118 replies to this topic

[Bumper]

Wot, no Champcar thread yet? [Maybe for next year we should set up one Champcar thread that covers the whole season, rather than setting up little threads for every single race.]

It's on to Road America this weekend, love that track. Dan Clarke took provisional pole yesterday, and they're gearing up for qualifying as we speak. There is the threat of rain n the coming hour so that should make things 'interesting'. Couple of updates:

Mario Dominguez has been kicked out of the Dale Coyne team after making disparaging remarks about the team to Mexican media. Not the brightest thing to do to bite the hand that feeds you, even more so when this is your second team of the year after being kicked out of Forsythe earlier this season. He's found a niche at Rocketsports though and will be driving for them until the end of the season. At Dale Coyne, he's been replaced for one race only by Uruquayan driver Juan Caraces.

AJ Allmendinger has been exploring Nascar Trucks in the last couple of weeks with two races in that series, however he is expected to sign a new contract with Forsythe very soon.

For UK viewers, British Eurosport are showing the race on Sunday at 20.00 - 22.00. However, it's not live as they're showing live greyhound dog racing instead (ffs Eurosport), undoubtedly catching a viewing audience of millions

[stevewf1]

as they're showing live greyhound dog racing instead

Those poor dogs are not really "live"...

[sblick]

It was nice to see how well they performed in the drying conditions yesterday. I would love to see a wet start and dry finish or vice-versa. I like to see these conditions since it keeps everyone guessing. I haven't read anything lately on Paul Stoddarts attempt at a Champ team is it on or off?

[fifi]

pah its not live

[Ross Stonefeld]

My email said

Get a free trial of Race Director when you sign up for a Race Director Monthly Subscription.

[fifi]

Originally posted by Ross Stonefeld
My email said

Get a free trial of Race Director when you sign up for a Race Director Monthly Subscription.

thats why i edited when i reread the email ;)

[Tmeranda]

I used to be a big Champ car fan, and Elkhart Lake is one of the greatest track on earth to watch a race, but watching one driver who should have been in F1 years ago race one talented American and a bunch of has been or never will be's cast offs isn't my idea of fun anymore. 17 cars on a four mile track is boring no matter how close the racing.

[Bumper]

Starting line-up for tomorrow's race:


SP # Driver Residence Sponsor (Engine/Chassis/Tire) LT Mph km/h
1 14 D. Clarke Maidenhead CTE Racing HVM (F/L/B) 1:55.123 126.585 203.852

2 1 S. Bourdais St. Petersburg, Florida McDonald's (F/L/B) 1:58.945 122.517 197.301

3 34 C. Zwolsman Flevoland, Netherlands Mi-Jack Conquest Racing (F/L/B) 1:55.599 126.063 203.012

4 15 A. Tagliani Las Vegas, NV Aussie Vineyards (F/L/B) 1:57.517 124.006 199.699

5 7 A. Allmendinger Denver, CO Indeck (F/L/B) 1:58.507 122.970 198.031

6 9 J. Wilson Northampton, England CDW (F/L/B) 1:59.076 122.382 197.084

7 5 W. Power Toowomba, Australia Aussie Vineyards (F/L/B) 1:59.286 122.167 196.738

8 20 K. Legge Haslemere, Surrey Bell Micro (F/L/B) 1:59.388 122.063 196.570

9 27 A. Ranger Montreal, Quebec Wal-Mart/Tide (F/L/B) 1:59.486 121.962 196.408

10 2 B. Junqueira Miami, FL Hole in the Wall Camps (F/L/B) 1:59.977 121.463 195.604

11 3 P. Tracy Las Vegas, NV Indeck (F/L/B) 2:00.165 121.273 195.298

12 11 J. Heylen Brussels, Belgium The Muermans Car (F/L/B) 2:00.835 120.601 194.216

13 6 O. Servia Miami, FL Gulfstream (F/L/B) 2:01.082 120.355 193.820

14 18 T. Kasemets Rocketsports (F/L/B) 2:01.381 120.058 193.341

15 8 M. Dominguez Mexico City Pemex/GICSA/Del Valle (F/L/B) 2:01.882 119.565 192.547

16 4 N. Philippe Key Biscayne, Florida CTE Racing HVM (F/L/B) 2:02.273 119.182 191.931

17 19 J. Caceres Sonny's Bar-B-Q (F/L/B) 2:03.690 117.817 189.732

[Vilenova]

Shame Bourdais isn't getting a shot at F1.

