2006 CCWS Rd. 12--Road America Grand Prix

All about the Champ Car World Series (CCWS)

Moderators: Ed, mlittle

Who will win the Road America Grand Prix?

Poll ended at Mon Sep 25, 2006 4:32 pm

A.J. Allmendinger
0
No votes
Sebastien Bourdais
3
75%
Paul Tracy
1
25%
Alex Tagliani
0
No votes
Justin Wilson
0
No votes
Justin Wilson
0
No votes
 
Total votes: 4

mlittle
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Session #4 top-5...............the rains are back

Post by mlittle » Sun Sep 24, 2006 10:22 am

To quote the Mel Brooks film, Spaceballs.......

"Oh, ----.......the rain's back." :shock: :shock: :shock: :shock: :shock:

With teams having to scramble to get the intermediates(and by the looks of the rain, forget intermediates.....where are the full-wet weather Bridgestones????), here are the top-5 from session #4............

1}#9 J. Wilson, RuSport Racing..................................2:04.487 sec
2}(R)#5 W. Power, Team Australia.............................2:05.016 sec
3}#15 A. Tagliani, Team Australia..............................2:05.234 sec
4}#3 P. Tracy, Forsythe Ch. Racing............................2:05.397 sec
5}#8 M. Dominguez, Rocketsports Racing...................2:07.193 sec

Oh, and if your wondering what the movie Spaceballs is, it is a Mel Brooks comedic spoof of the Star Wars films(at least the first three films, anyway......) :lol: :lol:
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Post by Julian Mayo » Sun Sep 24, 2006 10:38 am

What is Will doing?? :shock:
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Clarke on point at Kettle Moraine

Post by mlittle » Sun Sep 24, 2006 11:11 am

In a QS-2 session that saw intermittent rains and lack of grip on the 4+ mile Road America circuit, "Speedy" Dan Clarke, who didn't even turn a lap in the entire session, held on to P1 and earned his first career ChampCar pole.......unfortunately, he gets to share the front row with points leader Sebastien Bourdais, who set the fastest time in the session(at 2:06.460 secs.). Here is the starting grid for Sunday's race............

1}(R)Dan Clarke, #14 Imagine Appeal.............................1:55.123 sec
2}Sebastien Bourdais, #1 McDonald's...............................1:58.945 sec*
*--time from QS-1; Bourdais was fastest in QS-2 and will start on the front-row as per ChampCar rules

3}(R)Charles Zwolsman, #34 Mi-Jack..............................1:55.599 sec
4}Alex Tagliani, #15 Aussie Vineyards.............................1:57.517 sec

5}A.J. Allmendinger, #7 Indeck/Forsythe.........................1:58.507 sec
6}Justin Wilson, #9 CDW/Oracle.....................................1:59.076 sec

7}(R)Will Power, #5 Aussie Vineyards..............................1:59.286 sec
8}(R)Katherine Legge, #20 Bell Micro..............................1:59.388 sec

9}Andrew Ranger, #27 Wal-Mart/Tide..............................1:59.486 sec
10}Bruno Junquiera, #2 Hole in the Wall Camps...............1:59.977 sec

11}Paul Tracy, #3 Indeck/Forsythe..................................2:00.165 sec
12}(R)Jan Heylen, #11 Diamall/Muermans........................2:00.835 sec

13}Oriol Servia, #6 Gulfstream........................................2:01.082 sec
14}(R)Tonis Kasemets, #18 Flexovit Abrasives..................2:01.381 sec

15}Mario Dominguez, #8 PEMEX/GISCA............................2:01.882 sec
16}Nelson Phillipe, #4 WellBox/Bradford White..................2:02.273 sec

17}Juan Caceres, #19 Sonny's Real Pit BBQ......................2:03.690 sec
Last edited by mlittle on Tue Sep 26, 2006 2:30 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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Saturday's Observations from Kettle Moraine........

