Is GP2 better than F1?

Now don’t get me wrong, as Formula 1 will always be my undisputed Number One Heavyweight in terms of motor racing series, but I find it a bit odd that lately I’ve seemed more intrigued by the first few rounds of this year’s GP2 series vs. F1, (Minus the Canadian GP) to which I’ve been adding to my regimen of auto race viewing recently.

Perhaps this possible interest is spurned by what I found so attractive towards CART/Champ Car, as there were always a dozen plus potential winners on any given weekend, as the IRL tends to be somewhat similar to F1 at the moment. You know that the Big Three; Andretti Green, Ganassi and Penske have won the last 43 of 44 events, (Post Iowa) while Formula 1 routinely seems to be a “Dust-up” between Ferrari and McLaren, albeit Renault stepped into the breach momentarily with some Spaniard named Fredrico Suave… Yet the “Reggie” hasn’t been in the winners (Whiners?) circle since the heartbreaking Japanese Grand Prix; (Oct. 8, 2006) when Michael Schumacher’s Ferrari lump inexplicably went “KABLAMOE!” Most definitely costing him a potential 8th World Championship…

There are currently 17 Nations participating in GP2, which now begins its fourth season, with all three prior GP2 Champions having taken up residency in F1: Nico Rosberg, 2005; Lewis Hamilton, 2006 and Timo Glock, 2007, with other former GP2 competitors Heikki Kovalainen, Nelson Piquet Jr. and Kazuki Nakajima also having graduated to the big league of Formula 1.

This year’s crop of GP2 contestants features several F1 test drivers from Renault: Lucas Di Grassi, Sakon Yamamoto and Romain Grosjean, who was also the winner of the inaugural GP2 Asia series championship this winter; Red Bull: Sebastien Buemi and Toyota: Kamui Kobayashi.

Currently Georgio Pantano and Adam Carroll are the only two drivers to have contested the inaugural GP2 event in 2005 left on the grid, as David Hobbs quips: It’s a development series, which means you’re supposed to move up.

While Carroll has been recently competing in the A1 GP series, at age 29, the Italian Pantano is the oldest driver in the field, who’s made a living in the International F3000 series from 2001-03, which was the forbearer to GP2, as Pantano has been in these stepping stone series for six seasons and has 60 GP2 starts alone to his credit. Pantano has also competed in the Champ Car and Indy Racing League series after making what Bob Varsha noted was a coffee cup stop in F1… Having raced briefly for the faltering Jordan Grand Prix team in 2004 before his sponsorship checks dried-up.

In this year’s season opener at the Circuit de Catalunya in Barcelona, Portuguese GP2 debutant Alvaro Parente stormed away from the field to win his maiden GP2 victory ahead of Bruno Senna and Andreas Zuber.

In Sunday’s Sprint race, Kamui Kobayashi became the first Japanese driver to win a GP2 event after leader Romain Grosjean was penalized for blocking in the later stages of the event. Having overtaken pole sitter Kobayashi earlier, Grosjean was given a stop-go penalty for his evasive maneuvers after the field had been bunched-up by a safety car.

Kobayashi began the Sprint race from the pole since GP2 inverts the top eight finishing positions from the day’s previous Feature race and having slipped to second in the race was pressuring Grosjean for the lead when the penalty was assessed. Kobayashi has now won a total of three GP2 events, with his first two wins coming during this year’s inaugural GP2 Asia championship.

Round 2 was held in Turkey at the Istanbul Autodrome, where the aforementioned Pantano put on a driving clinic during the Feature race, as Bob Varsha said; Pantano’s taking off like a Scalded Dog!” As I’m now convinced that this was scripted as the following day’s Sprint race would see the bizarre accident of Bruno Senna killing an errant Pooch running about the circuit.

The win was the Italian’s 12th overall, tying him with the legendary Jochen Rindt, who scored all 12 of his victories in F2; prior to becoming the only driver awarded the Formula 1 Championship posthumously. (1970)

In Sunday’s Sprint race, while driver’s Mike Conway and Bruno Senna were busy trying to avoid run-away animals, Romain Grosjean finally made good on his promise, as some pundits have picked him to become the 2008 GP2 Champion, when he won the shorter Sprint Race 2 and thus collected his first GP2 victory.

This year at Monaco saw the GP2 circus host two races for the very first time in the Principality, as Bruno Senna stormed away from the front row and led virtually wire to wire, including a major pile-up by fellow competitors in the downhill chicane. The win was even more special as it comes on the 15th Anniversary of his late uncle’s (Ayrton Senna) final Formula 1 victory in Monte Carlo and David Hobbs claims the young Brazilian not only looks like Ayrton but sounds like him also…

The following day’s sprint race saw Mike Conway run away from pole and hide all the way to the finish to take some solace in a victory after having been punted out of third place during the previous feature race.

While the F1 circus made a brief stop on the Il Notre Dam, GP2 took a brief holiday before resuming competition as part of the French GP weekend, which saw Bruno Senna claim his first pole of the season for the Feature race, while SPEED had an entertaining segment on elder statesman Pantano, who was making his unheard of 100th start in GP2/F3000 competition, with 65 starts alone in GP2…

And while Senna led handily until being forced to retire with gearbox issues, I’m assuming the French crowd was quite enthralled to see countryman Grosjean take over the lead… Until the unthinkable happened and he too was forced to retire with you guessed it! Gearbox troubles, which meant that Messer Pantano was left to take over the lead and cruise home to his 13th victory, tying Mike Thackwell for all time career F2/F3000/GP2 victories according to David Hobbs…

The following days Sprint race was quite a different story as the race was held in varying weather conditions, with drivers starting off on rain tyres and then having to decide when to switch over to slicks for a supposedly drying track which saw Pantano and Grosjean once again finish well outside of the points, upon retiring, while Sebastien Buemi took his first GP2 victory with Senna hanging on to finish fifth, while Pantano holds onto his championship lead over Senna due to his Feature race victory. Pantano leads Senna 35-28, with Buemi vaulting to third with 20 points and Grosjean lies fourth with 19 points.

And there you have it! Eight races and seven different winners… Can GP2 elder statesman Giorgio Pantano do the unthinkable and win the title? Or will somebody else like Grosjean, Senna, Buemi, Zuber or Parente spoil his party…

Another Record

Austin Harris, has just become the very first African American in USAC history to win a race in the series 53 years history of 7,500+ races…

The 17yr old Californian native was signed to drive for Bob East in the USAC Ford Focus Midget series for three races, as East was asked to give the youngster a shot by Ford… As East is no stranger to driving talent, having previously worked with Tony Stewart, Bobby East, JJ Yeley and Bobby Labonte to name just a few…

Harris has driven a multitude of different machinery including a stint in Sports Cars at the Rolex 24 and currently leads the Ford Focus Midget points standings.

And with the hunt on to find more sponsorship to continue his racing, it seems like it would be a really SHREUD move by Tony George to sign up the youngster to a “Developmental” deal of his own to groom Austin for a future career in IndyCars…

I mean, c’mon! Just think of the huge publicity sweepstakes Tony would inherit by having the Princess and Harris battling head to head, as perhaps Austin Harris could be the next Lewis Hamilton in the making…

Harris wins Midget race

Radio show Mo-jo

Whale… I guess it pays to do an interview on the Autosport Radio show… As Tuesday’s (May 20th) program featured three promising “Flinstone Indy Lites” racing drivers; Cyndie Alleman, Dillon Battistini and Mike Potekhen, of which by far the most entertaining was Cyndie from Switzerland, who is one of two females currently contesting this year’s Indy Lights Championship, the other being Brazilian Ana Beatriz, who’s also been interviewed previously on the show…

Cyndie Alleman
The daughter of Swiss Karting Champion Kurt Allemann. Her brother Ken is a seven-time Swiss champion go-kart racer. · Enjoys karting, cycling, working out and shopping, tried gymnastics as a child. Studied business while competing as professional racer in Europe.

