Transition Players Nail Down P1 & P2 For 2nd Time This Season

Pole winner Graham Rahal, Newman/Haas/Lanigan Racing. This is his second pole award earned in three races this season - he earned on for Saint Petersburg, a road course ... and now one for Kansas Speedway, a short oval course. Image Credit: Andy Sallee (2009)

Transition Players Nail Down P1 & P2 For 2nd Time This Season

Qualifications, Kansas Speedway: Three of the top ten positions held by Transition Players ... with the front row filled by teammates from Newman/Haas/Lanigan Racing P1 - Graham Rahal and P2 - Bobby D, Robert Doornbos.

This makes it that in two of three ICS races held this year, a Transition Player has nailed down the pole position ... congrats to Graham Rahal. Further, in all three qualifications sessions this year in the ICS season, a Transition Player has nailed down P2 (Justin Wilson/Dale Coyne Racing at St. Pete, Will Power/Penske Racing at Long Beach, and now Bobby D/Newman Haas/Lanigan here at Kansas Speedway).

Two time Indy 500 winner, Arie Luyendyk as he coaches Robert Doornbos through the 1.5 mile oval from the Newman/Haas/Lanigan Racing pit - Kansas Speedway 2009 - Image Credit: Andy Sallee (2009)

It has to be mentioned that Doornbos was lifted to P2 from P4 when the IRL ruled that the lap times of P2 Dario Franchitti/Target Chip Ganassi, and P3 Helio Castroneves/Penske Racing would be disallowed because both drivers, during each of their four lap qualifying runs, dipped their left tires below the White, inside track, boundary line. These two drivers will start from the back of the field for Sunday's race.

Robert Doornbos, Newman/Haas/Lanigan Racing secures a quick enough speed for four laps to qualify at P4. This position was later upgraded to P2 next to his teammate, Graham Rahal. The two NHLR drivers will fill the front row to start Sunday's third race of this IndyCar Series 2009 season. Image Credit: Andy Sallee (2009)

Revised qualifying order (** denotes Transition Player):

Pos Driver Team Speed
1. Graham Rahal** Newman/Haas/Lanigan 211.311
2. Robert Doornbos** Newman/Haas/Lanigan 210.665

Danica Patrick gears up and gets ready to qualify fast enough to nab P3 on the grid, Sunday ... just behind NHLR Teammates Graham Rahal and Robert Doornbos - Kansas Speedway 2009 - Image Credit: Andy Sallee (2009)

3. Danica Patrick Andretti Green 210.470
4. Scott Dixon Ganassi 210.368
5. Marco Andretti Andretti Green 210.220
6. Mario Moraes** KV 210.197
7. Ryan Briscoe Penske 210.098
8. Tony Kanaan Andretti Green 210.082
9. Dan Wheldon Panther 209.144
10. Ed Carpenter Vision 208.956
11. Sarah Fisher Fisher 208.543
12. Milka Duno Dreyer & Reinbold 208.537
13. Hideki Mutoh Andretti Green 208.506
14. Vitor Meira Foyt 208.461
15. Raphael Matos Luczo Dragon 208.382
16. Mike Conway Dreyer & Reinbold 208.145
17. Justin Wilson** Coyne 207.971
18. EJ Viso** HVM 206.779
19. Stanton Barrett 3G 205.820
20. Ryan Hunter-Reay Vision 205.673
21. Dario Franchitti Ganassi -
22. Helio Castroneves Penske -

... notes from The EDJE

Two Questions With Graham Rahal - VERSUS

Two Questions With Graham Rahal - VERSUS

Actually, we at The EDJE had a few more questions that we would have loved to ask Graham, but VERSUS has a business model that serves a larger audience than just Edmund Jenks.

In fact, the above interview was part of a list of questions VERSUS asked from "... notes from The EDJE" that made up a larger exclusive video package produced by VERSUS in order to kick off the 2009 IndyCar Series championship season.

