It was a bizarre weekend for the IRL in Brazil. Saturday’s qualifying session had to be rescheduled when a concrete section of the street course proved too slick for safety. Series champion Dario Frachitti took the pole in Sunday’s rescheduled qualifying session, but could not produce a victory as rain produced multiple delays and accidents.
Will Power, driving for Penske Racing, started from the fifth position but used tire strategy to his advantage by gambling on slicks before the track was fully dry. Ryan Hunter Reay, driving for Andretti Autosport also opted for slicks at the last pit stop and was able to hang on for second. Vitor Meira, driving for A.J. Foyt Enterprises, took third.
Fernando Alonso made the best of his new job driving for Ferrari by taking the win in Bahrain. The two time world champion appeared unable to hang with polesitter Sebastian Vettel in the early stages of the race, but got lucky when Vettel experienced an exhaust problem following the final pit stop. Vettel’s misfortune proved to be an opportunity for Alonso as well as his teammate Felipe Massa, who took second. Lewis Hamilton, driving a McLaren Mercedes finished third.
Massa’s second place finish was particularly remarkable in light of his crash in qualifying for the 2009 Hungarian Gran Prix. Massa was hit in the helmet by a spring from Rubens Barrichello’s Brawn and received serious head trauma. His return to racing was in doubt, let alone his ability to return and compete at the top levels of the sport.
Seven time champion Michael Schumacher finished in sixth and complained that the car, “was not to his liking”. Schumacher’s teamate, Nico Rosberg, apparently liked his car much better, finishing in fifth spot some four seconds ahead of Schumacher.
After a long winter without open wheel racing, the F1 and IRL seasons both kick off this weekend. The F1 season opens in Bahrain, and Sebastian Vettel (driving for Red Bull) has put his Renault powered car on the pole. Felipe Massa (Ferrari) has the outside of the front row, followed by Fernando Alonso (Ferrari), Lewis Hamilton (McLaren Mercedes) and Nico Rosberg (Mercedes) to round out the top five. Rosberg’s teammate, seven time world champion Michael Schumacher, qualified in seventh spot, followed by current world champion Jenson Button in eighth.
There’s good news and bad news for the upcoming 2010 IRL season. First the good news: Sarah Fisher Racing has signed Graham Rahal to drive for the team in two races, the street course event in St. Petersburg and the road course event at Barbour Motorsport Park. Rahal had been without a ride since Newman/Haas/Lanigan Racing lost sponsorship from McDonald’s at the end of last season. Rahal finished the 2009 season in seventh place in the points, and captured 2 poles during the season. Sarah Fisher Racing will run a total of 15 events in the 2010 season, relying on drivers Sarah Fisher and Jay Howard for the remaining events.
Carl Edwards has been placed on a three race probation for his deliberate punting of Brad Keselowski in last Sunday’s Kobalt Tools 500. Edwards was not fined, suspended or docked points for Sunday’s crash.
Tough luck for Ken Block, who crashed during the second stage of his debut World Rally Championship race. Block was carrying too much speed into a tight right / left combo, and was unable to brake sufficiently to slow the car down.
On the plus side, if you were wondering what it feels like to put a WRC car into a ditch and hillside at speed, the video shows you pretty clearly. Now you don’t have to wreck your own car.
In NASCAR, it’s said that “rubbing is racing”. Things like trading paint and bump drafting are commonplace and are often used tactically to win races. What’s not common, however, is letting your anger get the best of you and punting an opponent at 195 miles per hour.
The new ALMS season is set to kick off at Sebring on March 20, and Corvette Racing will debut their new ZR-1 based race cars in the GT class (called GT2 at the 24 Hours of LeMans). Gone for 2010 is the GT1 class, which has been ruled by the Corvettes since the late 1990s. In the 2009 season, Corvette was the sole remaining entry in the GT1 class.
Early funny cars were evil tempered, ill-handling deathtraps that were as likely to blow up as make it down the 1/4 mile. The above vid is AHRA drag racing history at its finest: Danny Ongais, best known for his exploits behind the wheel of an Indy car, pilots a 1,500 horsepower Mustang funny car as it hops and bounces down the track at Bristol. I love the sound of the single cam 427 as it tries to idle, running on pure nitromethane.
Bous points if you can tell me Ongais’ nickname without having to Google it.
Ever wonder what five blown and pissed off V8s running simultaneously sounds like? Ever get the urge to build a tractor with somewhere north of 10,000 horsepower? Then you’ll like the above video, courtesy of BangShift. It shows the Black Widow pulling tractor being started for an exhibition in Holland. Want to see the Black Widow in action? Read on below.