Career stats:
Early Career· Won two Swiss and one European Junior karting titles· Finished third in Swiss Formula A in 2001.
Finished eighth in European Foruma A championship in 2002.
2004 - Finished 6th in Swiss Formula Renault 2000 with a best finish of third at Varano (Italy)
and Most (Czech Republic)
· Competed in selected German Formula Renault 2.0 events.
2005 - 12th place German Formula Renault 2.0 Cup
2006 - Finished 9th place in German Formula 3 Cup with a best finish of second at EuroSpeedway Lausitz. · Earned pole at EuroSpeedway Lausitz.
2007 - Competed in the Formula 3 EuroSeries
Has two top 10 finishes so far this season in Firestone Indy Lights competition.

Dillon Battistini
Born December 3, 1977, Dillon is an English-born racing driver. He competed in various classes of karting before moving to cars in the Caterham R400 challenge in 2003.
In 2006 and 2007 he raced in the Asian Formula Three Championship, finishing 4th his first year and winning the 2007 series championship on 5 race wins. After testing a Champ Car Minardi Team USA and the subsequent unification of American Open Wheel Racing, Battistini signed to race in the Firestone Indy Lights Series (formerly the Indy Pro Series) for Panther Racing less than 10 days before the season was set to begin. Battistini won his first race in the series which was also his first race on an oval track at Homestead-Miami Speedway March 29th.
(Source: Autosport Radio)

And during one commercial break Cyndie and Dillon could be heard chatting in the background, to which Donald Kay then announced, for those of you who couldn’t hear what they were saying… Dillon has just had an Indy Car seat fitting… Oh, was it supposed to remain a secret?

According to Autosport.com, Battistini will make his Indy Car debut later this season, contesting two races in the later stages of the championship for Panther Racing, who he’s currently contesting this seasons Indy Lights Championship with. Plans call for Battistini to most likely test at Watkins Glen and then probably compete in one Oval and one Street Course race, of which the team hasn’t divulged yet. By running only two races, Battistini will keep his rookie status intact for 2009.

Yet, meanwhile back in Indiana, which was staying true to the month’s continuance of the WET stuff, after an abbreviated 11 minute running of the IndyCars on Carberation Day, the rest of the days activities were RAINED OUT on Friday and the Indy Lights race was rescheduled for Saturday at 12:15PM ET

Continuing to show off his impressive early form, Dillon “BAD ASS” Battistini captured the Pole for the Freedom 100, while Ana Beatriz qualified an impressive fourth, one spot ahead of 2007 Atlantics Champion Rafael Matos. Cyndie Alleman lined-up eighth, with Jeff “Double Dipping” Simmons landing in the 10th slot, while some “Big Name Guys” Luyendyk Jr. And Unser III started in 18th and 19th respectively. 2007-08 A1 GP runner-up and series newcomer Johnny Reed was 25th, one position ahead of Mike Potekhen (26th) who was making his first start of the season.

So, for humour I decided to tune-in the race on the IMS Radio Network, which was pretty enjoyable to listen to… As although Battistini was briefly challenged for the lead, he led virtually wire to wire, leading 38 of the races 40 laps, while all of the mayhem went on behind him… With one of the “junior” reporters exclaiming that they were going five wide! Which certainly DON’T work in racin,’ especially around the Speedway, as the inevitable happened with a crash occurring…

Yet, Johnny Parsons Jr. (JP) was very impressed by Beatriz’s performance, who spent the whole race swapping positions back and forth before finally finishing fifth, the highest place finish in the race by a woman, while unfortunately Alleman finished 26th with gearbox problems.

Simmons came home in 8th, two spots ahead of Matos, (10th) while “Just Al (Unser III) managed to move up eight positions to finish 11th, which garnered him a long winded post race interview… While Potekhen made an impressive run, moving up 13 places to split the heralded “Young Gun” generations of Unser ‘N Luyendyk, finishing in 13th, one spot ahead of Luyendyk Jr. who wound up 14th and Reed winding up 20th in his series debut…

Open Wheel briefs

Contrary to popular belief… This isn’t a story about MAD Max Mosley, a.k.a. Sir Maxxum… No, just a comment towards an article I’ve seen somewhere recently while scouring the newswires when playing “Ketsup” from my most enjoyable "Puppy-luv" outing this past week. (Unfortunately I’m not High Tech like some of my contemporaries and therefore the Tibetan Pup’s are on Koda-chrome instead of Didge-it-tull)

Closing in on an F1 record
One forgotten source is claiming that Honda F1 pilot Rubens Barrichello will tie Ricardo Patrese’s all time Formula 1 starting record this weekend in Barcelona, but I believe this is incorrect.

Although it will be Rubino’s 256th Grand Prix, it will only be his 253rd start, while Patrese amazingly contested a total of 257 Formula 1 races between 1977-1993, a record that surely would never be broken… As there are currently only a handful of drivers to have eclipsed the 200 starts barrier, therefore my calculations predict that Barrichello will tie the record at Montreal on June 8th and surpass the affable Italian’s total at the French Grand Prix on June 22nd, thus Barrichello will finally have beaten one of Herr Schumacher legendary statistics…

Conquest switches drivers
With primary sponsor Opes Prime Ltd having fallen into receivership, Conquest Racing’s rookie driver (and best buddy of Vitor Meira) Frank Perera has lost his ride as team owner Eric Bachelart has sought the services (nee, sponsorship dinero) of Jaime Camara.

. Being a journeyman graduate of the Indy Pro Series, I have little knowledge of the driver other then he’s another Brazilian looking to find the limelight in IndyCars, which currently has six fellow countrymen competing in America’s top-flight Open Wheel Racing series…

PCM joins Indy Racing League
As previously noted, Pacific Coast Motorsports has announced their plans to join the Indy Car World Series with a single car effort beginning at Indy. Mario Boom Boom Dominguez will pilot the #96 entry sponsored by the Mexico City Tourism board, seeing a total of ten “transition” drivers and teams joining the IRL, with a total of 27 entries…

Wezs luv’s yuh Dan-Dan-Danica

Whale shiver me timbers… The Princess finally won HER VERY FIRST Major race…

As I was pleased to hear Speed Freaks guest Lyn St James set Kenny Sergeant straight on the headline that continues to be popping up about Danica becoming the first woman to win a major auto race… As St James correctly pointed out that Shirley “Cha Cha” Muldowney, Katherine Legge and Melanie Troxel have all accomplished the feat PREVIOUSLY! As I’d like to point out that Muldowney has even WON multiple Championships.

And in keeping with the Oxygen TV channel theme, after the obligatory Hail Dan-Dan-Danica opening interview, Mrs. Troxel got her moment in the spotlight, as she was talking up a very impressive charity event she’s involved in, dealing with severely medical-challenged children who are sometimes abandoned by their parents who simply CANNOT afford the costs of today’s Healthcare…

And they even interviewed Switzerland’s Simona De Silvestro, as I betcha didn’t know that another female won a major race this weekend, eh? Yes, that’s right; De Silvestro became the second woman to win in Atlantics competition by winning this weekend’s season opening event at Long Beach. For the record Katherine Legge was the first and both Legge and De Silvestro have done something that Danica hasn’t…
Hmm? Strangely the G-Man and his highly tooted IMS marketing staff DON’T seem to wish to share the spotlight with the Mazda Atlantics Championship… Is Tony afraid of a little competition for his vaunted Flinstone Indy Lites?

