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Justin Wilson Celebrates
at Long Beach…
By Martha Meacham
Justin Wilson
of Newman/Haas/Lanigan Racing has two reasons to be beaming
these days. Wilson and his wife, Julia, welcomed the birth of
their first child on April 12. He had further cause to celebrate
this weekend as he took the pole for the final Champ Car race at
Long Beach. Wilson, who led the 20-car field on Friday and took
the provisional pole with a time/speed of
1(minute):07.356(seconds)/ 105.184 mph, today lapped the
11-turn, 1.97-mile street circuit with a time/speed of
1:06.902/105.898 mph. Veteran Alex Tagliani of Walker Racing
will start on the front row beside Wilson. His speed was just a
tick (-.182 of a second) off of Wilson's pole time. The second
row consists of two ICS regulars; Conquest Racing rookie Franck
Perera and KV Racing Technology's Will Power, who recovered
nicely from a mishap in Friday qualifying session. Perera's
teammate, Enrique Bernoldi also secured a top 10 start for
Sunday's race (8th ).
It was a disappointing day for St. Pete winner, Graham Rahal,
who ended up qualifying 9th. Bruno Junqueira of Dale Coyne
Racing experienced gear box problems yesterday and was unable to
complete his qualifying run. He did, however, gain three spots
today and will start tomorrow's race in 11th. Oriol Servia, in
contrast, went from a stout run yesterday (P2) to lose 10 spots
in Saturday's session. Unfortunately, the Spaniard will start in
the 12th spot and alongside Junqueira in row 6. EJ Viso of HVM
Racing will start in 14th and rounding out the ICS regulars is
Mario Moraes (Dale Coyne Racing) who will start in the
penultimate, 19th spot.
Tomorrow’s race will start at 1:00 p.m. local (Pacific) time on
Sunday afternoon and will be broadcast live on IMS Radio Network
at 4 p.m. EDT and XM Radio 145. The race will be televised on
ESPN2 beginning at 5:30 p.m. EDT.
While Wilson
set the pace in both sessions, in the first round of qualifying
it was Nelson Philippe that didn't post a "Q" time, this
afternoon it was Oriol Servia, 2nd quickest yesterday, who was
unable to make a run. In addition Roberto Moreno wasn't able to
better his Friday result. Shown below is the 2-session combined
qualifying results, with regular IndyCar drivers are shown in
bold type... |
|
Pos |
Driver |
|
Best Time |
Best Speed |
|
1 |
Justin Wilson (2) |
|
1:06.902 |
105.898 |
|
2 |
Alex Tagliani (15) |
|
1:07.084 |
105.611 |
|
3 |
Franck Perera (34) |
|
1:07.180 |
105.460 |
|
4 |
Will Power (8) |
|
1:07.205 |
105.421 |
|
5 |
Paul Tracy (3) |
|
1:07.352 |
105.191 |
|
6 |
Franck Montagny (7) |
|
1:07.360 |
105.178 |
|
7 |
Nelson Philippe (4) |
|
1:07.415 |
105.092 |
|
8 |
Enrique Bernoldi (36) |
|
1:07.682 |
104.678 |
|
9 |
Graham Rahal (06) |
|
1:07.703 |
104.645 |
|
10 |
Mario Dominguez (96) |
|
1:07.745 |
104.580 |
|
11 |
Bruno Junqueira (18) |
|
1:07.786 |
104.517 |
|
12 |
Oriol Servia (5) |
|
1:07.858 |
104.406 |
|
13 |
Jimmy Vasser (12) |
|
1:07.859 |
104.405 |
|
14 |
EJ Viso (33) |
|
1:07.927 |
104.300 |
|
15 |
Antonio Pizzonia (9) |
|
1:08.463 |
103.484 |
|
16 |
Alex Figge (29) |
|
1:08.489 |
103.444 |
|
17 |
David Martinez (37) |
|
1:08.645 |
103.209 |
|
18 |
Mario Moraes (19) |
|
1:09.279 |
102.265 |
|
19 |
Juho Annala (10) |
|
1:09.555 |
101.859 |
|
20 |
Roberto Moreno (14) |
|
1:08.549 |
103.354 |
|
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Justin Wilson sets fast
time in the first qualifying session Friday...
