Sunday, May 5, 2013

2013 Itaipava Sao Paulo Indy 300 presented by Nestle - Tweet-By-Tweet

Will Ryan Hunter-Reay break into the top five in season championship points lead or will team-mate EJ Viso have his own designs to try and vault into the top ten without knocking RHR out with a crash? Image Credit: Edmund Jenks (2013)

2013 Itaipava Sao Paulo Indy 300 presented by Nestle - Tweet-By-Tweet

Round four of the 2013 IZOD IndyCar Series (IICS) sees its fourth in a succession of road/street courses to kick-off the season before going on with the month of May festivities at IndyCar's home city and the grand-daddy of all left-turn only (do we need to say it - oval) races, the Indy 500.

The Mayor of Sao Paulo, Gilberto Kassab, fought hard to bring the IICS to South America and race here. He even went to the point of declaring Sao Paulo the South American Indianapolis in 2009, or maybe a better characterization might be that they were establishing itself as capital of motor racing in South America - no other city could rival the tradition and race that have defined a city ever since the 2.5 mile track was first laid out in 1909.

Welcome to an internet based exercise that this author/editor calls Tweet-By-Tweet. It is a form of New Media reporting on an event from the perspective of mostly well informed and rabid followers of a particular discipline that happen to be communicating LIVE at the same time, sharing their reactions to the happenings of an important event.

The following "Tweets" (entries from Twitter social media portal) come from those who have an account on Twitter and become followed by people of similar interests plus specific #hashtag searches. Contributors who "Tweet" (create an entry made on Twitter) come from many backgrounds such as racing team communications personnel, writers, drivers from other series, bloggers, and just plain fans.

This excerpted and edited from Twitter with entries added from IndyCar, Race Control, and the author -

To start the race, it is always a good thing to have the initial balance of perspective of how the field will line up to take the Green Flag to start the race.

Qualification Results
Sao Paulo Indy 300 - Sao Paulo, Brazil
Pos. Driver Best Time Round
1 Ryan Hunter-Reay 1:20.4312 Firestone Fast Six
2 EJ Viso 1:20.7380 Firestone Fast Six
3 Dario Franchitti 1:20.8922 Firestone Fast Six
4 Tony Kanaan 1:20.9812 Firestone Fast Six
5 James Hinchcliffe 1:20.9893 Firestone Fast Six
6 Scott Dixon 1:21.1183 Firestone Fast Six
7 Sebastien Bourdais 1:20.8210 Round 2 / Top 12
8 Simona de Silvestro 1:20.9390 Round 2 / Top 12
9 Justin Wilson 1:21.0570 Round 2 / Top 12
10 Marco Andretti 1:21.1716 Round 2 / Top 12
11 JR Hildebrand 1:21.2961 Round 2 / Top 12
12 Takuma Sato 1:21.3618 Round 2 / Top 12
13 Oriol Servia 1:21.7963 Round 1 / Group 1
14 Ed Carpenter 1:24:0203 Round 1 / Group 2
15 Alex Tagliani 1:21.8636 Round 1 / Group 1
16 Ana Beatriz 1:24:8864 Round 1 / Group 2
17 Charlie Kimball 1:22.2482 Round 1 / Group 1
18 Helio Castroneves 1:25:1734 Round 1 / Group 2
19 Graham Rahal 1:22.2998 Round 1 / Group 1
20 Sebastian Saavedra 4:00.2612 Round 1 / Group 2
21 Tristan Vautier 3:20.5417 Round 1 / Group 1
22 Will Power 4:05.5886 Round 1 / Group 2
23 Josef Newgarden No Time Round 1 / Group 1
24 Simon Pagenaud 4:23.1097 Round 1 / Group 2
25 James Jakes No Time Round 1 / Group 2
(ht:indycar)

It's interesting to note that no Penske Racing team car made it to the Firestone Fast Six. This was because the group Will Power and Helio Castroneves were qualifying in, suffered an interruption from an accident caused by Rahal Letterman Lanigan's James Jakes and this cut the time short for a clear run. Power will start from P22 and Castroneves from P18.

Also, former Lotus Dragon Racing team-mates, Sebastien Bourdais and Simona de Silvestro, will be starting next to each other in the fourth row ... just outside of the Firestone Fast Six.


IndyCar Teammates @RyanHunterReay & @EJVISO start on the front row in the #IndySaoPaulo at 11a ET on @NBCSN! #IndyCar pic.twitter.com/NkEJ9zre1m

- The Official Twitter page of the IZOD IndyCar Series. Keep up w/ the latest from drivers, fans &

- Both KV Racing Technology Drivers Qualify In The Top-Eight

- Only five cars are starting on the Alternate tires today:Franchitti, Kanaan, Dixon, Carpenter and Vautier.

- Talladega and Sao Paolo in the same day, quite a tongue twister for American motorsports fans

- Won't be able to see live today per other commitments, so gonna have to stay off social media and avoid spoilers!

- Recuerden hoy el vzolano arranca en 1ra fila en lo que será la 4ta fecha de la temporada de la en las calles de Sao Paulo

- “: Two Drivers and are top 10 in every practice session! Go Guys! ” Thanks Teri!

- My prediction for is: 1.Kanaan 2.Hunter-Reay 3.Franchitti... The lovely Brazil: Boa sorte a todos e boa corrida!!!

- The race in Sao Paulo will start soon. Sato should win again.

- Gonna be a long day in front of screens. in 30mins then, hopefully, they'll get Talladega off the ground i.e. green flag.

- Waiting for the text/call from the wife when she realizes I am recording BOTH races today over her shows. Love the DirecTV app.

