Highest television ratings in Brazil for IZOD IndyCar Series race in Sao Paulo

Highest television ratings in Brazil for IZOD IndyCar Series race in Sao Paulo

As reported on VERSUS TV, Bob Jenkins stated that it has been measured that the highest ratings for any television broadcast ever in Brazil was registered for the opening race of the IZOD IndyCar Series in Sao Paulo, Brazil. This was a very good race on ANY level. The CCWS was fairly well represented on the driverside (Will Power, Ryan Hunter-Reay, Raphael Matos) ... not so much on the teamside (top CCWS transition team finish was KV Racing technology at P12). RHR and Vitor both were coming into the race having sustained back injuries last year - a very good drive? for those in the top five places - a good start for the first year series sponsor, IZOD!

The race started with a first lap compression accident touched off by ICS rookie and seven year former Formula 1 driver for KV Racing Technology's Takuma Sato. Sato, came in too hot on the first corner setting up a chain reaction accident that aids in taking out KV Racing Technology teammate Mario Moraes (also has trouble slowing down) who lands on top of Andretti Autosport's Marco Andretti.

The ratings were boosted by the fact that seven drivers from Brazil were competing in this first race of the 2010 ICS season and many are household names ... they are Vitor Meira - AJ Foyt Racing - finishing P3, Raphael Matos - Luczo Dragon Racing - finishing P4, Helio Castroneves - Verizon Penske Racing - finishing P9, Tony Kanaan - Andretti Autosports - finishing P10, Ana Beatriz (Bia Figueiredo) - Dreyer&Reinbold Racing - finishing P13, Mario Romancini - Conquest Racing - finishing P17, and Mario Moraes - KV Racing Technology - finishing P24.

... 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

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

Sad T-Points End To Open Wheel Unification

Justin Wilson misses out on capturing the IRL's Bombardier Rookie of the Year for the 2008 IndyCar Series season championship by six points. Image Credit: Andy Sallee (2008)

Sad T-Points End To Open Wheel Unification

Qualification for the Chicagoland oval race typified the fortunes of the teams transitioning into the IRL in the last points paying race for the championship of the 2008 IRL season.

Not one driver from a former ChampCar World Series team made it into the top ten on the grid. This represents the beginning to a sad end to the first year performance of transition team drivers during this unification year of open wheel racing in North America.

This excerpted from autosport.com -

Briscoe beats Dixon to Chicago pole
Saturday, September 6th 2008, 21:38 GMT

Ryan Briscoe helped his Penske teammate Helio Castroneves' chances of winning the IRL IndyCar Series title by beating points leader Scott Dixon to pole position for the championship decider at Chicagoland.

Ganassi driver Dixon, who had dominated practice, held provisional pole for most of the session, resisting strong challenges from the Andretti Green cars in particular.

But Briscoe, the last driver to take to the track, set a four lap average of 215.818mph to snatch pole away from Dixon, out-pacing the Kiwi by just over a tenth of a second.

Detroit winner Justin Wilson (Newman/Haas/Lanigan) struggled on the 1.5-mile oval and only qualified 22nd.

Ryan Briscoe will start in position P1 on the grid for PEAK Antifreeze & Motor Oil Indy 300 at Chicagoland Speedway in Joliet, Illinois. Image Credit: Andy Sallee (2008)

Pos Driver Team Speed

1. Ryan Briscoe Penske 215.818
2. Scott Dixon Ganassi 215.553
3. Danica Patrick Andretti Green 215.548
4. Helio Castroneves Penske 215.372
5. Tony Kanaan Andretti Green 215.368
6. Marco Andretti Andretti Green 215.064
7. Dan Wheldon Ganassi 214.967
8. Tomas Scheckter Luczo Dragon 214.855
9. Vitor Meira Panther 214.796
10. Marty Roth Roth 214.794
11. Will Power KV 214.583
12. Hideki Mutoh Andretti Green 214.444
13. Oriol Servia KV 214.441
14. Ed Carpenter Vision 213.875
15. Graham Rahal Newman/Haas/Lanigan 213.523
16. AJ Foyt IV Vision 213.485
17. Ryan Hunter-Reay Rahal Letterman 213.430
18. Jaime Camara Conquest 213.417
19. Sarah Fisher Sarah Fisher 213.389
20. Alex Tagliani Conquest 213.305
21. Milka Duno Dreyer & Reinbold 212.857
22. Justin Wilson Newman/Haas/Lanigan 212.753
23. Buddy Rice Dreyer & Reinbold 212.682
24. Darren Manning Foyt 212.406
25. Franck Perera Foyt 212.126
26. Bruno Junqueira Dale Coyne 212.040
27. EJ Viso HVM 211.996
28. Mario Moraes Dale Coyne 211.451

