#Honda America Racing Team

[coimbrabertone]

The Full Story of the Andretti Indycar Team

On September 27th, 2024, Jay Penske's sportico.com website reported that Michael Andretti was relinquishing ownership of Andretti Global and stepping back into a strategic role.

Michael Andretti, who spent over twenty years racing in Indycar in his own right and spent just as long as a team owner, was stepping away from team ownership, handing the reins to investor Dan Towriss.

Now, a lot of people have speculated as to why:

Some people say that Michael and Dan had a falling out earlier this season and Michael ultimately left.

Others say that Michael promised Dan an entry into Formula One, and now that the teams have firmly blocked that, Dan demanded some kind of return on his investment.

Others yet think that Michael stepping away is a way to smooth over the friction between Michael and the F1 team bosses, potentially giving an avenue for the Towriss-led Andretti Cadillac to make it into F1 after all.

There is also, you know, the possibility that Michael Andretti was being entirely truthful. He simply wants to step back to a more strategic role rather than dealing with team ownership.

We don't know the real answer though.

Nor is it the topic of this blog.

Instead, this blog is a retrospective on Andretti as a race team, particularly in Indycar. How they started, how the Andrettis got involved, some of the high points, and what the team means to Indycar now that, in one way or another, it won't even been the same.

The story starts in 1993, when Barry Green (a senior Australian engineer who worked with teams like Forsythe and Kraco) and Gerry Forsythe himself (who had run an Indycar team in the early and mid 80s) partnered with Player's cigarettes out of Canada to create a Formula Atlantic team, with Quebecois drivers Claude Bourbonnais and Jacques Villeneuve.

Claude finished second in the standings that year, Jacques just behind in third.

With a promising debut, the team moved up to CART in 1994, fielding Jacques Villeneuve in a Player's sponsored car. Jacques would finish second at Indy and take his debut win at Road America, to finish sixth in the standings and snatch rookie of the year.

Come 1995, the team experienced an ownership split. Barry Green kept Players and Villeneuve initially, while Gerry Forsythe started his own team with Teo Fabi - who had previously driven for Forsythe in 1983 - as the driver.

That didn't stop Team Green from continuing to be successful.

Villeneuve won the season opening Grand Prix of Miami, the Indianapolis 500, Road America yet again, and Cleveland to win the championship.

All of this was enough for Frank Williams to snatch Villeneuve out of Indycar and bring him over to Formula One.

Furthermore, Forsythe secured the Player's sponsorship for his own team for 1996, hiring Greg Moore to drive.

Meanwhile, Team Green had a pair of mediocre seasons in 1996 and 1997, with Raul Boesel and Parker Johnstone, respectively, however, by 1998, the team was ready to compete.

Barry's brother Kim joined in as co-manager of the team, KOOL cigarettes signed up as sponsor for 1997, and they switched to Honda engines that same year.

Then for 1998, they brought on Penske's Paul Tracy and Hogan's Dario Franchitti as drivers. Paul and Dario in those white, green, and gold KOOL cars would be defining drivers in those golden era of CART.

Dario struck first, winning Road America, Vancouver, and Houston in 1998, finishing third in the standings.

Come 1999, and Dario won Toronto, Detroit, and Surfers Paradise, whilst Paul Tracy won at Milwaukee and Houston. Dario finished second to Juan Pablo Montoya on countback, whilst Paul Tracy finished third.

This was Team Green's finest hour.

Paul Tracy won at Long Beach, Road America, and Vancouver in 2000 to finish fifth, but Dario struggled, and more than that, the two gained a reputation for crashing into each other. They crashed into each other at Houstin in 1998 (which Dario won), Gateway in 1999, Chicago in 2000...they were quite literally doing it once a year.

That wasn't the end of it either, since it happened again in Denver in 2002.

Anyway, also in 2001, Michael Andretti enters the story.

Now, Michael had worked with Barry Green at Kraco, but after that, Michael joined his father at Newman/Haas. From 1989 to 1992, Mario and Michael were teammates, and when Mario retired at the end of the 1994 season, it paved the way for Michael to return to Newman/Haas through the end of the 2000 season.

However, Michael wanted to race in the Indianapolis 500, and Newman/Haas was a CART diehard team. Thus, in 2001, Michael partnered with Motorola, Kevin Savoree, and Kim Green to create a satellite entry in the form of Team Motorola.

