Sixteenth and Georgetown, better known as the Brickyard. Thus, while holding fast to this silly mantra, I recalled crowing about how the first seven drivers across the yard of bricks in 2000 were all CART alumnus…

Yet as the years went by, with no end in sight to the pathetic War of Northern Aggression, my stranglehold against Tony faded, as I finally relented and visited the Speedway for the very first time in 2001, albeit for the second running of the United States Grand Prix, NOT the Indy 500, which I still held in low esteem, as I believe I even proudly wore my CART T-Shirt on the property. But, hey Mary Ellen, DON’T tell anybody that you took my picture while I sat in the “Earle” chassis in the Hall of Fame museum that year…

Then I made a second return to Indy for the 2006 USGP, where my “Hero,” Herr Schumacher became the very first driver to ever win at the Speedway five times… Before last summer’s FANTASTIC experience of sitting behind Davey Hamilton in the Sinden 2X Seater, which even if only at 75% throttle, gave me an entirely new respect for Ovals…

And while I still continue to hold 1995 as the last TRUE season of Open Wheel Racing in the US, I hope to attend my very first Indy 500 next year on the centennial of the venerable Speedway’s opening...

Yet, while pondering the future Roadification of the Indy Car World Series that some of you fret about, I decided to look up some past CART season calendars, choosing 1998; since it was 10 years ago, (Circa A.T.S.) While obviously I’d also pick 1995 since I regard this as the last truly great Open Wheel Racing season, as previously mentioned. (Circa B.T.S.)


(A.T.S. = After The Split; B.T.S. = Before The Split. HMM? Has a nice Kingdom-Come ring to it, eh?)

While I do indeed hope for the coming glory and renaissance of Open Wheel Racing, rest assured that Tony ‘N Co. will truly be hard pressed to bring Open Wheel Racing back to the promised land. But (OUCH!)) let’s give him a chance, to potentially right the Good Ship OWR.

Although I will greatly miss my yearly trek to Portland this summer as it’ll be the first time since 2005 that I’ve not partaken in the Open Wheel race, albeit foregoing the worst two years of Champ Car (2003-04) at the Portland venue, thus I’ve already experienced the rebuilding phenomena once and hopefully the 2009 Calendar will have some semblance of the past’s greatest variety of racing venues, including Portland, as Y’all know; it too will be celebrating its centennial in motor racing…


1995 CART Season
Miami; Surfers Paradise; Phoenix; Long Beach; Nazareth; Indianapolis; Milwaukee; Detroit; Portland; Elkhart Lake; Toronto; Cleveland; Michigan; Mid Ohio; Loudon; Vancouver, BC; Laguna Seca.

1998 CART Season
Homestead; Motegi; Long Beach; Nazareth; Rio de Janero; Gateway; Milwaukee; Detroit; Portland; Cleveland; Toronto; Michigan; Mid Ohio; Elkhart Lake; Vancouver, BC; Laguna Seca; Houston; Surfers Paradise; Fontana.

Long Beach entry list

While Indy may have just scooped up the services of the Gecko and found a new lizard king in Massimiliano Papis. (But do Gecko’s like the wet stuff, you know… RAIN!) Don’t underestimate just how far CCWS is pulling out the stops for its series swan song this weekend in Long Beach…

I mean Hell! We’ve got such luminary characters as the over-loved “Jungle Boy” who’ll be partnering’ with his Rookie sidekick Juho “I Wanna be a Flying Finn” Annala.

Yep, that’s right, Antonio Pizzonia got his nickname Jungle Boy due to the Amazon region he comes from, while Annala is an aspiring Finnish driver who’s looking for a single seater opportunity outside of Formula 1 since two seats are already occupied by fellow countrymen…

Other Really Big names include Bobby Moreno, whose first name at least starts with the same letter as the car’s former driver Robert Doornbos, a.k.a. Bad Bobby D. At 49yrs of age Roberto Moreno will be the oldest driver in the field and hopes to use this “One-Off” as a springboard to another drive at Indy this May. Moreno will hope to outshine his younger teammates Nelson Philippe and EJ “DON’T uze call me Ernesto” Viso…

And I’ve already chronicled the plights of fellow Nevada residents Paul “Sand Dune” Tracy and “Top Jimmy” Vasser, who are both ex-CCWS champions and it seems fitting they’ll strap on their crash buckets for the series finale…

And don’t forget Bruno “Whiney-bags” Junqueira, Alex Tagliani and Mario “Boom Boom” Dominguez… While sadly Katherine Legge is MIA! As its even sadder that it takes a series farewell celebration to entice 20 cars onto the grid, which is a higher car count then Champ Car has been able to assemble the past few seasons…

To read the full line-up, see; Field of 20 expected for 34th Annual Toyota Grand Prix of Long Beach

Long Beach tidbits

Whale, you know the saying; the more things change, the more they stay the same… As Indiana Bureau Chief Danny B was having a quiet chuckle at the expense of a fellow co-worker’s predicament yesterday while in Long Beach, as the hapless worker was attempting to lay out the fibre optic HD TV cable… Nope it ain’t NO STINKIN’ Durrect TV cable, just the standard fare ESPN coaxial cable… Looking up, he was momentarily stunned as a Mini-Van complete with “Soccer Mom” and a bushel ‘O waving kids was headed directly towards him… What in the HELL? This stretch of roadway was supposed to be closed two hours ago… As apparently the LBPD was busy taking their requisite doughnut break… That’s a big 10-10 on the roads still being opened, do you copy pardoner? HMM? Wonder what all those detour signs were for…

And according to Robin Miller, The Paul ‘N Jerry show is all patched-up for the moment, as they’ve decided to curtail their long running disagreement over whether or not PT will drive this weekend in Long Beach? As Tracy has been confirmed “Just-in-Time” for the Really-Really-Really Big Farewell party… As the two haven’t spoken since last December… Yet the shyster’s musta worked something out as first Tracy was finally given his back-pay from last season and said they’ll squabble over this year’s $2.5 million salary after Sunday’s event is history.

