Saturday, July 26, 2008

Qualifying update and more from the MWM Spy Chart

NASCAR Canadian Tire Series qualifying was sensational, with teammates Andrew Ranger, defending series champion, and rookie Alex Tagliani starting together on the front row! Last year Ranger led a phenomenal race until the last lap, having driven the tires off his Ford. Like Ranger, Tagliani has done well at this track in much faster machinery, but the twisty rhythm sections demand absolute finesse in a heavy stock car.

Jonathan Bomarito won a competitive first race of the Atlantic Championship double-header. Bomarito trailed polesitter James Hinchcliffe for most of the race, followed closely by Markus Niemela and Star Mazda champion Dane Cameron. Bomarito pressured Hinch into making a mistake and overtook, Niemela following into second place. All the Canadians - Hinchcliffe, Daniel Morad and Walker Racing's Kevin Lacroix - ended in the top 10. Greg and Leo Mansell are Lacroix's teammates and are completely pants.

Indycar qualifying was outstanding. Paul Tracy would have made it into the fast 6 of his group if he'd had one more lap - as it was he kept going after the chequered flew, and the announcers thought he made it to the next round for a moment. The crowd went wild and then groaned as it was announced he hadn't beat the clock. Knockout qualifying is a blast, except if you're in Marty Roth's group. Roth held up almost every car at one point.

Merchandise selection here is piss-poor. Last year Champ Car had tons of shirts, hats, visors, bags, flags, you name it. Crew shirts that were going for $150 sold out. There was driver-specific merchandise for Bourdais, Rahal, Wilson, Legge, Tagliani, Doornbos, Neel Jani for god's sake. Here? Danica and Helio. That's it. It's pathetic. On track things are better, but there are some presentation pointers the IRL folks could stand to listen to.


The Grid for this evening's race:

Fast Six By Firestone
1. Ryan Briscoe (6) 1:00.7311
2. Helio Castroneves (3) 1:00.8360
3. Oriol Servia (5) 1:00.8584
4. Scott Dixon (9) 1:00.8585
5. Will Power (8) 1:01.0154
6. Justin Wilson (02) -0.0001

7. Bruno Junqueira (18) 1:01.2991
8. Graham Rahal (06) 1:01.4573
9. Dan Wheldon (10) 1:01.6656
10. Mario Moraes (19) 1:01.7552
11. Enrique Bernoldi (36) 1:02.0227
12. Marco Andretti (26) 1:02.2991

13. Ryan Hunter-Reay (17) 1:02.1039
14. Danica Patrick (7) 1:02.4171
15. Paul Tracy (22) 1:02.2387
16. Vitor Meira (4) 1:02.4907
17. A.J. Foyt IV (2) 1:03.1346
18. Darren Manning (14) 1:02.6644
19. Mario Dominguez (96) 1:03.1359
20. E.J. Viso (33) 1:02.9242
21. Hideki Mutoh (27) 1:03.8100
22. Buddy Rice (15) 1:03.4276
23. Ed Carpenter (20) 1:03.8825
24. Townsend Bell (23) 1:03.6396
25. Marty Roth (25) 1:09.0498
26. Jaime Camara (34) 1:03.8572
27. Tony Kanaan (11) -0.0001

So Kanaan starts from the back and Paul Tracy misjudged his final qualifying run. Oh well, we'll just have to watch them charge into the top 10, that's a shame. Unfortunately there is little room for error here and the chances of the races being truncated, ruined or delivering an unlikely winner are very high. On saying that it is a wonderful track and it's making me miss Cleveland even more this season.

Enjoy the race.

- The Commish

Friday, July 25, 2008

Live blogging updates from our embedded guest in Edmonton

Simon Speichert gives us the latest from the track in the hopes of giving you all a steer when it comes to those all important driver choices today:


I can't wait for qualifying, I think there may have been some rain last night, we'll see if there's any rubber still on the track.

Just watched this lap of Bobby D (Robert Doornbos) in the Panoz (Champ Car) last year: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mVl9IJC32XM

Good god those Dallaras are slow. I miss turbocharged cars! Watch in the carousel, he's on the throttle throughout. Not only did they have more power, but they sure as hell turned better. Watch the last corner, which Doornbos calls Big Balls Corner - it's a flat chicane for the Panoz while the Indycar has to shift down! I think that might be where they lose the most time. It gets a lot faster once the track rubbers up.

