Irl 2009

[Chev_350]

OK there is no Australia race and I don't even know if it will be on the box here this year and that could be really bad as Will Power has been announced as Helio Hélio Castroneves at Penske, if his trial doesn't work out. So there is a chance that there will be an All-Aussie Team Penske.

[wayno]

Yep. Next time I can see me getting pay tv in the next month or so at this rate.

[BILLFORD1]

Last year, as you all probably are aware, the IRL races were all shown on the Foxtel ESPN Sport Channel. I contacted Foxtel via letter a fair while back with a request as to any available info in regard to specifically Nascar in 09 & also IRL.....As tends to be the case these days where everybodys only interest covers anything to do with money & there is no longer even what used to be regarded as a common courtesy, in replying to letters, i have been ignored totally. I do not actually recall any mention of Indy/IRL racing in the speil from Channel When (10), in relation to their 24 Hr Sport Channel due to be up & running about April. ( I will re-check that though & get back if it is the case !). So info is pretty hard to come by as usual. Accordingly, I may well have another sense of humour failure if I find a week before stuff is due to start for this season, that I am required once again to bolt out & purchase a load of new equipment in order to access it !!

[SWRT]

First race of the year just finished in St Petersberg, broadcast on ESPN 2night @ 10.30-1.30.
If you prefer some sleep instead of watching, heres the results.

Ryan Briscoe - 1st
Will Power - 6th

Scott Dixon - DNF

[wayno]

Great stuff. I was wrapt to wake up to that result. I hope the Briscoe kiddie has a great year as I'm a big fan of his. :)

[Chev_350]

One for the NASCAR fans, Richard Petty Motorsports is bringing the #43 to the Indy 500, with John Andretti to drive.

[REDVRSS]

St Petersburg race was replayed last night on ESPNHD. Looked GLORIOUS on par with NASCAR for quality. Hoping it stays the same for the rest of the season. The commentary team werent too bad for a first go on a network famous for its ice hockey :)

WOW 2 Aussie Drivers on the Penske team who would ever have imagined.

[BILLFORD1]

Heard anything about Race 2 Paul ??? I think it's supposed to be on this weekend, (Long Beach I think), but can't seem to make any sense out of Written Cattledog or EPG so far. Perhaps the good work by 'Do-tel' has come to a screeching halt already, after 1 race ?? :D On the other hand, perhaps just looking for their sox to get some poop into them, before updating the programme ???

[Chev_350]

There is "IndyCar Series Racing" on ESPN from 6:30 AM till 8:29 on 20-4-09, says the ESPN website, I would assume this could be long beach.

[wayno]

Helio is off the hook so where does this leave Will?

[Tumbo]

haven't penske said they will run a third car for will?

[wayno]

Don't know mate, hence why I asked the question. :o
Following f1 takes up most of my time and I probably haven't paid the attention to this series that I should have.

[Tumbo]

my understanding was that initially Helio would replace Power, but given his performances in testing and then at St P Roger confirmed they have the funding that if Helio were cleared Power would remain w/ the team in a 3rd car

[Chev_350]

Although Will has set the fastest lap in the #3, which will be driven by Helio in the race. Will is going to race the #12 car for Long Beach and Indy. MOre races i guess will depend on this weekends result.


http://i361.photobucket.com/albums/oo56/skarnes128/ Name%20That%20Car/DSC00395a.jpg

[Tumbo]

at least he's not going for bathurst glory cause we all know black can't win there loL!

[Chev_350]

More IndyCar racing this week from Kansas, 6:00 - 9:00am on ESPN,

No Will Power, he doesn't come back until Indy......shame since he was 2nd in points and Helio has quailified dead last for this round.

[Captain Kangaroo]

To be fair, Helio qualified third, but was sent to the back (as was Dario) for crossing the line at the bottom of the race track on his hotlap. A silly thing to do, but not quite how you describe it.

[Chev_350]

ahhhh, I did not know that....

[Captain Kangaroo]

No worries. He did exactly the same thing in the final oval race of 2008... so arguably it was a bad mistake.

Anyway, go Ryan. :)

[k1w1taxi]

You Beauty result. Scott Dixon winning at last, and just what he needs confidence wise going into May :D

Cheers
Lee

[k1w1taxi]

Good weekend for the Antipodeans at Indy Qualifying.
Ryan 2nd
Scott 5th
Will 9th

Cheers
Lee

[wayno]

Great battle between the two Penske's for pole as well with both drivers withdrawing top two times to go out and have another crack.
Nearly backfired on Briscoe as his last run was slower and he nearly dropped back.