Even funnier is that “Juan ‘O” Press Dawg’s favourite websites is still alive… As you can read all about De Silvestro’s victory at the half mile marker post of the Cooper Tires Presents The Atlantic Championship Powered by Mazda website. Try saying that fast five times, eh? To read more see; De Silvestro wins Long Beach opener

Having waited 1.5hrs to hear Long Beach victor Will Power, who’s not a woman, is that ok with you Lyn, said the head cheese Kenny Sergeant... Power tried to answer a question and proceeded to get hammered by the Sarge for taking too long, SHEISA!!! To which Power said I’m your guest as Kenny was talking over him, although Crash Gladys told the Sarge to knock it off…

And then St James stuck her foot in her mouth... By asking; Have you driven an Indy Car yet? Which is almost as big of a foopah as Donald Kay of Autosport Radio asking Sarah Fisher last week what it was like sitting on the sidelines last year?

Then Power tried vainly to tiptoe around St James question of how the two chassis compare? To which ultimately Power conceded that the Panoz DP-01 is a HELL of a lot funner to drive, since it’s faster and has more downforce than a Dallara.

Trying to wrap up a very befuddled interview, Kenny asked Will if he’d be racing at Kansas next week? To which Power shot back Yep! Is that a short enough answer for you? Good on you mate… As I’d be a bit turned-off too after having to wait 90 minutes to get grilled like that.

Shame on you Kenny Sergeant!

When Two equals One

HMM? Why does the title of this post make me think of that old Three Dog Night song? You know; One is the loneliest number. (Wonder if Tony George has ever heard that song?)

Although I’d thought of doing the Jack “BRUT” Arute double, albeit from the Lazy-Boy recliner late evening with visions of Sugar Plums, Err, Hulio “Dancin’ Shoes” Castroneeves… HMM? Perhaps I should think ‘bout the Princess more kindly? While hoping to be serenaded by the soothing voices of Mike King and Colour Commentator extraordinaire Davey Hamilton of the IMS Radio broadcast via le internets…

Oh, that’s right, Davey’s busy “Stateside” getting his seat fitting for the Hallowed Shalt be thy Name Kingdom Racing team… But back to the pain in the Keister Indy Car website… C’mon where’s the FRILLIN’ link??? Thinking I’d be able to listen to “live” qualifying, even if I cannot master the Japanese Time Zone Conversion + Eastern Time listings. Let’s see, Japan = +16 hours, carry the 9, subtract the 6 and divide by 12.5, then add another 3? Oh never mind, what in the HELL time is it?

But as Y’all know, the TT Gods weren’t smiling upon Motegi and Qualifying was rained out. Neither was the Microphone God for Jack Arute, nor were any of the broadcasters actually in Motegi…

Thus, taking a cue from My Name is IRL.. Although I’ll catch BOTH… Yep, that’s right TWO Open Wheel races from the cozy confines of my rich Corinthian leather couch, which won’t be nearly as impressive as Messer Arute’s racking up of frequent flyer miles this past weekend, (But, Hey! Somebodies gotta do it, right?) I’ll leave the Motegi Twin Rings of Venus weekend’s coverage to my fellow (SHHShshh…. Don’t tell Jeff Olsen) Indy Car Bloggers…

(Good thing Arute wasn’t flying on American Airlines or having to go to Terminal 4 in LAX, eh?)

And just what did we learn over the past weekend’s dubious Open Wheel double header, which thankfully will be the last time we’ll have to put up with that sort of NONSENSE! Well, I believe that the Roundy-round boyzs learned that the “Majic Rings” utilized to propel those Dallara Honda’s don’t seem to do very good on weeper’s... As all of the drivers were wearing coats and Tony “Follow your Snauz” Kanaan told Mr. Arute how he wanted to be somewhere warm… Like California!

And while foolishly sitting thru the entire two hour race delay, it struck me as somewhat bemusing that Bobby Rahal had flown (The Coup?) all the way to Japan in order to leave the track Saturday in order to fly back to California to be the Grand Marshall of the Long Beach Grand Prix.

And if we’re gonna really quit this Open Wheel divide… Then when in the HELL! Is the Dizney Shopping Networks going to start giving the “Transition” drivers equal billing? As I thought I caught Marty Reid only congratulating Buddy Rice and Edward Carpenter on their recent additions… With NO mention of Justin Wilson during the Pamper’s portion of the race delay… I mean C’mon, either give us the silly poop on all of the driver’s wife’s having babies or don’t bother us with the filler crap!

And even better yet, if you wish to win over us Champ Car diehards… Then don’t put the FRILLIN’ Delayed race coverage on ESPN Classic… Cause many households DON’T have access to that channel… Yet even more hilarious was the continuous plugging of the ALMS tape delayed race on ABC which my locoe affiliate has decided NOT to air in favour of Paid Programming, i.e.; Jack Luhlaine Juicers, Sally Struthers Tummy Tucker, etc. Guess I’m gonna get to listen via le internets after all, since that’s the ONLY way I’ll be able to catch the race live…

Thus with all of the extra time on my hands while waiting for the Really Really Really Big Champ Car swan song... I happened to notice the following tidbit courtesy of Kurt Cabin;

“Also entered is Mario Dominguez, who is due to be named to a new IndyCar Series program with Pacific Coast Motorsports later this month.”

And if Jamie Little reports on it during the Long Beach race, then it must be true…

Running out of time

And the drama continues over the future state of Open Wheel racing and more specifically Champ Car, as the Wurld ‘O Chump Carzs Turns. Ever so slowly, as it seems to be like so many pebbles on a beach being washed away by the tide…

Apparently things have gotten even stranger at the listing ship SS Chump Carzs, as rumours suggested that there had been further divisions inside the organizations HQ in Indianapolis.

Apparently while the staff was told that Champ Car would not be filing for bankruptcy, it was just another crazy rumour that majority co-owner Kevin Kalkhoven’s office belongings were being packed and he no longer sees eye to eye with the other Moosketeers in charge of the floundering series; Gerry Forsythe, Paul Gentilozzi and Dan Pettit. (Who are rumoured to have had a conference call on Friday to discuss CCWS’s future)

Further reports claim that long time participant Derrick Walker is now focusing upon switching allegiances to the Indy Racing League for 2008, having grown tired of the continuous mis-management of CCWS. Walker claims it would have cost him $150,000 to take part in the just concluded Sebring test session, which he decided to forgo, noting that he’s still owed money from team co-owner Craig Gore.

Taking a cursory look at the 2008 CCWS participants, shows that there’s currently only one team with a complete line-up; Newman Haas Lanigan, while the remaining entities are still attempting to finalize their team rosters. Thus, currently a total of seven drivers are confirmed for the upcoming season, although Alex Tagliani is expected to drive for PKV Racing, while Conquest, Dale Coyne, Forsythe Pettit and Pacific Coast all plan on having two car efforts.

If all nine of the current teams showed up with full squads, this would net a total of 17 cars, which seems to be the minimum CCWS can contractually get away with running, since I seem to recall that the original contracts called for 18 cars, which CCWS managed to get around last season.

Thus, if Kevin Kalkhoven was to take his two car team to the IRL along with Derrick Walker and possibly Newman Haas Lanigan, CCWS would be left with a pitiful car count of 11, which I can assure you, wouldn’t be pretty!

There have been further stories about the PI representatives taking equipment out of the CCWS HQ, which if true, makes me wonder if there’s something funny going on between Kalkhoven and Forsythe?

