McLaren MP4-19 Great Promise For ‘04
December 26, 2003
The turn of the year is traditionally a time for new beginnings, and the McLaren Formula One team have taken the concept to heart for 2004.
After coming within two points of the world championship with Kimi Raikkonen in 2003, McLaren are pinning their hopes of going one better next season on a radical, all-new car.
BBCsport: Bold new dawn for McLaren
Button Critical Of “Young Guns”
December 26, 2003
Some nerve to be critical of Kimi and Fernando, Jenson. I seem to remember your first year with Williams as not being an overwhelming success. At least they have a win or two under their belts. Step it up a notch or two before playing the “who’s better then me” game. It sounds like the only thing you learned from your team mate Jacques is how to whine.
f1racing.net: Button Blast Over-hyped Young Guns
f1live.com: Button: Kimi and Fernando are hogging the limelight
Ferrari Worried About Tires…,
December 24, 2003
…at least according to Rubens Barrichello. With only Ferrari providing testing feed back of any value (the other Bridgestone teams comprising Jordan, Sauber and Minardi) Rubens may have cause for concern. If Michelin manage a marginal increase in the performance of their wet weather tires, Ferrari and Bridgestone will have their hands full to maintain any kind of winning edge in ‘04.
planetf1.com: Rubens Fears Ferrari Will Lose Out In The Tyre War
Bahrain GP Possible Terrorist Target
December 24, 2003
Is anyone out there surprised by this cheery holiday announcement? I am sure most fans had similar thoughts when Bernie announced the Bahrain venue; how are they going to provide security? May be the first F1 race in my abbreviated memory with substantially empty grandstands. Talk about targets of opportunity. The only mitigating factor is that most attacks have been aimed at American interests and not West European organizations. Then again, with Britain’s support of the Iraqi war and most teams located in England….; let’s just hope there is an air tight security plan in place.
f1racing.net: Bahrain GP Warned Of Terrorist Attack
Miracle Motorsports Teams With ASR For 2004
December 23, 2003
Cape Coral, FL - American Spirit Racing President, Jon Lewis announced today that Miracle Motorsports of Winter Haven, Florida who represents drivers John Macaluso and Ian James has signed on for the 2004 ALMS season with the Team’s second LMP2 prototype entry.
More NHRA Movie Stars
December 23, 2003
We already reported that Don “Big Daddy” Garlits will contribute to a movie about his storied life and times, but now the Snake Racing Funny Car duo of Ron Capps and Tommy Johnson Jr. are getting into the act…
NHRA.com: Johnson & Capps become movie stars
Baumgartner Signs With Minardi
December 23, 2003
FAENZA, ITALY, December 23, 2003 - European Minardi Cosworth is pleased to announce that it has today officially signed Hungarian, Zsolt Baumgartner, as the second of its two race drivers for the 2004 FIA Formula One World Championship season.
Baumgartner To Unseat Raikkonen…
December 23, 2003
…as the man with the coolest name in F1. GrandPrix.com is reporting that Zsolt Baumgartner (pronounced as though the “S” was silent…”Zolt”) will most likely conclude a deal with Minardi today to serve as the team’s second driver in 2004. Of course Zsolt will first have to pay the team about $8 million for his seat, but those are just details…right?
If I ever have a son…I’m naming him Zsolt…
GrandPrix.com: Baumgartner deal to be concluded today
F1-Live.com: Hungary to sponsor Baumgartner’s F1 bid
Champ Car Looking For Niche
December 23, 2003
FloridaToday.com columnist Mark DeCotis has a piece on the recent goings on in the world of Champ Car. He ends the article with…
They’d better work real hard and hope their drivers perform up to the hype, or the series will be on a one-way ticket to the dust bin of racing history.
Yeah, but we’ve been saying that about CART/ChampCar for 3-4 seasons now and every year the seem to survive…despite the idle warnings of people like Mark. No offense Mark, but to people who have been following this saga, your premonitions of the racing history “dust bin” are almost laughable at this point. You just can’t kill this series…even though people have tried…very hard!
Here’s my question…if you are looking for a niche…I mean a real niche…why doesn’t anyone race right now, in the dead of winter when racing fans of all kinds are DYING to watch anything? Run a series that competes in the Southern US, Mexico and South America. ChampCar is adored in Mexico already, and I’m sure it wouldn’t be too difficult to garner a similar following in South America. I’m probably totally off base here, but why is this not possible? Why is this not being exploited?
FloridaToday.com: Champ Car World Series hopes to find its niche
Honors For Newman
December 23, 2003
Ryan Newman has won the driver of the year award for 2003. It’s a big acknowledgement of Nascar’s continuing popularity when Ryan out polls drivers like J.J. Yeley and Scott Pruett, who totally dominated their series, and won championships to boot. J.J won championships in three USAC brackets, and Scott won 8 of 11 TransAm races this year.