- What time does that race start, trying to catch the British GT Quali, but I think it clashes with the :-\

Edmund Jenks @TheEDJE - @jamesf40 - Ahhhhhh! Choices, Choices, Choices ...

- @TheEDJE - Lol! I'm not complaining, its been an epic weekend of motorsport so far, even without the :-)

- GAORAでINDY CAR第４戦を見るために風呂ってきまーす(^o^)《明日は早番ですが^^;》

- Weather seems to be clear for this race for the first time - Internet Radio Broadcast begins -

- Interesting tire choices for start of : all but 5 drivers on primaries (black sidewall) Firehawks.

- Hey Nice feature on in pre-race show!

- [News] Statement on the Future of Dreyer & Reinbold Racing after INDY500

Sad to hear that we may lose a team for the balance of the season - Oriol Servia (starting P13) has to be really unhappy between last season's messed up run with Lotus and now this DRR suspension of race operations.

- Aww "weather isn't a problem". What kind of grand prix in São Paulo is this? No rain? No Interlagos?!

GREEN, GREEN, GREEN - the Itaipava Sao Paulo Indy 300 presented by Nestle begins

- Green flag has been shown, 75 laps to be run

- Ready to go in we need a fifth country win this year, Brazil or Switzerland would be nice.

- GREEN! Viso gets passed for P2 by Franchitti. Clean start.

- Have we had a lap 1 at Brazil yet with zero contact? My gut says no. 's changes responsible? Thumbs up.

- Power up to three positions in two laps. Now in 19th.

- Tristan moves from P21 to P17 in first 2 laps of

- Clean start and everyone's running. TK and Simona moved up one place each :-)

YELLOW Flag - 7 of 75 LAPS - Dale Coyne Racing's Ana  Beatriz - transmission!

- Ana Beatriz has stopped on track, caution is out.

GREEN, GREEN, GREEN -Lap 9 of 10

Great jumps by RHR and TK!! - Crowd goes crazy!

- Alright back to green we go. WHAT A LAUNCH BY KANAAN! Into P2! Now to track down RHR!

- TK goes to 2nd, blows by Franchitti on the Sambadromo!

10 of 75 LAPS - Top 10 - TK, RHR, Franchitti, Hinchtown, EJ Viso, Dixon, TAKU, Wilson, SDS, TAKU, and JR Hildebrand

- Pretty cool to hear the crowd going nuts when took the lead

- Kanaan is flying , despite damaged hand, amazing!

- I've never tried Itaipava is it good beer?

- Will Power is not going to finish this race. He's driving way too aggressively and way over his head, in my opinion. Has no choice.

- Multiple chargers right now. Sato 12th to 7th, Rahal 19th to 11th, Power 22nd to 14th.

TK represents the 9th driver to lead a race - Scott Dixon is not one of them in 2013 at this point.

- Love the shot of gridlocked traffic right next to race track

YELLOW Flag - Will Power's car is in flames - his day is finished - he will not gain points or become a driver to win four races in a row at a single track - those who were able to complete this feat? AJ Foyt, Mario Andretti, Rick Mears, and Al Unser, Jr..

20 of 75 LAPS - Top 10 - TK, RHR, Franchitti, Hinchtown, Dixon, TAKU, EJ Viso, SDS, Wilson, and JR Hildebrand

PITSTOPS under YELLOW - Lap 21 - TK loses two positions.

- Sato moves up to P4 after cars pit under caution

- Kanaan falls to third after a fuel delivery problem. He gets jumped by Dixon, & RHR takes the lead. Sato P4!

- Is it too early to say that Will Power is out of contention for the title?

- Maybe - 4 road/street races down and the ovals are coming on strong

1m - Pitstop sob bandeira amarela / Pitstop under yellow (by Benito)


- Seb is now leading the race! // Seb est maintenant en tête de la course!

RESTART - LAP 23 of 75 - Team-mates James Jakes and Graham Rahal get together and bring out the YELLOW Flag

- Wow, bummer for . Got screwed by banzai move by his teammate.

At 3rd YELLOW Flag of the day, the order is - Top ten on LAP 26 of 75 - SeaBass, Tags, Newgarden, Kimball, Pagenaud, RHR, Helio, Dixon, TK, and TAKU

- Tough day for , , #25, just squeezed past a major wreck on restart. Fast start now.

GREEN Flag RESTART - Drivers try three-wide - Helio spins and tucks it back in and pits for flatspots - Kimball picks up a couple of spots - not a good day for Penske racing.

- : With his DNF today, has failed to finish a road/street course race for the first time since Toronto 2011.

30 of 75 - Top Ten - SeaBass, Newgarden, RHR, Pagenaud, TAKU, Kimball, TK, Dixon, Franchitti, and Hildebrand

- That doesn't hurt TK as Kimball is on different strategy

- Remember, Bourdais and Newgarden pitted early. RHR basically has lead, although he's leaning back on fuel right now.

TK passes RHR for P3 - Pitstop flurry - the field is shuffling

- Even with the curbing removed, turn 1 is still a kicker

TAKU passes RHR for position ... due to pitstops was fot the LEAD of the race!

- Wow, Sato's looking pretty damned racy again this week!

- Takuma foi o primeiro japonês a ganhar uma etapa da Indy e hoje está ganhando boas posições, atualmente em 1º!

-  Sato not intimidated by anybody!! Lap 34/75 takes the lead!!!!

- Great photo by showing at Sao Paulo

- Sato in for service at Lap 38. Stays with the reds, gets fuel.

