Dallaras on Shoreline Drive - Long Beach & A House United

Shoreline Drive as pictured by Long Beach CA Webcam - Live action - take a peek at what's going right now in Long Beach CA. The ABC Camera is perched high atop the World Trade Center in downtown Long Beach. Images update every three minutes. Image Credit: ABC

Dallaras on Shoreline Drive - Long Beach & A House United

Last year, at this time, North American Open Wheel Racing (NAOWR) was in a state of confusion and disarray. A merger of the two racing series - IndyCar Series (ICS) and ChampCar World Series (CCWS) had decided to merge just a couple of months from the beginning of the 2008 season and the season, at best, became an exercise of catch-up by the teams and drivers of the CCWS.

The week that the 2008 Toyota Grand Prix of Long Beach was held, the only teams and drivers to compete were the Transition Players being blended into the Indy Racing League and the ICS. It was a final party for the old series that had owned the streets of Long Beach ever since 1984 when the American racing body known as Championship Auto Racing Teams (CART)/Champ Car World Series (CCWS) took over from the European Formula 1 series. This became the last official race for ChampCar and the two year old Panoz DP01 - and the only race where these drivers and teams would compete at a ChampCar venue, with ChampCar equipment, and a ChampCar fan base - while earning IndyCar Series championship points.

Will Power - KV Racing Technology, taking a hard right-hand turn to enter Shoreline Drive on his way to win the final CCWS race ... and the first one to pay out IndyCar Series Championship points. Will Power will be driving for one of the "Established" teams in the IRL this year, Penske Racing, substituting for Helio Castorneves who is taking a leave of absense to attend to personal business held over from his appearance in "Dancing With The Stars" (taxes). Image Credit: Andy Sallee (2008)

The other drivers and teams from the ICS were racing Dallaras in Motegi, Japan ... the home track of the IndyCar engine manufacturer, Honda.

This year, Dallaras with Honda engines will be running on Shoreline Drive and the dynamic couldn't be richer for the sport of North American Open Wheel Racing. Racing teams and drivers are all under one banner ... names like Penske, Andretti, Unser, Rahal, Newman/Hass/Lanigan, AJ Foyt, Coyne, Bachelart, Conquest, Ganassi, Kalkovan, Vasser, Dixon, Power, Wilson (to mention a few) will all once again be heard in the racing paddock and streets of Long Beach with one purpose in mind ... to get as many points as possible toward the ICS 2009 championship.

This April 16-19, 2009, the NAOWR cultures will become one after a split of over 13 years when the IRL ran it's first race. This is the year the IRL will be welcomed to the famed streets of Long Beach by a rabid and knowledgeable crowd ... and a house will become united.

Welcome to the 35th Annual Toyota Grand Prix of Long Beach!

LBGP Logo - Image Credit: Grand Prix Association of Long Beach

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2009 Event Schedule

35th Annual Toyota Grand Prix of Long Beach

TENTATIVE SCHEDULE OF EVENTS

(Subject to change without notice)

(PDF Printable Version)

Thursday, April 16

(NOTE: Admission is FREE to Thursday events – no ticket required)

The Long Beach Motorsports Walk Of Fame induction ceremony kicks off a week of motorsports family unification - two cultures become one. This year will feature six-time Long Beach Grand Prix winner and 2009 Toyota Grand Prix of Long Beach Grand Marshal, Al Unser, Jr. and Past CART/CCWS Champion and IRL team owner (Rahal Letterman Racing) Bobby Rahal. Image Credit: Edmund Jenks (2008)

Long Beach Motorsports Walk of Fame Induction - 11 a.m.

(Pine Ave. at Convention Center)

Lifestyle Expo opens - 3 p.m.

American Le Mans Series (ALMS) practice - 3 p.m. – 4 p.m.

RaceMania at Shoreline Village - 3 p.m. – 10 p.m.

ALMS practice - 5 p.m. – 5:45 p.m.

Lifestyle Expo closes - 6 p.m.

FREE Admission to “Shark Lagoon,”
Aquarium of the Pacific - 6 p.m. – 9 p.m.

Tecate “Thursday Thunder on Pine” (Pine Ave., incl.
Miss Toyota Grand Prix of Long Beach Pageant) - 6:30 p.m.

Tuner Thursday at The Pike - 6:30 p.m.

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Friday, April 17

Gates open - 7 a.m.

Lifestyle Expo opens - 8 a.m.

ALMS practice - 9 a.m. – 9:40 a.m.

IndyCar practice - 10 a.m. – 11:30 a.m.

Toyota Pro/Celebrity practice - 11:45 a.m. – 12:15 p.m.

Firestone Indy Lights practice - 12:30 p.m. – 1:15 p.m.

IndyCar practice - 2 p.m. – 3 p.m.

Toyota Pro/Celebrity qualifying - 3:15 p.m. – 3:45 p.m.

ALMS qualifying - 3:55 p.m. – 4:55 p.m.

IndyCar autograph session - 4 p.m. – 5 p.m.
(IndyCar Paddock)

Team Drifting - 5:05 p.m. – 5:25 p.m.

SPEED GT Challenge practice - 5:30 p.m. – 5:55 p.m.

Tecate Light “Fiesta Friday” Concert Starring
“El Tri” - 6 p.m.

Lifestyle Expo Closes - 6 p.m.

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Saturday, April 18

Gates open - 7 a.m.

ALMS Warmup - 7:30 a.m. – 7:45 a.m.

Lifestyle Expo opens - 8 a.m.