For humour, imagine if a rift between Kalkhoven and Forsythe really exists? Would Kalkhoven try issuing a restraining order against Champ Car from using the Cosworth engines that he’s half owner of. Or banning CCWS access to the PI electronics making the cars run? Yet, according to the Toronto Sun, Kalkhoven has scoffed at all of the above and still claims that the Champ Car circus will indeed perform in 2008.

It’s worth noting that Kalkhoven and Forsythe are co-promoters of Long Beach, Toronto and Portland, while Mike Lanigan; the “L” in Newman Haas Lanigan Racing, promotes Cleveland and Houston, with Forsythe running the Mexico City event.

Thus, it appears that Forsythe & Kalkhoven are most likely angling to get a deal for the Long Beach event which was supposedly the deal breaker towards the impending merger. And although Edmonton has been named as one of the three events to be added to the IRL’s schedule, rumours persist that it lost $7 million last year.

Next, if N/H/L was bold enough to move to the rival Indy car series, what would happen to the Houston and Cleveland events? But would this occur as reports claim that Haas is currently holding $2 million in Panoz parts. Ahem, Mr. Haas, perhaps you’ll wish to hold a “Going out of business” sale on these items? (As it seems only a matter of time before CCWS implodes) Note that Dan D. Jones & Associates, who repaired the faulty DP-01 fuel tanks last year has just filed court papers upon CCWS for failure to pay the $300,000 it owes.

And what do you do if you’re a current CCWS Team Owner, as such dedicated entrants as Paul Newman & Carl Haas, Eric Bachelart, Dale Coyne, Tom Figge and Derrick Walker have supposedly been kept out of Champ Car management’s information loop. This lack of communication led to Bachelart plunking down a million dollars on a new Panoz DP-01 in order to become a two car operation before hearing of the latest merger rumours from Robin Miller.

Yet, adding further insult to injury comes news that Ziggy Harcus, the former Director of Race Operations, speculated to be taking over Tony Cotman's duties as VP of Operations and potentially as Race Director, has also “Left the Building.” (Champ Car)

And I suppose CCws will host their upcoming Spring Training March 13-15 at Laguna Seca, yet I’d guess that PKV Racing and Team Australia will sit out the test as Champ Car works overtime to deny the inevitable. I mean if Graham Rahal can figure it out;

"I used to say specifically that I wanted Champ Car to live and I wanted the IRL to die off, but the truth is, the IRL isn't going to die off because they've got the Indy 500. Right now, the way I look at it we need to have one series, whatever way we can achieve that."

Then it don’t take NO Rocket Scientist to figure out its time for Champ Car to throw in the towel. Then again CCWS could always file for bankruptcy at any moment. Hmm? Does anybody know when Tony George gets back from Scott Dixon’s wedding?

Open Wheel participants

This is just a quick listing of what I could decipher for car counts of the Family Fued occurring in OWR and by NO means 100% accurate, as I’ve never before pursued making an Indy Racing League team score card.

And while things may be bleak on the CCWS’s side of the roster, it’s not all peaches ‘N cream on the IRL’s side either, as there’s at least three teams (Dreyer & Reinbold, Panther and Rahal Letterman Racing) who’ve all dropped a car for their 2008 efforts.

Meanwhile it appears that Tony George himself has given two of his three drivers their walking papers, (AJ Foyt IV & Tomas Scheckter) while son-in-law Ed Carpenter’s ride is still in limbo. Two other teams programs remain unknown; As I know nothing about Danny B’s favourite Milka Duno, while Sarah Fisher is busy trying to put together funding for her own team.

Yet, perhaps the most entertaining tidbit towards the future consolidation plans concerning CCWS’s plight is the latest press release from their official website promoting the upcoming golfing ad created for Bridgestone tires which is set to debut shortly on the Golf channel. Can you say FOUR!

2008 CCWS Teams
(Possible total Car Count = 17)

Conquest Racing
R-Frank Perera, TBA

Dale Coyne Racing
Bruno Junqueira, TBA

Forsythe Pettit Racing
Paul Tracy, TBA

Newman Haas Lanigan Racing
Justin Wilson, Graham Rahal

Pacific Coast Motorsports
Alex Figge, TBA

PKV Racing
Oriel Servia, TBA

Rocketsports Racing
R-Enrique Bernoldi

Team Australia
Will Power, TBA

Team Minardi USA
TBA/TBA


2008 IRL Teams
(Possible total Car Count = 17)

AJ Foyt Enterprises
Darren Manning

Andretti Green Racing
Marco Andretti
Tony Kanaan
R-Hideki Mutoh
Danica Patrick

Dreyer & Reinbold
Buddy Rice

Sarah Fisher Racing*
Sarah Fisher

Luczo Dragon Racing
Tomas Scheckter#

Panther Racing
Vitor Meira

Team Penske
Helio Castroneves
Ryan Briscoe

Rahal Letterman Racing
Ryan Hunter Reay

Roth Racing
Marty Roth
R-Jay Howard

Citgo SAMAX Racing*
Milka Duno

Target Chip Ganassi Racing
Scott Dixon
Dan Wheldon
+ R-Alex Lloyd#

Vision Racing*
Ed Carpenter

(* = Sarah Fisher Racing, SAMAX Racing and Vision Racing yet to confirm programs. # = LDR to run limited race schedule)

Could Open Wheel racing finally merge?

I’ve just been alerted to the SPEED TV article penned by Robin Miller claiming that the War of Northern Aggression may finally be over, as Miller has written that Champ Car World Series co-owners Gerald Forsythe and Kevin Kalkhoven have come to an agreement with Indy Racing League’s Tony George…

Thus, it appears that CCWS will indeed take up George on his offer of “FREE” Dallara chassis and Honda engines plus the $1.2 million per team entry prize sharing caveat for running an entire Indycar season.

Obviously, there are still many details to be ironed out, especially what the reconstituted 2008 Open Wheel calendar will look like, as the newly proposed season sees the addition of only three CCWS events; Long Beach, Edmonton and Surfers Paradise, yet the problem with the Long Beach date is that it clashes with Indy car’s traditional Japanese race weekend at the Honda owned Twin Ring Motegi track, which means that this event will need to be re-scheduled as both the Long Beach and Kansas race dates are locked-in for ’08.

And I’m unsure of what happens to the remainder of the CCWS scheduled events, as I assume they have already inked contracts? Also, it’s rumoured that there are up to 50 Panoz chassis floating about that will effectively become show cars.

And what will happen with the Champ Car Atlantics series which has a contingent of 24+ team entries for 2008. Stay tuned, as they’re will undoubtedly be more to follow on this most encouraging development! Looks like we’ll actually have bumping on “BOOMP” Day this year, eh? So, hopefully ‘ol Gomer’s vocal chords will be good ‘N rested…

Ferrari selling out?

Although I’ve previously mentioned the A1 GP’s “tie-up” with Ferrari beginning in 2008, also announced in the deal was the planned launch of A2 GP. This new “rung” of the World Cup of Motorsports is a regional single seater series which is to begin testing in 2009.

As with the A1 GP supply, Ferrari will be responsible for the design and supply of the A2 GP chassis, which will potentially be a competitor to the GP2 Asia series?

These single seaters will also be powered by Ferrari V-8’s, yet slightly detuned as the A1 GP cars will possess 600bhp vs. the A2 GP cars sporting 420bhp. And I’m fairly certain that the chassis will be manufactured by Dallara, thus seeing Ferrari’s expenditures staying in Italy…

GP2’s Five year plan

The GP2 series has announced that the current 13 entrants will contest the series for the next five years. (2008-12) Left out of the announcement was the purchasing of GP2 by CVC Capital Partners,Which currently owns Formula 1. This takeover solidifies the formal linking between GP2 and F1.

