If you think Le Mans doesn't matter........

......or that this anachronism has passed the modern French public by, then think again.

This was Monday's front page of France's largest and most influential sports daily.

The historic nature of the race and the transcendent battle that raged from tricolore to chequered flag was so extraordinary that, despite a German and Audi win, the race took centre stage on Monday morning.

Roll on 2012!

Strange commercial bedfellows - An Occasional Series

The Williams F1 team is making headlines today as it reshuffles its engineering staff in an attempt to breathe life into an increasingly moribund 2011 championship campaign. This is the latest effort for the team from Didcot to stay relevant and provide Pastor Maldonaldo with some return on Venezuela's investment as well as a relatively competitive retirement home for Rubens Barrichello.

It's a far cry from the situation Frank Williams found himself in throughout the seventies when money was scarce, at one stage, so much so that he was forced to run his business from a phone box. After a failed partnership with Canadian billionaire Walter Wolf, Williams and his designer, Patrick Head, knew they needed a new approach. In 1978 they headed East in search of Saudi Arabian investment. The trip was a massive success as significant long term backing was secured from Saudi Airlines, TAG and the Albilad Hotel Group. The latter was then owned by one Mohammed bin Laden.

The investment finally gave Patrick Head the freedom to design without compromise. The result was the beautifully simple lines of the Williams FW07, in which Clay Regazzoni gave the team its maiden victory at Silverstone. During that season, the car ran with a variety of Saudi based sponsors, including that of the Middle East's largest construction company, the bin Laden Group.



The family are still involved in racing today across the Middle East, competing in Porsche Cup, GT and Radical racing with a fair degree of success.

The $5M LRF*

Have you ever been in a night club and spotted a potential hottie across the dance floor then bump into her later in the evening only to discover that the self same woman had somehow morphed into Alfred E Newman in a dress? That is the phenomenon known as the LRF, the *Low Resolution Fox, part of the Stealth Moose genus.

I feel like this week's Las Vegas announcement had a whiff of that self same moose's musk. Yes, it is a fine idea, it sounds exciting, intriguing, sexy even and full of potential. But hang on, walk around the room for a few hours, have a think and when your paths cross later on, take a good look up and down and ask yourself if the allure is still there. I'm not sure the answer will be 'yes'.

This is a classic free publicity play right out of 'Event Promotion for Dummies'. The mere fact that it has been announced injected life into the INDYCAR twittisphere and dropped a green flag on many miles of forum debate. It's plausibility is now neither here nor there. Peter Windsor did the same thing when he added Danica Patrick to his list of potential drivers for USF1, Best Buy does it every Black Friday when they announce that you can purchase an 80" Flatscreen for 99 cents. While it is entirely possible, the chances of you managing to get your hands on it, are as slim as credit card you'll use to buy everything else once they've dragged you into the store.

There are a large number of factors to take into consideration here and as has been the case with other recent INDYCAR announcements, Johnny Nash's 'More questions than answers' would have been the ideal choice of music to close out the press conference.

Which teams are truly capable of pulling off a win?
A quick scan of the results on mile and a half ovals makes grim reading for everyone apart from Target Chip Ganassi Racing and Penske. Panther and Andretti Autosport have come close enough to victory lane in recent events to indicate that they would be in with slightly more than a puncher's chance of grabbing the cash.

Which teams have the capacity to run additional cars and be competitive?
No real change from the list above. TCGR and Penske comfortably have the capacity and the cars to attempt this while Andretti have run a fifth car on multiple occasions in the last two seasons. Panther Racing drivers, Ed Carpenter and Dan Wheldon, flanked Helio Castroneves on the podium at Kentucky last season, so there is no question at all that they too can field multiple front running entries.

Will new teams join in?
It can't be ruled out, but a member of a prominent US based sportscar team told me that while his team would 'never say never', they would be 'dreaming' if they thought they could beat the top two teams and that it 'would also soak up a big chunk of $5m in testing to beat Penske'. You can expect that sentiment to be pervasive throughout the sportscar community at the very least. I can count on the fingers of two finger the number of NASCAR teams (exclusing Penske & Earnhardt Ganassi) who could possibly put together a competitive INDYCAR program before the deadline.

Who chooses the drivers?
This is where the confusion begins to build. Randy Bernard is talking about committee who will be used to evaluate the drivers that will be able to enter the event. But he is not there to give drivers any assistance when it comes to funding those rides. What if there is one spot left and Romain Grosjean, Karun Chandhok and Kasey Kahne all wish to take part and each driver has a full budget? What is there to stop any of those drivers approaching any team in the paddock and doing a deal just as they would at any other time in the season. Why would Conquest or FAZZT say no to their cash? Would they still qualify for the big pay out if they are not one of the 'special five'?

So there are four teams who could potentially provide a winning platform for an interloper. What we don't know is how willing they will be to dilute their inevitable championship efforts for an extremely large chunk of change. The Penske and Ganassi Racing organizations have driver talent, from other disciplines, under contract and at their immediate disposal while Andretti Autosport have had no end of quality pilots in their employ in recent years. For example, Belle Isle 2008 saw Andretti Green Racing, as was, in ALMS victory lane with a car driven by Franck Montagny and James Rossiter. Panther could certainly find a way to get another competitive car on the track without necessarily needing to find additional funding.

There is no doubt that other teams would be happy to provide rides for drivers with the budget for a one off race with an enormous upside, but with the chances of winning being almost nil, the driver's investment risk seems rather astronomical.

So this really becomes an issue of drivers being selected by the top four oval teams as opposed to rides being bought. Although, as I will outline below, that does not rule out potentially spectacular ride buying from some giants of global motorsport.

So who are the 'probables', the 'possibles' and the 'list to while away several hours in the pub'? It's safe to say that every Formula 1 driver, with an actual race seat, can be ruled out of this endeavor. Any driver involved in the Chase for the Sprint Cup will also be extremely unlikely to to take part. By the time practice starts in Las Vegas, there will still be more than half the Chase left. Juan Montoya and Tony Stewart have already been quite vocal in their belief that this simply isn't possible for any Sprint Cup driver with title aspirations.

The Intercontinental Le Mans Cup has a month long gap between Petit le Mans and the finale in China and that could free up a significant number of qualified drivers. The issue with sportscar drivers is that most of the good ones simply aren't 'box office'. Yes Tom Kristensen is a living legend, but Clint Bowyer would almost certainly bring more American eyeballs to the event. That, in the end, my be the biggest issue, any number of drivers may come forward to do this, but how many will really help turn a .8 rating on ABC into a 1.2?

I have ruled out INDYCAR veterans as I can't see how this is a progressive step to moving the ratings numbers in a positive direction.


THE PROBABLES:

Joey Hand -
The 32 year old Californian's credentials were rubber stamped in January, with a drive for the ages at the Rolex 24. He may have entered the race as a contractual obligation to BMW but he left with a watch and a new found respect throughout the paddock. His team owner at Daytona was Chip Ganassi and there is every chance he could appear in a fifth TCGR in Texas which would allow him to pick up his open wheel career after a seven year gap.