Here is an interview I had with Graham Rahal before the last ChampCar race held at Long Beach on turn 8. The Long Beach Motorsports Walk Of Fame induction ceremony had concluded and this small crowd had gathered in what appeared to be a track inspection and review process. Graham Rahal, Jonny Summerland and engineers from Newman/Haas/Lanigan Racing were discussing bumps and other traits of the track at this corner on Pine Avenue (the one that begins at the back straightaway), and Graham decided to break off the discussion and give an impromptu interview. At the time, Graham had just won the first street course race of the first "Merged" ICS season in 2008 and Graham had mentioned in a previous interview that teams that were transitioning into the IRL from the ChampCar World Series had trouble getting parts for the Dallara cars they had been assigned ... especially OVAL racing parts.

Racing parts are not an issue this season and, in fact, the racing has developed some amount of parity in this young season. The first race of the season saw a front row filled with two of the eight drivers that were ChampCar Transition rookies to the IRL last season with Graham Rahal in the Newman/Haas/Lanigan, McDonald's sponsored Dallara holding down P1 and Justin Wilson driving for the Sonny's BBQ sponsored Dale Coyne Dallara in P2.

Graham Rahal answers questions from Bill Zahren of Pressdog.com. Now that you are the leader of the team at Newman/Haas/Lanigan .... and, What is the biggest challenge?

Graham Rahal answers questions from Will McCarty of IsitMayYet.com. Growing up, which drivers had an impact on you ... and, What do you expect from your team ... on OVALS?

Graham Rahal answers questions from James Black of 16thandGeorgetown.com. What do you expect out of the month of May this year at the INDY 500 ... and, Is there any added pressure following N/H/L/Racing's legacy of 8 Championships and 100 races won with the like of Tracy, Fittipaldi, Mansell, Mario and Michael Andretti?

The list of questions that did not make the VERSUS Exclusive Blogger Interview cut from "... note from The EDJE" were as follows:

Questions For Graham Rahal – VERSUS Interview 3-24-2009:

The first truly unified test of the new IRL for 2009 was held about a month ago and a couple of questions come to mind:

First off - How did it feel to be at a test where the Dallara and the IndyCar Series team were the only major overriding issues?
----
Robert Doornbos ("Bobby D"), a fellow CCWS competitor, Panoz DP01 pilot, and 2007 Rookie of the Year will be joining Newman/Haas/Lanigan Racing for the season this year:

Question Used - Will he be able to catch on as quickly to the nuances of the Dallara and the competition in the IRL as he did at ChampCar?

What are your general impressions of Robert as a teammate? ... "Bobby D" as competition?
----
Milka Duno is a transferee to NHLR from an "Established" IRL program:

Have you seen any transitional differences between her understanding of CCWS culture and her approach to the IRL way?

What are your general impressions of Milka as a teammate? ... as competition?
----
You have had a very interesting association with open wheel racing and the Newman/Haas/Lanigan Racing team in terms of the international exposure delivered by the teammates you have had to share space with (Bourdais, Doornbos, Duno, and etc.) - How has this effected the way you look at the job of driving competitively, say over other pure American racing teams in the IndyCar Series?
----
It has to feel good to open the 2009 season - First, at a track you became the first ChampCar transition team driver to post a win and personally won your first IRL race - St. Petersburg and second, at a venue you have an intimate knowledge with your shared CCWS experience with the rest of the Transition Team drivers (this includes your teammate "Bobby D") at Long Beach. Looking forward to Long Beach:

Your father, Bobby Rahal, will be honored in the 4th annual installation of the Long Beach Motorsports Walk Of Fame along with Al Unser, Jr. - Have you had a chance to talk to your father about his reaction to this event and honor?

How does he feel about being able to catch up and share this event with Al Unser, Jr. and the rest of the Unser family?

What is your personal reflection on the Long Beach Walk Of Fame event?

How do you think the Dallara chassis will perform on its maiden voyage at "The Beach"?

Will the pre-race "walking the track" inspection be any different for driving a Dallara than it would be inspecting the track when driving a Panoz DP01?

The "Established" teams and drivers will be with a car they know but racing at a track they will be seeing for the first time at Long Beach: How great of an advantage will the former CCWS drivers and teams have at Long Beach? Will it be a large advantage or small advantage? Why?
----
Last year, there was a question mark placed on the availability of parts for the IRL Dallara chassis to the teams that were transitioning from the ChampCar World Series in the merger (especially parts related to the performance of the chassis on ovals), do your foresee the shortage of parts as being a potential problem this year?