T-Team Tally In Qualifications

Will Power grids in position P11 for the final points paying race of the season. Image Credit: Andy Sallee (2008)

Pos Driver Team Speed

11. Will Power KV 214.583
13. Oriol Servia KV 214.441
15. Graham Rahal Newman/Haas/Lanigan 213.523
18. Jaime Camara Conquest 213.417
20. Alex Tagliani Conquest 213.305
22. Justin Wilson Newman/Haas/Lanigan 212.753
26. Bruno Junqueira Dale Coyne 212.040
27. EJ Viso HVM 211.996
28. Mario Moraes Dale Coyne 211.451
Reference Here>>

Missing from the line-up is Pacific Coast Motorsports who have bowed out after entering the season late, showed good improvement but wanted to spend this time to build for a stronger campaign next year.

15:46:25 GMT-0400 All cars are away from the grid for the pace laps. Green flag is expected on the third time by.

Start waived off due to spacing, Briscoe slowed the field way down – too slow.

Green Flag!

Three wide racing gets the heart pumping at the start. Image Credit: Andy Sallee (2008)

LAP 1
The cars charge three wide into the first corner

LAP 3
Tony Kanaan is trying to pass Briscoe on the high side. Castroneves is already up to P21 from P28

LAP 5
Castroneves is moves up to P18 from P28

LAP 11
Helio Castroneves is up to P13 from P28

LAP 14
Dan Wheldon looks to take P5 from Danica Patrick

LAP 15
Marco Andretti gets moved back to P13 as Castroneves passes by for P12

LAP 25
Castroneves gets moved back to P11 as Rahal passes by to regain P10

LAP 32 of 200
It’s Briscoe, Kanaan, Dixon, Carpenter, Weldon, Patrick, Meira, Foyt IV, Hunter-Reay, and Castroneves in positions 1-10

LAP 37
Yellow Flag - Ed Carpenter smashes into the wall on Turn 2 – ON FIRE

LAP 38
In the pits – All cars take on fuel, tires, get adjustments, and try to advance position

LAP 39
After the first round of pitstops Tony Kanaan appears to have won the race off of pit lane with Dixon in tow - Castroneves moving past Hunter-Reay. It’s Kanaan, Dixon, Briscoe, Weldon, Patrick, Meira, Foyt IV, Castroneves, Hunter-Reay, and Viso in positions 1-10

LAP 50
Green Green Green- Restart underway – Castroneves moves up another spot making that 20 positions in 50 laps

LAP 53
Positions 9-13 running almost on top of each other – Hunter-Reay, Viso, Power, Rahal, and Scheckter

LAP 57
Double pass on Weldon and Patrick by Castroneves to P4 … right behind Dixon

LAP 63
T-Team Driver, Jaime Camara of Conquest Racing is done for the day

LAP 64
Jaime Camara appears to have his issues resolved as he rejoins the race

LAP 67
Helio Castroneves passes Dixon to P3. Dixon shows maturity by not contesting the position

LAP 74
Yellow Flag – Full Course Caution – Vitor Meira of Panther Racing hits the wall in turn two. Vitor received an email earlier in the day telling him that he will not be racing for Panther Racing next season … he is expected to be replaced by Dan Weldon currently at Target Chip Ganassi Racing … who is expected to be replaced by IRL 2007 Series Champion, Dario Franchitti – and so goes the silly season here in the last points paying race for the IndyCar Series 2008 Championship

