Category: GP2 / F3000

GP2 and F3000

Weekend Preview: 25-26 July 2009

Feature Events

FIA Formula 1 World Championship

– Formula 1 ING Magyar Nagydig
– (ING Formula 1 Hungarian Grand Prix)
– Hungaroring, nr.Budapest, Hungary
– (10/17)
– www.f1.com

F1 returns to the dustbowl of the Hungaroring, where as usual the forecast is for high temperatures. The dust of the surrounding area has a tendency to get all over the track and make grip very hard to come by, it is this in combination with the circuit layout itself that tends to prevent good racing at this notoriously boring race track – though the changes to turn one a few years ago have created a divebomb-braking opportunity for the brave/crazy (if not in the F1 race, definitely in the GP2 support races!).

I am not a fan of this event although it did bring F1 to Eastern Europe as long ago as the mid-1980s, and track improvements over the last two decades have improved racing.. a bit..

TV Guide:
UK – LIVE on BBC One at 12.10pm Sunday, race starts at 1pm
(qualifying on BBC Two at 12.10pm Sat)
USA – HEAVILY DELAYED on FOX at 3pm ET.


IRL IndyCar Series

– Rexall Edmonton Indy
– City Centre Airport, Edmonton, Alberta, Canada
– (11/17)
– www.indycar.com

This is the second visit to Edmonton for the IndyCars but the 5th (I think?) running of the event, with this being a former Champ Car venue – but any advantage the CC guys had has now been erased and there should be a nice level playing field, apart from the actual track surface of this bumpy airport circuit!

Of note this year is the first visit to the circuit of the supporting Indy Lights series.

TV Guide:
UK – LIVE on Sky Sports 2 at 10.45pm Sunday (directly after NASCAR)
USA – LIVE on VERSUS at 5pm ET Sunday


FIM MotoGP

– British Grand Prix
– Donington Park, Castle Donington, England
– (11/17)
– www.motogp.com

The final visit to Donington for the premier motorbike series, for now at least, as it moves in the opposite direction to F1 and will pitch up at Silverstone in 2010, with apparent mixed feelings from the riders. Some love Donny, some can’t wait to leave. I think it makes a great motorbike track with the sweeping curves.

Living in the UK I know the forecast for the weekend. Saturday is due to be warm and sunny so qualifying should be representative – but rain is due to appear for the race on Sunday.

(I can never remember if DP is in Northants or Lincs)

TV Guide:
UK – LIVE on BBC ONE at 3pm Sunday (directly after F1), race start 3.30pm
USA – SPEED claims 6pm ET, which is not possible because the race starts at 8.30pm ET.


Other Events


GP2 Series

– Hungaroring
– Budapest, Hungary
– (6/10)
– www.gp2series.com
– (F1 support with F.Master, FBMW Europe and Porsche Supercup)

TV Guide:
UK – Eurosport 2
– Race 1 @ 4.45pm Saturday (this may be slightly delayed due to MotoGP coverage)
– Race 2 @ 7pm Sunday (very delayed – I can’t see any live coverage)


World Superbikes

– Brno
– Brno, Czech Republic
– www.worldsbk.com
– (with Supersport, etc.)

TV Guide:

UK – Eurosport
– Race 1 LIVE @ 11am Sunday
– Race 2 DELAYED @ either at 3.40pm or 6pm (Eurosport’s website sucks)

NASCAR Sprint Cup

– Allstate 400 at the Brickyard
– Indianapolis Motor Speedway, Speedway, Indiana, United States
– www.nascar.com

TV Guide:
UK – LIVE on Sky Sports 2 at 7pm Sunday
US – LIVE on ESPN at 2pm Sunday


NASCAR Nationwide Series
& NASCAR Camping World Trucks

– O’Reilly Raceway Park
– Indianapolis, Indiana, United States
– www.nascar.com

Firestone Indy Lights

– Edmonton
– Alberta, Canada
– (IndyCar support)

IMSA Atlantics

– Autobahn Country Club
– Joliet, Illinois, United States
(with Star Mazda)


FIA GT

– Total 24 Hours of Spa
– Spa-Francorchamps, Belgium
(with European GT4 and British F3)
– www.fiagt.com


Super GT

– Sugo
– Sugo, Japan


Silverstone Classic

– Silverstone Circuit
– Silverstone, Northants, England, UK

A multitude of historic racing series at what used to be known as the Coys Historic Festival.
Featuring: GP Masters, Pre-66 F1, the David Leslie Memorial Trophy for 90s Tourers, BRDC Historic Sportscars, Classic Group C and a lot more.

