APRIL 24, 2024
Sunday, April 21, 2024 at 08:27AM 
Scott Dixon (No. 9 Chip Ganassi Racing PNC Bank Honda) proved yet again Sunday that almost nothing is impossible for him behind the wheel of a race car, winning the Acura Long Beach Grand Prix with a dramatic blend of patience and aggression over the closing laps. Nobody in the NTT INDYCAR SERIES saves fuel better than Dixon, and he drove the last 34 laps of the 85-lap street race on one tank of Shell 100% Renewable Race Fuel to hold off a hard-charging Colton Herta (No. 26 Andretti Global Gainbridge Honda) – who was on a more conventional, less risky fuel strategy – by .9798 of a second. “That was tough; that was really tough,” Dixon said. “Honestly, I didn’t think we were going to make it, and they kept giving me a (fuel) number, and it just wasn’t getting... I was close but not enough. Luckily, we were on the safe side there.” Dixon, who started eighth, even had enough fuel left in his Honda engine to perform a celebratory burnout after claiming his first victory of the season and the 57th win of his legendary career. It was his second victory on the 11-turn, 1.968-mile Long Beach temporary street circuit, joining his triumph in 2015. Reigning series champion Alex Palou finished third in the No. 10 Chip Ganassi Racing DHL Honda. Series points leader Josef Newgarden (No. 2 Team Penske Hitachi Chevrolet) placed a disappointing fourth after looking to be Dixon’s biggest threat until Herta made contact with him late in the race. Marcus Ericsson rounded out the top five in the No. 28 Andretti Global Delaware Life Honda, as that team and Chip Ganassi Racing each claimed two of the top five finishing positions. Watch the Extended Race Highlights from Motorsports on NBC here. (Thank you to IMSA Media)
Max Verstappen (No. 1 Oracle Red Bull Racing) converted pole position into victory in a Chinese Grand Prix full of incidents and overtakes, leading home McLaren’s Lando Norris (No. 4 McLaren Formula 1 Team) and Red Bull team mate Sergio Perez (No. 11 Oracle Red Bull Racing) to make it four wins from five races so far this season. Verstappen led the vast majority of the race at the Shanghai International Circuit that featured a Virtual Safety Car and two full Safety Car periods, the Dutchman keeping his cool at the front as the drama unfolded behind him. Norris was one of three drivers, along with Charles Leclerc (No. 16 Scuderia Ferrari) and Carlos Sainz (No. 55 Scuderia Ferrari), to make just one pit stop, having benefitted from the VSC and Safety Car phases to jump Perez for second position, which he managed to hold to the finish. Watch the Race Highlights here. (Thank you to Formula1.com)
Sebastien Bourdais and Renger van der Zande (No. 01 Chip Ganassi Racing-prepared Cadillac Racing Cadillac V-Series.R) took home the Grand Touring Prototype (GTP) class and overall honors in Saturday's Acura Grand Prix of Long Beach, Round 3 of the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship season. For IMSA’s GTP class, it’s the second consecutive year three different manufacturers have won the first three races. Last year it was Acura, Cadillac and Porsche in that order, and this year it’s Porsche, Acura and Cadillac. Behind the pair of Cadillacs on Saturday were three Porsche 963s. The championship-leading pair of Felipe Nasr and Dane Cameron in the No. 7 Porsche Penske Motorsport Porsche 963 finished third ahead of the sister No. 6 car and the customer No. 5 Proton Competition entry. The WeatherTech Championship returns to California from May 10-12 for the Motul Course de Monterey Powered by Hyundai N at WeatherTech Raceway Laguna Seca. Watch the Extended Race Highlights from Motorsports on NBC here. (Thank you to Tony DiZinno/IMSA Wire Service)
(IMSA)
Lexus fielded a special entry in the Grand Touring Daytona (GTD) class of the Acura Grand Prix of Long Beach, carrying the No. 89 to signify 1989, the year the brand debuted in America. Parker Thompson and Ben Barnicoat helped the now-well-established auto manufacturer celebrate that 35-year milestone by driving the No. 89 Vasser Sullivan Lexus RC F GT3 to the GTD class victory in the first sprint race of the 2024 IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship season. They won by 1.449 seconds over Robby Foley and Patrick Gallagher in the No. 96 Turner Motorsport BMW M4 GT3. The No. 32 Korthoff/Preston Motorsports Mercedes-AMG GT GT3 qualified sixth, led briefly during the pit stop exchange, and finished third in the hands of Mikael Grenier and Mike Skeen. The next round of the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship is the Motul Course de Monterey Powered by Hyundai N, May 10-12 at WeatherTech Raceway Laguna Seca. GTD PRO will rejoin the fray for a bill, along with the Grand Touring Prototype (GTP) and GTD classes. (Thank you to John Oreovicz/IMSA Wire Service)
The April 18 RRDC Evening with Sir Jackie Stewart Presented by Firestone drew a crowd of well over 400 guests that included champion racing drivers, industry leaders, sanctioning group representatives and other icons of the racing world. The 14th annual banquet celebrating the legends of motorsport honored the three-time Formula 1 World Champion at a banquet held at the Long Beach Hilton Hotel prior to the running of the 49th Acura Grand Prix of Long Beach. All proceeds from the evening, including from the live and silent auctions, will benefit Stewart's Race Against Dementia, Team USA Scholarship, and The Mark Donohue Foundation, which supports the RRDC's SAFEisFAST initiative. The event honors auto racing's most influential leaders, which have included Dan Gurney, Parnelli Jones, Roger Penske, Jim Hall, Brian Redman, Mario Andretti, Bobby Unser, George Follmer, Emerson Fittipaldi, Johnny Rutherford, David Hobbs, Rick Mears and Jacky Ickx.