Michael won Toronto in 2001 and Long Beach in 2002 with Team Motorola, while also finishing 3rd and 7th, respectively, at Indianapolis in those years.

For 2002, Paul Tracy and Dario joined him, in 7Eleven sponsored cars - really a business-to-business (B2B) deal between KOOL and 7Eleven, effectively saying "come buy your cigarettes here!" - and Paul Tracy was pulling off a pass for the lead on Helio Castroneves as the caution came out.

Helio was deemed to have been ahead as Paul complained on the radio, saying that it was the IRL trying to cheat a CART driver out of the win, but the race finished under caution and Castroneves won his second consecutive Indy 500.

For 2003, Michael bought out Barry, with Kim Green and Kevin Savoree initially staying on as smaller partners.

Thus, Team KOOL Green became Andretti Green Racing, and they moved over to the IRL Indycar Series.

Dario Franchitti remained in the #27 car, picking up the Motorola sponsorship, while the 7Eleven sponsorship led to the other two cars becoming the #7 and the #11. The #7 would be driven by Michael Andretti through the end of the Indianapolis 500, while the #11 would be taken over by Tony Kanaan - Paul Tracy had refused to move over to the IRL, so he signed for Forsythe in CART instead.

Dan Wheldon, in a Jim Beam sponsored #26 car, would effectively replace the retiring Michael Andretti after the Indy 500.

In 2004, with the team adding on Bryan Herta in a fourth car - the XM Satellite Radio sponsored #7 - Andretti Green Racing would become the Indycar superteam. They had more cars than anybody else, their Honda engines were better than the Toyota and Chevrolet engines the competition were running, and the likes of Wheldon, Kanaan, and Franchitti would go on a tear.

Tony Kanaan would win the 2004 championship, Dan Wheldon finished second.

Dan Wheldon won the 2005 championship, Tony Kanaan finished second.

Also in 2005, the team achieved two massive milestones.

First, they swept the top four positions at the Honda Grand Prix of St. Petersburg. The race in Florida was the first IRL event on a road or street circuit rather than an oval, and Andretti dominated it.

Dan Wheldon first, Tony Kanaan second, Dario Franchitti third, and Bryan Herta fourth.

Second, they won their first Indianapolis 500, capping off a career year for Dan Wheldon.

With Wheldon going to Ganassi for 2006, while Chevy and Toyota pulled out - meaning Penske and Ganassi now had those same Honda engines that Andretti was so successful with - marked a bit of a stumble for the team.

Nevertheless, with Marco Andretti replacing Wheldon in the #26, Michael returned for the Indianapolis, the father-son duo finishing second and third, narrowly losing out to Penske's Sam Hornish.

Still, Tony Kanaan won at Milwaukee and Marco won at Sonoma.

2007 marked a return to form, with Dario Franchitti winning at Indianapolis, Iowa, Richmond, and Chicagoland to take his first championship. Five wins for Tony Kanaan ensured he finished third in the standings as well.

Also, Danica Patrick took over the #7 car, putting a woman in top machinery in Indycar for the first time. She'd finish seventh that year, behind Dario and Tony, but ahead of eleventh placed Marco.

In 2008, Tony would win at Richmond to finish third in the standings again, however, the biggest story around Andretti Green Racing that year was Danica Patrick winning at Motegi. Now, a lot of people diminish this win, saying that half the Indycar world was in Long Beach for the the final Champ Car race.

However, those people don't seem to say that for all the wins that Tony, Dario, and Dan Wheldon got for that team.

Furthermore, at this point, the IRL had won the war. Scott Dixon, Helio Castroneves, all the Andretti guys...sure it wasn't a peak field, but neither was Champ Car at this point. There is a reason that the two series had no choice but to merge.

In any case, the team was on a bit of a decline as well, with the team going winless in a 2009 season where Danica beat out TK by seven points to be Andretti's top driver that season, finishing fifth.

Ryan Hunter-Reay would join the team in 2010 - now rebranded from Andretti Green Racing to Andretti Autosport - and lead them back towards the front of the field, eventually winning the championship in 2012 and the Indianapolis 500 in 2014.

Meanwhile, James Hinchcliffe won at St. Pete, Sao Paulo, and Iowa in 2013 to give the team that one-two punch again.

2015 was another struggle, only winning a single win - Detroit Race 1 with Carlos Munoz - but the team bounced back in 2016, with Alexander Rossi winning the Indianapolis 500 in the Andretti/Herta #98.