Simon Pagenaud -
Doubts continue to surround Highcroft Racing's participation on the ILMC and ALMS in 2011. Pagenaud has a race seat with Peugeot for the 24 Hours of Le Mans and has dovetailed work testing work with HPD and the French marque recently which would indicate that contractual obligations should not be an issue. His reputation and value have never been higher and it is likely we could see him in an additional car from one of the big two come October and I understand that talks have already begun to that end.

Sam Hornish Jr -
Sam is a part time Penske employee and will be available. If he makes another run at the Indy 500 he will automatically rule himself out of the money. Irrespective of his recent struggles in the Sprint Cup, nobody should be stupid enough to dispute his open wheel credentials, particularly on a lightening fast oval like Las Vegas.


THE POSSIBLES

Kimi Raikonen -
The 2007 World F1 Champion is precisely the type of driver that this event could attract. As surprising at it may seem, Kimi is a self funded privateer in the World Rally Championship. He provides the finance for his ICE 1 Racing Citroen DS3 WRC. The majority of his funding comes from his partnership with Red Bull and how hard would it be for him to ask Dietrich Mateschitz to find $500,000 in order for him to land a fifth TCGR entry? Raikonen has proven, through his rallying exploits, that he is not afraid to test himself and take real risks in the process.

Nico Hulkenberg -
Anyone who saw Hulkenberg crush the opposition in qualifying for the 2010 Brazilian Grand Prix knows that this 23 year old has an abundance of talent. Sadly, he also has a part time F1 job as the Friday driver for Force India. The upside to this is of course the free time a driver has on Saturdays and Sundays. Hulkenberg's boss, Vijay Mallaya, also owns an airline, so getting him from the Korean Grand Prix to Las Vegas for qualifying is absolutely possible. 'The Hulk' would undoubtedly be very quick and there isn't a single team in the INDYCAR pit lane who would not want him in one of their cars.

Bruno Senna -
Okay, it my not be exactly the right Senna, but Bruno is very talented and has access to enough funding to make this a real possibility. He is also out of a full time ride in F1 at the moment. In early 2009, when it looked like F1 was going to be heavily cost capped, Penske initiated a feasibility study as to whether they could rejoin the series and be competitive. The young Brazilian was one of the drivers that was approached about driving for the Captain. Senna in a Penske car could once again be a reality.

Nelson Piquet Jr -
This son of the three time World F1 Champion has no logistical issues when it comes to this event. He will already be there! Piquet is competing full time in the Camping World Truck Series which will feature on the weekend schedule at LVMS. Piquet is well funded and he could quite conceivably complete a deal with one of the major teams. It is worth bearing in mind that the current NASCAR truck has an awful lot of downforce and while it is hardly perfect preparation, Piquet would come into this event with an awful lot of oval experience. Piquet has also proven over the years that he has no fear of running into walls.

Robby Gordon -
There can be no doubt, given Gordon's racing resume and the fact that he is currently sponsored by his own product, that Robby is strongly considering this as he could really use the money. Sadly, Gordon's inclusion would ignite the existing fanbase while hardly moving the ratings needle. It's not like millions of NASCAR fans tune in to Versus to watch him compete in the Dakar Rally every January.

Trevor Bayne -
Rarely is there an opportunity for the Daytona 500 Champion race an INDYCAR. Bayne's limited Sprint Cup schedule and his full time commitment to the Nationwide Series makes his inclusion a must. His profile has exploded in the last seven days and this is a once in a lifetime chance for INDYCAR fans to see the Indy 500 and Daytona 500 champions go head to head.

AJ Allmendinger -
When I asked Matt Cleary, Allmendinger's manager, about this, his response was short and too the point. 'AJ is no dummy' he stated. The former CCWS winner would have a very good shot at victory lane, given some time in the car, but his full Sprint Cup schedule will minimize seat time in the Dallara. There is also the broader issue of Allmendinger's status as a NASCAR 'name'. It's tough to see how this will excite many people outside of the open wheel community.

Kasey Kahne -
There was a time about a decade ago when Kasey Kahne was a Ford property and was ignoring the overture's of NASCAR's finest in order to go open wheel racing. He tested a Rahal Lola at Homestead and did some FF2000 and Atlantic races. It is safe to say his heart would be in it and if he fails to make the Chase, then why not? He will be a major cog in Chevrolet's racing machine in 2012 and beyond and it can only help that Chevy will be rejoining the IndyCar ranks then too. He would also fit the 'marquee driver' requirement which this endeavor must fulfill to succeed.

Kyle Busch -
Kyle Busch may be the one driver on Earth who would be willing to do this with little or no preparation. It was surprise few observers if, despite having only driven the INDYCAR two-seater, he was on the pace. He is a local, he would draw a hefty live attendance, media presence and a very large TV audience. Sadly, he would also draw the ire of Joe Gibbs and Toyota, so the chances of this happening seem to be remote.

Kurt Busch -
Kyle's brother would have an additonal Penske Penzoil/Shell Dallara fuelled and ready for him but his Sprint Cup title aspirations would undoubtedly come first. Like Kasey Kahne he too has CART experience going back to his Roush Ford Days, but the Captain's pragmatism coupled with Busch's undoubted stock car focus makes this a long shot.


WASHItP

Valentino Rossi -
If this was simply a wish list of current automotive talent, there is no doubt that 'il Dottore' would be nailed on at the top. He is quite simply the most talented, exciting and charismatic racer of this (or any other) century. Over the last decade he has grown bigger than MotoGp itself while extensively testing for the Ferrari F1 team and dabbling in top class rallying. Sadly, the Australian GP is the same weekend as the Las Vegas event. Damn him and his day job!

Sebastian Loeb -
Midweek Motorsport's Nick Daman often comments that Loeb may be the greatest rally driver of all time, but adds that seeing as he has dominated in a time of scant competition, it is hard to asses his true position amongst the all-timers. His second place finish at Le Mans in 2006 impressed all who witnessed it and he has extensive seat time in Formula 1 with Red Bull and Renault, in addition to his GP2 testing experience. So if Valentino Rossi out of the picture Randy should be on the phone to France toute suite!

Ben Spies
Scheduling conflicts immediately rule out the 2009 World Superbike Champion and contender for the 2011 MotoGP crown.

Travis Pastrana
I absolutely believe Pastrana has the guts to attempt this but I also supsect his commercial value is now way too high for his numerous sponsors and partners to allow him to attempt this.

Ken Block
Watch any of Ken Block's 'Gymkhana' video series and then try and tell me he couldn't give this a shot? 30 Million viewers on YouTube, and counting, would suggest he can deliver a hefty count of eyeballs to the event. While it would be a stretch to expect him to be competitive, his pit stops would be fun to watch!