Still it would seem a tad odd to show up for one last run aboard a piece of high speed machinery for a boss you haven’t spoken to for four months, who doesn’t see eye to eye with you, while his Pit Lane General is no longer on your circle of five calling friends… Thus, I’ll assume that Kenny “Hit your marks, Sebastian” Seewig will be calling the shots for PT…

In an odd mix of pomp ‘N circumstance, this weekend’s Bon Voyage will host and eclectic mix of vehicles, with a gathering of Hybrid “Synergy” on display, in the Long Beach Port’s: Green Pace Car Parade, as Toyota will have a host of it’s current gas sipping vehicles running parade laps, with other forms of alternative energy vehicles showing off there wares, including a Mazda Fura, running on E100 ethanol, the new Ronaele, powered by lithium-iron-phosphate batteries and the SolarWorld No. 1, a solar powered vehicle from Germany capable of 70mph hot laps.

There will also be a very odd Robotic car race, said to be contested between three vehicles, utilizing only on-board computers and GPS in the hopes of completing the single lap event, while the American Le Mans Series will be one of the LBGP’s support events… And I’ll assume that they’ll also host the traditional Toyota Celebrity Challenge.

Paying homage to the past three decades of CART/Champ Car (You’d think they could come up with a bit more than this, eh?) will be three vintage racing cars; An ex-Tom Sneva Skoal Bandit sandwiched between two ex-Dan Gurney’s All American Racer chassis…

And when’s the last time that the USA Today featured a story about Open Wheel Racing, not in regards to the Month of May? Thus, I found it refreshing to find an article about the Champ Car finale and Jimmy Vasser in its sports pages; Vasser's goal: Get in shape for one-race return

It was interesting to note that it was Kevin Kalkhoven who enticed the former Champ Car Champion to make one last guest appearance behind the wheel of a Panoz DP-01… But HELL, who wouldn’t jump at the opportunity if able to do so?

And I liked the part about Vasser having to give up his occasional glass of wine, as I was unaware that he has his own vineyard in Napa, CA, while Jimmy’s goal’s are to not only beat his last finish (12th place; Long Beach, 2006) but to outdo his two younger hired guns…

Oriel Servia:
“If he beats me, I'm going to have to hear so much BS on my radio the rest of the season, I can't let that happen."

Long Beach finale

According to Tony Cotman, who was on Autosport Radio this evening, he claims that he’s seen the Long Beach Champ Car finale entry list and there are 20 cars on it…

When asked about PT showing up, Cotman said, yeah, he’ll be there… But I thought he’d said Forsythe had violated his contract to which Cottman brilliantly deadpanned; “I DON’T know who’s violated who over there…”

Vasser at Long Beach

Last night on Wind Tunnel, Robin Miller scooped us all once again by noting that Jimmy Vasser would come out of his semi-retirement to drive in the Champ Car series finale at Long Beach.

Robin also told Dave Despain he should ask Jimmy if he was getting paid by Craig Gore. This was in regards to the acrimonious split between Gore and Derrick Walker, which had Miller sounding less than impressed by Gore’s scuttling of perennial Open Wheel Racing team owner Walker’s devotion to the sport. You can read more about the possible impending lawsuit here: Walker threatens to sue co-owner Gore

After the commercial break, Dave’s next guess was Jimmy Vasser who said it must be true if Robin says it, in regards to running at Long Beach. Vasser said he hopes to be one of the Really-Really-Really big announcements pending for the promotion of the Champ Car World Series farewell party.

Vasser was most politically correct over the Gore vs. Walker matter, saying he’d like them to both work it out, Gore’s done everything he’s promised and he know’s that Derrick didn’t go three years without any funding…

Jimmy would also like to see his hometown rival Paul Tracy in an Indy Car, but PT’s got some tricky legal waters to navigate.

And on the subject of Vasser and Cristiano Da Matta racing together at Laguna Seca in an upcoming Sports Car race later this year, Vasser in his best Kevin Kalkhoven “I KNOW NOTHING” voice, said that’s news to me Dave, but if it happens, it would be great and I don’t know where you’re getting your info from? To which Despain replied; Miller said it!

Bachelart bleu

As previously noted, after making the most of his first outing aboard a Champ Car, Conquest Racing team owner Eric bachelart has hired Champ Car Atlantics standout Franck Perera as one of his drivers for the upcoming season. The second seat is rumoured to be up for grabs between Simon Pagenaud and Nelson Philippe, although Pagenaud tested for Conquest at the just concluded Sebring test and most likely has the inside track as the team co-owned by Opes Prime Limited, a Australian entity looks set to become loosely known as Team France.

It would be nice to see Pagenaud end up with the ride since it would be a farce if the original Champ Car Atlantics champion was bounced out of Open Wheel racing after just one season, showing that the $2 million prize check didn’t account for much, if he couldn’t stick around.

