• Home
• Blog
• Podcast
• Forum
• Racing On TV
• Speed Shop
• Archives
• About Us

Subscribe

• Channels:
• Formula 1
• IRL
• NASCAR
• Motorcycles
• NHRA

A1GP Teams Making Final Prep for Upcoming Chinese Round

Several A1 Teams made final preparations this week for round two of the A1GP World Cup of Motorsport in Chengdu, China on November 9th. Among them were the Chinese team and Pakistan, both appearing for the first time this year on the A1GP testing surface at the UK’s Silverstone circuit. They were joined by the teams from Brazil, France, Korea and Switzerland. Swiss Neel Jani was quickest in the new A1GP Powered by Ferrari car in the truncated sessions, which were prematurely ended by severe weather.

A1GP.com: Teams Prep for Chinese Round; Switzerland Posts Fastest Test at Silverstone

Ho-Pin Tung and Congfu Cheng will partner for the upcoming season for the Chinese team, both having previous podium finishes in the A1GP World Cup of Motorsport series to their credit. Tung raced for A1 Team China in the season-opening round at Zandvoort in September.

“These were the only dry laps we have done so far in this car” Tung said following the hail-storm-shortened testing sessions. “So we are still sorting out the base set up and things like that to be well prepared for our home race in Chengdu. It’s a very nice car to drive though, very stable and impressive at high speeds.”

“It all starts again in China though and you have to show you and your team mean business. Compared to many of the other teams, we still have less kilometres on the car but we are very happy to rack up some kilometres on the dry track today. It has been a good day to do some catching up so hopefully this will help us for Chengdu.”

Switzerland’s Neel Jani recorded a lap of 46.098-seconds, the quickest of the testing session, 0.371 seconds quicker than Portugal.

“We just carried on where we left off from the test last Thursday,” said Jani. “We tried different things and I’m pretty pleased with how we got on.

“Like last time, we didn’t really go for a lap time, we were trying different things with the set up and just learning. We would have liked to do a high fuel run this afternoon, but it started hailing so we’ll have to do that in Chengdu. Finally I have got some testing though so I understand more about the car, about the brakes and about how it should feel. There is still a lot of potential to go quicker though.”

Nicolas Prost returned to the cockpit of A1 Team France for the UK tester, though the French team has yet to announce a regular driver for the Chinese event. It was the rookie’s second day’s of testing with the team.

“The car is much more stable and much quicker than the old one, which is why it’s easier to drive,” said Prost, “but you have to go quick and really push very hard. We have been very competitive here and I got a grasp of the car pretty quickly.”

“I would be really proud to race for my country. It would be a lot of pressure though, as it means people believe in you, so you would have to deliver something good!”

Bet On Neff as 2008 Rookie of the Year

I’ve been writing for Fastmachines.com for about five years now (wow, has it really been five years?) and each year I try my hand at predicting the NHRA’s Rookie of the Year. The official award is called the Auto Club of Southern California Road to the Future Award (what would motorsports be without sponsorship) and I can say with confidence that I have successfully predicted the past four winners. This year it is not as cut and dried as in years past but I’ll stand by my prediction that Funny Car driver Mike Neff will be the 2008 NHRA Rookie of the Year. Read more

FastMachines.com Radio Episode #17

Chris and Josh review all the hub bub leading up to the final, Championship deciding Grand Prix of 2008. We also talk NASCAR - Johnson has it about sewn up - as well as a little IRL, ALMS and even some DTM and V8 Supercars to round things out. Show notes below the fold…

Let us know what you think by commenting on this posting, or shoot Chris and I an email by sending to radio@fastmachines.com.

Click below to listen to us right now in your browser…

Click here to download the MP3 of this week’s podcast and load it on your iPod or whatever you listen to your tunes on.

The FastMachines.com Radio Podcast is brought to you by:

Michelin - Race to Learn, Race to Win

Read more

Double Clutchin’-The Good, The Bad, And The Ugly From Atlanta

Well, Atlanta has come and gone, and although Carl Edwards won the race, did the backflip, and had a pretty good day, Jimmie Johnson still managed to finish second and in the process he made winning his third straight championship an almost certainty.