"Tonight, we're honoring Sir Jackie Stewart, dubbed the 'Flying Scot' for good reason," said Road Racing Drivers Club president Bobby Rahal in his introduction. "His incredible list of accomplishments includes three Formula 1 World championships – where he held the record for the most wins by an F1 driver for 14 years – and Rookie of the Year honors at the Indianapolis 500 – a race he almost won but was denied by a mechanical failure with eight laps to go. "Alongside his numerous career milestones, Sir Jackie was and is an outspoken advocate for safety in racing, as well as for those battling dyslexia and dementia – funding the global charity Race Against Dementia."
A short video written and voiced by NBC Sports TV commentator Leigh Diffey chronicled Stewart's career, and a "vintage" clip from the Ed Sullivan Show featuring a staged slot-car race among early-era F1 drivers Stewart, Graham Hill, Dan Gurney and Stirling Moss entertained the racing royalty in the audience. Also shown was a dynamic music video featuring Stewart's son Paul as well as accomplished musicians Eric Clapton, Nick Mason and Simon Le Bon providing a glimpse into the life of Sir Jackie Stewart, who was awarded the OBE in 1972 and knighted in 2001.
Rahal then quizzed Stewart, who shared stories of his years with race teams such as BRM, Tyrrell, and others, and recounted tales of his many encounters with other internationally-acclaimed racing drivers, in particular his friend Mario Andretti, who came to the stage. The two bantered about their on- and off-track relationship, with Andretti finally responding with, "Well, Jackie is Jackie. We've known each other for eternity. He's one of the individuals in my life that has inspired me to be a better driver. But our friendship was there from the beginning and it got stronger and stronger as individuals and we look back and reflect on our time together and it brings smiles to our faces. And he has a great sense of humor. He showed that tonight beautifully. "Also, for him to come forward and spend so much time to try to address the dementia situation is a credit to him. We try to participate in our own way to help that aspect. Jackie is a mover and shaker. We talked about the safety aspect of the sport, and how important that was. And now he wants to battle something that's affecting him personally. Good for him."
Said Stewart," I'm very proud that I was invited in the first place and I'm really so happy to have this financial commitment in our fight to Race Against Dementia. It's such an important thing for my whole family, for the world. It's very important. Very big. Thank you for the honor." A "live" painting created in the first two hours of the evening by renowned artist Bill Patterson depicting Stewart's career from 1965 to 1973, featuring his 1965 BRM and 1973 Tyrrell F1 race cars, signed by Stewart, was auctioned off, fetching $26,000. As bidding between two individuals progressed, auctioneer Leigh Diffey offered up a second matching painting, with the approval of the artist, upping the bid for two paintings to $52,000. Top bidders? Mario Andretti! and Scott Borchetta. A silent auction was also held of a number of racing images signed by Stewart.
The stage banner, displayed behind Stewart and Rahal. and the canvas prints of Stewart's Tyrrell F1 car were created by Paul Laguette, whose mother-in-law suffers from dementia. This, and his love of the sport, inspired Laguette to produce these pieces.
Holy Smokes, Batman!
Austin. Enigmatic MotoGP racer Maverick Vinales decimated the field during the RedBull Grand Prix of the Americas weekend in Austin, Texas, by winning both the 10-lap sprint race on Saturday and following up with an even stronger win in Sunday’s Grand Prix. Starting from pole position in both races, he led into turn one in Saturday’s 10-lap race and never relinquished the lead in a display of near perfection. As good as the Saturday version of Vinales was, he was in even better form in Sunday’s Grand Prix, eventually dominating the late stages of what just might go down in MotoGP history as the most exciting race ever. Deciding what’s been the greatest race ever is no different than trying to decide who is the best-looking super model ever — it’s not possible, but this Grand Prix was for sure, the best COTA race ever. By far. It was tense just watching.