Question Used (in part) - Correct me if I am wrong - I believe that this is the first time NHLR has fielded three cars for a full season! How will it affect team resources to be a driver racing on a three car team this season? Do you have any concerns?

Good luck and great fortune to you, your father (yes, I know he is a competitor), and the teammates of Newman/Haas/Lanigan Racing.

Edmund Jenks
The EDJE (pronounced edge)
http://theedje.blogspot.com/
Feature Page Manager/Editor – Motorsports – NowPublic
http://my.nowpublic.com/tag/Motorsports

The 35th Toyota Grand Prix of Long Beach is just around the corner and we all in Los Angeles, can not wait to welcome a unified North American Open Wheel Racing championship series to our house!

The history comes full circle with Al Unser, Jr. and Bobby Rahal being inducted into the Long Beach Motorsports Walk of Fame, Al Unser, Jr. making apperaences as the Grand Marshal of the event, and eight Transition Players filling the field having a better knowledge of the track than most of the other drivers while Dallaras appear for the first time on the streets of Long Beach and a are able to receive the checkered flag on Shoreline Drive!

... notes from The EDJE

ChampCar Alumni Score Wins In The Vodafone A1GP Algarve, Portugal

Neel Jani notches tenth win in the A1GP international open wheel racing series. Image Credit: GP Update

ChampCar Alumni Score Wins In The Vodafone A1GP Algarve, Portugal

Robert Doornbos, ChampCar Rookie of the Year 2007, and Neel Jani, who drove for the PKV Racing team in that same year, won a Sprint Race and a Feature Race in the A1GP international open wheel racing series for their respective countries.

Robert Doornbos qualifies in P1 for the Feature Race, out-pacing everyone by a good margin, but gives up the event without taking one lap due to an electrical fire and system failure on the warm-up lap. Image Credit: GP Update

A1 Team Netherlands continued to set the pace in the final free practice session ahead of this weekend's Vodafone A1GP Algarve. Robert Doornbos, who is also competing for the full season in the IRL for Newman/Haas/Lanigan Racing team with teammate Graham Rahal - and will be in Long Beach this next weekend, set the fastest ever A1GP lap around the circuit with a 1m 30.115s lap, nearly three quarters of a second quicker better than anyone else. Teams are allowed to trial one complete 'PowerBoost lap' in advance of being allowed to use it in one qualifying segment this afternoon. Doornbos used his to perfection, to send shockwaves through the rest of the paddock with his pace.

Switzerland's Neel Jani, who is driving full time with the A1GP at the moment, emerged victorious from an action packed Feature race at Vodafone A1GP Algarve, Portugal this afternoon. The result means Jani now has ten A1GP victories to his name – more than any other driver in the history of the sport. Portugal's Filipe Albuquerque drove a fantastic race to come through to second, while Fairuz Fauzy was third for Malaysia. Ireland's Adam Carroll finished second on the road, but a subsequent penalty dropped him to fifth.

Additional Event Photos HERE>>

Now it is on to the 35th Toyota Grand Prix of Long Beach April 17-19, 2009, for the Newman/Haas/Lanigan Racing driver, Robert Doornbos, for his second try to conquer the streets of Long Beach alongside teammate Graham Rahal.

... notes from The EDJE

Newman/Haas/Lanigan Tap Robert Doornbos

Robert Doornbos confers with engineers of Newman/Haas/Lanigan Racing after a test stint at Homestead - After missing a racing seat for the 2007 Formula One season, Robert Doornbos signed a contract with Minardi Team USA for the 2007 Champ Car World Series season. He made a successful debut in the series in the first race of the season, the Vegas Grand Prix. After qualifying 3rd, Doornbos finished on the podium, taking 2nd place in the race. This made him the first rookie since Nigel Mansell in 1993 to make it to the podium in his first Champ Car-race. Image Credit: NHLR/Doornbos

Newman/Haas/Lanigan Tap Robert Doornbos

Newman/Haas/Lanigan Racing announced that Robert Doornbos, 27, will join the team for the 2009 IndyCar Series season.

