Roll-Out Of The Historic Formula Exhibition Practice One At The 50th ACURA Grand Prix Of Long Beach

Formula One Historic No. 14 1979 Tyrrell 009 driven by Cal Meeker of Oceanside, California rounding Turn 11 hairpin on the famed 50th ACURA Grand Prix Of Long Beach temporary street circuit. Image Credit: Brandon O'Brien - Motorsports Journal (2052)

Roll-Out Of The Historic Formula Exhibition Practice One At The 50th ACURA Grand Prix Of Long Beach

An exclusive display captivates attendees at the 50th ACURA Grand Prix of Long Beach, showcasing historic race cars from three iconic racing eras - Formula 5000, Formula 1, and IndyCar. These machines represent the evolution of open-wheel racing at North America’s premier street race. Later, during the Historic Formula Exhibition on race weekend, the cars hit the track, offering fans a thrilling glimpse into motorsports history. For the first time, all three types race together, driven with intensity and a touch of grit.

VIDEO - Pump Up The Volume!!! >>> Formula One Historic No. 8 1980 McLaren M30 driven by Sean Allen of Manhattan Beach, California rounding Turn 11 hairpin on the famed 50th ACURA Grand Prix Of Long Beach temporary street circuit. Image Credit: Edmund Jenks - Motorsports Journal

Adding to the historic weekend, the video highlights the Roll-Out of the Historic Formula Exhibition Practice One, a standout moment of the 50th Acura Grand Prix Of Long Beach. Attendees were enthralled by a remarkable display of vintage race cars from three iconic open-wheel eras - Formula 5000, Formula 1, and IndyCar - representing the evolution of the sport at North America’s premier street race. Open-wheel racing, born in the early 1900s with milestones like the 1911 Indianapolis 500, progressed through innovations such as the 1960s rear-engine designs and navigated organizational shifts like the CART-IRL divide, leading to IndyCar’s modern era.

Formula 5000 Historic No. 48 1975 Eagle 755 driven by EthanShippert of Corona, California rounding Turn 11 hairpin on the famed 50th ACURA Grand Prix Of Long Beach temporary street circuit. This Tom Malloy owned F5000 has the distinction of being the first ever racecar to enter the track od the first Long Beach Grand Prix - pretty special. Image Credit: Brandon O'Brien - Motorsports Journal (2025)

During the practice session, these legendary machines roared to life, their exposed wheels and open cockpits evoking motorsport’s storied past.

CART IndyCar Historic No. 48T 1969 Eagle (with knock-offs) driven by Butch Leitzinger of Poughkeepsie, New York rounding Turn 11 hairpin on the famed 50th ACURA Grand Prix Of Long Beach temporary street circuit. Image Credit: Brandon O'Brien - Motorsports Journal (2025)

The true spectacle unfolded in the Historic Formula Exhibition, where, for the first time, Formula 5000’s raw, thunderous power, Formula 1’s sleek, precision-engineered elegance, and IndyCar’s bold, American-bred grit raced side-by-side on the Long Beach circuit. Driven with unrelenting intensity, the cars wove through the streets, offering fans a breathtaking tribute to open-wheel racing’s diverse and dynamic legacy.

... notes from The EDJE







TAGS: HMSA, Formula One, F5000, IndyCar, ChampCar, CART, The EDJE

Saint Petersburg - Let The New Era 2012 IZOD IndyCar Series Begin!

Official event name: Honda Grand Prix of St. Petersburg - Location: Albert Whitted Airport - St. Petersburg, Florida, United States - Course: Temporary airport & street circuit 1.806 mi / 2.906 km - Distance: 105 laps, 189.630 mi / 305.130 km - Twitter HASHTAG: #gpstpete - Caption and Image Credit: Wikipedia

Saint Petersburg - Let The New Era 2012 IZOD IndyCar Series Begin!

Let the new era of unified American Open-Wheel Racing (#aowr) begin with the temporary street course Honda Grand Prix Of St. Petersburg. This year, 2012, will go down as the first year that American open-wheel racing is truly unified since there are no excuses that were first raised when the merger happened suddenly at the beginning of the 2008 season. Everyone will be competing on new Dallara DW12 equipment, with a choice of three new turbo-charged 2.2 liter engines, on tracks that are the most favored by fans of both series.

The season will favor street/road courses as opposed to NASCAR styled ovals and the oval tracks featured in this truly unified season are, for the most part, ones made famous through the sport of open-wheel automobile racing.

Five oval venues out of sixteen races are on the schedule and appear as follows:

The first oval race on the schedule is the grand-daddy of them all, The greatest specticle on all of autosport, the Indianapolis 500 - May 27, 11:00AM ET - ABC Sports.

Next will be the high-banked, super high-speed Firestone 500 at the Texas Speedway. This track holds a string of closest finishes in open-wheel racing. Broadcast set for the night of June 9, 8:00PM ET - NBC Sports.

Third comes the Milwaukee IndyFest, West Allis, WI - run on the famed flat four-cornered bull-ring of a track near the Wisconsin fairgrounds. This race venue was saved by the Andretti family primarily because of the history this track holds as a contrast to all other oval tracks ever run. This track was originally a flat dirt track that transformed itself into a concrete ring that challenges drivers with close quarters and the challenge of virtually no banking. Broadcast set for June 16, 1:00pm ET - ABC Sports.

The Iowa Corn 250, Newton, IA - represents a hold over from the Indianapolis Racing League days and gives a nod to the corn based Ethanol fuel that powers these 2.2 liter turbo-charged Chevrolet, Honda, and Lotus engines of this modern era season. In order to spice things up, this race will be run at night under the lights as they do in Texas. Broadcast set for June 23, 8:00PM ET - NBC Sports.

The last oval race of the season happens to be the final race of this 16 race benchmark of the modern era in American Open-Wheel Racing. This track holds the speed records for racing of any kind on a closed course for both qualifying and at race lap speeds. Yes, the venue is the Auto Club Speedway (formally, California Speedway) at Fontana, California.