Post by mlittle » Mon Sep 25, 2006 2:47 am

After another long night of parties, and enormous amounts of beer, lager and tons of brats, along with several Motrin to help the pounding headache I now have, here is the Saturday notebook......(I'm still wondering how in the h--- they crammed so many hospitality tents into the paddock? :shock: :shock: :shock: :lol: )

1}2007 schedule to be released Wednesday. On Wednesday, in Las Vegas, ChampCar officials will announce the 2007 schedule, and as expected, there are no likely to be zero ovals on it(..... :evil: ......) and either 15 or 17 races. Why the disparity? The reason, according to CC officials is that there are last-minute snags with the two European venues(Assen and Oschersleben) and that, should they not be on the final schedule, that ChampCar will partner with the American LeMans Series at Road America. They also reiterated that Grand-Am(i.e. the Rolex Sports Car Series) will not partner w/ChampCar at Long Beach next year. :x

2}7 points now. With Sebastien Bourdais winning the championship point for being the fastest qualifier on Saturday, he now only has to finish 7 points ahead of both A.J. Allmendinger and Justin Wilson to clinch the series title. Now, as much as I would like to see him hoist the Vanderbilt Cup in the air at either Surfers Paradise or Mexico City, it would be really great to see him hoist up the Cup on American soil at Road America, for that hasn't happened since Miami in 2002, when Cristiano da Matta clinched series honors that year.

3}Who's it going to be? RuSport Racing team president Jeremy Dale was asked about who would fill-in for Cristiano da Matta at Surfers Paradise and Mexico City, and while he was non-committal about who would be involved, he did say that A)Franck Montagny wouldn't be apart of their driver shootout and that B}several drivers would be involved(who he didn't say.... :? )

4}Who will win the Atlantic Championship tomorrow? One topic of discussion in the paddock was about who would win the 2006 Atlantic Championship, Graham Rahal or Simon Pagenaud. Most everyone around said that, while Graham's the better of the two drivers, talent-wise, Pagenaud should win the title. Why? In all likelihood, Graham, son of 3-time CART champion and 1986 Indy 500 winner Bobby Rahal, will be in ChampCar next year w/either Newman-Haas or PKV Racing irrespective of what happens Sunday; Pagenaud isn't as certain, although everyone around noted that, if Pagenaud wins, the $2 million USD prize which goes to the champion will likely all but lock Pagenaud into ChampCar next year, most likely w/Team Australia. Regardless, everyone agreed that both of them deserve ChampCar rides in 2007, no matter who wins the title Sunday in the Atlantic Championship.
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5 wins for A.J. in 2006.....

Post by mlittle » Mon Sep 25, 2006 2:11 pm

In a race which saw one of the scariest crashes I've seen in a ChampCar race in several years, Forsythe's A.J. Allmendinger notched his 5th win of the year, ensuring that for the fourth straight year, the fight for the Vanderbilt Cup will be decided outside the USA.

As the race began under very clear, sunny skies, it was Englishman Dan Clarke(#14 Imagine Appeal FC/L) who led the field up the hill and down towards turn 1, and it didn't take long for the first caution to fall as several cars, notably those of Bruno Junquiera(#2 Hole in the Wall Camps FC/L), Will Power(#5 Aussie Vineyards FC/L) and Jan Heylen(#11 Diamall/Muermans FC/L) went on various off-course excursions; all three continued on, though the cars of Power and Heylen had to pit for repairs. When the green flag fell two laps later, fellow rookie Charles Zwolsman(#34 MiJack FC/L) used a burst of Cosworth power-to-pass to pass Clarke for the lead, which lasted all of 1+ lap, as on the approach to turn 5, Sebastien Bourdais(#1 McDonald's FC/L) dove to the inside and took the lead away from Speedy Dan. Bourdais then proceeded to stretch his lead over Zwolsman, setting three consecutive fast laps on 7, 8 and 9. Eventually, though, the first round of stops came and went, and, as usually happens, the field got shuffled a bit. Bourdais still led, though.