SPEED GT Challenge practice - 8:05 a.m. – 8:35 a.m.

Firestone Indy Lights Qualifying - 8:45 a.m. – 9:30 a.m.

IndyCar practice - 10:25 a.m. – 11:25 a.m.

Toyota Pro/Celebrity Race Logo - Image Credit: Grand Prix Association of Long Beach

Toyota Pro/Celebrity RACE - 11:40 a.m. – 12:40 p.m.

Team Drifting - 12:50 p.m. – 1:10 p.m.

IndyCar qualifying - 2:10 p.m. – 3:40 p.m.

American Le Mans Series Logo - Image Credit: ALMS/IMSA Racing

Tequila Patron American Le Mans Series At Long Beach RACE - 4:15 p.m. – 5:55 p.m.

Lifestyle Expo closes - 6 p.m.

Tecate Light Rock-N-Roar Concert - 6 p.m.
Starring "Puddle of Mudd"

---

Sunday, April 19

Gates Open - 7 a.m.

Lifestyle Expo opens - 8 a.m.

SPEED GT Challenge qualifying - 8 a.m. – 8:30 a.m.

IndyCar practice - 8:40 a.m. – 9:10 a.m.

Firestone Indy Lights RACE - 9:40 a.m. – 10:50 a.m.

Falken Tire Competition Drift Ford Mustang - Image Credit: Formula Drift (2008)

Team Drifting - 11:05 a.m. – 11:30 a.m.

IndyCar Pre-Race Activities - 12:30 p.m.

35th Annual Toyota Grand Prix of Long Beach IndyCar Race (85 laps) - 1:15 p.m. – 3:30 p.m.

SPEED GT Challenge RACE - 4:15 p.m. – 5:15 p.m.

Lifestyle Expo closes - 5:30 p.m.
Reference Here>>

See you all at the streets of Long Beach!

... notes from The EDJE

Saint Petersburg INDY - Play By Play Via Tweet By Tweet

Saint Petersburg INDY - Play By Play Via Tweet By Tweet

On a beautiful West coast of Florida day, the 2009 IndyCar Series got under way. Watching the race on VERSUS and seeing commentary on Twitter provided a unique way to experience the beginning of one of the most longed for seasons in North American Motorsports in recent years.

Today held out a great hope for a grand showing for all of the teams to race with an amount of parity. Ever since the rushed merger last year, many fans that followed the ChampCar World Series and the IndyCar Series wondered if this would all turn out to be good for the sport of open wheel automobile racing?

With the race in the can, it can be said ... Yes!

Ok! So Penske Racing won another race, but the 100 laps that made up the race, and the practice and "Knock-Out" qualifying sessions that took place before today, paid many dividends to the fans from both cultures that have now become one.

The following "Tweets" were excerpted and edited from Twitter via TheEDJE account during the season-opening Honda Grand Prix of St. Petersburg:

Tweet: TheEDJE - Let's light this rocket - GO Justin! Go Graham! Leave a CCWS sophomore mark on this ICS season before going into our house at Long Beach GP!

Tweet: VisionRacing - Vision cars are on the grid. Crews are in their firesuits. Nice little breeze to stop them from melting on the spot.

Tweet: TheEDJE - Danica on a pre-race fluff piece on VERSUS - Good short interview! Followed by DP GoDaddy.com advert!

Tweet: VisionRacing - For the record, black firesuits are NEVER a good idea but it was short notice + all. Poor Vision 21 crew. They look good but are withering.

Tweet: FilipCleeren@VisionRacing I hope you supplied 'em with loads of black towels as well.

Tweet: VisionRacing - Vision drivers have um... Taken care of business (aka gone potty) and are now at their cars. TMI?

Yes! Definitely.

Tweet: MyNameIsIRL[blog update] LiveBlog: St Petersburg 2009

Tweet: TheEDJE - The Super Team - Target Chip Ganassi with two past ICS Championship and INDY 500 winners - Dixon and Franchitti

Tweet: TheEDJE - Transition Players - CCWS Sophomores - Rahal, Wilson, Power, Tagliani, Doornbos, Viso, and Moraes - Go out and change the paradigm!

Tweet: TheEDJE - GREEN! GREEN! GREEN! - The 2009 IndyCar Series season is underway! Cameras are great! Black and Red tires!!!

Tweet: TheEDJE - Five wide - Franchitti swoops to the lead! Gets passed by Justin Wilson. TK punts Rahal off of the track! Sonny's BBQ in the lead.

Tweet: NowPublic@TheEDJE we dig your motorsports coverage.

Tweet: MyNameIsIRL - Good grief. These are professionals, right?

Tweet: TheEDJE - Restart - Wilson looks strong - TK trying to make up ground after pitting to get a new nose. Rahal doing the same.

Tweet: IndyCarPR - Report from pit lane: #24 Conway has gone behind the wall to repair damaged suspension.

Tweet: TheEDJE - Dale Coyne's Dallara driven by Justin Wilson is doing very well against Franchitti's Target car.

Tweet: IndyCarPR - Lap 15 update: #19 Wilson has led every lap so far. He led 18 laps here a year ago.

Tweet: TheEDJE - First 12 to 13 cars are running close - Top Five - Wilson, Franchitti, Briscoe, Power, and Manning on LAP 20

Tweet: TheEDJE - AGR's Hideki Mutoh is first in on pits to change from Reds to Blacks on tires - Viso in because the Reds were a problem.

