Full Throttle

First it was Scott Speed who crossed, or recrossed more accurately, the Atlantic to distinguish himself in the ARCA RE/MAX Series after a season or two in the F1 Circus.

The possibility exists Anthony Davidson may reprise Speed’s trip across the Atlantic seeking employment.

Anthony Davidson could be poised to swap his dream of returning to an F1 race seat for guaranteed employment in the US-based IndyCar Series.

While former Super Aguri F1 team-mate Takuma Sato is being touted as a possible member of Scuderia Toro Rosso in 2009, Anthony Davidson’s future may lie outside of Formula One altogether.

Sato was this week granted a test with STR, set for Jerez in mid-September, but the possibilities for Davidson’s future remain few and far between, despite the Briton insisting that he would be happy settling back into a development role if it meant that he kept a high enough profile for race teams to remember him.

While former Super Aguri F1 team-mate Takuma Sato is being touted as a possible member of Scuderia Toro Rosso in 2009, Anthony Davidson’s future may lie outside of Formula One altogether.

Sato was this week granted a test with STR, set for Jerez in mid-September, but the possibilities for Davidson’s future remain few and far between, despite the Briton insisting that he would be happy settling back into a development role if it meant that he kept a high enough profile for race teams to remember him.

Since Davidson’s visit to Detroit, Panther Racing has signed fellow Briton Dan Wheldon to race the #4 Dallara next season, but is reportedly trying to find the finance for a second entry.

While current Panther driver Vitor Meira would be high on team boss John Barnes’ shopping list, Davidson is now part of that same list along with GP2 race winner Mike Conway, including several other IndyCar teams - with an impressive testing debut at Infineon Raceway last month.

Related articles:

• Takuma Sato offered F1 lifeline with Scuderia Toro Rosso

I tried, I really did.

In fact I burned up Google and the language conversion sites looking for correctly saying good-by in the Gaelic language. I turned up nothing so… in English: Good-by Dario Franchitti.

A well known, if not over used phrase comes to mind: “Life’s a bitch, and then you marry one, and then you join a Ganassi NASCAR Team.”

Yeah, go ahead Ganassi fans jump my butt. Before you do give me a plausible reason why a guy can have such a successful run in sport cars and IndyCar and suck hind teat on a boar hog in NASCAR.

In other news you can lose: Is there anything Kyle Busch can’t win at?

Kyle Busch and NHRA star Tony Shumacher raced a pair of street legal cars down Bruton Smith’s just opened Z-Max dragway Tuesday. Busch won all three passes down the quarter mile.

Those that follow Formula One with any regularity know without hesitation Bernie Ecclestone is a nitwit and isn’t afraid to parade that fact before the general public at the drop of a hat.

But even well known nitwits can outdo themselves, witness Bernie’s latest as he opines on London’s 2012 efforts to hold that years Summer Olympics:

“I can’t see how London, or anyone, will follow that,” said the 77-year-old billionaire referencing the recently concluded Beijing Olympics, adding he didn’t want any part of the planning for or conducting the event.

“I wouldn’t want to be involved. There is only one way down for anyone who is involved. If it goes well you are not going to get any credit, and if it goes badly you’re going to get the blame.”

Ecclestone added that he believes London – and its transport system in particular – will cope with the challenge of welcoming the games ‘with great difficulty’, whilst quipping when he was asked if he had any advice for event organizers: “I suppose pray there’s an earthquake or something so it doesn’t happen.”

Bernie, one question, if praying for an earthquake is the preferred method of avoiding a problem why didn’t you and Max “The Littlest Perv” Mosley do the same for the 2005 United States Grand Prix?

A week after finishing a disappointing 12th at Sonoma, New Zealander Scott Dixon won the pole for Sunday’s Detroit Indy Grand Prix.

Dixon, who leads Helio Castroneves by 43 points with two races remaining this season, lapped the 2.906-mile course at Belle Isle Park in one minute, 12.282 seconds at 103.090 miles per hour for his seventh pole of the season and 15th career.

“Man what a session - we had a fantastic car and I’m happy we got the pole,” Dixon said.

“All we’re worried about now is getting one more point than Helio. So far so good, but we have a long way to go.”

Castroneves, the only other driver mathematically capable of winning this year’s title, will start second after qualifying in 1:12.765, clocking 102.412 mph.

The Brazilian is coming off a victory at Sonoma that cut Dixon’s lead from 78 points to 43.

