wodranaizo's blog

Yacaman battles to Detroit victory

A good passing move by Gustavo Yacaman earned the Colombian the Indy Lights win in this weekend’s race in Detroit.

The Colombian, who started from sixth on the grid for Team Moore Racing, worked his way steadily into contention during the early stages of the race, and then spent several laps stalking polesitter Oliver Webb before seizing the lead with an over-and-under move two thirds of the way through the race.

Webb relinquished another position not long afterwards when Andretti Autosport rookie Carlos Munoz passed him around the outside to claim second place, leaving the Briton to settle for third in Sam Schmidt Motorsports’ lead car.

The race switched from a lap race to a timed race following a lengthy spell under yellows triggered by Younessi Racing’s Peter Dempsey, who crashed heavily while chasing Victor Carbone for second on lap 13. The Irishman pin-balled from the outside barrier to the inside before skidding through a wall of tyres and finally coming to rest. He extracted himself from the wreckage unassisted.

Carbone ended the race in fourth ahead of Schmidt team-mates Tristan Vautier and Esteban Guerrieri, the latter having dropped several places early on and then gambled on a pitstop for new tyres during the caution.

Source: http://www.iracing.com/inracingnews/real-world-racing/3rdparty/yacaman-battles-to-detroit-victory

Michael Duane Bliss André Guelfi Marc Gené

Stoner edges Pedrosa in first practice

Casey Stoner edged works Honda team-mate Dani Pedrosa in a tight first MotoGP practice session ahead of the Catalunya Grand Prix.

Pedrosa was the first rider to dip below the 1m43s mark, which was enough to keep him on top for the majority of the session.

With seven minutes to go, however, Stoner captured the top spot with a two-lap salvo, shaving one tenth of a second off Pedrosa’s benchmark.

Yamaha’s Jorge Lorenzo moved into third in the final 30 seconds of the session, finishing just 0.233s down on Stoner.

Tech 3 Yamaha’s Cal Crutchlow sealed fourth, although Ben Spies’ Yamaha, LCR Honda’s Stefan Bradl and the works Ducati of Nicky Hayden all finished within seven hundredths of a second of his time.

A close session was also reflected in the fact that Karel Abraham on the Cardion Ducati finished 0.540s down on Stoner in eighth, and also in the fact that Tech 3′s Andrea Dovizioso, second fastest with 15 minutes to go, was bumped down to ninth at the finish.

Alvaro Bautista (Gresini Honda), Valentino Rossi (Ducati) and Hector Barbera (Pramac Ducati) rounded out the top 12, all three lapping within nine tenths of a second of Stoner.

Aspar’s Randy de Puniet topped the CRT standings in 13th, while Forward’s Colin Edwards, returning this weekend after injury forced him to miss Le Mans, was 17th.

Pos  Rider             Team/Bike                 Time       Gap
  1.  Casey Stoner      Honda                     1m42.775s
  2.  Dani Pedrosa      Honda                     1m42.875s  + 0.100s
  3.  Jorge Lorenzo     Yamaha                    1m43.008s  + 0.233s
  4.  Cal Crutchlow     Tech 3 Yamaha             1m43.182s  + 0.407s
  5.  Ben Spies         Yamaha                    1m43.191s  + 0.416s
  6.  Stefan Bradl      LCR Honda                 1m43.245s  + 0.470s
  7.  Nicky Hayden      Ducati                    1m43.246s  + 0.471s
  8.  Karel Abraham     Cardion Ducati            1m43.315s  + 0.540s
  9.  Andrea Dovizioso  Tech 3 Yamaha             1m43.371s  + 0.596s
 10.  Alvaro Bautista   Gresini Honda             1m43.493s  + 0.718s
 11.  Valentino Rossi   Ducati                    1m43.537s  + 0.762s
 12.  Hector Barbera    Pramac Ducati             1m43.624s  + 0.849s
 13.  Randy de Puniet   Aspar Aprilia             1m44.915s  + 2.140s
 14.  Aleix Espargaro   Aspar Aprilia             1m45.281s  + 2.506s
 15.  Michele Pirro     Gresini FTR-Honda         1m45.939s  + 3.164s
 16.  Mattia Pasini     Speed Master Aprilia      1m46.234s  + 3.459s
 17.  Colin Edwards     Forward Suter-BMW         1m46.748s  + 3.973s
 18.  Ivan Silva        Avintia Inmotec-Kawasaki  1m46.848s  + 4.073s
 19.  James Ellison     Paul Bird Aprilia         1m46.908s  + 4.133s
 20.  Danilo Petrucci   Ioda-Aprilia              1m47.149s  + 4.374s
 21.  Yonny Hernandez   Avintia FTR-Kawasaki      1m47.181s  + 4.406s
 