Tweet: VisionRacing - Ed told by engineer Jeff Britton that they will opt for primary black Firestone on next stint instead of Reds as originally planned.

Tweet: IndyCarNation - At lap 25, Justin Wilson leads Darion Franchitti. Pole sitter Graham Rahal has fallen back to 15th due to an early incident.

Tweet: TheEDJE - Justin Wilson on Reds for first stint hoping to get 30 laps. Dario Franchitti on Blacks with Wilson leading by 1.2 seconds. LAP 26

Tweet: FastMachines - It is so nice to have good pit reporters this year for Indy Car. #indycar on VERSUS

Tweet: VisionRacing - 10 laps to pit for #20 menards car. Mutoh behind but Ed is running same lap times as him.

Tweet: UpdateF1 - 25/100 laps completed: Wilson leads Franchitti. Pole man Graham Rahal in 15th after first turn incident with Kanaan. Conway out.

Tweet: TheEDJE - Rahal is waiting to punt TK ... or at least pass the AGR driver. LAP 29

Tweet: VisionRacing - RHR complaining he doesn't have any straight line speed.

Tweet: IndyCarPR - update: Full Course yellow for contact in Turn 12 between #7 Patrick and #2 Matos. #5 Moraes had the incident in Turn 4.

Tweet: VisionRacing - Before pits open Ed will be in 14th place in 20 Menards car after all the incidents. Will take on black tires.

Tweet: FastMachines - Tagliani tangled with Meira & has a flat. Matos just took out Danica in a big crash. Moraes out too. #indycar craziness on VERSUS

Tweet: TheEDJE - Patrick pinches down on Raphael Matos. Tagliani gets tagged - flat tire. Briscoe in and out of the pits. YELLOW Flag - Briscoe takes lead.

Tweet: VisionRacing - RHR took on Red Firestone tires on his stop just as the caution flew.

Tweet: IndyCarPR - Leaders pit under caution. #9 Dixon has terrible stop after crew can't get fuel hose to the car.

Tweet: VisionRacing - RHR being told to save as much fuel as possible so Vision can shoot for a Top-5.

Tweet: IndyCarPR - Update on pit road: #6 Power overshot his pit stall, forcing the issue with #9 Dixon.

Tweet: VisionRacing - RHR up to P4 as he was pitted legally just as yellow waved. Great timing for 21 Vision team.

Tweet: VisionRacing - Ed finds himself in lucky P13. Has understear through turns 1, 2+5.

Tweet: TheEDJE - Restart on Lap 39 - Briscoe leads the field, Doornbos and Franchitti are getting into it!

Tweet: VisionRacing - Wilson got past RHR. RHR now in 5th

Tweet: FastMachines - Indy Car: Briscoe Wheldon Viso RHR Wilson on lap 42. Wilson is looking FAST! #indycar on VERSUS

Tweet: MyNameIsIRL - Wheldon in 2nd. On a street course. Who saw this coming?

Tweet: TheEDJE - Top five on LAP43 - Briscoe, Weldon, Viso, Wilson and Ryan Hunter-Reay!

Tweet: TheEDJE - LAP 50 - Near halfway, top cars are running smoothly and in order nose to tail. Franchitti in 6th, Rahal in 7th.

Tweet: TheEDJE - Wilson pounces on Viso after Viso locks up brakes.

Tweet: IndyCarPR - Lap 52: #19 Wilson passes #13 Viso for third place in Turns 2 and 3.

Tweet: FilipCleeren - Stanton "moving chicane" Barrett finally out. Just like his illustrious predecessor Roth, he's doing a great job influencing race results.

Tweet: TheEDJE - Full Course Caution: Stanton Barrett off. This'll tighten things up a bit. Pits are open. Viso takes to the pits.

Tweet: VisionRacing - Vision team is staying out during this caution. 1 to go at the line.

Tweet: TheEDJE - Restart - LAP 57 - Wilson looks racy against Weldon who is in second, led by Briscoe.

Tweet: MyNameIsIRL - Congrats to Stanton Barrett for not taking anyone out today. He was the lone GT 2 entry.

Tweet: TheEDJE@MyNameIsIRL - NICE!

Tweet: FuriousWedge - I'm really wondering what Wilson would have for Briscoe if he could get around Wheldon who seems to be just quick and wide enough to stay P2

Tweet: TheEDJE@FuriousWedge I think that the Dale Coyne Dallara and Wilson have the Hot Sauce!

Tweet: FilipCleeren@MyNameIsIRL Same goes for Manning. Wheldon's doing great as well considering his record on road courses.

Tweet: VisionRacing - Teams coming in for their finals stops.

Tweet: VisionRacing - 4 laps until No.20 Menards car pits. Heavy traffic in pits.

Tweet: TheEDJE - LAP 67 - Viso, Power, in pits and taking on Reds - Briscoe and Weldon in - Scuff Blacks.

Tweet: VisionRacing - No.21 Engineer Neil Fife to RHR : " It's all yours from here Buddy"

Tweet: FastMachines - Last round of Indy Car pit stops already? Time flies when you are having fun. #indycar on VERSUS

Tweet: TheEDJE - Justin Wilson stays out in order to build up a gap from the pitted leades. Franchitti, Rahal in - Dario takes Reds.

Tweet: VisionRacing - Ed running 3rd heading into pits. Will cycle back... but still. Nice to say that.

Tweet: TheEDJE - Wilson goes into pits and comes out AHEAD of Briscoe ... and on cold tires! A run to the end.