[beast]

Wondering whether anyone recorded the races so far in this years championship.
I've missed all the races so far and would very much like to see them.

[beast]

Dixon won Milwaukee from Briscoe followed by Franchitti. Castro-Neves hit the wall in qualifing and finshed mid pack. Danica scored her fourth top 5 in a row in 5th place. Graham Rahal drove a controlled race to finish 4th. PT in the #14 had a shocker and finished 6 laps down. Kanaan had a mechnical failure on the #11.

Looking forward to Texas this sunday @ 11am EST on ESPN.

[SWRT]

IRL live now on ESPN from Texas, Briscoe currently leads...

[beast]

Briscoe cant get the job done right at the moment, Leads most laps @ Milwaukee, Texas and Iowa and finishes 2nd in all 3 races. Great to see Dario win again. Bring on Richmond, hopefully one of the AGR cars can bring me a win.

[wayno]

Yeah but he's right up there. Don't write the boy off yet. Great points fight for the championship though. :cool:

[beast]

Yeah but he's right up there. Don't write the boy off yet. Great points fight for the championship though. :cool:

Thats for sure Wayne. He's led over 40% of the laps for the entire season so far himself and over 50% for Team Penske. Them and Ganassi are proving to be the top in this years championship with teams such as AGR and Panther chasing the 3rd best team position.

[beast]

Race #8 at Richmond International Raceway was won by Scott Dixon.
Dario Franchitti made it a Target Ganassi 1-2 by coming home second.
Graham Rahal achieved his best ever Oval finish with 3rd.
All three drivers gained massive advantages on their final two pitstops by the yellows for the Mike Conway and Helio Castroneves crashes.
Hideki Mutoh was 4th, however unlucky not to win due to the said yellows coming out during green flag stops.
Both him and AGR team-mate Danica Patrick, who finished fifth was disadvantaged by the yellows coming out as i feel they were on the best strategy and could have easily finished 1st and 2nd.
Ryan Briscoe had a shocker day, not leading any laps before crashing on the exit of turn 2 on lap 27 ending his night.
First time since Michigan 2007 that neither Team Penske car has finished a race.
EJ Viso finally finished a race this season.
Tony Kanaan was the first car 1 lap down at the finish in 6th position while team-mate Marco Andretti brought the fourth AGR car home 7th.
AGR cars finished in positions 4 through 7.
Next race is at Watkins Glen in upstate New York next sunday US time.

[SWRT]

Great results for the Aussies in the Vancouver Street Race.
Scott Francetti Win, Ryan Brisoce 2nd, Will Power 3rd and Kiwi Dixon 4th.

[wayno]

Good stuff again but I'd dearly love to see Ryan convert a few more seconds to race wins.

[Mr K]

Great results for the Aussies in the Vancouver Street Race.
Scott Francetti Win, Ryan Brisoce 2nd, Will Power 3rd and Kiwi Dixon 4th.

I think you mean Toronto, Vancouver hasn't had a race since 2004.

[SWRT]

My bad.

[Mr K]

Congratulations to Will Power on his first win in Indy at the Rexall Edmonton Indy.

[k1w1taxi]

Well Done Will. And a Great Battle going on for the Title with Dixon, Franchitti and Briscoe separated by 14 points.

Cheers
Lee

[beast]

Will led 90 of the 95 lap race as well.

Was also almost the first Indycar Series race to run full green. Was only stuffed up by Tomas Schecter crashing on Lap 93 which brought a full course caution meaning the race finished under yellow.

[ratster70]

Great to see Ryan briscoe on pole again for tonights race well done ryan

[beast]

Great to see Ryan briscoe on pole again for tonights race well done ryan

Yep, with any luck he can repeat his win from last week. And what a race the Kentucky race was, by far the best this year, the new aero packages that the teams have the option of running really opened the race right up.

[k1w1taxi]

Another Antipodean 1-2 but this time the Kiwi coming out on Top. Ryan's 2nd place means Scott now leads the series by 3 points. Man this is a great Championship battle. Way better than the F1 shenanigans and car dominated racing.