TV Guide:
UK – LIVE all weekend on MotorsTV

* * * *

Sources:
Live Sport On TV
RaceFanTV
SkySports.com
Eurosport.co.uk
BBC.co.uk
SpeedTV.com

Weekend Preview: 11-12 July 2009

Feature Events

FIA Formula 1 World Championship

– Grosser Preis Santander von Deutschland (Santander German GP)
– Nürburgring, Germany
– (9/17)
– www.f1.com

We have passed the halfway point of the season and it is time to pay a visit to the Eifel region of Germany and the Nürburgring, which hasn’t seen a Formula 1 race since that wet event of 2007 – after that race the circuit entered into a ‘sharing’ agreement with the Hockenheimring.

Previously both circuits held races in the same season, Hockenheim would take the German GP and Nürburg would take the European GP. This changes when Valencia took the latter title and simultaneously both German tracks realised they were losing a fortune paying Bernie’s fees. This explains why this is only the second German Grand Prix to be held on this iteration of a track called Nürburgring (of course, the old circuit held the German GP for years, as the Eifelrennen).

This track should suit the Brawns more than Silverstone, and should in theory work against Red Bull – but this was before RBR’s pre-Silverstone upgrade, how will that affect them?

Overtaking spots
The first corner is notable for being almost a dead stop (the start will be fun!) and is a good place to try a pass. The other major spot is the chicane at the end of the lap which follows a fast, long run up the hill.

TV Guide:
UK – LIVE on BBC One at 12.10pm Sunday, race starts at 1pm
(qualifying at 12:10pm Saturday)
USA – Delayed? on FOX but I can’t find when

IRL IndyCar Series

– Honda Indy Toronto
– Exhibition Place, Toronto, Canada
– (10/17)
– www.indycar.com

The return of the streets of Toronto to North American after a one year absence due to the series ‘merger’, although the official website incorrectly and very frustratingly refers to this as the ‘inaugural event’, thus completely ignoring the last 23 years (it has been running since 1986). Wasn’t this supposed to be a MERGER??

Still, nice to have it back.

TV Guide:
UK – LIVE on Sky Sports Extra at 6pm Sunday
USA – LIVE on ABC at 1pm ET Sunday

Other Events


NASCAR Sprint Cup

– Lifelock.com 400
– Chicagoland Speedway, Joliet, Illinois, USA
– (19/36)
– www.nascar.com

TV Guide:
UK – LIVE on Sky Sports 2 at 1am Saturday night / Sunday morning
USA – LIVE on TNT at 7.30pm ET Saturday

For all other events I will list the UK time (BST not GMT) and channel only, if you are elsewhere you will have to look it up (check their website).

GP2 Series

– Nürburgring, Germany
– (5/10)
– LIVE on Eurosport: Race 1 Sat @ 3pm, Race 2 Sun @ 10:30am
– www.gp2series.com

Well done to British Eurosport for signing up GP2 after Setanta Sports collapsed! I think only the British arm is covering it so I’m afraid I don’t know the situation elsewhere in Europe.

Intercontinental Rally Challenge

– Rally Russia
– (6/11)
– www.ircseries.com

V8 Supercars

– Townsville, Australia
– (6/14)
– www.v8supercars.com.au

* * * *

Elsewhere in sport don’t forget to keep up with le Tour de France which in the UK can be found nightly at 7pm on ITV4 for the next 2 1/2 weeks. I believe there are copious amounts of coverage on Eurosport too. In the US you can see it on Versus, which curiously also takes Phil Liggett’s commentary (I’m guessing he records links for each network every day because he talks about ITV4 by name on our coverage).

I plan to complete the Goodwood posts during this weekend, then next week will catch up with some race notes because I haven’t done Turkey or Britain yet!
Hopefully soon I will be able to find time to start watching all the other stuff I like to keep up with, which I had to put on hold during my college studies. I am a very long way behind.