LAP 84
Green Flag – Helio Castroneves leads the field after a great pitstop. Behind him It’s Briscoe, Kanaan, Dixon, Weldon, Foyt IV, Patrick, Power, Viso, and Rahal in positions 1-10

LAP 92
1.1 seconds separates the top nine cars

LAP 93
Three abreast at 213 mph with Castroneves on the bottom, Ryan Briscoe in the middle, and Dan Weldon on top – Dixon drops to seventh

LAP 95
Mario Moraes of Dale Coyne Racing and EJ Viso of HVM Racing are in the top nine. Moraes is 19 years old with little oval experience has moved up from next to last P27 to P5

LAP 108
Over halfway and the Yellow Flag comes out for debris on the track. Dixon runs at P10 and this race is beginning to slip away. If the race were to end right now, Dixon would only win by two points (down 28 from 30) for a $1,000,000 season championship bonus

Sarah Fisher in her new Dollar General livery races along side, three wide, with Marco Andretti and T-Team driver, nineteen year-old Mario Moraes in the Sonny's BBQ sponsored Dale Coyne Dallara. Image Credit: Andy Sallee (2008)

LAP 109
Buddy Rice of Dreyer & Reinbold Racing gets tapped while in pit lane by Graham Rahal of Newman/Haas/Lanigan Racing and is unable to continue in the race

LAP 113
Rahal in pits to replace mirror – penalized to restart from the back of the pack

LAP 117
Green Flag – Helio Castroneves leads the field after a great pitstop. Behind him It’s Briscoe, Weldon, Kanaan, Viso, Foyt IV, Patrick, Dixon, Power, Moraes, and Wilson in positions 1-11

LAP 118
Yellow Flag – Sara Fisher in the Dollar General Fisher Racing car hits the wall in turn #4 hard. She has stopped in the grass. Sarah Fisher is out of the car, but is limping to the safety vehicle

LAP 119
Where season points leader Scott Dixon is running right now … he would win by four points. If Castroneves were to get the bonus points for leading the most laps – Dixon would still win by one point

LAP 125
Green Flag – 75 laps to go. Justin Wilson passes Scott Dixon and pushes him back to ninth

LAP 127
Weldon drops back one position from P3 to P4 moving Kanaan up

LAP 128
Dixon is able to make some passes and is now up to P6 after passing Patrick

LAP 132
Kanaan passes Castroneves – not good for Helio … and Dixon up to P4

LAP 136
Announcers speculate if Dixon is applying the same strategy Dario Franchitti employed last year where Dixon Pressures Castroneves to use up more fuel and have him run out at the end – the same way Dixon ran out last year giving Franchitti the win and the championship

LAP 137
EJ Viso’s tire deflates and sends the car into the wall from P8

LAP 140
Leaders in the pits – Dixon may have a problem in that he looses a few positions because a tire got away from a pit crew member causing Dixon to hold a little longer

LAP 144
Milka Duno stays out to get some camera time for her sponsor CITGO Petroleum - Green Flag – Helio Castroneves is second after a great pitstop. Behind him It’s Briscoe, Weldon, Patrick, Kanaan, Dixon, Moraes, Hunter-Reay and Andretti in positions 1-10

LAP 158
The top eight have opened up a 1.8 second lead on the field

LAP 163
Hideki Mutoh is slow on the apron near Turn #1

LAP 167
Dixon is holding station at P4 – if he finishes there, he wins the series championship for 2008 by nine points.

LAP 168
Hideki Mutoh is in for an extended pit stop. This could cost him Bombardier Rookie of the Year

LAP 177
It’s Weldon, Castroneves, Briscoe, Dixon, Kanaan, Moraes, Hunter-Reay, Patrick, Foyt IV, and Manning in P1 through P10

Helio Castroneves and teammate Ryan Briscoe get a nudge at over 200 miles per hour while running ... three wide. Image Credit: Andy Sallee (2008)

LAP 182
Mario Moraes of Dale Coyne Racing scrapes the wall and brings out a Yellow Flag. Mario out – Castroneves has the bonus points (3) for most laps led