And of course, Bachelart is a little perturbed, having just ordered a brand new Panoz DP01 for the upcoming season, upon receiving the news that The Split may be over?

Champ Car testing begins

With little or no fanfare, Champ Car held its first official testing session of 2008 in Sebring, Florida. And while many of us have predicted gloom ‘N doom for the despondent Open Wheel racing series, I must say it was surprising to read that 14 drivers/car combinations showed up for the first day of testing… I mean c’mon, that’s almost a full Champ Car grid. (OUCH!) And while the majority of last year’s contestants were present, Team Australia was MIA.

With seven drivers confirmed for the upcoming season, the other half of the grid was made up by a variety of Open Wheel talent hoping to convince their possible suitors to ink them to the upcoming Champ Car season, albeit contingent upon bank wire transfers occurring.

While Alex Figge struck first blood by being quickest in the first testing session, the man atop the timing sheet for the first two days was ex-Formula 1 driver Frank Montagny testing alongside Paul “Bite Me-Micklewright” Tracy for Forsythe Petitt Racing.

In the never ending game of Pop goes the Weasel. 2006 Champ Car Atlantics champion Simon Pagenaud, who drove for Team Australia last year spent the test auditioning for a seat at Conquest Racing alongside 2006 Champ Car Atlantics runner-up Franck Perera who set the overall fastest lap time on the final day of testing. The blitzing of the field convinced team owner Eric Bachelart to sign Perera for 2008, as part of his two car effort which could become Team France.

Mexican David Martinez tested for Pacific Coast Motorsports and hopes to land a ride for the season as Mario “Boom Boom” Dominguez’s replacement in the team’s sophomore season.

Team Minardi USA ran a single car for VenezuelanErnesto Viso, who’s spent the last three seasons contesting F3000 & GP2 for Durango, BCN Competition and Racing Engineering respectively, along with also driving the third Spyker F1 chassis. Meanwhile 2007 Champ Car Rookie of the year Robert Doornbos claims he’ll be back with the team this season, yet he’s still waiting for the best Euros conversion rate before exchanging into the necessary dinero needed to obtain the drive.

And surprisingly Dale Coyne ran Mario Moraes aboard what was Katherine Legge’s mount last season, for the three day test. The Brazilian native has contested Formula 3 with Carlin Motorsports, finishing 14th overall. Does this mean that Legge is looking for a ride elsewhere? Certainly Kevin K. will not let Legge slip off of the Champ Car grid as she’s the only female currently contesting Champ Car and it would be another huge gaf by Chump Carzs to let this fan favourite disappear.

Testing will continue at Laguna Seca March 13-14, during Champ Car’s designated Spring Training session.


Final combined test times from Sebring testing

(Pos., driver name, team, lap time, mph, total laps for the 3 days)

1. Franck Perera, #24 Conquest Racing, 49.806 seconds, 120.636 mph, 205 laps

2. Graham Rahal, #2 Newman/Haas/Lanigan Racing, 49.950 seconds, 120.288 mph, 238 laps

3. Alex Tagliani, #21 PKV Racing, 50.173 seconds, 119.754 mph, 281 laps

4. Oriol Servia, #22 PKV Racing, 50.178 seconds, 119.742 mph, 288 laps

5. Justin Wilson, #1 Newman/Haas/Lanigan Racing, 50.207 seconds, 119.673 mph, 269 laps

6. Franck Montagny, #7 Forsythe/Pettit Racing, 50.209 seconds, 119.668 mph, 207 laps

7. Bruno Junqueira, #19 Dale Coyne Racing, 50.507 seconds, 118.962 mph, 247 laps

8. Alex Figge, #29 Pacific Coast Motorsports, 50.521 seconds, 118.929 mph, 247 laps

9. Simon Pagenaud, #34 Conquest Racing, 50.702 seconds, 118.504 mph, 186 laps

10. Enrique Bernoldi, #8 Rocketsports Racing, 50.714 seconds, 118.476 mph, 255 laps

11. Paul Tracy, #3 Forsythe/Pettit Racing, 50.732 seconds, 118.434 mph, 179 laps

12. David Martinez, #28 Pacific Coast Motorsports, 50.736 seconds, 118.425 mph, 255 laps

13. Ernesto Viso, #4 Minardi Team USA, 50.800 seconds, 118.276 mph, 164 laps

14. Mario Moraes, #11 Dale Coyne Racing, 50.930 seconds, 117.974 mph, 241 laps

When five equals seven

Yep, you read that right, as it’s also known as Chump Carzs math….

Since just days prior to the Sebring test, the ranks of confirmed Champ Car drivers for the 2008 season had swelled to a ground shaking five as Newman/Haas/Lanigan Racing finally made official what had long been rumoured by announcing Justin Wilson as Graham Rahal’s partner.

And I liked Justin’s comments about the Hamburgular’s shoes being a tall task to fill, but he’s got big feet the Brit said jokingly. I’ll assume that the 19yr old Yank, Messer Rahal will now be swathed in Mic-Doogal’s livery with Wilson continuing with his long time sponsor CDW, guess the only thing left to scrap about is who’ll get to use ‘ol Sea Bass’s left over number one plate.

Meanwhile in addition to N/H/L being the only team with a full complement of drivers, there had been three other signings announced prior to Sebring.