Takuma Sato in the #26 would give the team back-to-back Indianapolis 500 victories with his win in 2017, the first ever for a Japanese driver.

Then in 2018, wins at Long Beach, Mid-Ohio, and Pocono, Alexander Rossi would finish second in the championship.

Wins at Long Beach and Road America in 2019 would give Rossi another title challenge, finishing third this time.

Rossi - and Andretti proper - would go winless in 2020, but the affiliated Harding-Steinbrenner car of Colton Herta won the second race at Mid-Ohio.

On top of wins at COTA and Laguna Seca in 2019 before Harding-Steinbrenner joined up with Andretti, this marked Colton's ascendancy at the team his dad once drove for. He would finish third in the standings in 2020.

He won St. Pete, Laguna Seca, and Long Beach in 2021 but regressed to fifth, whilst Rossi, Hunter-Reay, and the returning Hinchcliffe all went winless.

A win for Herta at the first IMS Road Course race and a win for Rossi at the second marked a somewhat better 2022, but with Penske and Ganassi continuing their dominance of the series, while Arrow McLaren emerged as best of the rest, it marked a serious decline for Andretti. Especially once Rossi left Andretti to join an expanding Arrow McLaren team.

To add insult to injury, Rossi in ninth was Andretti's best car in 2022.

This got even worse in 2023, when Rossi's replacement, Kyle Kirkwood won at Long Beach and Nashville, but he was eleventh, and Colton Herta was tenth.

This was bad.

The team was making a lot of noise about trying to get into Formula One, and it even rebranded to Andretti Global as part of those efforts, but how were they going to build their own car for Formula One when they weren't even doing well in a spec series like Indycar?

More bad news for 2024 as DHL left the #28 car - most recently driven by Romain Grosjean - to sponsor Alex Palou for 2024. Andretti Global went from four car super team in 2005 to mid table in 2024 - they needed to consolidate resources if they wanted to get back to the front.

So they did.

Colton Herta in the #26 and Kyle Kirkwood in the #27 remained, but the #28 was taken over by Marcus Ericsson, while the #29 of Devlin DeFrancesco went away entirely. The four-car team was down to a comparatively sleek three, and they hoped to consolidate resources.

Well, wins at Toronto and Nashville Superspeedway ensured Colton Herta finished second in the standings, while Kyle Kirkwood was seventh, and Marcus Ericsson was fifteenth.

The team bounced back somewhat, and things looked good in the offseason.

Sure, Andretti seemed no closer to joining Formula One than they had before, but they consolidated resources to improve in Indycar, while getting ready to move into their fancy new headquarters in Fishers, Indiana.

There was some grumblings that two teams held out on signing Indycar's charter agreement all the way up until the final moment, but it wasn't exactly clear who the holdouts were.

Then Michael Andretti announced he was stepping back at Andretti Global. That...was interesting. That could mean he was the hold out, or maybe not.

It could mean that Towriss seized control of the team, or maybe not.

It could be a ploy to win over the Formula One teams, or maybe not.

It's unclear what will happen to Andretti Global going forward, but this is the story of what has happened to Andretti thus far.

[pickingupmymercedes]

So, I'm pretty sure George is going nowhere unless it's on his own will. Toto is not the only decision-making person in Mercedes, and the others seem to be very pro George. There has also been a lot of media content of him lately, not only in European/Western media, but also in China. There is no reason to let George go, especially not in his current form. Toto has been loud to praise him in German TV, has been defending him and they do have a comparable relationship, they know each other since George was 15. In my opinion, the Max/Kimi talk was about who gets the other seat and not about having both of them in one team, and Toto really like to stir up the media sometimes. Even if George decided to leave the team after 25, there will be many teams to gladly pick him up, so we should not worry. It's nothing but speculations after all. (and I have not heard anything about that handover, but that would be the most stupidest thing Mercedes could do. Lewis won 6 world titles with them, Kimi has never raced in F1 before. That's even more pressure to put on him, and he will not be the number 1 driver from the beginning as he has literally zero experience. I'm really hopeful to believe that Mercedes know that and don't expect anything from him in the first few races.)

So, I'm not a Russell fan (also not a hater, he's just not one of my favs), but I've been a Merc follower for a while now.