Although GP2 was originally designed as a cost savings series, it’s rumoured that the series is twice as expensive as F3000, the series it replaced.

And with A1 GP’s new link between Ferrari, its unknown if the GP2 Asia series will now be needed? As speculation suggests the series is having a hard time finding potential teams due to the projected high costs of competing in GP2 Asia.

Although the series is scheduled to debut in 2008 with Emperor Bernardo’s Super Car series, as well as being a support series for two upcoming Grand Prix’s. Will this simply become part of an extended GP2 season while going head to head with the upcoming A2 GP series?

Hammer Time

After his baptism by fire in Sepang, Michael “The Hammer” Ammermueller bounced back in dominating style during this past weekend’s A1 GP outing in China. As Hammer-Muller captured his first pole position for the Sprint race, while series point leader Team Switzerland’s Neal Jani claimed second with Team Ireland’s Adam Carroll in third.

Jani then turned up the wick in the qualifying 4 session, capturing the pole for the Feature race, with Team GBR’s Oliver Jarvis snatching second, while Team India’s Narain Karthikeyan slotted into third and the Hammer dropped to fifth for the main event.

The Chinese round was the inaugural running on the Zhuhai International Circuit, which was originally intended for hosting a Formula 1 event, but was quickly forgotten upon Shanghai’s claiming of the Chinese Grand Prix in 2003. Zhuhai has struggled to land a mainstream event with the stillborn Champ Car race slipping thru the cracks before finally enticing the A1 GP series to race on its track after eleven years of existence.

Thus, all 22 nations were starting on a “level” playing field, since none of the teams had any previous experience at the track. On Sunday morning Ammermueller went on to lead the Sprint race wire to wire, claiming his very first victory in A1 GP competition, vindicating his over-aggressive “Panzer” driving style during the previous Malaysian event. Jani finished second while A1 Team China’s Cheng Cong Fu thrilled the crowds by taking the team’s first podium this season. The crowds went wild as Cheng Cong Fu was speechless over his third place finish.

Ironically during the Feature race, Hammer-Muller got pushed wide and dropped several places while Jarvis and Jani fought over the lead. Then New Zealand’s Johnny “Lightning” Reed and Malaysia’s Alex Yooung had another collision, which sent Yooung hard into the wall, thus requiring another safety car period during the day’s action.

Team GBR and Switzerland both encountered problems in the pits, which gave Team India’s Narain Karthikeyan the lead. Recall that Karthikeyan has spent time in Formula 1, first as a race driver for the declining Jordan Grand Prix team before becoming a test driver for Williams. Although Karthikeyan’s F1 aspirations seem to be fading into the sunset, Narain hung onto his lead in the Feature race and went on to score Team India’s very first victory in A1 GP.

New Zealand finished second with South Africa rounding out the podium, all the time being hounded by eventual fourth place finisher Team Germany’s Ammermuller. “Home Boy Cheng Cong Fu finished ninth after incurring a drive thru penalty for speeding in the pits. The series now goes on holiday until the New Year, which will see the debut of the second generation Dallara-Ferrari Ferrari’s…

Point standings after 4 of 11 events:
1. Switzerland, 79; 2. France, 60; 3. New Zealand, 59; 4. Great Britain, 48; 5. South Africa, 47; 6. Netherlands, 41; 7. Ireland, 39; 8. Germany, 37; 9. China, 28; 10. India, 27; 11. Brazil, 22;
12. Mexico, 17; 13. Canada, 10; 14. Czech Republic, 10; 15. Italy, 4. (19. USA, 2)

Kanaan races at Suzuka

While Tony Kanaan’s “best friend” Helioe Castroneves has been busy carving up the dance floors, TK was winging his way across the Pacific Ocean to Japan.

Kanaan was the invited guest of Honda, given the chance to take part in the Formula Nippon race at Suzuka, where Kanaan found himself at a disadvantage, not having done any standing starts in 12 years. After qualifying 18th, TK steadily worked his way forward and finished a very respectable sixth place in the 51 lap event. Kanaan said he’d really like to be able to compete again next year and hopefully have some added practice time before the race…

Soo-Eeeee!!!

In case you thought I was being too harsh towards Champ Car recently, fear not, as the Indy Racing League has their own issues to deal with.

Perhaps you’re not aware of the Scott Sharp/Patron vs. Rahal/Letterman Racing contretemps? In a case of who SUED whom? Sharp, Tequila sponsor Patron and RLR have engaged in a multiple round robin of “spy vs. Spy,” err Lawsuit vs. Counter Lawsuit in their ongoing dispute of contractual mischievous…

While Sharp claims that RLR has been phoning in its IRL efforts with recent staff cuts and lack of testing, Bobby Rahal claims that Sharp cannot simply walk from the team due to having a contract for 2008. Makes you wonder just what Rahal’s other sponsor Ethanol thinks about the whole sorted mess, eh? I mean talk about being full ‘O corn… Hmm, me thinks its time to pass me that bottle of Mescal… Wonder who’s gonna eat the worn?

Meanwhile, according to SPEED’s Robin Miller, Champ Car is perhaps on the verge of making its largest BLUNDER yet! As there appears to be rumours of Forsythe Petitt Racing having sent Paul “Chrome Horn” Tracy an email stating that if he didn’t renegoiate his contract for 2008 he could be given his walking papers.

With the Hamburgular having jumped to Formula 1, Justin Wilson currently without a ride, Champ Car is now flirting with dumping its MOST Popular driver… What in the HELL is Gerry Forsythe thinking? If this occurs, it may be too late to pull out the paddles and shock Champ Car back to respectability! While Indy Car is currently riding the wave of Helioe’s dancing shoes performances. OUCH!

C’Mon Champ Car… PULL YOUR HEADS OUT!!!

Jani’s Clean Sweep

Neal Jani; PKV Racing Champ Car driver has just completed a Clean Sweep of the Malaysian A1 GP weekend. Driving for Team Switzerland, Jani was quickest in qualifying, snatching both pole positions for the sprint and feature races, with only France’s Loïc Duval and Great Britain’s (GBR) Oliver Jarvis being able to challenge him.

Then Jani proceeded to put on a driving clinic while setting fastest lap for both events enroute to scoring Switzerland’s first “Double” victory while also scoring maximum points.

While Jani kept his nose clean and led most of both events, fun and frivolities were breaking out behind him, with Team Germany’s rookie driver Michael Ammermuller gaining quite a reputation for overly aggressive (reckless driving… As first “Hammer Muller” tried a bonsai pass of Team Canada’s rookie Robert Wickens on the last lap of the sprint race.

Wickens, a Champ Car Atlantics standout who was making his series debut was in third place when the Hammer tried taking him out, bouncing off of Wickens and taking the place. Yet the stewards penalized Ammermuller a 25 second time penalty, dropping the young German to 16th with Wickens scoring his first podium in A1 GP behind Team France’s Duval.

But the fun ‘N games weren’t over yet as the Sepang F1 circuits overly wide stretches of tarmac can induce large amounts of “Red Mist,” while drivers jockey for positions. Thus on the get-away there were several cars involved in concertina related incidents, while Jani pulled away. Wickens who’d been caught out in the early lap shenanigans then was further involved in an accident with South Africa, which resulted in a Safety Car period.

During this portion of the race, confusion ensued which saw Team Brazil’s Sergio Jimenez pass Jani and Duvall in the pits, while the Hammer was busy playing billiards with Team GBR’s Oliver Jarvis, winner of this year’s Macau F3 race. Of course Jarvis got the worse end of the Hammer, whom
Initially received a drive thru penalty for his infraction. Upon further review, the stewards decided to disqualify Ammermuller from the feature race results altogether, thus seeing the Hammer D’ Queued from his first race outing!