On October 28, 2000, during CART qualifying, Gil de Ferran set the track record for fastest lap at 241.426 mph (388.537 km/h), breaking the record (240.942 mph) set by former F1 driver, Maurício Gugelmin (PacWest Racing) who went even faster -- 242.333 mph, to be precise -- in practice. Mark Blundell, also a former F1 driver (PacWest Racing - Gugelmin's teammate), was originally credited with the fastest "at race lap" speed record with a lap at 237.000+ (lap time unknown). Wikipedia shows that Greg Moore actually set fastest lap during the race on lap 80 with a time of 30.900 sec. over the 2.029 mile D-shaped oval (awaiting email clarification from Auto Club Speedway). All of these times are suspect as official by the FIA due the measurement of the track at being slightly longer than exactly 2.0 miles, but the recorded speeds recorded are factual.

What is not in dispute, however, is that the 2003 IndyCar race held at Fontana (the Auto Club Speedway) was the fastest closed-circuit race ever in motorsport history, with an average speed of 207.151 mph(333.306 km/h) over 400 miles (640 km) by Sam Hornish Jr. The 2012 race broadcast is set for a dusky night-time ending, September 15, 8PM ET - NBC Sports.

KV Racing Technology's driver Rubens Barrichello gives the new DW12 Chevrolet powered Dallara a spin at Sebring after signing a one-year agreement to run a full year in the IZOD IndyCar Series. Here Rubens is being followed on the track by fellow ex-pat F1 driver, Takuma Sato, driving the Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing Honda. Image Credit: LAT via IZOD IndyCar Series

This weekend features a temporary street course e set up in the Florida city of Saint Petersburg first run under ChampCar (CCWS) sanctioning in 2003. After a one year break in order to regroup, the event was resumed with the sanctioning of the Indy Racing League (IRL) from 2005 to the 2007 and continued uninterrupted after the merger of CCWS and IRL as today's IndyCar beginning in 2008 through to today.

Past winners of the Honda Grand Prix Of St. Petersburg event are as follows: Paul Tracy (2003), Dan Wheldon (2005), Helio Castroneves (2006 and 2007), Graham Rahal (2008), Ryan Briscoe (2009), Will Power (2010) and Dario Franchitti (2011), Team Penske is the most successful with 4 wins ... track speed record is held by Sebastien Bourdais (McDonalds/Newman-Haas), set competing in ChampCar (2003) when he qualified for the pole, besting Paul Tracy (Players/Forsythe) with the time of 1:00.928 as his Lola-Cosworth turned an average of 106.472 mph.

A field of 26 drivers -- listed below -- are expected to take to the track for the race set to start Sunday, March 25, 12:30PM ET broadcasted to national network TV audience by ABC Sports.

Car# | Driver (R - Rookie) | Hometown | Sponsor Car Name | Engine (Chevrolet/Honda/Lotus) | Team Entrant
2 Ryan Briscoe Sydney, Australia IZOD Team Penske Chevrolet Team Penske

3 Helio Castroneves Sao Paulo, Brazil Shell V-Power/Pennzoil Ultra Chevrolet Team Penske

4 JR Hildebrand Sausalito, Calif. National Guard Panther Racing Chevrolet Panther Racing

5 E.J. Viso Caracas, Venezuela Citgo – PDVSA KV Racing Technology Chevrolet KV Racing Technology

6 Katherine Legge (R) Guildford, England TrueCar Lotus-Dragon Racing Lotus Lotus-Dragon Racing

7 Sebastien Bourdais Le Mans, France Lotus-Dragon Racing Lotus Lotus-Dragon Racing

8 Rubens Barrichello (R) Sao Paulo, Brazil BMC/Embrase KV Racing Technology Chevrolet KV Racing Technology

9 Scott Dixon Auckland, New Zealand Target Chip Ganassi Racing Honda Target Chip Ganassi Racing

10 Dario Franchitti Edinburgh, Scotland Target Chip Ganassi Racing Honda Target Chip Ganassi Racing

11 Tony Kanaan Salvador, Brazil GEICO/Mouser Electronics KVRT Chevrolet KV Racing Technology

12 Will Power Toowoomba, Australia Verizon Team Penske Chevrolet Team Penske

14 Mike Conway Bromley, England ABC Supply Co./A.J. Foyt Racing Honda A.J. Foyt Enterprises

15 Takuma Sato Tokyo Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing Honda Rahal Letterman Lanigan

18 Justin Wilson Sheffield, England Sonny’s BBQ Honda Dale Coyne Racing

19 James Jakes Leeds, England Boy Scouts of America Honda Dale Coyne Racing

20 Ed Carpenter Indianapolis Fuzzy’s Vodka / Ed Carpenter Racing Chevrolet Ed Carpenter Racing

22 Oriol Servia Pals, Spain Lotus-DRR Lotus Lotus-Dreyer & Reinbold Racing

26 Marco Andretti Nazareth, Pa. Team RC Cola Chevrolet Andretti Autosport

27 James Hinchcliffe Toronto Team GoDaddy.com Chevrolet Andretti Autosport

28 Ryan Hunter-Reay Ft. Lauderdale, Fla. Team DHL/Sun Drop Citrus Soda Chevrolet Andretti Autosport

38 Graham Rahal New Albany, Ohio Service Central Honda Service Central Chip Ganassi Racing

67 Josef Newgarden (R) Hendersonville, Tenn. Sarah Fisher Hartman Racing Honda Sarah Fisher Hartman Racing

77 Simon Pagenaud (R) Poitiers, France Kingdom/Schmidt-Hamilton HP Motorsports Honda Schmidt-Hamilton Motorsports

78 Simona de Silvestro Thun, Switzerland Nuclear Clean Air Energy Lotus HVM Racing Lotus Lotus-HVM Racing

83 Charlie Kimball Camarillo, Calif. Levemir and NovoLog FlexPen Honda Novo Nordisk Chip Ganassi Racing

98 Alex Tagliani Lachenaie, Canada Team Barracuda-BHA Lotus Bryan Herta Autosport w/Curb-Agajanian

----

First Practice Laps At #GPSTPETE

Target Chip Ganassi Racing's Scott Dixon set first ever mark in an event for the new DW12 formula as he was fastest in the first official practice session of 2012, leading Team Penske's Ryan Briscoe by 0.4784 seconds.

Briscoe's teammate, Will Power, ran third, posting a lap of 1:03.57 around the 1.8-mile, 14-turn street course.

Dario Franchitti served as a bookend for the Penske duo, placing fourth with a lap of 1:03.60 seconds.