- Pits are open, full course yellow for debris that fell from No. 15 car of Rahal after contact with the Turn 2 wall.

- That corner where smoked it really needs changing, would've been 2 less cautions and more racing

- was that of his own doing? or did he hit / get hit by someone?

40 of 75 - Top Ten - RHR, TK, Franchitti, Servia, Marco, Dixon, Viso, SDS, Hinchtown, and Wilson

- Based on my calculations, only needs to pit one more time this race. ;-)

- Am I the only one who noticed Ethanol is spelled Etanol on engine cover? Is it a brazil thing?

IndyCar Race control: Nos. 77, 3, and 7 must pit next time by for entering a closed pit. #IndySaoPaulo #IndyCar

Matt ‏@MotoM4TT  - Interesting, the international feed immediately showed RED FLAG after the accident....

- Think Taku could be on for decent result if doesn't need another stop considering how many yellows > 1 yellow/10 laps

Marco Andretti has four less laps on his tank than the cars in front of him - Fuel strategy same a Danica Patrick's in Japan - same strategist.

GREEN, GREEN, GREEN -Lap 44 of 75

Two-wide restart - Marco up to P4

- Green flag on Lap 44! Top 5: .

OUTSIDE move by TK past RHR for P1 - crowd goes crazy again!! Superb racing side-by-side

Marco up to P3 then to P1 and becomes the 10th driver to lead a race - passing at the front as RHR has car trouble and fades

- Kanaan does the over under on RHR for the lead. Very nice. Now Marco picks up 2nd then gets around TK. Good stuff!

- Drag race down the backstretch goes to Marco Andretti, who takes the lead from Tony Kanaan. 29 to go.

IZOD IndyCar Series ‏@IndyCar  - . moves into the lead on Lap 47! Hunter-Reay has a flat tire.

- This is freaking awesome racing. who needs

Woodsie ‏@WoodsiesGarage  - RHR supposedly has a tyre going down, so he'll be coming in if he can. Now Marco looks under Kanaan & gets him!

50 of 75 - Top Ten - Marco, Servia, Franchitti, Viso, TK, Hinchcliffe, Wilson, SDS, Vautier, and Dixon

Pit activity - TK may have run out of fuel - WOW!

YELLOW Flag - sixth full course caution - Marco takes advantage and can go the distance

IndyCar - Full course yellow to retrieve Kanaan from the front stretch. Pits are open. #IndySaoPaulo #IndyCar

ForTheLoveofIndy ‏@4TheLoveOfIndy  - Terrible break for Kanaan. At home in his 200 consecutive race.

JR Hildebrand has the lead with the pistops - may have enough fuel to make it to the end - only car at the front that is running on Firestone Blacks

GREEN, GREEN, GREEN -Lap 55 of 75

Two-wide restart - JR Hildebrand was able to get away clean - Graham Rahal cloggs up the restart and gives JR a big break being five laps down

Christopher Estrada ‏@estradawriting  - Sato slams the door on Hinchcliffe out at Turn 11, takes back third...

YELLOW Flag - 7th of the day - James Jakes and Justin Wilson get together and bring out a caution

-This race is FUN but hard to keep up with strategy-glad our ABC can!

Top ten on RESTART - LAP 59 of 75 - TAKU, Hinchtown, Newgarden, Marco, Pagenaud, RHR, Servia, Viso, Franchitti, and Tags

Hinchcliffe drops to fourth as Newgarden and Marco take advantage.

- How the heck did Pagenaud get back up into third?!

TAKU, Pagenaud, and Newgarden as Simon takes P2

-   helluva race going on in Sao Paolo! I'm pissed I didn't schedule to be down there this week.

- Zero Penske or Ganassi cars in the top 5. The only Andretti is Hinch.

- Pagenaud started 23rd and Newgarden 25th and running 2nd and 3rd

Jon ‏@JFDT33 - really is going down hill having Avis sponsoring how to go round a corner, what next, how to drive straight sponsored by KFC?

65 of 75 LAPS - It's TAKU, Newgarden, Pagenaud, Hinchcliffe, and Servia in the top 5 positions

- Look how loose that rear bumper is on Pagenaud. That can't be fun to drive with...

- Newgarden chasing Sato for the lead, hunting Pagenaud for 3rd, this is gonna be a great finish!

Servia off of the pace but the cars in front are racing very hard

- Josef Newgarden is your biggest mover of the day, starting 25th and currently running 2nd.

- Top10 1 Sato 2 Newgarden 3 Pagenaud 4 Hinchcliffe 5 Servia 6 Andretti 7 Franchitti 8 9 Hunter-reay 10 de Silvestro

Hinchcliffe passes Pagenaud and is 2.5 seconds behind Newgarden

Ases del Volante!!! ‏@Ases_DelVolante -  Hinchcliffe pasa a Pagenaud y sube al 3er lugar.

- Hinch to 3rd, Newgarden 2nd and Sato leads, can Sato do it again?

LAP 69 has Newgarden dogging TAKU who is on old Blacks - 1.5 stints

- The margin between 1st and 2nd is .02776 with five laps to go.

Hinchcliffe is pulling back into contention - Newgarden is filling all the mirrors he can find as the GoDaddy car are covered by a blanket

- Battle for the win, Sato VS Newgarden ! 5 laps to go !

Two laps remain and Hinch gets Newgarden and TAKU get a little room - Hinch is pulling in TAKU - WOW, WOW, WOW!

Hinch gets tapped by Sato and may be called for blocking

- NO ACTION from Race Control on Sato for moving in front of Newgarden down the backstretch.