Oriol Servia qualified third, followed by Justin Wilson, Ryan Briscoe and Graham Rahal.

Last year’s winner here, Tony Kanaan, will start eighth. His Andretti Green Racing team-mate, Danica Patrick, rolls off 10th.

Related articles:

• Danica seeks another strong run at Detroit GP
• Notes: Briscoe set for busy weekend
• Detroit track built for thrills

Beijing Guoan driver Davide Rigon will start from pole position in tomorrow’s first ever Superleague Formula event – the Italian pulling out a stunning performance in today’s qualifying shoot-out at Donington Park U.K.

Rigon not only topped the timesheet in the Group B qualifying session, he set the fastest overall qualifying time, stopping the clocks at 1 minute, 18.746 seconds.

The top four drivers from each of the two groups did battle in the qualifying shootout. Rigon was joined from Group B by Robert Doornbos (AC Milan), Enrico Toccacelo (AS Roma) and Duncan Tappy (Tottenham Hotspur).

Group A shoot-out qualifiers were Borja Garcia (Sevilla), Yelmer Buurman (PSV Eindhoven), Kasper Andersen (Olympiacos) and Alesandro Pier Guidi (Galatasaray SK).

Rigon deafeted Pier Guidi (Galatasaray) in his quarter final, Buurman (PSV Eindhoven) in the semi-final and then took the pole position battle against Garcia – going even faster in the pole shootout, recording a 1 minute, 18.529 second lap to lead home the Spaniard by 0.822 of a second.

Rigon and his Zakspeed team were thrilled to earn the first ever Superleague Formula pole position for Beijing Guoan – the club that is now set to move into the Olympic stadium.

Each of the shootout quarter, semi and pole battles featured two cars on track, separated by more than five seconds for a single flying lap.

Rigon will be joined by Garcia on the front row for the first race tomorrow, with Buurman and Andersen starting on row two – the PSV driver earning third courtesy of recording a faster time in his semi final.

Andersen pulled out the performance of the shootout when he came back in his quarter final to defeat AC Milan’s Robert Doornbos after trailing in the opening two sectors of the lap.

Duncan Tappy and Tottenham Hotspur pulled out the best performance of the UK clubs, making the top eight shoot-out and qualifying eighth. Ranger’s Ryan Dalziel was 15th overall while Liverpool driver Adrian Valles was unfortunate during qualifying – suffering an alternator problem which prevented him from setting a time.

DAVIDE RIGON (Beijing Guoan): “I am very happy about my team and my car because we did a lot of work yesterday to find a good set-up and this morning the car was very fast.

“The car was great in qualifying but you not only need a good car, you need to make sure you don’t make a mistake. It wasn’t simple to ensure you didn’t make an error in each of your one-lap shootouts.
“There is a lot pressure to make sure you get it right. The 15 minutes qualifying session is just the start, then the battle begins.”

BORJA GARCIA (Sevilla FC): “I am really happy for myself and Sevilla FC because the car was strong and I did a good job. “We have to wait and see tomorrow in the races and it is important to start with a good result. However, I am looking forward to fighting with Davide and the other drivers right up to the last lap. “I think the qualifying format for Superleague Formula is unbelievable. You only need to concentrate hard and you don’t have to worry about traffic, red or yellow flags or anything else – just you and the car. “It is really hard to find a clear lap in other categories but here you can really show what the car can do.”

YELMER BUURMAN (PSV Eindhoven): “I hope the car is strong tomorrow, but we haven’t tried it yet on full tanks so it will be interesting to see how the car will react.

“We were struggling a bit this morning, but we improved quite a lot as the day continued. Hopefully we can keep moving forward to aim to make the final shoot-out next time.
“It was very competitive out there with a lot of extremely experienced drivers so I am happy to be third.”

KASPER ANDERSON (Olympiacos): “I’m definitely delighted to be involved in the championship and we’ve seen a clear sign that this is going to be a big success for everyone.
“The format for qualifying is really exciting for both the drivers and the spectators.
“I was really happy to bounce back in my quarter final against AC Milan. I pushed a lot but made a mistake in the first sector, but the rest of my lap was really good.”

Technorati Tags: SuperLeague Formula, Donington Park, Beijing Guoan

Yes, you read the headline correctly.

The Principality of Monaco is famous worldwide for its racing heritage, so A1GP World Cup of Motorsport is delighted to announce A1 Team Monaco will be competing in the series in Season Four. Not only will the red and white colours of the Monaco flag adorn the car, but the venture also has the personal blessing of His Serene Highness, Prince Albert II of Monaco.