Schmidt Hamilton Racing's Simon Pagenaud rounded out the top 5, turning a 1:03.64-second lap in hot, humid conditions.

Honda engined-cars placed 1st, 4th, 5th, 6th, 8th and 9th, with Chevrolet runners occupying the rest of the top 10 slots.

The fastest Lotus-engined car was Oriol Servia's DRR entry in 19th with a lap of 1:04.29.

The session was mostly trouble-free, barring Charlie Kimball's nose-first crash at Turn 10 with less than five minutes remaining in the session.

With so little rubber down, times are expected to drop throughout the weekend.

Practice 1 for the Honda Grand Prix of St Petersburg at the St Petersburg Street Circuit

Rank | Driver | Diff. | Best Lap
1 Scott Dixon 0 1:03.0406
2 Ryan Briscoe 0.4784 1:03.5190
3 Will Power 0.5341 1:03.5747
4 Dario Franchitti 0.5607 1:03.6013
5 Simon Pagenaud 0.6011 1:03.6417
6 Justin Wilson 0.6298 1:03.6704
7 Marco Andretti 0.7522 1:03.7928
8 Mike Conway 0.7927 1:03.8333
9 Graham Rahal 0.8116 1:03.8522
10 Helio Castroneves 0.8322 1:03.8728
11 Josef Newgarden 0.8366 1:03.8772
12 EJ Viso 0.8736 1:03.9142
13 James Jakes 0.9228 1:03.9634
14 JR Hildebrand 1.0508 1:04.0914
15 Takuma Sato 1.0666 1:04.1072
16 James Hinchcliffe 1.0673 1:04.1079
17 Ryan Hunter-Reay 1.0833 1:04.1239
18 Tony Kanaan 1.0998 1:04.1404
19 Oriol Servia 1.2540 1:04.2946
20 Alex Tagliani 1.3455 1:04.3861
21 Sebastien Bourdais 1.4468 1:04.4874
22 Charlie Kimball 1.6226 1:04.6632
23 Simona de Silvestro 1.8741 1:04.9147
24 Rubens Barrichello 2.6275 1:05.6681
25 Ed Carpenter 2.9904 1:06.0310
26 Katherine Legge 4.2925 1:07.3331
[Reference Here]

UPDATE: Power Tops Second St. Pete Practice

Team Penske’s Will Power nearly matched his pole speed from last year in only the second practice session of the weekend, leading Briscoe and Franchitti.

Practice 2 for the Honda Grand Prix of St Petersburg at the St Petersburg Street Circuit:

Rank | Driver | Diff. | Best Lap

1 Will Power 0 1:02.0077 1:06.1375
2 Ryan Briscoe 0.0854 1:02.0931
3 Dario Franchitti 0.2155 1:02.2232
4 Graham Rahal 0.2847 1:02.2924
5 Scott Dixon 0.3040 1:02.3117
6 Helio Castroneves 0.3113 1:02.3190
7 James Hinchcliffe 0.4555 1:02.4632
8 Tony Kanaan 0.4737 1:02.4814
9 Ryan Hunter-Reay 0.5224 1:02.5301
10 Mike Conway 0.5260 1:02.5337
11 Marco Andretti 0.5547 1:02.5624
12 Simon Pagenaud 0.5920 1:02.5997
13 JR Hildebrand 0.7606 1:02.7683
14 Josef Newgarden 0.7761 1:02.7838
15 Justin Wilson 0.8838 1:02.8915
16 Simona de Silvestro 0.9059 1:02.9136
17 James Jakes 0.9075 1:02.9152
18 Takuma Sato 0.9517 1:02.9594
19 Sebastien Bourdais 0.9701 1:02.9778
20 EJ Viso 0.9780 1:02.9857
21 Charlie Kimball 1.0827 1:03.0904
22 Alex Tagliani 1.1735 1:03.1812
23 Rubens Barrichello 1.3213 1:03.3290
24 Oriol Servia 1.3458 1:03.3535
25 Ed Carpenter 2.5954 1:04.6031
26 Katherine Legge 2.7515 1:04.7592
[Reference Here]

UPDATE - Qualifications Highlights:

Will Power breaks his own track record by 0.2305 (old mark = 1:01.6026). Teammate Ryan Briscoe nails down P2 by breaking Will Power's old mark as well.

The top five positions on the grid are held by Chevrolet powered DW12's with seven of the top ten grid positions being filled by the new era engine supplier over longtime supplier and race sponsor, Honda.

A less than competitive showing by the cars powered by the Lotus/Judd effort with the highest placing driver of the "Lotus Legion" (highlighted in BOLD below), being one of the most consistent performing drivers of the series, Oriol Servia.

Probably the biggest surprise of this first qualification session of the new formula 2012 IZOD IndyCar Series season is that even though cars fielded by Target Chip Ganassi Racing did very well in practice, the highest placing car from the Ganassi stable was Scott Dixon in P7 - none made it into the Firestone Fast Six qualifications round.

Team Penske had 3 cars, Andretti Autosport had 3 cars - 2 in the Firestone Fast Six round, Ganassi had only 2 cars, Kingdom/Schmidt-Hamilton had it's one car effort place P6 in the Firestone Fast Six, and KV Racing Technology with only one car rounding out the top ten positions on the grid.

Pos Driver Team/Car Time Gap
1. Will Power Penske DW12-Chevrolet 1:01.3721s
2. Ryan Briscoe Penske DW12-Chevrolet 1:01.5357s + 0.1636s
3. Ryan Hunter-Reay Andretti DW12-Chevrolet 1:01.9321s + 0.5600s
4. James Hinchcliffe Andretti DW12-Chevrolet 1:01.9701s + 0.5980s
5. Helio Castroneves Penske DW12-Chevrolet 1:01.9987s + 0.6266s
6. Simon Pagenaud Schmidt-Hamilton DW12-Honda 1:02.1095s + 0.7374s

7. Scott Dixon Ganassi DW12-Honda 1:01.7636s Top 12
8. Marco Andretti Andretti DW12-Chevrolet 1:01.7895s Top 12
9. Tony Kanaan KV DW12-Chevrolet 1:01.8699s Top 12
10. Dario Franchitti Ganassi DW12-Honda 1:01.9570s Top 12
11. Graham Rahal Ganassi DW12-Honda 1:02.0233s Top 12
12. Mike Conway Foyt DW12-Honda 1:02.5084s Top 12

