THE LINE
Tuesday, June 16, 2009 at 09:24AM June 17, 2009
Peugeot, Michelin. Alexander Wurz, David Brabham and Marc Gene drove their No. 9 Peugeot 908 HDi to victory in the 24 Hours of Le Mans last weekend, finally ending Audi's stranglehold on the event. They finished one lap ahead of the No. 8 Peugeot 908 HDi team car driven by Stephane Sarrazin, Sebastien Bourdais and Franck Montagny. As for Audi, Allan McNish, Tom Kristensen and Dindo Capello finished third overall in their No. 1 Audi R15 TDI, seven laps behind the winners, after fighting with an electrical problem late in the race.
Risi Competizione, Ferrari. Risi became the first GT2 team in a decade to repeat in class at the 24 Hours of Le Mans, with Jaime Melo and Mika Salo winning their second straight race and Pierre Kaffer coming home a winner for the first time. The red Risi Ferrari F430 GT led from the sixth hour on after a five-way battle among the best of the GT2 cars. Tracy Krohn, Nic Jonsson and Eric van de Poele finished third in class in the second Risi entry in partnership with Krohn Racing. The green F430 also finished on the class podium in 2007, making it three straight GT2/GT podium finishes for the same entrant, a rare feat at Le Mans. “This is a very special day; winning this again after what we did last year makes it even more so,” said team principal Giuseppe Risi. “To have 10 Ferraris here and have two of our cars placed in the top-three is a simply magnificent result. These are the best teams in the world who race here so it is extremely special to have achieved this outcome, and to have entered the history books as part of Ferrari’s racing folklore. I can’t say enough about it.”
(Ron McQueeney/IRL)
Danica Patrick confers with teammate Tony Kanaan at Milwaukee. The 27-year-old veteran is competing in her fifth season in the IndyCar Series driving the No. 7 Boost Mobile/Motorola Honda-powered Dallara for Andretti Green Racing. Danica opened the 2009 season with four top-five finishes in the first six races - one of only three drivers to do so - and she is now fifth in points, 32 behind series leader Ryan Briscoe. She has made 70 career starts, recording 15 top-five finishes, 41 top-10s and three poles. Patrick was the IndyCar Series Rookie of the Year in 2005, and she became the first woman to win a major closed-course auto race in April 2008 at Twin Ring Motegi in Japan. Danica's future plans are very much the hot topic in racing circles these days, with Robin Miller reporting that Chip Ganassi is working on a deal to add her to his IndyCar team in a third car for 2010. Thanks to the IndyCar Series media folk for providing us with this excerpt from today's IRL teleconference with Danica.
Q: We've got four consecutive races coming up. If you would, tell us about each of those tracks, and how you've done in the past, and what it will take to continue finishing up at the front?
DANICA PATRICK: We have Iowa coming up this weekend. It's been OK there. It's tough to race there. It used to be a tough place to pass because everyone was just running the bottom, and the long way around was the long way around, and you couldn't make up enough ground.
In the last year, you could pass a little bit better on the outside. The car did go off a little bit, and you could pick up some understeer or something like that and it would make it a little easier to pass. But still the high line is a long way around there. It's more of a traditional line than in recent times. So qualifying is really important.
Then we go to Richmond, and it's sort of the same thing. It's difficult to pass at Richmond, even more so really than Iowa I would say.
But we had a little bit of side‑by‑side racing last year because there were more cars and we took up more space on the track. Again, it's going to really, really lend to qualifying well and then just staying up there. So I would say qualifying is going to be important the next two weekends.
Then we go to The Glen. And Watkins Glen is a place where I haven't traditionally done well. We were testing up there last week. The tests went well, and we've made improvements and will continue to make improvements, so I think I'm looking forward to The Glen more so. I really enjoy the permanent road courses we've gone to in the past couple of years. They seem to be more of my strong suit on the road courses.
Then we go to Toronto. A place that is back on the schedule for us that is really exciting. Canadian fans are fantastic fans. They love their racing. They're very educated.
It's also a place that my boss, Mr.(Michael) Andretti has done very well at, and being (the strategist) on my car, that's nice. I look forward to going back there, but I haven't been there in a big car. The last time I was there, I was in Atlantic, so I'm sure it will be quite different.
Q: The big question is this is your contract year that you're doing better than you ever have and it gives you a lot of leverage in a position. Have you given any specific instruction to the folks at IMG about what you want to do in 2010?
DANICA PATRICK: Well, we've definitely had many conversations about what I'm looking for and my goals, and so, we've had a lot of those conversations, but really, it's kind of about collecting information at this point and seeing what our options are, and then we'll talk deeper after that. But at this point in time it's about collecting the information.
Q: What kind of goals do you have in mind? Do you care about sharing those at all?