The team will be headed by joint seat holders, Clivio Piccione and Hubertus Bahlsen. A former F3 and GP2 race winner, Piccione will also be only the second person in the series’ history to take on the dual role of being the race driver as well as seat holder. The 24-year-old Monegasque has enjoyed the patronage of Prince Albert II throughout his career, and also has the support for this venture from the Monaco Government and the President of the “Conseil National”.

Piccione says: “I am very proud to have been able to put this project together and I believe this new enterprise will bring a lot of excitement and glory to our country. It is a unique situation to be able to take on these two roles. I believe it is a great asset for me not just to be the driver, but to also have a real involvement within the team structure. I am really looking forward to racing for my country in the new A1GP Powered by Ferrari car.”

Monaco resident Bahlsen, from Switzerland, races his own personal collection of historic Formula 1 cars, winning his group in the 2005 FIA Historic Formula One series.

“Linking A1GP’s unique race format - being the World Cup of Motorsport - with Monaco’s heritage in motor racing is a thrilling opportunity. I am looking forward to making this partnership successful, both with Clivio and Monegasque supporters as well as with A1GP,” says Bahlsen.

The team will be run on a day-to-day basis by its Team Principal, Graham Taylor. The Briton, from Gloucester, has worked in the sport for 21-years, and has engineering and management experience from Formula 1 to Touring Cars. (Graham has been Super Aguri Sporting Director and a technical director at Bridgestone among many other racing related positions - ed)

A1GP Chairman, Tony Teixeira, is particularly delighted to welcome this new team: “No doubt Monaco represents the smallest population of any of our national teams, but in terms of a worldwide reach there are fewer places that are better known. Our aim in A1GP was to be a truly global series and each year we welcome new teams that help us in this. We are very proud that a principality with such strong ties with the sport has chosen to become part of A1GP.”

Technorati Tags: A1GP, A1GP World Cup of Motorsport, A1 Team Monaco

The Superleague Formula Championship is set to hit the track for the first time this weekend with the global debut of the new football-themed motor racing championship at Donington Park in the UK.

The new championship brings together the international passion of club football with the speed and excitement of top-level international motorsport.

Clubs from across the globe will be represented on-track with their colours adorning 750 horsepower, V12-powered single seaters – each time fighting it out for 1 million euro prizemoney at every round.

The Donington weekend will be the first of six championship rounds in 2008 with other races scheduled for the Nurburgring, Germany (September 20-21); Zolder, Belgium (October 4-5); Estoril, Portugal (October 18-19); Vallelunga, Italy (November 1-2); and Jerez, Spain (November 22-23).

The Superleague Formula grid for Donington Park will include teams from the UK (Liverpool and Tottenham Hotspur), Scotland (Rangers), Italy (AC Milan and AS Roma), Spain (Sevilla), Portugal (FC Porto), Netherlands (PSV Eindhoven), Germany (Borussia Dortmund), Belgium (RSC Anderlecht), Switzerland (FC Basel), Greece (Olympiacos), Turkey (Galatasaray), UAE (Al Ain), Brazil (Flamengo and Corinthians) and China (Beijing Guoan).

Each club will compete in identical single-seaters designed and built for the series by Elan Motorsport Technologies in the US. The beautiful music of the 750 horsepower, V12 engine was created for the championship by Menard Competition Technologies in the UK.

After the final round of pre-season testing this Thursday (August 28), the teams will hit the track for two practice sessions on Saturday morning followed by a new unique qualifying system.

Teams are split into two groups for 15-minute sessions. The top four cars from each group will then go into a shootout competition - 1st vs 8th, 2nd vs 7th, 3rd vs 6th and 4th vs 5th.

Two cars are sent out on track for a single lap time attack – each car getting the opportunity to set a time with their rival running five seconds behind.

The four winners of the quarter-finals, go into a semi-final battle. The final shoot-out for pole will be fought out between the two semi-final victors.

Sunday’s race format will also offer unique action with two races, the grid for the second event being a complete reverse grid of the race finish of the first event. The races will be be run through to a 44 minute time limit – at which point, drivers will receive the “one lap to go” signal.