LAP 184
Pits are open and the leaders come in – this could turn the race if there is a problem for either Castroneves or Dixon

LAP 185
Dixon picks up three positions and passes Briscoe and Castroneves out of the pits – only about 13 to 14 laps of racing to the end

LAP 189
11 laps left and it’s Green Green Green RESTART! – Graham Rahal gets into the wall from P18 – Yellow Flag

LAP 194
Six laps to go, after two wave offs due to Helio trying to get a jump - they are going to the end

LAP 195
Castroneves is all over leader, Scott Dixon’s rear wing

LAP 199
Two laps remaining and it is side by side

LAP 200
On the bottom Dixon out stretches Castroneves for his seventeenth race win by one one-thousandth of a second. The video evidence would suggest that Castroneves noses out Dixon – we’re waiting for the announcement

It’s official!

Scott Dixon is the 2008 IndyCar Series Champion and is second to Helio Castroneves in this race here today in the closest finish ever in an open wheel motorsports race … still at margin of one one-thousandth of a second flying along at 213 miles per hour. Image Credit: indycar.com

Photo finish
By indycar.com staff

JOLIET, Ill. - Helio Castroneves made a exciting dash to the front of the pack - going from worst to first in 77 laps - but Scott Dixon did what was necessary to wrap up his second IndyCar Series championship.

Dixon, who needed an eighth place in the PEAK Antifreeze & Motor Oil Indy 300 at Chicagoland Speedway to clinch, finished second in the 200-lap race -- by 0.0033 of a second to Castroneves in the second-closest finish in IndyCar Series history. The closest finish is 0.0024 of a second in 2002.

Another IndyCar Series championship-deciding race came down to the final turn of the final lap at Chicagoland Speedway. This time, Scott Dixon came out on top. Image Credit: Andy Sallee (2008)

IndyCar Series champion celebrates with all of the members of his Target Chip Ganassi team. Image Credit: Andy Sallee (2008)

Dixon won by 17 points. Castroneves' teammate, Ryan Briscoe, finished third (0.0778 of a second behind) and Tony Kanaan was fourth. Will Power finished fifth and Dan Wheldon was sixth.
Reference Here>>

The highest finishing Transition Team driver is Will Power of KV Racing Technology.

So, it is a sad T-Team points end to this open wheel unification season at the end. Justin Wilson and Will Power both had a chance to take the lead in the rookie of the points but came up short.

Oriol Servia, Will Power's KV Racing Technology teammate was the highest ranking T-Team driver, but since he raced at the Indianapolis 500 in a previous season, he did not qualify as a rookie.

Bombardier Rookie of the Year

Rank. Name – PTS. Behind Leader

1. Hideki Mutoh - 346 Leader – and a rookie driver for an established IRL team
2. Justin Wilson -6
3. Will Power -15
4. Graham Rahal - -58
5. E.J. Viso -60
6. Mario Moraes -102
7. Enrique Bernoldi -126
8. Jaime Camara -172
9. Mario Dominguez -234

Overall 2008 Championship Points Standings

Rank. Name – POINTS – PTS. Behind Leader
(T-Team in CCWS orange)

1. Scott Dixon - 646 Leader
2. Helio Castroneves - 629 -17
3. Tony Kanaan - 513 -133
4. Dan Wheldon - 492 -154
5. Ryan Briscoe - 447 -199
6. Danica Patrick - 379 -267
7. Marco Andretti - 363 -283
8. Ryan Hunter-Reay - 360 -286
9. Oriol Servia - 358 -288
10. Hideki Mutoh - 346 -300
11. Justin Wilson - 340 -306
12. Will Power - 331 -315
13. Vitor Meira - 324 -322
14. Darren Manning - 323 -323
15. Ed Carpenter - 320 -326
16. Buddy Rice - 306 -340
17. Graham Rahal - 288 -358
18. E.J. Viso - 286 -360
19. A.J. Foyt IV - 280 -366
20. Bruno Junqueira - 256 -390
21. Mario Moraes - 244 -402
22. Enrique Bernoldi - 220 -426
23. Jaime Camara - 174 -472
24. Marty Roth - 166 -480
25. Milka Duno - 140 -506
26. Townsend Bell - 117 -529
27. Mario Dominguez - 112 -534
28. Jay Howard - 72 -574
29. Franck Perera - 71 -575
30. John Andretti - 71 -575
31. Tomas Scheckter - 66 -580
32. Sarah Fisher - 37 -609
33. Paul Tracy - 32 -614 - honorable mention
34. Alex Tagliani - 30 -616 - honorable mention
35. Roger Yasukawa - 16 -630
36. Davey Hamilton - 16 -630
37. Buddy Lazier - 13 -633
38. Alex Lloyd - 10 -636
39. Jeff Simmons - 10 -636