One and a half laps remain and Marco joins the train - Three-Wide for second in the Sambadrome - more WOW!

TAKU remains in the lead through the corners - Hinch is almost a part of TAKU's DW12 - TAKU blocks Hinch but James is persistent and gets past TAKU - a pass on the last corner ... for the win!

- What a finish to the end of the race!! Great work

Andretti Autosport's James Hinchcliffe wins the Itaipava Sao Paulo Indy 300 presented by Nestle - TAKU, if there is no penalty, will come away with the season points lead going into the INDY500

- Wow that was a BADASS move by Hinchecliffe!! Very cool!

- WOW!! What a finish at ! Now, THAT, is what racing is all about! It doesn't get any better in IndyCar, congrats !

In four races this season, James Hinchcliffe was P1, P26, P26, and now P1. Hinchcliffe Tweeted from his Mayor of Hinchtown account - @Hinchtown - I don't always finish races, but when I do, l prefer to win - ala "the most interesting man in the world" commercials. Image Credit: Edmund Jenks (2013)

IndyCar The margin of victory for today's race is .3464, the closest at #IndySaoPaulo and the 13th closest in #IndyCar Road/Street Course history.

It's FEAST or FAMINE for who has a P1, P26, P26, and now a P1 in four races

IndyCar Takuma Sato is the new #IndyCar points leader. Marco Andretti is in second, just 13 points behind.

At LAP 75 of 75 - Top 10 finishers were Hinchcliffe, Sato, Andretti, Servia, Newgarden, Viso, Franchitti, de Silvestro, Pagenaud, and Kinball!

- Race control says no action to be taken on Sato. Agree?

- Congrats@Hinchtown you rock. Best racing action I've ever seen. Final lap final turn FTW; at it's finest!!!

ENDS

Full Results From IndyCar.com>>

Video Asset - Really Worth Watching>> 

... notes from The EDJE

[Originally posted as - 2013 Itaipava Sao Paulo Indy 300 presented by Nestle - Tweet-By-Tweet - at Motorsports Unplugged]
Posted by at No comments:
Labels: , , , ,

Friday, May 3, 2013

Project Yellow Light Video Contest Winners For 2013 Announced

Project Yellow Light is a scholarship competition designed to bring about change. As an applicant you have one clear mission: encourage your peers to develop and embrace safe driving habits. For both the high school and college contests, the first-place winner will receive a scholarship in the amount of $5,000. Second-place finisher will receive $2,000. Third-place finisher will receive $1,000. Mazda Motorsports is a major supporting partner. Image Credit: Edmund Jenks (2013)

Project Yellow Light Video Contest Winners For 2013 Announced

An important part of the process of being a participant in the Mazda Motorsports Ladder System for driver development is to be an advocate for safety in automobile operation.

Kenton Koch, an 18 year old Glendora High School student and Mazda Ladder race car driver, finds time to give safe driving education at high schools near race day locations throughout the country - as do many of the drivers associated with Mazda Motorsports. Image Credit: Edmund Jenks (2013)

As a component of this outreach agenda, ladder participants/alumni Ben Albano, Kenton Koch, and Elliott Skeer acted as judges in the second annual Project Yellow Light scholarship contest supported by the U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT), Mazda Motorsports, the Ad Council and the National Organizations for Youth Safety (NOYS).

Project Yellow Light is a film competition for high school seniors and college students designed to create compelling video stories that will convince their peers to develop safe driving habits.  The project was created by Julie, Lowell and Alex Garner in memory of their son/brother, Hunter who died tragically in a car crash in 2007. Each year the winner of the film competition receives The Hunter Garner Scholarship.  Project Yellow Light/Hunter Garner Scholarship is a non-profit organization that began in Hunter’s school, Riverbend High in Fredericksburg, VA, with aspirations to inspire and motivate youth all over America.  The program is designed to give young adults a voice and a role in reversing the number of car crashes — the number one killer of teenagers and young adults in the U.S.

Grand-Am Series GX Class race winning race car driver, Joel Miller enjoys sharing a moment with the media about the outreach activities of Mazda on behalf Project Yellow Light at the 2013 Mazda Motorsports media day last month. Image Credit: Edmund Jenks (2013)

As part of Global Youth Traffic Safety Month, entrants were asked to develop and produce a short video that would depict for their peers the dangers of risky mobile behavior on our Nation’s roadways.  The high school grand prize was awarded to Brittany Devasure, a senior from North Carolina, for her video, and, for the first time, the contest was open to college students. Rachel Hall, who studies at the Cleveland Institute of Music, was recognized as the grand prize winner for her video.

According to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA), in 2011, eleven percent of all drivers 15-19 years old involved in fatal crashes were reported as distracted at the time of the crashes. This age group has the largest proportion of driv­ers who were distracted.

"Distracted driving is a national epidemic, and our youngest drivers are particularly at risk," said U.S. Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood. "We know that young drivers listen to their friends, which makes the Project Yellow Light ads so powerful.  Today’s scholarship winners have helped raise awareness of the dangers of texting while driving, and are potentially saving the lives of other teen drivers as well."

The ladder development racers Mazda Motorsports have dubbed the "MAZDASPEED 7"- with Bryan Hixon, Peter Portante, Patrick Gallagher, Matthew Brabham, Stevan McAleer and Yago Cesário along with the engineering and drivers of Sylvain Tremblay's SpeedSource. Image Credit: Edmund Jenks (2013)

"As racers we know about driver safety and take the subject very seriously.  With our extensive team of teenage race drivers, and our longstanding partnership with the Skip Barber Racing School, active support of Project Yellow Light was a natural fit for Mazda Motorsports." said John Doonan, Director, Mazda Motorsports, Mazda North American Operations. "Everyone at Mazda was impressed with both the quality and quantity of entries this year, and we were happy that our support allowed the Project Yellow Light team to add a category for college students."