The following is a list of drivers who could absolutely do this and possibly win. But they would just as easily lose a 'Walk down your own town's high street and get recognized' competition:

Karun Chandhok (F1)
Christian Klien (F1)
David Brabham (F1, ALMS Champion with 1 Le Mans win)
Romain Grosjean (Every open wheel category on Earth except INDYCAR)
Franck Montagny (Peugeot Le Mans Squad & INDYCAR)
Nicolas Minassian (Peugeot Le Mans Squad & CART)
Stephane Sarrazin (Peugeot Le Mans Squad & WRC)
Marc Gene (F1 & Peugeot Le Mans Squad with 1 Le Mans win)
Alex Wurz (F1 & Peugeot Le Mans Squad with 2 le Mans wins)
Anthony Davidson (F1 & Peugeot Le Mans Squad)
Pedro Lamy (F1 & Peugeot Le Mans Squad)
Tom Kristensen (Audi Le Mans Squad with 9 Le Mans wins)
Allan McNish (Audi Le Mans Squad with 2 Le Mans)
Romain Dumas (Audi Le Mans Squad with some INDYCAR experience with Penske)
Mike Rockenfeller (Audi Le Mans Squad with 1 Le Mans win)
Timo Bernhard (Audi Le Mans Squad with 1 Le Mans win)
Guy Smith (CART, Rebellion Toyota Le Mans Squad with 1 Le Mans win)
Neel Jani (A1GP, Rebellion Toyota Le Mans Squad)
Adam Carroll (A1GP & INDYCAR)
Andy Priaulx (RLL BMW ITC Squad with 3 WTCC titles)

Okay, so basically I've named every driver on the planet with a current racing license. While discussing this on last week's Midweek Motorsport, host John Hindhaugh suggested that it would be better to spend the $5M on a IROC style race between the top INDYCAR drivers and any of the drivers from the list above, it would be fairer and it would make more sense. Maybe this will actually morph into something closer to that idea. IROC in its heyday was quite the spectacle, so why not revise the format?

The list below represents a mixture of the possible and the probable who have the ability to move the TV ratings needle in the right direction and are five drivers I would happily pay money to watch race an INDYCAR.

Kimi Raikonen
Kasey Kahne
Sebastian Loeb
Nico Hulkenburg
Trevor Bayne

Now there's a Hi-Def Fox I'd take home in a heart beat!

Lots Of Trouble Usually Serious

The problem with twitter is that debating in any depth is rather arduous when you are restricted to 140 characters per stab. Imagine sitting in a Dublin snug, pint in hand, and being forced to debate any issue in abrupt, emasculated sentences, stopping each time to hear what your opposite number had to say. Who would do that? The Licensed Vintners Association of Ireland would have a corporate coronary as their members all filed for bankruptcy.

After the recent INDYCAR 'State of the Series' address, I found myself in just such a situation on Twitter as I became embroiled in a vigorous debate over the comically ambitious 'Most important race in history' tag line. My assertion was that the Indianapolis 500 has never been thus and my extremely game opponent contested that while it is certainly not the case now, it most certainly was in the past. The truth of the matter is that, while it has always been a part America's cultural fabric, it has never resonated with the same intensity outside of the USA where the event and its stars are unknown to all but the committed racing buff. This was confirmed by legendary UK track owner and promoter, John Webb, in an interview with Motorsport Magazine this month. He described the disaster that was his 1978 USAC promotion, which saw him bring all of the top US cars and drivers to the UK for races at Brands Hatch and Silverstone.

The IndyCar visit in '78 is top of my list of failures....I overestimated the knowledge of the British public. I thought they'd flock to see the Indy stars, but the name AJ Foyt meant nothing to them. We lost £250,000, wiping out all the profit we made on that year's GP.

Colin Chapman may well have factored this into his thinking, when he chose Mario Andretti as the man to win him the World Drivers Title in 1978. An American winning the F1 title in one of Chapman's creations was an ideal way to promote the sale of Lotus road cars worldwide, but particularly in United States with Grand Prix on the East and West coasts. Returning to Indianapolis would not be necessary to make the required headlines and kick start an exodus of Elites and Espirits from dealerships from Los Angeles to New York.

It's such a shame that this flawless logic should be in such short supply when it comes to the latest attempts to inject life and vitality into the legendary British marque. Apart from the ongoing dispute between Group Lotus and Team Lotus (heading to court in March), there is, rather unfortunately, the makings of a fine sit com unfolding in Norfolk.

The Midweek Motorsport show on www.radiolemans.com recently received a communication from inside the factory and it makes rather grim reading for anyone with even the slightest regard for the provenance of the Lotus brand. It contained the following revelations:

- Lotus Cars have exhausted their supply of Toyota engines for their road cars so only the supercharged Elise, Exige and Evora can be manufactured.
- 100 members of staff have recently taken voluntary redundancy.
- There is every likelihood that 50-100 more staff will lose their jobs.
- The levels of unallocated (un-sold) stock is rising rapidly with approximately 200 cars now in US port stock
- Sales forecasts have been reduced to the point that about a fifth of the forecast is currently unallocated stock waiting to find buyers
- Dealerships have been served with two year notices of termination
- Lotus have borrowed over $100M to cover existing budget shortfalls with more to come early in 2011
- Lotus paid Renault F1 $14.5m in November.
- The current monthly salary commitment is $6.47M and that was before Nigel Mansell and Jean Alesi were announced as Brand Ambassadors.

The belief amongst the general employees and management is that the already top heavy board of directors are on a non-stop marketing jaunt around the world announcing cars they have no capacity to build and making motorsport commitments they can't possibly honour. The latter includes a commitment to build LMP1 cars for Le Mans, entry into the ILMC in the GT2 category with JetAlliance Racing along with sponsorship of the ART Team in GP2 & Gp3. This in addition to thier existing contracts with Renault F1 and KV Racing/Cosworth in IndyCar. Oh yes, I almost forgot, there is the small matter of the $1.6M T125 'track day car' which is essentially an F1 car for people with way more money than sense!

The Renault F1 team were paid up front and if I were Kevin Kalkhoven (KV Racing & Cosworth), Frédéric Vasseur (ART), Lukas Lichtner-Hoyer (JetAlliance) I would be insisting on a cheque immediately and demanding that one of my drivers get me to the bank as quickly as possible! Okay maybe I wouldn't ask EJ Viso that, as I believe it is rather difficult to cash a cheque while upside down and ablaze on the side of the road!

This whole project reminds of the dot com boom and the days of 22 year old graduates starting companies like www.diamantecatcoffins.com and having a market capitalisation of 200 billion dollars for about ten minutes. Which was nine minutes longer than they needed to spend all the money that never existed in the first place.

I suppose the one consolation in all this is that if the electricity does get switched off at the factory in Hethel, they could always keep the lights on using the power generated by Colin Chapman spinning violently in his grave.

Brand new LMP1 Drayson Lola: World Exclusive pictures

In an exclusive interview with John Hindhaugh on tonight's 'Midweek Motorsport' at www.radiolemans.com, Lord Drayson reveals his plans for the rest of 2009 and beyond.