Problems continued for some, though.....case in point, Will Power, as he brought out the second caution on lap 17, getting his 750-hp ChampCar beached in the gravel traps at turn 1. Once they got him out of the kitty litter, the green came back out, and once again everyone was chasing SeaBass, as the Frenchman reeled off yet another bunch of fast laps. At the halfway point, Bourdais was in the lead, followed by Paul Tracy(#3 Indeck/Forsythe FC/L), Justin Wilson(#9 CDW/Oracle FC/L), Clarke and Oriol Servia(#6 Gulfstream FC/L). Just past halfway, most everyone filed up the pitlane into pitroad for their second round of stops, except for Junquiera and Clarke's teammate, Nelson Phillipe(#4 WellBox/Bradford White FC/L).

Once all the stops were completed, it was a mad dash down pitroad, and in a rare miscue, Bourdais's pitcrew couldn't get him out ahead of both Wilson and A.J. Allmendinger(#7 Indeck/Forsythe FC/L), falling behind both in the process. When the green fell again on lap 29, Junquiera was the leader, and once again the caution came out for a one-car spin as Andrew Ranger(#27 Wal-Mart/Tide FC/L) spun through turn 1; safety crews soon had him back on track and the green fell once again. Several laps later, the third and final round of stops began around lap 35-36; by lap 43 everyone was out. Once again, pitcrew miscues would wreak havoc on the drivers, this time Phillipe, whose crew failed to properly seat the left rear on properly; it eventually fell off in turn 5, but Phillipe was able to get around, albeit very slowly and have a new tire placed on the car......amazingly, no caution was thrown.

Then........one of the scariet(and I mean scariest.....)crashes to occur in a ChampCar race happened at the Kink. As the cars of Katherine Legge(#20 Bell Micro FC/L) and Dan Clarke were battling for 6th and 7th, the rear win on Legge's ChampCar broke, sending her spinning into the concrete barriers on the outside of the Kink, the car separating into several pieces and doing barrel rolls along the barriers. Amazingly, Legge was unhurt, aside from minor contusions and a banged-up knee. The race was red-flagged for 42 minutes as safety crews and track officials cleaned up all the debris and repaired the fencing along the Kink.

When the green flew, there were only three laps remaining and, in Allmendinger's words, "were the longest laps of my life." :shock: In the end, though, the Los Gatos, Ca. native held off both Junquiera and Bourdais to notch his fifth win of the season. Here are the top-10 from Road America......

1}#7 A.J. Allmendinger......................................51 laps
2}#2 Bruno Junquiera........................................-0.674 sec
3}#1 Sebastien Bourdais...................................-0.988 sec
4}#6 Oriol Servia..............................................-2.637 sec
5}#9 Justin Wilson............................................-3.763 sec
6}(R)#14 Dan Clarke........................................-4.764 sec
7}(R)#34 Charles Zwolsman..............................-5.537 sec
8}#27 Andrew Ranger.......................................-7.358 sec
9}(R)#11 Jan Heylen.........................................-8.667 sec
10}#3 Paul Tracy..............................................-9.017 sec
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Post-race observations...........

Post by mlittle » Tue Sep 26, 2006 3:08 pm

With two rounds remaining in the 2006 season and Road America in the rear-view mirrors........here are some observations from the Sunday notebook........

1}Very fortunate, indeed. Every so often, a racing accident can have the unnerving ability to bring a figurately dead silence to a race. Yesterday was just such an example; late in the running of the Road America Grand Prix, PKV Racing's Katherine Legge was in a fight for 6th w/fellow rookie Dan Clarke when the rear wing on her Lola failed, sending her into a spin right into the outside concrete barriers at the section of RA known as the Kink, a 165+ mile crash that brought a stunned silence to the event and causing a 42-minute red-flag situation. Amazingly, she was unhurt, aside from minor contusions and a banged-up knee, but as a friend of mine remarked to me after watching highlights of the wreck, "Matt, that woman used up eight of her nine lives right then." :shock: :shock: :shock: :shock: :shock:

2}2007 schedule to be unveiled Wednesday. ChampCar officials announced that on Wednesday, the 2007 schedule will be released in Las Vegas. Aside from questions as to the number of events, this much is certain.....
~~for the first time in series history, the schedule will not feature any ovals :evil:
~~there will be two CCWS/ALMS doubleheaders, one at Long Beach and the other at Road America
~~replacing Montreal and the Circuit Gilles Villeneuve will be St. Jovite and the Circuit Mt. Tremblant 8)
~~the weekends around next year's round in Zhuhai, China(May 20th) will be open, allowing any ChampCar team to qualify and race in next year's Indy 500 if they so choose

3}The title fight to continue..........With a 58-pt gap between Sebastien Bourdais and A.J. Allmendinger, the fight for the Vanderbilt Cup will continue onto the Indy Gold Coast and round 13 at Surfers Paradise. Of course, it also brought a bit fo wisecracking from Allmendinger, who siad in victory lane that "he had defended American soil from a French driver clinching the Vanderbilt Cup", which brought the following answer from SeaBass, who when asked about A.J.'s remarks in the post-race press conference, replied, "My English is not good enough to answer that." :shock: :shock: :shock:
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Re: Post-race observations...........

Post by GhoGho » Tue Sep 26, 2006 11:10 pm

mlittle wrote:With two rounds remaining in the 2006 season and Road America in the rear-view mirrors........here are some observations from the Sunday notebook........

1}Very fortunate, indeed. Every so often, a racing accident can have the unnerving ability to bring a figurately dead silence to a race. Yesterday was just such an example; late in the running of the Road America Grand Prix, PKV Racing's Katherine Legge was in a fight for 6th w/fellow rookie Dan Clarke when the rear wing on her Lola failed, sending her into a spin right into the outside concrete barriers at the section of RA known as the Kink, a 165+ mile crash that brought a stunned silence to the event and causing a 42-minute red-flag situation. Amazingly, she was unhurt, aside from minor contusions and a banged-up knee, but as a friend of mine remarked to me after watching highlights of the wreck, "Matt, that woman used up eight of her nine lives right then." :shock: :shock: :shock: :shock: :shock:
Saw the replay this morning while they spoke to her on GMA! :shock: :shock: :shock:
Seems like the only part of the car to stay in one piece was the passenger safety cell!
Her comment was "... its a pity though, we had such a pretty car...." :lol:
I'm in shape

Round is a shape...........


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Re: Post-race observations...........

Post by Julian Mayo » Tue Sep 26, 2006 11:19 pm

GhoGho wrote:
mlittle wrote:With two rounds remaining in the 2006 season and Road America in the rear-view mirrors........here are some observations from the Sunday notebook........

1}Very fortunate, indeed. Every so often, a racing accident can have the unnerving ability to bring a figurately dead silence to a race. Yesterday was just such an example; late in the running of the Road America Grand Prix, PKV Racing's Katherine Legge was in a fight for 6th w/fellow rookie Dan Clarke when the rear wing on her Lola failed, sending her into a spin right into the outside concrete barriers at the section of RA known as the Kink, a 165+ mile crash that brought a stunned silence to the event and causing a 42-minute red-flag situation. Amazingly, she was unhurt, aside from minor contusions and a banged-up knee, but as a friend of mine remarked to me after watching highlights of the wreck, "Matt, that woman used up eight of her nine lives right then." :shock: :shock: :shock: :shock: :shock:
Saw the replay this morning while they spoke to her on GMA! :shock: :shock: :shock:
Seems like the only part of the car to stay in one piece was the passenger safety cell!
Her comment was "... its a pity though, we had such a pretty car...." :lol:
:shock: Ahhhh, the female perspective :shock: The pit boss is thinking, there goes $250,000, plus all the development n set ups for that particular chassis, the Team owner is thinking "damn, more money"
The crew are thinking "least we wont have to fix that pile of junk".
At least she didn't complain about ruining her nail polish :lol:
The Mountain is a savage Mistress.

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Post by GhoGho » Wed Sep 27, 2006 2:28 am

Here is a video clip of the accident

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6o7TOrCUUmI
I'm in shape

Round is a shape...........


:cheers:

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Post by Julian Mayo » Wed Sep 27, 2006 7:44 am

Shhheeeeeeeeeiiiiiiiiittttttttttt.
The Mountain is a savage Mistress.

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