Leading drivers taking part in the championship include a host of stars with experience in Formula 1, Champ Car World Series, GP2 and World Series by Renault including Robert Doornbos (AC Milan), Borja Garcia (Sevilla), Adrian Valles (Liverpool), Andy Zuber (Al Ain), Davide Rigon (Bejing Guoan), Enrico Toccacelo (AS Roma), Tristan Gommendy (FC Porto), Ryan Dalziel (Rangers), Yelmer Buurman (PSV Eindhoven), Max Wissel (FC Basel) and Alesandro Pier Guidi (Galatasaray).

“With the combination of football and motorsport, we wanted to create a race weekend format that was truly unique,” Superleague Formula President and CEO, Alex Andreu said.

“Our key focus is on providing excellent entertainment for the fans. We didn’t just want to copy what every other motor racing championship had to offer. Our championship will attract many fans who are completely new to motorsport and we wanted to ensure we provide a unique entertainment package.

“That is also why we have also placed a considerable emphasis on off-track activities to provide great entertainment for all the family.”

Off track activities will kick off at the Superleague Formula Central Stage that will be equipped with giant screen displaying on-track images. This area will also include entertainment from DJs, break-dancers, a freestyle football show, fashion shows, autograph sessions, interviews with drivers and prize draws.

World champions will be on track on two wheels with Chris Pfeiffer (World Champion in Freestyle Streetbike) joining forces with Narcís Roca for a motorcycle stunt show.

The Superleague Formula Football Zone will include a spectacular array of activities including a giant inflatable human football table – just like a normal table football game, but using real people. Penalty shoot-outs, radar shoots and an extra-large table football game featuring up to 10 players on each side are also on site.

Go-karting, radio control cars (featuring the colours of the Superleague Formula clubs), entertainers, comedians, cheerleaders and face-painters will also provide added entertainment for the fans.

Sunday’s race action kicks off at Donington Park on Sunday at 11.00am for the first race. Race two is scheduled for 2.00pm.

Cross Posted @ Asian Motor Sports

Related in the Full Throttle Network

• Bejing Joins SuperLeague Formula
• The Reds Go Racing - Liverpool FC join Superleague Formula
• Race for Superleague Formula Seats Hots Up

Technorati Tags: Superleague, PSV Eindhoven, AC Milan, World Series by Renault, Enrico Toccacelo, FC Basel, Donington Park, Tottenham Hotspur F.C

The final race seats for the opening round of the inaugural Superleague Formula championship have been locked in.

Stars joining the championship include ex-Champ Car World Series race winner, Nelson Philippe (Borussia Dortmund); Brazilian driver, Tuka Rocha (Flamengo); Spanish GP2 ace, Andy Soucek (Corinthians); UAE-based Austrian, Andreas Zuber (Al Ain); Danish ace, Kasper Andersen (Olympiacos); Italian, Davide Rigon (Beijing Guoan) and young British stars, Craig Dolby (RSC Anderlecht) and Duncan Tappy (Tottenham Hotspur).

The complete Superleague Formula field for this weekend’s opening round will feature:

3 - AC Milan - Robert Doornbos
4 - Galatasaray - Alessandro Pier Guidi
5 - PSV Eindhoven - Yelmer Buurman
6 - Al Ain - Andreas Zuber
7 - Flamengo - Tuka Rocha
8 - Anderlecht - Craig Dolby
9 - Olympiacos - Kasper Andersen
10 - FC Basel - Max Wissel
11 - Borussia Dortmund - Nelson Philippe
12 - Beijing Guoan - Davide Rigon
14 - Corinthians - Andy Soucek
16 - FC Porto - Tristan Gommendy
17 - Rangers - Ryan Dalziel
18 - Sevilla FC - Borja Garcia
19 - Tottenham Hotspur - Duncan Tappy
21 - Liverpool - Adrian Valles
22 - AS Roma - Enrico Toccacelo

Technorati Tags: SuperLeague Formula, Robert Doornbos, AC Milan, FC Porto, Tristan Gommendy

As long time and probably occasion readers know I’ve not been totally sold on the idea of another international open wheel auto racing series, let alone one that brands itself as SuperLeague Formula has with a tie-in to the “Beautiful Game,” football.

The latest to jump on this crapwagon bandwagon is the most successful club in the history of English football, Liverpool FC.

The “Reds” will make their racing debut less than 100 miles away from their Anfield home at the historic Donington Park circuit on August 30/31, the opener for the SuperLeague Formula series.