As previously mentioned, Paul (Neil Micklewright AIN’T on my circle ‘O Five) Tracy has re-signed with Forsythe Petitt Racing, while Oriel “Suitcase” Servia has unpacked his bags at PKV Racing for the entire 2008 season, while Alex Tagliani looks set to become his new teammate.

TAG, who previously drove for Rocketsports Racing has been replaced by Enrique Bernoldi for the 2008 season. You may remember that Bernoldi was ditched by Peter Sauber in favour of some young Finn named Kimi Raikkonen! Although Bernoldi did manage two seasons with the floundering Orange Arrows F1 team dutifully run into the ground by Tom Walkinshaw.

Yet, the two confirmed driver announcements which seem to not be ballyhooed about in the media or were victims of the crack Champ Car press core were Bruno Junqueira’s staying put with the minnowesque Dale Coyne Racing operation, while Alex Figge’s continuation with Pacific Coast Motorsports was a no brainer since his father owns the team…

Captain Quebec rides again

Prior to Christmas, it was revealed that apparently Gerald Forsythe had attempted to throw Champ Car World Series “Super-star” Paul Tracy under the bus, as Mr. Chrome Horn received an email from Neil Mickelwright telling PT to either re-negotiate his current contract or face loosing his ride.

Fortunately cooler heads seem to have prevailed as Sand Dune Tracey flew to Chicago the day after Christmas to meet with Mr. Forsythe to clear the air, with Tracy’s position seemingly helped by making a few collect calls to someone by the name of Tony George…

Thus Forsythe and Tracy have agreed to continue on in Champ Car for (at least) 2008, which should greatly appease the various Canadian promoters, eh?

Forsythe Petitt Racing has vastly revamped its personnel, with Tom Brown coming on board as PT’s engineer at the end of last season. Forsythe has also hired Kenny Siwieck to manage Tracy’s team, as PT says it’s not exactly a secret that he and Mickelwright aren’t on the same page.

You may recall that Siwieck is that annoying voice they’ve played a zillion times telling “Mikey” (Michael Andretti) and the “Hamburgular” (Sebastian Bourdais) to hit there marks… Interestingly, Siwieck was an 18 year employee at Newman Haas Racing.

And I’m wondering if Tracy had any inkling of Tony Cotman’s decision to resign from Champ Car prior to settling this matter? As Tracy’s loyalty to Champ Car seems destined to become a footnote in the series impending demise…

Champ Car notes

Justin wins Moore award
Justin Wilson has won the Greg Moore Legacy Award for the second time, being awarded the honour at this years Champ Car season ending banquet.

Justin becomesthe the first two-time winner of the award, (2006-07) named after the late Canadian driver who died in 1999. The award is awarded to the driver that most displays the determination, passion and skill that typified Moore's days as a racer.

Justin Wilson:
“It's a real honour to receive this award for the second time. Greg had an outstanding reputation as a driver and as a person and to be associated with him in this way means a lot."

Previous winners of the Greg Moore Legacy Award are Oriol Servia (2005), Ryan Hunter-Reay (2004), Sebastien Bourdais (2003), Patrick Carpentier (2002), Dario Franchitti (2001), and Helio Castroneves (2000)


Conquest new partner
In a refreshing bit of good news, Conquest Racing has just landed a new partnership arrangement with Opes Prime Group Ltd, an Australian based financial services provider. The new alliance will see Conquest campaign two cars for the 2008 Champ Car World Series season,

“Additionally, the new agreement sees Opes Prime principle shareholder Anthony Blumberg acquiring an equity stake in the organization, providing the necessary capital investment to fuel the team's growth over the next two seasons.”


Power wins award
Team Australia’s Will Power has won the coveted Sir Jack Brabham award at this year’s CAMS Australia Awards banquet…


Forsythe’s smooth move
Talk about your pathetic promotional ploys of “Stiring the Pot.” As Gerald Forsythe has attempted to throw Champ Car World Series “Super-star” Paul Tracy under the bus… By reportedly telling ‘Ol Sand Dune Tracy to re-negotiate his current contract or face loosing his ride.

This is not the best way to go about stabilizing a weak product, as rumours suggest that the Toronto race promoter is extremely (PEEVED-OFF) Freaked-out about not having Tracy in this year’s Champ Car line-up, which could potentially cost him the race. Way to go Gerry!


PKV signs Servia
While Forsythe has its caboose up its tailpipe, PKV has just announced the signing of Oriel “Suitcase” Servia as one of its two drivers for 2008.

I for one am very happy to hear the news that Servia will be able to ditch the suitcase moniker for the upcoming season, after PKV sensibly signed the extremely quick and popular Spaniard.

Its currently unknown whom will partner Servia, as Neal Jani who was sponsored by Red Bull is possibly out of the picture since its rumoured that the Red Bull sponsorship deal was only for a single season. If Jani doesn’t return, which would be a shame, then look for him to replace Dan “Speedy-Dry” Clarke at Team Minardi USA…