Source: http://www.iracing.com/inracingnews/other-news/motorcycles/motogp/stoner-edges-pedrosa-in-first-practice

Bill Homeier David Carl Allison Roberto Guerrero

Todd Bodine wins a rain shortened Lucas Oil 200

Source: http://www.skirtsandscuffs.com/2012/06/todd-bodine-wins-rain-shortened-lucas.html

Ruby Tuesday Dodge Nicolas Kiesa John James

NSCS Pole Report: Almirola wins pole for the Coca-Cola 600

Source: http://www.skirtsandscuffs.com/2012/05/nscs-pole-report.html

Helmuth Koinigg Denny Hamlin Olivier Grouillard

LeMons Good/Bad Idea of the Week: Mazda RX-2 Exhumed From Collapsed Barn, Stuffed With 13B

When you hear about a “barn find” car, you imagine it being removed from the barn. In the case of the Sensory Assault Mazda RX-2, the barn was removed from the car. Read full story »

Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/caranddriver/blog/~3/OT0iDYK7Uzs/

Frank Gardner Ignazio Giunti William Ashton Lewis Jr

Hinchcliffe leads initial qualifying

Andretti Autosport’s James Hinchcliffe was fastest in the first part of Pole Day qualifying for the Indianapolis 500.

The Canadian clocked a speed of 225.746mph over his four-lap run to beat Penske’s Will Power and fellow Andretti driver Ryan Hunter-Reay to the top spot in the five-hour preliminary segment of qualifying for the IndyCar Series’ premier race.

Penske’s Helio Castroneves and Ryan Briscoe completed the top five, while Tony Kanaan made it to sixth on his second qualifying attempt after his first run was disallowed due to a ballast issue on his KV Racing Technology Dallara-Chevrolet.

All three of Andretti Autosport’s regular entries got into the top nine, with Marco Andretti seventh quickest.

Rookie Josef Newgarden continued his excellent Indianapolis form for Sarah Fisher Hartman Racing to go eighth quickest. KV’s EJ Viso completes the field for the nine-car pole shoot-out that will now decide the top three rows of the grid.

The first part of the day set the field from 10th to 24th place, with Rubens Barrichello in the third KV car the quickest of those to miss the pole cut in 10th, ahead of last year’s polesitter Alex Tagliani (Bryan Herta Autosport).

None of the Ganassi drivers made it into the top nine. Graham Rahal was the team’s fastest man in 12th, while his team-mates Charlie Kimball, Scott Dixon and Dario Franchitti will start in 14th through 16th positions, just behind Ana Beatriz (Andretti/Conquest).

Ed Carpenter (Ed Carpenter Racing), Oriol Servia (Panther/Dreyer & Reinbold) and Bryan Clauson (Fisher Hartman) all crashed during qualifying runs. The trio escaped injury and should be among the drivers fighting for the remaining nine grid spots during Sunday’s Bump Day qualifying.

AJ Foyt duo Wade Cunningham and Mike Conway, and Dragon Racing’s Sebastien Bourdais were all ‘bumped’ outside the top 24 and will also have to qualify on Bump Day. Bourdais’ team-mate Katherine Legge and the two Lotus-powered cars of Jean Alesi (Fan Force United) and Simona de Silvestro (HVM) were among those who did not try qualifying runs on Saturday.

Source: http://www.iracing.com/inracingnews/real-world-racing/indycar-news/indycar/hinchcliffe-leads-initial-qualifying

Leslie Johnson Lucas di Grassi Jeffrey Michael Gordon

Brawn: FIA role key to F1 future

Ross Brawn thinks that the key to a successful flotation of Formula 1 still depends on the future role of the FIA.

F1 owners CVC have sold a $1.6 billion stake ahead of a planned $3 billion IPO, and Brawn believes the future path for the sport is not as clear cut as some are making out.

Brawn’s own team Mercedes has yet to agree commercial terms with CVC and F1 supremo Bernie Ecclestone for a new Concorde Agreement – and there has been speculation the German car manufacturer could even go to court in protest at favourable terms being offered to other teams.