... notes from The EDJE

T-Team Silver Lining In The Clouds At Mid-Ohio

The pit lane at Mid-Ohio during the rain shower just before race start. Image Credit: Andy Sallee (2008)

T-Team Silver Lining In The Clouds At Mid-Ohio

Seven lead changes from seven different drivers – not a bad display in open wheel racing for a road course. Heck, we even had some of the “T-Team Ten” take a legitimate turn at leading the parade.

Ryan Briscoe leads Ryan Hunter-Reay and Buddy Rice. Image Credit: Andy Sallee (2008)

T-Team Ten race leaders included Justin Wilson (11), Mario Moraes (1), Will Power (3).

At the end, however, in Mid-Ohio it was a Penske parade with Ryan Brisco and Helio Castroneves at positions 1 and 2.

Team owner of KV Racing Technology, Kirk Kalkoven, pats driver, Will Power on the back for a good drive at Mid-Ohio. Image Credit: Andy Sallee (2008)

Will Power was looking at a podium finish but got passed in the closing laps, on the track, at race speed by Scott Dixon. This left the teammates of KV Racing Technology together rounding out the top five finishers. A similar move by Justin Wilson of Newman/Haas/Lanigan Racing was placed on Danica Patrick of Andretti Green Racing bringing his finish position at 11 after a mid-race spin incident on a restart placed his car back in the field.

The racing trooper award of the day has to go to Mario Dominguez and the team at Pacific Coast Motorsports. An honorable mention needs to go to Jamia Camara of Conquest Racing for starting at position 25, racing clean and moving up eleven positions to finish at 14.

Mario Dominguez and Marty Roth run side-by-side at Mid-Ohio. Image Credit: Andy Sallee (2008)

This excerpted from a Pacific Coast Motorsports Press Release –

Dominguez Stays in the Race Despite a Wild Day at Mid-Ohio
By Katie Brannan - PCM Public Relations - Honda Indy 200 Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course - Sunday, July 20, 2008

Lexington, OH – Thunderstorms soaked the Mid-Ohio circuit minutes before the scheduled start of the race, it delayed the green flag and wreaked havoc with race strategies.

Dominguez passed for position at the start of the Honda Indy 200 and made his first pitstop for dry tires just four laps into the event. He looked set for a strong first stint challenging for positions when he made a move to pass Ryan Briscoe, the eventual race winner. Briscoe blocked Dominguez forcing him to brake late which led to an off-track excursion and contact with the barrier. Dominguez returned to the pits for an inspection and fresh tires, and the car was deemed intact.

Several laps later, again on a charge for position and after having just set the fastest lap of the race, Dominguez suffered a rear wing failure; the rear wing detached itself from the car at 180 mph which sent Dominguez spinning into the gravel trap, causing a full course caution. The IndyCar Safety Team quickly removed Dominguez from the gravel and he was back on track headed for the pits. The PCM crew jumped into action, they replaced the rear wing and tires and refuelled the Visit Mexico City IndyCar. They proved they are some of the best in the business, as Dominguez lost just two laps through the entire incident.

