Author: Pat W

IndyCar Preview – St Petersburg 2009

After the interminable wait this off-season we’ve reached the end of the long road, we’re at the first IndyCar race of the year! Much like the F1 last week it doesn’t seem quite true just yet, and I guess it only will when I see cars on track.

IRL IndyCar Series
– Honda Grand Prix of St.Petersburg (1/17)
– St Petersburg, Florida, United States
– www.indycar.com

Circuit
The first race of the year is on the part street, part airport circuit by the seafront at St Pete, Florida. I’ve been to St Pete and stood on the top of the pier tower, you can see the airport from it but I had no idea there was racing on it back in 1997 when I was there – and perhaps at that time there wasn’t. It’s a good little city.

The track itself is very bumpy and quite short, and the walls of the street section are very unforgiving indeed, much more so than most US street tracks in my opinion and this may be due to the narrowness. Yet it is also a very quick track which makes threading the needle very difficult and a nice challenge to set for the first race weekend of the year – a good choice.

Form
Very hard to call this one given the lack of testing but you’d be foolish to rule out ‘the usual suspects’ of Ganassi and Penske, yet Wilson seems to be running very well in the Coyne car. AGR seems to have fallen back a way while NHL may well have leapfrogged them – be sure to watch both of their cars not just Rahal, because Doornbos will go well.

Rookies
The rookie of the year battle is going to be between Doornbos and Conway. Doornbos is far too experienced to be a rookie so he’ll win it comfortably. I know a lot of people are tipping Matos but I know very little of the guy and unlike the other two he may not have the experience of the big cars, although obviously the aforementioned two don’t have any oval experience so they may lose out there. Top rookie in St Pete? Doornbos.

Championship
I think it’ll be between Dixon, Franchitti and Briscoe. There will be a lot of different winners during the year and some of those underdog guys will shine, like Meira who SURELY must get his first win this season?? He’s good enough for a win, maybe not a title but certainly several wins over a few years. It’ll be interesting to watch Wheldon at Panther and to see if Manning and others can secure long-term deals.

Indy
I know it’s only a month until May but in terms of race it is WAAY too early to be talking about who’ll be running well at Indy!

TV Coverage

UK TV: LIVE on Sky Sports Xtra at 7.30pm BST!
In Britain the coverage remains with Sky Sports, either on SS3 or SS Xtra. I believe most if not every race will be live. A good result and ironically better than Canada – except that I don’t have Sky so I’ll probably be watching via IndyCar.com.

US TV: LIVE on VERSUS at 2pm ET!
(and don’t forget the all new qualifying show at 5pm Saturday, show your interest and help get qualifying aired live – if they see the interest they’ll be persuaded)

Don’t forget the race replay on Monday night if you either miss the live run, or want to catch it again to pick up some details. Versus also carry the Indy Lights race highlights on Monday night.


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Finally, be sure to check out their YouTube channel! They’ve got some cool stuff on there including questions with Graham Rahal – questions posed by fellow bloggers! I’ve subscribed and you should too.

These guys at Versus seem to “get it” so let’s help them push this.

* * *
That’s my Friday night blogging mini-marathon done, enjoy the racing and I’ll see you around the ‘net.

Weekend Preview: 4-5 April 2009

Here it is people, it all kicks off this weekend! Tons and tons of racing!

* * * *
Feature Event

FIA Formula 1 World Championship
– Petronas Malaysian Grand Prix (2/17)
– Sepang International Circuit
– Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia
– www.formula1.com
– Track Map

Please see my F1 Preview here.

Support events:
GP2 Asia Series (x2); Formula BMW Pacific (x2);

A much quieter support card to Australia. GP2 Asia is holding rounds 9 and 10 of the winter series with just one double-header remaining in Bahrain (again supporting F1).
FBMW Pacific kicks off their year here this weekend.

* * *
Other Events:

IRL IndyCar Series
– Honda Grand Prix of St.Petersburg (1/17)
– St Petersburg, Florida, United States
– www.indycar.com

Please see my IndyCar preview which follows imminently!

UK TV: Race LIVE on Sky Sports Xtra from 7.30pm BST Sunday.
US TV: Qualifying recap at 5pm ET Saturday.
Race LIVE on VERSUS from 2pm ET Sunday, race starts at 3.

Support races: Firestone Indy Lights (x2)

American Le Mans Series
– Acura Sports Car Challenge of St.Petersburg (2/10)
– St Petersburg, Florida, United States
– www.americanlemans.com

A very low entry of just 17 cars is a cause for concern with just 6 prototypes and no GT1 cars. GT2 is the battle to watch here.