[santori]

This will also be the deciding round of the Toyota Atlantic championship. Series leader Simon Pagenaud (254 points) starts second, and Graham Rahal (241 points) third (behind pole-sitter Raphael Matos).

[xflow7]

Graham Rahal DNF with a mechanical while under caution on Lap 5 so that's the Atlantic title decided. What a bummer. Was always going to be a tough job to overhaul a 13 point defecit this race, but I was really pulling for him. :

[xflow7]

Oh man, and to add insult to injury, Pagenaud gets a puncture on the restart!

[xflow7]

Pagenaud out! Rahal must not believe his bad luck today

[Lada Lover]

Dead God! Please tell me Katherine legge is OK.


I fear the worst. I hate auto racing.

[Paste]

Originally posted by Lada Lover
Dead God! Please tell me Katherine legge is OK.

I hope she's okay. Brutal crash. Got my fingers crossed.

[MattPete]

Originally posted by Lada Lover
Dear God! Please tell me Katherine legge is OK.

good lord! What happened to Katherine? She was doing well in 6th place, and out of nowhere, she goes off into a barrel roll. I hope she's OK.

[Lada Lover]

I'm pretty sure she died. Race is stopped. very sad and I'm very angry,

[Paste]

Originally posted by Lada Lover
I'm pretty sure she died. Race is stopped. very sad and I'm very angry,

There is no point in jumping to conclusions.

[MattPete]

Katherine's rear wing came off right before she entered one of the fastest corners.

[Paste]

Originally posted by MattPete


good lord! What happened to Katherine? She was doing well in 6th place, and out of nowhere, she goes off into a barrel roll. I hope she's OK.

The rear wing endplate came off the car going through a fast, right hand kink. They are saying it was about 160MPH when the rear end broke loose and she hit the wall with the back of the car. The car got up into the fencing and did many rolls. Very violent crash.

[raceday]

The commentators in sweden said that she's injured but not fatally injured. (not sure how they heard it and how reliable it is?)

Among the worst crashes I've seen!

[Cheap Wine Alesi]

Originally posted by Lada Lover
I'm pretty sure she died. Race is stopped. very sad and I'm very angry,

my first feeling was the same .Lets hope for the best

this sucks real bad

[MattPete]

Damn, damn, damn! She was looking to have a really good finish. Whatever has happened, I hope it's recoverable.


As for the red flag, I think that's expected, given the amount of debris on the track as well as the need of the rescue vehicles to be able to work on the crash without having to worry about race cars going by. I don't think the red flag is a sign of her injuries.

[Keffo]

Originally posted by raceday
The commentators in sweden said that she's injured but not fatally injured. (not sure how they heard it and how reliable it is?)

Among the worst crashes I've seen!

I don't believe a **** of it for now.

[MattPete]

Non-life threatening injuries! She was able to smile in the ambulance and give a thumbs up!

[Cheap Wine Alesi]

Well, she is conscious so she got a lucky break this time, if you can say so.How anyone can survive a crash like that, i dont know

[Paste]

The ChampCar president said she smiled and gave him a thumbs up when she was taken out of the ambulance.

Jumping to conclusions is stupid. See what happens?

[Keffo]

Read this on another forum: CCWS President Steve Johnson is saying that Katherine smiled at him and gave her the thumbs up as she was being placed in the ambulance.

[MattPete]

Big thumbs up to the safety of the Lola chasis and the professionalism of the Champcar safety team!

[raceday]

The commentators now claim that they've got a report now saying she's not seriously injured, after the first examination.

[Double Apex]

Originally posted by MattPete
Big thumbs up to the safety of the Lola chasis and the professionalism of the Champcar safety team!

A couple of tyres in front of that wall would be a nice idea though.