The point has been made that if there was a 107% rule, Marty Roth wouldn't qualify. His fastest practice time was 1:07.2, which would put him 12th on the grid for the Atlantic race in his Indycar. Lord, wouldn't that be a sight!?

The Atlantics are only about 3 seconds slower than the Indycars. I really hope IMSA promotes Atlantics, because the cars are fun to watch, good looking, and it seems to be a good training ground for prototype racers, if not Indycars.

All the best,

Simon

Thursday, July 24, 2008

Evening Practice Results from Edmonton

The gauntlet has well and truly been thrown down. KV technologies, as mentioned in the preview, landed the early blows against Penske in this prize fight. Although a quick look at the judges score cards will tell you tell you that there is very little in it at this point.

The literal heavyweight in this fight, Paul Tracy, has made a terrific start to his comeback weekend and at this point cannot be ruled out of a top 5 finish. His current value may make him a relative bargain this weekend.

Other notables include Bruno Junquiera who made the Top 10 in the second practice despite the fact that he had limited running time after an early off. He has shown the speed to make the 'Firestone Fast Six by Firestone presented by Firestone' this season and can also be considered a bargain pick up.


BREAKING NEWS!!!

....this just in from our MWM guest reporter at the track, Simon Speichert

'Will Power was showing some pretty good pace, as were both Penskes. I like sitting at the carousel, it's a nice wide radius hairpin with a wall on the outside, so the exit is key. Will had some nice car control - it's such a slow corner and it's easy to want to get on the power too soon - and got faster as the corner rubbered up.

Will's pole time last year in the Panoz was 58.403. Bourdais' in 2006 in the Lola was 58.560. It's KV vs. Penske this weekend!'


More to follow after the morning practice to morrow.

- The Commish

1. Will Power (8) 1:02.3404
2. Oriol Servia (5) 1:02.3900
3. Helio Castroneves (3) 1:02.5365
4. Ryan Briscoe (6) 1:02.5831
5. Justin Wilson (02) 1:02.6220
6. Scott Dixon (9) 1:02.6685
7. Tony Kanaan (11) 1:02.6806
8. Paul Tracy (22) 1:02.6933
9. Graham Rahal (06)1:02.75281
10. Bruno Junqueira (18)1:02.8760
11. Dan Wheldon (10)1:02.8800
12. Ryan Hunter-Reay (17)1:02.9395
13. Mario Moraes (19)1:03.28561
14. Hideki Mutoh (27)1:03.4641
15. Marco Andretti (26)1:03.4684
16. Mario Dominguez (96)1:03.5862
17. Vitor Meira (4)1:03.8570
18. Ed Carpenter (20)1:03.9548
19. Darren Manning (14)1:03.98661
20. A.J. Foyt IV (2)1:04.1350
21. Buddy Rice (15)1:04.1646
22. Enrique Bernoldi (36)1:04.2360
23. Danica Patrick (7)1:04.3010
24. Jaime Camara (34)1:04.8655
25. Townsend Bell (23)1:04.9073
26. Marty Roth (25)1:07.2098

Edmonton Preview & Official Window Opening

He's Back!

Who knew the crudely edited joke (see below) in the Rules & Regs would prove so brutally apt?



The food in question being Subway and the work, of course, is pulling the fans in, North of the border, in large numbers. Paul Tracy will jump into a Dallara for Saturday evening's race and will be sure to put a rat amongst the widgeons.

Will he have any significant influence on the proceedings? It is hard to predict at this stage, but, he will, as usual, be worth watching. He is as likley to win as he is to roll the Vision car up into a small ball. He could also do a 'Cleveland' when he did a mixture of both by winning and using three (count them), that's three, nosecones in the process.

The shoe is finally completely on the other foot for the Champ Car refugee drivers and teams as this is the first track the Indy Car regulars have no track knowledge and no set up data to rely on. In many ways, this is almost a preview of what we should see more often next season as a whole.

Who is going to win? I have no idea, Ryan Briscoe and Helio Castroneves must be favourites but one cannot rule out Justin Wilson based on his performances this season on all road courses, the one thing he has not had is luck. KV racing look very strong for the top five too with Power and Servia. It in entirely possible that not one of last year's Indy Car regulars could make the top 5.

