The Bernie has made some minor changes to the qualifying process for this weekends race at the Sepang circuit. Basically he has put more time between the sessions to give the teams more time to prepare. It's not overnight like last year, but it should help.
In other news, Scott Dixon has been scheduled for two tests with the Williams team. I discussed a couple of days ago the possibility of Dixon making the jump to Williams for next year. It looks like the wheels are in motion to see if he can handle it. Dixon is a fantastic driver who, at only 23 has almost his whole career in front of him. That sounds amazing when you think about how much he has accomplished so far.
Wednesday, March 17, 2004
Monday, March 15, 2004
March Racing Items
IRL
The IRL scored another victory Friday by attracting car owner Adrian Fernandez into the fold. Fernandez who was already running one car in the IRL will now run another with himself as the driver. If you know me I don’t think much of the owner/driver arrangement but it is good to see Fernandez bring the Tecate and Quaker State money with him.
The bigger tell might be what he said. Fernandez went to the big season opening gala put on by Bridgestone presents the Champcar World Series powered by Ford (or whatever the hell it is) and didn’t like what he saw. So he switched leagues and will be at Phoenix for this weekends race.
And what of the rest of OWRS. Bobby Rahal has already been thinking about switching. He is the car owner of one car in the IRL and is thinking about bringing Michel Jourdain over as well. Apparently the news of Fernandez’s defection to the IRL has made the Mexican sponsors nervous and with Gigante being a Rahal sponsor they may be forced to move to the IRL.
Newman/Haas, one of the real CART and now OWRS stalwarts has tested IRL cars at Phoenix and could be the final nail in the OWRS coffin if they leave.
FTG offered $13.5 million for the CART assets to the bankruptcy court a month and a half ago. Now he might get the assets and spend somewhat less. He doesn’t deserve it because he is an idiot, but he will win by default simply because he has the 500.
NASCAR
Congrats to Junior for his win yesterday at Atlanta. But I gotta tell you, even though it is the fastest of the Cup races, it was boring as hell.
Junior closed the gap on points leader Kennseth as they go to Darlington this week.
F1
Last weeks testing failed to produce any stirring results. McLaren did manage to improve steadily as the week progressed, but Williams and Renault still found themselves struggling.
Now the teams are preparing for this weekends Malaysian Grand Prix. The weather will be hot and as usual, there will be a chance for rain.
Last years winner Kimi Raikkonen will have a tough time defending his win if Australia is any indication. The qualifying controversy from Australia has also been addressed.
Earlier reports said that Bernie would not make any changes until at least Imola. However, crash.net is reporting that Ecclestone has proposed changing back to last years system of a lap on Friday and one on Saturday or eliminating the first round all together. Apparently neither motion had enough support but the issue will be revisited when everyone gets to Sepang.
In other news the battle rages on between Frank Williams and Ralfie boy. Ralfie says he is getting fed up with the lack of response from Williams regarding his contract. Frank Williams for his part has not commented publicly. Reports had surfaced a week or so ago that Ralfie was about to make the jump to Renault for next season. This would leave Williams with no driver and most likely force Jarno Trulli out at Renault. However, given the relationship between Frank Williams and Chip Gannasi don't be surprised if Scott Dixon gets a shot at a Williams seat next year.
As for Renault it looks like they will not change unless Fernando Alonso would make the jump to Ferrari if Michael Schumacher retires.
Rather it seems now that Ralfie is talking to Toyota about next season. This would almost assuredly knock Olivier Panis out of his seat. Ralf sucks and I honestly hope he does not go to Toyota. Frankly I think he is better suited for a Minardi!
And finally, the Bernie has laid down the law with the officials of the track at Imola and the repercussions could affect the future of the Grand Prix of San Marino. The aging facility known as both the Ferrari home track and the track where Ayrton Senna lost his life needs approximately $25 million in upgrades. Ecclestone has told the officials they will not retain the race if the improvements are not approved and made.
San Marino is in the last year of its F1 contract. It's hard to imagine the season not having what amounts to two races in Italy so look for the announcements to be made. San Marino track officials are in discussions with the Italian government to get the money for the improvements. One also has to wonder what Bernie has up his sleeve. With Austria out this year he still has 18 races and a Concorde agreement that calls for a maximum of 16.