Weekend Preview: 20-21 June 2009

Feature Events

FIA Formula 1 World Championship

– Formula 1 Santander British Grand Prix
– Silverstone, Northamptonshire, England, UK
– (9/17)
– 60 laps
– www.f1.com

The final FIA Formula 1 British GP to be held at Silverstone, for the foreseeable future at least, as in 2010 this event is scheduled to move to Donington Park. Irrespective of how Donington will turn out, it will be a shame to leave Silverstone. The facilities for the crowd, the teams and the sponsors are not brilliant yet the actual racetrack is one of the best in the world. I absolutely love that camera position on the fence on the entry to Maggotts/Becketts, you really get a sense of the speed and the rapid direction change of these cars.

Quite what the motorsport landscape will look like by June 2010 is anybody’s guess – which teams will arrive at Donington? Will the circuit even be ready? Will FOTA organise their own British GP, held at Silverstone?

All this is for the future.

For now though, let us focus on this race meeting. We can reasonably expect the Brawns to be strong and today’s times from Free Practice suggest the recent Red Bull updates have strengthened that team. We could be in for a very competitive race!

While this is a home race for Jenson Button, it has historically been one of Rubens Barrichello’s stronger circuits, expect him to come into play here. As for the other teams.. forget it, they are scrapping for minor points.

TV Guide:
UK – LIVE on BBC One at 12.10pm BST (race start 1pm), followed by the F1 Forum on the red button service
USA – DELAYED on FOX at 3pm ET (I’m not sure how much pre-race they’ll have, if none that’s still a SEVEN HOUR tape delay *shocked*)

Support races: GP2 Series, FBMW Europe, Porsche Mobil 1 Supercup, Historic Sportscars

BEFORE THE RACE at about 11am UK be sure to head to www.sidepodcast.com and join the live Parade Lap! It is an online radio show loosely discussing F1 with a laid-back Sunday vibe. It will end as the BBC coverage begins and there is live text commenting! Stick around on the site to live comment the race.

I intend to both live comment the race on SPC, and live tweet on Twitter. If you follow my Twitter account and are located in the US (or elsewhere) and do not wish the result to be spoiled, you should avoid Twitter completely or un-follow me until you have seen the race. Sorry, the live audience isn’t going to wait for you!


IndyCar Series

– Iowa Corn 250 Presented by Pioneer
– Iowa Speedway, Newton, Iowa
– (7/17)
– 250 laps
– www.indycar.com

The return to the fast 7/8ths of a mile oval in the Pressdog’s back yard, Iowa. Check his site for regular updates from the track during and after the weekend!
Iowa is a small oval but it is designed in such a way that the racing and the speeds are as they would be on a superspeedway. Craziness ensues! They haven’t been coming here long but it is turning into a must-see event, unfortunately year 1 was for all the wrong reasons will lots of crashes. Year 2 was much better with close racing everywhere. What will this year bring?

TV Guide:
UK – LIVE on Sky Sports Xtra at 6pm BST
USA – LIVE on ABC at 1pm ET

Support races: Firestone Indy Lights, USAC..something or other

Other Events


NASCAR Sprint Cup

– Toyota / Save Mart 350
– Infineon Raceway, Sears Point, California, USA
– (16/36)
– www.nascar.com

TV Guide:
UK – LIVE on Sky Sports Xtra at 10pm Sunday
USA – LIVE on TNT at 4.30pm ET Sunday

For all other events I will list the UK TV channel only, if you are elsewhere you will have to look it up (check their website).

NASCAR Nationwide & Trucks

– Milwaukee (Saturday on ESPN2 and Friday on SPEED, respectively)


GP2 Series

– Silverstone
– Britain
– (4/10)
– Setanta Sports 1: Feature on Saturday at 2.55pm, Sprint on Sunday at 9.25am (both live)
– www.gp2series.com

FIA Formula 2

– Brno, Czech Republic
– (2/8)
– Eurosport & live web streaming: Race 1 at 11am Saturday, Race 2 at 12.30pm Sunday
– www.formulatwo.com

FIA World Touring Cars

– Marriott Race of the Czech Republic
– Brno, Czech Republic
– (6/12)
– Eurosport: Race 1 at 11.45am, then F2 at 12.30, then Race 2 at 1.45pm(both Sunday)
– www.fiawtcc.com
– with F2, FMaster

