December 2003
Sauber will also have new drivers. Nick Heidfeld switched places with Giancarlo Fisichella - So Fisi is now at Sauber and Nick will be at Jordon. Heinz-Harald Frentzen retired and so Sauber moved test driver Felipe Massa up to fill in for him. Other F1 Driver changes of note: As we found out a few months ago, Villeneuve has been replaced by Takuma Sato at BAR. And as mentioned earlier this month, rookie Christian Klien will be driving at Jaguar.
“The review of this accident was more difficult and prolonged because it was a private test. Although we are confident we’ve pieced together what happened during the accident, it appears we will not know why the crash started. That is the frustrating part of this effort.” The accident review revealed that Renna’s car entered Turn 3 at 227 mph. At a point just past the apex of the turn, the car did a 90-degree spin to the left into the infield grass. The car began to skip through the grass as it traveled sideways, allowing air underneath the car and causing it to lift into the air. While in the air the car spun approximately another 30 degrees to the left. The car traveled across the track through the air and made contact with the debris fence on the outside retaining wall in Turn 3. IRL officials said it appears that the most significant damage and resulting fatal injuries were caused when the bottom of the car made direct contact with one of the debris fence support posts, which is part of the Speedway’s fence system.
Race engines will be limited to one per 2-day race weekend and two for 3-day weekends. This will reduce costs in engine rebuilds and prevent special engine builds just for qualifying. Other rule changes for 2004 include reducing the fuel tank from 35 to 30 gallons and a limit of five laps for a backup or “T” car on race weekends, unless the primary car is damaged in an accident.
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November 2003
GPF1 will contribute somewhere in the region of $12 million; the total cost of the compensation amounts to $29 million. The teams will receive $30 million (US) for one year and Bernie Ecclestone will invest his own money for further compensation, thought to be in the region of $10-13 million.
Darren is 28 years old and is from England.
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October 2003
Five full-time teams currently use Pontiacs, with Ricky Craven providing the only victory in 2003. In the manufacturer standings, Pontiac is a distant fourth, trailing leader Chevrolet by 127 points. Ford and Dodge also race in Winston Cup.
Tony Renna 1976-2003 Tony was very excited about joining the powerhouse Target team, who has a penchant for picking awesome up-and-coming drivers. Tony and the team were up late last night getting him fitted for the car, as his first day would begin today with a tire test at IMS. Tony started the session a little past 9 a.m. It was a cold morning in the 40's, with gusty winds. On his 4th lap, Tony had the car up to 218 mph. He apparently spun in turn three, caught some air underneath the chassis and went airborne. His car slashed into the catch fence, some pieces cutting through the fence. There were a couple of other cars on the track at the time, but no one was involved with Tony's accident. The wreck was bad. Tony was taken to Methodist hospital and pronounced dead on arrival.
1. There will now be two 1-hour practices on Friday and no qualifying. 2. Teams not in the top four of the Constructors' standings may run a third car in Friday practices. 3. There will be two 45-minute practice sessions on Saturday. 4. Saturday qualifying order will be determined by the results of the last race. The starting order at the first race of the season will be taken from the last race of the previous year. 5. Drivers will have two chances at qualifying, one after another. However If a driver fails to set a timed lap in the first section he will not be allowed to take part in the second.
While the top 5 drivers who were viying for the championship all stayed in the front of the pack, toward the end, Helio and Kanaan touched wheels and this put them in for new tires and dropped them out of contention. Gil de Ferran won the final race of his IRL career! Scott Dixon finished 2nd. Dixon and Target Chip Ganassi won the 2003 IRL championship and the $1 Million bonus!
Now Sam Hornish Jr. will be switching to team Penske. I wonder how he and Helio are going to get along...