Tweet: FuriousWedge - What a great stop for Dale Coyne Racing! and Carpenter is in the tires we go yellow with parts scattered on track

Tweet: VisionRacing - Ed is in the tires. He's fine. Apologies to team. Engineer Jeff Britton assures him he did a good job. Made a lot of progress this weekend.

Tweet: VisionRacing - RHR asked team if he should be saving fuel under yellow. Team says no. We are good to go.

Tweet: FastMachines - What a thrill it would be if Justin Wilson could give Coyne his first win in the big cars!! #indycar on VERSUS

Tweet: TheEDJE - Franchitti loses a couple of spots! Justin Wilson shows why he was the class of the CCWS Transition Players.

Tweet: TheEDJE - Weldon gets booted to sixth - Reds vs. Blacks - Dixon into the tires - YELLOW Flag.

Tweet: TheEDJE - Mutoh pinches Dixon and breaks the left side A-Arm struts.

Tweet: FastMachines - Dixon hit the wall pretty hard and is out of the Indy Car race. A tangle with Mutoh didn't end well. A tough weekend for Scott. #indycar

Tweet: IndyCarPR - Lap 81: Full Course Caution for #9 Dixon who hit the tire barrier in Turn 3 after making contact with Mutoh in Turn 1.

Tweet: VisionRacing - RHR is in third spot and does not need to pit again. Lots of happy people in 21 Vision pits no matter how he finishes.

Tweet: TheEDJE - Sixteen laps to go and Dale Coyne (and all the former CCIC fans) are feeling the pressure - can Justin Wilson do it?

Tweet: TheEDJE - Penske and Briscoe pass Wilson in turn one on restart - many other drivers pile up after the corner - 6th caution.

Tweet: IndyCarPR - Full Course YELLOW. Turn 3 for multicar incident. Cars invilved are No. 4 Wheldon, #27 Mutoh, #06 Doornbos and #26 Andretti.

Tweet: VisionRacing - Before it went full course RHR took 2nd place! Seriously.

Tweet: MyNameIsIRL - The storyline may have just shifted from Dale Coyne to Tony George winning his first IRL race. Wow.

Tweet: FastMachines - Doornbos made a bonehead move on Wheldon, took him out. 12 to go, under FC yellow. #indycar on VERSUS

Tweet: TheEDJE@VisionRacing - RHR - Great grab of a driver for Vision!!!

Tweet: FuriousWedge - The best part about VERSUS; 10 minutes to 5pm yet not a single bit of talk about a timed race : )

Tweet: IndyCarNation - If you are watching Race Control...SORRY!!! Good news is that it got better, bad news is that there are a TON of things to do.

Tweet: MyNameIsIRL@TheEDJE Agreed, a great race so far. I just hope we have a little passing here at the end.

Tweet: TheEDJE@MyNameIsIRL Boy, who would have thought of the changes in this first race. Great first race so far - its not over!

Tweet: VisionRacing - RHR challenging Ryan Briscoe for the lead!! How many friggin' laps to go???

Tweet: TheEDJE - RHR pushing, pushing, pushing and making the Penske Dallara of Briscoe a nosecone logo!

Tweet: VisionRacing - 5 laps to go. Vision to RHR: "Nice job. No pressure. No pressure."

Tweet: TheEDJE - RHR pushing, pushing, pushing and making the Penske Dallara of Briscoe a nosecone logo!

Tweet: VisionRacing - Local yellow turn 10. Trying to not go full yellow.

Tweet: VisionRacing - Going green... And 2 laps to go.

Tweet: TheEDJE - One lap to go and it is nose to tail for the first 7 cars!

Tweet: TheEDJE - Briscoe WINS, RHR with his new Vision ride second, and a Transition Player on the podium with Justin Wilson for Dale Coyne! WOW!

Tweet: FuriousWedge - That would be 9 different teams in the top 10; Congrats to Briscoe and also Hunter-Reay, Wilson.. and Stanton Barrett finishes 12th!

Tweet: MyNameIsIRL - Congrats to Briscoe, even though he totally spolied two fantastic storylines. No hard feelings though.

Tweet: VisionRacing - RHR out of car congratulated by TG and ED. About to do VERSUS interview. Stay tuned!!

Tweet: VisionRacing - Ryan: "That was a really physical race. Can I have some more water. I almost had Ryan Briscoe. I wanted to try. Unreal day."

Tweet: FilipCleeren - congrats to Briscoe, RHR and Wilson, three excellent performances.

Tweet: TheEDJE - Dale Coyne stated that this race shows that Sonny's BBQ has a faster drive-thru than McDonald's

HOW THEY FARED (** denotes Transition Player merged from CCWS):

Pos  Driver            Team                 Gap
 1.  Ryan Briscoe      Penske
 2.  Ryan Hunter-Reay  Vision               + 0.4619s
 3.  Justin Wilson**   Dale Coyne           + 0.9490s 
 4.  Dario Franchitti  Ganassi              + 1.5230s
 5.  Tony Kanaan       Andretti Green       + 2.3214s
 6.  Will Power**      Penske               + 3.4622s 
 7.  Graham Rahal**    Newman/Haas/Lanigan  + 4.0672s 
 8.  Dan Wheldon       Panther              + 4.7283s
 9.  Vitor Meira       Foyt                 + 5.9559s
10.  Alex Tagliani**   Conquest             + 1 lap   
11.  Robert Doornbos** Newman/Haas/Lanigan  + 4 laps  
12.  Stanton Barrett   3G                   + 4 laps

Retirements:

     Driver            Team                 Laps
     Marco Andretti    Andretti Green       94
     Dan Wheldon       Panther              86
     Hideki Mutoh      Andretti Green       86
     Scott Dixon       Ganassi              80
     EJ Viso**         HVM                  75 
     Ed Carpenter      Vision               71
     Danica Patrick    Andretti Green       31
     Raphael Matos     Luczo Dragon         31
     Mario Moraes**    KV                   31 
     Mike Conway       Dreyer & Reinbold    1
(ht: autosport.com)

Tweet: TheEDJE - IndyCarPR, MyNameIsIRL, VisionRacing, FilipCleeren, FastMachines, and FuriousWedge - Thanks for sharing! I'll be at the track in Long Beach.

