F1 – Renault Called to the Woodshed

Piquetgate appears to be picking up steam. Here is an FIA statement released today: Representatives of ING Renault F1 have been requested to appear before an extraordinary meeting of the FIA World Motor Sport Council in Paris on Monday, 21 September 2009. The team representatives have been called to answer charges, including a breach of Article 151c of the International Sporting Code, that the team conspired with its driver, Nelson Piquet Jr, to cause a deliberate crash at the 2008 Singapore Grand Prix with the aim of causing the deployment…

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IndyCar – Pink Lloyd for Miami

If you recall a few weeks ago, Alex Lloyd ended his relationship with Chip Ganassi. He signed with Chip after winning the 2007 Indy Pro Series championship in the hopes of getting a race seat. But this proved to be very difficult. Chip’s contract with Target would not allow him to run a 3rd car unless it had the same funding as the two Target cars (estimated at $8 million per car), so Alex drove for Chip (through Rahal and Schmidt) at the last two 500’s, and that was it.…

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F1 – Renault Beat Down Imminent

What a wonderful weekend we had. The championship is starting to tighten a little and Spa was a welcome relief from all the Tilke inspired garbage that litters the F1 calendar. We had also been granted a brief reprieve from all the political wrangling. It was nice while it lasted. Renault is in the hotseat and we have a new ‘gate to add to our ever growing list of media circus events. We will dub it ‘Piquetgate’. Think back to one of the more sublime moments of the 2008 season.…

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IndyCar – DirecTV Drops Versus

DirecTV has been in negotiations with Versus over the fee that Versus charges for DirecTV to carry their channel. Yesterday was the last day of their previous contract and no agreement was reached, so as of now the final two IndyCar races of the season will not be available to DirecTV subscribers. The argument between the two companies boils down like this. DirecTV says Versus cannot justify the price increase they are asking for DirecTV to carry them. Versus claims they have added significant value to their network which merits…

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IndyCar – Why Switch Teams Robert?

The official start of silly season happened this week as Doornbos has taken his father’s checkbook to HVM. If you recall, it was pretty widely reported at the beginning of the season that Robert had secured a 12 race deal with NHL. Lets be honest though, NHL is one of the most likely candidates to end up as one of the top teams in coming seasons, and certainly the move to HVM is slightly south of lateral. It appears that there was some pretty bad blood at the team as…

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IndyCar – Kentucky Changes

The IndyCar race at Kentucky easily qualifies as the best oval race they have put on this year, and in my book, also outshined the fantastic street race at Toronto. Hands down, best race of the season! It was just a bonus that I was in attendance. Congratulations to Ryan Briscoe, who took the photo finish win over Ed Carpenter. Their side by side battle has to go down as the best season highlight on ovals so far. The teams were given very little practice time with these new features…

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IndyCar – 2010 Schedule Thoughts

The IndyCar series schedule for 2010 was release last Friday. By now you have probably already laid eyes on it, but I wanted to give my thoughts next years lineup of events. Date Venue Track Sunday, March 14 Brazil (city TBA) TBD Sunday, March 28 St. Petersburg, Fla. 1.8-mile street course Sunday, April 11 Barber Motorsports Park 2.48-mile road course Sunday, April 18 Long Beach, Calif. 1.968-mile street course Saturday, May 1 Kansas Speedway 1.5-mile oval Sunday, May 30 Indianapolis Motor Speedway 2.5-mile oval Saturday, June 12* Texas Motor Speedway…

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IndyCar – 2010 Schedule Thoughts

The 2010 schedule has been rumored to be released next weekend around the Kentucky race. Just as a preview, I thought it would be good to put up a list of all the possibilities that have been mentioned in the media. The following venues already have contracts in place for next season: (o)=oval    (r)=road/street bold=new venues for next season Edmonton Airport (r) Toronto Street Course (r) Long Beach Street Course(r) St. Petersburg Street Course (r) Mid-Ohio (r) Chicago (o) Texas (o) Indianapolis (o) Twin Ring Motegi (o) Possible Confirmations…

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