By Martha Meacham
While The
Toyota Grand Prix Of Long Beach is an IndyCar event for the next
several years, it definitely still has a CCWS look to it. One of
those anomalies are two days of qualifying sessions, the first
of which was held on Friday. Six of the nine drivers (shown in
bold type on the chart below) slated to continue on in
the
IndyCar Series wound up in the top-10, with Justin Wilson and
Oriol Servia (now 15th and 9th respectively in the ICS points
standings) posting the two quickest times of the session. Graham
Rahal, the winner two weeks ago of the Honda Grand Prix of St
Petersburg, is shown in 5th on the "Q" chart, and EJ Viso, new
to this chassis/engine combination, continues to impress in
running 9th on Friday. The 20-car starting grid will the largest Long Beach
field since
2002. Look for the field to be even larger next season. |
|
Pos |
Driver |
|
Best Time |
Best Speed |
|
1 |
Justin Wilson (2) |
|
1:07.356 |
105.184 |
|
2 |
Oriol Servia (5) |
|
1:07.858 |
104.406 |
|
3 |
Alex Tagliani (15) |
|
1:07.887 |
104.362 |
|
4 |
Mario Dominguez (96) |
|
1:07.998 |
104.191 |
|
5 |
Graham Rahal (06) |
|
1:08.172 |
103.925 |
|
6 |
Enrique Bernoldi (36) |
|
1:08.272 |
103.773 |
|
7 |
Franck Montagny (7) |
|
1:08.325 |
103.693 |
|
8 |
Paul Tracy (3) |
|
108:488 |
103.446 |
|
9 |
EJ Viso (33) |
|
1:08.532 |
103.379 |
|
10 |
Will Power (8) |
|
1:08.547 |
103.399 |
|
11 |
Roberto Moreno (14) |
|
1:08.549 |
103.354 |
|
12 |
Alex Figge (29) |
|
1:08.549 |
103.354 |
|
13 |
Antonio Pizzonia (9) |
|
1:08.658 |
103.190 |
|
14 |
Bruno Junqueira (18) |
|
1:08.813 |
102.957 |
|
15 |
Jimmy Vasser (12) |
|
1:09.066 |
102.580 |
|
16 |
Franck Perera (34) |
|
1:09.153 |
102.451 |
|
17 |
David Martinez (37) |
|
1:09.381 |
102.114 |
|
18 |
Mario Moraes (19) |
|
1:09.438 |
102.031 |
|
19 |
Juho Annala (10) |
|
1:11.265 |
99.415 |
|
20 |
Nelson Philippe (4) |
|
N/T |
N/S |
|
|
*** |
Nine IndyCar Drivers to Race in Champ Car
Finale at Long Beach...
By Martha Meacham |
Nine
IndyCar Series drivers, led by St. Pete race winner Graham Rahal
of Newman/Haas/Lanigan Racing, are set to race in the final
Champ Car World Series finale this weekend at the 34th Annual
Toyota Grand Prix of Long Beach, April 18-20. This race, which
is expected to be added to the 2009 ICS schedule, has long been
a favorite of both drivers and fans. Rahal, who won his first
ever major open-wheel race in his ICS debut on April 6th, is one
of several drivers pegged to visit Victory Circle on Sunday. The
grid is slated to be the biggest Long Beach starting grid since
2002.
This race will be run under the aegis of ICS and will share the
weekend with the oval race at Motegi, Japan. Because of the
timing of the open-wheel merger in late February, neither race
could be rescheduled, so points will be awarded in both races
according to ICS rules.
In addition to Rahal, the nine other ICS drivers in attendance
at Long Beach include Rahal's teammate, Justin Wilson; Franck
Perera and Enrique Bernoldi (Conquest racing), Bruno Junqueira
and Mario Morais (Dale Coyne Racing), Will Power and Oriol
Servia (KV Technology Racing), and Ernesto Viso (HVM Racing).
The other drivers making up the 20-car field include: Alex
Tagliani (Walker Racing), Antonio Pizzonia and Juho Annala
(Rocketsports Racing); Mario Dominguez and Alex Figge (PCM),
Roberto Moreno and Nelson Phillippe (HVM); Paul Tracy, David
Martinez and Franck Montagny (Forsythe/Pettit Racing); and KV
Racing co-owner Jimmy Vasser.
After this weekend, the ICS drivers running at Long Beach will
have just one week to prepare for the 2nd oval race of the
season next week at Kansas Speedway. |
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Bygone Eras... |
|
Hopefully
after this weekend, we will put to rest “former CC drivers” or
“transitional drivers” or “new drivers to ICS”. For this Friday,
Saturday and Sunday will mark the finale of the Champ Car World
Series at Long Beach. It's about time, for all the mixture,
confusion, and blending of names and series has confused
everyone concerned with the merger of the two series which took
place nearly two months ago. We all have our favorite drivers
and teams. Now, it's time for all of us to finally come together
and put to rest what was brought upon us these past 12 years.
The weekend will present a dilemma for fans of both series. The
ICS race will be held in
Motegi,
Japan.
The final CCWS series will be held at
Long Beach,
California.
Both races are sanctioned under ICS rules. Both races will award
points towards the ICS standings.
But, who will watch which race, and where will the passions lie?
The “Champ Car Fanatics” will undoubtedly tune into Long Beach
and mourn for the end of an era. The longtime IRL fans will stay
up at midnight Saturday night and watch the action in
Japan.
The others will either channel into the Motegi re-air or
Long Beach
on Sunday, or both.
After April 20, will it matter?
For those who will follow the merged series it will mean a new
beginning, a fresh start a way to build on the two shared races
that have already been run. For those who can’t get past the
12-year long rift between the two series, it won't matter any
longer, for them it will be over.
However, after
Long Beach,
it will be time to either “let bygones, be bygones”, or, it will
be time to say a “sad farewell.”
Thanks for the memories.
Now, let's go racing! |
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