The IRL scored another victory Friday by attracting car owner Adrian Fernandez into the fold. Fernandez who was already running one car in the IRL will now run another with himself as the driver. If you know me I don’t think much of the owner/driver arrangement but it is good to see Fernandez bring the Tecate and Quaker State money with him.
The bigger tell might be what he said. Fernandez went to the big season opening gala put on by Bridgestone presents the Champcar World Series powered by Ford (or whatever the hell it is) and didn’t like what he saw. So he switched leagues and will be at Phoenix for this weekends race.
And what of the rest of OWRS. Bobby Rahal has already been thinking about switching. He is the car owner of one car in the IRL and is thinking about bringing Michel Jourdain over as well. Apparently the news of Fernandez’s defection to the IRL has made the Mexican sponsors nervous and with Gigante being a Rahal sponsor they may be forced to move to the IRL.
Newman/Haas, one of the real CART and now OWRS stalwarts has tested IRL cars at Phoenix and could be the final nail in the OWRS coffin if they leave.
FTG offered $13.5 million for the CART assets to the bankruptcy court a month and a half ago. Now he might get the assets and spend somewhat less. He doesn’t deserve it because he is an idiot, but he will win by default simply because he has the 500.
NASCAR
Congrats to Junior for his win yesterday at Atlanta. But I gotta tell you, even though it is the fastest of the Cup races, it was boring as hell.
Junior closed the gap on points leader Kennseth as they go to Darlington this week.
F1
Last weeks testing failed to produce any stirring results. McLaren did manage to improve steadily as the week progressed, but Williams and Renault still found themselves struggling.
Now the teams are preparing for this weekends Malaysian Grand Prix. The weather will be hot and as usual, there will be a chance for rain.
Last years winner Kimi Raikkonen will have a tough time defending his win if Australia is any indication. The qualifying controversy from Australia has also been addressed.
Earlier reports said that Bernie would not make any changes until at least Imola. However, crash.net is reporting that Ecclestone has proposed changing back to last years system of a lap on Friday and one on Saturday or eliminating the first round all together. Apparently neither motion had enough support but the issue will be revisited when everyone gets to Sepang.
In other news the battle rages on between Frank Williams and Ralfie boy. Ralfie says he is getting fed up with the lack of response from Williams regarding his contract. Frank Williams for his part has not commented publicly. Reports had surfaced a week or so ago that Ralfie was about to make the jump to Renault for next season. This would leave Williams with no driver and most likely force Jarno Trulli out at Renault. However, given the relationship between Frank Williams and Chip Gannasi don't be surprised if Scott Dixon gets a shot at a Williams seat next year.
As for Renault it looks like they will not change unless Fernando Alonso would make the jump to Ferrari if Michael Schumacher retires.
Rather it seems now that Ralfie is talking to Toyota about next season. This would almost assuredly knock Olivier Panis out of his seat. Ralf sucks and I honestly hope he does not go to Toyota. Frankly I think he is better suited for a Minardi!
And finally, the Bernie has laid down the law with the officials of the track at Imola and the repercussions could affect the future of the Grand Prix of San Marino. The aging facility known as both the Ferrari home track and the track where Ayrton Senna lost his life needs approximately $25 million in upgrades. Ecclestone has told the officials they will not retain the race if the improvements are not approved and made.
San Marino is in the last year of its F1 contract. It's hard to imagine the season not having what amounts to two races in Italy so look for the announcements to be made. San Marino track officials are in discussions with the Italian government to get the money for the improvements. One also has to wonder what Bernie has up his sleeve. With Austria out this year he still has 18 races and a Concorde agreement that calls for a maximum of 16.
Friday, March 12, 2004
Fire Mike Davis
In about an hour the Hoosiers will be taking on Illinois in what I and most people feel will be their last game of the season. The team stands at 14-14 going into the game. To avoid the first losing season suffered by the Hurryin' Hoosiers since 1969-70 when the team went 7-17 under acting head coach Jerry Oliver, the team has to win today. Frankly, I just don't see it.
Don't get me wrong, I will be more than happy to eat those words tonight! But I have to be realistic. Illinois is playing as well as anyone in the conference right now and is playing up to the level most expected before the season started. Indiana has been God awful!