Drayson is severing his ties with Aston Martin and putting all of his efforts into a full LMP1 program. The team will enter a P1 Lola powered by Judd engine on Michelin tyres.

The best news is that the car will be rolled out in the next week or two and will be debuting at Petit Le Mans next month.

Here is a World Exclusive first glimpse of what the car will look like:



The interview is available in full from 9pm UK/4pm EST at www.radiolemans.com and can also be heard as part of the 'Midweek Motorsport' show available via the archive or on iTunes.

The Pre-Toronto Standings

Hello All,

So I am finally up to date with the standings. The 'pick seven and be damned' rule seems to have changed things around a touch although not as much as I hoped. But if TCGR and Penske take each other out in a bizarre pace lap accident, then there are one or two players who are poised to take advantage.

I'm fascinated by the internecine scrap between the Werners although Draize and Harris are going to take some stopping at this stage.


1. Mike Draize - 2448pts
IRL the feeder series to ALMS

2. Ben Harris - 2324pts
IRS Racing: Presented By Helio Castroneves

3. Doug Wener - 2258pts
TCG & Friends

4. Julie Werner - 2236pts
Times 101st to 107th Most Influential

5. Julie Werner II - 2219pts
Times 108th to 109th Most Influential

6. James Broomhead - 2216pts
Team A.C.R.O.N.Y.M.

7. Jeff Ianucci - 2131pts
MyNameisIRL

8. Paul Boggan - 2127pts
Indyfauxhemains

9. Doug Werner(II) - 2046pts
Team Penske and Friends

10. Jason Kwok - 1990pts
Eco Challenged

11. Robert Duffield - 1983pts
12. Chris Vince - 1942pts
13. Conor Daly - 1926pts
14. Joe Gaal - 1922pts
15. Simon Green - 1901pts

16. Matthew Hyndman - 1900pts
17. Peter Dempsey - 1888pts
18. Dan Fay - 1884pts
19. Simon Topham - 1872ptspts
20. Morwenna Cross - 1867pts

21. Simon Speichert - 1850pts
22. Dan Enfinger - 1847pts
23. John Harbey - 1838pts
24. Chris Buccola - 1811pts
25. Emiliyan Stoykov - 1796pts

26. Robert Melvin - 1770pts
27. Michael Rennick - 1764pts
28. Philip Moreton - 1723pts
29. Mike Gathman - 1717pts
30. Paul Menard - 1650pts

31. Eddie Lynch - 1599pts
32. TJ Halsema - 1561pts
33. Declan Brennan - 1521pts
34. Vincent Mellor - 1482pts
35. Mike Brooks - 1461pts

36. Martin Wilz - 1370pts
37. Nick Daman - 1368pts
38. Andrew Harbey - 1361pts
39. Jeff Fuller - 1291pts
40. Ryan Ligon - 1269pts

41. Jimmy Magnusson - 1142pts
42. Brian Wright - 1051pts
43. Austin Hollobaugh - 1009pts
44. Jeremy Scott - 974pts
45. James Murphy - 826pts


---------------------------------------

Her mind elsewhere perhaps?

One must assume she was counting the $50 Million she could generate in NASCAR next season, but could it not have waited until she had successfully parked the car?

A record breaking Indy 500

More tremendous nonsense from guest blogger Doug Werner


INDIANAPOLIS -  

The Indianapolis Motor Speedway in conjunction with Indy Car Series is proud to announce that the 93rd running of the Indianapolis 500 has been officially recognized by the Guiness Book of World Records as the World’s Fastest Parade.   The new parade speed record is now 150.318 mph, just edging out the previous mark held by the 2007 Iranian Gay Pride Parade in downtown Tehran.*

           
“This is really a special moment for us at IMS,” stated Tony George.   This has been a long time coming and it is great to see that we were able to accomplish this on the 100th Anniversary of this special place.   We have been working toward this moment for almost 15 years   With the careful addition of particular street and road courses we have been getting close. Last year’s race at Infineon Raceway in Sonoma is a great example and I think we really opened some eyes to what we can do this year at Long Beach. But we haven’t been able to achieve the same kind of consistency on our ovals.   I would like to thank Brian Barnhart for helping make this happen.   The last rule change making a common spec wheelbase proved to be the real clincher.”
           
“I was real concerned   that Dan Wheldon and Townsend Bell would spoil the moment for us but after reading Paragraph 3, section C of the Parade Manual, I knew we had it in the bag.”
           
Paragraph 3 allows for some changes in the parade order should servicing or assistance be required of the parade participants.
           
“I would like to extend my thanks to my family.   Without their untold millions, I would not have been able to bring the series to where it is today.   With the mix of ovals, street and road courses,   and the Firestone Indy Lights series so full of foreign talent, I think we are really on the verge of having the perfect series. This is exactly what I had envisioned when I formed the Indy Racing League.   Our focus going forward will be on consistency.”

"We were thinking that the ICS would be a lock for the World's Greatest Tragedy in Motorsports History category as well, but it looks like my friend Max is making a push for that again this year after his attempt two tears ago. We have been assured by the panel of experts that we are still in the running and that a decision won't be made until later this year which gives us some time to make adjustments."
   
“I know a lot of fans want to see us back in Cleveland .   The airport course doesn’t really fit our current model but we are trying to see if we can get a street course on the cobble stone lanes of Shaker Heights, a suburb of Cleveland .   We should have more exciting announcements shortly.”

*The 2007 Iranian Gay Pride Parade will now be recognized as the fastest parade on a street course.

The IndyCar Racing experience live in your very own home

One of our loyal listeners and serial letter writers to 'Midweek Motorsport', Doug Werner, has some thoughts on this weekend at Iowa. Doug and his wife are having a magnificent internecine battle in the points standings of the MWM Fantasy League and they both seem to be taking it VERY seriously.

You can tune into the show live tonight at 8pm UK (3pm EST) at www.radiolemans.com or catch the podcast at any time on the site or from iTunes (search words 'Radio Le Mans). We have 2009 Le Mans winner, David Brabham joining us tonight alon with Nick Wirth of the brand new F1 team, Manor Motorsport.

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It’s finally time for my favorite IndyCar race of the year, The Iowa Corn 250 powered by Brazilian Sugar Cane or as I like to think of it, the Moonshine 250. It is a real shame that the ABC is broadcasting this race. This track and locale were meant for Versus TV. Imagine the Versus TV triple header. Phil Liggett and Paul Sherwen broadcast the Methane 100 from the Iowa Speedway/Velodrome/Rodeo Ring/Tractor Alignment Center. Immediately following the race, cars replace the bikes and the Green flag is dropped commencing the Moonshine 250 powered by Brazilian Cachaca. At the conclusion of another Jack Arute interview comparing Danica’s 5th place finish to a dramatic win by the late, great Emerson Fittipaldi, [sic] we are off to the Main Event on the infield of the Iowa Speedway. The feature event is the triumphant return to bull riding of PBR’s very own Ryan Dirteater, the Scott Speed of professional Bull riding. The packed crowd goes wild.

