A Kinder, Gentler Sebastien Bourdais - Interview With Three 2015 IndyCar Races Left

KVSH Racing, Hydroxycut Hardcore® Elite, Mistic® electronic cigarettes, Chevrolet-powered and aerodynamically outfitted Dallara Verizon IndyCar Series driver Sebastien Bourdais as he gets instruction from the pit box during the MAVTv 500. Always improving, SeaBass finished the race as the last car on the lead lap - started at P15 and finished P11. Image Credit: Ken Manfred (2015)

A Kinder, Gentler Sebastien Bourdais - Interview With Three 2015 IndyCar Races Left

BEGIN INTERVIEW SCRIPT
Sebastien Bourdais, who currently races for a person he competed against in ChampCar, Jimmy Vasser at KVSH (formally KV Racing Technology), is one of the most successful championship drivers currently competing in the Verizon IndyCar Series with four season championships.

Between 2004 through 2007, he beat out the likes of Bruno Junqueuira, Oriol Servia, and Justin Wilson as runners-up for the ChampCar season title ... while Tony Kanaan, Dan Wheldon, Sam Hornish, Jr., and Dario Franchitti were becoming champions in the separate Indy Racing League.

Bourdais re-joined the fight in open-wheel racing after the merger between the IRL and ChampCar by joining Dragon Racing and driving, the new Dallara DW12, outfitted with the short-lived Lotus Engine effort, but proved that the Lotus Power was up to competition on street and road races courses that featured a lot of corners.

In his second year with KVSH, driving the Chevrolet-powered and aerodynamically outfitted Dallara, Bourdais has two wins, one on the road/street - Race 2 at the Dual of Detroit, and one at the world's oldest racing course, the Milwaukee Mile oval. With 34 wins, Sebastien ties Al Unser, Jr. for seventh on the all-time list of American open-wheel career wins.

Also, in 2015, Sebastien Bourdais has a win at the Mobil 12 Hours of Sebring in the Tudor United Sports Car Championship with team drivers João Barbosa, and Christian Fittipaldi driving the #5 Action Express Racing Corvette Daytona Prototype.

KVSH Racing, Hydroxycut Hardcore® Elite, Mistic® electronic cigarettes, Chevrolet-powered and aerodynamically outfitted Dallara Verizon IndyCar Series driver Sebastien Bourdais at the Toyota Grand Prix of Long Beach. A good outing where SeaBass was able to qualify 9th and finish 6th. Image Credit: Edmund Jenks (2015)

Welcome Sebastien Bourdais ...

1)   Last weekend, during the race broadcast of the INDY Corn 300 in Iowa on NBCSN, we were treated to a video package that reviewed the tumultuous competitive relationship between you and Paul Tracy, that at times looked to almost come to physical blows on and around the track.

The two of you were shown being reflective and chummy, cruising around the Iowa countryside in a beautiful Corvette – one question, were you able to drive the Corvette that the two of you were taking a ride in?

2)  3-time champion Scott Dixon, after the Indy500, said the trailing turbulence, when one is behind 3 or more cars, makes it nearly impossible to charge toward the front - whereas, former team-mate Graham Rahal mentioned after the MAVTv500 at Auto Club Speedway, that the Chevy Turbulence was unpredictable but the Honda trailing turbulence was smoother and allowed for a better draft.

What has been your experience on the issue of trailing turbulence?

Is there a difference between Chevy to Honda?

What happened at the Milwaukee Mile and trailing turbulence? ... it appeared that since you had lapped the field at one point, this was never an issue as it may have been for others.

3)  It is good to see you at #6 in the 2015 championship points race after 13 races, with just three races left - the road course at Mid-Ohio, the superspeedway tri-oval at Pocono, and the double-points finale on the road course at Sonoma Raceway. Please tell us your planning and anticipation for these three races beginning with;

Mid-Ohio -

Pocono -

Sonoma Raceway near San Francisco -

4)  We believe we know how difficult it is to form a winning combination of sponsors, team mechanics/engineers, ownership, and driver testing. Will you be able to keep what has worked for you this year, in 2016?
What element do you think you could use more of, or would like to modify in any way?