13. EJ Viso KV DW12-Chevrolet 1:02.5146s Group 1
14. Rubens Barrichello KV DW12-Chevrolet 1:02.2009s Group 2
15. Takuma Sato Rahal DW12-Honda 1:02.6015s Group 1
16. Justin Wilson Dale Coyne DW12-Honda 1:02.2538s Group 2
17. Alex Tagliani Herta DW12-Lotus 1:02.6506s Group 1
18. JR Hildebrand Panther DW12-Chevrolet 1:02.4426s Group 2
19. Josef Newgarden Fisher Hartman DW12-Honda 1:02.7155s Group 1
20. James Jakes Dale Coyne DW12-Honda 1:02.5271s Group 2
21. Simona de Silvestro HVM DW12-Lotus 1:02.8218s Group 1
22. Charlie Kimball Ganassi DW12-Honda 1:03.0437s Group 2
23. Oriol Servia Dreyer & Reinbold DW12-Lotus 1:02.8771s Group 1
24. Ed Carpenter Carpenter DW12-Chevrolet 1:03.3591s Group 2
25. Katherine Legge Dragon DW12-Lotus 1:03.6048s Group 1
26. Sebastien Bourdais Dragon DW12-Lotus 1:05.6858s Group 2

A short memorial for the late Dan Wheldon, who made St Petersburg his home, preceded Sunday’s race.

Penske Racing's Helio Castroneves ends year long winless drought on the streets of St. Petersburg. Helio celebrates win by climbing a fence and honoring the memory of Dan Wheldon along the newly christened Dan Wheldon Way at turn #10 at the track. Image Credit: Honda Grand Prix Of St. Petersburg

This excerpted and edited from the Tampa Bay Times –

How the 2012 Grand Prix of St. Petersburg unfolded
By Joey Knight, Times Staff Writer – Monday, March 26, 2012

On Lap 73, Castroneves gets far outside, breaks as deeply as he can and passes Dixon on Turn 1 for second. “It was awesome because the car (stuck), and I was like, ‘Yesss!’ ” said Castroneves, who soon after passes Hildebrand.

By Lap 80, Castroneves’ lead on Dixon grows to more than five seconds. Hunter-Reay, in third, falls seven seconds behind Castroneves as his crew implores him to conserve fuel. E.J. Viso, on the brink of dehydration following an overnight bout of food poisoning, is fifth — seven places ahead of his starting spot — 93 laps into the race before a final pit stop ultimately drops him to eighth. His lead edging closer to insurmountable, Castroneves drives conservatively on the last dozen or so laps and wins by 5.5292 seconds.
[Reference Here]

How the field of 26 DW12′s finished in their first race:

Pos | Driver | Team/Car | Time/Gap
1. Helio Castroneves Penske DW12-Chevrolet 1h59m50.9863s
2. Scott Dixon Ganassi DW12-Honda + 5.5292s
3. Ryan Hunter-Reay Andretti DW12-Chevrolet + 7.5824s
4. James Hinchcliffe Andretti DW12-Chevrolet + 10.6526s
5. Ryan Briscoe Penske DW12-Chevrolet + 11.7854s
6. Simon Pagenaud Schmidt-Hamilton DW12-Honda + 31.2623s
7. Will Power Penske DW12-Chevrolet + 34.6582s
8. EJ Viso KV DW12-Chevrolet + 35.5943s
9. Charlie Kimball Ganassi DW12-Honda + 43.1425s
10. Justin Wilson Dale Coyne DW12-Honda + 44.3141s
11. Josef Newgarden Fisher Hartman DW12-Honda + 44.8275s
12. Graham Rahal Ganassi DW12-Honda + 45.1080s
13. Dario Franchitti Ganassi DW12-Honda + 45.8468s
14. Marco Andretti Andretti DW12-Chevrolet + 1 lap
15. Alex Tagliani Herta DW12-Lotus + 1 lap
16. Oriol Servia Dreyer & Reinbold DW12-Lotus + 1 lap
17. Rubens Barrichello KV DW12-Chevrolet + 2 laps
18. Ed Carpenter Carpenter DW12-Chevrolet + 2 laps

Did not finish:

JR Hildebrand Panther DW12-Chevrolet 96 laps
Mike Conway Foyt DW12-Honda 75 laps
Sebastien Bourdais Dragon DW12-Lotus 73 laps
Takuma Sato Rahal DW12-Honda 73 laps
Katherine Legge Dragon DW12-Lotus 59 laps
Simona de Silvestro HVM DW12-Lotus 22 laps
Tony Kanaan KV DW12-Chevrolet 21 laps
James Jakes Dale Coyne DW12-Honda 19 laps

Most of the problems of cars not finishing had to do with electrical gremlins on a car most engineers are still trying to figure out.

So, the new era 2012 IZOD IndyCar Series (#indycar) has begun at the Honda Grand Prix Of St. Petersburg (#gpstpete) — Twitter #hashtags included!

... notes from The EDJE



** Article first published as Saint Petersburg - Let The New Era 2012 IZOD IndyCar Series Begin! on Technorati **

Honda Indy Toronto - Round 10 of 18, "Tweet"-By-LiveBlog Entry

After winning the pole in Toronto, @12WillPower talks with Versus. #indycarmobile. Image Credit: twitpic - Penske Racing


Honda Indy Toronto - Round 10 of 18, "Tweet"-By-LiveBlog Entry

Will Power's love affair with the Toronto street course continued after he snared pole position for Sunday's Honda Indy Toronto.

The Australian, who has claimed pole positions in the last eight IndyCar road race events, checked-in with a 59.577-second best lap on the 2.82km Exhibition Place street course for his 21st career pole.

But while Power is the defending champion in Toronto, taking top spot on the grid was a new highlight for him.

"Man, we really had to work hard for that," Power said after securing the Firestone Fast Six Peak Pole Award. "I've never won a pole here in Toronto and I love this place. When you turn a fast lap here, you're really just exhausted. This is such a physical track. It's a real driver's track with all the different surfaces and all the bumps, you really need to wring its neck out there and that's what I love about it."