This year’s contest ran from November 2012 through March 2013 and received nearly 500 submissions. 

Second place prizes were awarded to high school senior Sophie Koorhan of Pennsylvania and Katherine Duffy, a student at the University of Southern California. Third place prizes were given to high school senior Joanne Ly of California and Rahul Sharma, a college student at New York University.

All of the winners will receive college scholarships and One-Day Teen Survival Skills Classes at the Skip Barber Racing School, provided by Mazda Motorsports. Additionally, the first place winners’ videos will be digitally distributed to air as Public Service Announcements (aka PSAs) by the Ad Council to their network of more than 1,500 TV stations nationwide.

... notes from The EDJE
Posted by at No comments:
Labels: , , , , ,

Monday, April 29, 2013

IZOD IndyCar Series Review At 3 Of 19 Scheduled Races For 2013

Former F1, and IZOD IndyCar Series KV Racing Technologies team driver, Takuma Sato - AJ Foyt Racing ... looking at data feedback after posting a P4 in qualifications for the Toyota Grand Prix of Long Beach. Image Credit: Edmund Jenks (2013)

IZOD IndyCar Series Review At 3 Of 19 Scheduled Races For 2013

With 15.7894% of the season in the books, an early review of the 2013 IZOD IndyCar Series (IICS) season seemed to be in order.

The Toyota Grand Prix of Long Beach helped to cement a couple of themes that seem to shaping up in this sophomore season of the Dallara DW12 racing platform, two engine manufacturer era of American open-wheel racing.

Takuma Sato and the AJ Foyt Racing team in winner's circle at the Toyota Grand Prix of Long Beach. Image Credit: AJ Foyt Enterprises (2013)

First, congratulations to AJ Foyt Racing for helping to deliver a team effort role in Japanese, and former F1 driver, Takuma Sato's first win in the top rung of world automobile racing. A fully honest win won racing starting from P4 at the drop of the green flag aided only by a flawless performance driving the Honda-powered DW12 on the track, and team work in the pits for tires and fuel.

By winning the third race of the season, Takuma Sato notches his first win in 52 IICS race starts. His previous best finish at Long Beach was P8. Image Credit: Chris Jones IICS (2013)

This excerpted and edited from Aljazeera -

Sato and Japan make mark on IndyCar
Aljazeera – Fri, Apr 26, 2013

Takuma Sato says joining AJ Foyt Racing put him in position to become the first Japanese driver to win an IndyCar race.

Sato returned to Japan on Friday to speak about his historic win last Sunday in the Grand Prix of Long Beach, just his third race with the team.

"Motorsports is a team sport and you can't win without complete effort from the team," Sato said at a news conference. "The thing about AJ Foyt Racing is that regardless of the conditions they provide the stability needed to win."

The win at Long Beach came in Sato's 52nd career start in IndyCar, but was the first for AJ Foyt Racing since Airton Dare won Kansas in 2002.
----
IndyCar pulled out of Japan after the 2011 race, and Sato said he hopes his win at Long Beach will help return the series to his homeland. "People in Japan love IndyCar," the 36-year-old Sato said. "I can't bring it back myself but I hope in some small way the win in Long Beach will help bring it back. I want to race in the Indy Japan before my career is over."
[Reference Here]

Helio Castroneves survives a Honda engine onslaught at the Toyota Grand Prix of Long Beach to lead all drivers in the points with his Penske Racing Chevy-powered DW12 after three races. Image Credit: Edmund Jenks (2013)

When the dust settled on the third race of the 2013 season, the top five drivers in the points for the IZOD IndyCar Series season championship are 1) Penske Racing's Helio Castroneves - Chevy - 99 points, 2) AJ Foyt Racing's Takuma Sato - Honda - 93 points (the only race winner this season in the top five), 3) Target Chip Ganassi Racing's Scott Dixon - Honda - 89 points, 4) Andretti Autosport's Marco Andretti - Chevy - 87 points, and 5) Dale Coyne Racing's Justin Wilson - Honda - 81 points. To paraphrase Takuma Sato in what he stated in the interview above, these drivers through three races "regardless of the conditions they (the teams and drivers) provide the stability needed to win."

The drivers of the podium take their victory lap to the cheers of the crowd - all three drivers were from teams that were not named Andretti, Ganassi, or Penske. Takuma Sato of AJ Foyt Racing - P1 (R), Graham Rahal of Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing- P2 (L), and Justin Wilson of Dale Coyne Racing - P3 (C). Image Credit: John Cote IICS (2013)

The other observable major point is that the top five, which almost always is exclusively populated by three multiple car teams ... and we know them all to well, have been broken up with the presence of two very competent drivers who drive for single car teams that have had trouble with consistency in previous years. That, and

Honda, after not showing so well in the first race of the season at St. Petersburg, Florida, has rebounded to the point that one could say that if you are driving for a team with a Honda engine, you may have a shot at an IICS Championship. Honda was able to occupy 9 of the top 15 positions at race's end at the Toyota Grand Prix of Long Beach - which Honda and HPD consider their home track being that their main facility is located in Santa Clarita.

Some numbers to note from the Toyota Grand Prix of Long Beach, the third race of the 2013 IZOD IndyCar Series season:

1 - Indy car race winners from Japan: Takuma Sato, who became the second first-time winner in three races.

