Schumacher Dominance Continues
March 21, 2004
Team Ferrari and the faultless Michael Schumacher continue to thumb their collective nose at the rest of the field, with a dominating win in Malaysia. Juan Pablo Montoya re-kindles hope for a “racing” season by closing to within 2 seconds of the leader, until he runs into Rubens Barrichello. Rubens immediately slows his pace by 2 seconds a lap allowing Der Meister to cushion his lead.
Audi Wins Fifth Straight 12 Hours of Sebring
March 20, 2004
The Audi UK Sport Team Veloqx with drivers Pierre Kaffer, Frank Biela and Allan McNish gave Audi its fifth straight win in the historic 12 Hours of Sebring. While not short on driving talent, this was the team’s first entry at Sebring and it was surprisingly trouble free.
Junior Comes To Infineon
March 20, 2004
Dale Earnhardt Jr. will be competing in the June 18 ALMS race at Infineon Raceway, teamed with Boris Said in a Corvette. NASCAR happens to be off that weekend, and Junior will excersise his inclination to go road racing. We all know that Boris Said would love to get a regular NASCAR ride. Any one want to bet on how long before he is driving a DEI Chevy?
sfgate.com: ‘Little E’ to try Le Mans Series
The Beginning Of The End?
March 20, 2004
I should be content right now. Sunday, March 21, and three races on the calendar. 1:30 a.m. live F1 from Malaysia, NASCAR and the IRL later in the day. And a just completed 12 hours at Sebring (congrats, surprise!, Audi). So why do I have this feeling of impending doom?
Grubnic, Wilkerson, Anderson & Hines Top Gatornationals Saturday
March 20, 2004
GAINESVILLE, Fla. - For the third time in his career and the second consecutive race, David Grubnic claimed the No. 1 qualifying spot in Top Fuel during the final round of qualifying Saturday at the 35th annual Mac Tools NHRA Gatornationals at Gainesville Raceway.
Tim Wilkerson, Greg Anderson and Andrew Hines also earned the No. 1 qualifying position in their respective categories at the $2 million race, the third of 23 events in the $50 million NHRA POWERade Drag Racing Series…
NHRA.com: Saturday Recap
DragRaceCentral.com: Grubnic, Wilkerson, Anderson and Hines Top Qualifying at Mac Tools Gatornationals
MercuryNews.com: Grubnic Leads Top Fuel Qualifying
Wheldon Snags Pole In Phoenix
March 20, 2004
Dan Wheldon, in the No. 26 Klein Tools/Jim Beam Dallara/Honda/Firestone, won the MBNA Pole award March 20 with a fast lap of 20.5974 seconds (174.779 mph) on the 1-mile Phoenix International Raceway oval.
It is the first pole for Wheldon, the 2003 Bombardier Rookie of the Year, in his first race at PIR. His first start last season was in Motegi, Japan, in the third race of the season…
IndyRacing.com: Teammates Wheldon, Kanaan Will Start On Front Row
Motorsport.com: Starting Lineup
ALMS Season Set To Start At Sebring
March 20, 2004
SEBRING, FL. - The 2004 American Le Mans Series racing season is set to kick off Saturday with the running of America’s oldest and most prestigious sports car race, the 52nd annual Mobil 1 Twelve Hours of Sebring.
More than 100,000 race fans have jammed into the historic road racing circuit in South-Central Florida to watch a field of 44 race cars take the green flag at 10:30 a.m. When the checkered flag falls 12 hours later, darkness will have fallen, four race teams will celebrate their wins and one of the largest parties in sports will continue well into the night.
Schumi Destroys Lap Record
March 20, 2004
In claiming his 57th career pole, the Master of Maranello shattered his own three year old lap record by two seconds. Light fuel load? Lets hope so. If Michael goes more then 15 laps after the green flag drops, the race will be over.
The big question of the day has to be what have Jaguar found to place themselves within 1/2 second or so from pole? I would suspect a very light fuel load with a tire compound that may not last the race distances. The man to watch, and my pick to win the race, is Rubens. If he has a healthy fuel load, he will stay out on the track for the first stint longer then Michael or Webber, and possibly keep the lead after all the cars cycle through the first pit stop.
All in all, despite Michael’s slam, the opposition is positioned to apply pressure and possibly force something rarely seen. Ferrai mistakes.
thisislondon.co.uk: Schumacher sets the pace again
f1-live.com: The top three qualifiers
Schumacher On Pole, Webber Surprises With Second
March 20, 2004
The fact that Michael Schumacher took pole for the Malaysian Grand Prix should come as no surprise to anyone. But you only have to look on spot down the grid to see something exciting in the form of Jaguar’s Mark Webber scoring the second starting spot. This is his personal best starting spot, as well as the Jaguar team’s best ever. Webber managed to split the Ferrari’s of Schumacher and Barrichello. Webber was surprised and very happy with the performance.
“I am very happy with the lap,” Webber said. “The first session went well and I didn’t touch the car. I was very confident with the middle sector. The car worked well. The track was a bit quicker. The team is over the moon. They’ve done a really good job this weekend.”
Russell, Bazemore, Morgan & Scali Lead Friday At Gatornationals
March 20, 2004
GAINESVILLE, Fla. - Darrell Russell earned the provisional No. 1 qualifying position in Top Fuel Friday during the 35th annual Mac Tools NHRA Gatornationals at Gainesville Raceway.
Whit Bazemore, Larry Morgan and Geno Scali also led their respective categories at the $2 million race, the third of 23 events in the $50 million NHRA POWERade Drag Racing Series. It is the first of 15 national events for the Pro Stock Bike category…
NHRA.com: Friday Recap
DragRaceCentral.com: Russell, Bazemore, Morgan and Scali Lead Qualifying