Carl’s post-victory interview was priceless.  How good was it when he climbed out of his car and was greeted with the “Do you know who finished second?” question and he answered, “No, who finished second?”  The look on Carl’s face and the “Are you kidding me!” that followed when he found out Jimmie was behind him, were tremendous.

Jimmie Johnson had as much business finishing second in that race as Britney Spears’ mother did of writing a parenting book.  Now onto the G, B, and U:

The Good:

Good racing by Carl, who once again showed that he’s not afraid to bump somebody if it means the difference between a top five finish and a win.  Edwards bumped Denny Hamlin on lap 310 and held the lead for the rest of the race, and did all that he could to shorten Jimmie Johnson’s lead.  Unfortunately, that wasn’t enough, because…

Jimmie Johnson is the devil.  He has sold his soul to the same Sports Satan that ensured that Tom Brady and the New England Patriots would dominate the NFL for most of the last decade.  Johnson overcame being down a lap early in the race, and at the end of the race he was making more passes than a college student at a strip club.  Johnson is going to win his third straight championship, something that only Cale Yarborough has done, and with that accomplishment he’s going to make it impossible to ignore his name when talking about the most impressive achievements in NASCAR history, or the greatest drivers in NASCAR history.  He is also the man whose winning of another championship is going to bring up a lot of discussion about the way that the points system in NASCAR is set up.  Is Johnson great?  Or is he just a good driver who is taking advantage of a flawed system?  I don’t know the answer to the first question, but I have this answer to the second one.  All the other drivers are racing under the same rules as Johnson and we’re not talking about any of them.  So, if he’s got a secret to winning the Chase it must be one hell of a secret, because no one else has been able to duplicate his formula.

The Bad:

“My name is Juan Pablo Montoya, you have wrecked my race car.  Prepare to die.”

Anyways, moving right along.  Montoya had a great, great, car Sunday, and I was cheering for him to break through with a win at a traditional track.  It was not to be however, as Montoya was first hit on pit row by Clint Bowyer and was then unable to avoid the crash between Dave Blaney and Jeff Burton.  Montoya ended up with a 40th place finish, but there is no doubt that this was one of the better races of his NASCAR career and one that he and his crew can hopefully build off of for the remainder of this season and into the next one.

Speaking of Jeff Burton; until he had the wreck with Blaney, you would have had a hard time finding him on the track with X-Ray glasses.  Burton has had very mediocre races (17th and 18th spot finishes) since winning two weeks ago, and has taken himself out of what was a legitimate shot at a championship.  This season may have been Burton’s best shot at a championship and I have to wonder if the driver’s legendary cautious streak kept him from being able to really pull the trigger the last couple of races.  Maybe he got tight, I don’t know.  Burton is a very good driver, but he’s never struck me as having a great deal of killer instinct, and I’m not sure that he’s got the time left in his career to develop it in, in order to get that championship.

In a move that should make Shrub haters smile just a little, the 18 car was confiscated after the race and is being taken to North Carolina to have its measurements checked.  Although NASCAR.com says that its not expected that anything will be found, it’s still going to be fun for some people to kick President Kyle while he’s down.

The Ugly:

Is it just me, or were there a whole bunch of NASCAR fans dressed up like empty seats on Sunday?  I haven’t seen a number that shows the race’s attendance (I’ll look around) but I have read several articles like this one, that suggest that the Atlanta sports market is really struggling right now.  It doesn’t really single out NASCAR as being the only sport hit by the economic crunch, but it just goes to show that right now there are many people who are having to choose not to go out to the track, not because they don’t want to, but because they can’t afford to.  NASCAR has followed the lead of many other sports in becoming more and more expensive over the last 10 years or so, and in the process they have made it really difficult for many of their fans to experience a race or the racing experiment live at even the Nationwide level, and that’s a shame.  Plus, with the financial difficulties that many local tracks are having, one has to wonder where the next generation of NASCAR fans are going to come from.

That’s it for the Good, Bad, and Ugly for this week.  Next week is Texas, and I’ll say one thing about Texas; I may not be a Cowboys or Longhorns fan, but I love their cheerleaders.  Keep it between the lines folks and enjoy the races.

