Racing

IRL

The teams are all heading for Japan this week for the 2nd Bridgestone Japan Indy 300 at the Twin Motegi track. This race marks the end of the 3.4 liter engine as the rules make a change to the 3.0 liter engine beginning with the Indy 500 in May. This was done as a response to the speeds achieved, coupled with the crashes of Kenny Brack at Texas and Tony Renna’s fatal crash at Indy last year. Hopefully this is not just a knee jerk reaction to a couple of bad crashes and the changes made will greatly enhance the safety of the cars.

So far in testing, the new configuration has been safe and effective. Speeds will probably be down, but as I know from experience, when changes are made it is only a matter of time before they are back up. Good luck to all at Japan.

But the IRL has got to do something about the lapse of time between races. It has been nearly a month since Phoenix and it will be more than a month before Indy. This series is on thin ice as it is. It needs to get some momentum going and keep it. If you only race every month, any excitement from the previous race is long gone. TG has the money, unfortunately his brains are bad news. OWRS will be lucky to make it to raceday. Take advantage of them and build your series the right way. You have to forget about the diehard CART fans. They will never be back. But for us fans who are craving Indy Car racing, waiting a month between races is just too much.

One other note about Indy and the IRL. Someone started a thread last week asking what changes people would make if they owned the Speedway and there were no IRL or OWRS. I found it amazing the boobery of many posters. Many wanted to see the Silver Crown cars out there. Some wanted Trans Am races. All I could say as I read the responses was “Thank God these people do not own the track”.

F1

This is one of those rare times in the F1 season that the teams have three weeks between races. This gives everyone a chance to extend their testing sessions. Couple that with the next race being in Europe and this becomes a real chance to gain some ground on Ferrari. Last week the teams were at Barcelona. BAR was your big winner garnering fastest time in almost every days practice. Of note was Scott Dixon’s return to testing. Scott was fast, just a tick off the veterans, most of the sessions. But Thursday’s rain showed Scott has a long way to go on the rain tyres. Friday brought decent results, but mechanical problems slowed his progress. I still expect him to be in the Williams next year, but I think his stock may have fallen just a bit.

This week the teams are at the Paul Ricard circuit in France. Dixon of course will be in Japan so I don’t think he will run. F1 also announced that new safety regulations could be initiated this season. Allegedly the cars are ‘cornering’ too fast and there are safety concerns. Now depending on who you ask, this is nothing more than a move to slow Ferrari down. When it comes down to it, the owners will never agree on any single plan to “increase safety” in the cars. So the FIA will step in and make a rule.

I do not like rule changes in the middle of the season. I am not happy about Ferrari’s dominance, but that is because I am not a Ferrari fan. I certainly admire the fact that they have come out of the gate as strong as they have and have just killed the competition. More on this later.