Yesterday a bunch of no names came on to beat a piss poor Ohio State team. Can we count on Mark Johnson et. al. again today?
Regardless of the outcome, Coach Mike Davis has got to go. Rumors of his dismissal have been spotty. I think most want him gone. But there is always the undertone that the school won't pay another coach to not coach. Poor management of the athletic department may well mean we have to endure another year of Whorf.
The Hoosiers are going to have to win the Big Ten tournament to get to the NCAA, and if they don't they may not be able to even make the NIT. This team has suffered from poor coaching and poor play all season. But the one thing that really has given me the red ass is that Davis has continually called out Bracey Wright, then turned around and let him shoot a hundred times a game, called out the other players as dumb, but doesn't yank them, then turns around and says he is to blame. You can't have it both ways coach. You can't call out the players AND take the blame. It's one or the other.
Davis is an incompetent coach and his dismissal is long overdue. Indiana needs to clean house of anything that was ever connected to Bob Knight. I know his reach is far in college basketball, but that cancer has to be cut out. Knight started taking this program down in 1994. Davis is finishing the job. Now it is time to finish Davis .
Don't get me wrong, I will be more than happy to eat those words tonight! But I have to be realistic. Illinois is playing as well as anyone in the conference right now and is playing up to the level most expected before the season started. Indiana has been God awful!
Yesterday a bunch of no names came on to beat a piss poor Ohio State team. Can we count on Mark Johnson et. al. again today?
Regardless of the outcome, Coach Mike Davis has got to go. Rumors of his dismissal have been spotty. I think most want him gone. But there is always the undertone that the school won't pay another coach to not coach. Poor management of the athletic department may well mean we have to endure another year of Whorf.
The Hoosiers are going to have to win the Big Ten tournament to get to the NCAA, and if they don't they may not be able to even make the NIT. This team has suffered from poor coaching and poor play all season. But the one thing that really has given me the red ass is that Davis has continually called out Bracey Wright, then turned around and let him shoot a hundred times a game, called out the other players as dumb, but doesn't yank them, then turns around and says he is to blame. You can't have it both ways coach. You can't call out the players AND take the blame. It's one or the other.
Davis is an incompetent coach and his dismissal is long overdue. Indiana needs to clean house of anything that was ever connected to Bob Knight. I know his reach is far in college basketball, but that cancer has to be cut out. Knight started taking this program down in 1994. Davis is finishing the job. Now it is time to finish Davis .
Tuesday, March 9, 2004
Indy News
Well that brilliant guy we know as Tony George is at it again. He says he is considering shortening the month of May even further and possibly reducing the field for the 500.
He says he is concerned that their is a lack of quality cars at the back of the fields and he wants to reduce that. Well dipshit, how about if you go out and find some sponsors and some drivers and teams and bulk up your series.
This dolt says it is the economy and that even NASCAR is suffering. Well who gives a shit about NASCAR. I swear every time that moron opens his mouth he just makes a bigger fool of himself. Why don't he just shut the hell up?!
He says he is concerned that their is a lack of quality cars at the back of the fields and he wants to reduce that. Well dipshit, how about if you go out and find some sponsors and some drivers and teams and bulk up your series.
This dolt says it is the economy and that even NASCAR is suffering. Well who gives a shit about NASCAR. I swear every time that moron opens his mouth he just makes a bigger fool of himself. Why don't he just shut the hell up?!
Australian Grand Prix Wrap
One down, 17 to go for the F1 boys. Unfortunately, it looks like if you are not Rubens or Michael Schumacher it is going to be a long season. Ferrari simply dominated the weekend at Melbourne.
Taking fast times in all of the practices and the front row in qualifying they backed it up with an impressive 1-2 finish in the Australian Grand Prix. Fernando Alonso managed to grab the final podium position. Ralfie was fourth and Juan fifth.
The biggest story other than the Scuderia domination was probably the outcry over the qualifying procedure. Nearly every team complained of the new rules and even Bernie himself thinks a change may have to take place to keep viewers. Most were unhappy about the fact they had to run two laps in 90 minutes and the first one really didn’t count and no changes could be made. However the Bernie has decided there will be no change until at least the fourth race at Imola.
