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RESULTS REVISED • AMAZING ANZACS • BITS AND BOBS

The unofficial Nikon Indy 300 IndyCar race results changed Sunday afternoon at Surfers Paradise,  when the official results were released. BUDDY RICE/No.15 Dreyer & Reinbold Racing moved up two places, from twelfth to tenth. This was due to his being passed by two drivers under a local yellow flag situation – DAN WHELDON/No.4 Panther Racing and JUSTIN WILSON/No.02 Newman Haas Lanigan Racing. Rice started twenty-second to finish tenth, an improvement of twelve positions.

Attendance at the Nikon Indy 300 weekend was down from 2007, daily and overall. There could be any number of reasons starting with the economy, and poor weather on Saturday. This year’s Sunday figure was 94,465 compared to 102,317 last year. Overall this year the crowd count was 297,288 compared to last year’s 314,136. Still – nearly 300,000 isn’t to be sneezed at.

The race lasted 1:45:50.3868 and the average speed was 95.068 mph/152.997 kph.

RYAN BRISCOE/No.6 Team Penske reeled off a set of amazing statistics. He led the race three times for 39 laps, almost two-thirds of the race. His fastest leading lap was 105.000 mph/168.981 kph, on Lap 57.

His two Anzac compatriots did well in the stats department also. Race runner-up, SCOTT DIXON/No.9 Target Chip Ganassi Racing led for nine laps and was dogging Briscoe at the end, drawing closer by the mile.

Pole sitter WILL POWER/No.8 KV Racing Technologies has been on the Surfers pole for the past three Surfers race. This time he led for the first sixteen laps, building up a three-second lead ahead of Briscoe. Then he clipped the wall in Turn Five, limped along and retired at Turn Eight with broken steering. He said “Obviously, I am very disappointed.  The KV Racing Technology – Team Australia car was very quick. You could see how fast we were at the start of the race.  Then I backed off to save a lot of fuel, not pushing hard.  Then I clipped the inside wall and ricochet into the next one.  It was a really bad mistake, the worst of my life.  It’s was a very bad day for me and I am very disappointed.  But, I want to thank all of KVRT Team Australia for all their hard work this weekend they really gave me a great car and it’s a shame we could not finish this race.” Power has run the past four Surfers indy car races, with pole on the last three. However he has DNF’d three of the four times, all due to contact. The fourth race was a low result.

DARIO FRANCHITTI/No.10 Target Chip Ganassi Racing may have finished in sixteenth place, but he ran harder than anyone. The Scot turned the fastest race lap of 1:35.1552/105.743 mph/170.176 kph on Lap 54 of the 60-lap race. Prior to that, Briscoe had turned two fastest laps, as did Dixon twice.

Franchitti was one of six drivers who led the race, in his case for ten laps. But he lost position when he had to pit while leading and ended up at the back of the field and had to work his way back up.

E.J. VISO/No.33 HVM Racing was a double Rookie – to IRL and to Surfers. He started tenth and finished sixth, and won the Lincoln Electric Hard Charger Award. He led lap 41.

Six drivers changed the lead seven times. They were: Power, Briscoe, Dixon, Franchitti, ALEX TAGLIANI/No.36 Conquest Racing, and Viso.

There were three cautions for six laps, all for track disruptions: MARIO MORAES spun in Turn One and hit VITOR MEIRA/No.14 A.J. Foyt Enterprises; several cars tangled in Turn Nine including Vision Racing teammates, ED CARPENTER and A.J. FOYT IV, GRAHAM RAHAL/No.06 Newman Haas Lanigan Racing,  and DANICA PATRICK/No.7 Andretti Green Racing. Rahal continued, the others did not. A frantic Patrick could be seen furiously waving and gesturing to be pushed. The last caution was for a spin by Franchitti. There was a local yellow on the last lap when Carpenter and BRUNO JUNQUEIRA/No.18 Dale Coyne Racing came together.

The weather was beautiful all day without a cloud in the sky nor any weather hiccups. The temperatures ranged from 78-79F/25-26C while the track was 120-124F/48-51C.

After the race, JUDITH SPENCE, the Minister of Police, Corrective Services & Sports in Queensland said that this race will return. The Queensland government is absolutely committed to the race going forward. The Queensland State government has a five year contract for the event and for the Super V8′s. It will need to have an international flavor, so if the IRL does not return, there are other international series who already have their hands up for a chance.

The word keeps coming down that no decision will be announced regarding the future of IRL in Surfers until mid-November. Stay tuned.