... notes from The EDJE

Between Palms & Yachts, Three 911 GT3 RSR's Take On St. Pete

911 GT3 RSR, Flying Lizard Motorsports: Jörg Bergmeister, Patrick Long - Image Credit: Dr. Ing. h.c. F. Porsche AG

Between Palms & Yachts, Three 911 GT3 RSR's Take On St. Pete

The American Le Mans Series extends its stay in Florida: After the season-opener at the 12 Hours of Sebring, round two of the race series with the world’s fastest sports cars takes off on Saturday in the Sunshine State of the USA – on the downtown street circuit of St. Petersburg.

This is the American Le Mans Series

The American Le Mans Series was created in 1999 and offers fans exciting sports car racing. The regulations correspond to those of the Le Mans 24 hour race. Ten races in the USA and Canada make up this year’s calendar. Traditional highlights are the Sebring 12 hour race and the 1,000 mile Petit Le Mans at Road Atlanta. Most races run over 2:45 hours. The ALMS is the American counterpart to the Le Mans Series (LMS) in Europe.

The starter field is made up of two different race car categories: Sports prototypes and standard sports cars.

These are divided into four classes ...

LMP1 class: Sports prototypes with up to 700 hp and a minimum weight of 900 kilograms. Power to weight ratio: ca. 1.3 kg/hp.

LMP2 class: Sports prototypes with around 445 hp (normally aspirated engine) and an 850 kilogram minimum weight. Power to weight ratio: ca. 1.9 kg/hp.

GT1 class: Heavily modified standard sports cars with up to 650 hp and a minimum weight of 1,125 to 1,325 kilograms.

GT2 class: Slightly modified standard sports cars with approx. 450 hp and a minimum weight of 1,145 – 1,345 kilograms. The Porsche 911 GT3 RSR competes in this class.

All race cars start together but are classified separately. This system ensures varied and exciting racing with tough fights for positions and many overtaking manoeuvres. Points are awarded only for placings in each class. After 2006 and 2007, Porsche again won the championship titles in the LMP2 class last year for Drivers (Timo Bernhard/Romain Dumas) as well as for Chassis and Engine Manufacturer and for Teams (Penske Racing) with the RS Spyder. In the GT2 class, Porsche secured the championship titles for Drivers (Joerg Bergmeister/Wolf Henzler) as well as for Manufacturers and Teams (Flying Lizard Motorsports)

911 GT3 RSR, Flying Lizard Motorsports: Seth Neiman, Darren Law - Image Credit: Dr. Ing. h.c. F. Porsche AG

This excerpted and edited from Porsche -

American Le Mans Series, round 2 in St. Petersburg, USA
Press-Release - 01/04/2009

Diversity is guaranteed: The race between palms and yachts on the Gulf of Mexico runs over just 1:55 hours and poses a very different challenge for drivers and teams compared to the long distance classic in the heart of Florida. “Such a street circuit is unforgiving with errors. You have to drive very precisely and concentrate totally from start to finish,” says Porsche works driver Joerg Bergmeister (Germany), who shares driving duties in the Flying Lizard Motorsports 911 GT3 RSR with Patrick Long (USA). Manning the second 911 GT3 RSR of the US customer team are Darren Law (USA) and Seth Neiman (USA).

The German duo Wolf Henzler and Dirk Werner compete for Farnbacher Loles Racing. In Sebring the pair planted their 911 GT3 RSR on pole. “If we could do this again we would have a great advantage,” said Wolf Henzler, who last year secured the title with Joerg Bergmeister. “On this narrow and twisty circuit it’s hard to overtake and that’s why it’s particularly crucial to get a good grid position here.”

The race takes off on Saturday, 4th April, at 13.20 hours local time (19.20 hours CET) and runs over 1:55 hours.
Reference Here>>

We will be watching with great interest the events happening over the weekend in Saint Petersburg.

This may be the second race of the season for the American Le Mans Series cars ... and that might be exciting enough, but the first race of the fully unified IndyCar Series (ICS) kicks of on Sunday. This season, all teams - both CCWS Transition Players and Established Teams - will have achieved an equalized understanding of the chassis and what to expect from its configurations for road/street racing and oval circuit racing (there should not be a parts shortage problem for the newer Transition teams as there was at the beginning of last year ... for example). There will also be firsts for the Established Teams to overcome as it relates to new racing venues that the Transition Players may have a small advantage, helping to equalize the racing throughout the season.

Bring on St. Pete and it's unique venue of racing in the streets between the palms & yachts ... ALMS and IndyCar ... can not wait!