He will join Graham Rahal in the NHLR paddock to round out the two car effort. He replaces Justin Wilson who has signed on with Penske Racing to hold Helio Castroneves’ seat while Helio addresses and attends his trial for tax evasion.

Doornbos (nick-named "Bobby-D", around the paddock by ESPN) was a standout rookie to American open wheel racing when he competed in the ChampCar World Series the last year the series was in existence before it’s merger with the IndyCar Racing League in 2008. He finished on the podium five of the first six races, including victories at Mont Tremblant, Quebec, and San Jose, Calif. He went on to finish third in standings and received the Jim Trueman 2007 Rookie of the Year Award, ChampCar's highest rookie honor.

Most recently, Bobby-D kept in tune when he competed in the China and New Zealand rounds of the 2008/2009 A1GP series, recording podium finishes twice in four races (sprint and feature race per round).

"Bobby-D" Robert Doornbos at speed on the track at Homestead - Robert won the 2007 Mont-Tremblant Grand Prix in Canada and as a result took the joint lead of the championship with Sébastien Bourdais. Future team mate Graham Rahal place second. This is believed to be Bobby D's first introduction to Newman/Haas/Lanigan Racing. After scoring this victory, the ESPN broadcast team dubbed him "Bobby D" - a nickname he reportedly enjoys. Image Credit: NHLR/Doornbos

This excerpted and edited from IndyCar.com -

Doornbos on board
By indycar.com staff

He will participate in the IndyCar Series Open Test at Homestead-Miami Speedway on Feb. 24-25, and will receive additional track time Feb. 23 (designated for first-year drivers). Doornbos will be a teammate of Graham Rahal, who won the Honda Grand Prix of St. Petersburg in his IndyCar Series debut last April.

"I'm very happy and proud to get this chance to race with Newman/Haas/Lanigan Racing," said Doornbos, of Rotterdam, Netherlands. "Racing in the IndyCar Series has been my biggest dream and especially to do it with Newman/Haas/Lanigan Racing. The history of the team and the big success they have had in the past really attracted me and it makes me proud to become part of this winning team. Racing on the ovals should be very exciting. It will be tough, but I'm training as much as possible and am in good condition and ready to achieve results.

"I'm also excited to race in the legendary Indy 500. I really want to thank (team co-owners) Mr. (Carl) Haas and Mr. (Mike) anigan for giving me this chance. I'm looking forward to the first race."

Doornbos spent four seasons in various ladder series in Europe before he became the 2004 Rookie of the Year in the FIA International Formula 3000 series and finished third in series standings. That success led to becoming a test driver for two Formula One programs and he eventually made 11 Formula One starts during the 2005 and 2006 seasons for Minardi and Red Bull Racing, respectively, before he moved to the Champ Car World Series in 2007.
Reference Here>>

Robert Doornbos may be the most accomplished professional young driver ever to hail from the Netherlands. Bobby-D is a welcome addition to the international field that will race in the 2009 IndyCar Series.

... notes from The EDJE

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

Pacific Coast Motorsports Hangs A Shingle

Pacific Coast Motorsports, Oxnard, California - An ultra professional organization with the facilities, personnel and equipment capable of competing at the highest levels of motorsport. Image Credit: PCM 2008

Pacific Coast Motorsports Hangs A Shingle

Yesterday, Tyler Tadevic, President and Team Director of Pacific Coast Motorsports issued an open statement posted at the PCM website.

American racer Alex Figge’s #29 getting it together at the Grand Prix of Las Vegas 2007. Image Credit: PCM 2007

A New Direction
PCM Update March 24

Due to the sudden demise of the Champ Car World Series, Southern California-based Pacific Coast Motorsports would like to announce the availability of their services. We welcome the opportunity to put our exceptionally experienced and highly capable championship winning team to work on your motorsports project. We would like to speak with anyone looking at the IRL, Grand Am, ALMS, IPS and Formula Mazda or any other form of Motorsports. As an ultra professional organization with the facilities, personnel and equipment capable of competing at the highest levels of motorsport on this continent, racing is what we do best, and we would love to take you to the front of your respective field. Please feel free to call or email us with any questions.