Power goes into today's race trailing rival and two-time defending series champion Dario Franchitti by 20 points on the 2011 IndyCar Series championship standings. New Zealander, Scott Dixon sits between Power and Franchitti in qualifying and will start alongside the Australian in the front-row while Franchitti starts from P3.

"It's great to be on pole here but this is a track where you can really pass a lot of cars and move forward from the back," Power said.

Track Map - Honda Indy Toronto temporary street course. Image Credit: jamesjakes.com

The race started on time with the following entries, initially "Tweets" from Twitter, then direct, live blogging entries during the course of the race. The race transpired as follows:

Meeshbeer Meeshbeer - Green! Green! Green!!

IndyCar IZOD IndyCar Series - We're green! http://racecontrol.indycar.com/

MoreFrontWing More Front Wing - Can't believe lap 1 was clean! Amazing.

Talked too soon!!! Briscoe and Kanaan make contact on LAP 3.

FollowAndretti Andretti Autosport - Full course caution. Kanaan with a bit of contact.

SBPopOffValve PopOffValve.com - I am sure @TonyKanaan is going to unfollow me and never speak to me again after I picked him to win this week.

Meeshbeer Meeshbeer – RESTART - Green! Green! Green!!

MoreFrontWing More Front Wing - Awesome restart!

LAP 8 Danica and Taku get together … come to pits

LAP 27 – Franchitti pits.

LAP 30 – Tagliani and Castroneves get together in turn 3, spins Tags – Full Course Caution

Fieldof33 Paul Dalbey - Stop me if you've heard this before... Helio takes another driver out of the race and screws over his teammate.

SBPopOffValve PopOffValve.com - Helio NERFED Tags. Hmm. Unprecedented HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA.

After pitstops – Franchitti, Servia, Wilson, RHR, Hinchtown, Briscoe, Meira, Tracy, Andretti, Hildebrand, Jakes, then Power, Dixon, Conway, and Rahal.

GREEN, GREEN, GREEN double file RESTART LAP 36!

LAP 38 Tracy and Hinchcliff get together, damaged front wing on Tracy

Jakes has a problem, spins in turn 9 – Full Course Yellow LAP 39

RESTART LAP 43 - Franchitti, Servia, Wilson, RHR, Briscoe, Dixon, Andretti, Meira Conway, Power, Hildebrand.

LAP 44 cars dive into pitlane – Servia has a pick-up problem, gets passed by Wilson and RHR.

Andretti gets past Dixon and Briscoe to P5

LAP 46 sees Conway get around Meira for P7 then Briscoe for P6 followed by Power around Mreira for P7

LAP 47 Tracy clobbers Meira and takes him out of the race Full Course Yellow

LAP 48 everyone gets into the pits for tires and fuel … may be the last stop.

LAP 49 Graham Rahal leads the field due to an earlier pitstop – then Viso, de Silvestro, RHR, Beatriz, Franchitti, Wilson, Dixon, Power and Andretti round out the top 10.

RHR may be in the best position to go to the end without a pitstop for fuel.

RESTART LAP 52 side-by-side with lapped Tagliani gives Rahal all he can handle – passes Rahal to get his lap back.

Ryan Hunter-Reay gets past de Silvestro LAP 53 and now Power gets past several cars and runs in P6 ahead of Franchitti.

LAP 54 Power passes de Silvestro for P5 – Conway heads for the pits with damage.

Full Course Yellow – Will Power gets turned around by Dario Franchitti in turn 4 Power stalled.

Franchitti now in P5 behind Wilson on LAP 58 during the 5^th full course caution.

RESTART LAP 61 side-by-side with Rahal, RHR, Viso, Wilson, Franchitti, Dixon, Servia, Andretti … Power back at P16

Viso locks up his tires and causes a flat when Wilson tries to pass, Dixon now past Wilson.

Graham will need a 44 lap tank full in order to maintain position and win ... or just finish the race.

Top 5 are Rahal, Hunter-Reay, Franchitti, Dixon and Wilson.

Franchitti passes RHR on lap 64

Will Power gets booted into the tire barrier by Tagliani on LAP 66 – possible 45 points down to Franchitti

Yellow helps Rahal on his load of fuel with 18 laps to go.

Top 5 shows Rahal, Franchitti, RHR, Dixon, and Wilson. Will Power out of the car unable to continue and will finish at P 24

LAP 68 Rahal chooses to start from the left on the side-by-side and the restart gets waived off – was this on purpose – for gas?

RESTART LAP 69 – waived off

RESTART LAP 70 – Rahal gets a leap and the GREEN Flag flies – 77 Tagliani goes up on it side as he gets together with James Jakes

Full Course Yellow - can you say destruction derby? Patrick hits Jakes which caused a chain reaction with Tagliani – lost in all of this is that Franchitti gets around Rahal in turn 3 for the lead

LAP 76 RESTART – Top 5 are Franchitti, Rahal, Dixon, RHR, and Wilson.

Three wide into turn 1, Wilson gets turned and collects several cars that include Servia, Hinchcliff and a couple of others. Rahal gets passed by Dixon but it was under Yellow and gets sent back. Andretti causes the chain reaction incident.

LAP 80 RESTART – Top 5 are Franchitti, Rahal, Dixon, RHR, and Andretti.

Rahal almost passes Franchitti through 1 and 2, gets spun by Dixon and Rahal gets booted back to P13.

Dixon charges on to Franchitti and if Dario wins it will be a 55 point lead from 20 before the race over Power going into Edmonton.

LAP 83 of 85 laps it Franchitti, Dixon and newlywed Ryan Hunter-Reay in 1-2-3!

Five car lengths separate Franchitti and Dixon who is closing. Both are pulling away from Ryan Hunter-Reay.

Checkered Flag, Dario Franchitti wins for the fourth time this season and the third time at the Toronto street course venue. 30 career wins gives him 9^th all-time and passes Rick Mears who posted 29 wins in his career. Further, Franchitti is now one win shy of tying Paul Tracy and Sebastien Bourdais for eighth on the all-time wins list with 31.

Graham Rahal would have made it on fuel but he believes that if RHR did not hit him, he would have been on the podium. Maybe we should just call this a honeymoon gift.

Marco Andretti gained 16 positions in the race and moves up one position in the overall championship.