5)  On a personal level, the folks at IndyCar put the word out that unlike a lot of competitors in the series; you enjoy driving your own coach to the racing venues. It stated in the public relations document that sometimes you are known to travel with wife Claire and two children, Alex and Emma, in tow. What do you enjoy most about traveling from race to race in a motorcoach?
What are you and Claire able to teach your kids?

Well, Sebastien Bourdais ... good luck for the rest of the season and we hope to see you on the podium again soon.
ENDS

... notes from The EDJE


TAGS: Sebastien Bourdais, Verizon IndyCar Series, KVSH, Jimmy Vasser, Bruno Junqueuira, Oriol Servia, Justin Wilson, Tony Kanaan, Dan Wheldon, Sam Hornish, Jr., Dario Franchitti, The EDJE, Race Talk Radio, Hydroxy Cut, Mistic

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 **

IZOD IndyCar Series 2012 Motorsports Musings

Memorial three-abreast five lap salute To Dan Wheldon performed by the IZOD IndyCar Series drivers at Las Vegas Motor Speedway October 16, 2011. Image Credit: LAT Photo

IZOD IndyCar Series 2012 Motorsports Musings

The 2012 IZOD IndyCar Series season will be the 101st season of American open wheel racing. It is hard to get one's mind around the beginning of a new season of competition when the previous season ends, in such tragedy, as the 2011 season ending race in Las Vegas played out.

The memorials and auctions in support of all that Dan Wheldon and his family stood for during his career have taken place and are winding down on the internet. The response on eBay in terms of donated items and bidding response was beyond anyone could have imagined. Dan was unique in that he was very independent and corporate at the same time. A trick that held him in high esteem with the top brass in the series and some of the most renegade fans this sport had to offer. He was so unique in this posture, he was probably one of a very few IRL standard drivers fans from the former CART/ChampCar series could relate to and half embrace as their own.

Dan had a large hand in helping to understand and craft the beginning of a new era in American open wheel racing as it enters 2012. So large was his influence, the IZOD IndyCar Series and Dallara have decided to rename the new chassis Dan spent the last months of his life testing with the Bryan Herta Autosport engineering staff based out of Santa Clarita, CA.

The Dallara DW12 IndyCar Safety Cells, ready for their close-up, as they sit next to the "yard of bricks" start/finish line. Image Credit: Ron McQueeney

The new era, as set upon by the ICONIC committee in 2010, will feature the IndyCar Safety Cell monocoque and suspension parts renamed the Dallara DW12 which, instead of being a pure specification car where all of the component parts come from the same manufacturing resouces, keeps the driver encased in a frame covered with a choice of outer composite aerodynamic body work (not at first, but starting in 2013), rolling on tires from Firestone (with discussions of having a potential of at least two manufacturers supplying solutions during future seasons), powered by engines supplied by at least three different manufacturing marks in 2012 (Honda, Chevy/Illmore, and Lotus/Judd). What this brings to a racing series is an element of diversity in the fielding of a competitive entry. This places even greater emphasis on the team's engineering, and support make up as well as driver talent.

With all of this diversity and evolution of technology in the paddock, one has to ask, what is the IZOD IndyCar Series going to do to meet the support challenges that will show themselves on the track during race events?

The management and negotiation quotient between additional suppliers for body parts, and engines is only a part of the equation ... race control has to be considered on the other side. Cars being fielded with a broader diversity of component parts will translate to a greater difference in performance on the track between teams.

Will the current, years old specification template, and staff (with a cobbled together, two series philosophical input flow), stand up to the demands this new ICONIC committee Dallara DW12 approach exact? Given the troubles that exposed themselves this past year (possibly placing the series championship at stake), can the current race control be the standard for 2012 and beyond ... or is it time for a change that can adapt to the engine and aero-package diversity that will present itself in competition?