Tyler Tadevic, Team Owner: 760-831-0921
Michael Harvey, Team Manager: 805-760-1270
Reference Here>>

Team PCM jumping into action at the Grand Prix of Las Vegas 2007. Image Credit: LAT 2007 - via PCM Website

There are still a few great CCWS drivers out of the line up, maybe this is the last easy door that remains open … otherwise it would be start from absolute scratch.

Three drivers come to mind immediately, first, the lead driver for PCM was an American, Alex Figge, second would be Paul Tracy if he could secure releases from Forsythe Racing that would allow him to run in the IRL, and the 2007 Championship podium finisher at third in the points Dutchman Robert Doornbos (“Bobby-D”).

Any open sponsor organizations? The more the merrier!

UPDATE:

We, at The EDJE, have been doing a little research on Pacific Coast Motorsports and here are a few surprising facts about a very competitive racing effort:

Pacific Coast Motorsports Team Accomplishment Highlights

Jon Fogarty (right, sitting on car) celebrates with the Pacific Coast Motorsports team after winning the 2004 Atlantic title. Image Credit: champcaratlantic.com

• Won the 2004 Champ Car Atlantic title with Jon Fogarty
• Has raced in Atlantics, Grand-Am, ALMS and Champ Car World Series competition
• Won seven races in 2004 Atlantic season

Last year, PCM ran a full season Champ Car World Series in 2007, fielding a two-car team for Roshfrans Rookie-of-the-Year featuring Ryan Dalziel and Alex Figge. Veteran Mario Dominguez filled in for Ryan Dalziel in the final two races.

The California-based squad brings vast experience to professional autosport racing having competed successfully in Champ Car World Series, Champ Car Atlantic Series, American LeMans Series and in the Rolex Grand American Road Racing Series in the last four years.

The team is most well-known in Champ Car circles for its dominating 2004 campaign when Jon Fogarty won six races and the Atlantic championship, outracing current PCM driver Ryan Dalziel for the title.

The team also visited Victory Lane with Alex Figge as the American driver scored his first Atlantic win with a victory in Monterrey, Mexico. Running its own Grand-Am program last year, the team of Dalziel and Figge had seven top-10 finishes paced by a second-place run at Phoenix and a third-place result at Laguna Seca.

The tandem of Figge and Dalziel made its debut in 2005 as the team moved to sports cars, competing part time in both the Grand-Am Cup Series and the American Le Mans Series, with a season-best finish of third coming at Portland.

The team moved up from Grand-Am Cup and into the prototypes for the last race of the 2005 season and finished sixth in its debut.

The team debuted in 2003, running a single-car effort for Alex Figge. The team earned its first-ever front-row start when Figge gridded second at Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca in a race where he went on to finish fifth. Pacific Coast started its debut season with five consecutive top-10 finishes including top-five runs at Long Beach and MRLS.

Tyler Tadevic Bio - PCM Team Director and President - Having worked his way through the sport after starting as a mechanic for Champ Car Atlantic competitor World Speed Motorsports, Tyler Tadevic is in his fifth season at the helm of Pacific Coast Motorsports, having overseen the team’s rampant growth from Atlantic standout, through sports cars and the Champ Car World Series 2007 season.

This question begs to be asked and answered - How many teams that compete at the highest levels in the world of open-wheel autosports can lay claim to winning a series championship - ever?

Not ... (fill in the blank with any number of famous name teams from Formula 3000, F1, CCWS Atlantic, CCWS, CART, Indy Lights, and the IRL)

UPDATE April 23, 2008:

Pacific Coast Motorsports to officially join in the 2008 IRL Championship Season at the Indianapolis 500 - Mario Dominguez to take the seat for the rest of the season in the "Visit Mexico City" Dallara.
MORE>>

… notes from The EDJE

For Will Power, It's Vegas Baby!

Will Power leads a group of cars through an elevation change before entering the front straightaway. Image Credit: Jalopnik's Las Vegas local, Curtis Walker

For Will Power, It’s Vegas Baby!

Will Power - Team Australia edges out series rookie Dutchman, Robert Doornbos - Minardi Team USA (yes, that Formula One team) to grab the pole and line up next to former series champion, Paul Tracy - Forsythe Championship Racing.