Dominguez returned to the track and continued to tick off laps at pace with the leaders despite the off-track excursions earlier in the race. He finished 19th.
Reference Here>>

Visit Mexico City sponsored driver, Mario Dominguez, signs an autograph to a budding fan around the Mid-Ohio track before racetime. Image Credit: Pacific Coast Motorsports

This excerpted from Speed TV -

INDYCAR: Sunday Notebook
Written by: David Phillips - Senior writer, RACER Magazine - 07/20/2008 - 07:46 PM - Lexington, Ohio

HE SAID/HE SAID
Not surprisingly, there were two different versions of the incident involving Justin Wilson and Mario Dominguez that triggered the four-car crash eliminating Marco Andretti from the race and knocking Wilson out of contention for a possible win.

What is indisputable is that, as the field funneled around the Carousel into Turn 12 coming to a restart on Lap 43, Wilson and Dominguez made contact. Although Dominguez made it through unscathed, Wilson spun and Andretti, Darren Manning and A.J. Foyt IV collected one another in the ensuing melee.
How it started, though, is under some dispute.

“We had one backmarker who that said he was going to let me by on the restart,” said Wilson. “So when it went green, I thought he was going to let me by at the last corner and (he) just punted me around.”

Dominguez -- who was a couple of laps down after first spinning into the tire wall at the Keyhole and then taking a wild ride through the gravel trap at Turn Four when his rear wing fell off at 185 mph -- readily concedes that he agreed to let Wilson past. It’s just that he was waiting for the start/finish straightaway to do it.

“I was going to let him pass on the straightaway, he said. “Justin went on the outside and I just understeered and touched him. It was not my intention, but he left no room for me.”

FOR THE RECORD
Ryan Briscoe’s win made is a doubly successful weekend for Team Penske at Mid-Ohio, coming on the heels of yesterday’s ALMS LMP2 win by Romain Dumas and Timo Bernhard in a Porsche RS Spyder.
Reference Here>>

Mario Moraes battles to get past Graham Rahal on the outside of the corner (just ahead of Danica Patrick) while on grooved dry tires in the early laps of the race. Image Credit: Andy Sallee (2008)

On the HE SAID/HE SAID on-track restart incident touched off by Justin Wilson, it is the opinion of The EDJE that the incident was clearly the fault of Newman/Haas/Lanigan driver, Justin Wilson. The replay from the ESPN on ABC broadcast showed clearly that Wilson chopped down on Mario Dominguez (Pacific Coast Motorsports) driving line, touched tires, and spun out causing the incident.

How the T-Team Ten Fared at Mid-Ohio:

Qual./Pos. Driver Team Time
12./4. Will Power KV +12.7569
8./ 5. Oriol Servia KV +13.4713
4./11. Justin Wilson Newman/Haas/Lanigan +28.8880
9./13. Bruno Junqueira Dale Coyne +39.7940
25./14. Jaime Camara Conquest +51.5572
14./16. Graham Rahal Newman/Haas/Lanigan +1 lap
16./19. Mario Dominguez Pacific Coast Motorsports +2 laps
17./22. EJ Viso HVM +5 laps
19./24. Mario Moraes Dale Coyne +24 laps
18./26. Enrique Bernoldi Conquest +77 laps

Silver linings for the T-Team Ten include KV Racing Technology’s Oriol Servia return to the top ten in season points with his 5th place finish while teammate Will Power’s 4th place improved his position in the Rookie-Of-The-Year point standings by moving within 31 points of Andretti Green Racing’s Hideki Mutoh.

… notes from The EDJE

Former ChampCar Driver Wins First IRL Race At Watkins Glen

“AN AMERICAN KID WINS, IN AN ETHANOL CAR RUNNING ON ETHANOL, DRIVING FOR AN AMERICAN RACING LEGEND: BOBBY RAHAL, WITH AN AMERICAN CLOTHING BRAND: IZOD, ON FORTH OF JULY WEEKEND IN NEW YORK ... DOESN'T GET ANY MORE "AMERICAN!" … than that. Caption Credit: Modified from quote given by Ryan Hunter-Reay after his well driven win. Image Credit: Andy Sallee (2008)

Former ChampCar Driver Wins First IRL Race At Watkins Glen

No, it is not what one would think given a headline posted here at The EDJE. We have had a focus in our posts on the teams and drivers that have merged and transitioned into the Indy Racing League and the IndyCar Series from the ChampCar World Series season for 2008.