And truly the crowd will be “packed.” The stands will be “full.” The facility will be “at capacity.” But don’t be fooled into believing that that is the same as a large crowd. Put one person in a phone booth and it is “at capacity.” Put two in and it is officially “packed.” Unfortunately, like the number of TV viewers, it is still just two. The truth is Rusty Wallace created his own miniature Daytona Speedway by putting a high school grandstand in front of a paved horse track with added banking. There will be a crowd, just not as big as that of a 7-on-7 football game on Friday night. What else is there to do this time of year? The State Fair is not for another 8 weeks.

If you can’t be there to witness the parade or watch it on TV here is how you can experience the “fun” at home. You will need a quarter painted red, one painted white, a large bowl, a stool and two posters of Danica. Go to the corner of a room and hang the two posters. Sit down on a stool facing the corner with the bowl in your hands. While moving the bowl in a circular motion, roll the quarters on their edge in the bowl keeping them going by gently sustaining the motion. Continue this while staring into the bowl until you start to feel nauseous. At this point, it is time for a commercial break. While still swirling your racers in the bowl, carefully look up at the posters and stare at each one for thirty seconds. Everyone once in a while mutter, “You deserve respect. You deserve respect.” Repeat until you lose the will to live. Stop swirling the bowl. The last quarter rolling wins. If it is red, Target Chip Ganassi wins. If it is white, Penske does. If they turn into five dimes, Danica wins. Congratulations! You have just enjoyed another ABC broadcast. Go take a walk and get some fresh air.

Let’s face it, this track is so small it should be a cage match, not an IndyCar race. The only question left is who will “tap out” first. This week it might be me.

Emerson Fittipaldi was not harmed in any manner in the writing of this blog. He is happily alive at home watching Professional Bull Riding on Versus.

Tom Byers, Leonhard Stock and a dog's rear end.

I'm making an appearance on Speed Freaks tonight and their pre show 'hot topic' is concerning the legitimacy of Danica's one and only win in IndyCar seeing as Tony Stewart and Mark Martin have found victory lane in precisely the same fashion over the last couple of weeks in the Sprint Cup. I decided to dig out the blog piece I wrote in the immediate aftermath of Patrick's historic win in Japan.


- April 25th 2008

There was a time in the very early eighties when Grand Prix racing dominated the sporting headlines across Europe. ‘Tell us something we don’t know!!’ shouts everyone at once. But in this case I’m not talking about Brabham v Williams or Cosworth v Turbo. I mean Coe v Ovett v Cram and Ed Moses v the clock v everyone else in his wake. Battles raged on athletics tracks from Zurich to Rome all summer long.

My days as a sports mad 12 year old were marked out pretty much every night of week. I’d be out playing football or pitch and putt or tennis all day with an eye on the clock so I didn’t miss the start of the live coverage of the Grand Prix meeting from Cologne or Oslo, all of which was on proper network television, which somehow made it seem more important than it probably was.

There has always been something alluring and magical about any name said in a foreign language and/or with a foreign accent. Acqua Minerale conjures up glorious images of Ricardo Patrese blowing the San Marino GP lead at Imola in 1983 handing the win to Patrick Tambay’s #27 Ferrari as the Tifosi exploded in ecstasy. I’m not sure my memories would be as vivid if Imola had a corner called ‘mineral water’. The Welt Klasse meeting in Zurich was billed as the ‘Olympics in one night’, the greatest athletes in the world would be there and it was always a special Thursday night. I had no idea what ‘Welt Klasse’ meant but it sounded fantastic! On further examination I discovered it simply meant ‘World Class’ which in retrospect is somewhat disappointing, it seems to be the equivalent of naming your product based simply on a pronoun with as little ambition as ‘Quality Inn’ or ‘Lovely Cheese’ although the later product may only exist in my head.

The Norwegians never had that problem with the Bislett Games in Oslo. Their biggest event was the ‘Dream Mile’ it really did exactly what it said on the tin. It was a mile race which attracted the greatest middle distance field on earth. Year in and year out they would assemble for the race of the year. No doubt about it, this field was better than any Olympic final with the added bonus of a pacemaker or ‘hare’ to pull them along at something close to world record pace. This was an era where the world record for the 1500m and the mile would be broken almost every night somewhere in Europe, a truly ,astonishing and golden era for athletics.

Only the reigning Olympic 1500m champion, Sebastian Coe, was absent from the 1981 ‘Dream Mile’. It could hardly have been a more star-studded field unless Rob Halford had left Judas Priest and taken up middle distance running. The highly knowledgeable Oslo crowd sensed something big was about to take place. The ludicrously cocky Steve Ovett was planning to smash the World Record, he held it jointly with Coe at this time, and further ease the pain of his bronze medal for the 1500m in Moscow the previous season.

With this in mind pace-makers were instructed to push the pace along over the first 800 to 1200 metres, this job was assigned Tom Byers of the USA and he was joined up front by Wodajo Bulti of Ethiopia. Byers had been a distant 6th in the US Championships the week before this event (keep that in mind for later) and was there simply to keep the early pace at world record levels then drop out with a lap or so to go.

Byers pushed the pace forward at a pace that would have threatened the 800m world record let alone that of the mile. His pace was deemed to be so ludicrous that the chasing pack simply ignored him, or so we thought. Byers was 60 metres clear with 600 metres left and nobody was going to challenge him, the Oslo crowd knew what was happening and were totally behind him, banging the advertising hoardings and their Norwegian feet in rhythm with his pace.

This only served to spur Byres on even more and he neglected to step off track at the appropriate time, as all ‘hares’ do. Instead he just kept going onto the final lap, the pack only realized with 300 metres to go that they were racing for second place if they did not do something quickly; Ovett decided it was time to give chase. What was going through Byers head on that final bend is anyone’s guess, but somehow he held on for what has become one of the most amazing victories in athletics history?

At face value it is almost impossible to decipher the thought process of the chasing pack as Byers stretched his lead. All became much clearer when, in a rare interview, Ovett revealed that the official charged with giving the runners the split times, was giving the pack Byers times at the 400 and 800 metre distance, they had no clue that it was not they who were running at record pace but the tall long haired American way ahead in the distance.

So this group of world class athletes simply ignored the performance of the journeyman in front and simply chose to compete amongst themselves leading to one of the most unlikely victories in middle distance history. Now what does that remind you of?

Tom Byers was the second name that went through my head early on Sunday morning when Danica crossed the line to take victory and make history at Motegi. The first was Vittorio Brambilla; the Italian with one solitary GP victory to his name, the man who won in the wet in the rain shortened Austrian GP in 1975 only to put the car in the Armco barrier approximately 50 yards past the finish line.

Danica’s victory has catapulted Indy Car onto the front pages and into the headlines across the USA and that can only be good news for the series. Right now, there is almost no such thing as bad publicity for US open wheel racing. Closer inspection of her victory does lead one to the conclusion that it was simply a perfect storm of circumstances needed for any driver in the lower reaches of the top 10 to win an Indy Car race. For this win to take place, a number of elements had to be in place.

