Grand Prix Articles - July 13, 2005

[KnuckleChucker]

I personally am not a huge racing fan but for those of you who are (Diez & Rival especially) here you go...

[KnuckleChucker]

Re: Grand Prix Articles - July 13, 2005

Forsythe team was the pits
Owner blows a gasket, says running Tracy out of fuel in Toronto was a 'ridiculous error on the part of the crew'

Dan Barnes
The Edmonton Journal


July 13, 2005



CREDIT: The Canadian Press
Paul Tracy, left, walks away from his car in disgust after running out of gas on Sunday.





EDMONTON - Champ Car driver Paul Tracy ran out of fuel in Toronto on Sunday, but his boss still had plenty to burn two days later.

Owner Gerald Forsythe ripped into members of his Forsythe Championship Racing crew for a mistake that cost Tracy a win on his hometown track. He was leading the Molson Indy through 57 laps when he ran out of methanol.

The crew is supposed to monitor and manage fuel consumption on computer screens located in the team's pit stand so that sort of thing doesn't happen.

Somebody on the team obviously blew it big time and Forsythe was steaming.

"It was a ridiculous error on the part of our crew, running Paul out of fuel. That's so embarrassing. That's totally uncalled for," said Forsythe.

"I read them the riot act on Sunday and (Monday) I was reading it to them again. If this happens again, there will be a whole new crew in that stand.

"I hope they learned their lesson."

He was just warming up.

"It better never happen again. This is the second time. The first time was one too many. This cannot happen, not from the calibre of team we have. This is not a weekend stint. This is a full-time job. Team members get paid handsomely. There is no room for error. No excuses. All they can do is hang their heads low. They all feel sorry but it doesn't get us a win back."

Forsythe said team members spend too much time watching the race on TV monitors in the pit stand, rather than tending to their computer screens, so he is removing all but one of the monitors for the Grand Prix of Edmonton on Sunday. And he expects a far better performance from the crew, to match that of Tracy, who could be heard on the TV broadcast uttering an expletive as he pulled the car off the track on Sunday.

"Unfortunately I ran out of fuel just as I was about to pit," Tracy said after the race. "A yellow flag came out and the pits closed just as I was coming in, so I stayed on track hoping I could nurse it around one more lap but it died about two seconds after I made my choice. Just a bad day for the team."

His teammate Mario Dominguez was involved in a spectacular crash with RuSPORT's A.J. Allmendinger late in the race, so neither Forsythe car finished. At the time of the fuel gaffe, Tracy had been leading the race ahead of Newman/Haas driver Oriol Servia, despite the fact Tracy was running without a left front wing. It was torn off in a collision with Servia's teammate Sebastien Bourdais on lap 34. Each team blamed the other for the incident and while Bourdais pitted to replace a flat tire stemming from the incident, Tracy stayed out on the advice of his team.

"We've got the best driver. We have the most aggressive driver," said Forsythe. "He'd have won it on one wing if they hadn't run him out of fuel. It was a terrible mistake.

"He always gives 110 per cent. He never complains about the car, contrary to a lot of other drivers who look for excuses. He'll be just as aggressive this week. He sucks it up. I'm more pissed off than he is."

Obviously.

[KnuckleChucker]

Re: Grand Prix Articles - July 13, 2005

Flying Frenchman is back on top
Bourdais leading circuit despite numerous mishaps

Joanne Ireland
Journal Sports Writer


July 13, 2005

EDMONTON - The road seemed so much smoother last season. There were more podium finishes, more wins and fewer frustrations.

Still, Sebastien Bourdais has managed to manoeuvre his way back to the top of the driver championship standings, which is exactly where the flying Frenchman wants to be when Champ Car season does draw to a close.

"Last year everything was going our way. This year it looks like everything is going wrong but we're still leading the championship," he said. "I just hope when things do go our way, we'll still be right where we are."

Bourdais, the bespectacled pilot of the Newman/Haas Racing team, landed in Edmonton on Tuesday afternoon, determined to conquer the track at the City Centre Airport this weekend when the inaugural West Edmonton Mall Grand Prix gets underway.

To do that, he'll have to contend, again, with rival Paul Tracy.

The two have been battling at every stop, most recently in Toronto where the two collided coming out of pit row. Tracy, gunning for a win in front of a hometown crowd, lost a wing then later ran out of fuel.

Bourdais, slowed by a punctured right rear tire, managed to work his way into a fifth place finish.