Champ Car MIA

For the past week I’ve been enjoying another very pleasant holiday in Scottsdale, AZ. The trip had originally been planned to coincide with this year’s inaugural Phoenix Grand Prix, which I’d been looking forward to attending, as it was to be Champ Cars seasons finale in the “Valley of the Sun,” Sadly Champ Car was forced to pull the plug on this event, well actually the promoter’s pulled the plug since they didn’t want to loose anymore of their own money! Of course I’d learned of this decision just days after purchasing my airplane ticket to Arizona. (BASTARDOES!) This leads me to ponder the “just completed” season of Champ Car… (Wondering’ how it went overall?) With the “official” tally for cancelled races being three this year, which certainly cannot do much for one’s credibility! Yet the Indianapolis based operation managed to complete another season, albeit with some major speed bumps along the way! As the three events cancelled was the stillborn China race, which has now been cancelled three years in a row… Or has never gotten off the ground, although Roberto Moreno did indeed run demonstration laps aboard the DP-01 at the Zhuhi circuit. Denver lost its temporary street circuit event around the Pepsi Center, which ironically had “stolen” Vancouver, BC’s traditional Labor Day calendar spot… While Phoenix scrapped its planned street race around the Downtown corridor. Perhaps they were worried about Sherriff Joe blocking the track when he couldn’t stand the noise anymore? Then there were the two INSIDIOUSLY LONG schedule breaks… The first six weeks coming this spring while the Indianapolis Motor Speedway was garnering “All” of the media attention with their annual Month of May festivities… Overly hyped with the arrival of Danny B’s favourite IRL addition. None other than Milka Duno… The second six weeks break was self-inflicted by Champ Car who STUPIDLY aired both European rounds on ESPN Classic. Hey, doesn’t everybody get that freakin’ channel? (Way to go Comca$t) And it seemed almost foreign to me to sit down and finally watch the Surfers Paradise event via tape on November 3rd. Which means I hadn’t viewed a Champ Car race in two plus months… Although the event “Down Under” was fairly entertaining, since I’d just assumed that The Hamburgular had run away and hid while stealing his 30th Champ Car victory… Yet he’d actually had to work for it, before dusting off Justin Wilson once again, whom theoretically will replace Sea Bass next season? On the flip side the Panoz DP-01 acquitted itself fairly well in its maiden season, albeit a few teething issues with fuel tanks, gearboxes, etc. Not to mention a freakish low speed crash to series “Star” Paul Tracy. And Champ Car unveiled standing starts at Portland this season, which cut down on the number of first corner pile-ups, along with giving us some spirited competition… Alas, nobody seemed capable of beating that DAMN Hamburgular! And with the release of the 2008 schedule, along with Champ Car possibly solidifying its driver line-ups? Perhaps next years championship will be “Muchoe Better!”

Forsythe and Pettit join forces

Surprisingly Gerald Forsythe has just announced that he’ll be joining forces with Dan Pettit, formerly of RuSports to form Forsythe Pettit Racing.

Dan Pettit was originally the “P” in PKV Racing, a joint venture between Pettit, Jimmy Vasser and Kevin Kalkhoven, who’s one of the original three co-owners who bought CART when it went into bankruptcy and beat Tony George’s rival bid.

Kalkhoven along with Forsythe then subsequently bought Cosworth Engineering from the Ford Motor Company to ensure a stable supply of the venerable Ford/Cosworth turbocharged
V-8 engines powering the newly renamed Champ Car series.

When Carl Russo decided to leave Champ Car at the end of 2006, Champ Car was in peril of loosing one of its premiere teams with star drive Justin Wilson, thus Kalkhoven talked his business partner and new part co-owner of Champ Car Pettit into purchasing the RuSports team.

Then unexpectedly Pettit decided to join forces with Paul Gentilozzi’s Rocketsports team, with the two teams running single car entries, yet sharing paddock space together along with pooling engineering resources. Gentilozzi who was the third original co-owner of Champ Car had previously ran a string of “Pay” drivers to fill the second seat of his two car operation, yet both Gentilozzi and Pettit, who’s RuSports team was also a two car entity apparently had been unable to find sponsorship for their team’s second car and thus decided to form RSPORTS with Justin Wilson and Alex Tagliani as the teams two drivers.

Although I missed “The Memo,” apparently Pettit and Gentilozzi discontinued their partnership towards the end of this year’s season, which has caused some major strife with RuSports title sponsor CDW, as rumours have abounded that CDW was potentially leaving Champ Car?

Meanwhile Gerry Forsythe had originally threatened to run only a single car entry this season in Champ Car for series star Paul Tracy as he was tired of funding a two car team out of his own pocket, having been unable to find any corporate sponsorship for the teams second car. Shockingly Forsythe Championship Racing started the season with Mario “Boom Boom” Dominguez announced as Tracy’s teammate for the first three races. Recall that Super Mario (?) had been FIRED from Forsythe the previous season after twice taking out team leader Paul “Sand Dune” Tracy…

Oriel Servia was then drafted into the team as Tracy’s substitute while recuperating from his back injury suffered during practice at Long Beach. Servia subsequently became Dominguez’s replacement (on a race-by-race basis) upon PT’s return to racing at Portland. Yet “Suitcase” Servia was rudely sent packing for the season’s final two races to make way for Mexican “Home Boy” David Martinez in order to hopefully draw spectators to the Mexico City season finale.

With the season over and both Pettit and Forsythe having endured the rigors of running struggling teams, the decision was made to join forces, thus the creation of Forsythe Pettit Racing which will be based out of Forsythe’s Indianapolis shop, thus effectively ending operations at the former RuSports base in Colorado. Interestingly nothing was mentioned in the press release about either teams marquee drivers Wilson or Tracy, as Wilson has been widely thought to be the Hamburgular’s replacement at Newman Haas Lanigan. So it’ll be interesting to see where Wilson lands, as he seems to be the top domino in the Champ Car driver market currently.