F1 is not only about markets and advertising, but it plays a huge part in it. Specially since Liberty took over. And the drivers today either win enough to be constantly on the up or they have a strong commercial appeal (in a ideal world you get both).

I, particularly, have noticed a different approach to media from Russell's team this year (it was due, honestly) and maybe I'm biased here, or haven't paid enough attention, but it is his third year in a Mercedes, and he's not as commercially appealing as he should be (kind not his fault to some extent).

I have a pretty wide access to Chinese and Japanese media (because of my work) and, again maybe I'm being biased, but even Alonso sells better than Russell in those markets. It's also nowhere near the likes of the Mclaren's, Honda powered drivers, Lewis, and Yuki/Zhou.

In the Americas, his position is slightly worse tbh. In the US, the Ferrari duo, Lewis and Checo are the main faces, and I really thought he'd have some sort of easier introduction in Latam with his first win being in Brasil, but he's just not there, (again, markets I have easy and wide access too)

Now, in Europe, I think that's where his biggest selling pool is. His image sells to the old-money/heritage type (and I have a personal view that that's like 1/4 of the reason it's so hard for him to sell in eastern/latam markets) but in Europe it hits the jackpot.

All this to say, I don't think Max is in contention to a seat so he gets to show how valuable he can be (commercially), because he's already a multiple wdc anyway, he's gonna sell regardless. Russell, we already have a somewhat decent outlook. Kimi's the one we have no idea of.

I also wouldn't take what Toto says to the media to heart. Like, at all. For a number of reasons but the main one being his loyalty is to his money. He is a business man, first and foremost.

Do I think Mercedes is actively planning to get rid of Russell atm? No, not in the near future. But for 2026 maybe. And not only because of driving, or season results alone, but because F1 and the teams need to sell, and George's image sells to a very specific demographic.

Now, as for leaving only on his own will. Anon, please it's F1. It's Mercedes. They forced Lewis, of all people, to leave. The guy who won 6 wdc and 8 wcc with them. And I hope Russell's camp is not as dense as Sainz's and their blind belief he was irreplaceable (because no one in that circus is).

But I do agree George probably has a good couple of almost garanteed seats should he leave Mercedes.

[starkwlkr]

Hey, hope you're doing well 😊

I just wanted to tell you how much I enjoy your blog and the works that you post. You just have a style of writing that I like very much and makes me want to read more, even if it's about a driver or scenario that I typically wouldn't gravitate towards.

I was also hoping you might be able to help me with something. I noticed that a while back you posted some works about MotoGP and I want to broaden my motorsport interest/knowledge outside of F1 and its associated series. I watched the race last weekend and have to admit I was quite lost for the most part about how everything works and who is who besides a few names I recognized 😅

So I was wondering if maybe could recommend some blogs on here, creators on other platforms, YouTube videos or something like that that could help someone as lost as me understand motoGP a bit more.

Absolutely no worries if you don't want to, I just wanted to try my luck since you always seem so nice 😊

hi anon! first off, thanks for your kind words <3 i love whenever i have the chance to talk about motogp to anyone so of course I’ll help you out!

i started watching motogp in early 2019 because my cousin was watching a race and i thought it was interesting. i understand your confusing because trust me, i was confused as hell when i watched my first motogp race.

the official motogp youtube channel actually posted some helpful videos, in my opinion, about learning the basics to motogp.

motogp explained

race start

track limits

manufacturers and teams

of course they’re a big old (like two or three) but they’re still informative enough. i did send this video to a friend who also wanted to get into watching motogp.

yammie noob | motogp guide

i did find myself watching old races because i felt like this off season was the longest 😭 the motogp youtube account has posted some races.

here’s some races i love:

2015 Dutch TT GP

2019 Thai GP

2008 Americas GP

The entire 2006 season (personally, The Valencia GP)

here’s the current teams, riders and their racing number for the 2024 season :)

Aprilia Racing

Maverick Viñales #12

Aleix Esparago #41

Ducati Lenovo Team

Francesco Bagnaia (current world champion) #1

Enea Bastianini #23

Gresini Racing

Marc Marquez #93

Alex Marquez #73

LCR Honda

Johann Zarco #5

Takaaki Nakagami #30

Yamaha

Fabio Quartararo #20

Alex Rins #42

Trackhouse Racing

Raul Fernandez #88

Miguel Oliveira #25

Repsol Honda Team

Luca Marini #10

Joan Mir #36

KTM Racing

Brad Binder #33

Jack Miller #43

Tech3 Racing

Pedro Acosta #31

Augusto Fernandez #37

Prima Pramac Racing

Franco Morbidelli #21

Jorge Martin #89

VR46 Racing

Marco Bezzecchi #72

Fabio Di Giannantonio #49

I’ll keep this post updated with videos or accounts that keep up with motogp :)

[dystini]

Indycar - Social Media

Who, what, where to follow.