An exciting race to watch and listen to but a horrible race for the ChampCar proud fans of Will Power, Graham Rahal, and Oriol Servia. In the end, Sebastien Bourdais and EJ Viso were the only ChampCar transition drivers to make it into the top ten … and this, technically, is one of their tracks.

Dario Franchitti celebrates with his team in the winners podium at the Honda Indy Toronto - Before turning a lap, Franchitti issued a cautionary note about 26 cars squeezing through the narrow twists and turns of the 1.755-mile, 11-turn Exhibition Place street course in the Honda Indy Toronto. “Small mistakes will be punished, and in some cases, it could take out multiple cars,” the IZOD IndyCar Series championship points leader said. Image Credit: chipganassiracing.com

How they finished:

Pos - Driver - Team - Time/Gap

1. Dario Franchitti Ganassi 85 laps
2. Scott Dixon Ganassi + 0.7345s
3. Ryan Hunter-Reay Andretti + 6.0144s
4. Marco Andretti Andretti + 7.5671s
5. Vitor Meira Foyt + 9.0117s
6. Sebastien Bourdais Dale Coyne + 9.3114s
7. Ryan Briscoe Penske + 9.8735s
8. JR Hildebrand Panther + 14.1750s
9. EJ Viso KV + 14.7843s
10. Simona de Silvestro HVM + 15.7603s
11. Ana Beatriz Dreyer & Reinbold + 16.8992s
12. Oriol Servia Newman/Haas + 19.8736s
13. Graham Rahal Ganassi + 21.3123s
14. James Hinchcliffe Newman/Haas + 1 lap
15. Justin Wilson Dreyer & Reinbold + 2 laps
16. Paul Tracy Dragon + 3 laps
17. Helio Castroneves Penske + 4 laps
18. James Jakes Dale Coyne + 4 laps
19. Danica Patrick Andretti + 6 laps
20. Takuma Sato KV + 6 laps

Retirements:

Charlie Kimball Ganassi 77 laps
Mike Conway Andretti 76 laps
Alex Tagliani Sam Schmidt 71 laps
Will Power Penske 66 laps
Sebastian Saavedra Conquest 43 laps
Tony Kanaan KV 2 laps
(ht: autosport.com)

One final post-race Tweet came across the screen as this posting was being finalized ...

12WillPower Will Power -by toomuchracing - @dariofranchitti hey princess thanks for that nice tap today--appreciate it

The Edmonton Indy, Round 11 of 18 takes place at Rexall Edmonton Indy Speedway - Edmonton, Alberta, Canada - on Versus at 2:00pm ET, July 24, 2011.

... notes from The EDJE


(Article first published as Honda Indy Toronto - Round 10 of 18, "Tweet"-By-LiveBlog Entry on Technorati)

ChampCar Vet, Neel Jani Wins In Taupo

Neel Jani At Speed - A1 Team Switzerland claimed its second win of the season in this afternoon’s Feature race in A1GP Taupo, New Zealand. Image Credit: A1GP – SUI

ChampCar Vet, Neel Jani Wins In Taupo

Neel Jani drove for the PKV Racing team in the Champ Car World Series in 2007. He ended the series in ninth place with a total of 231 points. After choosing to focus on the 2007-2008 A1GP season rather than stay in ChampCar/IRL for 2008 season (the series was absorbed by the IRL).

Jani has not been linked to any 2009 IRL rides to date. PKV Racing became KV Racing Technology upon the transition phase of ChampCar into the IRL at the beginning of the 2008 season.

Neel Jani On The Podium - He got ahead the pole-sitter, A1 Team Ireland’s Adam Carroll, in a crucial moment in the second round of pit stops, when it was slightly slower in getting away than Jani’s Swiss machine. Jani then controlled the race, surviving a late scare when the field close up after a late safety car period. Image Credit: A1GP – SUI

This Excerpted and edited from Autosport –

Jani wins Taupo feature race
By Mark Glendenning - Sunday, January 25th 2009, 04:53 GMT

Team Switzerland's Neel Jani took advantage of a Team Ireland pitlane mishap to win the feature race in this weekend's A1GP round at Taupo.

After a brilliant start from fifth, Jani had been running second behind Ireland's Adam Carroll until the pair made the second and final of their compulsory stops.

Both pitted on the same lap and the Irish crew was able to release Carroll into the lead, only for the car to suffer a problem with its anti-stall and stop momentarily in the pitroad.

Ironically, it stopped right beside the Swiss pit crew, who were just completing their own stop, and by the time Carroll had got his car moving again Jani had already gone past.
----
Neel Jani On The Podium - Two other ChampCar refugees (Robert Doornbos, Dan Clarke) and one IRL driver (Marco Andretti) were in the field as well. Image Credit: A1GP – SUI

How the field finished (ChampCar/IRL drivers in bold):
----
Pos Driver Team Time
1. Neel Jani Switzerland 1:06:19.574
2. Adam Carroll Ireland + 1.047
3. F. Albuquerque Portugal + 2.379
4. John Martin Australia + 10.593
5. Robert Doornbos Netherlands + 14.402
6. Loic Duval France + 17.423
7. N. Karthikeyan India + 20.215
8. Marco Andretti USA + 20.799
9. Edoardo Piscopo Italy + 23.156
10. Adrian Zaugg South Africa + 23.347
11. Fairuz Fauzy Malaysia + 26.832
12. Felipe Guimaraes Brazil + 1 lap
13. Dan Clarke Great Britain + 1 lap
14. C. van der Drift New Zealand + 1 lap
15. Cheng Cong Fu China + 1 lap
16. Salvador Duran Mexico + 7 laps
17. Satrio Hermanto Indonesia + 8 laps
18. Clivio Piccione Monaco + 17 laps
19. Daniel Morad Lebanon + 49 laps
Reference Here>>

Dan Clarke is confident that he will return to racing full-time this year, and expects to secure a drive in the IndyCar Series.The Briton lost his drive when the Champ Car World Series merged with IndyCar on the eve of the 2008 season, and spent last year on the sidelines. But he has returned to action with Team Great Britain at the Taupo A1GP races this weekend, and while he wouldn't rule out more A1GP appearances, he said his priority was getting an IndyCar seat. "I'm still living in Indianapolis, and we're still gearing up for a season in IndyCar," Clarke told autosport.com. Caption and Image Credit: Autosport

... notes from The EDJE

ChampCar & IRL Rookie Moves On To 2nd T-Team

Mario Moraes - Indy 500, 2008-05-05 (Indianapolis Motor Speedway): Day two rookie orientation - Image Credit: Andy Sallee (2008)

ChampCar & IRL Rookie Moves On To 2nd T-Team

The one thing that seems to be shaping up for the 2009 IRL season is that the transition teams (T-Teams) from ChampCar are bent on keeping their own in play.