Primarily, the team in question needs to approach the race with the mindset that they would be unable to win in normal circumstances and strategy would be the overriding factor in their race preparation. Luck and timing need to be precisely right in terms of yellow flags and the length of each caution period. Finally there needs to be a collective arrogance or ignorance from the leading pack. Motegi delivered this on all three fronts and Andretti Green Racing capitalized beautifully by ticking every box correctly during the last section of the race.

If all of the teams had taken this approach we would have had the bizarre site of the pack racing at about 95% throttle for the last 25 laps or so in an attempt to avoid a final pit stop, but racers are racers and instinct clearly took over and to a man (quite literally) they chose to floor it and gamble on fuel mileage.

If they had all used Danica’s approach we would have had an athletics style sprint finish off the last corner and it would have been won by whoever had the best throttle response, I do find that quite appealing to be honest. It would have made for great TV!

So right now, as I write this on the eve of the Road Runner 300 at Kansas, we are none the wiser as to what her victory really means. I have made no secret of the fact that I believe she has probably had her moment in the sun. Indy Car fields are only going to get stronger and the number of oval races will be limited to about a half dozen from now on and she has little or no hope of repeating that feat on a road course or on a street circuit. She has done something remarkable that she may well never do again. Is she the Tom Byers of open wheel racing? In all probability the answer is yes.

The best case scenario for her is that she becomes the Leonhard Stock of Indy Car. Stock is the Austrian that baffled the entire world by winning the 1980 Olympic downhill gold at Lake Placid. He had almost no previous form and barely scraped into the team as number two to the great Franz Klammer who took gold in 1976 and again 1984. It was another 9 years and 100 or so events later that Stock won again, this time in a World Cup downhill event. So we can look for Danica to trouble the scorers again in about 2016 when she is 35 or so.

This whole piece is a roundabout way of saying that errrr let me see, how would Ron Dennis describe this? To quote Ron, it would be an ‘infrequent ultra violet canine posterior interface scenario’.

CNN do Texas reconstruction on the 'cheep'

CNN spared every expense to reconstruct Marco Andretti's travails at Texas last Saturday night.

The pigeon was clearly Marco and the various pedestrians were playing the part of Danica. Notice, how the bird gets very close on many occasions but just can't get by.

Radio Le Mans live today

Dear All,

Don't forget that we have an extra special Midweek Motorsport this afternoon.

We will be on air before free practice today at 2pm UK, 3pm CET, 9am EST & 6am PST.

Lots of live Le Mans stuff as well as all the usual features.

And don't forget to pick up your Le Mans spotters guide, the 2 page guide has all the latest liveries and drivers, correct as of Tuesday evening and is available at http://www.spotterguides.com

The usual place, www.radiolemans.com, just click 'listen live' or tune in on XM/Sirius Channel 126 or on 91.2FM around the circuit.

Wow ESPN! Tell us how you realy feel!

I have way too many guilty pleasures in my life. Gloriously over complicated rock music being one of them. How many people do you know hit the gym with 'yours is no disgrace' by Yes reverberating through their ears? Did I just actually type that?

I'm finally admitting it, I love YES

ESPN's 'talking heads' output is another one of those indulgences I pretend I to abhor. 'The Sports Reporters' on a Sunday morning is a perfect blend of seasoned hacks doubling up as grumpy old men, it really speaks to me. In fact, men (and the odd woman) shouting at each other is a key part of the ESPN's lead in to the early evening edition of Sportscenter with 'Pardon the Interruption' being so important that it now has it's own section within 'Sportscenter'. So what leads into 'PtI', Sportscenter's lead in show? That would be 'Around the Horn', a show which lets five guys shout at each other for 30 minutes and in doing so it gives you the basic outline of ESPN editorial focus for the rest of the evening. Whatever the 'Around the Horn' guys argue about, will be re-argued about immediately afterwards on 'PtI' and then analysed on Sportscenter immediately after that. With more than two months to go to the start of the American football season, of course all of the shows are focusing on 'not NFL player' Brett Favre and his shoulder operation.

So where do ESPN, a part of the ABC family of Networks, place the IndyCar Series on their list of 'hot topics', 'public interest' and 'editorial importance'? Well I'll let the following exchange on 'Around the Horn' tear the curtain back for you a little.

A quick bit of background first. The show pits four major sports journalists against each other in lively debate on a set of pre detemined topics (in the UK the show 'Fighting Talk' is based on the same concept). Writers are eliminated after each round until there are two left for the 'showdown'. On Monday (June 8th) the last writer to be ousted before the finale was the one racing fan (NASCAR but it's still racing isn't it?) who regularly appears on the show, Tim Cowlishaw of the Dallas Morning News. As he was ousted, the conversation with the host, judge and jury, Tony Reali went as follows:


Tony Reali: Tim Cowlishaw.......do you have any last words?

Tim Cowlishaw: Last words!! I'm done?!

Tony Reali: Yes! Didn't you see the score you have 22 points.

Tim Cowlishaw: Whose gonna talk about the Bombardier (or Bombadeer as he pronounced it) Learjet 550K if I'm not around?

Tony Reali: Errrm I don't think anyone is....good luck growing that goatee back...that's it for Cowlishaw!

Tim Cowlishaw (lower left) vainly trying to talk IndyCar, yesterday

So there you have it, ESPN have shown their true hand, nobody gives a tinkers cuss about IndyCar racing, it has been reduced to a contractual obligation on the family of networks and is neither loved nor hated it is simply ignored. One could wish for no worse fate than that.

Versus may have started with ratings that almost defy physics and logic but their NHL play off ratings have shown that given time and the right product, they can deliver the goods. The quicker ABC give up the pretense that they care, the better.

And finally we are up to date :)

Can I firstly apologise for taking so long to catch up with the standings. We are a third of the way through the league and in fantasy lineup terms it has been utter chaos. Stanton Barret is out and has been replaced by Jacques Lazier and Richard Antinucci. At this point I must clarify that Lazier will be racing on ovals and Antinucci is in for Watkins Glen, there is no attempt on 3G's part to enter both drivers in the promotional two seater. On saying that, I really love the idea and I must give the good chaps at 3G a call when I have finished posting this.

Vitor Meira's day at Indy involved a giant pit lane conflagration and then a rather shocking accident where he rode the wall backwards (answers to the name 'lucky' as the old joke goes) and ended up in hospital sidelined for the immediate future. His seat at Milwaukee was taken by Paul Tracy who parted company with AJ Foyt after one race on account of the car being less effective than the stint Stevie Wonder had as Travis Pastrana's co-driver recently on the Olympus Rally. AJ Foyt IV climbed into the ABC car in Texas and the result was equally as good or bad depending how you look at it.

So Ben Harris has jumped to the top of the table precisely one third of the way through the year, mainly thanks to the astute pick up of Helio Castroneves as soon as he became available. The Werner family are dominating the Top 10 and have assumed the rights to be known as the 'first family of fantasy motor sport' which no doubt will disgruntle the many members of the Harbey household who are involved in this league.