On behalf of the unique approach the ICONIC committee and CEO Randy Bernard have embraced, which recognizes the precept that some potential for technology evolution is a good thing for motorsports, let's hope that management template evolution can be explored in background series support and race control as well.

... notes from The EDJE


<Article first appeared as IZOD IndyCar Series 2012 Motorsports Musings at Technorati>

Dan Wheldon Killed: The First and Final Laps, Tweet by Tweet

Will Power and Dario Franchitti as they wait for the command to start engines and begin the race to decide who will be 2011 IZOD IndyCar Series champion. Image Credit: Edmund Jenks (2011)


Dan Wheldon Killed: The First and Final Laps, Tweet by Tweet

The season finale of the 2011 IZOD IndyCar Series gets played out here in the land where gambling is king and glitz is the salve that makes everything work. This is the last official race with the old Dallara chassis that helped to establish the Indy Racing League (IRL) and was the equipment used to secure the merger between the ChampCar World Series (CCWS) and the IRL through the last three years.

Thirty-four cars will take to this short 1.5 mile oval for 300 miles and every effort has been made to field all the equipment that can roll and race because this will be the last time these Dallaras will be used by this racing series.

One example as to what can happen when one works hard to take old parts and stitch together a car to race happened when James Jakes had to exit the second practice session on Friday early in a fiery smash in turn #2 due to suspension failure. These 200mph Dallara cars are not supposed to do this.

James Jakes driving for Dale Coyne Racing as he coasts to a stop as fuel flairs up along the wall. Image Credit: Yahoo.Sports.Com

This race may be officially named the IZOD IndyCar Series World Championship presented by Honda ... but we will call this exercise The Duct Tape 300 Tweet-By-Tweet:

CGRTeamsChip Ganassi Racingby LVMotorSpeedway - We're about an hour away from the green flag here @LVMotorSpeedway for the @IndyCar season finale! Catch the action-packed race LIVE on ABC!

NewmanHaas Newman Haas Racing - @OriolServia with friends @MichelJourdain and @AdrianF007 yfrog.com/o0211ruj

Green Green Green - The flag flies at the Duct Tape 300

Everyone gets off without a hitch - the field of 34 cars are up to speed at over 200 mph

Dario Franchitti moves ahead of Will Power to put him more points down.

Cars go three wide in most of the corners around the track ... very close racing

Lap 10 of 200
 

SBPopOffValve Tony - Danica in the middle, three-wide. She's thinking, "I can't wait until I'm doing this at half the speed."

Crash Crash Crash - Lap 12 of 200

Eight cars involved, one car flies in the air, one on its lid

Dale_Nixon Dale Nixon - Holy crap this does not look good..

99forever Steph@MoreFrontWing - Can't breathe. #indycar

Red Flag after 12 laps

kart58 Paige - God... that looked like Indy 1973 carnage. Not good. #indycar

UPDATE – 15 cars collected in the mess on turn #2

DRRIndyCar DRRIndyCar - Bia says she's sure she hit debris at slow speed.

toomuchracing Pat W - Will Power's car is involved and he's out of the race, Dario Franchitti is champion

Verizon Penske Racing's car driven by Will Power. Image Credit: Edmund Jenks via broadcast image (2011)

Sebastian Saavedra touches a car next to him with left wheel as he seeks to get out of the top groove and this sets off the chain reaction
 

DRRIndyCar DRRIndyCar - Assessing the damage to the 24 and 11. Both drivers say their cars are probably going to be able to continue.

pressdog Bill Zahren - RT @rosslancaster: @pressdog RT @f1fanaticlive: Rice, Power, Mann, Lloyd, Wheldon, Viso, Tracy, Kimball, Schec… (cont) 

PantherRacing Panther Racing - Appears JR is out of car and OK.