IRL 2003 FINAL - TOP TEN DRIVERS
Bernie Ecclestone said in the "Sun" that he tried to find JV another ride. "I did everything possible to talk teams into giving Jacques a drive for next season but the truth is no one wants him. I still regard him as a great racer but he needs a team that would give him extra motivation. Toyota would have been the perfect platform for him because they could give him a car capable of winning races. I even suggested he should go to Ferrari and drive alongside Michael Schumacher for free. But it didn't come off because Michael insists on No. 1 status, which shows he must still consider Jacques a threat." Duh.
A motorcycle's top speed on the front straightaway could reach 200 mph under race conditions. Jake Zemke said, "Without being strapped in, that's too much, the walls are so close here and the speeds are so high."
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September 2003
Jarno Truli had the pole on Friday at 1:09. However on Saturday, he crashed during warm-up.
Sam Hornish Jr. won, his 4th win in the last 5 races. After a dreadful start to the season for the defending IRL champion, he has been fighting his way back to the top of the point standings since receiving the new Chevy engine. With one race remaining in TEXAS, it's going to be a SHOOTOUT!! That final race will be on Oct 12th. Helio Castroneves and Scott Dixon are tied for first in the IRL with 467 points. Tony Kanaan has 460 and Hornish 448. Roger Yasukawa is just 3 points in front of Dan Wheldon as they fight for Rookie of the Year honors.
<(9/14) - CART has been purchased at 53 cents on the dollar by a group of CART team owners: Gerald Forsythe, Paul Gentilozzi, Kevin Kalkhoven, Carl Russo and Jamie Rose. Their partnership is called "Open Wheel Racing Series LLC"
Tunnel that goes under track completely flooded.
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July 2003
This race was awesome! The competition was fierce and this track gives the Texas Motorspeedway a run at having the most exciting IRL race. The 75' wide 2-mile track allows the drivers to run 3 and 4 wide and attack from different angles. It was also exciting to see Sam Hornish, Jr. debut the new Chevy Gen IV engine. For the first time this year, he had as much power as the Toyotas and Hondas. He sprinted from the 2nd row to take the lead at the beginning and was often leading the race. All of the other Chevy drivers was at the rear of the pack. These teams and drivers look forward to the Kentucky race when Chevrolet should have built enough of these new engines to supply all the teams. As it stands right now, they will be able to introduce the new engine to Team Cheever and their driver Buddy Rice at St Louis in a few weeks. Sam dueled with Little Al, Sharp, Alex Barron, Dixon & Scheckter through out the 400 miles. It was good to see A.J. IV up to speed - he stayed on the lead lap through most of the race. There was a scary moment when Barron drifted high into someone and he ended up spinning at over 215 mph. He kept it off the wall as he ended up back in the right direction and with his motor still running, he got back in the race. With 10 laps to go it was anybody's race - then my VCR tape ended! ACK! I stayed away from the news for a few days, hoping to get to watch the end on someone elses tape, but eventually I heard that Alex Barron beat Sam Hornish by a nose. Alex Barron never seems to disappoint as he subs in CART and the IRL. I wouldn't be surprised if he gets a steady ride.
It looks like the Brits have helped - Sam starts in P4. All the other Chevy Chevies are starting at the back.
"Well, I feel a range of emotions in the last 24 hours that I'm not very happy with. I feel that I've supported CART when CART had nobody to support them. Team Player's supported CART when nobody was supporting them. The things that have happened and the inconsistencies in the rules that have been going on for years and years, are very frustrating to me and very troubling. My emotions are probably not much different from that of Tony George or Honda or Toyota, Marlboro Team Penske or Michael Andretti. So those are the type of feelings that I've had over the last 24 hours with how CART is handling what's going on in and outside the racetrack."
"It's a real specialized race, and we feel it requires direct attention," Burton said. "There's nothing at all like this. The only thing the same about this and Pocono is that it has long straightaways. The corners are totally different.
"This place is so much smoother, (and) Pocono is rough. There's not a corner on this racetrack that resembles Pocono. A lot of people look at the straightaways and say, 'It's like Pocono,' but it's nothing like Pocono."