Meanwhile Jani cleanly picked off race leader Jimenez with a few “flyer” laps during the second mandatory pit stop. And the stewards weren’t finished yet, assessing Brazil amongst others with various penalties. Thus France’s Duval was elevated to second when Brazil’s Jimenez was given a 2 second time penalty for a pit infraction, dropping Jimenez to third. Adding further insult to injury, Jarvis was dinged a penalty dropping him out of the final point scoring position, which gave Team USA its very first point of the season.

Team Switzerland now leads the championship after three events, 8 points ahead of France and 15 points clear of New Zealand. Round 4 will be held on December 16 at Champ Cars favourite Asian venue, the Zhuhai circuit in China…

Point standings after three of eleven events: 1 Switzerland, 61 points; 2 France, 53; 3 New Zealand, 46; 4 Netherlands, 39; 5 South Africa, 37; 6 Great Britain, 36; 7 Ireland, 31; 8 Brazil, 22; 9 Mexico, 17; 10 China, 16; 11 Germany, 14.

Stop ‘N Go

In what appears to be the A1 GP’s version of the Red Green Show, the World Cup of Motorsports has announced the following revelations…

A1 GP turning Red
Interestingly the A1 GP racing series has just concluded a deal with Maranello to provide customer chassis to replace the current Lola-Zytec powered race cars. The deal is for six years and begins this January. (2008-2014(

Ferrari will be responsible for the design and supply of the new car and powerplant, although chassis manufacturing will be outsourced, most likely to Dallara. (Current Indy Car sole supplier(

The deal will also include an exclusive Ferrari merchandising license for all A1 GP merchandise to use the Ferrari name as well as the phrase “Powered by Ferrari.”

A1 GP turning Green?
Prior to the beginning of this season, A1 GP touted the launching of its “Green” initiative, planning to run on E30 Biofuel. And although this 30% blend of sugar beets has run successfully during 4,600 kilometers of testing, the A1 GP has postponed plans to race this exotic fuel blend for the foreseeable future. The delay comes on the heels of “Technical Issues” as the parties involved simply didn’t think the performance level was acceptable. Wonder if the new Ferrari “Lumps” will run on such a concoction?

Miller time

Nope, that crafty title doesn’t correspond to this being the start of the weekend, although a few cold “Juan’s” may be in order after reading this latest scribbling?

And is it just me… Cue the Alana Moresett. “ISN’T IT IRONIC” Theme music as Gene “I AM INDY” Simmons didn’t even need a costume during Wednesday’s “Really-Really-Really BIG Blockbuster” announcements…

Yeah, that’s right, the IRL was busy touting their “New & Improved” multi-million dollar sponsorship agreements at the SEMA Show in “Los Wage$” on none other than Halloween!

And I’d expected Indiana Bureau Chief to carpool with his good buddy Robin to “scoop” the Brickyard announcements for Y’all… As Danny B. proclaimed these major endorsements would easily net Tony George $60-70 Trillion… *Peso’s)

So without further ado… Here’s the Big News. Indy Car will now be powered by Frank’s Energy Drink… Y’all heard ‘O Frank’s high test bottled water? Neither had I prior to this week, as I’m told it’s a “Pretender” to the current “Kingpin” of this delectable beverage market. You know? That stuff that “AWNOLD” gaugle’s with. None other than the good Baron Deeter Majestic’s Red Bull, which reportedly “Gives you Wings.”

Yet apparently Mr. Simmons was busy with other “Fright Nite” engagements and couldn’t be bothered to show up on Halloween for any Indy Car announcements. Perhaps he didn’t wish to be shown up by the Princess?

Nor did this much anticipated, drum roll please………. Announcement has been made (to date) as reportedly it’s a Gene Simmons marketing masterpiece. Although it seems a bit comical to me to have an “Official” energy drink while Coca Cola is the official soft drink of the Speedway! (Which was to be announcement number two according to Danny)

And not to be left out of the party, Danica Patrick (“The Princess”) was on hand to announce that Peak Oil will now become the official lubricant *Insert Joke/Retort Here!) of the Brickyard… Guess we’ll all know what those “Slippery Liquids” are next time “Milk “N Doughnuts” clouts the Speedway’s Safer barrier, eh?

And speakin’ of ‘ol Robin Miller, it had been awhile since I’d seen the soothsayer on the SPEED Channel… But I did manage to catch a slice ‘O Miller-mantra on The Speed Report via the Memorex “Old School” taping’ machine upon returning from my trek to the Orient.

In typical Miller fashion, he was first to suggest that Honda would seek the golden opportunity to insert Rookie Japanese driver Hideki Mutoh into the vacated Dario Franchitti seat at AGR. Especially since NO Japanese driver to date has brought Honda ANY success in CART or the IRL>

Thus it was confirmed Wednesday by Andretti Green Racing that 25 year old Mutoh would take over Franchitti’s #27 entry for 2008. Mutoh will be joined by mentor Aguri Suzuki along with Super Aguri backing. Hmm? Wonder what will happen to Super Aguri’s other ace Kosuke Matsuura? As Matsuura and Super Aguri were partnered with Panther Racing this season, running a third entry for Mutoh’s Indy Car debut at Chicagoland’s season finale.

And Miller is now also noting that perhaps CDW will be inclined to land at Newman Hass Lanigan Racing with Justin Wilson in 2008 after all? As they’re both Chicago based companies and CDW is keen to work with Paul Newman’s Hole in the Wall Gang camps… As well as getting some better Sponsor treatment by N/H/L.

Also, with the IRL having announced its 2008 calendar, which if they’d been savvy they’d have possibly gone after Portland? It now appears that Champ Car is the only alternative for the much lamented Portland Int’l Raceway, yet Miller speculates over a possible street race? Please DON’T do that Portland! Just look at what happened to Vancouver, BC and San Jose…

For more Robin Miller, see Montezuma's Revenge

A1 GP TV Schedule correction

Once again I’ve fallen prey to the lure ‘O posting TV Times for potential viewing. Last year I usually found the A1 GP DELAYED Broadcasts being played in the middle of the night or wee hours ‘O Morning, i.e.; Midnight – 2AM Pacific time...

So naturally I just ASSUMED this was the standard practice for this years television broadcasts. And y’all know what happens when yuhz ASS-Ume some-thun, eh? Oh Yeah, Uh-huh… Just checked the TV times once again prior to programming the trusty ‘ol VCR and wallah!

The Czech A1 GP broadcast is slated for 9AM Pacific…

So I’ll skip the TV times in the future…

A1 GP TV Schedule

”Ro-Ro...”

OOPS! For those of you interested, this is a little bit late as I’ve missed posting prior to the A1 GP Season kick-off… Having apparently missed SPEED’s EXTREMELY (Tape) Delayed airing of the season opening round in Zanport on Sept. 30th.

Yet while those ‘lil Gouls ‘N Goblin’s are continually ringing the doorbell, I’ll be sequestered in front of the “Telescreen” watching’ the late night airing of the previously contested second round of the A1 GP series, while this weekend’s originally noted TBA event has been scrapped…

Here’s SPEED’s TV info (EASTERN TIME)

Czech Republic
Wed, Oct 31 12:00PM (Noon)

Malaysia
Thu, Dec 6 12:00PM (Noon)

China
Thu, Dec 27 12:00PM (Noon)

Talladega Nights

Whale, I suppose there will be more blather about the various Open Wheel refuges makin’ dare Super Speedway debuts then the actual Nextel Cup race.