"I just don't want to talk about it at every race," said Bourdais, evidently weary of the ongoing run-ins with Tracy. "I'd just like to believe that at some point we'll be able to fight on the track and not hit each other.

"I just want to win races ... There are too many incidents between the two of us," he continued.

"More than anything, I was disappointed his engineer said the incident was a boneheaded move on my part. When somebody punctures your rear tire with his front wing, there's nothing you can do about it. There was plenty of room for the two of us and we had contact again. They finally ran the car out of fuel which was pretty stupid, it's a very good way to throw away points."

Bourdais conceded that contact may be inevitable given that the two are constantly fighting for the same piece of track.

Bourdais is leading the drivers with 150 points, 15 more than Tracy, one of the most aggressive drivers on the circuit.

"I'm just trying to do my job. Go fast. Win races. And stay away from those kind of problems, but if it's the way he wants to do it, then fair enough. We'll just have miserable years and get (upset) at each other."

The 26-year-old from Le Mans, France, led the series in victories, poles, laps led and qualifying average en route to his first Champ Car title last season. He finished on the podium in 10 of the 14 races, a tally that includes seven wins.

This time around, there was a win in the opener in Long Beach, a second-place finish in Portland and fifth- and sixth-place results at the other four stops.

There was a collision with Tracy in Monterrey, a brake failure in Milwaukee and then the collision with Tracy in Toronto.

"It's really been an unfortunate succession of incidents and it's made it difficult but we keep our heads up, keep walking on and hope for the best in the future," Bourdais said, who spent Monday in Niagara Falls with his girlfriend Claire.

The two have been on on the road for four weeks, a trip that began in Cleveland last month, took them over to France, then carried on to Toronto.

"It's been quite the month," said Bourdais. "I'm looking forward to ending it, but scoring a good finish here is very important."

[KnuckleChucker]

Re: Grand Prix Articles - July 13, 2005

Setting up hot wheels hectic, fun
Transporting Champ Car machines from Toronto to River City huge undertaking for teams

Scott Petersen
The Edmonton Journal

EDMONTON - In the race across North America, it was RuSport in a romp.

The Colorado-based Champ Car team followed up its win at Sunday's Molson Indy Toronto with another victory in the unofficial race to Edmonton on Tuesday. Their three transporters pulled off the cross-country drive in about 40 hours, well ahead of both their next challengers and the schedule.

"They doubled up on us and really got here fast," said Brian Hughes, the logistics manager for Champ Car. He flew in Monday night and was busy spraypainting place-markings on the pavement for each team.

"Back-to-backs are tough, especially when they're as far apart as these two are. And especially for the teams that crashed a car in Toronto."

RuSport driver Justin Wilson took the victory in Toronto, while teammate A.J. Allmendinger was involved in a crash with seven laps remaining. A couple of drums of debris and parts were salvaged off the track and brought to Edmonton.

The vehicle itself was so badly broken when it first hit the wall and then was struck by driver Mario Dominguez that the crew expects it will only be used for parts. They rolled out the champion car Tuesday, emblazoned with a small Union Jack and Wilson's last name on the roll hoop, but left the damaged one in its transporter.

"That one probably won't get worked on at all this week," said Steve Marrick, transportation manager for RuSport.

Each car is worth about $1 million Cdn and weighs about 675 kilograms. Teams usually carry two identical cars for each driver, so Allmendinger can race in the West Edmonton Mall Grand Prix of Edmonton July 15-17.

RuSport didn't have the luxury of returning to their home base of Loveland, Colo., to re-build the vehicles. The 2,000-kilometre detour would've put a strain on their time, so they arrived early and had the paddock to themselves.

The drivers stopped twice to fuel up and eat after leaving Toronto around 7 p.m. Sunday, rotating shifts between sleeping and driving. They put down a plastic tiling soon after they arrived but will finish erecting their temporary garages this morning, before handing the work over to the mechanics.

"A shower definitely would've been good," laughed Dave Molder, one of the extra drivers hired on for the trek. "They own you man. When you sign up, you're a team player and you're trying to get from one place to another."

It means long days, but they go by quickly for someone who grew up with racing. He'll be returning to California today to help his American Le Mans series team get to their next race.

"I love racing and I love driving trucks and now I get paid to do what I love," he said.

Other teams based out of states like Illinois and Michigan were able to work on the cars in their home garages. Some of them were expected to arrive later last night and quickly set up their stations to create the temporary tent city at the City Centre Airport.

"We just try to keep it as neat looking and professional looking as we can, and just take care of the competitors," said Hughes.