FastMachines.com Radio Episode #16

Here’s a late posting of last week’s show…apologies to the masses that eagerly await our next upload: Chris, George and Josh wrap up with China snoozer F1 racing, the loss of the French GP, the possible revival of the Canadian GP, Seabass’ possibilities in F1 for 2009, and lots of other F1 stuff for next year. We review Jimmie Johnson’s win and his dominant position in the Sprint Cup standings as a result, Red Bull’s old school cheating techniques, and other stuff. We also cover the upcoming IRL race in Aussie-Land, the AlMS season finally in Laguna Seca. Show notes below the fold…

Let us know what you think by commenting on this posting, or shoot Chris and I an email by sending to radio@fastmachines.com.

Click below to listen to us right now in your browser…

Click here to download the MP3 of this week’s podcast and load it on your iPod or whatever you listen to your tunes on.

The FastMachines.com Radio Podcast is brought to you by:

Michelin - Race to Learn, Race to Win

Read more

Hinchcliffe and Binks Join A1GP Broadcast Team

A1GP World Cup of Motorsports regular television host team of John Watson and Ben Edwards will be joined in 2008/09 by Diana Binks and James Hinchcliffe. The pair have joined A1GP TV as world-feed pit lane reporters for the coming season.

A1GP.com: Binks and Hinchcliffe join A1GP World Feed for Coming Season

It’s a homecoming of sorts for Hinch, who raced for A1 Team Canada in 2006/07 and 2007/08. He also made an appearance as pitlane reporter last season in Sepang, Malaysia for A1GP TV.

“I am thrilled that A1GP has asked me to be part of the pit lane line up for Season Four,” he said on the announcement Monday (27 October). “I got the opportunity to work with A1GP TV last season and it’s great to now be on board full-time. This is shaping up to be the best season of A1GP yet, with the introduction of the new (powered by Ferrari) car, and it’s awesome to think that I get to watch all the action unfold from pit lane.”

Scot Diana Binks is no stranger to fans of BBC Channel 4 in the U.K. where she hosts a late-night sports show and a regular sports broadcast host in varied genres from auto racing to triathlon events. She cut her teeth during a grueling stint at the Le Mans 24-hour race in the pit lane.

“I am delighted to be joining the A1GP Team,” she said. “I am equally looking forward to teaming up again with Ben Edwards having worked with him previously in the British Touring Car Championship. To be joining the team is very exciting, it will present many new challenges and I can’t wait. I look forward to the prospect of working with John and James and hope that my experience will add to what is already a great team.”

Hotlanta…, and the Chase that was!

Something had to go wrong for the pack to catch up with points leader Jimmie Johnson, and everybody else would have to bring their “A” effort. Of course Jimmie started on the pole again, thanks to Nascar’s rainy route to the championship. So Johnson once again got the choice of his pit spot. Maybe the top twelve could draw straws… or toss lug nuts against a wet #1 pit wall to see who starts there. Jimmie Johnson actually messed up. Read more

Briscoe Wins Nikon 300

Team Penske’s Ryan Briscoe fought back a late charge from IndyCar Series champion Scott Dixon to win the Nikon Indy 300 at Surfers Paradise, Australia.

Briscoe claimed a half-second victory when backmarkers slowed the advance of Dixon through the field, setting up the Aussie for his second victory of the 2008 season. Briscoe started the race from third, immediately behind pole-sitter Will Power and Dixon on the front row.

Ryan Hunter-Reay was third in the Rahal Letterman Racing No. 17 Ethanol Dallara/Honda.

IndyCar.com: Briscoe Wins Nikon 300 at Surfers Paradise

Alex Tagliani and Oriol Servia rounded out the top five in the final race of the campaign, for the first time concluding after the championship was settled at Chicago with Dixon atop the standings for the year.

Power Claims Nikon 300 Pole

A star from down under will lead the pack into the first turn in Oz.

KV Racing’s Will Power earned the PEAK Motor Oil Pole Award presented by AutoZone for the Nikon Indy 300 with a lap of 1 minute, 34.9451 seconds (105.977 mph) on the 2.795-mile course during the Firestone Fast Six shootout at Surfers Paradise, Australia.

