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Detroit. The Motor City. Say what you want about the home of Big Iron and American Horsepower, but the city of Detroit has seen its' share of racing legends over the years, and 2008 looks to be no exception as the stars of the IndyCar Series make their way up to the Detroit River and Belle Isle island for the 2008 Belle Isle Indy Grand Prix. Going into this weekend's race, Target/Ganassi Racing's Scott Dixon continues to hold on to the points lead, but after his Hollywood-style victory at Sonoma last weekend, Team Penske's Helio Castroneves looks set to make a charge for the championship; the question is can Spiderman push the championship to Chicagoland and a one-shot fight for all the glory, or can the steely-eyed Kiwi lay claim to a second IndyCar title?


Event Schedule....................
note......all times US EDT; -4 hrs. GMT
~~Practice Session #1, 10:50-12:20pm, 29 August 2008
~~Practice Session #2, 2-3pm, 29 August 2008
~~Practice Session #3, 8:30-9:30am, 30 August 2008
~~PEAK Qualifying Session, 11:30am, 30 August 2008
~~Final Practice Session, 10:15-10:45am, 31 August 2008
~~Belle Isle Indy Grand Prix, 3:45pm, 31 August 2008

Belle Isle Indy Grand Prix Entry List.................


A.J. Foyt, IV, #2 Eli Lilly/Vision Wellness
Helio Castroneves, #3 Team Penske
Vitor Meira, #4 National Guard/Delphi
Oriol Servia, #5 Plantronics/i-Rise
Ryan Briscoe, #6 Team Penske
Danica Patrick, #7 Motorola
(R)Will Power, #8 Aussie Vineyards
Scott Dixon, #9 Target
Dan Wheldon, #10 Target
Tony Kanaan, #11 Frank's Energy Drink
Tomas Scheckter, #12 Symantec 360
Darren Manning, #14 ABC Supply Co.
Buddy Rice, #15 RollCoater
Ryan Hunter-Reay, #17 Ethanol
Bruno Junquiera, #18 Z-Line Designs
(R)Mario Moraes, #19 Sonny's Real Pit BBQ
Ed Carpenter, #20 Menards/DirecTV
Milka Duno, #23 CITGO
Marty Roth, #25 Men's Warehouse
Marco Andretti, #26 Blockbuster
(R)Hideki Mutoh, #27 Formula Dream
(R)Ernesto[E.J.] Viso, #33 PDVSA
(R)Jaime Camara, #34 Sangari
(R)Enrique Bernoldi, #36 Sangari
(R)Justin Wilson, #02 McDonald's
(R)Graham Rahal, #06 Hole in the Wall Camps

Past Detroit Winners..................
note....this list includes winners from the Formula 1, CART and IndyCar events held in Detroit/1982-1991, Renaissance Center; 1992-2001 & present, Belle Isle

~~John Watson, 1982
~~Michele Alboreto, 1983
~~Nelson Piquet, 1984
~~Keke Rosberg, 1985
~~Ayrton Senna, 1986-1988
~~Emerson Fittipaldi, 1989 & 1991
~~Michael Andretti, 1990 & 1996
~~Bobby Rahal, 1992
~~Danny Sullivan, 1993
~~Paul Tracy, 1994
~~Robby Gordon, 1995
~~Greg Moore, 1997
~~Alex Zanardi, 1998
~~Dario Franchitti, 1999
~~Helio Castroneves, 2000-2001*
~~Tony Kanaan, 2007*
*--active drivers

Belle Isle Practice Session #1 top-5.....................
1} Scott Dixon, Target/Ganassi Racing, 1:13.974 sec/100.742 mph
2} Helio Castroneves, Team Penske, 1:14.495 sec/100.033 mph
3} Ryan Briscoe, Team Penske, 1:14.900 sec/99.492 mph
4} Tony Kanaan, Andretti-Green Racing, 1:15.649 sec/98.507 mph
5} Ryan Hunter-Reay, Rahal-Letterman Racing, 1:15.700 sec/98.441 mph

(from FR, 29 August 2008)
Belle Isle Practice Session #2 top-5.................
1} Helio Castroneves, Team Penske, 1:13.206 sec/101.795 mph
2} Scott Dixon, Target/Ganassi Racing, 1:13.700 sec/101.113 mph
3} Vitor Meira, Panther Racing, 1:13.982 sec/100.728 mph
4} Ryan Briscoe, Team Penske, 1:14.137 sec/100.516 mph
5} Danica Patrick, Andretti-Green Racing, 1:14.445 sec/100.100 mph

Still feeling the after-effects of a thumb injury suffered at Infineon last weekend, Conquest Racing withdrew Enrique Bernoldi from Sunday's Belle Isle Indy Grand Prix, tapping veteran open-wheel pilot Alex Tagliani for the race. Reports are Bernoldi will be back for the season finale next week at Chicagoland.