2 - Consecutive fifth-place finishes at Long Beach for JR Hildebrand.

3 - Drivers who have finished in the top 10 in each of the first three IZOD IndyCar Series events: Marco Andretti, Helio Castroneves and Justin Wilson.

5 - Different teams represented in the top five in the Toyota Grand Prix of Long Beach.

6 - Points separating the top two drivers, Helio Castroneves and Takuma Sato, in the IZOD IndyCar Series standings.

7 - Different teams represented in the top 10 in the IZOD IndyCar Series standings.

8 - Different drivers to score podium finishes in nine races.

12 - Positions gained by Graham Rahal in the IZOD IndyCar Series point standings, the biggest jump among drivers who competed.

13 - Drivers with at least one top-five finish in 2013.

18 - Points separating the top-five drivers in the IZOD IndyCar Series standings.

20 - Drivers with at least one top-10 finish in 2013.

21 - Positions improved by Justin Wilson, the most positions gained by any driver. Wilson finished third. ["I think (the competition is) just so tense," said Justin Wilson, who charged from the 24th starting position to earn third place at Long Beach in the No. 19 Dale Coyne Racing entry. "There are so many drivers in this championship that are capable of winning races. When you do your lap in the car, you don't know when you come in if you're first or 25th.

"You can't afford to miss anything. You can't afford to have a bad result. The way this championship happens, when racers have had bad results, it opens it right up. I think it's going to be more intense and interesting as the season goes on."]

27 - Laps led by Dario Franchitti at Long Beach. Franchitti led a total of 11 laps on road/street courses in 2012.

50 - Laps led by Takuma Sato at Long Beach, the most laps he has led in any Indy car race. Sato's previous high was 31 at Indianapolis in 2012.

199 - Consecutive Indy car starts for Tony Kanaan dating to the 2001 CART race in Portland. Kanaan is second to Jimmy Vasser's 211 straight starts.
(ht: indycar staff)

Lastly, do not bother to try to break into the top five in the points unless your car (and in one case, including helmet) livery colors include Red, White, and Blue:

Image Credit: Edmund Jenks (2013) 

Helio has Automobile Club of Southern California - "Triple A",

Image Credit: Edmund Jenks (2013)

TAKU sports the ABC Supply Americana motif,

Image Credit: Edmund Jenks (2013)

Dixie's predominately Red with White lettering and logo Target car combined with his distinctive Blue lid,

Image Credit: Edmund Jenks (2013)

Marco with RC Cola,

Image Credit: Richard Dowdy IICS (2013)

Finally, who can imagine becoming more Red, White, and Blue than the Boy Scouts of America who wraps the DW12 of Justin Wilson!

Quite fitting for the ultimate professional open-wheel racing series in America to be led by such a thematically colorful, yet international contingent.

Next weekend is the running of the fourth straight road/street race of the season and the last race before the INDY 500, the world's most famous 'oval' race track. The drivers become the boys and girls of Brazil (Helio's home track) as they race at an event facility known in Sao Paulo for it's Samba Festival held during pre-Lenten celebration of Carnival.

... notes from The EDJE
Posted by at No comments:
Labels: , , , , , , , , , ,

Tuesday, April 23, 2013

Mazda's New SKYACTIV-D Technology Sets First Racing Mark

Visit Florida Racing Mazda6 takes Grand-Am GX win at Road Atlanta as Mazda's SKYACTIV-D Clean Diesel engine technology occupies P1 and P3 on the podium. Image Credit: Mazda Motorsports

Mazda's New SKYACTIV-D Technology Sets First Racing Mark

The fruits of real-time, in-season race development program become realized after only four races into the first Grand-Am GX Class season. The all-new Mazda6, powered by a production-based SKYACTIV-D Clean Diesel engine, scored a win in the Rolex Grand-Am GX race at Road Atlanta.

#70 Mazda6 with the SKYACTIV-D turbo diesel showcar where the two turbo assist devices are used primarily to cool the engine as opposed to directly add to the development of power or torque. Image Credit: Edmund Jenks (2013)

In 2013, the Grand-Am racing series for full-bodied GT cars added a new class of racing platform to its field of formally pedestrian but hardened sedan cars that can be purchased from dealerships around the country. The GX Class will have 13 models from 12 different manufacturers to choose from, based on the list of cars eligible for the new GX class in the Rolex Sports Car Series. Eligible cars announced for the class include the Lotus Evora GX, Porsche Cayman, Mazda6 with the SKYACTIV-D turbo diesel, Audi TT, BMW 1 Series, Chevrolet Cruze, Ford Focus (four door), Hyundai Genesis, Subaru BRZ, Scion FR-S, Nissan 370Z or Altima, and Volkswagen EOS.

SpeedSource engineering improvements to the factory SKYACTIV-D clean diesel engine include changes to the crankshaft, fuel intake manifolds and pistons. Images Credit: Edmund Jenks (2013)

Joel Miller and Andrew Carbonell drove the #00 Visit Florida Racing Mazda6 to the win, with team-mates Sylvain Tremblay and Tom Long finishing third in the similar #70 SpeedSource Mazda6 SKYACTIV-D.  It was a three-way battle for most of the race with a Porsche Cayman splitting the two Mazdas.