So now it is back to the drawing board for everyone except Ferrari. Williams was never a factor, Renault probably had as good of a day as they could expect with their 3rd and seventh place finishes. Takuma Sato and Jensen Button brought the BAR’s home in ninth and sixth respectively, which should have made them happy. Coulthard was eighth and has been crying like a little baby since the weekend over the lack of car he perceives to have. His team mate Raikkonen failed to finish and ended up dead last.
No teams lost both of their cars in the race, although Minardi’s team of Baumgartner and Gimmi Bruni were close as Baumgartner went out and Bruni was down 15 laps after long delays in the pits.
Frankly it was a crappy race. Juan got punted early trying to hold of Alonso and with that the Ferrari’s took off. Next it is off to Kuala Lumpur and the Malaysian Grand Prix. It’s a fast track with three slow corners.
Temperatures are usually high and could play a part in engine reliability. However, unless the teams can figure out how to match Ferrari’s pace, it is going to be a long season.
Taking fast times in all of the practices and the front row in qualifying they backed it up with an impressive 1-2 finish in the Australian Grand Prix. Fernando Alonso managed to grab the final podium position. Ralfie was fourth and Juan fifth.
The biggest story other than the Scuderia domination was probably the outcry over the qualifying procedure. Nearly every team complained of the new rules and even Bernie himself thinks a change may have to take place to keep viewers. Most were unhappy about the fact they had to run two laps in 90 minutes and the first one really didn’t count and no changes could be made. However the Bernie has decided there will be no change until at least the fourth race at Imola.
So now it is back to the drawing board for everyone except Ferrari. Williams was never a factor, Renault probably had as good of a day as they could expect with their 3rd and seventh place finishes. Takuma Sato and Jensen Button brought the BAR’s home in ninth and sixth respectively, which should have made them happy. Coulthard was eighth and has been crying like a little baby since the weekend over the lack of car he perceives to have. His team mate Raikkonen failed to finish and ended up dead last.
No teams lost both of their cars in the race, although Minardi’s team of Baumgartner and Gimmi Bruni were close as Baumgartner went out and Bruni was down 15 laps after long delays in the pits.
Frankly it was a crappy race. Juan got punted early trying to hold of Alonso and with that the Ferrari’s took off. Next it is off to Kuala Lumpur and the Malaysian Grand Prix. It’s a fast track with three slow corners.
Temperatures are usually high and could play a part in engine reliability. However, unless the teams can figure out how to match Ferrari’s pace, it is going to be a long season.
Friday, March 5, 2004
2004 F1 Season Preview
All the previews are in and it is time to go racing for the F1 boys! Starting this weekend in Melbourne, new team configurations, rules and cars will be pushed to the limit to give an early glimpse into how the 2004 FIA World Championship will shake out.
While next year will offer the most intriguing driver changes, the fact that some of those changes are already known could play a part in this seasons action. Williams may actually feature two lame duck drivers if Ralfie boy doesn’t get his contract with Frank Williams worked out. David Coulthard will be departing McLaren after the season and I don’t see him taking a second class ride so I think he will retire. And what of Michael Schumacher? At age 35 he is old by F1 driver standards but he doesn’t seem to have missed a beat. Will he retire at the end of the season? I doubt it, but if he wins the title he just might.
Elsewhere, only Renault seems set with its lineup for the foreseeable future. A change the fans will notice is the weekend schedule. Last year’s Friday morning (Thursday at Monaco) practice is gone. Some of the teams at the back of the grid who gained experience with those sessions will suffer this loss the most. There will be two one-hour sessions on Friday in which all teams except the top 4 from last season will be able to run three cars. In fact, that third car can sport alternate livery of the team Saturday will feature 2 45 minute practice sessions followed by 2 qualifying sessions.
The qualifying sessions will follow last years guidelines i.e. one lap per car in the first session and those times will determine the order of the second session which will also be one lap. The other big weekend change is the “one engine” rule. If a driver ruins an engine prior to qualifying he will be charged 10 positions on the starting grid for a replacement. If it happens in qualifying or after, he will have to start at the rear of the grid.