UK TV: Race DELAYED by one day, from 3.00pm BST Sunday.
US TV: Race LIVE on ABC from 1.30pm ET Sunday.

Le Mans Series
– 1000km of Barcelona (1/5)
– Circuit de Catalunya
– Barcelona, Spain
– www.lemans-series.com/

The European endurance racing season gets going with an entry list of 43 cars this weekend! Aston Martin are currently topping the times in the absence of Peugeot and Audi, which means the LMP1 entry is fairly thin in number compared to last year – but it does boast Aston, Pescarolo and the two Kolles Audi R10s.

UK TV: The start can be seen LIVE on Eurosport at 10.15am BST for 45 minutes, with further coverage at 11.45am for 30 minutes. There will be highlights at 11pm. Eurosport are busy with GP2 Asia, World Rally, Superbikes, cycling and European basketball so they really had to fit in what was a late deal wherever they could.

NASCAR Sprint Cup
– Samsung 500 (7/36)
– Texas Motor Speedway
– Fort Worth, Texas, United States
– www.nascar.com

Yet another 500, they seem to have a lot of them in NASCAR. Didn’t 500 mile races used to mean something?

UK TV: TAPE DELAYED on Sky Sports Xtra from 10pm BST Sunday.
US TV: LIVE on FOX from 1:30pm ET Sunday.

The reason for the UK tape delay? SSX is showing IndyCars at St Pete live instead! Three cheers for the ICS bumping Cup! Hooray!

Support races: Nationwide Series (Saturday)

FIA World Rally Championship
– Rally de Portugal (4/12)
– Vilamoura, Portugal
– www.wrc.com

Intercontinental Rally Challenge
– Safari Rally (3/12)
– Nairobi, Kenya
– www.ircseries.com

Formula Nippon
– Fuji (1/8)
– Fuji, Japan
Support races: Japanese Formula 3;

HiQ MSA British Touring Car Championship
– Brands Hatch Indy (1/10)
– Brands Hatch (Indy)
– Kent, England, UK
– www.btcc.net

Time for some proper tin-top wheel banging! The BTCC season opens on the one mile Indy configuration of Brands Hatch, with the three fast and frenetic 20 minute BTCC races and a packed support card.

UK TV: LIVE on ITV4 from 11.45am Sunday with uninterrupted coverage until 6pm including a whole bunch of support races.

The reason for the UK tape delay? SSX is showing IndyCars at St Pete live instead! Three cheers for the ICS bumping Cup! Hooray!

Support races: Porsche Carrera Cup GB, Formula Renault UK, Renault Clio Cup UK, Ginetta G50, Ginetta Juniors

* * * *
Hectic!!

I think that covers everything, please add your comments if you find anything more!

F1 Preview: Malaysian Grand Prix 2009

Welcome to the slightly delayed preview to the Malaysian GP!

* * * *
FIA Formula 1 World Championship
– Formula 1 Petronas Malaysian Grand Prix (2/17)
– Sepang International Circuit
– Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia
– www.formula1.com
– F1.com track map
– Live timing (Java required, free registration required, worth it)

Circuit
Check the track map link above to see the three official timing sectors.

We move from the stop/start part-street track of Albert Park to the very fast, very open Sepang, sited adjacent to KL International Airport some 20 miles from KL itself.

Sepang joined the calendar for the 1999 season and was the first of the ‘Tilkedromes’, those circuits penned by the track architect Herman Tilke who has become the F1 track designer of choice. It set the tone for his later circuits including Bahrain, Shanghai and Istanbul. Features include an exceptionally wide racing surface, a very long wide pitlane and a large central grandstand with local styling cues.

The signature corner on this circuit is turn one, an ever-tightening right-hander leading into a very tight switchback to the left. Accidents are common here and drivers will need to keep their elongated noses clean. Tilke used a similar corner design twice for Shanghai, at the first corner and at the corner on to the long straight.

The track as a whole is very fast and flowing for the most part, with a couple of harder braking areas producing potential overtaking spots, as well as the two very long straights either side of the central grandstand – these straights ought to be ideal for those running KERS.

This track was very smooth for the first several runnings but in the last couple of years several bumps have appeared – many drivers and F1 analysts have perhaps unkindly stated this brings the circuit some much-needed character!