So tomorrow, the inaugural Vegas Grand Prix takes off and will be broadcast Apr 08, 3:30 pm ET on NBC TV. Both Will Power and Paul Tracy start the race with one point apiece toward the series championship for 2007.

The race will be run in a newly developed area near the downtown Fremont Street area (to the west and slightly south) on a temporary street circuit ala the Long Beach Grand Prix, which is set to be run the very next weekend.

Inaugural Las Vegas Grand Prix Race Course - Image Credit: Las Vegas Grand Prix

Along the temporary race circuit are new buildings that are part of the revitalization of the civic center part of town. The new World Market Center is at its center and it sponsors semiannual furniture trade shows attended by more than 100,000 national and international furniture buyers and representatives each year. The trade show complex will ultimately open year-round, but for now acts as a great photographic backdrop for the race going into turn one.

The temporary circuit also features a bump that gets the cars airborne.

Taking A Flyer - Bruno Junqueira #19 Sonny's Bar-B-Q Cosworth/DP01/Bridgestone. Image Credit: Jalopnik's Las Vegas local, Curtis Walker

Driver quotes after the days qualifying from Champ Car World Series -

Will Power #5 Aussie Vineyards Cosworth/DP01/Bridgestone -"I think it's going to be important for everybody to get through the first corner and go racing. I think this is the start of a new era for Champ Car. You've got a bunch of new young drivers that are in the series, obviously showing that they're quick. It's not the scenario that everybody thought it was going to be where everybody was saying in the off-season, Sebastien is going to run away with everything. He's starting near the back. It's going to be quite an interesting race. on the red Bridgestone tires, at the end I think the track also gripped up. But our car worked really well on them. I mean, we struggled yesterday with just niggling problems with the car. Not to do with the handling or anything. We were quick yesterday. We just didn't get a fair go. We worked on it, worked on the setup all the way up until qualifying today. Pretty much nailed it at the end, got a good run in traffic. Yeah, we did a mega lap. But it all started in the off-season. I think Craig and Derrick Walker from the end of last year till now; they've been working really hard. They really want to win a championship and I want to help them do that."

Paul Tracy #3 INDECK Cosworth/DP01/Bridgestone - "It was a little tougher for us today. Obviously we made some changes from yesterday. But it just seemed like my car suited going over that big jump in the chicane. We just never really got a chance to capitalize on the tires. We seemed to either catch a red at the end of the first set of tires, then the second set of tires I had some traffic with Pagenaud, which didn't help. That kind of just killed our qualifying effort. I think we didn't have anything for what the time that Will did. I think we could have made a better showing. Really the opportunity didn't come up. We're happy to be on the front row."

Robert Doornbos #14 Muermans/Jumbo Supermarkten/Media Mall Cosworth/DP01/Bridgestone - "First of all, it's great to be in the Champ Car World Series. It's obviously a new category for me and also for my team, Paul with this Minardi outfit. We started the weekend not very competitive. I've been sitting down with my engineer, which is going really well, our relationship. Basically he turned the car to my liking. We improved every session. It's a great feeling to race between the streets of Vegas. I always enjoy driving open street circuits. We only have one really in Europe, which is Monaco, only once a year. I'll be more lucky this season, I think. Yeah, it went really well. Just in the end we pushed hard. The red tires were a new thing for me. I had no chance to try them in winter testing because obviously they were not there. So the first outing wasn't great. Then the second run on the red tires, we made some adjustments to the car and it was a lot better. So, yeah, up in third place. It's good to be here, especially because it's the first weekend. Hopefully I'll be here tomorrow as well."

Alex Tagliani #8 Cosworth/DP01/Bridgestone - "I am quite happy overall. I am just so thankful for the opportunity that Paul (Gentilozzi) and Dan (Pettit) have given me. I feel good about the RSPORTS team, and I think we are on the road to success this season. I feel that I am a good support for Justin (Wilson) and I feel that I have learned a lot from him and the team already. This is only the second time that we (both teams) are working together at a race track, so we still have a lot of catching up to do. But I think that we already have some great chemistry and that we are learning a lot from each other. I get along so well with my engineer Chris Lerch, and overall this whole deal is just a fantastic opportunity. Today's qualifying session went fairly well. I am happy with the #8 LXN2/RSPORTS car, and it is great to be starting in the top five for the first race of this season. The goal is to get lots of points, and obviously finish the race. But what is important is that we are running up front and I feel that we will be able to stay strong tomorrow during the race. I feel that we are in a good position with where we want the car to be, but we will work on making some more improvements tonight in hopes of being even quicker tomorrow."