[DamattaSpeed]

she walks out with a smile and a thumbs up for the tv crew.

[MattPete]

holy crap! She came out of the trailer and waved! I can't she believe she survived that with what appears to be nothing more than bruises!

[Blaze]

Thank goodness Katherine's all right, I really feared the worst when I saw the crash. That was one of the most horrible accidents I've seen in years.

[Manson]

WOW! Not a scratch. Unbelievable! Hats off to the designers, that didn't look good...

[Keffo]

Alive and kicking

[stevewf1]

Glad to hear she's "OK"...

Say goodbye to RA's famous (infamous?) kink...

[xflow7]

Originally posted by stevewf1
Glad to hear she's "OK"...

Say goodbye to RA's famous (infamous?) kink...

That was my second thought after the accident. I do wonder if today may be the last time we see ChampCars running the kink.

[Lada Lover]

Originally posted by Double Apex


A couple of tyres in front of that wall would be a nice idea though.

Tires needed to be further along the wall. It might have caused her to bounce off and collect Clarke but it's better than hitting the concrete wall.

[jokuvaan]

Sure was frightening accident, but the way car disintegrated, somehow F1 car feels a lot safer place to be in.

[prty]

Originally posted by jokuvaan
Sure was frightening accident, but the way car disintegrated, somehow F1 car feels a lot safer place to be in.

Servia said on an interview their cockpits were tougher than F1's because they run in ovals. I'm not sure wether it's true or not.

[Punisher6]

Originally posted by xflow7


That was my second thought after the accident. I do wonder if today may be the last time we see ChampCars running the kink.

It was a freak mechanical failure, the wing came off. No reason to over react. Thank God she is ok though, my heart just sunk when I saw that wreck.

[xflow7]

It's anybody's guess, but I wouldn't be surprised if CC tubs were stronger than F1 tubs.

As for the car disintegrating, KL's car did it perfectly. Initially I thought it looked like the roll hoop might have broken on one of the last rolls, but it appears that it didn't. The parts that need to stay intact did, and the parts that need to disappear disappeared.

What is very fortunate in addition is that none of the heavy bits collected a following car.

[xflow7]

Originally posted by Punisher6


It was a freak mechanical failure, the wing came off. No reason to over react. Thank God she is ok though, my heart just sunk when I saw that wreck.

I agree, I hope it stays. Having said that, freak mechanical and tire failures do happen so I wouldn't be surprised if CC decides they don't want to chance that corner.

And my reaction to the accident happening was the same.

[Rockford]

I absolutely feared the worse when I saw the crash - it was the first time I had that bad feeling in my stomach since Greg Moore. Really pleased to hear that she's ok.

[The First MH]

When I saw the crash I absolutely thought there was no way in hell she could have survived that. At least not without major injuries. I kept thinking that they should red flag the race - who cares who wins after seeing a crash like that! Then she's walking out and smiling, and waving, and being intervieded. Holy crap! She's OK?!

Just amazed - and pleased - to see she's OK

[PEW]

As a woman, I was/am in tears- amazing survival.

[Punisher6]

Originally posted by PEW
As a woman, I was/am in tears- amazing survival.

Built in air bags?

I'm just kidding!! Don't jump all over me!

I was in tears also, especially when I saw she was ok. I feared the worst like many others here.

[scheivlak]

Originally posted by Rockford
I absolutely feared the worse when I saw the crash - it was the first time I had that bad feeling in my stomach since Greg Moore. Really pleased to hear that she's ok.

For me it was the first time since Burti's shunt at Spa 2001. The fact that he survived that -of course quite different- crash pretty well gave me just that glimmer of hope.
Still I'm really amazed she survived like this

[Juan Kerr]

Originally posted by Punisher6


It was a freak mechanical failure, the wing came off. No reason to over react. Thank God she is ok though, my heart just sunk when I saw that wreck.

No different to Kimi's failure at Hockenheim I don't think Champcars deserve any critisism at all, an F1 is designed to breakup just like that, that's how you dissipate the energy.
I feared the worst for Katherine and its great news that's she's fine.