Full Throttle

You are browsing the archives of 2004 December.

Make of this what you will.
Rome - A former Ferrari team doctor, Benigno Bartoletti, has said that close to one third of Grand Prix drivers takes cocaine.
“At races, there is a lot of cocaine and in Formula One, it could be as many as one third of all drivers who take cocaine,” the 68-year-old doctor [...]

LONDON, Dec. 28 (Xinhuanet) — F1 team McLaren on Tuesday gave their thumbs-up to last season’s performance of Chinese driver Cheng Congfu, but warned that he faces a key year in 2005.
McLaren started to support the 20-year-old Cheng last summer by sending him to race in the British Formula Renault Championship and arranged for F1 [...]

But this is a more serious matter. Via Planet F1. Together with millions around the world Ferrari had to endure hours of apprehension following the devastating tsunami that hit southern Asia, as team members Jean Todt and Rory Byrne were vacationing in the area.
Todt, who was in Malaysia at the time of the massive earthquake [...]

Toyota

Via Planet F1.
Ralf Schumacher’s sense of humour has returned and after a month of seething he has embraced - and laughed at - his status as F1’s Porn King.
And he’s done it for charity. Ralf made the headlines at the end of November when he revealed he was investing in the Austrian branch of Beate [...]

Promoters continue with 52nd Trans Tasman Boxing Day meet in Auckland NZ, despite threat of $200,000 fine.
It is a case of “suck it and see” for Western Springs Speedway tonight.
Promoters are continuing with their 52nd Trans Tasman Boxing Day meet in Auckland, despite the threat of a $200,000 fine if they exceed their noise limit. [...]

Twas the night before Christmas and all through the teams,
Not a soul was working, all was calm and serene;
The wind tunnels were quiet, carbon fiber lay unborn,
In hope of a visit from St. Bernie come Christmas morn.
All the drivers were nestled in their villas and yachts,
With visions of wins, and no care for the have-nots;
While [...]

High-horsepowered Night Before Christmas
‘Twas the night before Christmas, when all through the house,
not a race team was stirring, especially not Roush.
Their stockcars were built with incredible care,
after 15 years without a Cup Championship, Jack suddenly has a pair.
Nestled snuggly in bed laid all Roush engineers,
fabricators and crew members cherishing titles in back-to-back years.
Kurt Busch had [...]

Schumi ripped for missing awards: “I understand Birgit Fischer’s anger,” Matthaeus said. “These awards need the presence of the winner. Schumacher owes sport a big thanks. The fans want to see him live, not on video.”
The Bild newspaper, Germany’s biggest, devoted a long story to Schumacher’s absence at the event, including a picture of the [...]

If Bristol had a chimney, and Santa in it’s sight
He’d bring mega-zillion candlewatts, cars circling at night
If Phoenix had a hilltop, overlooking track and sand
You’d see him smile from way up there and wave his jolly hand
If Daytona had a beachfront, complete with cars and speed
I wonder if you’d have a race if ever was [...]

Crosby to attempt full Busch schedule with GIC.
GIC/PSE-93 announced the signing of Kim Crosby to drive the No. 93 race car for a full-schedule of 35 races in the 2005 NASCAR Busch Series.
The team also announced that Boudreaux’s Butt Paste, a Louisiana-based product originally created to relieve diaper rash, will continue its association with Crosby [...]

For the sake of F1 starting grid members during the ‘05 season lets all hope Toyota hasn’t utilized a reverse gear for the coming year, (well… at least those few that will be starting behind Ralf). Ralf Schumacher’s wife, Cora, has let the cat out of the bag during an appearence on a German talk [...]

FONTANA - Event organizers and sanctioning body officials were reluctant to declare the weekend’s GT Alive at California Speedway a success.
The estimated two-day crowd of more than 45,000 told a different story. The crowd on hand for the Japanese Grand Touring Championship and D1 Drifting trailed only the two NASCAR Nextel Cup races in attendance [...]

This is a sobering thought for any NASCAR venues in search of a second Nextel Cup date.
The announced merger of cell-phone companies Sprint and Nextel would create the third-largest U.S. mobile phone company. Adding Sprint as a partner to NASCAR’s biggest sponsor could lead to a second Cup race at Kansas Speedway — considering Sprint’s [...]

Deanne Davis has commenced season 2004/05 in impressive style after scoring second place in the annual Jack Willsher Cup for Formula 500

Sharjah, United Arab Emirates, December 17, 2004….. Although the World Championship title had been decided it was clear that drivers were ready to do battle today at the Grand Prix of the United Arab Emirates.
Cappellini in pole position quickly took a clear lead ahead of the pack ensuring that main rival Gillman was kept at [...]

Sharjah, United Arab Emirates, December 16, 2004

Hey you… yes you! See that button over there?
Yea that one, top right, that says Asian Blog Awards, don’t be a disenfranchised voter, push it (or click here) and vote for Full Throttle or my alter-ego Cranial Cavity. The “Cavity” is listed under Best Design and Best Philippine Blog. Full Throttle is listed under Best [...]

Although I generally agree with this Tennessean piece there are a couple odd references that could have been stated more clearly, or not at all.
NASCAR’s accident and spin rates during the past four years have remained virtually unchanged despite several rule changes, a new playoff-style points race and the addition of more SAFER barriers.
USA TODAY [...]

For someone that grew up watching the ASA Series and see many of it’s stars move on to NASCAR it’s final demise, if it occurs, is truely sad.
Via Speedway Media.
The American Speed Association laid off most all of the ASA’s in-house staff several weeks ago. Only a skeleton crew remains in the sanctioning body’s recently [...]