"But this is the fourth race in five weeks, so it's pretty hectic.

"This is the tough part of the season schedule-wise."

[KnuckleChucker]

Re: Grand Prix Articles - July 13, 2005

Race tickets selling briskly with just two days to go before cars hit the track


The Edmonton Journal
EDMONTON - It's two day before cars hit the track at Finning International Speedway and race promoters are busily trying to fill about 6,000 empty seats.

As it stands, organizers believe the Grand Prix of Edmonton could pull a three-day attendance total of 155,000 or more depending on the walk-up crowd. By comparison, the Toronto Molson Indy drew 160,315 last weekend, including 71,433 on race-day. The other airport track on the tour, the Grand Prix of Cleveland, announced a three-day attendance figure of 89,788.

Separated into gold, silver, and bronze packages, tickets can be purchased through ticketmaster at 451-8000 or at www.grandprixedmonton.com.

Ticket packages get you three-day seating for the Champ Car event. Gold guarantees the "best seats" in the house near Turn 1, plus a pass to walk through the pits for $220. The most tickets remain in silver, which gets you seats right close to the action for $155. Bronze gets you the remaining seats around the track at a cost of $90.

There are also paddock passes for $50, which get you into the area where the teams set up. General admission tickets don't get you a seat, but allow you to pick a single day to attend and give you access to the grounds and viewing areas in turns two through nine. Tickets for qualifying runs Friday and Saturday cost $35 and $45 respectively, while Sunday's race will cost $55.

[Diesel]

Re: Grand Prix Articles - July 13, 2005

Can't wait!

[Nanookster]

Re: Grand Prix Articles - July 13, 2005

Neither can I. I have two three-day passes!

What was the special pullout in the Journal like yesterday? It wasn't delivered to Cold Lake . My mother in-law is keeping it for me.

I had the one from the Sun but my wife threw it out before I finished reading it.

[Nanookster]

Re: Grand Prix Articles - July 13, 2005

You missed the front page story.

Champ ambassador still has racing in the blood
Actor's passionate advocacy brings 'something money can't buy,' says Newman/Haas driver Oriol Servia

Dan Barnes
The Edmonton Journal


Wednesday, July 13, 2005

Paul Newman says it to his drivers all the time. Yeah, that Paul Newman. Cool Hand Luke. Hud. The Sting. Some people say "have a nice day" at the end of a conversation. Paul Newman the actor, driver, team owner, philanthropist, businessman, Oscar winner, father, husband and grandfather, says "go get 'em."

He said it to me Tuesday morning, over the phone from his home in Connecticut, after we talked about racing for awhile. Admittedly, it was kind of cool.

I wanted to know about his decades-old love of the sport and the incredible success he'd had with Newman/Haas Racing, the leading Champ Car World Series team, but the man had questions of his own. Go get 'em, indeed.

The 80-year-old screen and stage legend was curious about Edmonton, a city he last saw back in the '70s when his Can Am racing career was in its infancy.

He wanted to see a map of the Grand Prix of Edmonton track layout, hoping it was wide enough to allow lots of passing. He asked how many tickets had been sold and whether or not the race has grabbed the city's attention. And he wanted to know if his old racing and hockey acquaintance Peter Pocklington would be here, so they might bump into one another on Saturday after Newman arrives for the last qualifying session.

"It should be great," he said, "especially after that Toronto race. What a barn-burner that was."

If Edmontonians experience a similar race with a few collisions, daring passes and lead changes this year, some people might just catch the racing bug Newman first caught in 1969 on the set of the movie Winning. He starred alongside wife Joanne Woodward and was also the co- executive producer of the picture, which told the tale of driver Frank Capua.

Newman drove Can Am, stock and Indy cars for that production and Woodward rues the day her husband climbed into the cockpit. She has been trying to get him to park the car ever since, concerned about his health, but racing scratches an itch that other facets of an incredibly full life cannot.

"I'm a very competitive person and it's very hard to be competitive as an actor because there are too many imponderables involved," said Newman, who, for the record has gone one-for-nine in the race for Oscar.

"In racing, it's clear, right down to the thousandths of a second. There cannot be any quarrelling in that. That's what I like about it.

"Then I got involved with ownership because I thought I'd stop racing. I do not seem to have been able to do that," he laughed. "Ownership was going to be a replacement for racing and it has an allure all its own."

At Champ Car races he is a quiet, unassuming fixture in the pits. He may know what it's like to be in the cockpit but he is just as certain that he hasn't experienced anything like the pressures faced by today's racers.