... notes from The EDJE

F1 - Strong Drives, Crashes, And A Historic Win By Button In OZ

Jenson Button won the season-opening Australian Grand Prix on Sunday, giving Brawn GP a victory in its first Formula One race. Image Credit: Oliver Multhaup /AP

F1 - Strong Drives, Crashes, And A Historic Win By Button In OZ

The following quote reflects the happenings down in the land of OZ. Basically, F1 has been turned on its head from last season and rule changes, the spec' changes, Kers, and all have shuffled the deck and not everyone is happy.

This excerpted and edited from BBC -

Tremendous scenes as Jenson Button and Rubens Barrichello embrace and start celebrating in front of the adoring Melbourne crowd. Button is so excited, he looks like the Tazmanian Devil caught in a blender, and who can blame him? What a start to the season and what a race.

Well, we couldn't really have asked for a more explosive season-opener, could we?

A storybook finish for Brawn GP, a remarkable back-to-front run from Jarno Trulli and Lewis Hamilton, collisions aplenty involving the likes of Sebastian Vettel, Robert Kubica, Rubens Barrichello and Heikki Kovalainen, and still plenty of controversy over rear diffusers, safety car deployment and safety car overtaking to come.
---
Lap 55 [of 57]: Unbelievable! Robert Kubica, attempting to pass Sebastian Vettel, collides with the Red Bull on Turn Three and both are wiped out. Vettel is too slow in Turns One and Two and Kubica eyes his chance, only for Vettel to tag his rear right wheel and both spin on to the grass. This race is Jenson Button's folks, with Rubens Barrichello second.
Reference Here>>

Eight of the 20 cars were either lapped (1), retired (4), or crashed out (3) at the end leaving only 12 cars running on the same lap.

The stand out performances have to be noted as coming from Lewis Hamilton driving the McLaren-Mercedes to P3 (elevated from P4 due to a penalty assessment) and the Toyota teammates who all started from the back of the grid with Jarno Trulli driving his pants off to P3 ... later penalized back to P12, and Timo Glock just missing (by 2 seconds behind the elevated Lewis Hamilton) the podium finishing at P4.

In the first post-race interview, Lewis Hamilton praises the "incredible job" done by his McLaren team after ending a difficult weekend by finishing fourth in the Australian Grand Prix. Hamilton was later promoted to third after a penalty for Toyota's Jarno Trulli. Image Credit: BBC

This excerpted and edited from The State -

Button wins F1's season-opening Australian GP
By CHRIS LINES - The State - Sunday, Mar. 29, 2009

Jenson Button won the season-opening Australian Grand Prix on Sunday, giving Brawn GP a victory in its first Formula One race.

The Englishman led from start to finish, beating teammate Rubens Barrichello and Toyota's Jarno Trulli, with the race finishing under caution following a late crash.

Barrichello, a Brazilian, recovered after being slow off the line at the start, while Italy's Trulli was strong after starting from pit lane.

It was the first time since 1977 that a F1 team had won in its debut, and the third time that a team had finished first and second in its first attempt. Alfa Romeo did it in the first ever grand prix in Britain in 1950, and Mercedes did it at the French GP in 1954.

It was only the second GP win for Button, who is in his 10th year of F1. He averaged 121.649 mph (195.775 kph) at the 3.3-mile (5.3-kilometer) Albert Park circuit and finished in 1:34:15.784.

The win capped a remarkable turnaround for the former Honda team which was at risk of disbanding in the offseason when the Japanese automaker pulled out of F1. Team principal Ross Brawn took over the team, which has benefited from development spending for 2009 by its former owner last year.
----
Further boosting Brawn GP spirits was the knowledge that the past three winners of the Australian GP went on to win the championship.
Reference Here>>

How the machines and their pilots fared (BBC):

Melbourne results
Full race timings
Sunday, 29 March 2009

Position Country Driver Car number Team Grid position Race time Points
1 great britain Jenson Button 22 Brawn-Mercedes 1 1:34:15.784 10
2 brazil Rubens Barrichello 23 Brawn-Mercedes 2 1:34:16.591 8
3 great britain Lewis Hamilton 1 McLaren-Mercedes 18 1:34:18.698 6
4 germany Timo Glock 10 Toyota 20 1:34:20.219 5
5 spain Fernando Alonso 7 Renault 10 1:34:20.663 4
6 germany Nico Rosberg 16 Williams-Toyota 5 1:34:21.506 3
7 switzerland Sebastien Buemi 12 Toro Rosso-Ferrari 13 1:34:21.788 2
8 france Sebastien Bourdais 11 Toro Rosso-Ferrari 17 1:34:22.082 1
9 germany Adrian Sutil 20 Force India-Mercedes 16 1:34:22.119 0
10 germany Nick Heidfeld 6 BMW Sauber 9 1:34:22.869 0
11 italy Giancarlo Fisichella 21 Force India-Mercedes 15 1:34:23.158 0
12 italy Jarno Trulli 9 Toyota 19 1:34:42.388 0
13 australia Mark Webber 14 Red Bull-Renault 8 lapped 0
RET germany Sebastian Vettel 15 Red Bull-Renault 3 retired, 56 laps 0
RET poland Robert Kubica 5 BMW Sauber 4 crash, 55 laps 0
RET finland Kimi Raikkonen 4 Ferrari 7 retired, 55 laps 0
RET brazil Felipe Massa 3 Ferrari 6 retired, 45 laps 0
RET brazil Nelson Piquet Jr 8 Renault 14 crash, 24 laps 0
RET japan Kazuki Nakajima 17 Williams-Toyota 11 crash, 17 laps 0
RET finland Heikki Kovalainen 2 McLaren-Mercedes 12 retired, 0 laps 0

... notes from The EDJE

The Wizard Of OZ - F1 Qualifying In Australia

Jenson Button took his first pole position in three years at the Australian Grand Prix, as Brawn GP utterly dominated qualifying on its debut. Image Credit: BBC

The Wizard Of OZ - F1 Qualifying In Australia

World famous British businessman, Richard Branson, stepped up and threw his sponsorship muscle behind one of the more promising F1 ventures to come along in this era of slick tires and modified areodynamics.