IndyRacingNut Tony Wittrien - Anyone with word on Wheldon's condition? Please?

SBPopOffValve Tony - Oh shit. The yellow tarp is on Wheldon's car.

shagers Shane Rogers - That tarp is a major, major concern. #indycar

99forever Steph@MoreFrontWing - Bad. RT @JennaFryer WTF is the yellow tarp? #indycar

toomuchracing Pat W - Out of the race per ABC: Power, Cunningham, Hildebrand, Howard, Bell, Scheckter, Meira, Kimball, Mann, Rice, Viso, Lloyd, Mann, Rice

specutainment Midweek Motorsport by radiolemans - 12 cars out in huge shunt at Vegas. Power involved,Dario made it thru. Red Flag. Press room very quiet.

Replay of video taken from Will Power’s car camera … Will takes off and gets launched airborne and turns 180 degrees and lands tail first

toomuchracing Pat W - Hoping the yellow tarp on the car is just a yellow tarp on a car and not a sign of something bad

Dale_Nixon Dale Nixon - That in-car footage on @12WillPower is frightening. That wheel almost came right into his camera

IndyRacingNut Tony Wittrien - Just felt compelled to give my 2yr old son a big hug.....#PrayForWheldon

UPDATE - Dan Weldon taken by heliocopter to University Hospital … all other drivers are under their own power.

pressdog Bill Zahren - Decisions made immediately post-trauma are not usually sound. RT @DriveAvailable: @SBPopOffValve That's racing. Don't over-react please.

 

colinsato Colin Sato by toomuchracing - Paul Tracy says there are a lot of younger drivers who don't know how to react. He was around for G. Moore and J. Krosnoff. #indycar

 

specutainment Midweek Motorsport by radiolemans @ @nellietellie another one of those creepy moments at the track when everything goes quiet - even the press room were shocked.....

Will Power has been resubmitted to the field infirmary for further observation

This posting will become updated when more information is available - cars out (13) are #17 Wade Cunningham, #4 JR Hildebrand, #22 Townsend Bell, #15 Jay Howard, #57 Tomas Scheckter, #83 Charlie Kimball, #8 Paul Tracy, #59 EJ Viso, #77 Dan Wheldon, #19 Alex Lloyd, #30 Pippa Mann, #12 Will Power, #44 Buddy Rice.

Two cars are damaged but may continue are #14 Vitor Meira and #18 James Jakes.

END

Randy Bernard, President and CEO of the IZOD IndyCar Series announces in the Media Center that Dan Weldon passes away from unsurvivable injuries. Pippa Mann, Will Power, and JR Hildebrand were transported to the hospital for injuries and observation.

GRAND PRIX ASSOCIATION OF LONG BEACH STATEMENT REGARDING DAN WHELDON

JIM MICHAELIAN, PRESIDENT & CEO, GRAND PRIX ASSOCIATION OF LONG BEACH:

“Our hearts are saddened to hear the news of the passing of Dan Wheldon. He was a great representative of our sport and personified what the IZOD IndyCar Series is all about. Our thoughts and prayers go out to his wife, Susie, his children and family. He will be missed.” -TGPLB-

STATEMENT FROM ANDRETTI AUTOSPORT ON PASSING OF DAN WHELDON

“It is with extreme sorrow that we have lost one of our champion drivers today. Dan was an Indy 500 champion and IndyCar Series champion with Andretti Autosport-and one of our closest competitors. Dan brought such enthusiasm and passion to the sport not often seen in motorsports. We will remember Dan’s tremendous racing accomplishments with our team as well his infectious personality. We would like to express our deepest sympathy to Dan’s family, racing team and friends today. Dan is one of IndyCar’s greatest champions.”