Cheers
Lee

[BILLFORD1]

Run & won with Dario scoring another win. After long and careful consideration, I have come to the conclusion that Marco Andretti has the IQ of a cumkwat !! Lap 1 & he does his best to take out 1/2 the field. Stuffed up himself & all of his team mates bar 1, (Mutoh). Buggered Danica Patricks race owing to having to repair the front steering arms, putting her a lap down for the entire race resulting in a 16th place finish. That removed her from any chance at the Championship, although still in 5th but now about 160+ points behind !! (Now only possible by the top 4, Dixon, Briscoe, Helio & Dario). Then on the last lap the clown punts the main Championship contender, Scott Dixon, out of a top ten finish !! If he could drive half as well as he can flap his gums, it would be good !....I would send the dork back to Indy Lights & let him tool round punting people off & running into stuff til he's about 40 !!! :D

[k1w1taxi]

So Spa was exciting was it? Check out Chicagoland, and it heavily involves a Kiwi and an Aussie :)

Cheers
Lee

[wayno]

Stupid, stupid mistake from Briscoe in Motegi. he's lost the title lead now and I really think he's blown it. :mad:

[bills]

Stupid, stupid mistake from Briscoe in Motegi. he's lost the title lead now and I really think he's blown it. :mad:

agree.

[Mr K]

I watched the race and couldn't believe what Briscoe did.

[bills]

heres that stupid mistake.

FI-GloocRkQ

[k1w1taxi]

Oh Dear, How Sad, Never Mind :D

At least Scott Dixon was there to pick up the points :D :D

Cheers
Lee

[Kashmir]

Stupid, stupid mistake from Briscoe in Motegi. he's lost the title lead now and I really think he's blown it. :mad:

Hey at least you have your Cold Chisel to listen to;)

[Kashmir]

Yeah that was a pretty stupid mistake,he's not a Kiwi is he:rolleyes:

[domstrama]

Dario plays fuel to be Indy king

DARIO FRANCHITTI stormed home to win the Indycar championship last night - by playing the fuel.




The hot Scot was not as fast as title rivals Ryan Briscoe and Scott Dixon early on in the winner-takes-all shootout at Homestead-Miami Speedway.



So as they roared ahead, Franchitti and his Chip Ganassi Racing team decided to go as fast as possible while saving as much fuel as possible.



It meant he needed one less pit stop for a top-up.



And six laps from the end of the 200-lap race he swept into the lead for the win as Penske Racing's Briscoe and Ganassi team-mate Dixon dived into the pits.



The sensational strategy gave Franchitti his second Indycar crown - and finally banished the grim memories of his ill-fated switch to NASCAR last year.



Lady Luck rode with him, though - and how.



Had there been a crash or any other incident necessitating a yellow flag caution period, Briscoe and Dixon could have topped up without losing position.



But for the first time in 14 seasons, an Indycar race went through from flag to flag without interruption.



And even at Franchitti's reduced pace, his 201.420 mph average on the 1.5-mile oval was the second fastest in Indycar history.



The jubilant Scot, who finally ran out of fuel as he celebrated with burn-outs on the track, said: "Wow, I can't believe it.



"My car wasn't great early on and was understeering. After the first pitstop it was OK but I'd lost so much ground that I just went as quickly as I could while saving some fuel.



"It was a gamble but God, did it not work out! It's all about the result. A win in a win and we're going to have a party tonight."



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Franchitti dedicated the triumph to his close friend Greg Moore - killed in an Indycar race almost exactly ten years ago.



The tousle-haired Scot was hugged in Victory Lane by his actress wife Ashley Judd.



She said: "He was very determined but I cannot believe what just happened. How great is my husband at being so fast while saving fuel?"



Franchitti, Briscoe and Dixon were the class of the field as they battled for supremacy, putting every other driver at least two laps down.



Aussie Briscoe - second in the race but third in the championship - said: "That was the hardest race I've ever run in and so frustrating to come up short. But we'll come back and get him next year."



Kiwi Dixon - third in the race and second in the championship - said: "You always think there's going to be a caution - but there wasn't.



"I'm glad for Dario and I'm glad the title went to one of our team. But it still sucks to come second."



A disappointing season for former champ Dan Wheldon, from Buckinghamshire, ended when he collided in the pits with Indy golden girl Danica Patrick.

[wayno]

Good luck to Dario. Briscoe has nobody to blame for losing this except for himself.
I'm still angry at his stupidity. :mad:

[Tumbo]

amazing to think he took a yr off and came back and basically defended his title - while sad for briscoe and the fact he cost himself the title I must say that I have a lot of respect for Dario and if anyone else was going to win it i'm SO glad it's him and not the kiwi :p