I do need to give a shout out to Jeff Ianucci who is participating under the name of his excellent blog www.mynameisirl.com and I wholeheartedly suggest that you give it a read. His tenure in the top 10 like Ryan Hunter Reay's was brief, although one feels that Jeff has more chance of making an impact in our little league than RHR has in the championship.

Finally if you look down through the list you will see that our two Star Mazda drivers, Conor Daly and Peter Dempsey are locked in a epic battle for mid-table respectability, they are currently separated by a single point.


1. Ben Harris - 1639pts
IRS Racing: Presented By Helio Castroneves
Castroneves, Rahal, Wilson, Wheldon

2. James Broomhead - 1561pts
Team A.C.R.O.N.Y.M.
Castroneves, Carpenter, Wilson, Wheldon

3. Doug Werner(II) - 1534pts
Team Penske and Friends
Castroneves, Briscoe, Doornbos, Barrett

4. Mike Draize - 1461pts
IRL the feeder series to ALMS
Franchitti, Briscoe, Hunter-Reay, Barrett & Beatriz

5. Julie Werner - 1454pts
Times 101st to 107th Most Influential
Franchitti, Briscoe, wheldon, Barrett

6. Simon Speichert - 1446pts
Felony Pursuit
Castroneves, Hunter-Reay, Rahal, Wilson

7. Julie Werner II - 1442pts
Times 108th to 109th Most Influential
Castroneves, Kanaan, Carpenter, Tracy

8. Robert Duffield - 1401pts
Team IndyCART
Scott Dixon, Ryan Briscoe, Rafael Matos, Barrett

9. Jason Kwok - 1355pts
Eco Challenged
Dixon, Briscoe, Carpenter, Wilson

10. Doug Wener - 1336pts
TCG & Friends
Dixon, Franchitti, Wislon, Carpenter


11. Paul Boggan - 1335pts
12. Jeff Ianucci - 1274pts
13. Dan Fay - 1242pts
14. Emiliyan Stoykov - 1216pts
15. Simon Green - 1211pts
16. Matthew Hyndman - 1210pts
17. John Harbey - 1199pts
18. Morwenna Cross - 1197pts
19. Conor Daly - 1179pts
20. Peter Dempsey - 1178pts

21. Dan Enfinger - 1177pts
22. Joe Gaal - 1170pts
23. Chris Buccola - 1124pts
24. Michael Rennick - 1107pts
25. Chris Vince - 1080pts
26. Paul Menard - 1073pts
27. Simon Topham - 1072pts
28. Mike Gathman - 1067pts
29. Robert Melvin - 1045pts
29. Declan Brennan - 999pts
30. Mike Brooks - 941pts

31. Philip Moreton - 931pts
32. Eddie Lynch - 894pts
33. Andrew Haybey - 882pts
34. Vincent Mellor - 865pts
35. Martin Wilz - 858pts
36. TJ Halsema - 837pts
37. Nick Daman - 781pts
38. Jeff Fuller - 744pts
39. Ryan Ligon - 702pts
40. Brian Wright - 682pts

41. Jimmy Magnusson - 680pts
42. Austin Hollobaugh - 669pts
43. James Murphy - 532pts
44. Jeremy Scott - 494pts


---------------------------------------

Midweek Motorsport Today

Hello all,

'Midweek Motorsport' is back with the full squad this week and arguably, the greatest guest/presenting line up in show history!

Okay we have had bigger guests that Martin Haven but none deliver quite the value for money that MH does and I for one cannot wait to get his take on the first two rounds of the FIA Formula 2 Series. I will be butting in constantly to remind everyone that no matter how good F2 is now, it will NEVER be the F2 that we knew and loved in the late seventies and early eighties. Unless you were born in the eighties then you simply don't know what you were missing. Take for example this footage below. The BMW M12 F2 engine has been around since 1969 and has anything ever sounded better? I admire the guts of the chap sitting in the chassis. By 1982, Formula 2 was not only the best sounding Formula in the World but the chassis were simply gorgeous, particularly the examples from Maurer. Anyway, I digress, no doubt I will bore everyone with more of this on tonight's show.



Allan McNish is the star of the show this week and he will be answering many of the questions that were submitted via the facebook group.

Oliver Gavin will be dropping in to chat about Le Mans and other stuff.

We have reached half way in the 'Race for the Chase for the Cup for the Thing' so the 'Sound of the swinging cymbal' will be making it's seasonal debut, not 'alf!

There will be a quick look at the IndyCar and Indy Lights races from the weekend.

There will be lots of other stuff including a full look at the 'who is in and who is out' nonsense of the 2010 F1 season. From what I can gather Arturo Merzario (including cowboy hat), Hector Rebaque, EuroBrun and Lec are all coming back!

We will also have news of some great new sponsors and exciting new ways to listen for our US contingent (unless you already stick a glass up to the wall of the people next door).

It's all on at the usual time and place. 8pm UK, 9pm CET, 3pm EST, 12pm PT & 9am in Hawaii.

Go to www.radiolemans.com and click 'listen live' or catch us on the podcast which will be availble soon after the show has aired or get us on iTunes.

Dex

Ferrari: Sports car racing again sometime soon?

This is the last line of the latest press release from Maranello. It was in response to the ruling in Paris this morning.

'In this situation, Ferrari will continue to compete in races of a calibre worthy of the marque, matching its level of innovation and technological research.'

Those last four words say so much. I'm not sure that a series with a spec. chassis comes under that banner, so it is hard to see them looking too hard at IndyCar - with the Ferrari brand at least.

Talk was rife, at the Spa 1000kms, about a prototype being on the drawing board at Maranello. The ALMS, LMS and Le Mans absolutely fit the bill with regards to 'innovation' and 'technical research'. The prancing horse would be welcomed back into sports car and endurance racing with open arms.

A move of this sort would see Ferrari back where they truly belong, in a disipline of the sport which they were every bit as committed to in the sixties and very early seventies (see below).

More of this please, Maranello, thank you. [img www.motortrend.com]

Alex Lloyd on Midweek Motorsport tonight.

With a ludicrous safety car situation to debate and Martin Haven to debate it, you know tonight's show will overrun. So It is very likely that you will get more than the standard 2 hours.

On the menu tonight:

A thorough look at the utter farce of a World Touring Car Championship event in Pau. Including a ludicrously heated debate over rev limiters (I kid you not).

F1 News and yet another update on who might be in and out of F1 in 2010. We also hatch our plans to enter our own F1 team for next season.

We also have a discussion on the future of De Ferran Motorsports.

We recorded the interview with Alex Lloyd last night. He was terrific, he was like an answering machine, you just ask him one question and off he goes. I was ticking the questions off as I went along seeing as he was answering them without us having to ask them. :)

Oh yes, and one more thing, Coco the dog is back.

3pm EST www.radiolemans.com, click the 'Listen Live' button. The podcast will be up shortly afterward on the site and on iTunes.