... notes from The EDJE

Dan Wheldon ... Championship Winning Driver, 2-Time Indy 500 Winner, Motorsports Color Commentator, Ambassador to American Open Wheel Racing

Dan Wheldon when he was riding his wave of popularity at the beginning of the 2006 season (photo of 2006 Indy Downforce fan club promo, with signature - similar to the 2003 trade show handout). The previous year he had won the Indy 5oo and the 2005 IndyCar Series Championship over Tony Kanaan, Sam Hornish, Jr., Dario Franchitti, and Scott Sharp. Image Credit: Edmund Jenks (2011)


Dan Wheldon ... Championship Winning Driver, 2-Time Indy 500 Winner, Motorsports Color Commentator, Ambassador to American Open Wheel Racing

There was a time, not long ago, that Dan Wheldon was just like any other aspiring driver with some talent, lucky to be associated with a young, but experienced racing team, stood in an exhibition hall, next to a nicely painted Jim Beam logoed car, to sign autographs on images of himself standing next to a race car printed on light cardboard. This image of Dan Wheldon happened at a trade show in Las Vegas a few years back (2003) before he became the championship winning driver, 2-time Indy 500 winner, motorsports color commentator, and ambassador to American open wheel racing Dan Weldon people have become familiar with over the last half decade or so.

Dan was working a promotional appearance at the Las Vegas Convention Center highlighting the fact that he had just became a member of the Andretti Green Racing organization (replacing Michael Andretti as a driver) in the Indianapolis Racing League (now named IndyCar Series) and there he stood next to his Jim Beam Special Dallara happy to meet and greet people as he shook hands and handed out signed promotional printed images of himself in a similar pose. Being a race car driver isn't all "rockstar" glory ... it requires a lot of hard work.

This year has seen a growth in the stature of the gentle, and unassuming British character (the public, promotional persona), who has not only won the 2011 Greatest Spectacle in Racing, but has taken to working races behind the microphone.

Last weekend, the IndyCar Series (ICS) visited the cornfields of Iowa to run the 9th race in a 18 race season. The Iowa Corn 250 is run on a very tight, banked turn, .875-mile oval that, at race speed, takes only about 19 seconds to lap, and through this very fast lap action, Dan Wheldon proved himself as capable an announcer as he is an accomplished driver.

To those who watched the broadcast, carried by VERSUS cable channel for a unique Saturday night-time presentation, Dan Wheldon embraced the fast paced, event-filled three hours as if he'd been doing this microphone stuff for years. The broadcast pre-race featured a Formula 1 style pit lane interview walk with famed auto-writer Robin Miller and Dan, each taking a row of the two-row staging of the cars along pit lane. On the broadcast, first Robin, and then Dan (back and forth) would walk up to drivers, car owners, and engineers and create a quick one or two question interview that proved to be extremely entertaining. It's always fun to be able to catch a Ganassi or Penske off guard, especially since they rarely ever are, but this was the feel and pace of the segment - fairly smooth and spontaneous. Dan was really in the commentator zone when he was interviewing Dario Franchitti, when he said "This is my job" ... Dario graciously retorted "Oh no its not. Ahhh, you know where your job is ... [on the track]!" It makes one ask, just who was caught off-guard now?

During the race, however, is where Dan Wheldon really shined. Even though the cars were going around the oval at under 19 seconds a lap, Dan had the uncanny knack of having the broadcast presence of almost slowing down the action at moments so that the viewer felt as though they were in the cockpit and had the control of the car while it circled the track. The action did not slow down on the screen, Dan did not talk slowly, but the explanation and engagement with the viewing audience in Dan's style, translated itself to a kinda' audio slower (not slow) motion.

Forces have a funny way of working their way into situations. The fact that Dan Wheldon isn't driving for another ICS season championship in 2011 is a tragedy and all American open wheel racing fans see this. Until this situation is rectified, the same American open wheel racing fans may at least be able to have more color commentary from Dan Wheldon in future ICS races this season.

... notes from The EDJE

(Article first published as Dan Wheldon ... Championship Winning Driver, 2-Time Indy 500 Winner, Motorsports Color Commentator, Ambassador to American Open Wheel Racing on Technorati)