"I don't put myself in the same class as those guys, not by a long shot. I still drive the amateur circuit and occasionally get into a professional race. I just stand back in shock and awe over the way these guys handle their responsibilities. The extreme physical conditioning it requires is awesome. The tidiness of the way they perform on the track is incredible. It's a lot of factors and you can admire all of them."

The admiration is returned by his Newman/Haas drivers, Sebastien Bourdais and Oriol Servia.

'SHARING SAME PASSION'

"He's obviously one of the greatest persons I've ever met, you know. He's just really special," said Bourdais. "I think we're sharing the same passion. He gives me a lot of credit for what I've done and I enjoy driving for his team. And every time we have an opportunity, we get together to do something. It's Paul Newman, you know."

We know. My mother knows. Women who remember those blue eyes, they know. Guys who remember him as Reggie Dunlop in Slap Shot, they know. There is simply something compelling about the man whose appeal spans generations and crosses gender lines.

"He comes to see you and he tells you to 'go get 'em.' He's a true racer," said Servia. "He and Carl (Haas), they really feel it in their blood. It's the major reason why the team is successful. Other teams have spent money but you need something you can't buy. That's what they have in their hearts. Racing is inside them."

Even now, more than 30 years after his first win, the fire still burns. Newman is beating opponents who weren't even born when he appeared in the first of his 65 movies, The Silver Chalice, in 1954. He is in the Guinness Book of World Records as the oldest person to win a sanctioned race in the U.S.

"I'm winning enough of them to keep me going," he admitted modestly.

And when might he stop?

"When I embarrass myself."

When he is no longer competitive. Until then, he'll race about eight times a year. And when he isn't in the cockpit or the pit stand, he makes sure to promote Champ Car races like this one.

"He's there all the time. He's very influential, very passionate about Champ Car," said series co-owner Gerald Forsythe. "We're just so delighted to have him as part of our organization. I can't tell you what it means to us. He champions the series any time he gets the chance."

He lends valuable TV exposure and credibility just by being involved. But he also attracted McDonald's as a sponsor, works as a consultant on TV contracts and has produced a promotional DVD which the series uses to attract new venues. And, in keeping with his low-key personality, he chooses to downplay his role.

"The series would have stayed alive with me or without me," he said. "I have been very visible. But we're on a roll, gathering strength. All the races are big and strong and our fans are fiercely loyal. As long as we keep doing what we're doing, we'll be OK."

Go get 'em.

dbarnes@thejournal.canwest.com

[Edmonton Fan]

Re: Grand Prix Articles - July 13, 2005

Got a 3 day pass to it as well.. gonna be awesome.

[Numberz]

Re: Grand Prix Articles - July 13, 2005

was anyone else watching the Champ race when Tracy was running with half a front wing, and pulling away from 2nd place...great driving my Tracy

[Nanookster]

Re: Grand Prix Articles - July 13, 2005

was anyone else watching the Champ race when Tracy was running with half a front wing, and pulling away from 2nd place...great driving my Tracy

But his team goofed up.

But I actually think their telemetry may have been a tad messed up due to the missing front fin. The fuel consumption was probably higher then they thought.

But if not for a yellow they would have pitted and got the gas.

[Diesel]

Re: Grand Prix Articles - July 13, 2005

was anyone else watching the Champ race when Tracy was running with half a front wing, and pulling away from 2nd place...great driving my Tracy

He was able to do that becasue the road corse in toronto is a much slower track than the Edm track for example. If he would lose his nose here he's drop like a rock because of the reduced downforce and the car would push into left turns.

[Rival]

Re: Grand Prix Articles - July 13, 2005

Thanks Bro. KC not sure if you live in town but if you do you gota come down and check out atleast one day. Been to a few Molson Indy's and a couple NASCAR races and they are a blast. The Champ Car races are a complete blast. Babes, Brew, tunes...and the racing. To experience the sounds and the speed live is like no other. The city is getting jacked. Now if the @#$%^& weather would cooperate! Can't believe this crap forecast...yes I can its Edmonton. Friday will be a long but great day. All day at the track and then off to the game. Can't ask for much more.

[Rival]

Re: Grand Prix Articles - July 13, 2005

For those of you going where are your seats? We are in the Golds right behind pit lane...about a quarter down from the end by turn one and about half way up.

[KnuckleChucker]

Re: Grand Prix Articles - July 13, 2005

Just FYI there is a 40 page pullout in the Journal today about the racing weekend...Couldnt find it online so you are on your own....