Also, launch control and automatic transmissions have been outlawed this year.
Finally, the season has been changed. Despite the Concorde Agreement’s mandate of a maximum of 16 races, this season will feature 18 races with new stops at Bahrain and in China. The Canadian stop, originally thought to be gone was reinstated as was Belgium after a one year hiatus. The US race has been moved to June and the Brazil race is now the season ender.
So what does it all mean? Are we going to have any surprises this season? My thoughts are this: Unfortunately I don’t see any team beating Ferrari for the championship. And having said that it is tough to pick against Schumacher to win his seventh title. Honestly I don’t think Juan will have much incentive to get his team the title although he sounds like he is focused and ready to do the job. Ralfie sucks and wouldn’t win against me. Kimi Raikkonen and David Coulthard are a little more intriguing. Raikkonen was only 2 points back at the end of the season last year and you know he wants to get a title this year to lord over Juan when he gets there next year. And Coulthard wants to show the team they are making a mistake by letting him go. Unfortunately theirs may come down to a car issue. The McLaren is always a thing of beauty, but the Mercedes engine winds so high. It has been detuned to help it last the weekend, but at what cost? Renault will have a say so in some races, but I don’t feel they are ready yet to challenge for the constructors or drivers titles.
Here are my predictions for the 2004 season… World Champion – Michael Schumacher Runner up – Juan Montoya Third – Rubens Barichello Constructor Champion – Ferrari Runner up - Williams – BMW Third – Renault Fourth – McLaren-Mercedes Fifth – BAR – Honda Sixth – Toyota Seventh – Sauber Eighth – Jordan Ninth – Jaguar Tenth - Minardi Enjoy the season, stay tuned for more and I’ll see you at Indy in June!
While next year will offer the most intriguing driver changes, the fact that some of those changes are already known could play a part in this seasons action. Williams may actually feature two lame duck drivers if Ralfie boy doesn’t get his contract with Frank Williams worked out. David Coulthard will be departing McLaren after the season and I don’t see him taking a second class ride so I think he will retire. And what of Michael Schumacher? At age 35 he is old by F1 driver standards but he doesn’t seem to have missed a beat. Will he retire at the end of the season? I doubt it, but if he wins the title he just might.
Elsewhere, only Renault seems set with its lineup for the foreseeable future. A change the fans will notice is the weekend schedule. Last year’s Friday morning (Thursday at Monaco) practice is gone. Some of the teams at the back of the grid who gained experience with those sessions will suffer this loss the most. There will be two one-hour sessions on Friday in which all teams except the top 4 from last season will be able to run three cars. In fact, that third car can sport alternate livery of the team Saturday will feature 2 45 minute practice sessions followed by 2 qualifying sessions.
The qualifying sessions will follow last years guidelines i.e. one lap per car in the first session and those times will determine the order of the second session which will also be one lap. The other big weekend change is the “one engine” rule. If a driver ruins an engine prior to qualifying he will be charged 10 positions on the starting grid for a replacement. If it happens in qualifying or after, he will have to start at the rear of the grid.
Also, launch control and automatic transmissions have been outlawed this year.
Finally, the season has been changed. Despite the Concorde Agreement’s mandate of a maximum of 16 races, this season will feature 18 races with new stops at Bahrain and in China. The Canadian stop, originally thought to be gone was reinstated as was Belgium after a one year hiatus. The US race has been moved to June and the Brazil race is now the season ender.
So what does it all mean? Are we going to have any surprises this season? My thoughts are this: Unfortunately I don’t see any team beating Ferrari for the championship. And having said that it is tough to pick against Schumacher to win his seventh title. Honestly I don’t think Juan will have much incentive to get his team the title although he sounds like he is focused and ready to do the job. Ralfie sucks and wouldn’t win against me. Kimi Raikkonen and David Coulthard are a little more intriguing. Raikkonen was only 2 points back at the end of the season last year and you know he wants to get a title this year to lord over Juan when he gets there next year. And Coulthard wants to show the team they are making a mistake by letting him go. Unfortunately theirs may come down to a car issue. The McLaren is always a thing of beauty, but the Mercedes engine winds so high. It has been detuned to help it last the weekend, but at what cost? Renault will have a say so in some races, but I don’t feel they are ready yet to challenge for the constructors or drivers titles.