I have adjusted the driver values accordingly. The eagle eyed amongst you will have noticed that Mario Moraes has increased in value substantially this weekend. This is based on his execellent performances over the last three weeks.

Enjoy and please remember that the transfer window will shut prior to qualifying on Friday night at 10.15pm BST or 5.15pm EST.

Enjoy.

- The Commish

Sunday, July 20, 2008

Updated Scores after Nashville & Mid Ohio

1st
2330 - "Team IndyCart" - Robert Duffield
[Scott Dixon, Helio Castroneves, Oriol Servia, Milka Duno, Jaime Camara]

2nd
2234 - "3.2 Million Bricks" - Michael Rennick
[Scott Dixon, Vitor Meira, Ernesto Viso, Jay Howard, Ryan Hunter Reay]


2nd
2234 - "Come back to Rockingham" - John Harbey
[Scott Dixon, Ryan Briscoe, Vitor Meira, Mario Moreas, Marty Roth]


4th
2207 - "I am Timgray" - Tim Gray
[Scott Dixon, Ryan Briscoe, Danica Patrick, Townsend Bell, Mario Moraes]

5th
2089 - Doug Werner - "Drivers who weigh more than Danica"
[Scott Dixon, Oriol Servia, AJ Foyt IV, Enrique Bernoldi, Ed Carpenter]

6th
2006 - "RPH Racing" - Julie Werner
[Helio Castro Neves, Ryan Hunter Reay, Wiil Power, Ed Carpenter, Enrique Bernoldi]


7th
1974 - "Gerry Forsythe's 'Play your cars right'" - Declan Brennan
[Ryan Briscoe, Marco Andretti, Bruno Junquiera, Helio Castroneves, Mario Moraes]


8th
1811 - "Chip, your name doesn't mean you have to eat Chips" - Matthew Hyndman
[Scott Dixon, Ryan Briscoe, Ryan Hunter Reay, Enrique Bernoldi, Milka Duno]

9th
1810 - Michael Gathman - "Weekend Warriors"
[Helio Castroneves, Tony Kanaan, Hideki Mutoh, Mario Moraes, Jaime Camara]


10th
1729 - "Tony George stole my Series" - Emiliyan Stoykov
[Vitor Meira, Dan Wheldon, Bruno Junquieira, Marco Andretti, Enrique Bernoldi]

11th
1709 - "Joe Blob & the Spoonerisms" - James Murphy
[Marco Andretti, Ryan Briscoe, Hideki Mutoh, Mario Moraes, Buddy Rice]


12th
1704 - "Team Bigger USA" - Jon Bigger
[Marco Andretti, Ryan Briscoe, Danica Patrick, Milka Duno, Vitor Meira]

13th
1698 - "Month of Mayhem" - Adrian Bourne
[Helio Castro Neves, Vitor Meira, Bruno Junquiera, Townsend Bell, Darren Manning]

14th
1690 - "no Ferrari Influence Apparent" - David Harbey
[Dan Wheldon, Marco Andretti, Darren Manning, Mario Moraes, Townsend Bell]


15th
1679 - "I Hate Tony George" - Jim Casey
[Ryan Hunter Reay, Tony Kanaan, Ryan Briscoe, Darren Manning, Jaime Camara]


16th
1598 - "Should We Stay or Should We Split Now?" - Andrew Harbey
[Dan Wheldon, Justin Wilson, Darren Manning, Enrique Bernoldi, Buddy Rice]


17th
1562 - "PT Cruiser" - Maureen O'Neil
[Dan Wheldon, Graham Rahal, Ed Carpenter, Ernesto Viso, Mario Moraes]


18th
1529 - "Sideways Sam's Sideways Tings" - Sam Collins
[Dan Wheldon, Hideki Mutoh, Danica Patrick, Jay Howard, Franck Perera]

19th
1472 - "Indy Pace Car Speed" - Jason Kwok
[Enrique Bernoldi, Helio Castroneves, Hideki Mutoh, Oriol Servia, Will Power]

20th
1450 - "Super Duper Best Friends" - Andy Blackmore
[Tony Kanaan, Marco Andrettti, Darren Manning, Milka Duno, Marty Roth]