Liverpool becomes the 17th club to sign up for the championship and the second Premier League outfit – joining London team Tottenham Hotspur (Spurs). Local fans at Donington Park will now have three teams to follow covering the UK from top to bottom – Tottenham, Liverpool and Scottish side, Glasgow Rangers. (Here’s a short video of the race team unveiling in Liverpool.)

(Gee, wonder if their fans will get to see the live action, or will they get the shaft and have to pay an arm, leg and their first born to see the broadcasts as the A1GP fans are required to do? - ed)

Liverpool’s entry has given the opportunity to glimpse behind the curtain at SuperLeague’s finances. If your a football club owner it looks like a potential winner, if you’re a financier of the racing series itself not so much, more like a bottomless money pit.

Liverpool’s commercial director Ian Ayre is confident the club will feel the financial benefit of competing in the new Superleague Formula series. As well he should, it’s not only a cost-free experience for the club, but they are actually guaranteed to make money via a licensing fee charged SuperLeague for the right to use the club’s branding.

“We’re licensing our colours, our brand, into the series.” Ayre told BBC Radio Merseyside.

But wait there’s more…

“We get a guaranteed signing-on fee and each year we have a guaranteed revenue stream. The race series, the drivers, the tracks - all of that is covered by the race organisers and the series organisers.”

“We’re hopefully supporting [the series] and hopefully bringing some of our sponsors along to support it but we have no financial burden,” said Ayre.

I’d say Ian Ayre has a strange sense of what “series support” means, but your mileage may vary from mine.

Superleague Formula President and CEO Alex Andreu believes the addition of Liverpool will significantly boost the profile of the new championship.

“As a global sports brand, Liverpool is one of the biggest names in the world,” Andreu said.

I don’t doubt that, I just wonder where all this cash is coming from. It isn’t cheap placing 17 drivers/teams, 17 special-built Élan Motorsports tubs, and 17 Menard Competition Technologies V12 engines on a single starting grid.

Multiply that by 6 events and all the spares needed, plus 1 million euros ($1.4 million USD) in prize money awarded each event, and this is a huge undertaking.

I’d be curious to know what the sanctioning fee for each track is. Judging from ticket prices at Donnington (Sunday only: $35 USD, $57 USD with paddock access), they can’t be over-the-moon high.

Let’s face it, it isn’t F1, but for 57 bucks you get paddock access on race day.

To get that in F1 you’d need a multi-million dollar drivers contract, be a regular visitor to London sex dens to assuage your S&M sexual fetish, or wear short skirts and have silicone implants the size of hot air balloons. (or a billionaire Gnome - ed)

So that’s something, but still, where is all this cash coming from?

F1’s driver safety union, the Grand Prix Drivers’ Association, is concerned about Formula One’s forthcoming inaugural night race in Singapore.

The floodlit event, to be held on the streets of the Lion City at the end of next month, will take place without any prior pre-race testing under lights and that has GPDA concerned and allowed Toyota’s Jarno Trulli to bust out a carafe of whine.

“At the moment we still don’t know what the schedule of the weekend will be,” Toyota driver and GPDA stalwart Jarno Trulli told reporters at Valencia at the weekend.

“We are a little bit concerned,” the Italian admitted. “We go there, we haven’t tested, we don’t have any idea. It’s going to be a night race, it’s going to be the rainy season, so it’s not exactly what you really want from a safety point of view.

“It doesn’t look comfortable so far.”

Geesh, remind me again who’s allegedly the best drivers in the world? (Some make that claim, but I say the WRC pilots are, but I’ll leave that for now - ed.)

Trulli also made the claim it would be a waste of time comparing notes with the MotoGP riders who recently ran their first night event:

“Because riding a bike is different to driving a car. And they were racing on a circuit and we are racing on a street circuit. They had run-off and we have walls,” Trulli added.

Yeah but, it wouldn’t hurt would it Jarno? While there are major differences in the two disciplines one could get a feel for the lighting and any problems with glare caused by the lighting.

He could have taken a couple days from his less than normal packed schedule during F1’s break and checked the lighting in person. As one who’s spent a fair amount of time in the city I feel relatively confident in saying the locals would have been more than accommodating demonstrating what the circuit looks like at night.

Hell…, he may have been able to consult a local weather-guesser and learned the cities rainy season is from November to February, not late September. Too much to ask I suppose, better to look ill informed.

In fact today’s three day Singapore forecast is for early morning and afternoon thunder-boomers. That’s not to say it won’t rain during the event, but they will be isolated and generally light and shouldn’t concern the “best drivers in the world.”