Auberlen Goes Flag-To-Flag in Speed Touring
March 19, 2004
Auberlen Captures First Win Of SPEED Touring Car Season At Sebring
Sebring, Fla. (March 19, 2004) –Defending series Champion Bill Auberlen, of Rolling Hills Estates, Calif., grabbed the first SCCA Pro Racing SPEED Touring Car win of 2004 at Sebring International Raceway, as part of the Mobil 1 52nd Annual 12 Hours of Sebring event. Brazilian Pierre Kleinubing and James Sofronas, ofNewport Beach,Calif., completed the top three.
55 Years Later, Cadillac Wins Again!
March 19, 2004
Angelelli, Pilgrim And Team Cadillac Make An Impressive SPEED GT Debut With One-Two Finish At Sebring
Sebring,Fla.(March 19, 2004) –Italian Max Angelelli and Team Cadillac teammate Andy Pilgrim, of Delray Beach, Fla., put on an impressive display in their SCCA Pro Racing SPEED World Challenge GT debut at Sebring International Raceway today, as part of the Mobil 1 52nd Annual 12 Hours of Sebring event. While polesitter Angelelli led the majority of the event to capture his first SPEED GT win, Pilgrim stalled the car at the start of the race and had to pass 28 cars to finish second. Michael Galati, of Olmsted,Ohio, finished third.
Qualifying Notes and Quotes
March 19, 2004
Drivers’ notes following qualifying for the Carolina Dodge Dealers 400 at Darlington Raceway.
KASEY KAHNE (No. 9 Dodge Dealers/UAW Dodge) - Wins Second Career pole
“Qualifying was awesome. We picked up three and a half tenths from practice. I really couldn’t believe how well the car cut. I got back in the throttle than I did in practice, and it just kept turning and turning. It was a great lap. I don’t think we left anything out there today.
Rookie Sensation On Pole Again
March 19, 2004
Rookie NEXTEL Cup driver Kasey Kahne matched Ryan Newman with his second Bud Pole Award of the season, running a lap of 171.716 mph Friday at Darlington Raceway. Dale Earnhardt, Jr., race winner last week in Atlanta, will start second followed by Greg Biffle, Kurt Busch, and Derrike Cope. Cope’s 5th starting spot is his best since October, 1998 when he started on pole at Charlotte.
Kahne remained as surprised about his ongoing early success as anyone…
“It’s definitely a surprise that it has all come this quickly,” Kahne said of his success. “It’s just unbelievable right now. We’re excited.”
Raikkonen Sends A Ray Of Hope In Second Practice
March 19, 2004
Kimi Raikkonen finished Friday’s second hour-long free practice session with the fastest lap pf 1m34.395s. The Finn finished 0.3s ahead of BMW WilliamsF1 driver Ralf Schumacher, and a further 0.4s ahead of Jaguar’s Mark Webber. Michael Schumacher and Rubens Barrichello slipped to fourth and tenth in the order.
However, this is just practice. I have a sneaking suspicion that this is just Ferrari playing with the field. Someone like Bernie may have asked Ross Braun to give the other teams a little something to keep their hopes up…and get viewers to tune in…
F1Racing.net: Raikkonen sets final Friday pace
F1-Live.com: Raikkonen offers hope of Ferrari meltdown
PlanetF1.com: Phew! McLaren & Michelin Hit Back
Woes Mount In Malaysia
March 18, 2004
It would have been more fitting if the date were March 15 instead of the 19th, I could invoke the old “Beware the Ides of March” line. As it stands, Ferrari are backing up their confidence in the Bridgestone warm weather compound selected for Sepang with on track performance.
Rahal Leaves Champ Car, Jourdain Stays
March 18, 2004
In another huge blow to the newly revamped Champ Car World Series, long standing supporter Bobby Rahal has announced that Rahal Racing will leave Champ Car altogether and expand its operation in the IRL. Team Rahal driver Michel Jourdain will apparently stay in Champ Car racing along with his sponsor Gigante. Lots of details are yet to be settled as Rahal looks for a new IRL driver, and the Jourdain/Gigante situation gets sorted in Champ Car…but one thing is for sure…once again it is not looking good for OWRS/Champ Car…
Rahal.com: Team Rahal expands its IRL program
Rahal.com: Bobby Rahal Interview
IndyStar.com: Rahal makes move to IRL
ChampCarWorldSeries.com: CHAMP CAR STATEMENT REGARDING THE DEPARTURE OF TEAM RAHAL
ChampCarWorldSeries.com: JOURDAIN ANNOUNCES INTENT TO REMAIN IN CHAMP CAR WORLD SERIES
Most Dangerous Driver?
March 18, 2004
Who can be categorized as the most dangerous driver in F1? The driver with out a secure future next year? The man with nothing to lose and everything to prove? I would say yes to all of the above, and those traits describe Ralf Schumacher to a tee.
Dixon Continues On Path To F1
March 17, 2004
It’s been no secret that reigning IRL champion Scott Dixon is working hard to step into the world of Formula 1. Apparently Frank Williams will take him a step closer by granting him an intro test session in one of his F1 cars next week at Paul Ricard, with a further session planned for April. Frank Williams has supplied Dixon’s currently boss Chip Ganassi with two CART champions in the past (Zanardi and Montoya), I would think Frank is more than ready to cash in the favor and grab Ganassi’s champion away from him…hopefully with better results than when he took back Zanardi…
GrandPrix.com: Williams and Scott Dixon
RPM.ESPN: Williams F1 team to test Dixon
BBC: Williams to try out Dixon
Photo courtesy ScottDixon.co.nz
Tomas Scheckter Essay Contest
March 17, 2004
Most of us probably remember that Tomas Scheckter lost his job as an F1 test driver when he was busted by the British authorities for solicitation of a prostitute. To me, he seems an odd choice for a program that is involved with junior high school students… (thanks Bob)
IndyRacing.com: Scheckter Kicks Off Essay Contest HALFWAY DOWN PAGE