2006 Open Wheel(i.e. non-IRL) News

[mlittle]

As with some of the 2005-spec threads, I felt it was time to retire the 2005 Open Wheel(Non-IRL) News thread and open a brand-new, fresh out of the box, thread......with the same name of course!!

On tap for today.....is F1 in Bourdais' future?

According to multiple sources(autoracing1.com's "Rumors" page, grandprix.com), 2-time ChampCar series winner Sebastien Bourdais, who currently drives for Newman-Haas Racing, could well be headed to Formula 1 next year, possibly to Renault.

If current F1 silly season projections pan out, besides current F1 WDC Fernando Alonso's move over to McLaren-Mercedes, there is also the strong possibilty that current McLaren driver Kimi Raikkonen could find himself with Ferrari. Where does Bourdais slot into F1's silly season? According to the ar1.com "Rumors" article, Renault's team prinicple, Flavio Briatore, has mentioned that as many as five individuals are in the running for Alonso's seat: Kimi Raikkonen(currently at McLaren), 7-time WDC Michael Schumacher(currently at Ferrari), Renault tester Heikki Kovalainen, current GP2(and potential McLaren driver) Lewis Hamilton, and Bourdais.


My take on this.......if I were either Paul Newman or Carl Haas, and Renault were to offer Bourdais a race seat in 2007, chances are I'd probably give SeaBass permission to go. He wouldn't be the first NA motorsports champion to try his hand in F1; past CART champions to make the jump following a series title over here include Jacques Villeneuve, Alex Zanardi and Cristiano da Matta. In essence, Bourdais almost has nothing left to prove over here.....if he gets the chance to go, he should take it.

[mlittle]

According to multiple sources, there will be two drivers for Rocketsports Racing by the time of the ChampCar race in Portland. There is, according to the info available, a press conference set for mid-day Wednesday in which the team, owned by series co-owner Paul Gentilozzi, is set to announce that, besides Nicky Pastorelli, the team has (or will hire) former Atlantic Championship driver Tonis Kasemets to drive for the Lansing, Mich.-based team. The reports indicate that Kasemets currently will drive in 6 races for Rocketsports(Portland, Cleveland, Toronto, Edmonton, Road America and Mexico City) with sponsorship primarily from NY-based FLEXOVIT Abrasives. If this happens, Kasemets will be the third Atlantics driver from the 2005 season to move up to the ChampCars, following fellow competitors Katherine Legge and Charles Zwolsman.

[mlittle]

According to multiple sources, there will be two drivers for Rocketsports Racing by the time of the ChampCar race in Portland. There is, according to the info available, a press conference set for mid-day Wednesday in which the team, owned by series co-owner Paul Gentilozzi, is set to announce that, besides Nicky Pastorelli, the team has (or will hire) former Atlantic Championship driver Tonis Kasemets to drive for the Lansing, Mich.-based team. The reports indicate that Kasemets currently will drive in 6 races for Rocketsports(Portland, Cleveland, Toronto, Edmonton, Road America and Mexico City) with sponsorship primarily from NY-based FLEXOVIT Abrasives. If this happens, Kasemets will be the third Atlantics driver from the 2005 season to move up to the ChampCars, following fellow competitors Katherine Legge and Charles Zwolsman.

As they say, signed, sealed and delivered. Kasemets will be driving for Rocketsports Racing in 6 of the remaining 11(12 if the Ansan, S. Korea race gets off the ground) races as listed above.

[mlittle]

ChampCar officials and XM Satellite Radio announced today that the satellite radio broadcasting company will provide over 6 hours of coverage from Toronto and Montreal for the series' races, the Molson Grand Prix of Toronto and the Molson Grand Prix of Montreal. According to the XM release, XM Satellite Radio Ch. 205 will cover the second qual. sessions from both events and live, flag-to-flag coverage of the races as well, joining CBC Sports Radio and Radio Canada International(RCI) as series radio broadcasters.

[mlittle]

A couple of years ago, then-Team Green driver Paul Tracy was penalized by series officials for avoidable contact during a race. Thursday, ChampCar VP of Operations Tony Cotman announced that Forsythe Championship Racing's Mario Dominguez has been penalized seven championship points from the most recent round, at Milwaukee, dropping him from 3rd w/76 pts to 4th w/69 pts, putting him in a tie with now-former RuSport driver A.J. Allmendinger. Dominguez was cited for violating Rule 6.27, which states,

Rule 6.27: Any driver who in the opinion of the Officials initiates avoidable contact which results in the interruption of another driver's lap time or track position will be subject to a penalty per Rule Chapter 10. Should the contact result in the immediate retirement of the other competitor, further penalties may be assessed. Decisions by the Officials in this regard are not subject to protest or appeal.

The reason for the penalty........on lap 2 of the Time Warner Cable 225, Mario Dominguez and Bruno Junquiera were involved in an accident caused when Dominguez hit the rear-right of Junquiera's car; the crash also took out the car of Dominguez's teammate, Paul Tracy. In addition to the points, Dominguez is also on probation for the next three races(Portland, Cleveland and Toronto).