IndyCar.com: Power Claims Nikon 300 Pole

IndyCar 2008 season champion Scott Dixon claimed the spot on the outside of the front row with a best lap of 1:35.7672 seconds (105.067 mph) in the No. 9 Target Chip Ganassi Racing car. Team Penske’s Ryan Briscoe will start third in the No. 6 car with a quickest lap of 1:35.8007 seconds (105.031 mph).

Double Clutchin’-The Good, The Bad, And The Ugly From Martinsville

Some late posting this week due to sundry reasons that kept me from posting earlier. So, with apologies given, let us go right into things and talk a little bit about Martinsville.

The Good:

Somebody should really think about just handing Jimmie Johnson the deed to Martinsville. For the fourth time in five races, Johnson took the checkered flag and this time he did it in dominant fashion, leading 339 of 504 laps, and in the process he put an exclamation mark on the Hendrick conquering of Martinsville. (When you place four drivers in the top six, you officially own a track.)  Johnson ran away from teammate Dale Earnhardt, Jr. during a green-white-checkered finish and extended his points lead to 149 points over second-place Greg Biffle.

In a recent interview, racing legend Cale Yarborough had this to say of Johnson:

“I’ve watched Jimmie”, Yarborough says. “He’s the kind of driver that likes to run up front. That’s the way I drove. I can see a lot of Jimmie in me.”

One of the biggest compliments that a legend like Cale can give a modern driver is the “I can see a lot of him in me” statement, and it’s nice to see that Yarborough has respect for the guy that is probably going to tie his record of three straight championships.

Also, it was a good run for DE(damn, I almost wrote DEI, I’d better not do that)88.  I wasn’t as much impressed with Junior’s second-place finish as I was impressed by the inspired way that he drove on Sunday.  He bumped, he pushed, he took spots away from people, and he always seemed like he was driving for first.  I’ve been critical of Junior sometimes for racing too soft at times, and I’d be remiss if I didn’t compliment him for running a hell of a race at Martinsville.  There’s no shame in coming in second to someone with a car like Jimmie had, and I’m sure that most Junior fans had to like what they saw out of their guy.

Some love for Casey Mears, too.  Casey has been in the Hendrick doghouse all year it seems and it was nice to see him step up with a good sixth-place finish in one of his final races as part of the clan.

The Bad:

Kyle Busch’s tires are worse than my English (apologies, I rite an speek in da Suthun dilect sumtimes), and whatever was wrong with his tires infected Tony Stewart’s car as well, as the two went on to finishes of 29th place and 26th place respectively.  Boy, if you had told me a couple of months ago that once the Chase started that Kyle would free-fall like he has, I would have called you a politician.  I haven’t seen anyone collapse like Kyle since I watched the Red Sox come back on my Yankees a couple of seasons ago.  Only difference is, watching Kyle’s collapse is much funner (yes, funner) than watching that one was.

Scott Speed finished the race still running.  That’s all that can really be said about that.  Lackluster race for the newcomer in finishing 35th, but it’s way too early to send him back to where he came from.

The Ugly:

Not as much about the race itself, but more about the problems that occurred because of qualifying being rained out.  Rich has a column here where he talks about the amount of rain-outs that have happened this season and his suggestion for a better way to do things.  There’s no doubt that Jimmie Johnson benefited from having the first pit stall and his teammate Mr. Gordon whined a little that he really wished that qualifying had happened.  Gordon thought that he had a car that could have won the poll.  Based on Gordon’s history of winning polls at Martinsville (he’s won as many polls as there are days of the week) he very well might have done so.  Honestly, though, with the way Johnson was running I don’t think that it would have made a difference, as he was in the zone and had a great car.  But who knows?  Maybe if Johnson had been further back in the pits he would have found himself in heavier traffic for more of the race that he was and someone else would have had a shot at the victory.

Really though, isn’t it just another Gordon excuse?

But read Rich’s column here, if you haven’t already.  He has what I think is a pretty good idea about qualifying, and it’s an idea it seems to me is a pretty practical one.

Until next time,

Rubbin’ may be racin, but rubbin’ in the wrong place may leave you with an itch that won’t go away.  Something to think about.

Enjoy the races.