In a further bit of Champ Car news, Kevin “Glass Half Full” Kalkhoven is currently involved in a shareholder lawsuit in regards to his previous Silicon Valley business, which fortunes allowed Kalkhoven to purchase Champ Car and Cosworth. Interestingly I believe that Pettit was also in “cahoots” with Kalkhoven, yet seems to have been left out of the lawsuit. Hmm? Why does all of this news make me think of the song “The future’s so bright, I’ve gotta wear shades.” Then again perhaps if Champ Car can shore up its existing teams, stabilize its schedule and have more than 17 cars on the grid next season, Shades may be actually required?

Viva la Mexico

Well it’s finally over… As I’m certain that Champ Car is sighing a breath of relief over the conclusion of a very rough 2007 season.

Along with several cancelled events, Mexico City sees newly anointed four time consecutive Champ Car champion Sebastian Bourdais making his series farewell.

Kicking the weekend off in his traditional fashion, the Hamburgular once again stole the top spot in Friday’s provisional qualifying with a new record lap of 1:24.698.

This didn’t last long though as Will Power forced his way to the front in Saturday’s final qualifying session, setting a “New Track Record” of 1:23.558. (119.515 mph) Power led a contingent of seven drivers besting Sea Bass’s time of Friday as Bourdais ended up tenth quickest, but started second overall due to his Friday pole.

Then Bourdais and teammate Graham Rahal were penalized 22 seconds of their P2P time due to laying down rubber in their pit boxes against Champ Car orders.

And I suspect that the altitude of Mexico City had something to do with the aborted start, as three competitors stalled for the very first time of a standing start. Mexico City’s air (while polluted) is very thin, with the elevation being 7,400+ feet.

Although one of the casualties was Dan “Speedy Dry” Clarke who’s clutch failed on the aborted start. Teammate “Bad Bobby D” (Robert Doornbos) also lost his clutch on lap three. Hmm? Perhaps Minardi Team USA used some of the Hamburgular’s “Secret Sauce” for their clutch set-ups? Yet the team did an Indy Racing League style pit job, repairing the clutch and sending Doornbos back out to score one point for setting the fastest lap to ensure his third place in the championship.

And was it “Déjà vu?” As this year’s pole sitter Power was racing with a broken wrist, having suffered a hairline fracture in his accident with Katherine Legge in Australia. Last year saw Justin Wilson racing with a broken wrist and ironically Power’s teammate Simon Pagenaud was suffering from tendonitis in his wrist.

And for all of you Die Cast Vroomers, fortunately Champ Car hasn’t put out a decent diecast in years; especially the later Lola’s which were incorrect! So you won’t have to worry about getting’ the custom Mac Doogals car that Bourdais drove to victory… As it was adorned with decals for his entire Champ Car career, leaving a blank space left on the nose for Mexico… Hey, now they can make two versions of this car, eh?

Meanwhile Justin Wilson was forced to soldier around the track for the majority of the race with fuel pressure problems, this made him a lame duck on the long straightaway, and finishing tenth do to his lack of horsepower.

Yet Sea Bass clearly showed why he’s currently heads ‘N shoulders above the rest of the Champ Car fraternity, by overtaking Power and pulling away to an 11+ second lead. Then when a late yellow flag bunched the field back together to give Power one last shot at the Hamburgular, who was at a disadvantage on P2P power. Sea Bass simply drove off into the sunset, making a banzai start while NOT using any of his precious P2P supply! Thus leaving Power to finish second.

And with Michael Schumacher-like numbers in Champ Car, *31 Wins/73 Starts = 43% win avg.) The series will potentially be much more exciting next season. The win ties Bourdais with ‘Lil Al (Al Unser Jr.) and Paul Tracy for sixth overall in all time Champ Car wins.

But the best story of the day was “Suitcase” Servia’s run from 16th to the final podium position with a burst of late race passes., after having stalled on the start from fourth place. PKV co-owner Jimmy Vasser told Oriel to quit saving his P2P! Jumping from sixth to third on the final restart.

Servia got the nickname courtesy of Rick Benjamin in deference to the number of teams and drivers the Spaniard has filled in for this season.

Afterwards, Servia wanting to know how to get on Wind Tunnel asked SPEED’s Robin Miller about his brother… Who? You know “Dee-Spain.” I’m from Spain, he’s De-Spain, and if I win a race will this get me on Wind Tunnel? To which Miller assured him he’d even drive him to the Charlotte studios…

Champ Car Season Finale

Although it seems more of a formality with “The Hamburgular” having already wrapped up the Championship at Surfers Paradise. Nevertheless it will be Sebastian Bourdais very final race in Champ Car before he departs to Formula 1 in 2008.

And for the Mexico City elevation Champ Car will add an extra 50bhp to its vaunted “P2P” feature, better known as Power to Pass. This is when any of the competitor’s can push a button on their steering wheel for a specific amount of time to induce extra horsepower or “Turbo Boost!”

And instead of the normal 60 second time allotment, the P2P will be increased to 75 seconds. Thus the Champ Car circus will have a maximum of 850bhp on tap for 75 seconds in Mexico.

Does this mean that perhaps somebody will be able to pass Sea Bass for the win? As I’m still mad over his pin ball bounce off of Justin Wilson on the very final lap to steal the victory last year…

And supposedly Pacific Coast Motorsports will be making a “Big” announcement in Mexico. Hmm, let’s see. Mario Dominguez plus Tecate beer. Wonder what it could be? Now all we need is those long departed Tecate “Girls.”