The overbearing heat is frequently the topic of the weekend with team personnel and media alike hiding away in the air conditioning of the paddock buildings (no such luck for the spectators). This year though, the 5pm start should negate some of this but it will bring another problem: rain. Typically after the race is over, usually 5.30pm local, and the sun begins to set, the track is engulfed in a tropical rain shower – this year the race begins at 5pm and the forecast is for rain. Last time we had heavy rain at Sepang it caused utter chaos with cars off the track at all angles.

Form
BrawnGP are the clear favourites after their performance last weekend however the race pace of the Toyotas and BMWs, and Vettel’s Red Bull, should not be underestimated. Neither should Hamilton’s McLaren. There is also the question of how the various combinations of KERS and diffusers – or lack thereof – will work at a very different circuit to Albert Park. Already in practice Kimi Raikkonen’s KERS battery has come to a smoking halt, will the heat of Sepang prove too much for KERS?


UK TV
Q: BBC One will air Qualifying live at 9am BST Saturday, session begins at 10am.
R: BBC One will air the Race live at 9am BST Sunday, race starts at 10am.
H: BBC Three will air 1hr Highlights at 7pm BST Sunday.

US TV
Q: Speed will air Qualifying semi-live at 5am ET.
R: Speed will air the Race live at 4:30am ET with the race to start at 5am. Rerun at 1:30pm.
– Canada should get coverage on TSN featuring BBC commentary, you may find Speed is blacked out.

Note for US viewers: Speed builds in a delay during qualifying coverage in order to fit in as many advertisements as possible. This completely screws up your chances of following live timing as well as ensuring anyone following F1 updates on Twitter gets spoilers 10 to 15 minutes ahead of seeing it on their TV screen. I don’t yet know if they do this for the race – either way, I urge you to complain!
Live Comments
I will be at Sidepodcast.com for qualifying and the race, and probably for the IndyCar race too (if they decide to live comment it). Fire up the Live Commenting Live..Thing at the appointed time, join the appropriate thread at the top of the screen, enter your name and then just type away! You’re welcome to join us as long as you keep the sweary exclamations away.

I’ll also be commenting on Twitter from time to time, but since I’ll be focussing on writing my race notes I may be fairly quiet.

Support events
GP2 Asia Series; Formula BMW Pacific;

Hamilton’s Exclusion

The FIA race stewards in Malaysia have reopened last weekend’s issue of Jarno Trulli’s penalty for passing under Safety Car conditions. I can’t say I ever recall the stewards of one meeting ruling on the events of another, particularly as in F1 the three ruling stewards frequently change from race to race. They say this is to avoid accusations of bias but it leads to inconsistent decision making which makes the FIA look foolish and ineffective.

Of the three stewards in Australia two are present in Malaysia so they can be reasonably familiar with the circumstances.

In the initial stewards’ meeting last week both Hamilton and team manager Dave Ryan told the stewards (and Race Director Charlie Whiting) that no instruction had been given to Hamilton to let Trulli pass him, after Trulli had fallen off the racetrack and lost the position.
This being the case, the stewards gave Trulli the penalty for re-taking that position illegally under the Safety Car.

There was an instruction given over the radio. Lewis himself confirmed it to the media after the race, but before the stewards’ meeting. It now transpires that the stewards did not have access to McLaren team radio, else they would have heard the radio call giving Hamilton the instruction, hence Trulli’s penalty.

The decision this weekend is two-fold:
– cancel Trulli’s penalty, reinstating him to 3rd ahead of Hamilton;
– remove Hamilton from the results because he misled the stewards of the race meeting;

I agree with what has been done here. All too often in the past we have been left with decisions made in previous races which are later disproven when further evidence comes to light – and no correction is made. A lot of fuss was made about this last season and the FIA promised something would be done, and to their credit they have done it.

Perhaps they could now take another look at the Vettel/Kubica incident and cancel Seb’s penalty which seemed to be awarded based entirely on his admission of guilt rather than any examination of the evidence.

Revised results:
1. Button (Brawn) 58 laps
2. Barrichello (Brawn) +0.8s
3. Trulli (Toyota) +1.6s
4. Glock (Toyota) +4.4s
etc.
Excluded: Hamilton (McLaren)

Championship

Drivers (Revised)
10 Button
8 Barrichello
6 Trulli
5 Glock
4 Alonso
3 Rosberg
2 Buemi
1 Bourdais

Compared to the standings following Trulli’s penalty, this ‘correction’ simply deletes Hamilton and inserts Trulli in his place.

Constructors (Revised)
18 BrawnGP-Mercedes
11 Toyota
4 Renault
3 Williams-Toyota
3 Toro Rosso-Ferrari

Not only does this significantly change Toyota’s score, it means both McLaren and Ferrari have yet to score!