Virgin Group has become the first major sponsor of the Formula 1, Mercedes-powered, Brawn GP team. It is not a title sponsorship deal and the team's official name will remain unchanged for now.

Branson, who had been linked with a takeover of the former Honda team recently, said that moves to cut costs in the sport and a push by the American Gevo company, in which Virgin is investing, to come up with a clean fuel for the sport were contributing reasons for his decision to jump into F1 team sponsorship.

"I am very, very excited to be here today," said Branson, who had flown direct from London after agreeing the deal. "A few weeks ago I said that there were two preconditions for us to get involved with F1.

One was that the costs of F1 should come down. It was just too expensive to get enough new entrants into the sport, and the second one was that F1 should be spear-heading a clean-fuel revolution.", said Bransom at the announcement ceremony at Albert Park, Melbourne, Australia.

Branson's pledge of sponsorship support was soon rewarded, in that, the two drivers that pilot the Mercedes-powered Brawn GP machines placed the cars in P1 and P2 during qualifying for the OZ Grand Prix event to be run tomorrow.

Jenson Button and Rubens Barrichello confirmed the pace showed previously in testing, with the Briton, Button securing pole position ahead of the Brazilian, Barrichello ... and with rival teams admitting Brawn GP's cars were simply out of reach.

The Brawn team raced as Honda last season but secured their survival with Mercedes engines only at the beginning of this month following Honda's decision to quit F1 because of the global financial crisis. From Saturday, the Virgin logo was added to the previously unbranded white cars - and a new colour scheme will be unveiled at next weekend's Malaysian Grand Prix. Image Credit: BBC

This excerpted and edited from autosport.com -

Button leads all-Brawn front row in Oz
By Matt Beer, autosport.com - Saturday, March 28th 2009, 07:03 GMT

Jenson Button took his first pole position in three years at the Australian Grand Prix, as Brawn GP utterly dominated qualifying on its debut.

Rubens Barrichello led Button in a Brawn one-two in both Q1 and Q2, with a clear margin over their rivals in each session.

But in the pole position shoot-out it was Button who emerged on top, beating Barrichello to first place by 0.305 seconds.

Button had taken provisional pole by half a second on his first run, before being briefly deposed by his teammate, but he was able to redress the balance moments later.

Although Brawn GP is effectively a renamed Honda operation, it is officially classed as a new team - which makes today's result the first time a new entrant has taken pole for its debut since the factory Mercedes-Benz team in the 1954 French GP.

The grid line-up was strikingly different to the previous season's form, with Red Bull and Williams among Brawn's main rivals, Ferrari near the foot of the top ten, and the McLarens 14th and 15th.
Reference Here>>

How the field sets up after penalties (the two Toyota cars that originally placed P6-Glock and P8-Trulli, will have to start from the back of the grid for having rear wing elements that were too flexible)

Melbourne results (BBC) -

Final Qualifying
Saturday, 28 March 2009
Position Country Driver Car number Team Qualifying time
1 great britain Jenson Button 22 Brawn-Mercedes 1:26.202
2 brazil Rubens Barrichello 23 Brawn-Mercedes 1:26.505
3 germany Sebastian Vettel 15 Red Bull-Renault 1:26.830
4 poland Robert Kubica 5 BMW Sauber 1:26.914
5 germany Nico Rosberg 16 Williams-Toyota 1:26.973
6 brazil Felipe Massa 3 Ferrari 1:27.033
7 finland Kimi Raikkonen 4 Ferrari 1:27.163
8 australia Mark Webber 14 Red Bull-Renault 1:27.246
9 germany Nick Heidfeld 6 BMW Sauber 1:25.504
10 spain Fernando Alonso 7 Renault 1:25.605
11 japan Kazuki Nakajima 17 Williams-Toyota 1:25.607
12 finland Heikki Kovalainen 2 McLaren-Mercedes 1:25.726
13 switzerland Sebastien Buemi 12 Toro Rosso-Ferrari 1:26.503
14 brazil Nelson Piquet Jr 8 Renault 1:26.598
15 italy Giancarlo Fisichella 21 Force India-Mercedes 1:26.677
16 germany Adrian Sutil 20 Force India-Mercedes 1:26.742
17 france Sebastien Bourdais 11 Toro Rosso-Ferrari 1:26.964
18 great britain Lewis Hamilton 1 McLaren-Mercedes
19 germany Timo Glock 10 Toyota
20 italy Jarno Trulli 9 Toyota

After this qualifying performance from Brawn GP, backed by the Virgin Group's timely sponsorship ... Richard Branson can now be called, for the moment, the Wizard of OZ.

... notes from The EDJE

A Transition Player Places P1 In Final ICS Test

Barber Motorsports Park, Leeds (Birmingham), Alabama - Image Credit: Google Earth via aimsports.com

A Transition Player Places P1 In Final ICS Test

Will Power, a CCWS/IRL sophomore who now drives, at least temporarlly, for the primier established IRL team, Penske Racing, posted the fastest track time among the sixteen drivers working out the pre season kinks in the final test session held at Barber Motorsports Park, Leeds, Alabama.