What with Justin Wilson of Newman/Haas/Lanigan Racing qualifying so high on the grid at position #2 (just being bumped from the pole in the last minute by Penske’s Ryan Briscoe) for the Camping World Grand Prix at The Glen, and good a showing from KV Racing Technology’s Oriol Servia at position #5, one would think the headline would relate to them but, no … after competing for IRL established team Rahal Letterman Racing for the last part of 2007, and all of 2008, Ryan Hunter-Reay notches his first win.

As for the T-Team Ten (the transition teams and drivers from the CCWS) they managed to capture four of the top ten finishing positions. The big surprise came from teammates for the Dale Coyne Racing organization, with Bruno Junqueira and Mario Moraes notching in at positions #6 and #7 respectively (Graham Rahal of Newman/Haas/Lanigan Racing #8 and EJ Viso of HVM Racing #10 round out the places).

Bruno Junqueira - Image Credit: Andy Sallee (2008)

This excerpted and edited from IndyCar.com –

Newly-minted Coyne
By Dave Lewandowski - indycar.com

Junqueira, driving the No. 18 Z-Line Designs entry advanced five positions to finish an IndyCar Series career-high sixth in the 60-lap race on the 3.37-mile, 11-turn Watkins Glen International circuit.

The veteran open-wheel racing team owner and former driver [Dale Coyne] also put a headlock on series rookie Mario Moraes, who jumped six positions to finish a career-high seventh in the No. 19 Sonny's Bar-B-Q car.

Both cars in the top 10 - two weeks after Junqueira's car couldn't answer the bell to start the race at Iowa Speedway because of a practice crash and eight days after both cars were eliminated from the race at Richmond International Raceway because of contact?

"Being in the top six is better than being in the wall," Coyne laughed. "It's a compliment to all the guys on the team because we had four crashes in six days (at Iowa and Richmond) and to get all the cars ready and be here and be competitive."
----
Junqueira ran as high as third on Lap 38.
----
"The No. 18 Z-Line Designs car was great all weekend long. The team did a fantastic job. I love this track as it is a great course to drive on. I can't wait to go to Mid-Ohio in two weeks." [said Junqueira]

Mario Moraes - Image Credit: Andy Sallee (2008)

Moraes started a season-high 13th and overtook the No. 27 car of Hideki Mutoh on Lap 55 to score the seventh place.

"On the first lap of the race I was able to overtake six cars and jump to seventh," he said. "We ran up in the top five at times, but we lost a couple spots during a pit stop, which I think kept us from a higher finish. The car was fast all weekend and the team deserves credit for that. Hopefully we can get more top-10 finishes." [said Moraes].
Reference Here>>

Winners Podium: 1-Ryan Hunter-Reay, 2-Darren Manning, 3-Tony Kanaan. Image Credit: Andy Sallee (2008)

This excerpted and edited from Speed Channel -

Hunter-Reay Triumphs at The Glen
Written by: Jeff Olson - Senior writer, RACER Magazine 07/06/2008 - 06:03 PM

Ryan Hunter-Reay took advantage of a rare mistake by Scott Dixon to score his first IndyCar Series victory.

Dixon was in second place and poised to win at Watkins Glen International for a fourth consecutive time when he spun under caution, collecting third-place Ryan Briscoe and putting Hunter-Reay and the No. 17 Rahal Letterman Racing Honda/Dallara in position to win.

Hunter-Reay, who narrowly missed the wreckage from Dixon’s spin, passed leader Darren Manning on the restart with nine laps remaining and went on to score Rahal Letterman Racing’s first win since Buddy Rice won at Michigan in 2004.

“For something to finally go our way is great,” Hunter-Reay said. “It didn’t land in our lap; we had to go out there and earn it. Then we just checked out at the end, which was the best. We put an exclamation on the end of that one. It was a beautiful deal.”
----
Hunter-Reay said he couldn’t see anything, just chose a spot and made it work.