Burton said both he and his team owner, Jack Roush, place winning the Brickyard 400 high on their "to do" list. "Anybody that has been involved or is involved in motorsports that doesn't have a respect for Indianapolis doesn't deserve to be in motorsports. It's a historic place with a tremendous amount of heritage, and I have a lot of reverence for that. Everybody's heard of the Indianapolis Motor Speedway, so anytime you can be successful at a track with that much history and heritage, that's a special thing."
This incident, on the 12th lap of the 60-lap contest won by Rubens Barrichello, for Ferrari, came only hours after the sport's commercial ringmaster, Bernie Ecclestone, had issued an ultimatum to the circuit's owners, the British Racing Drivers' Club, and the Government that they have just one month in which to put Silverstone in order or risk being omitted from the 2004 calendar
Dixon set a track record by circling the 1.33-mile oval in 22.695 seconds in his Toyota-powered G-Force, reaching 206.211 mph (329.937 k/hr) for his fourth overall pole of the season, including Japan and his current streak.
Nascar has given $250,000 to the Citizenship Education Fund, an arm of Jackson's coalition. The group says it has used the money to boost minority participation in motor sports. Project 21 accuse Jackson of intimidating NASCAR into giving him money to keep him from making a public fuss about the lack of minorities in motor sports. (I wonder why they would care?) On Thursday, the group challenged Jackson to show he is truly committed to minority participation in motor sports by sponsoring a black driver himself. They suggested Herbie Bagwell Jr. who has qualified for the upcoming Busch North Series and who needs sponsorship. Charles Farrell, director of Rainbow Sports, said Jackson's group does not sponsor athletes. I think they should try using that quarter million Nascar just gave 'em!
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June 2003
Brian Barnhart has now penalized Tora Takagi. He has been imposed probation until Dec. 31, 2003 and loss of 23 Driver points as well as 23 Entrant points for Mo Nunn Racing. Barnhart said, "I have reviewed the broadcast footage of the Texas race, and I am disappointed to view actions which exhibit reckless, careless and overly aggressive driving, and endangering the safety of competitors."
I think they should have found Jeff a Formula One helmet first. His head was being buffeted all over the place. After his first stint, he said he was really surprised at the g-forces generated by this car, the blood rushed to his head, and he's never felt anything like it. His neck was sore and assured us that Juan must have a very strong neck. He was also amazed at the fantastic brakes that the Williams BMW had. Similarly, Montoya was surprised at the poor brakes on the Winston Cup car. Jeff had a brief off into the grass, but otherwise did quite well. His lap times improved and he came within a second of the baseline speed Montoya did in the F1 car in the morning. Montoya beat Jeff's baseline speed in the Winston cup car by a 1/10 of a second. He had a few lockups, flat spotting Gordon's Chevy. I loved this demonstration! As Jeff Gordon screamed around the track in the high-tech Williams car, I could imagine what it was like for him. In a euphoric fog, I left, red-lining it all the way back to work in my turbo Talon as if it were a F1 car. Ah, we're never too old to dream!
Little Al comes to Pikes Peak in contention for the IndyCar Series title. He climbed to second in the standings, 26 points behind Tony Kanaan, after winning the Bombardier 500 on June 7 at Texas Motor Speedway.
The Chevys are running about 7 mph slower than the Japanese powered cars this year. GM has been building these non-turbo engines for the IRL since 97. Honda and Toyota entered the series just this year.
At the first IRL race of the year, Jaques Lazier made light contact with the wall ending the race for him on lap 89. At Phoenix, he had a 360 degree spin, but kept it off the wall and finished 6th. Next in Japan, Shinji Nakano wrecked in front of him leaving him no where to go. Then in Indy, Jaques crashed after Richie Hearn wrecked in front of him forcing him to get on the brakes which sent him out of control. Team Menard gave Jaques Lazier a chance to make a come-back this year but evidently don't like his luck percentage as he's out and Vitor Meira is in.
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