Category: IndyCar

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!

Weekend Preview: 9-10 May 2009

Feature Events

FIA Formula One World Championship

– Formula 1 Gran Premio de España Telefonica 2009
– Circuit de Catalunya
– Montmelo, Catalonia, Spain
– (5/17)
– www.formula1.com
– Track Map

The teams have their luxurious motorhomes (palaces?) back, races are at their usual times again, and people actually will actually be on site watching with their eyes – Formula 1 is back in Europe!

Questions to be asked this weekend:

Which teams will choose to run KERS this week? Which teams will have added a new diffuser? Will the crazy-looking wings actually generate passing at what is usually one of the most boring races of the year? This place will be a true test of the new regulations.
Find out on Sunday!

TV Guide:

UK – LIVE on BBC One at 12:10pm with the usual suite of options appearing on the Red Button when the race starts at 1pm.
Qualifying is LIVE on BBC One at 12:10pm Saturday.

US – LIVE on SPEED at 7:30am ET
Qualifying is LIVE on SPEED at 8am Saturday.

Support races: GP2 Series, FBMW Europe, Porsche Mobil 1 Supercup.
The schedule is here and you can convert to your time zone on the sidebar.

You can listen to a short preview of the event here to get up to speed on the current news.

Other Events

IRL IndyCar Series

– Pole Day for the Indy 500
– Indianapolis Motor Speedway
– Speedway, Indiana, USA
– www.indycar.com

Indy’s long qualifying process starts with the big one, qualifying for the top 11 spots including the pole position! The draw for the qualifying order takes place on Friday night with the first car in line due to start the four-lap average from 12pm ET (I believe?).

After the 11th run the ‘bumping’ begins – the field is limited to 11 positions and the slowest gets knocked out on each faster run.

Repeat for positions 12-22 on Sunday and positions 23-33 next Saturday. Yes, this means if you are quick Sunday but not Saturday you might qualify in 12th with a faster time than the guy in 11th…

Finally, next Sunday is the last chance qualifying of Bump Day when whole field is opened up again and the slowest car regardless of position is bumped off the list.

There is copious TV coverage in the US but I’d imagine this one is best followed online using the radio, live timing and all of your Twitter friends!

TV Guide:

US – Versus has a huge level of coverage from 12:00pm to 6:30pm EDT on Saturday and Sunday with the same again for next week’s sessions.

UK and elsewhere – www.indycar.com live streaming video with live timing (go to the main page and check the options)

NASCAR Sprint Cup

– Southern 500
– Darlington Speedway
– Darlington, USA
– (11/36)
– www.nascar.com

This is another Saturday night race.

TV Guide:

UK – LIVE on Sky Sports 2 at 12.00am Saturday night / Sunday morning, repeated on three times across Sky Sports during Sunday.

US – LIVE on FOX at 7pm ET Saturday

Support races: Nationwide Series (Friday)

Le Mans Series

– 1000km of Spa
– Spa-Franchorchamps
– Francorchamps, Belgium
– (2/5)
– www.lemans-series.com

Peugeot rejoin the series in the final European sportscar race before the 24 Hours of Le Mans next month. They’ll be up against the Lola Aston Martins and the Kolles Audis.

The GT2 battle will be as fraught as ever as well!

TV Guide:

UK – Updates on Eurosport at 11:45am (30 mins) and 5pm (1 hr). Pretty shoddy for a six hour race I must say.

Support races: Radical European Masters, Classic Endurance Racing, Formula Le Mans, British GT

GP2 Series

– Circuit de Catalunya
– Montmelo, Catalonia, Spain
– (1/10)
– www.gp2series.com

F1’s feeder series proper gets going after the diversion of the Asia Series. I have to say I need to do some reading up on who is doing what, and which drivers have been promoted from junior categories, because I’m a little bit behind on my GP2 news! Should be fun though.

TV Guide:

UK – Feature race doesn’t seem to be live on Saturday at all, we have to wait until 8am Sunday to watch it on Setanta Sports 1 followed directly by live coverage of the Sprint race.

This is a major step down in coverage compared to what we have been used to – we have had live coverage of the this or its predecessor F3000 for well over a decade, perhaps nearer two decades. This is not good news.

World Superbikes
– Monza, Italy

Don’t follow it so I don’t know…

* * *
Please note there will be no dedicated F1 Preview for the Spanish Grand Prix as regrettably I do not have time to write one. I have a lot of exam and project work to do so the blog will remain quiet for the next couple of weeks – but I will still be updating my Twitter account!