“It was like a scene out of Days of Thunder,” Hunter-Reay said. “I couldn’t see where they were or where the opening was. I couldn’t see any cars, just a dirt cloud. I picked left, and luckily it was open. I got through there, and then I immediately thought, ‘This is the point where I get paid back for all the bad luck.’”
----
“This is vindication,” team co-owner Bobby Rahal said. “Some guys who have driven for us in the past said this team doesn’t have the will to win. It’s all about having the right driver.”

Manning held off Tony Kanaan for second place, scoring the best finish since he joined A.J. Foyt’s team two years ago.

“We’re a small team,” Manning said. “My only teammate is A.J., and he’s a tough taskmaster. He sets a high standard. It’s extremely difficult by ourselves, but with the resources we have, we’re doing pretty well. We validated ourselves with this drive.”
----
The results benefited Kanaan most, moving him to within 66 points of Dixon in the standings after 10 of 17 races. The other two drivers in the championship battle, Helio Castroneves and Dan Wheldon, also encountered trouble, with Castroneves falling behind early because of an electrical problem and finishing 16th, and Wheldon getting clipped by Manning on the first lap and breaking his rear suspension for a 24th-place finish.

The race began cleanly but ended otherwise. Aside from Wheldon’s opening-lap problem and Castroneves’ issues with his paddle shift on the sixth lap, the first 40 laps were uneventful, with Briscoe and Vitor Meira exchanging the lead. On the 40th lap, though, Meira was run off course by E.J. Viso, sending the No. 4 Panther Racing Honda/Dallara into the tires and leaving Meira fuming.

“The IRL should do something about it,” Meira said. “He just took us out. He’s a guy who’s had a problem with every driver out there. It’s a shame.”
----
During [a] round of stops, Manning chose to stay on track and assume the lead, having pitted just four laps before. The decision, coupled with a rash of caution flags over the final 18 laps, proved to be a wise one.

“I was quick enough to hold my own,” Manning said. “It’s just a testament to the team.”
----
On the next restart on the 51st lap, Hunter-Reay passed Manning heading into Turn 1. Moments later, Jaime Camara crashed, bringing out the sixth caution flag of the race.

On the restart, Hunter-Reay pulled away to a large lead and held it to the checkered flag for his first IndyCar Series and a triumphant reprieve to a promising career that, at this time last year, appeared to have stalled in the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series.
----
Rice also scored a solid finish, bringing the No. 15 Dreyer & Reinbold Honda/Dallara home fourth for his best finish of the year.

“The last two races we've had stuff falling off the car and I've screwed up,” Rice said. “We‘re just trying to wipe that stuff out, get back in the points and have a solid finish to the season.”

Marco Andretti finished fifth, Bruno Junqueira sixth and Mario Moraes seventh. Graham Rahal, Hideki Mutoh and E.J. Viso rounded out the top 10.

The IndyCar Series season resumes Saturday night at Nashville Superspeedway.
Reference Here>>

Mario Dominguez moves from an IRL best ninteenth starting position to finish at an IRL best position #13 in his third IRL start. Image Credit: Andy Sallee (2008)

The final T-Team Ten Tally:

POS DRIVER NO DIFF BEST TIME BEST SPEED LAPS C/E/T STATUS

6 Bruno Junqueira 18 5.8084 01:32.1 131.661 60 D/H/F Finished

7 Mario Moraes 19 8.6248 01:32.9 130.586 60 D/H/F Finished

8 Graham Rahal 6 9.4563 01:32.6 130.962 60 D/H/F Finished

10 EJ Viso 33 10.8602 01:32.4 131.235 60 D/H/F Finished

13 Mario Dominguez 96 12.7773 01:33.1 130.258 60 D/H/F Finished

15 Will Power 8 1 lap 01:31.8 132.145 59 D/H/F Finished

18 Jaime Camara 34 9 laps 01:34.7 128.151 51 D/H/F Contact

21 Enrique Bernoldi 36 16 laps 01:34.0 129.044 44 D/H/F Contact

23 Oriol Servia 5 24.7973 01:32.0 131.824 38 D/H/F Mechanical

25 Justin Wilson 2 44 laps 01:32.1 131.758 16 D/H/F Mechanical

... notes from The EDJE