Apparently RASSCAR Official have seen ‘nuff wire transfers to promote Jacques Villeneuve to “Big Boyzs” status, as “Jack Vanilla” was originally scheduled to rub fenders with Scott “Nose” Speed in the ARCA event as well as contest the Craftsman Trucks event. But Jackie V will now run the NCTS event prior to joining MAC Montoya in the Cup race in the Bill Davis Toy-yoter’

And if Scott Speed gets buckled up in time he’ll take his chances on the high banks of Talladega…

While I didn’t get up in time to watch the Really-Really-Really Big announcement scheduled at 10:30AM EDT live on SPEED (Which is 7:30AM out here on the West coast) from “Cheep” Ganassi’s N. Carolina headquarters.

It seems indicative that “Half Gainer” Dario (Franchitti) will indeed be announced as a bonnafied TCGR employee set to ply his trade in the RASSCAR waters alongside Montoya beginning in 2008. (Under a five year contract)

Franchitti was originally scheduled to be busy competing at Road Atlanta in the Petit Le Mans 1000K this weekend aboard former team Andretti Green Racing’s Acura L MP2entry.

But AGR quietly announced the releasing of the Flying Scot from his contract that expired on December 1st yesterday in order to allow Dario to move to Ganassi’s growing stable of Open Wheel drivers turnin’ left.

Franchitti will now join Scott Speed in the ARCA Remax race at Talladega this weekend as his baptism under fire will see a rapid immersion in the Stock Car universe in preparation for his Sprint Cup debut at Daytona next February…

Funny, but there hasn’t been any talk about Sam Hornish Jr. trying to qualify for his first race at Talladega, nor whether Buddy “Soprano” Lazier will be runnin’ another Truck race that weekend. Kinda scary how the Open Wheel community’s brightest star of the moment is Helio “Dancin’ Shoes” Castroneves who’s busy hangin’ out with Mr. Los Vegas.

And perhaps a roof over Dario’s helmet is a good thing…

A1 GP Teams nominate drivers

Due to the cancellation of the usual rookie sessions on Friday in line with the circuit's noise restriction requirements, Saturday practice has been extended to two 1 hour 10 minute sessions.

The following drivers have signed-on to compete in A1GP Zandvoort, The Netherlands A1

Team Driver 1 Driver 2
Australia Ian Dyk
Brazil Sergio Jimenez
Canada James Hinchcliffe
China Congfu Cheng
Czech Republic Erik Janis
France Loic Duval
Germany Christian Vietoris
Great Britain Oliver Jarvis
India Narain Karthikeyan
Indonesia Satrio Hermanto
Ireland Ralph Firman
Italy Enrico Toccacelo
Lebanon Chris Alajajian Khalil Beschir
Malaysia Alex Yoong
Mexico Salvador Duran
Netherlands Jeroen Bleekemolen Arie Luyendyk Jr
New Zealan Jonny Reid
Pakistan Adam Khan
Portugal Joao Urbano
South Africa Adrian Zaugg Wesleigh Orr
Switzerland Neel Jani
USA Buddy Rice

(Credit: a1gp/Motorsport.com)

A1 GP Preview

Turning Green
While apparently there are whispers of Champ Car switching to Ethanol in the future… The A1 GP series has become the first international motorsports series to take the plunge into Bio Fuels. Having announced that the series will contest the upcoming season of racing powered by E30, racing on a 30% blend of ethanol produced from sugar beats in order to reduce noxious CO2 emissions by 21%...

Rules Revisions
In order to spice up the show, the series organizers have “tweaked” competition rules for this year’s series. For full details see 2007-08 A1 GP Rules changes


Swiss team spotlight
Team Switzerland has been quite busy in the off season with the hiring of engineer James Robinson as one indication of the teams willingness to improve their performance. Robinson has engineered no less than four former Formula 1 World Champions.

Meanwhile team boss Max Welti, who’s no stranger to F1 himself, has come up with the novel idea of pitting two Women against each other at the final Silverstone test session, with one of the females being given the opportunity to race for Team Switzerland. And unbeknownst to me, I watched one of the contestants in the rain soaked festivities at Portland this summer…


Team USA
Former Indy 500 winner buddy Rice has been confirmed to race for Team USA this weekend at Zandport. Rice is expected to contest the entire 11 race schedule as the first Indy 500 champion to race in the A1 GP series, with potentially 22 Nations taking part…

Senna to contest Macau

Bruno Senna who’s currently competing in GP2 with Arden Internationa will once again contest this year’s Macau Grand Prix in November.

Senna will compete in the Formula 3 All Star event for the Raikkonen/Robertson team that campaigned the 24 year old Brazilian during his two seasons in British F3 along with contesting the Macau event in 2005. Senna currently lies seventh in GP2 with one victory to his credit…

Open Wheel Wanderer’s

Fortunately I was busy this weekend, so I MISSED all of the hyperboles over the Open Wheel warriors making their Tin Top debuts, or NOT makin’ duh show once again…

With Jackie V. qualifying an astounding seventh before running over a spinnin’ “Krapmann” competitor and windin’ up 21st with his good buddy Bobby Joe Lazier strokin’ home in 24th.

Meanwhile Sam “Not in a Boat” Hornish Jr. failed to qualify for his second attempt in the neXXtel cup event with AJ Wall Dinger finishing dead last.
And rumours persist that Dario “Half Gainer” Franchitti will make the jump to RASSCAR full time next season with a five year contract as “Juan ‘O Cheep’s” boyzs as Franchitti is expected to test an ARCA bomber this week in preparation (H) for his Tin Top debut at Talladega October 5th. Dario will be joined by another debutant named Scott Speed who’ll be runnin’ a third Red Bull entry for Eddie Sharp Racing…

Around the Globe

Well a lot has certainly transpired over the previous fortnight in regards to the world of motor racing, Not to mention the Italian & Belgian GP’s, the crowning of the 2007 IRL Champion and Champ Car plodding along… Everyone remember who Champ Car is? As we’ll FINALLY see them once again on TV October 21st at Surfer’s Paradise

Formula 1
Obviously the most shocking development of the 2007 season (besides Honda’s DISMAL performance) without a doubt is the WMSC’s bombshell of last Thursday… As I was most unaware of the colossal $100 million fine against McLaren along with loosing its 2007 Constructor’s points while visiting Watkins Glen.

This decision affectively hands the Constructor’s title to arch rival Ferrari as well as elevating everyone else forward one spot in the championship. And Kudos to BMW’s Dr. Mario Theissen for saying he wants NOTHING to do with inheriting second place in the Constructors championship via the Machiavellian workings of “Stepney Gate…”


Champ Car
Congrat’s to Justin Wilson for finally scoring a much overdue victory this season at Assen TT, as the lanky “Brit” has been robbed of victory previously this season by the Hamburgular at several venues.

Apparently long time friend and ex-teammate Jimmy Vasser has suggested that Alex Zanardi test a current Panoz DP 01 Champ Car chassis in hopes of resurrecting his Champ Car career. Yet at 40 years old, I hope the affable Italian will sensibly decide to pull a “Reggie Miller” and not attempt making a series comeback! As much as I like Zanardi, this seems a stretch at best as Champ Car has become a “Young guns” event a la Formula 1…

Forsythe has announced that David Martinez will replace Oriel Servia for the remaining two rounds in this years season, competing in Australia and Mexico City. Which dovetails nicely with being Martinez’s home race and effectively takes pressure off of Gerald Forsythe’s earlier dismissal of Mario “Boom Boom” Dominguez…

Champ Car has announced that the San Jose street race will be swapped back to Laguna Seca for 2008 as San Jose property development will interfere heavily with the street races current location. This is great news for “Juan” ‘O my favourite Norteamericano permanent road courses… Hmm? Perhaps a visit to the California venue is in order, eh?