Long known for being an ultra-quick, race-winning rider, Vinales also has an unfortunate, but well-earned reputation for inconsistency: winning sometimes, but other times, having slow starts and simply going backwards in races he had a strong chance of winning. By definition, high-performing racers at any level are more complicated than normal, and some require a unique and secret key hidden somewhere in the universe to unlock their potential.
For a brief moment on Sunday, this paradox — Maverick’s inconsistent ability to make results equal of his potential — seemed to be playing out again. In turn one, in second place, Vinales found himself being barged into by an aggressive Pecco Bagnaia. Pushed wide, he became mired back in 11th. It would have been a surprise to no one had his race fallen apart further from there.
But this is a new Maverick, in his third year on the Aprilia RS-GP24, which has suddenly, in his hands, become HIS bike. “Aprilia has worked so hard, and we’ve made many changes. The bike feels so good, I can ride it as fast as I want… I can brake as hard as I want. I am one with the bike.”
With today’s 220mph + MotoGP machines, a rider’s “feel” is perhaps more important than horsepower and everything else. During pre-season testing, Maverick and his Aprilia were not that quick. Several changes later, things started to improve, but the big change came in Portimao, at the second GP. “We changed the setup - weight distribution, and now the bike turns.”
In Portimao, just two weeks ago, Maverick was first in the sprint, but in the GP, when he was fighting Jorge Martin for victory on the last lap, a part of the gearbox failed. It was a heartbreaking DNF, but in hindsight, Vinales’ upbeat demeanor post-race after such a stinging letdown was insight into his new-found confidence. It was almost as if the loss didn’t matter because he knew something no one else did: he thought he could win again. And again. Almost at will.
After Bagnaia’s nudge, (rubbin’ is racin’ as they say in Texas) by the end of lap one, Vinales had moved up to 9th, and from there, continued to slowly and methodically pick off those in front. Never was there a hint of desperation, and never did he look the least bit on edge. This, in an era of MotoGP when aero devices and increased front tire load (resulting in higher tire temps and pressures) make passing more difficult than at any other time in the series’ history. Significantly, COTA is the most demanding circuit on the schedule, too, making Vinales charge from 11th to first by lap 12 (of 20) all the more remarkable.
Finishing second was the rookie Pedro Acosta. The 19-year-old Spanish RedBull KTM prodigy, who was placed into Frenchman Herve Poncharal’s Tech3 GasGas branded KTM satellite team for a “low pressure learning year” has defied all expectations, and then some. After Vinales passed him for the lead on lap 12, Acosta, who “loves to win” realized he could not and showed enormous maturity and intelligence by racing to his own limit, not Vinales’. In truth, Acosta’s race was as excellent as Vinales’ — maybe even more so. He was totally in control and unruffled while leading, and fighting, much of the race, almost like he was born in the lead. Maybe he was, since the next best KTM was the highly regarded Brad Binder in ninth. And this was the second race in a row that Acosta has simply crushed the three other KTM riders. Go figure.
Much of the pre-season talk was about Marc Marquez on a Ducati (and he WILL figure strongly in the Championship, and will win “several” races), the factory Ducati teammates (Enea Bastianini vs. reining double World Champ Pecco Bagnaia) vs 2023 Championship runner up and ultra-quick Jorge Martin on the Pramac Ducati. Pedro Acosta was mentioned as one to watch, and Maverick Vinales was on point to win a few races, maybe, but figure for the Championship? No.
The RedBull GP of the Americas has perhaps turned expectations upside down. The conversations have changed. If Pedro Acosta keeps his head on, and he will because he is a racing genius (yes, it’s only been three MotoGP races, but anyone who is only half a genius can see it), he will be a strong contender for several race wins and will figure strongly in the Championship. But Maverick Vinales and the Aprilia team are just that tiny bit faster, and if they can keep the setup of the RS-GP24 in this magic, golden window, then they are the new favorites. Marc Marquez will figure because he’s Marc Marquez (which is, of course, just an older version of Acosta!)
Of all the pre-season faves, Bagnaia looks to be the one struggling the most. But there are 17 race weekends left, meaning 34 races. A lot can happen in 34 motorcycle races. And if all 34 races are even half as exciting as Austin, and there’s no real reason to think they won’t be, then this might become the best season of MotoGP ever. For real.
Editor's Note: This is our dearly departed billboard, which we had at Road America for several years. Peter gifted the phrase "America's National Park of Speed" to the track, which now uses it proudly in all of its communications. -WG
Editor's Note: Click on "Next 1 Entries" at the bottom of this page to see previous issues. - WG