View slideshow: Mazda's New SKYACTIV-D Technology Sets First Racing Mark


SpeedSource Fan Page Photos>>

This win represented a day of firsts for Grand-Am competition and for Mazda Motorsports.  This is the first-ever win for a diesel-powered car in Grand-Am competition.  It also marked the first win for the all-new Mazda6 in any race series.  It was the first Grand-Am race win for drivers Joel Miller and Andrew Carbonell.  Miller is a former Mazda Motorsports Scholarship winner, having won the Skip Barber National Championship in 2007.  Carbonnell has been racing Mazdas with Freedom Autosport for many years, and was part of the team that delivered the 2011 Continental Tire ST Manufacturers Championship to Mazda.  Carbonell was substituting for Miller’s usual teammate, Tristan Nunez, who had a schedule conflict with another race in Long Beach.

GX Class Mazda6 driver Joel Miller (r) discussed how driving a diesel-powered race requires a different, "more loving" feel in acceleration and shifting than other gasoline fueled race cars. It is kinda like "hyper-miling" for the race track because the strongest power band on diesel performance is a little tighter with lower RPM at the top of the range. Image Credit: Edmund Jenks (2013)

"The new Mazda6 prepared by SpeedSource ran perfectly," said Joel Miller, co-driver of the #00 Visit Florida Racing Mazda6 in a post race interview. "The torque of the SKYACTIV-D pulled up the elevation changes around Road Atlanta circuit strongly and the Mazda6 handled beautifully. During the course of the race we attacked when needed and paced ourselves when required. The event had only one caution during the two-hour and 45 minutes race, thus there was hardly any time to relax. The SpeedSource crew was in constant communication with myself and co-driver Andrew Carbonell as we worked through traffic. Bringing home the victory for the SpeedSource crew who worked so hard on this program brings great joy and I cannot wait to continue the [development] program. Over the past eight years Mazda has taken me from karting through their ladder program. I’m proud to be racing the Mazda6 and to be a part of Mazda history in gaining the first SKYACTIV Technology victory."

Joel Miller is the Southern California driver who's mother gave title to a 2011 documentary featuring the Star Mazda Series, an open-wheel driver development series that has since changed its banner to the Pro Mazda Series. "Driven To Race" was billed as a documentary film effort about what it takes to win which garnered several film festival awards when it was debuted.

Sylvain Tremblay, owner of SpeedSource Engineering, explains what changes were made to the Mazda6 SKYACTIVE-D clean diesel engine pistons for racing in the Grand-Am GX Class at the Mazda Motorsport 2013 media kick off meeting. Image Credit: Edmund Jenks (2013)

The truth behind this new Mazda6 SKYACTIVE-D development and win in the Grand-Am GX Class can be summed up by the owner of SpeedSource Engineering (the engineering firm behind the race tuned Mazda effort), Sylvain Tremblay. "While Joel and Andrew sprayed the champagne, this win truly defined the expression, ‘team work.’ The victory is shared with everyone at SpeedSource, Mazda North American Operations and Mazda Motor Corporation, and is a tribute to the thousands of hours of hard work over many months," said Sylvain. "After that rough debut at Daytona, everyone stepped up to make sure we had a fast, reliable car as soon as was humanly possible. The normal plan with a new car is to spend the first year in development, the second year seeking race wins, and challenging for a championship in year three. We are already at our year-two status after four races. We can’t wait to get to the Belle Isle course in Detroit for round five."

... notes from The EDJE
Posted by at No comments:
Labels: , , , , , , ,

Friday, April 12, 2013

ALMS' David Calvert-Jones Gives Mid-Life Crisis A New Meaning

CJ's lid used for the pursuit of his newest machine environment to conquer. Image Credit: Edmund Jenks (2013)

ALMS' David Calvert-Jones Gives Mid-Life Crisis A New Meaning

CJ, as David Calvert-Jones prefers to be addressed, took his first laps around the famed street course at the Toyota Grand Prix of Long Beach in preparation for the debut at his adopted "home" track for the second race of the 2013 American Le Mans Series presented by Tequila Patrón season.

"It’s a home race," exclaimed CJ after a couple of test runs during open track sessions at the Toyota Pro/Celebrity Media Day, April 9th. "At least Long Beach is the closest we get to Australia! But I’m really thrilled to race at Long Beach for the first time. It’s a challenging circuit – absolutely no margin for error. Not even a millimeter."

The Competition Motorsports 911 GT3 used by CJ to take his first laps around the 1.97 mile, 11 turn temporary street course during the Toyota Pro/Celebrity Race media day. Image Credit: Edmund Jenks (2013)

Most race car drivers begin with a vision of being one of this rare breed of dreamers and technicians when they get behind the steering wheel of a tractor, then a car on a dirt farm road, and eventually by the ripe old age of 8 or 9, find themselves competing with others with go-kart platforms used to develop the skills necessary to eventually race cars at the highest of professionally sanctioned levels.

Not so with CJ - his life took a decidedly different path. Growing up around Melbourne, Australia beginning August 12, 1969, CJ became a pilot because around the land down under, the territory is so large (as with the United States' Alaska), if one wishes to get around and be useful to others, one needs to fly. Along the way CJ developed the talent and business acumen to manage large scale flying service operations and international investments.

**SLIDESHOW>>

In 2004, CJ decided to relocate to Los Angeles where he flew helicopters outfitted as camera platforms and was able to deliver memorable action images used in films with recognizable titles of “Transformers,” “Secretariat,” “Domino,” “Horrible Bosses,” and “We Are Marshall” among many others. He became CEO of of Helinet Aviation Services, a best-in-class provider of helicopter flight services to a broad range of markets, including film, executive transportation, hospital patient transport, etc.. CJ was responsible for the successful management of Helinet's aerial coverage of the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina.  As the only commercial operator cleared by the FAA to fly in the restricted airspace above the hurricane's affected areas and as a result, Helinet's aerial video footage was shown on all the networks in the United States and across the world.