21st
1446 - "I am Hindy" - John Hindhaugh
[Helio Castroneves, Hideki Mutoh, Ed Carpenter, Will Power , John Andretti]


22nd
1366 - "Danika Wheldon Crash Team" - Chris Vince
[Tony Kanaan, Ryan Hunter Reay, Bruno Junquiera, Graham Rahal , Mario Moreas]

23rd
1186 - "Empty Tank Racing" - Matt Thompson
[Marco Andretti, Will Power, Enrique Bernoldi, Danica Patrick, Marty Roth]


24th
1177 - "Opposite Lock Motorsports" - Louis Berlan
[Dan Wheldon, Franck Perera, Will Power, Mario Moraes, Roger Yasukawa]

25th
1125 - "Why do we keep turning Left on our way to the merger?" - Nick Daman
[Tony Kanaan, Justin Wilson, Jay Howard, Jaime Camara, Mario Moraes]


26th
1000 - "Why do we keep turning Left on our way to the merger?" - Nick Daman
[Tony Kanaan, Justin Wilson, Jay Howard, Jaime Camara, Mario Moraes]


27th
913 - "Team IROC - Indignantly Racing Our Crapwagons" - Simon Speichert
[Graham Rahal, Will Power, Enrique Bernoldi, Justin Wilson, Oriol Servia]

- The Commish

Thursday, July 10, 2008

Standings After Watkins Glen Miller Lite 250 or whatever it was called

1st
1919 - "3.2 Million Bricks" - Michael Rennick
[Scott Dixon, Vitor Meira, Ernesto Viso, Jay Howard, Ryan Hunter Reay]


2nd
1890 - "Team IndyCart" - Robert Duffield
[Scott Dixon, Helio Castroneves, Graham Rahal, Milka Duno, Jaime Camara]

3rd
1802 - Doug Werner - "Drivers who weigh more than Danica"
[Scott Dixon, Oriol Servia, Ernesto Viso, Enrique Bernoldi, Ed Carpenter]
Scott Dixon

4th
1769 - "I am Timgray" - Tim Gray
[Scott Dixon, Ryan Briscoe, Danica Patrick, Townsend Bell, Mario Moraes]

5th
1769 - "Come back to Rockingham" - John Harbey
[Scott Dixon, Ryan Briscoe, Vitor Meira, Mario Moreas, Marty Roth]


6th
1674 - "RPH Racing" - Julie Werner
[Helio Castro Neves, Ryan Hunter Reay, Wiil Power, Ed Carpenter, Enrique Bernoldi]


7th
1612 - "Gerry Forsythe's 'Play your cars right'" - Declan Brennan
[Ryan Briscoe, Vitor Meira, Justin Wilson, Helio Castroneves, Mario Moraes]



8th
1542 - "Tony George stole my Series" - Emiliyan Stoykov
[Vitor Meira, Dan Wheldon, Bruno Junquieira, Marco Andretti, Enrique Bernoldi]

9th
1520 - Michael Gathman - "Weekend Warriors"
[Helio Castroneves, Ernesto Viso, Hideki Mutoh, Enrique Bernoldi, Jaime Camara]


10th
1510 - "no Ferrari Influence Apparent" - David Harbey
[Dan Wheldon, Marco Andretti, Darren Manning, Mario Moraes, Townsend Bell]


11th
1469 - "Joe Blob & the Spoonerisms" - James Murphy
[Marco Andretti, Ryan Briscoe, Hideki Mutoh, Mario Moraes, Buddy Rice]


12th
1456 - "Chip, your name doesn't mean you have to eat Chips" - Matthew Hyndman
[Scott Dixon, Ryan Briscoe, Ryan Hunter Reay, Enrique Bernoldi, Milka Duno]

13th
1409 - "Team Bigger USA" - Jon Bigger
[Marco Andretti, Ryan Briscoe, Danica Patrick, Milka Duno, Vitor Meira]

14th
1400 - "PT Cruiser" - Maureen O'Neil
[Dan Wheldon, Graham Rahal, Ed Carpenter, Ernesto Viso, Mario Moraes]


15th
1383 - "Should We Stay or Should We Split Now?" - Andrew Harbey
[Dan Wheldon, Justin Wilson, Darren Manning, Enrique Bernoldi, Buddy Rice]