FIA GT Championship

– Oscherseleben, Germany
– (3/8)
– Setanta Sports at 10:30am
– www.fiagt.com
– with FIA GT3 European Championship, FIA GT4 European Cup, Formul’Academy, FRenault NEC, ATS F3


Australian V8 Supercars

– Hidden Valley, Australia
– (5/14)
– www.v8supercars.com.au


Grand-Am Rolex Series

– Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course, Lexington, Ohio, USA
– (6/12)
– www.grand-am.com


Super GT

– Sepang, Malaysia
– (4/9)
– www.supergt.net/en


Intercontinental Rally Challenge

– Ypres, Belgium
– (5/12)
– Daily updates on Eurosport
– www.ircseries.com

 

I believe that’s everything, let me know if you spot something else worth noting.

For those in the UK, don’t forget the return of Top Gear on BBC Two at 8pm Sunday!

Finally, if you missed the Jackie Stewart, Jim Clark and Graham Hill docos on BBC Four earlier in the year, as I did, they are repeated in one lump on Saturday night from 8pm. Enjoy!

Weekend Preview: 23-24 May 2009

Feature Events

Formula 1

– Grand Prix de Monaco
– Monte Carlo, Monaco
– (6/17)
– www.f1.com
– Track Map

I will write a full preview shortly.

TV Guide:

UK – LIVE on BBC One at 12:10pm

US – LIVE on SPEED at 7:30am ET

Support races: GP2 Series, FRenault 3.5, Porsche Mobil 1 Supercup

 

IndyCar Series

– Indianapolis 500
– Indianapolis Motor Speedway
– Speedway, Indianapolis, Indiana, United States
– (4/17)
– www.indycar.com

I will write a full preview shortly.

TV Guide:

UK – LIVE on Sky Sports 3 at 6pm BST (GMT+1)

US – LIVE on ABC at 12pm ET

Support races: Firestone Indy Lights (Friday)

Other Events

NASCAR Sprint Cup

– Coca-Cola 600
– Lowe’s Motor Speedway
– Charlotte, South Carolina, USA
– (12/36)
– www.nascar.com

TV Guide:

UK – LIVE on Sky Sports 3 at 10:30pm Sunday

US – LIVE on FOX at 5pm ET Sunday

Support races: Nationwide Series (Saturday)


GP2 & Formula Renault 3.5

– Monaco
– (2/10) & (3/9)
– www.gp2series.com & www.worldseriesbyrenault.com

This is the only event in the year where the two biggest F1 feeder series meet at the same place at the same time. This and the extra F1 running on Thursday causes a scheduling shuffle.

The GP2 Feature Race has already taken place, it was held on Friday morning. The Sprint Race will be held after F1 qualifying on Saturday. Not so long ago GP2 only got one race here, and the extra one was a compromise for giving up a slot to FR3.5 which only has one race this weekend – but it is directly before the F1 race.

GP2 Feature: Friday 11:15am local
F1 qual: Saturday 2pm
GP2 Sprint: Saturday 4pm
FR3.5: Sunday 11:10am
F1 race: 2pm

Also in Monaco: Porsche Supercup


ADAC 24h Rennen Nürburgring
(Nürburgring 24 Hours)

– Nürburgring Nordschleife
– http://adac.24h-rennen.de/en.html

This is one crazy event. If you think a normal 24 hour race is tough, imagine driving the 16 mile Nordschleife + GP circuit combo around the clock!

Not only that but 230 cars are entered for practice and 220 qualify, even on this track that is a lot of cars! The organisers also have to keep track of some 800 drivers…

You should be able to follow the event from 4pm German time (3pm UK) on Saturday via streaming on the above website, and there will be live timing. Best of all, www.radiolemans.com will have commentary!

Among the fastest cars are Porsche GT3s, Ford GTs and the new Audi R8 GT which lap the circuit in eight and a half minutes.

There is a brief history of the event on Wikipedia.


WRC

– Rally D’Italia Sardegna
– Sardinia
– (6/12)
– www.wrc.com


Indy Lights

– Indianapolis Motor Speedway

(held Friday)


British Rally Championship

– Jim Clark Rally


British Superbikes

– Donington Park
– Leicestershire, England, UK

* * *

That’s it, if ever if you think I’ve forgotten something please point it out in the comments. Enjoy your weekend!