Bruno Junqueira #19 Sonny's Bar-B-Q Cosworth/DP01/Bridgestone - "I was very happy with a sixth place qualifying run. We made some changes from yesterday and I think we could have gone a little faster. We didn't have an opportunity yesterday to run on the red Bridgestone tires. It is a good place to start tomorrow."

Mario Dominguez #7 Telmex/Cabi Developers Cosworth/DP01/Bridgestone - "Well it was a good day overall, we definitely improved quote a bit from yesterday. The Forsythe Team has done a great job, we've been making a lot of changes and the car has just gotten better and better. Qualifying was a little disappointing because I know we could've been much faster but I caught traffic, the cars in front of me kept slowing down and that prevented me from posting a quicker time. But the good thing is that we know we have a really fast car and we should be able to move up through the grid tomorrow. It's going to be a really exciting race, it's just great to be back in a race car I can't wait for the green flag tomorrow!"


Justin Wilson #9 CDW Cosworth/DP01/Bridgestone - "We just weren't quick enough today. The #9 CDW/RSPORTS car felt OK, but obviously the speed just wasn't there. It's disappointing, because we were up there yesterday, but today it slipped away. We need to look at the data to understand how to improve the car and hopefully we'll be more competitive tomorrow."

Graham Rahal #2 Medi Zone Cosworth/DP01/Bridgestone - "It's been a tough day for the Medi Zone team. I hooked it on the last curb at the end of the chicane and damaged the car so we had to get the backup car out for qualifying. The car was equally prepared. The guys did a great job getting it ready especially since it's never turned a wheel. Qualifying was pretty good but we just can't seem to get that last little bit; we need to find it. I know I'm giving my 100 percent so we need to figure out what it is. It's going to be a tough race. It's really hot out here. I think a lot of guys will fall out of the saddle. For me it will be a learning experience to go out there and figure out what I have to do. It's tough for me to tell if we have a good race setup having not run in a race"

Dan Clarke #4 Ticketmaster/Synapse Power/The Australian Pink Floyd Show Cosworth/DP01/Bridgestone - "Last season I had my first third-place podium finish from a 13th place start, so I'm going for the double and aiming to finish on the podium again tomorrow from my 12th place grid slot. As I've already proved, it's certainly possible, so although I'd prefer to start higher up the grid and it's not going to be easy, it's not impossible. This year's field is very tough, so I reckon it'll be very exciting racing, and I know we have the pace for the race, so we'll be expecting to battle hard and bring home points from Vegas."
Katherine Legge #11 Dale Coyne Racing Cosworth/DP01/Bridgestone - "I felt I could have gone about a second faster on the red Bridgestone tires. I have to improve a little more on my corners. I was very pleased with the results today, but I know I can improve on today's performance."

Sebastien Bourdais #1 McDonalds Cosworth/DP01/Bridgestone - "I screwed up and brushed the wall on the outside of Turn 9. The McDonald's car had too much understeer and I just forced the thing. The car stepped out a little bit on exit and I was already too close to the wall and hit the rear a little bit. It wasn't that bad a hit but it bent the toe link and broke the rim. To aggravate things we had the clutch creeping so I couldn't' get into neutral, couldn't back up, couldn't anything so we were stuck in fourth gear in front of tires and they wouldn't push me back or do anything so I was stuck there until they moved me out of the way. We have 60 seconds of push to pass which isn't a lot here. We are going to have to be pretty darn good to get it (win) done but we'll see. It's a new track so we don't quite know if it's possible to pass or not. I think Turn 1 seems to be pretty difficult because everyone starts braking in the middle of the track so maybe Turn 4 might be the best option. We'll have to try and pull it off. We've done it before but it was a different thing; we don't have the car we knew. It's not the best way to start the season for sure."
Reference Here>>

... notes from The EDJE

(ht: MAXINE)