16th
1366 - "Month of Mayhem" - Adrian Bourne
[Helio Castro Neves, Vitor Meira, Bruno Junquiera, Townsend Bell, Darren Manning]

17th
1344 - "I am Hindy" - John Hindhaugh
[Helio Castroneves, Hideki Mutoh, Ed Carpenter, Will Power , John Andretti]


17th
1329 - "I Hate Tony George" - Jim Casey
[Graham Rahal, Tony Kanaan, Justin Wilson, Darren Manning, Enrique Bernoldi]


18th
1287 - "Sideways Sam's Sideways Tings" - Sam Collins
[Dan Wheldon, Hideki Mutoh, Danica Patrick, Jay Howard, Franck Perera]

19th
1255 - "Super Duper Best Friends" - Andy Blackmore
[Tony Kanaan, Marco Andrettti, Darren Manning, Milka Duno, Marty Roth]


20th
1169 - "Danika Wheldon Crash Team" - Chris Vince
[Tony Kanaan, Ryan Hunter Reay, Bruno Junquiera, Ernesto Viso , Mario Moreas]

21st
1112 - "Indy Pace Car Speed" - Jason Kwok
[Enrique Bernoldi, Helio Castroneves, Hideki Mutoh, Oriol Servia, Will Power]

22nd
1026 - "Empty Tank Racing" - Matt Thompson
[Marco Andretti, Will Power, Enrique Bernoldi, Danica Patrick, Marty Roth]


23rd
982 - "Opposite Lock Motorsports" - Louis Berlan
[Dan Wheldon, Franck Perera, Will Power, Mario Moraes, Roger Yasukawa]

25th
950 - "Why do we keep turning Left on our way to the merger?" - Nick Daman
[Tony Kanaan, Justin Wilson, Jay Howard, Jaime Camara, Mario Moraes]


26th
873 - "One Lap Down" - Jeremy Scott
[Will Power, Ryan Hunter Reay, Bruno Junquiera, Thomas Scheckter, Jaime Camara]

27th
733 - "Team IROC - Indignantly Racing Our Crapwagons" - Simon Speichert
[Graham Rahal, Will Power, Enrique Bernoldi, Justin Wilson, Oriol Servia]

- The Commish

Thursday, July 3, 2008

Transfer Window Open - Road Racing is now go!

Okay All,

You have until Saturday, just before final qualifying to get your selections in for the road race at Watkins Glen. I have adjusted the prices accordingly and there are bargains to be had as we hit the second half of the season.

The official entry list is as follows:

2 A.J. Foyt IV
3 Helio Castroneves
4 Vitor Meira
5 Oriol Servia
6 Ryan Briscoe
7 Danica Patrick
8 Will Power (R)
9 Scott Dixon
10 Dan Wheldon
11 Tony Kanaan
14 Darren Manning
15 Buddy Rice
17 Ryan HunterReay
18 Bruno Junqueira
19 Mario Moraes (R)
20 Ed Carpenter
23 Milka Duno
24 Jay Howard
25 Marty Roth
26 Marco Andretti
27 Hideki Mutoh (R)
33 E.J. Viso (R)
34 Jaime Camara (R)
36 Enrique Bernoldi (R)
96 Mario Dominguez (R)
02 Justin Wilson (R)
06 Graham Rahal (R)

Tuesday, July 1, 2008

Standings after Richmond Crashfest (Trinidad & Tobago)

Here are the standings after the Richmond Crashfest, report to follow unless it crashes.......

1st
1835 - "Team IndyCart" - Robert Duffield
[Scott Dixon, Helio Castroneves, Graham Rahal, Milka Duno, Jaime Camara]

2nd
1757 - Doug Werner - "Drivers who weigh more than Danica"
[Scott Dixon, Oriol Servia, Ernesto Viso, Enrique Bernoldi, Ed Carpenter]
Scott Dixon

3rd
1749 - "3.2 Million Bricks" - Michael Rennick
[Scott Dixon, Vitor Meira, Ernesto Viso, John Andretti, Ryan Hunter Reay]


4th
1672 - "I am Timgray" - Tim Gray
[Scott Dixon, Ryan Briscoe, Danica Patrick, Townsend Bell, Mario Moraes]

