Today, Lola followed their initial press release which revealed their intent to bid for the 2012 IZOD IndyCar Series chassis contract with a second, more fulsome press release including sketches of their proposed chassis. It must be said that the outward appearance of the chassis is rather uninspired and stale. There’s nothing genuinely new, innovative or modern about the looks of the chassis. Lola does bring some very interesting concepts with their bid that could lower costs, and bridge the equipment gap between the IZOD IndyCar Series and the Firestone…
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Firestone Indy Lights – 2009 Season Review – Battle for the Championship
Battle for the Championship Kentucky Speedway: The Kentucky 100 at the Kentucky Speedway was the 100th race for the Indy Racing League sanctioned Firestone Indy Lights series, although it looked like weather might put a damper on the celebration. The track was dry for the race, but qualifications were rained out resulting in the grid being determined by points. That gave the AFS/AGR team the front row. Wade Cunningham started from P4, right behind his nemesis from Iowa and championship contender Sebastian Saavedra in P2. JR Hildebrand, although being awarded…
Read MoreFirestone Indy Lights – 2009 Season Review – Mid-Season Grind
The Mid-Season Grind The two oval races at Kansas and Indianapolis really took a toll on equipment. The devastation seen at Kansas put several teams out of contention for the remainder of the season including Guthrie Racing being banned for their harsh response Sean Guthrie’s endangerment of the Delphi Safety Crew. The first few races of the season saw strong grids with cars numbering in the mid-20s. After Indianapolis, the fields were significantly reduced averaging around 17 cars. This was a disappointing, but considering how many shards of carbon fiber…
Read MoreFirestone Indy Lights – 2009 Season Review – Spring Races
Introduction A dedicated feeder series to the primary American Open-Wheel Racing series has been in existance in one form or another since 1986. The American Racing Series began in 1986 to serve as a development platform for CART, since the Formula Atlantics series which had been around since 1965 had failed to race in 1984, and existed as two separate series, a Pacific and an Atlantic series, from 1985 to 1990. In 1991, the same year that the split Formula Atlantics championship merged back into a single national series, the…
Read MoreIndyCar – The Road To Indy
There have been many things fans, teams, drivers, and sponsors have all been requesting/begging/demanding from the Indy Racing League. We asked for better racing than we were getting at the beginning of 2009, and we got it. We asked for multiple manufacturers for both the engines and the chassis, and it looks like we might get those. We asked for a title sponsor, and we got that, too. One big thing that people have been asking for that will do more to improve the influx of new talent and hopefully…
Read MoreIndyLights – Kimball Joins Plowman at Andretti Autosport
This morning, it was announced that Charlie Kimball will join Martin Plowman on the AFS Racing/Andretti Autosport Firestone Indy Lights team for the 2010 season. This marks a significant step up for Charlie who raced last year for Palm Beach International Racing, as well as for Plowman (aka Plowey) who raced for the now defunct Panther Racing FIL team. AFS/AA has won the past two series championships with Raphael “Rafa” Matos in 2008 and JR Hildebrand in 2009. There’s no doubt that the AFS/AA rides are currently the best in…
Read More#F1 – JR Hildebrand Tests for Force India
2009 Firestone Indy Lights champion, JR Hildebrand, will test for the Force India F1 team in the first days of December. Read the full article at Autosport.com. JR has been searching for a ride at the next level ever since August (probably before), but many, including myself, thought that meant a seat somewhere in the IZOD IndyCar Series, or perhaps with USF1 USGPE. Turns out that he has his sights set well above the doubtful USF1 USGPE and on a ride with a legitimate team that actually has a car…
Read MoreIndyLights – Mid-Ohio Review
The general fan reaction around the blogs, forums, and twitter streams to the IndyCar Series and Firestone Indy Lights races at Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course have all been about the same, and in my opinion, completely off the mark. I can hear the detractors now, “So, Doug, what makes you think that you’re right in the face of so many who say that the races were boring.” I have two comments to that: I was actually there, and I paid attention to more than just the leader. Listen to the…
Read MoreIndy Lights – The Canadian Swing
No doubt that the Watkins Glen and the Toronto IndyCar races were pretty good, but the oval products has definitely suffered this season. This is certainly NOT the case with the IRL’s feeder series, the Firestone Indy Lights (FIL). On all types of tracks this year, super speedways like IMS, short ovals like Iowa, road courses, street courses, the racing in the Indy Lights series has been fantastic. Sadly, the car count has diminished as the season has worn on, but with a strong core of highly talented drivers, the…
Read MoreIndyCar – Lights are a bit light
This weekend’s Firestone Indy Lights race, with only 16 cars contesting the Husar’s House of Fine Diamonds 100 at the historic Milwaukee Mile, will feature the shortest grid since the Infineon race in August of 2006, when only 14 cars competed. This continues an unfortunate trend seen in the Firestone Indy Lights series this season. The first race at St. Petersburg featured 27 cars on the grid, but at Long Beach, there were only 25. At Kansas, the total number of entries had dropped to 24, and two more were…
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