OFFICIAL RESULTS

1    RYAN BRISCOE/No.6 Team Penske
2    SCOTT DIXON/No.9 Target Chip Ganassi Racing
3    RYAN HUNTER-REAY/No.17 Rahal Letterman Racing
4    ALEX TAGLIANI/No.36 Conquest Racing
5    ORIOL SERVIA/No.5 KV Racing Technologies
6  #*E.J. VISO/No.33 HVM Racing
7    HELIO CASTRONEVES/No.3 Team Penske
8  #*HIDEKI MUTOH/No.27 Andretti Green Racing
9   *GRAHAM RAHAL/No.06 Newman Haas Lanigan Racing
10   #BUDDY RICE/No.15 Dreyer & Reinbold Racing
11   #DAN WHELDON/No.4 Panther Racing
12   *JUSTIN WILSON/No.02 Newman Haas Lanigan Racing
13   #MARCO ANDRETTI/No.26 Andretti Green Racing
14   #VITOR MEIRA/No.14 A.J, Foyt Enterprises.
15    BRUNO JUNQUEIRA/No.18 Dale Coyne Racing
16    DARIO FRANCHITTI/No.10 Target Chip Ganassi Racing
17   #A.J. FOYT IV/Vision Racing
18   #DANICA PATRICK/No.7 Andretti Green Racing
19  #*JAIME CAMARA/Conquest Racing
20   #ED CARPENTER/No.20 Conquest Racing
21    TONY KANAAN/No.11 Andretti Green Racing
22   *WILL POWER/No.8 KV Racing Technologies
23   #TOWNSEND BELL/No.23 Dreyer & Reinbold Racing
24  #*MARIO MORAES/No.19 Dale Coyne Racing
*=IRL 2008 ROOKIE
#-SURFERS ROOKIE

RESULTS REVISED • AMAZING ANZACS • BITS AND BOBS

The unofficial Nikon Indy 300 IndyCar race results changed Sunday afternoon at Surfers Paradise,  when the official results were released. BUDDY RICE/No.15 Dreyer & Reinbold Racing moved up two places, from twelfth to tenth. This was due to his being passed by two drivers under a local yellow flag situation – DAN WHELDON/No.4 Panther Racing and JUSTIN WILSON/No.02 Newman Haas Lanigan Racing. Rice started twenty-second to finish tenth, an improvement of twelve positions.

Attendance at the Nikon Indy 300 weekend was down from 2007, daily and overall. There could be any number of reasons starting with the economy, and poor weather on Saturday. This year’s Sunday figure was 94,465 compared to 102,317 last year. Overall this year the crowd count was 297,288 compared to last year’s 314,136. Still – nearly 300,000 isn’t to be sneezed at.

The race lasted 1:45:50.3868 and the average speed was 95.068 mph/152.997 kph.

RYAN BRISCOE/No.6 Team Penske reeled off a set of amazing statistics. He led the race three times for 39 laps, almost two-thirds of the race. His fastest leading lap was 105.000 mph/168.981 kph, on Lap 57.

His two Anzac compatriots did well in the stats department also. Race runner-up, SCOTT DIXON/No.9 Target Chip Ganassi Racing led for nine laps and was dogging Briscoe at the end, drawing closer by the mile.

Pole sitter WILL POWER/No.8 KV Racing Technologies has been on the Surfers pole for the past three Surfers race. This time he led for the first sixteen laps, building up a three-second lead ahead of Briscoe. Then he clipped the wall in Turn Five, limped along and retired at Turn Eight with broken steering. He said “Obviously, I am very disappointed.  The KV Racing Technology – Team Australia car was very quick. You could see how fast we were at the start of the race.  Then I backed off to save a lot of fuel, not pushing hard.  Then I clipped the inside wall and ricochet into the next one.  It was a really bad mistake, the worst of my life.  It’s was a very bad day for me and I am very disappointed.  But, I want to thank all of KVRT Team Australia for all their hard work this weekend they really gave me a great car and it’s a shame we could not finish this race.” Power has run the past four Surfers indy car races, with pole on the last three. However he has DNF’d three of the four times, all due to contact. The fourth race was a low result.

DARIO FRANCHITTI/No.10 Target Chip Ganassi Racing may have finished in sixteenth place, but he ran harder than anyone. The Scot turned the fastest race lap of 1:35.1552/105.743 mph/170.176 kph on Lap 54 of the 60-lap race. Prior to that, Briscoe had turned two fastest laps, as did Dixon twice.

Franchitti was one of six drivers who led the race, in his case for ten laps. But he lost position when he had to pit while leading and ended up at the back of the field and had to work his way back up.

E.J. VISO/No.33 HVM Racing was a double Rookie – to IRL and to Surfers. He started tenth and finished sixth, and won the Lincoln Electric Hard Charger Award. He led lap 41.