Dex

Racing Drivers: Always looking for an edge!

Check out Dario Franchitti who has clearly studied the rules and regulations of the first ever NBC 'Drinking the Milk' Championship. Or maybe he is just a cheating Scottish sod! :)

Either way, it was outstanding rule interpretation.

Sarah Fisher (adored by our own Nick Daman) on the Daily Show

The Indy drivers did their rounds of the New York media on Monday and Sarah Fisher made a rather excellent appearance on the Daily Show (see video below). What I loved about it was the incredibly natural manner Sarah has on screen, there is nothing fake about her and there is not a single thing about the chat that shouts 'Media Training!' at you. That in itself is an enormous credit to her.

She made an appearance on our radio show last year and she was no different then, in fact, I would say she is much more confident now than she was a year or so ago.

Our F1 correspondent, Nick Daman interviewed her for F1 Digital TV at the US Grand Prix a number of years ago and he manages to mention how 'lovely' she is at least once per show.

She's not in my fantasy team right now, but If I was a sponsor she would be on the top of my list as a potential endorsee.

GO SARAH! And please come back on to 'Midweek Motorsport' at www.radiolemans.com whenever you like, it will make Nick Daman a very happy man.

The Daily Show With Jon Stewart	M - Th 11p / 10c
Sarah Fisher
thedailyshow.com
Daily Show Full Episodes Economic Crisis Political Humor

USGPE Power Rankings - Update

There hasn't been a great deal of road racing since I kicked the rankings off a couple of weeks ago, but things got a little busier on both sides of the Atlantic over the weekend. The F1 landscape is also changing right before our eyes and the potential cost capping could see an influx of teams, many with very familiar names.

The Week 1 Rankings are here.

RIGHT NOW

1. JR Hildebrand - Firestone Indy Lights/A1GP
2009, 2 Pole Positions, 1 win (Long Beach)
Hildebrand's ranking does not change due to the fact that he has had no race activity since Kansas, so he remains number one for now, based on the potential we saw in his A1GP cameo at Brands Hatch.

2. John Edwards - Atlantic Series - NEW ENTRY
2009, (1 win)
The 2008 Star Mazda Champion has picked up where he left off at the end of last season. With a win and a second from his first two races, Edwards has burst into the rankings ahead of his more experienced series rival, Jonathan Summerton. The 18 year old from Cincinnati is benefiting from racing in series with a smaller field than in previous years but he is still beating race winning veterans at this level. Dominating this series could be precisely what is needed to make USGPE sit up and taken notice.

3. Jonathan Summerton - Firestone Indy Lights
2009, Firestone Indy Lights Points Leader, Atlantic Series
While doing double duty in the both Firestone Indy Lights and the Atlantic Series is keeping Jonathan Summerton busy, his current inability to find victory lane is not helping his cause. He is quick, consistent and reliable but he has yet to show the raw pace, this season, which will put at the front of the line for a race seat with USGPE in 2010.

4. AJ Allmendinger - NASCAR Sprint Cup:
No change is his position seeing as he hasn't lost his ability to drive on road courses simply because he has been turning left a lot recently.

5. Graham Rahal - IndyCar Series - NEW ENTRY:
I had left Rahal off the original list based on his recent radio comments about not wanting to move to F1 just to be at the back of the grid. He also suggested that as an American he was proud of the ICS and wanted to stay in the USA and make it big again. If he continues to mature at his current rate with NHLR, USGPE will not be able to avoid giving him serious consideration.

6. Ryan Hunter Reay - IndyCar Series:
Given his recent travails, RHR would find the talk of his F1 prospects are rather pleasant distraction.

7. Marco Andretti - IndyCar Series/A1GP:
There is no current change with Marco, but if he does the unthinkable and wins the Indy 500 next Sunday, the calls and questions regarding his future will start again. Right now he really is not ready for F1 and staying in the USA can only benefit him (and the IndyCar Series) in the long run.

8. Danica Patrick - IndyCar Series:
Danica has a lot on her plate right now, she has been off the pace all month at Indy in this, her contract year. Maintaining her value as a racer as opposed to as a spokes model should be her number one priority right now. A strong showing at Indianapolis will of course kickstart the F1 rumours once again.


THE FUTURE

1. Alex Rossi - International Formula Master:
2008, Formula BMW Americas Champion & FBMW World Finals Winner
Rossi could not have picked a more technical and challenging place to embark on the European chapter of his career. Pau, in southwestern France is a storied and historic venue, racing has been held on the streets there since 1901. Races 1 & 2 of the International Formula Master Series were held there last weekend as part of the support package for the World Touring Car Championship which had some pace car fun of its own.

Rossi qualified in 8th spot for race 1 and impressed onlookers with his mature performance during a 25 lap scrap for 6th spot with Harald Schlegelmilch. With almost non-stop agression from behind, he defended his position cleanly never once slamming the door in a dangerous or aggressive manner. This work took a heavy toll on his tyres and as Eurosport's Martin Haven described, 'more sideways than a sideways thing by the end, he just had nothing left to fight with, not bad for a kid who'd never seen the place before!' Rossi drifted backwards towards the end and finished out of the points, but it was clear to one and all that he is a talent and a driver to be reckoned with in this series. His fourth place finish in race 2 was testament to that ability and for him to survive such a baptism of fire can only boost his confidence as the series progresses.

2. Josef Newgarden - British Formula Ford/Formula Palmer Audi:
2009, 1 win (British Formula Ford), 2 wins (Formula Palmer Audi)
It is a desparately sad time for everyone concerned with Newgarden's British Formula Ford outfit, as team principal, Joe Tandy was tragically killed in a road accident early last week at the age of 26. As I write this, it is stil unclear as to the future of the race team. My condolences go to Joe's family and all involved in the team.

3. Gabby Chaves - Formula BMW Americas:
2009, Series Leader (2 wins)
Gaby Chaves cemented his position as a serious title contender with three podiums over the weekend at Miller Motorsports Park in Utah. Two seconds and one third place were not enough for him to maintain his series lead however as young Brazilian Giancarlo Vilarinho took a clean sweep of victories. The 15-year-old Floridian is the only driver in the series to finish on the podium in every race so far this year.

4. Conor Daly - Star Mazda
Barber National Champion 2008, Currently 7th in Star Mazda standings
Noblesville's Daly had a weekend to forget at Miller Motorsport Park in Utah, in round 3 of the Star Mazda Series. Issues with set-up left him frustrated and languishing way down the grid in qualifying. The car was much better in race trim and it gave Daly the confidence to charge hard from deep in the field. 'Then the car was extremely good in the race I just got a little to ambitious and tired to make a pass and the guy came down on my front wing', Conor explained in the immediate aftermath of the race. Front wing damage forced him to visit pit lane and that effectively put an end to any chances he had at the weekend. He now lies 36 points behind the series leader, Adam Christodoulou, in 7th place. Watch out for his latest column at www.speedtv.com later this week.


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