Speaking in Monaco on Wednesday about the future ownership situation of F1, in light of the CVC developments, Brawn said: “I think we have got a long way to go before we arrive at the final solutions. I think what has to be factored in to all of that is what role the FIA play in the future, and their involvement in the sport.

“They have been quite quiet so far but they will have an involvement, and I am reasonably confident that we will find sensible solutions in the future. I don’t think things are closed yet.”

Brawn suggests that F1 should look hard at what can be improved to make it even more successful in the future.

“The sport can only survive it is has the lifeblood,” he said. “Whatever we have had so far, which has perhaps not been the perfect solution, has been enough to sustain and maintain F1 in reasonable shape.

“It can always be better; it could also be a lot worse. So, I think whatever the weaknesses of what we have had so far, it has worked. I think there will need to be solutions found that make it work, and I think we have still got quite a long way to go.”

Brawn drew short, however, of speaking about the latest developments regarding Mercedes’ own discussions with Ecclestone over a new Concorde Agreement.

“It is still something we cannot comment on, so I cannot really add anything to what was said previously I am afraid.”

When asked if he felt Mercedes’ own contribution to the sport was being undervalued: “We are very proud of our history and we are proud of our heritage, and we feel it is important to the sport. People have different opinions on it. But it is all part of the delicate discussions that are going on.”

Source: http://www.iracing.com/inracingnews/formula-one-news/f1-formula-one-news/brawn-fia-role-key-to-f1-future

Ignazio Giunti William Ashton Lewis Jr Damon Hill

Yamaha and PETRONAS Conclude MotoGP Partnership

Yamaha Racing
Sunday, 01 Jan 2012

As 2011 draws to a close it marks the end of a successful partnership between Yamaha's Factory MotoGP Team and PETRONAS.

The integrated Malaysian oil and gas corporation came onboard with Yamaha in 2009 and has enjoyed a hugely successful three year relationship.

Yamaha and PETRONAS have been privileged to share in two consecutive Triple Crown MotoGP victories, in 2009 and 2010.

Lin Jarvis,
Managing Director of Yamaha Motor Racing:

"The relationship between Yamaha and PETRONAS has been a great success, we have enjoyed some major achievements together in the MotoGP class. Now that the partnership has reached its natural conclusion I would like to thank our friends at PETRONAS for the support during their time with us and wish them well for the future".

Mohammad Medan Abdullah,
Senior General Manager of PETRONAS Group Corporate Affairs Division:

"We are happy to have had this opportunity to work with the Yamaha Factory Racing team over the past three years. In that time, we have enjoyed the benefits of strong brand exposure through the privilege of being associated with a team that shares our values and passion. The team has achieved many successes through a high level of competitiveness and stretched performance standards and we wish the team continued success in the future".

Jointly issued by Yamaha Factory Racing and PETRONAS Motorsports

www.yamaha-racing.com

Source: http://www.motorsportsjournal.com/archives/2012/01/yamaha_and_petronas_concl.php

Howden Ganley Out! Pet Care Toyota Al Keller

The "Lady In Black" goes easy on the RFR drivers

Source: http://www.skirtsandscuffs.com/2012/05/lady-in-black-goes-easy-on-rfr-drivers.html

Jean Pierre Jarier Danny Kladis

Report: Porsche says no baby Boxster, no rush on Pajun

Filed under: Coupe, Performance, Porsche

Just days after reporting that Porsche had plans to introduce the Pajun, a competitor for the Mercedes-Benz E-Class that would slot just below the Panamera, Automotive News quoted Porsche CEO Matthias Mueller saying the Pajun was not a done deal but could become reality in five or six years.

Automotive News was referencing an interview Mueller gave to German newspaper Stuttgarter Zeitung, in which he also says the company has no plans for an entry-level Porsche below the Boxster until at least 2014.

"We would do no good to the brand if we were to lose traditional Porsche customers," Mueller told the newspaper. In another interview with German business publication Wirtschaftswoche, Mueller said, "Possibly we need to wait until the next generation of customers before the idea of a small roadster will work for Porsche."

Porsche says no baby Boxster, no rush on Pajun originally appeared on Autoblog on Mon, 14 May 2012 11:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Source: http://www.autoblog.com/2012/05/14/porsche-says-no-baby-boxster-no-rush-on-pajun/

Nanni Galli Loris Kessel Yves Giraud Cabantous