Social Media

NTT INDYCAR SERIES YouTube - videos go back 15 years. Twitter Instagram TikTok

Team Penske (Josef Newgarden, Scott McLaughlin, Will Power) YouTube - a mix of all the series Penske runs in. Go look for the Penske Games - they're hilarious. Twitter Instagram TikTok

Andretti Autosport (Colton Herta, Kyle Kirkwood, Romain Grosjean, Devlin DeFrancesco, Marco Andretti) YouTube Twitter Instagram TikTok

Arrow McLaren IndyCar Team (Pato O’Ward, Alexander Rossi, Felix Rosenqvist, Tony Kanaan) By far the most active and on-trend of the Indycar teams. YouTube Twitter Instagram TikTok

Chip Ganassi Racing (Scott Dixon, Marcus Ericsson, Alex Palou, Marcus Armstrong, Takuma Sato) YouTube Twitter Instagram TikTok

Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing (Graham Rahal, Christian Lundgaard, Jack Harvey, Katherine Legge) YouTube Twitter Instagram TikTok

Juncos Hollinger Racing (Callum Ilott, Agustin Canapino) YouTube Twitter Instagram TikTok

Ed Carpenter Racing (Rinus Veekay, Ryan Hunter Reay, Ed Carpenter) YouTube N/A Twitter Instagram TikTok N/A

Dale Coyne Racing (David Malukas, Sting Ray Robb) YouTube N/A Twitter Instagram TikTok N/A

AJ Foyt Racing (Santino Ferucci, Benjamin Perdersen) YouTube N/A Twitter Instagram TikTok N/A

Meyer Shank Racing (Helio Castroneves, Simon Pagenaud) YouTube N/A Twitter Instagram TikTok N/A

Indianapolis Motor Speedway YouTube Twitter Instagram TikTok

Indy NXT (Indycar Junior series) YouTube Twitter Instagram TikTok

Media/other

RACER YouTube Twitter Instagram TikTok N/A

Marshall Pruett YouTube Twitter Instagram TikTok N/A

INDYCAR on NBC YouTube Twitter Instagram TikTok

Nathan Brown (IndyStar) YouTube N/A Twitter Instagram N/A TikTok N/A

Dalton Kellett (former driver) YouTube Twitter Instagram TikTok (tech explanations)

Speed You Later YouTube N/A Twitter Instagram TikTok N/A

TikTok

Misc Caterina Masetti Zannini (Callum Ilott's girlfriend) Behind the scenes and Indycar tech explained, some F1 content. James and Becky Hinchcliffe (hasn't been updated in some time) Honda Performance Development - features all series that use honda engines so you'l have to search for the Indycar stuff.

Drivers Pato O’Ward Conor Daly Callum Ilott Christian Lundgaard Alex Palou

Instagram

Misc PitFit (The gym a lot of drivers use)

Podcasts

Racer's Roots - A deep dive into the history of motorsports and the genealogy of the racers we know and love.

The B1tch Stop is a podcast about motorsport hosted by Charlotte, Almay and Steph: an exasperated sports fan who'd make a better team principle than half the paddock, someone that reads about the aerodynamics of cars for fun, and a woman with a lot of opinions and no driver's licence. Follow for biweekly breakdowns of major race series (including F1, 2 and 3, Formula E, W Series, F1 Academy and IndyCar), the judgement of professional drivers based on their birth chart, and very valid and correct opinions about which drivers would catfish each other.

The Race IndyCar Podcast Race reviews and analysis from the fastest circuit racing in the world. Jack Benyon hosts, ex-Indycar racer JR Hildebrand adds expert knowledge, while a host of special guests bring colour and insight. Join us for the ride!

The Week In IndyCar The Week In Indy Car features one or more guests to weave through the latest news in North America's premier open-wheel series and its related junior formula. Like The Week In Sports Cars show, it's an interactive affair driven by listener questions submitted via social media.