Belle Isle Practice Session #3 top-5................
1} Scott Dixon, Target/Ganassi Racing, 1:12.502 sec/102.784 mph
2} Helio Castroneves, Team Penske, 1:12.623 sec/102.611 mph
3} Ryan Hunter-Reay, Rahal-Letterman Racing, 1:13.256 sec/101.725 mph
4}(R)Will Power, KV Racing Tech., 1:13.313 sec/101.647 mph
5}(R)E.J. Viso, CTE-HVM Racing, 1:13.522 sec/101.357 mph

Belle Isle Indy Grand Prix Starting Grid..................
note.....positions 1-6 set during the Firestone Pole Shootout; positions 7-12 set following qualifying session 2; odd-numbered spots from 13 down set in qual. session 1A/even-numbered spots from 14 down set in qual. session 1B

1} Scott Dixon, #9 Target, 1:12.286 sec
2} Helio Castroneves, #3 Team Penske, 1:12.765 sec

3} Oriol Servia, #5 Plantronics/i-Rise, 1:12.962 sec
4}(R)Justin Wilson, #02 McDonald's, 1:13.053 sec

5} Ryan Briscoe, #6 Team Penske, 1:13.100 sec
6}(R)Graham Rahal, #06 Hole in the Wall Camps, 1:13.646 sec

7} Ryan Hunter-Reay, #17 Ethanol, 1:12.955 sec
8} Tony Kanaan, #11 Frank's Energy Drink, 1:13.234 sec

9}(R)E.J. Viso, #33 PDVSA, 1:13.535 sec
10} Danica Patrick, #7 Motorola, 1:13.916 sec

11} Dan Wheldon, #10 Target, 1:13.927 sec
12}(R)Will Power, no posted time

13} Marco Andretti, #26 Blockbuster, 1:14.162 sec
14} Vitor Meira, #4 National Guard/Delphi, 1:13.668 sec

15} Darren Manning, #14 ABC Supply Co., 1:14.262 sec
16}(R)Hideki Mutoh, #27 Formula Dream, 1:13.901 sec

17} A.J. Foyt, IV, #2 Eli Lilly/Vision Wellness, 1:14.349 sec
18} Buddy Rice, #15 RollCoater, 1:15.099 sec

19}(R)Mario Moraes, #19 Sonny's Real Pit BBQ, 1:14.484 sec
20} Ed Carpenter, #20 Menards/DirecTV, 1:15.306 sec

21} Alex Tagliani, #36 Sangari, 1:16.647 sec
22}(R)Jaime Camara, #34 Sangari, 1:16.705 sec

23} Milka Duno, #23 CITGO, 1:19.086 sec
24} Bruno Junquiera, #18 Z-Line Designs, 1:22.396 sec

25} Tomas Scheckter, #12 Symantec 360, no posted time
withdrawn--Marty Roth, #25 Men's Warehouse

As with most street circuits, various sponsors have laid claim to some of the corners at Belle Isle.............
~~turn 3, Firestone
~~turns 4-5, Caesar's Windsor Casino
~~turn 6, XM Radio
~~turn 7, Pure Michigan[state tourism board]
~~turn 8, Corvette/Chevy.com
~~turn 9, Porsche
~~turn 10, Bosch
~~turn 12, Audi
~~turn 13, Smart Car
~~turn 14, Patron Tequila

....as a bit of controversy reigned supreme after a late-race penalty forced points contender Helio Castroneves to yield a position to eventual race-winner Justin Wilson(more later......)

Top-10 from the Motor City.......................
1st}(R)#02 Justin Wilson, 87 laps
2nd} #3 Helio Castroneves, -4.406 sec
3rd} #11 Tony Kanaan, -17.682 sec
4th} #5 Oriol Servia, -26.547 sec
5th} #9 Scott Dixon, -27.719 sec
6th} #17 Ryan Hunter-Reay, -28.269 sec
7th} #18 Bruno Junquiera, -28.862 sec
8th}(R)#8 Will Power, -28.878 sec
9th} #6 Ryan Briscoe, -35.524 sec
10th} #2 A.J. Foyt, IV, -38.104 sec