[mlittle]

According to multiple sources, the 2007-spec Panoz DP01 chassis, which will replace the venerable Lola B2K series of chassis', will make its' on-track debut at Road Atlanta in Braselton, Ga. on July 12th. It's currently set to make its' public debut in San Jose this coming Friday(23 June 2006), and then return to Road Atlanta to test under the watchful attention of ChampCar and Panoz MotorSports Group(PMSG) officials; all teams are expected to have at least one DP01 by December 2006 and additional cars will be ready for the ChampCar season opener in Long Beach in April 2007.

[mlittle]

According to multiple sources(speedtv.com and autoracing1.com), at least one, and possibly two or three Atlantic Championship teams are set to make the big jump up to the ChampCar series in 2007. In both instances, both primary sources were asked to remain quiet on which teams until Monday at the earliest.

My take......if I had to guess, the teams, in order of likelihood, are Polestar Racing, Condor Mtrspts., Sierra Sierra Mtrspts., Gelles Racing and PR1 Mtrspts.

[mlittle]

It's official..........the unveiling of the 2007 ChampCar DP01 is set for Friday, July 28th in San Jose, during the event weekend for the Taylor Woodrow Grand Prix of San Jose. Besides being around 50-75 lbs. lighter than the existing Lola B2K chassis', there are two big changes...........

~~at the end of the 2006 season, the current Ford-Cosworth XFE-2 V8 turbo engine will be replaced by a 2007-spec XFE-3 V8 turbo engine which will produce a base of 750hp(plus an additional 50-75hp of boost)

~~instead of getting most of its' downforce from the front and rear wings, as is the case with the Lola, the Panoz DP01 will get the majority of its' downforce from the underbody ground effect package, reducing areo turbulence and improving passing opportunities on-track

Following its' unveiling, it currently is scheduled to begin on-track shakedowns at Road Atlanta, located near the Panoz' HQs in Braselton, Ga.

[mlittle]

This story's going to need an explanation........

Back in Portland last month, ChampCar series co-owner Kevin Kalkhoven had, as a guest of PKV Racing, Dutch real estate magnate Harrie Muermans, who was invited by ChampCar on behalf of Dale Coyne Racing's Jan Heylen. Well, it turns out that Muermans was a major sponsor/supporter of the former Minardi F1 team owned by Paul Stoddart(the team now currently known as Scuderia Toro Rosso). According to the autoracing rumor mills, Muermans and Stoddard are currently in the process of deciding whether to create a new ChampCar team to run beginning in 2007; drivers on their short list include Heylen, current Mi-Jack Conquest driver Charles Zwolsman and current Red Bull(F1) Racing "friday" driver Robert Doornbos. Backing up this was a story earlier this week in the Dutch publication Formule 1 RaceReport.

There are two reasons this could pan out.......
~~if, as reported elsewhere, Formula 1 is set to phase out "Friday" drivers on race weekends, that means there are several who could, given enough sponsorship, could find ChampCar rides next year......
~~and, if as expected, there are a few new teams in the ChampCar paddock for 2007, there would be a few open seats for those drivers.........

[Julian Mayo]

I know this is off topic, but there is a nasty rumour that Danica is looking at....gasp....Nascar

[mlittle]

I know this is off topic, but there is a nasty rumour that Danica is looking at....gasp....Nascar

..........here's what I know.........

The story broke at the beginning of the week, pretty much unnoticed with all the attention going to Montoya/Ganassi. This is what I've been able to piece together.......
~~last Sunday, at the Nextel Cup race at Chicagoland, Danica and her family were VIP guests of Roush Racing, which is owned by one of the better NASCAR owners, Jack Roush
~~in Monday's Orlando Sentinel, motorsports journalist Ed Hinton wrote that Danica's father, T.J.(who is, ironically, also her business agent) had received several inquiries from several top Nextel Cup teams as to whether she could possibly drive for any of them in the future(there's probably 5 that come to mind.....Roush Racing, Hendrick Mtrspts., Dale Earnhardt Inc., Richard Childress Racing and Penske Racing South)
~~add this little gem to the mix.......over the weekend, Rahal-Letterman Racing announced that they were in the process of negotiating a new contract w/Patrick for 2007 and beyond, declining to take the third-year option on her current contract

What it adds up to is probably one of the biggest headaches Tony George could have in the 11 years since he decided to split NA motorsports.......if he's smart, he'll start throwing tons of Hulman-George money at Rahal-Letterman to keep Patrick in the series. Who knows.........this is definitely one story I'll be following.

You're right about one thing, though, Julian.......it was

[Julian Mayo]

Sorry , could't find a thread "Danica does Nascar" or anything like it

[mlittle]

Sorry , could't find a thread "Danica does Nascar" or anything like it

Good one, Julian......there's a drink in the bar with your name on it.(I think its' on bundy's tab, or something like that.....

[Julian Mayo]

[mlittle]

Less than 12 months after selling Minardi F1 to Red Bull, it appears former F1 team principal Paul Stoddart is set to return to running a team, this time in the Champ Car World Series. Stoddart confirmed to Autosport magazine that such a team is in the works; Stoddart has been working with Dutch real estate magnate Harrie Muermans to secure funding and sponsorship for the team. As to who his drivers will be........Stoddart mentioned several; the leading candidates are current Dale Coyne Racing driver Jan Heylen, and current Red Bull Racing F1 friday driver Robert Doornbos. However, Stoddart also mentioned that any decisions wouldn't be finalized until October at the earliest.