Six drivers changed the lead seven times. They were: Power, Briscoe, Dixon, Franchitti, ALEX TAGLIANI/No.36 Conquest Racing, and Viso.

There were three cautions for six laps, all for track disruptions: MARIO MORAES spun in Turn One and hit VITOR MEIRA/No.14 A.J. Foyt Enterprises; several cars tangled in Turn Nine including Vision Racing teammates, ED CARPENTER and A.J. FOYT IV, GRAHAM RAHAL/No.06 Newman Haas Lanigan Racing,  and DANICA PATRICK/No.7 Andretti Green Racing. Rahal continued, the others did not. A frantic Patrick could be seen furiously waving and gesturing to be pushed. The last caution was for a spin by Franchitti. There was a local yellow on the last lap when Carpenter and BRUNO JUNQUEIRA/No.18 Dale Coyne Racing came together.

The weather was beautiful all day without a cloud in the sky nor any weather hiccups. The temperatures ranged from 78-79F/25-26C while the track was 120-124F/48-51C.

After the race, JUDITH SPENCE, the Minister of Police, Corrective Services & Sports in Queensland said that this race will return. The Queensland government is absolutely committed to the race going forward. The Queensland State government has a five year contract for the event and for the Super V8′s. It will need to have an international flavor, so if the IRL does not return, there are other international series who already have their hands up for a chance.

The word keeps coming down that no decision will be announced regarding the future of IRL in Surfers until mid-November. Stay tuned.

OFFICIAL RESULTS

1    RYAN BRISCOE/No.6 Team Penske
2    SCOTT DIXON/No.9 Target Chip Ganassi Racing
3    RYAN HUNTER-REAY/No.17 Rahal Letterman Racing
4    ALEX TAGLIANI/No.36 Conquest Racing
5    ORIOL SERVIA/No.5 KV Racing Technologies
6  #*E.J. VISO/No.33 HVM Racing
7    HELIO CASTRONEVES/No.3 Team Penske
8  #*HIDEKI MUTOH/No.27 Andretti Green Racing
9   *GRAHAM RAHAL/No.06 Newman Haas Lanigan Racing
10   #BUDDY RICE/No.15 Dreyer & Reinbold Racing
11   #DAN WHELDON/No.4 Panther Racing
12   *JUSTIN WILSON/No.02 Newman Haas Lanigan Racing
13   #MARCO ANDRETTI/No.26 Andretti Green Racing
14   #VITOR MEIRA/No.14 A.J, Foyt Enterprises.
15    BRUNO JUNQUEIRA/No.18 Dale Coyne Racing
16    DARIO FRANCHITTI/No.10 Target Chip Ganassi Racing
17   #A.J. FOYT IV/Vision Racing
18   #DANICA PATRICK/No.7 Andretti Green Racing
19  #*JAIME CAMARA/Conquest Racing
20   #ED CARPENTER/No.20 Conquest Racing
21    TONY KANAAN/No.11 Andretti Green Racing
22   *WILL POWER/No.8 KV Racing Technologies
23   #TOWNSEND BELL/No.23 Dreyer & Reinbold Racing
24  #*MARIO MORAES/No.19 Dale Coyne Racing
*=IRL 2008 ROOKIE
#-SURFERS ROOKIE

AUSSIE RULES • LOCAL LAD MAKES GOOD • POWERLESS AGAIN

RYAN BRISCOE/No.6 Team Penske won the Nikon Indy 300 Indy Racing League IndyCar race in Surfers Paradise Sunday. The Aussie led the most laps and celebrated his victory by doing doughnuts in front of the home town fans. He is the first Australian driver to win the Surfers race, and is the seventeenth different winner in 19 races. The only driver to repeat twice was SEBASTIEN BOURDAIS, who raced for Newman Haas Lanigan Racing, and now is racing F1 overseas.

The margin of victory was 0.5019 seconds ahead of Aussie native-New Zealand citizen SCOTT DIXON/No.9 Target Chip Ganassi Racing who finished second.

Briscoe said “What a race, what a way to finish the year and kick off ’09. It is a dream come true. Team Penske gave me a perfect car. Dixon was gaining on me. I just had to keep it off the wall. I had a strong car. Just a great day.”

Third was American RYAN HUNTER-REAY/No.17 Rahal Letterman, who won the 2003 Surfers Champ Car World Series race as a Rookie, the first American rookie to win a Champ Car race in 20 years, and one of only five Americans who have won this race. This is RHR’s first full season with RHL.

Fourth and fifth were ALEX TAGLIANI/No.36 Conquest Racing and ORIOL SERVIA/No.5 KV Racing Technologies.