CJ is currently the owner and president of Helifilms, an aerial production company with offices in the United States, Australia, England and South Africa.

This would be good enough for most folks but CJ's core passion is to be able to push the limits of man and his machines. He found his way to placing his physical command sensibilities to automobiles on a bit of a lark when a friend of his asked him to attend a Vintage Auto Racing Association event at Auto Club Speedway. While there, he was invited to drive a racing prepared BMW and was bitten to become focused driving automobile platforms at the greatest of speeds and limits.

CJ (right) closes out another successful race weekend with a runner-up result. He finished at least one race on the podium in all but one of his five IMSA GT3 Cup Challenge doubleheader weekends in 2012, and all of those trophies came on racetracks he hadn't driven on prior to the week of each race event (ctrl-click here for video). Image Credit: Competition Motorsports (2012)

Last year, he decided to devote his driving attention to the IMSA GT3 Cup Challenge by Yokohama and came away with one class race victory and achieved the runner-up position (P2) in the season points championship. He was invited to try his hand at the final American Le Mans Series (ALMS) race of 2012 at the Petite Le Mans in Atlanta in a GTC Class Porsche and liked the experience.

CJ now finds himself at the age of 43 in the troughs of a mid-life crisis of opportunity ... the opportunity to challenge man and his machines at the highest levels in American sports car racing. CJ expects that the crisis he will be delivering (not having) at mid-life is at least a podium finish against a field filled with drivers 75% his age, or less, who began driving four wheeled automotive platforms before the age that CJ took to the skies in Australia.

Look for David Calvert-Jones ... CJ ... as he joins another Australian race car driver, IZOD IndyCar Series Will Power - who began being a race car driver by racing karts, racing the concrete lined streets at the 39th Annual Toyota Grand Prix of Long Beach April 19-21, 2013. You'll find CJ driving the second race of his rookie season in the ALMS GTC Class driving the No. 99 Competition Motorsports Porsche 911 GT3 for two hours on Saturday, April 20.

... notes from The EDJE
Posted by at No comments:
Labels: , , , , , , , ,

Tuesday, April 2, 2013

Irwindale Event Center To Host NASCAR Event April 6, 2013

The West end of the one-half mile oval at Irwindale Speedway. Image Credit: Edmund Jenks (2013) 

 Irwindale Event Center To Host NASCAR Event April 6, 2013

NASCAR is back at Irwindale Speedway. After a year "dark" of NASCAR stock car racing, the nationally-known Southern California area short track will bring back the action and excitement of professional stock car racing to the "up close and personal" confines of the facility that many have called one of the best in the nation for fan accommodations and racing competition.

Won & Done is headed to the airwaves of MAVTv, a cable network owned and operated by Forrest Lucas the the team at Lucas Oil, on Thursday evenings beginning this April. Image Credit: MAVTv via Dragzine.com

Irwindale Speedway is the oval track "department" at re-opened Irwindale Event Center that also features the NHRA Street Legal Irwindale Dragstrip (home of MAVTv's wild new "Won & Done" drag racing reality show that debuts on April 4), the Advanced Driving Dynamics street safety driving school, the LA Racing Experience stock car racing school, and the new fun karting center.

"Many of the top ten drivers from our 2011 season will be back along with a number of new drivers many of whom are destined to be fan favorites before the 2013 season is in the books," assured Event Center GM Bob Klein - pictured above. Image Credit: Edmund Jenks (2013)

"There's a renewed attitude, a great sense of adventure. Drivers, crews and fans all telling us that they can't wait for this coming Saturday night," said track GM Bob Klein. "We're very excited to be back in the stock car racing business, everyone on our staff is ready to get back to what Irwindale Speedway was built to do; and that's put on a short track racing show that's second to none. We had a great final open practice this past Saturday, and everything is in place for the fans."

The new Irwindale operating team has pegged ticket prices at the same amount as when the track opened in 1999: only $15 for adults and $5 for kids 6-12. "We want to keep the NASCAR experience affordable for all families," Klein said. "We've got over 6,000 great seats and 14 action-packed nights of NASCAR from now until October. We want our fans to come back many, many times during the season."

Spectator gates will open at 5pm on Saturday night April 6 with the track's famous "On-Track Autograph Session" first up on the night's agenda at 5:45pm. This personal opportunity for fans to meet the drivers, get a close-up look at their cars, and walk on the banked racetrack, is something that should be a part of every fan's experience at Irwindale. It's free with event admission and it sets the pace for a great night of stock car speed and excitement.

"We're very proud to be a NASCAR Home Track, and we take that description to heart. Our drivers are all always available to our fans right on the racetrack before our races," said Klein.

2013 Opening Ceremonies will take place at 6:30pm with a tribute to the fourteen driving champions from the last year of NASCAR and NHRA competition at the track (2011) who've been named the co-opening night Grand Marshals. Hot new recording star Paul Scott will sing the National Anthem as well as his hit single "NASCAR Crazy" (right from the starter's stand where he'll flag off a race), and police and fire vehicles will be on track to accept the track's thanks for their work in public safety.

Saturday night's line up of NASCAR races will kick off with the Lucas Oil Late Models, and feature Super Late Models, Super Stocks, Mini Stocks, and a wild Demolition Derby to end the night with a little friendly fender-crunching fun. Racing will begin at 7pm and run until 10pm, and there will be a special fireworks show to celebrate NASCAR's return to Irwindale Speedway.

... notes from The EDJE

Posted by at No comments:
Labels: , , , , , , , , , , ,
Subscribe to: Posts (Atom)