Weekend Preview: 25-26 April 2009

* * * *
Feature Event

FIA Formula 1 World Championship (4/17)
– Gulf Air Bahrain Grand Prix
– Sakhir, Bahrain

Go to the F1 Preview!

Race coverage:
UK: Live on BBC1 @ 12.10pm BST
US: Live on SPEED @ 7.30am EDT

* * *
Other Major International Events:

IRL IndyCar Series
– RoadRunner Turbo Indy 300 (3/17)
– Kansas City, Kansas, USA

Go to the IndyCar preview!

Race coverage:
UK: Live on Sky Sports 2 @ 11.00pm BST
US: Live on VERSUS @ 4pm EDT

MotoGP
– Japanese Grand Prix
– Twin-Ring Motegi, Japan

I can’t say I find Motegi’s watching road course any more enjoyable than its oval.

UK: Live on BBC Two at 6:45am with highlights at 2pm, and a re-run under the Red Button on a rolling loop overnight from 11pm. I expect British Eurosport will run their version as soon as the BBC coverage is scheduled to end.

US: Not sure, probably Speed.

NASCAR Sprint Cup
– Aaron’s 499 (9/36)
– Talledega, Alabama, USA

The taxicabs are on the high banks at Talledega for a long restrictor plate race. What’s the 499 about? It can’t be the mileage because I can’t make the numbers work. It’s a 2.66 mile track. Anyway, restrictor plate tracks are boring, everyone is just waiting for the inevitible huge accident and that’s not fun.

Race coverage:

UK: Live on Sky Sports 2 @ 7pm BST
US: Live on FOX @ 1.00pm EDT Sunday

FIA World Rally Championship
– Rally Argentina (5/12)
– Carlos Paz, Argentina

More dusty gravel.

UK: Eurosport / Dave

* * *
Other Events – check your TV listings:

Grand-Am Rolex Series
– Virginia International Raceway (2/12)
– Virginia, USA

HiQ MSA British Touring Car Championship
– Thruxton (2/10)
– Thruxton, Hampshire, UK

The BTCC’s 2nd meeting of the year is at the fastest track in the UK, if you don’t include the Rockingham oval. There are always issues with punctures and pushing the limits at the ultra-fast Church corner out at the back of the track.

I was all set to attend this meeting but an overdose of college work has prevented it!

UK: Live on ITV4 and at www.itv.com/itv4 from 11:30am to 6pm, including lots of support races such as FRenault, the Clio Cup and those Ginetta things.

GP2 Asia Series
Sakhir, Bahrain (with F1)

NASCAR Nationwide Series
Talladega, Alabama, United States (with N-Cup)

NASCAR Camping World Truck Series
Kansas City, Kansas, United States (with IndyCar)

Firestone Indy Lights
Kansas City, Kansas, United States (with IndyCar)

Star Mazda & FBMW NA
Virginia, USA (with GrandAm)

IndyCar Preview – Kansas 2009

IRL IndyCar Series
– Road Runner Turbo Indy 300 (3/17)
– Kansas Speedway, Kansas City, Kansas, United States
– 200 laps
– www.indycar.com
– Track Map

Event History
Going to be honest, I have no idea.

Circuit
It’s a 1.5 mile oval and it should be highly entertaining. The IRL visits a lot of 1.5 mile ovals – remember when American Open Wheel featured the long superspeedways and the short low-banked one milers? What happened to that?

I can’t find a decent YouTube or DailyMotion vid of the track action other than some practice shots of lone cars, which is a bit lame really. Ovals are only exciting when there is more than one car on it.
EDIT – SandWedge pointed out this excellent vid from 2003 which I somehow missed, thanks!

Form
First oval of the year so nobody knows! Will the former ‘transition’ teams be up to speed in the race? It looks like it because the front row is made up of Rahal and Doornbos! How will Robert cope with starting his first oval race up front?

Support Races
NASCAR Camping World Trucks, Firestone Indy Lights


US TV: LIVE on VERSUS at 4pm ET!

UK TV: Sky Sports 2 at 11pm! (I *think* it is live but since it follows the NASCAR I can’t be sure – it does seem to tally with the US TV time though)

Sorry for the short and late preview. I don’t know a great deal about this racetrack or history and I’ve been mega busy!