Full Throttle

MARSHALL, Michigan — The ASA Late Model Series held the Owner/Drivers Meeting for the 2005 season. With over a hundred in attendance the series made one of their biggest announcements yet.

GM Performance Parts has signed on to be a major sponsor in the series. The series will now be known as the ASA Late Model Series presented by GM Performance Parts. GM also has obtained the naming rights to the newly announced B-Main, which will be known as The GM Performance Parts Shoot-out; a 25-lap feature for all cars that do not make the 100-lap main event. GM will also reinstate the Winner

Kathy of Kathy’s PitStop fame, has posted a link to a Winston-Salem Journal article that quotes “NASCAR sources,” on plans to further expand the organization’s North American footprint:

NASCAR execs are justifiably ecstatic over this sport’s Mexico City debut, and they’re wasting no time planning ahead. The international calendar for stock-car racing for the 2006 season is taking shape, and this is a possible scenario, according to NASCAR sources:

And the “anti-Ferrari” crowd will have something to hang their hat on for a few days. Giancarlo Fisichella’s first F1 win came in 2003 Brazilian GP, when he wasn’t awarded the victory for five days until it was discovered he was ahead when the race was stopped. At least for his second he has had a chance to be on the podium and participate in the post race press conference.

But a word to the wise (I guess that should be the unwise.). Schumacher started 19th, and until a boneheaded move by Nick Heidfield launched them both into the sandtrap, he was headed for a top five or better finish. No limb standing here, Schumacher will smoke the field next time out.

Motorsport’s governing body the FIA has threatened to pull Formula One and world rallying out of Australia after a row at the country’s Grand Prix. The Supreme Court of Victoria intervened to allow Minardi to run cars that race stewards had deemed illegal.

If the court acted lawfully the FIA would decide “if a world championship event of any kind can ever again be held in Australia”, a statement said. The FIA is angry the judge intervened without hearing its case.

“The stewards of the Australian Grand Prix and the FIA were given no notice of these proceedings and were given no opportunity to be present when the judge heard the case,” the statement said.

“Apparently the judge thought it right to interfere with the running of a major sporting event, overrule the duly appointed international officials and compel the governing body to allow cars to participate in breach of the international regulations - all this without first hearing both sides of the case.”

Minardi boss Paul Stoddart said earlier on Saturday that threats made to the future of the Australian Grand Prix had been a factor in his decision to end the legal battle. He said:<em “No threats were made to me at all. Threats were made to the Australian Grand Prix and threats were made on what it would do and the precedent it would set in international motorsport. “I’m not doing anything to interfere with this Grand Prix and I’m certainly not going to be accused of interfering in the long-term future of motorsport.”

Australian Grand Prix Corporation chief Ron Walker said the issue would be raised by the Australian representative and FIA vice-president John Large at the next meeting of the FIA’s World Motor Sport Council later this month.

Walker said the issue raised by FIA in its statement “clearly have implications for many other countries which host rounds of the FIA Formula One world championship.”

Source: BBC MotorSport

HOMESTEAD, Fla. — Darren Law won the pole Friday, ending Chip Ganassi Racing’s streak of eight in a row in the Grand American series.

Law secured the inside of the front row with a best lap of 109.766 mph in a Brumos Racing Porsche-powered prototype. Qualifying second for the race Saturday on the Homestead-Miami Speedway road course was Matteo Bobbi, who went 109.579 with Lexus power.

Mike Borkowski wound up third off a best lap at 109.473 on the 2.3-mile layout. Luis Diaz was fourth for Ganassi at 109.288 mph, followed by Christian Fittipaldi at 109.281.

In his first Rolex Series qualifying session, rookie Bryan Sellers was the fastest in the GT class in a Porsche.

Most of the F1 paddock must be praying for the rain to abate prior to Sunday’s season opener at Albert Park Australia (Schumacher doesn’tt need an additional advantage). But for the time being Giancarlo Fisichella has the lead in qualifying for Renault before rain caused havoc Saturday. Fisichella had the fastest lap of 1. 33.171 seconds during preliminary qualifying. A sudden downpour over Albert Park 35 minutes into the session made the track slippery for the last eight drivers, including defending Australian GP and series champion Michael Schumacher.

“I’m really happy about my position. I’ve been very lucky, I went out in the right position and as soon as I finished my fast lap, it started raining,” said Fisichella. “I have a big gap with some of my competitors.

“I have a very good feeling

Michael Schumacher made an inauspicious start to defend his world championship at the Australian Formula One Grand Prix on Friday.

Schumacher was forced to retire from the season’s first official practice session because of an electrical fault and could only manage the fourth fastest time in the second session. His best effort of one minute 26.081 seconds was almost two seconds outside the lap record he set at Albert Park last year, and seven-tenths of a second behind McLaren test driver Pedro de la Rosa.