Here are my predictions for the 2004 season… World Champion – Michael Schumacher Runner up – Juan Montoya Third – Rubens Barichello Constructor Champion – Ferrari Runner up - Williams – BMW Third – Renault Fourth – McLaren-Mercedes Fifth – BAR – Honda Sixth – Toyota Seventh – Sauber Eighth – Jordan Ninth – Jaguar Tenth - Minardi Enjoy the season, stay tuned for more and I’ll see you at Indy in June!
Monday, March 1, 2004
2004 IRL Season Opener
Congrats to Sam Hornish Jr. for his win in yesterday’s IRL season opener at Homestead. Sam waged a great battle with Julio before taking the lead on the last lap in his first race as Julio’s team mate and collecting $115,800. Dan Weldon, Tora Takagi and Tomas Scheckter rounded out the top 5.
Once again the margin of victory was well under a second. There were 15 lead changes among 8 drivers. Robbie Buhl managed to come home in 10th, but for a long time it seemed like he might be a top 5. While watching the race we thought he was doing fine and the next thing you know he was 10th. Apparently the car lost a gear on their last pit stop. Buhl had a pretty good drive. He kept the car on the track and managed to finish on the lead lap. I’ve got to feel that the team will be a little disappointed with the finish, but they should be happy with the overall race and drive.
The real disappointment had to come from Scott Dixon and Dario Franchitti. Dixon was fighting for the lead with Sam and Julio when the cars started to make green flag pit stops on lap 87. Dixon spun around coming into the pits and made a lot of contact with the pit lane attenuator spraying sand and parts all over the track. 17 laps later Franchitti slammed his racer into the 4th turn wall. Neither Dixon nor Franchitti were hurt in their accidents.
Alex Baron who started 2nd also found the wall on lap 126 and rookie Mark Taylor crashed the Menards car on lap 39. Both Taylor and Baron were uninjured as well.
Some other notable items were Scheckter keeping his car intact, little AJ moving up 4 spots only because of the crashes and having his engine expire 10 laps from the finish and polesitter Buddy Rice coming home 7th. As for Scheckter it is always news when he doesn’t hit anything. AJ might as well give up. Even if AJIV was up to the challenge, the cars aren’t. They are the worst team in the league with no prospects of getting any better anytime soon. They are pathetic.
Crowd wise it looked pretty good on TV. The main stands looked about 95% full and overall it looked like about a 65% turnout. The weather looked great and as usual, the IRL put on a great show for the fans.
Once again the margin of victory was well under a second. There were 15 lead changes among 8 drivers. Robbie Buhl managed to come home in 10th, but for a long time it seemed like he might be a top 5. While watching the race we thought he was doing fine and the next thing you know he was 10th. Apparently the car lost a gear on their last pit stop. Buhl had a pretty good drive. He kept the car on the track and managed to finish on the lead lap. I’ve got to feel that the team will be a little disappointed with the finish, but they should be happy with the overall race and drive.
The real disappointment had to come from Scott Dixon and Dario Franchitti. Dixon was fighting for the lead with Sam and Julio when the cars started to make green flag pit stops on lap 87. Dixon spun around coming into the pits and made a lot of contact with the pit lane attenuator spraying sand and parts all over the track. 17 laps later Franchitti slammed his racer into the 4th turn wall. Neither Dixon nor Franchitti were hurt in their accidents.
Alex Baron who started 2nd also found the wall on lap 126 and rookie Mark Taylor crashed the Menards car on lap 39. Both Taylor and Baron were uninjured as well.
Some other notable items were Scheckter keeping his car intact, little AJ moving up 4 spots only because of the crashes and having his engine expire 10 laps from the finish and polesitter Buddy Rice coming home 7th. As for Scheckter it is always news when he doesn’t hit anything. AJ might as well give up. Even if AJIV was up to the challenge, the cars aren’t. They are the worst team in the league with no prospects of getting any better anytime soon. They are pathetic.
Crowd wise it looked pretty good on TV. The main stands looked about 95% full and overall it looked like about a 65% turnout. The weather looked great and as usual, the IRL put on a great show for the fans.
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