Case in point, Mario Moraes jumps from one former ChampCar team, Dale Coyne Racing, to another … KV Racing Technology

Mario Moraes at Indy 500 raceday, 2008-05-25 (Indianapolis Motor Speedway) - Image Credit: Andy Sallee (2008)

This edited and excerpted from autosport.com -

Moraes joins KV for 2009
By Matt Beer - autosport.com

KV Racing Technology have signed Mario Moraes for the 2009 IndyCar Series.

The 20-year-old Brazilian jumped straight from British Formula 3 to IndyCar with Dale Coyne Racing last year and made steady progress during his rookie season, taking a best result of seventh at Watkins Glen, although several other promising performances ended in accidents.

"We are very excited to have Mario join our team," said team co-owner Jimmy Vasser. "Mario is young and extremely talented. He impressed us with his performances on both ovals and road/street circuits last year.

"We look forward to watching him grow and are confident he will be very competitive during the 2009 season."

Moraes believes he will make great progress with KV.

"I want to thank (team owners) Kevin Kalkhoven and Jimmy Vasser for this opportunity," he said. "I think KV Racing Technology provides me with the best opportunity to develop as a driver and advance my racing career. I am really looking forward to working with the entire KVRT organization in 2009."

There had been question marks over KV's IndyCar future during the winter due to the loss of the Surfers Paradise race, which had been key to their main backer Craig Gore's involvement with the series.
Reference Here>>

It is not known at the time of this post where last years drivers for KV Racing Technology, Will Power and Oriol Servia, will be driving or if any will be resigned by KVRT or another IRL team for 2009.

UPDATE: Will Power set to sign an agreement to ride for Penske in Helio Castroneves's seat as Helio concentrates on his upcoming legal trials on his potential of evading the payment of taxes. News conference to announce this T-Team crossover event is set to be held in Indianapolis at 2:30 PM, local Indianapolis time.

... notes from The EDJE

A 4 Door Porsche … That’s Right, FOUR Doors!

The Porsche Panamera Gran Turismo, at your service. Image Credit: presse.prosche.de

A 4 Door Porsche … That’s Right, FOUR Doors!

Last year at the Long Beach Grand Prix of 2008, I thought I had seen it all.

Team Minardi USA, running in it’s first year as a ChampCar team (and as it turned out, only year), was a team that brought with it an “E” ticket sponsor promotion – The Minardi F1x2. This was an open-wheel race chassis specially modified with two seats.

The idea being that well-heeled fans and sponsors would love to take a spin at racing speeds on the track of a ChampCar racing venue and be willing to pay $10,000 for the pleasure of signing their life away to ride in an elevated rearseat behind a qualified open-wheel race driver.

A Minardi F1x2 two-seater zipping along at speed during the Las Vegas Grand Prix in 2007. Image Credit: f1minardi.free.fr

This excerpted and edited from minardif1x2.com -

The acceleration, the cornering speeds, the braking forces, the scream of a racing engine being unleashed, the blur of speed – once, only the world’s top professional drivers could experience the reality of the ultimate, four-wheeled competition machine. Now, courtesy of the Minardi F1x2 two-seater programme, the thrill of experiencing Formula One performance first-hand is a possibility for a much wider audience.

Whether you’re an individual or a member of a corporate group, you are guaranteed the ride of a lifetime once you are strapped into one of the Minardi F1x2 Team’s fleet of eight, purpose-built, two-seater Grand Prix cars. From the moment the 700hp-plus V10 engine explodes into life, your driver selects first gear on the steering wheel-mounted paddle shifter, and your car rolls out of the garage and down the pit lane, you know this is going to be a very special experience and a very special day.
Reference Here>>

Honestly, the process was quite something to witness – the faces of the second seat passenger after the ride looked similar to a fixed smile carved into a pumpkin.

Well, our automobile manufacturing friends in Germany are planning a production car where several people can share in a community experience of coursing down a winding road at G-Force speeds and disgorge themselves from the car with the same carved smile expression affixed to their faces.

Expected to be introduced to the world in Spring 2009 and placed into production for sale by the Summer 2009 is the four door, four-seater Porsche … the Porshe Panamera Gran Turismo.

That’s right, a four door Porsche!

The Porsche Panamera Gran Turismo - rear view. Image Credit: presse.prosche.de

This excerpted and edited from Porsche.de website (registration required) –

Porsche Presents First Photos of Four-Door Panamera Gran Turismo
PRESS RELEASE – Release Date: 24/11/2008 - Stuttgart

Roughly nine months before the actual market launch, Dr. Ing. h.c. F. Porsche AG, Stuttgart, has released the first official photos of the Panamera in its final look. In its design, profile and silhouette, Porsche’s unique four-seater stands out clearly as a new member of the Porsche family. Conceived and designed as a four-door grand touring sports car, the Panamera combines numerous talents in typical Porsche style: sporting driving dynamics, a generous and variable interior, and the supreme driving comfort of a Gran Turismo. Joining the 911, Boxster and Cayman sports cars as well as the sporty SUV Cayenne, the Panamera is Porsche’s fourth model series.
----
Through its design language alone, the Panamera will establish a new segment versus the competition. The symbiosis of sports car DNA derived from the looks of a coupé, the unique interpretation of the classical saloon body and the benefits of a variable space concept give the new Porsche its truly unmistakable appearance. As an example, the Panamera comes with highly individual, strongly contoured air intakes instead of a conventional radiator grille. Striking wheel arches and the long and sleek engine compartment lid create that typical 911 “landscape” at the front end of the car the Porsche customer has appreciated for no less than 45 years, with the distinctly contoured wings as flanks bordering on the flat front lid. The V-shaped seams along the engine compartment lid and the rear window tapering out like an arrow to the rear convey the features characteristic of a sports car to the new, highly individual Panamera class. The striking, muscular shoulders over the rear wheels, the dynamic sweep of the coupé-like roofline, and the visible tailpipes again bear out all the DNA so typical of a thoroughbred Porsche.
----
Thanks to the new concept of space and the sporting architecture of the interior, the car’s occupants are also able to experience this special “pilot feeling” on all four seats. All four occupants enjoy supreme ergonomic comfort on both the front seats and the two firmly contoured single seats at the rear. The luggage compartment easily takes up all the passengers’ luggage. The variable space concept with its folding rear seat backrests enables the driver and passengers to adjust the luggage space individually to their personal requirements. And last but not least, the coupé tailgate in the sporting rear end combines superior suitability for daily use with stylish elegance.