This was the first time in Australia for the IRL cars, and everyone with whom I spoke or listened to wants the race to return.

Powerful Will, who had been fastest in every session all weekend and started the race on pole, had the Surfers pole jinx bite him again. Another DNF. He’s had three poles and three DNF’s and one poor finish in the past four years. While leading, Power/No.8 KV Racing Technologies clipped the kerb in Turn Five and drove straight into the belted tire wall, nicking his right front wing. He had been in fuel saving mode, not pushing the car, and made a mistake. He owned up to it straight away.

Power’s co-team owner, JIMMY VASSER, won the Surfers race in 1996 with Chip Ganassi Racing.

Race Rookie E.J. VISO/No.33 HVM made a splash on the Gold Coast, finishing sixth, after running as high as second in his first ever Surfers race. Twice he was told by Race Control to move over: once to let Servia by because he cut corner, and later to relinquish position because he blocked.

TONY KANAAN/No.11 Andretti Green Racing was a bit driver. His right rear push rod broke, from stress. Kanaan was able to save the car from crashing and is looking ahead to next year.

MORE TO FOLLOW

POWER PIPPED • WEATHER MAN FINALLY GOT IT RIGHT • CROWD COUNTING

The weather stewards finally got it right Sunday at the Nikon Indy 300 in Surfers Paradise. By the end of the half hour Indy Racing League IndyCar warm-up at 9 am local time, the temperature had warmed up to 77 degrees F/25C, with the track temperature at 100F/38C. There wasn’t a cloud in the sky and a nice breeze wafted through the palm trees in pit lane.

Local favorite, WILL POWER/No.8 KV Racing Technologies, ran mid-pack most of the session, until he pulled out the stops at the end. The top driver changed several time in that last lap, and Power was last fastest. Others on top during that last lap were SCOTT DIXON/No.9 Target Chip Ganassi Racing; Power and then his KV teammate, ORIOL SERVIA, DARIO FRANCHITTI/No.10 Target Chip Ganassi, Servia again, and then Power. Early on RYAN HUNTER-REAY/No.17 Rahal Letterman Racing and TONY KANAAN/No.11 Andretti Green Racing led.

There were three cautions for cars on course. JAIME CAMARA/No.34 Conquest Racing slowly slid into a belted tire wall. While he was stopped, BRUNO JUNQUEIRA/No.18 Dale Coyne Racing came around and was able to stop just short of Camara’s car. E.J. VISO/No.33 HVM stalled after Pit Out and had to be pushed back to his pits, causing the second caution. The last was for RYAN BRISCOE/No.6 Team Penske who hit a kerb wrong and drove straight off into a belted tire wall. He was running tenth at the time.

All 24 cars were out for the warm-up.

2008 Grand-Am Rolex Series Daytona Prototype champion, SCOTT PRUETT, will be working for the Australia Channel Seven IndyCar broadcast. He said he was already over in Australia with his family doing some work with Lexus (which he races in Grand-Am), and was tapped for the job. Pruett is really enjoying it. When I asked if he was going to be the Pit Reporter, he laughed and said he was too old for that. Pruett will be in the announce booth.

The American broadcast team for ESPN consists of BOB JENKINS and SCOTT GOODYEAR in the announce booth – in the US, with JON BEEKHUIS live in the pits at Surfers.

The IndyCar drivers weren’t allowed to go out on rain tires for the warm-up. Usually the teams go out on wets to save their slicks. Usually the track is dirty and the rains help clean it up, and the teams can do a lap or two to bed brakes, check setups, etc. But here in Surfers, according to Joe BARBIERI of Firestone, the track isn’t that dirty because of all the different cars going out on the track, including two races before the IndyCar race. Also, with the variable weather in Surfers, the teams need to save their wet tire allocation for that possibility. This decision was made at the beginning of the race weekend. Saturday during qualifying, some teams were caught out with the rain and there was a scramble at Firestone’s pits getting more rain tires mounted.

Firestone monitors temperatures during IndyCar on-track sessions. For the ambient temperature, they have a thermometer and software on a laptop which projects onto a monitor in Pit Lane. For the track temperature, the Firestone engineers have a portable, hand-held pyrometer, which they focus on the track from the pit wall, and the engineers program that information to the laptop.

Saturday’s attendance was 83,337, compared to the 2007 Saturday figure of 89,948. Maybe the weather scared off some of the folks, as well as the economic woes Australia is experiencing. Then there’s all those condos and hotels lining the tracks with balconies crowded with race enthusiasts who don’t need a ticket to watch the race.

The overall attendance in 2007 was 202,823 – not too shabby of a crowd count.