You can catch the Champ Car season finale this Sunday on ESPN2 @ 11AM. (Pacific)

Please check your Local Listings…

Champ Car announces 2008 Schedule

Champ Car has FINALLY announced their 2008 schedule, which will feature the same amount of races run this season. The 14 race venues will feature a few revisions, with another temporary street circuit being excluded from the mix. Champ Car will now consist of eight road courses and six street circuits, while four races dropped from this year’s calendar will not return. Also Laguna Seca will replace San Jose in 2008.

While much banter is being made about the addition of the newest European race to be contested at Jerez, little is being said about the demise of Las Vegas after a single event, which was also promoted by the same organizers of the stillborn Phoenix Champ Car race. Thus the 2008 schedule will revert to its tradition of opening in Long Beach (April 20) and conclude in Mexico City. (Nov 9)

Jerez previously was a Formula 1 circuit until 1997, which has now apparently given up hopes of landing a future Grand Prix after the introduction of Spain’s newest venue on the streets of Valencia.

Currently Jerez is used as a Formula 1 winter testing haven and will now host its inaugural Champ Car race on June 8th in conjunction with the Zolder event which has been moved to June 1st.

Although thought to be on shaky ground, the Portland Champ Car race will once again return in 2008 for its 25th anniversary, albeit on a new date, now being moved to the hottest part of the summer in Oregon. (July 27) Hopefully the weather will not repeat the last American Le Mans event held during the same weekend, when the temperature hit 100 degrees…

2008 Champ Car World Series*April 20 Toyota Grand Prix of Long Beach , Long Beach, Calif.April 27 Champ Car Grand Prix of Houston at JAGFlo Speedway, Houston, TexasMay 18 Champ Car Grand Prix at Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca, Monterey, CaliforniaJune 1 Champ Car Belgium, Zolder, Belgium June 8 Champ Car Spain, Jerez, SpainJune 22 Champ Car Grand Prix of Cleveland, Cleveland, Ohio June 29 Champ Car Mont-Tremblant, Mont-Tremblant, Quebec , Canada July 6 Steelback Grand Prix of Toronto, Toronto, Ontario, Canada July 20 Rexall Grand Prix of Edmonton, Edmonton, Alberta, Canada July 27 Champ Car Portland, Portland, OregonAugust 10 Road America Grand Prix, Elkhart Lake, Wis.September 14 Champ Car Holland at the TT Circuit, Assen, Holland October 26 Gold Coast Indy 300, Surfers Paradise, AustraliaNovember 9 Gran Premio Tecate Presentado por Banamex, Mexico City, Mexico
* Pending ACCUS/FIA Approval

Champ Car Chatter

While Champ Car is in the midst of another extremely long hiatus, having been out of sight of the majority of US house holds for nearly two months now…

Champ Car held its final 2007 season test at Sebring, (9/25-26) with Conquest, Dale Coyne, Forsythe, N/H/L, PCM and PKV taking part in the two day test session. New recruit Martinez got acclimated to the cockpit of Forsythe’s second Panoz DP 01 chassis, previously driven by Oriel Servia.

And the weirdest part of the testing was that Forsythe asked Servia to test for them on the first day, with Servia being the fastest of the three Forsythe drivers after being previously given his walking papers.

Dominguez re-sumed driving with Pacific Coast Motorsports, whom he’d previously driven for during Ryan Dalziel’s forced absence from the San Jose race after a bicycling accident.

And I suppose it will come as NO surprise that on Day 1 the “Hamburgular” (Bourdais) topped the time sheets.

Day 2 saw Sea Bass drop down the order due to having used up all of his allotted testing miles the previous day. This saw Will Power take over the top spot as well as “Christian Comedy” nipping at his heels…


Sebring Champ Car testing times – Day 2:

1) Will Power, Team Australia, 51.51
2) Tristan Gommendy, PKV, 51.53
3) Mario Dominguez, Pacific Coast Motorsports, 51.55
4) Simon Pagenaud, Team Australia, 51.71
5) Alex Figge, Pacific Coast Motorsports, 51.73
6) Paul Tracy, Forsythe, 51.79
7) Graham Rahal, Newman/Haas/Lanigan, 51.82
8) David Martinez, Forsythe, 51.91
9) Neel Jani, PKV, 52.04
10) Bruno Junqueira, Dale Coyne, 52.30
11) Katherine Legge, Dale Coyne, 52.58
12) James Winslow, Conquest, 53.65


And in another incredulous slight of hand, Conquest Racing has given Jan “Van Hagar” Heylen the unexpected BOOT! In order to make room for Nelson Philippe… Yeah I can hear y’all saying’ Nelson Who? As perhaps many of you have forgotten that the Frenchman is Champ cars current youngest ever winner, apparently being recalled “just-in-time” to defend his last year victory at Surfers Paradise.

“Van Hagar” is the third current Champ Car driver getting an extremely RAW deal! Joining the likes of Servia and Dalziel, who’ve also been shown the door for less than honorable reasons…

But Heylen’s dumping is extremely poor seeing how he brought desperately needed funding to Eric Bachelart’s team that was on life support at the beginning of the year. Then Heylen has done nothing but improve each week after his Portland debut, with a 6th place finish at Road America and runner-up behind Justin Wilson at Assen TT…

And I’ve also seen rumours of Wilson possibly defecting to Andretti Green Racing next season along with major sponsor CDW saying NO Thanks to continuing in Champ Car!