Indy Car
Its always funny to hear one of the pundits echo your thoughts as SPEED’s Robin Miller mentioned previously how many would enjoy seeing Dario “Half Gainer” Franchitti win the Indy Car title, but NOT Michael Andretti winning it! As this is exactly what transpired at Chicagoland.

Although it was a nail biter and Franchitti was on the outside looking in with a single lap remaining before title protagonist Scott Dixon ran out of fuel with two corners to go…

Now everyone is holding their breath to see if the Flying Scotsman will make the jump to RASSCAR? As rumours abound that Dario has a five year contract to partner MAC Montoya next season at Chip Ganassi. Although this seems a bit confusing since Dan “Spike” Wheldon has repeatedly said he wants a shot at “Juan” ‘O “Cheep’s” Tin Tops, a la Sam Hornish Jr.

Now time for me to watch the Belgian GP… Which has to be one of the best racing venues on the planet! And with the front row being a Ferrari rosso lock-out with the McLaren Beastie Boyzs nipping at their heels, it should be a doozy, eh?

Rice tests A1 GP

Prior to last weekend’s Belle Isle Indy Car race. 2004 Indianapolis 500 winner Buddy Rice flew to Silverstone to take part in the A1 GP pre-season test.

Rice tested alongside last years final Team USA driver Jonathan Summerton while A1 GP teams prepared for the season opener. As A1 GP kicks off its 2007-08 season at Zanport in Belgium over the weekend of September 28-30.

Rice ran Team USA sponsorship this May at the Speedway and has become acquainted with team owner Rick Weidinger. Interestingly this year Weidinger will take over running the team himself instead of hiring a third party to run the organization as in the previous two years.

Buddy managed a best time of 10th fastest before having to jet back to the Motor City…

European Vacation

Hmm? Why did this title spring to mind, as it makes me conjer up images of Chevy Chase, Goldie Hawn & Co. gallivanting about Europe while “On Vacation.”

As the Griswalds once again show off their Wally Wurld ways in this really BAD “B” movie… Which is where Champ Car is in my book at the moment. As I’m still fuming over the STUPIDITY of broadcasting both European rounds on ESPN Classic…

And I would have enjoyed watching yesterday’s race to provide my insights on the famous track, but NO!!! One of the BONEHEAD “Brothers” err, four Mousketeers decided either to cut costs or make another really BAD business decision? By getting a really, really good deal on air time on ESPN Classic…

Since once again Champ Car LOOSES at the IRL’s expense! As I wasn’t able to watch the Circuit Zolder race, I was forced to settle for the Indy Car race at Sears Point instead. And Champ Car wonders why it has a TV rating’s problem?

As nexts weekend’s Netherlands race will also be impossible to watch. I’ll once again be viewing Indy Car from Detroit, which has morphed into CART…

And speaking of European Vacations… Did you hear the “Juan” about Jenson Button going camping. Apparently Jense spent the majority of the three week Formula 1 break on a camping trip with his girlfriend roughin’ it in France. As they actually camped out in a tent.

With Jense claiming neither he nor the misses had ever put up a tent before. Along with the couple staying in B ‘N B’s… And after this weekend’s outing at Istanbul. Perhaps Button would have wished to remain camping?

Open Wheel chatter

I’d have to say that the San Jose race was far more entertaining to watch vs. Road America. Although I hugely prefer the Elkhart Lake venue over the concrete canyons of Silicon Valley.

Nevertheless, Bad Bobby D utilized a Sand Dune Tracy race strategy after giving Jan “Van Hagar” Heylan the Chrome Horn at the beginning of the race. Vaulting from 15th to take the chequered flag first. This was after Dan “Speedy-Dry” Clarke punted pole sitter Justin Wilson from the lead at the beginning of the race…

Yet the Hamburgular celebrated his announcement of going to Formula 1 next season by capturing the Road America pole by over 1.5 seconds. Then cruised to a fairly sedate race win while both Robert Doornbos and Will Power suffered major points hits to their fleeting championship hopes…

And I found it very awkward to be rooting for Bruno “Whiney Bags” Junqueira as it was Dale Coyne’s 500th start in Champ Car. And Junky got an excellent start, vaulting into third place. In fact it was so good that the in-car camera showed him jumping the start…

As the Forsythe team continues to struggle, it was noted that Mo Nunn had joined the team as a Consultant for the weekend, in hopes that he’d be able to sort out some of the teams troubles. And if memory serves me right? I think that Nunn was engineering Oriel Servia at Patrick Racing when the team ran Visteon sponsorship. Many may recall that Mo Nunn was the engineer for three of Chip Ganassi’s four CART titles…

And although it’s a slightly old rumour that I heard Robin Miller comment on awhile ago. There are now multiple reports of Justin Wilson being in the catbird seat to take over the departing Bourdais’s seat at Newman Haas Lanigan in 2008.

And I’ll be interested to see where this year’s Atlantics Champion Raphael Matos lands next year in Champ Car. As Matos goes shopping for a seat with his $2.0 million winner’s check.

Quickest guess is he’ll take Wilson’s vacated seat at RSports. Since co-owner Paul Gentilozzi was rumoured to be putting together a Team Brazil last year. Of course I’d prefer to see Matos simply move up with his team Sierra Sierra, but that would require them running a two car effort?

Meanwhile the IRL’s Brian Barnhart put the entire field of drivers on probation after the Michigan crash fest, where 12 drivers took themselves out of action after various melees. So did it work? Not really as both Helio Castroneves and Dario “Double Half Gainer” Franchitti were both summoned to Barnhart’s trailer after the Spartan, KY event. With both drivers most likely to receive $25,000 fines for race incidents.

And speaking of the flying Scotsman. I had to go see what all the buzz was about another supermodel possibly joining the RASSCAR pit lanes. It seems that Franchitti who’s friends with Richard Childress is being linked to a possible fourth car entry at RCR in 2008?

Yet it seems to me that perhaps Dario may want to contact his ‘old sparrin’ partner PT and ask him how that “Bomber” tryout went? Y’all recall Tracy’s not so excellent attempt to transition over to Tin Tops with the aforementioned Childress.

Also there’s been reports that Scott “Nose” Speed is coming to America on a fact finding mission to investigate possible racing options in either Open Wheel Racing or Nexxtell Cup. With Speed stating that Red Bull owner “Deeter Majestic” thinks he’d make a good fit in the Cup carzs… Perhaps Speed will want to put AJ Almendinger on his speed dial? As the latter has now failed to qualify in his last 9 attempts. Did I mention that AJ is driving the Red Bull #8? Err #883 since that other number used to be Ironhead Jr’s…

SHEISA!!! I’m talkin’ RASSCAR… But it is sad to note that all of the American drivers hunker to hang their crash buckets there. Could it be something to do with the influx of dinero? By the way how’s reigning Indy Car champion Sam Hornish Jr doin’ with his Tin Top education?

And speaking of CRAP! What in the HELL is up with Champ Cars big foray to Europe. As the series returns across the pond for the first time in four years with two races in Belgium and the Netherlands.

Now I know that Champ Car is paying a hefty fee to be on the Dizney Shopping Networks… And it was funny to hear Katherine Legge saying she’s worried about her reputation being tattered in Europe. But who in the BLOODY HELL has ESPN Classic? Which is where you’ll find this weekend’s telecast. Talk about being in the Netherlands…

A1 GP announces upcoming calendar

While the major Open Wheel Racing series are in the second half or latter stages o