Although Friday’s practice session does not count towards qualifying and this year’s times were generally slower because of new regulations, Schumacher’s performance may be the first sign that Ferrari will not have everything their way this year.

The Italian manufacturer won 15 of the 18 races last year with Schumacher taking the chequered flag a record 13 times on the way to an unprecedented seventh world title. Schumacher’s domination over his rivals was evident from the first practice session of last season and it was no surprise to see him qualify on pole position then go on and win in Melbourne for the fourth time in five years.

Minardi may need one!

The spat between the richest Formula One team and the poorest took another twist Friday when Ferrari refused to give Minardi an exemption on some technical irregularities.

That forced Minardi to miss the first practice session for the season-opening Australian Grand Prix. Team owner Paul Stoddart said Minardi is in danger of missing the race if Ferrari doesn’t consent to use of 2004 models not in compliance with new bodywork rules.

Rules are rules is the old saying. And Ferrari is Ferrari, obstinate as always. Maybe they are afraid of running over Minardi as they lap them about the 10^th lap!

Without agreement from all nine rivals before Saturday’s first qualifying session

On 6th March, Scuderia Ferrari Marlboro will start its defence of the Constructors’ and Drivers’ titles that have not left Maranello since 1999 and 2000 respectively. These statistics mean that the Italian team must start the 2005 season as favourites. However, in reality it looks like being a tough and much more competitive championship than last year’s.

Tough? Certainly, as the calendar features no less than nineteen grands prix, making it the longest season in the history of Formula 1. The races are crammed into a similar time-period to 2004 and that means there are no less than six sets of “back-to-back” events (races just one week apart.) The European summer is going to be particularly intensive: there are five weekends in the month of July and there are grands prix on four of them!

Competitive? Definitely, as the many major car manufacturers involved in the sport are keen to put an end to the Scuderia’s winning streak. McLaren-Mercedes underperformed last year and results from winter testing indicate they have made great steps forward. BAR-Honda and Renault can also be expected to improve.

With the new technical and sporting regulations only being ratified quite late in 2004, Scuderia Ferrari Marlboro has decided to start the year using last year’s car. This is not quite accurate as the car, now known as the F2004 M (M for modified) has been adapted to comply with the new regulations. The chassis has been fitted with additional side-intrusion panels to meet stricter crash test requirements. As per the rules, the front wing has been raised, the rear wing brought further inboard and the diffuser (the rear part of the floor) has been altered as the FIA intended, with the aim of reducing aerodynamic downforce by around 25%. As expected, much work in the Ferrari wind tunnel has seen this figure reduced.

The incredible reliability of its V10 engine has been a cornerstone of Ferrari’s success and this year, the final season of the 3 litre V10 rule, will put an even greater emphasis on reliability. As from 2003, a driver had to use the same engine for one complete race weekend, but this year the engine must remain the same for two grands prix.

Perhaps the biggest rule change of all concerns tyres: drivers must now use the same set of tyres for both qualifying sessions and the race. In terms of the show, this probably means less pit stops than in the past, even though refuelling is still allowed. In practical terms, the rule means Ferrari has spent much of the winter testing in close collaboration with tyre partner Bridgestone, to come up with tyres that can last over 300 kilometres, rather than around 100, while still giving sufficient grip. A driver who has the skill to look after his tyres throughout Sunday afternoon and a chassis that is “kind” to its tyres will be very advantageous throughout the season.

As far as the sporting regulations for 2005 are concerned, the biggest change concerns the qualifying format. First qualifying takes place as usual on Saturday afternoon, but now, second qualifying takes place on race morning and grid positions are decided by aggregating a driver’s time from both sessions.

Scuderia Ferrari Marlboro plays the consistency card as far as its driver line-up is concerned, with Michael Schumacher and Rubens Barrichello embarking on the sixth year of their partnership, Melbourne sees several drivers having switched teams, with Minardi and Jordan featuring an all-rookie line-up. In the Jordan camp, Narain Karthikeyan has the honour of being the first ever Indian driver to compete in a grand prix.

Although it is a temporary facility, erected and dismantled each year, the 5.303 km Albert Park circuit provides an interesting challenge as the season curtain-raiser. It has a reputation as something of a car breaker, although engine failures are not that common here, even though they spend around 67% of the lap at full throttle. Actually, on a track where grip is poor, the most common reason for retirement is driver error, which might stem from the fact this is the first race of the year and even the stars of the show might be a bit “rusty” when it comes to racecraft after a four month break!

Although all the teams have tested extensively over the winter, Melbourne will be the first time that they have all run on the same track, at the same time and in the same conditions, so the weekend should provide a pointer as to the pecking order among the teams and drivers for the first part of the season.

Source: Ferrari 1

I guess many of the fans that stayed home in Cali decided to watch the race on TV.

FOX Sports’ 2005 NASCAR NEXTEL Cup regular season schedule got off to a record-setting start on Sunday, firing a 7.1/14 overnight rating