DANICA PATRICK: I think the most important thing for me is to put myself in a situation where I can win as many races as possible and run up front and be in that competitive situation. That's the most important thing. Because at the end of the day, usually the best press comes when I'm doing things on track. That's really the most important thing for me as a driver. So that's where the ultimate focus is going to go.
Then aside from that and after that there has to be thoughts, to the brand side of the situation, and being able to make the most of myself as an athlete and as an endorser of products and things like that and gaining exposure so that in due time I'm able to explore other things outside of racing maybe even. So, all of that comes afterwards. The most important thing is kicking butt out there.
The 2009 IndyCar Series season continues June 21 with the Iowa Corn Indy 250 at Iowa Speedway. The race will be telecast live in High Definition at 1 p.m. (EDT) by ABC. The race will air live on the IMS Radio Network, XM channel 145 and Sirius channel 211. The radio broadcast also will be carried on www.indycar.com. The 2009 Firestone Indy Lights season continues with the Miller Lite 100 on June 20 at Iowa Speedway. The race will be telecast at 4 p.m. on June 22 by VERSUS.
Will Power. Team Penske confirmed Monday that Will Power will run five more races for the team this season, although the particular races haven't been announced. The 28-year-old Australian filled-in for Helio Castroneves when he was in the midst of his legal troubles, finishing second at St. Petersburg. Power also finished second at Long Beach and fifth at Indianapolis in a third Team Penske Verizon-sponsored machine.
Ford, Chrysler, NASCAR. Publisher's Note: I proposed that NASCAR change its Sprint Cup cars to pony cars - Camaro, Challenger, Mustang and a Toyota T.B.D - over two years ago. Rumors now suggest that NASCAR is considering "allowing" the manufacturers to propose changes to their CoT bodies to accomodate more product identification (as opposed to the zero they have now), without changing the CoT underpinnings. Ford and Chrysler are said to be the leading proponents of this change. Memo to NASCAR: Quit dicking around with this and don't go through one of your painful, excruciatingly slow transitions. Make the change effective beginning for the 2011 season and mandate stock body dimensions while you're at it. I have no interest in being able to say "I told you so," either. I -and countless other racing fans out there - just want you to acquiesce to the obvious and get r done. - PMD
The next import in NASCAR. The other manufacturer interested in NASCAR that Brian France was being coy about? Hyundai.
(Al Merion Photo)
Todd Lamb (No. 84 AMG/Traqmate/Luna-C Racing MX-5), of Atlanta, Ga., swept Rounds Three and Four of the SCCA Pro Racing Playboy Mazda MX-5 Cup double-header at New Jersey Motorsports Park last weekend. The entire podium was intact for both races too as Marc Miller (No. 28 Team MER/MOCA/RaceForAutism/Sparco MX-5), of Holland, Mich., and Justin Piscitell (No. 89 ALARA Racing/DAMG Racing/MAZDASPEED MX-5), of Patterson, N.Y., finished second and third, respectively. The next round of the SCCA Pro Racing Playboy Mazda MX-5 Cup will take place July 17 – 19 at Barber Motorsports Park, in Birmingham, Ala.
Publisher's Note (6/19, 9:45AM): As everyone knows by now, Formula 1 - after years of heavy-handedness and abject stupidity orchestrated by Max Mosley and Bernard Ecclestone - is coming apart. Ferrari, McLaren, Brawn GP, Renault, Toyota, BMW Sauber, Red Bull Racing and Toro Rosso announced plans today to run in a rival series created by the Formula One Teams Association (FOTA) following the total breakdown of acrimonious negotiations with the FIA over a budget cap for next season. The following is a statement about the situation released today by BMW Motorsport Director Mario Theissen. - PMD
“The FOTA teams endeavoured to the very end to reach an agreement, but regrettably the FIA refused to back down from its rigid position, insisting that the teams must first sign up before there could be any negotiations on the rules. This was unacceptable to us.
FOTA therefore has no choice but to press ahead with preparations for an alternative championship. In the series organised by FOTA, the best drivers and the best teams will compete against each other. This will take place within a stable set of regulations and a transparent management structure. We will also take into account the wishes of the fans, who have lent us a great deal of support particularly in recent weeks.
Since its founding in September of last year, FOTA has been committed to cutting costs in Formula One, enhancing its appeal and supporting independent teams. During this short period of time, more has been achieved than ever before in the history of Formula One.
We will not be making any further statements on the matter during this weekend. We want to concentrate fully on the race and provide the fans with the spectacle they deserve.”
See another live episode of "Autoline After Hours" hosted by Autoline Detroit's John McElroy, with Peter De Lorenzo and auto industry PR veteran Jason Vines this Thursday evening, June 18, at 7:00PM EDT at www.autolinedetroit.tv. By the way, if you'd like to subscribe to the Autoline After Hours podcasts, click on the following links:
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