Motorsport101 - covers F1, MotoGP and FE as well as IndyCar

Did I miss anything? Have a podcast to recommend? Send me a message.

[crystalracing]

Video ideas

How bad was Max Verstappen's dad in F1?

The story of the Japanese Kimi Raikkonen (Tora Takagi)

Why Ocon & Gasly's rivalry means nothing (Peterson, de Angelis, Heidfeld & Fisichella)

How unlucky was Fernando Alonso's F3000 rival in F1 & Indycar? (Bruno junquiera)

How unlucky was Senna's local rival in F1 & Indycar? (Raul Boesel)

When did Fernando Alonso peak in F1?

How 2003 Australian Grand Prix changed F1 forever

How bad was Kevin Magnussen's dad in F1?

Why have Japanese & Asian drivers never won in F1?

How 1999 French GP nearly led to F1's greatest underdog champions (Frentzen & Jordan)

How Ronnie Peterson's death changed F1 safety forever

How Niki Lauda's crash changed F1 completely

How AJ Foyt vs Mario Andretti made Indy 500 America's most famous car race

How great was Audi in 1930s F1?

Why the greatest Italian driver would destroy today's F1 stars (Tazio Nuvolari)

How bad was Nelson Piquet Jr in F1?

How good was Johnny Herbert in F1?

How unlucky was Lewis Hamilton in 2012?

How a politician nearly became Argentina's 2nd F1 champion (Reutemann & FISA-FOCA war)

How Ferrari destroyed Vettel for good

How great was Kimi Raikkonen in F1?

How good was Kimi Raikkonen's hero in F1 (James Hunt)

How good were BAR-Honda in F1?

How good were BMW in F1?

How Ford Cosworth changed F1 forever

How Lotus & Colin Chapman changed F1 forever

How Ayrton Senna's death killed off independent F1 teams

Why Lewis Hamilton is wrong about diversity in F1 (Story of Prince Bira)

How McLaren redefined professionalism in F1 (Lauda, Prost & Ron Dennis)

Why Paul Tracy wrongly lost 2002 Indy 500 (CART vs IRL)

How Gilles Villeneuve’s death nearly ended Ferrari & F1 (FISA-FOCA war)

How Prost & Senna made F1 so popular (how the media reported on their rivalry)

Was Keke Rosberg lucky to win 1982 F1 championship?

How Nico Rosberg's 2016 championship win changed F1

How Toyota changed F1 for worse (and ruined independent teams)

From Jordan to Aston Martin: victory against all odds

The story of F1's forgotten Robocop (Alessandro Nannini)

What Fernando Alonso's success taught F1 about marketing (Spain)

How Daniel Ricciardo redefined marketing in F1

The story of how the Finnish Ayrton Senna (Kimi) became an internet meme

How the Japanese Lance Stroll heralded the rise of F1 pay drivers (Satoru Nakajima, Pedro Diniz, Montermini, Ghinzani, Tarquini, Schneider, Dalmas, Zunino & Rebaque)

How a Brazilian backmarker was sacrificed for Michael Schumacher (Roberto Moreno)

How good were Michael Schumacher's team-mates in F1?

How bad was Michael Schumacher at Mercedes?

Why Sergio Perez proves how midfielders are overrated in F1 (Fisichella, Johansson, Bottas)

How a Belgian prisoner handed Michael Schumacher his F1 break (Bertrand Gachot & Jean-Marc Bosman)

Why we will never see a race like 1996 Monaco GP again

How 1997 Canadian GP destroyed France's next superstar (Olivier Panis)

Why Juan Pablo Montoya was feared by Schumacher, Alonso & Kimi (old school)

How Jacques Villeneuve changed F1 social media without even trying

How Mansell & Piquet became tabloid heroes & villains in F1

How a fat Australian set Williams on the path to F1 glory (Alan Jones)

How 1984 Monaco GP redefined rookies in F1 (Senna & Bellof)

How Brazil's original Senna changed F1 & Indycar for better & worse (Emmo Fittipaldi, his team sucked & he became the first foreign Indycar champion)

How 1989 Ferrari reworked F1 car design

How Jenson Button made rookies hot property in F1

How 1998 Belgian GP lost Jordan another Schumacher (how Ralf left for Williams)

Who was better: Hakkinen or Raikkonen?