Meanwhile Paul “Sand Dune” Tracy was busy thrashin’ about the mud bogs of Chula Vista in an Off Road Trophy Truck curtsey of Ricky Johnson. Well at least one of Champ Car’s driver’s is enjoying his holiday!

PCM Turnabout?

Although I’m still overly disappointed about Pacific Coast Motorsport’s dumping of Ryan Dalziel in favour of Mario “Boom Boom” Dominguez, apparently my flogging of PcM may be misguided? Especially upon reading David Phillips latest commentary, explaining how the Dominguez decision could rather be more team oriented than Gerald Forsythe’s quick-fix solution with Mexican David Martinez. As Phillips points out in Apples ‘N Oranges, Forsythe’s maneuverings are totally transparent, while PCM could actually be trying to improve its struggling Champ Car operation…

Blame Canada!

Once again its Labor Day weekend which traditionally signals the end of summer. Also causing me to reflect upon the long vanished yearly tradition of trekking north to Vancouver, BC for the annual Molson Indy. Which STUPIDLY Vancouver dumped in favour of the 2010 Winter Olympics…

And as the time flies by I recall less ‘N less of those trips Up North, Eh? As I truly miss this event. Although not being a huge fan of Temporary Street circuits which seem to run their course. The trend seems to be making a strong revival at earlier venues expense. Excluding Phoenix’s second demise with Champ Car)

As my only experiences with this type of racing are the much lamented Iceberg Grand Prix and the Molson Indy. Does anybody remember that Formula 1 raced around the downtown streets of Phoenix, Arizona from 1989-91? Even funnier was the title sponsor in regards to Arizona’s cool summer climate. As I vividly recall it being 104 degrees on June 4th, 1989! But hey,

“It’s a DRY Heat…” (And so’s your oven!)

But I thoroughly enjoyed both venues, especially the Molson Indy, which seemed to ALWAYS have a LARGER crowd then Portland during CART’s heydays of the early 1990’s.

I guess part of the attraction of the Vancouver event was its great location, being situated around False Creek nearby BC Place. This locale was also the site of Expo ’86. A very popular World Exposition that unfortunately I attended on the day it set its record attendance of 211,000+ spectators. Yet Expo ’86 itself was a fairly fun event.

The Molson Indy Vancouver BC race ran for 14 years before coming to an unexpected demise with me already writing my thoughts about Willy T Ribbs darkest moment as a professional driver, which I witnessed live in 1990, when an errant corner worker ran in front of the oncoming Ribbs… To which I’ve been told isn’t politically correct to write about.

I attended the first five events, before being dropped from the group attending the races. This is when the course was still in its original vane, my favourite circuit configuration. As we had seats reserved in the first corner hairpin where we watched several drivers trying to out brake one another Including numerous skirmishes between ‘Lil Al and Mikey… As I seem to recall also being present when Al Unser Jr barrel rolled his Galles/Valvoline race car!

In 1997 the circuit was heavily revised, leaving little intact from the original layout nearby Pacific Place. Yet I also enjoyed the new circuit as I finally made my way back to this great race in 2000, as it offered unbelievable access to view the Champ Cars. Especially at the Science World hairpin, where you could stand 30+ feet from the circuit

And I also enjoyed the fantastic Art exhibits they had in the latter years, as I seriously considered purchasing an original painting of Greg Moore along with oogling over a beautiful bronze of Gilles Villeneuve

And the track was always popular with the drivers, whom claim it was one of their favourite circuits to attend. I suspect because of the amazing spectator support. With records showing that Al Unser Jr and Michael Andretti ruled the roost from 1990 to 1996. With ‘Lil Al winning four times to Mikey’s three, before “Big Mo” (Mauricio Gugelmin) broke this streak. The win was popular since Gugelmin scored his only Champ Car victory for the local PacWest Racing team.

The event was also dominated by the Team Kool Green boyzs Dario franchitti with two victories and native son Paul Tracy scoring a Hat trick in the events waning years.

My favourite moment had to be the year we took Auntie Harriet to the race and witnessed Roberto Moreno doing victory doughnuts in front of us as we were clouted by billowing clouds of tire smoke!

And towards the end, the city even had an elaborate scale model of the area’s proposed renovation, in which the track would be incorporated into a Monaco-esc setting. Yet nearby residents complained about the noise and the date was eventually moved from its traditional Labor Day spot to early July. Of which I attended for my final trip north.

My other most vivid memory involves Alex Zanardi. As the mighty CART champion had returned to the series after a disappointing season at Williams. After a force one year sabbatical, Zanardi made his return to racing with the fledgling Mo Nunn team.

And as I stood at the Science World chicane during practice, I watched “Zorro” spin haplessly. Looping the Pioneer Reynard/Honda while entering the turn with his nose facing me! Zanardi managed to not hit anything and kept the engine running as he waited for competitors to pass by before ultimately killing the lump. This in turn brought out a yellow flag and a safety vehicle was dispatched to give Zanardi a restart tow.

I recall thinking how far Zanardi had fallen as he was struggling at the back of the pack, trying to wring every ounce of performance out of his new mount. Yet unbeknownst to me, this would be his last complete race.

As sadly he would suffer life threatening injuries in the following CART round held at the Lausitzring a fortnight later…