5th
1664 - "Come back to Rockingham" - John Harbey
[Scott Dixon, Ryan Briscoe, Vitor Meira, Mario Moreas, Marty Roth]


6th
1547 - "RPH Racing" - Julie Werner
[Helio Castro Neves, Hideki Mutoh, Wiil Power, Ed Carpenter, Enrique Bernoldi]


7th
1502 - "Gerry Forsythe's 'Play your cars right'" - Declan Brennan
[Tony Kanaan, Vitor Meira, Justin Wilson, Ernesto Viso, John Andretti]


8th
1442 - "Tony George stole my Series" - Emiliyan Stoykov
[Vitor Meira, Dan Wheldon, Bruno Junquieira, Marco Andretti, Enrique Bernoldi]

9th
1420 - Michael Gathman - "Weekend Warriors"
[Helio Castroneves, Ernesto Viso, Tony Kanaan, Ed Carpenter, Mario Moraes]


10th
1335 - "no Ferrari Influence Apparent" - David Harbey
[Dan Wheldon, Marco Andretti, Darren Manning, Mario Moraes, Townsend Bell]


11th
1304 - "Team Bigger USA" - Jon Bigger
[Marco Andretti, Ryan Briscoe, Danica Patrick, Milka Duno, Vitor Meira]

12th
1300 - "PT Cruiser" - Maureen O'Neil
[Dan Wheldon, Graham Rahal, Ed Carpenter, Ernesto Viso, Mario Moraes]


13th
1266 - "Chip, your name doesn't mean you have to eat Chips" - Matthew Hyndman
[Scott Dixon, Ryan Briscoe, Ryan Hunter Reay, Enrique Bernoldi, Milka Duno]

14th
1244 - "Joe Blob & the Spoonerisms" - James Murphy
[Marco Andretti, Ryan Briscoe, Hideki Mutoh, Mario Moraes, Buddy Rice]


15th
1238 - "Should We Stay or Should We Split Now?" - Andrew Harbey
[Dan Wheldon, Justin Wilson, Darren Manning, Enrique Bernoldi, Buddy Rice]


16th
1231 - "Month of Mayhem" - Adrian Bourne
[Helio Castro Neves, Vitor Meira, Bruno Junquiera, Townsend Bell, Darren Manning]

17th
1139 - "I Hate Tony George" - Jim Casey
[Ryan Briscoe, Tony Kanaan, Ryan Hunter Reay, Jaime Camara, Enrique Bernoldi]


18th
1135 - "Super Duper Best Friends" - Andy Blackmore
[Tony Kanaan, Marco Andrettti, Darren Manning, Milka Duno, Marty Roth]


19th
1107 - "Sideways Sam's Sideways Tings" - Sam Collins
[Dan Wheldon, Hideki Mutoh, Danica Patrick, Jay Howard, Franck Perera]

20th
1099 - "I am Hindy" - John Hindhaugh
[Helio Castroneves, Hideki Mutoh, Ed Carpenter, Will Power , John Andretti]


21st
1080 - "Indy Pace Car Speed" - Jason Kwok
[Ed Carpenter, Helio Castroneves, Tomas Scheckter, Justin Wilson, Milka Duno]

22nd
969 - "Empty Tank Racing" - Matt Thompson
[Marco Andretti, Will Power, Enrique Bernoldi, Danica Patrick, Marty Roth]


23rd
940 - "Opposite Lock Motorsports" - Louis Berlan
[Dan Wheldon, Franck Perera, Will Power, Mario Moraes, Roger Yasukawa]

24th
864 - "Danika Wheldon Crash Team" - Chris Vince
[Tony Kanaan, Ryan Hunter Reay, Bruno Junquiera, Ernesto Viso , Mario Moreas]

25th
840 - "Why do we keep turning Left on our way to the merger?" - Nick Daman
[Tony Kanaan, Justin Wilson, Jay Howard, Jaime Camara, Mario Moraes]


26th
701 - "One Lap Down" - Jeremy Scott
[Will Power, Ryan Hunter Reay, Bruno Junquiera, Thomas Scheckter, Jaime Camara]

27th
696 - "Team IROC - Indignantly Racing Our Crapwagons" - Simon Speichert
[Vitor Miera, Thomas Scheckter, Bruno Junquiera, Justin Wilson, Oriol Servia]


- The Commish