In 2008, Power began his IndyCar Series career driving for KV Racing Technology; where he earned his third Indy car victory in Long Beach and scored five top-ten finishes. In addition, the Australian started from the pole in the post-season exhibition event at Surfers Paradise and led the first 16 laps before an accident forced him out of the race.

Here is what the five Transition Players who participated in this final test session had to say:

WILL POWER, who currently replaces Helio Castroneves in the No. 3 Team Penske Dallara, effused, "It was good. I haven't spent much time with this team, so I spent the two days gelling with my engineer. We're really working well together now. We found some good things in the car, and we found a car that suits me.

We're happy and we'll be pretty confident going into St. Pete. This is a great track to get fit on because you never stop working. We won't use this much energy getting around St. Pete, so it was a good workout. I was just happy to get back in the car on a road course."

Graham Rahal, driving the No. 02 Newman/Haas/Lanigan Racing Dallara logged in at P5 said, "The car is pretty good. We're learning quite a lot, which is important. I think at the end of the day we're competitive here, but that's not what matters most. What matters most to us is to make sure that when we go to all the road races we've got a good shot at winning, and that's what we're trying to do right now - learn as much as we can. I think we're doing that. We've got a lot more knowledge and understanding than we did before, and that's what we need. We're trying things that we hope we can adapt to other tracks. That's been our focus."

Robert Doornbos - "Bobby D", who drives the No. 06 Newman/Haas/Lanigan Racing Dallara and ended the sessions at P6, commented on his sessions with, “I was very happy to drive on a circuit that I am familiar with, where I can use my experience in setting the car up to my liking and getting to know the team better, because it’s a whole new adventure for me.

This morning we did only 10 laps and the gearbox broke, so we had to wait a couple of hours to get it fixed. We just had to stay focused for the afternoon and make the most of it. We had a good setup and we got the car to my liking and did a quick lap time. I think it’s very important to make a good first impression, because the team gave me this chance. They know what I can do. They know that I can win races, and I just need to prove it.”

Justin Wilson, driving the No. 18 Dale Coyne Racing Dallara, who finished ninth overall felt, “We had our ups and downs today trying to shave off time. We started out with a bit of oversteer and brought the setup closer to where I was comfortable. Unfortunately, we ran out of time just as we were making great progress.”

Mario Moraes, who now will be driving for KV Racing Technology, missed most of the afternoon after the No. 5 KV Racing Technology car sustained damage after contact with the tire barrier shortly before the lunch break. Moraes returned to the track for the final 20 minutes.
(Quotes - ht: autoracingdaily.com)

This excerpted and edited from autosport.com -

Power leads final IndyCar winter test
By Matt Beer
----
The Australian's long-term future with Penske remains unclear, as he has been signed as a substitute for Helio Castroneves while the former Indianapolis 500 winner is on trial for tax evasion charges. Castroneves' trial began in Miami three weeks ago.

But Power showed that he has already settled into the Penske Dallara-Honda by lapping in 1m09.4557s today, beating second-placed Dario Franchitti (Ganassi) by 0.3 seconds.
----
Newman/Haas/Lanigan duo Graham Rahal and Robert Doornbos completed the top six, while Marco Andretti was Andretti Green Racing's leading representative in seventh. His team-mate Tony Kanaan, who was next up in eighth, played down AGR's low-key performance.

"The great thing about a test is not having the pressure of lap times and who is the fastest," he said. "We are only concerned about figuring out what to do to make the car better overall. We need to understand the changes that we make and learn what or what not to do to in order to make the car better."
----
KV Racing's Mario Moraes had starred in the previous test at Homestead last month, but crashed today and missed most of the afternoon session, leaving him 14th. Panther Racing driver Dan Wheldon and Luczo Dragon's rookie Raphael Matos were among the other drivers to have small incidents during the test.
Reference Here>>

Pos - Driver - Team - Time - Gap (* denotes a Transition Player)
1. *Will Power Penske 1m09.4557s
2. Dario Franchitti Ganassi 1m09.7776s + 0.3219s
3. Ryan Briscoe Penske 1m09.8401s + 0.3844s
4. Scott Dixon Ganassi 1m09.8904s + 0.4347s
5. *Graham Rahal Newman/Haas/Lanigan 1m09.9176s + 0.4619s
6. *Robert Doornbos Newman/Haas/Lanigan 1m10.0229s + 0.5672s
7. Marco Andretti Andretti Green 1m10.0908s + 0.6351s
8. Tony Kanaan Andretti Green 1m10.3072s + 0.8515s
9. *Justin Wilson Dale Coyne 1m10.3177s + 0.8620s
10. Hideki Mutoh Andretti Green 1m10.3573s + 0.9017s
11. Dan Wheldon Panther 1m10.5267s + 1.0710s
12. Mike Conway Dreyer & Reinbold 1m10.6965s + 1.2408s
13. Raphael Matos Luczo Dragon 1m10.7051s + 1.2494s
14. *Mario Moraes KV 1m10.7207s + 1.2650s
15. Danica Patrick Andretti Green 1m10.8411s + 1.3854s
16. Ed Carpenter Vision 1m11.5245s + 2.0688s
IRL Timing & Scoring

The test was the second and final official ICS Open Test before the 2009 season begins April 5 with the Honda Grand Prix of St. Petersburg. Several teams still plan to fit in private tests before the championship gets underway.

... notes from The EDJE