Porsche has developed superior and up-to-date power units for the Panamera again reflecting all the qualities typical of the brand – the V-engines within the engine compartment come with six and eight cylinders and range in power from 300 to 500 bhp. Some of the engines use turbocharger technology, Direct Fuel Injection making them both fuel-efficient and powerful all in one. The flow of power to the wheels goes either through a manual six-speed gearbox or the new seven-speed Double-Clutch Gearbox, the so called Porsche-Doppelkupplung (PDK).

In addition to sporting rear-wheel drive, the top version of the Panamera comes with even more sophisticated all-wheel drive, which is also available for the other versions as an option.
----
The Porsche Panamera will be built at Porsche’s Leipzig Plant.
----
Hence, the Panamera is most definitely a car “Made in Germany”.
Reference Here>>

... notes from The EDJE

Aussie’s Power & Briscoe In Spotlight At Surfers Paradise

Will Power (KV Racing Technology): Saturday qualifyingImage Credit: Chris Von Wieldt

Aussie’s Power & Briscoe In Spotlight At Surfers Paradise

In the final race of the 2008 IndyCar season, with the championship already determined, Surfers Paradise Australia saw a tale of two native sons play out in a way that summed up a most unique season.

The 2008 IndyCar Series brought with it the drama of a host of new drivers and teams when back in late February it was announced that the two open wheel racing series that have the majority of their races and management in North America would merge into one competitive series.

One racing series (IndyCar) raced primarily on closed circuit, oval shaped, banked venues in the United States, the other (ChampCar) held the vast majority of their races on temporary and closed course street, airport, and road locations - internationally. With the merge, it was hoped that one series that featured a blend of both types of challenges for the drivers and teams would make for a better product … and for the most part, it is.

Take the last race of the season as an example of both the competitive aspects and the frustration of a merge when two native sons, Will Power of KV Racing Technology and Ryan Briscoe of Penske Racing squared off for the win at Surfers Paradise along the Gold Coast region in eastern Australia.

In the days leading up to the race held last night, North America time (mid-day Sunday in Australia) Will Power dominated the time trials during the warm-up sessions and captured the lead starting position in qualifying – a position he has captured twice before during the previous ChampCar races held at this venue.

But while Power has been unbeatable in qualifying at Surfers, his luck on race day has been abysmal, with collisions spoiling his races in every home appearance so far. A lapped 12th place in 2006 was his best Surfers finish to date.

"I've been in this position three years in a row, so we have to get it done," said Power

"I can't believe I have another pole start here. But, it's only the pole and the goal is to win the race on Sunday.

To win, Power would have to run a mistake-free race with New Zealander and 2008 ICS Champion Scott Dixon of Target Chip Ganassi Racing and Australian Ryan Briscoe of Marlborough Penske Racing.

Podium: race winner Ryan Briscoe, second place Scott Dixon, third place Ryan Hunter-Reay - Surfers Paradise, 2008-10-26 (Streets of Surfers Paradise): Image Credit: Chris Von Wieldt

This excerpted and edited from autosport.com -

Briscoe takes home victory at Surfers
By Matt Beer Sunday, October 26th 2008, 04:26 GMT

Ryan Briscoe fended off Scott Dixon to take a home win at Surfers Paradise, after Will Power crashed out of the lead having dominated most of the weekend.

For the third year in a row, Power's race ended in an accident after he had taken a commanding pole. But unlike his previous Surfers disappointments, this time Power's incident was a solo mistake rather than a collision.

The KV driver's crash on lap 16 left Briscoe (Penske) leading from Dixon (Ganassi), where he would remain until the flag.

Power immediately opened a four-second advantage at the start, as Dixon had to back off and hand second to Briscoe having cut the first chicane to hold the position on the opening lap.

An early yellow for a crash by Dale Coyne Racing's Mario Moraes, who had already tangled with Vitor Meira (Foyt) at the start, brought Briscoe and Dixon back onto Power's tail, but the Australian had little trouble pulling away again at the restart.

Although Briscoe began chipping away at his lead, Power was still two seconds in front when he misjudged the Turn 5/6 chicane on lap 16 and smashed his left-front suspension on the wall.

"I just clipped the inside wall," said Power. "Just a very bad mistake, very unfortunate. We were saving heaps of fuel, I wasn't pushing hard and it just caught me out."
----
Briscoe and Dixon dominated the second half of the race, with the Penske driver able to hold a steady two-second advantage over the current champion.

That gap was reduced to almost nothing with five laps to go, when Briscoe was badly held up lapping Patrick, but the Australian was able to resist huge pressure from Dixon and claim his third win of the year.

"What a way to finish the year and kick off 2009," said Briscoe. "It's a dream to win in my home country."
----
Newman/Haas/Lanigan's Justin Wilson, who had been a match for Power in practice, was forced to start at the back following pre-race gearbox problems. He carved through the field early on - making up 11 places in six laps - but would drop right out of contention after a tangle with Bruno Junqueira at a restart.
Reference Here>>

So, how did the Transition Teams and Drivers fare in this final race of the inaugural merged IndyCar open wheel racing series?

Pos Driver Team Time
4. Alex Tagliani Conquest + 19.9844
5. Oriol Servia KV + 20.4376
6. EJ Viso HVM + 33.7249
9. Graham Rahal Newman/Haas/Lanigan + 1:20.0592
11. Justin Wilson Newman/Haas/Lanigan + 1:31.9353
15. Bruno Junqueira Dale Coyne + 1 lap
19. Jaime Camara Conquest + 2 laps

Retirements:

Driver Team Laps
Will Power KV 16
Mario Moraes Dale Coyne 7

... notes from The EDJE