Who are Ferrari's true rivals in F1? (Clue: themselves)

Why the French Fernando Alonso should have won 7 F1 world titles (Prost)

How the death of Helmut Marko's friend changed F1 forever (Jochen Rindt)

How 1999 Malaysian GP changed F1 forever (new circuit, title fight, Schumi's return from injury)

Why F1 flopped in America before Liberty Media (DTS, poor tracks, 2005 Indygate, few American drivers, NASCAR & Indycar)

Why are there no more Fangios in F1 from Argentina nor South Africa?

How F1 contributed to the rise of Russia & Putin (Max Mosley, Life F1, Hungarian GP, China, Middle East & Marussia, Midland)

How an Australian farmer upset the odds in F1 (Jack Brabham)

How a fat Italian redefined F1 team management (Flavio Briatore)

How a motorcycle dealer made F1 popular (Bernie Ecclestone)

How Red Bull & F1 made each other BIGGER brands

Why F1, Ferrari & Mercedes are synonymous with each other

Aston Martin & Honda: A recipe for F1 disaster?!

Have Red Bull ruined their rookies' F1 careers? (Answer: No)

How Ferrari crushed the F1 career of their last Italian driver (Ivan Capelli)

Why Alfa Romeo failed in F1 again (50s & 80s, brand image and Ferrari)

How a Frenchman dominated Indycar & flopped at Red Bull F1's B team (Bourdais)

Why Silverstone, Monaco & Monza mean EVERYTHING to F1

He won Le Mans 6 times & Dakar, but never a F1 title (Jacky Ickx)

How sacking a Spanish backmarker helped Lewis Hamilton in F1 (de la Rosa)

How an American's tantrum led to Red Bull domination (Scott Speed)

How Jules Bianchi's death killed off the independent F1 teams forever

Why Lewis Hamilton DOMINATES F1 social media

How Max Verstappen became the antithesis to Lewis Hamilton in F1

How McLaren & Kimi Raikkonen nearly wrecked each other in F1

Why was Mika Hakkinen rated as Schumacher's greatest rival in F1?

How 2007 damaged Fernando Alonso's F1 career

Why did Mario Andretti's son fail in F1?

How Senna & Berger became the original F1 social media pals

How a lost diamond made Jaguar quit F1 (2004 Monaco)

How this Ferrari legend became a voice for disability (Clay Regazzoni)

The Damon Hill of WRC: the tragic tale of Richard Burns

[best-jimmy-buffett-song]

Listen to Twelve Volt Man here

Listen to Overkill here

Propaganda and Trivia below:

Twelve Volt Man:

Mike Nesmith, a member of The Monkees, once told Buffett about a man he ran into down in Baja who is the unknown inspiration for this song. During the Baja race, Mike broke down in the middle of nowhere and went to a small village to wait for his repair team. He ran into an American - a fisherman who lived in a small hut with what he called "the essentials." He had a collection of Buffett's albums, packaged margarita mix from America, an old Waring blender, and a tape recorder hooked up to a peculiar power system made out of a Honda generator and a Sears Die Hard battery.

Supposedly, it's one of Jimmy's favorite songs

[waru-chan8]

wait tell me the dirt... why don't you like lucio? and the other team principals

I don't think you need a reason to dislike some people, sometimes you just don't vibe with them. I also tend to ignore team principals because they are just the face of the team and they do and act as they are told/the best way to protect the team's interest. Having said that, I do have a reason to dislike each one of them, even if they seem childish to other people.

Lucio Cecchinello: I just see his face and I want to punch him. It's mostly that when he is interviewed by DAZN Spain, and he told one thing, but like 10 minutes later he and the team were doing the opposite. Also, at the start of the pandemic Crutchlow made some racist comments (something about the pandemic having started because a Chinese wanted to eat a bat or not wanting to shake hands with fans from Asian countries because "they were carrying/spreading COVID" but shaking hands with other fans) and he defended him. I think people started to pull older stuff where Crutchlow had said/done other racist stuff.

Alberto Puig: you see, when I first heard about MotoGP was back in 2003-2005 and back then, Dani and Puig were tight and Puig did everything to protect Dani. I came back in 2020 just to see Dani having retired and Puig having taken over Honda and dragging Dani thought the mud. It was implied that Dani's biggest mistake was to cut ties with Alberto and that's what made Dani big, a legend and a World Champion (in 125cc and 250cc) was Alberto. Also, I don't like him because as Cecchinello, when he tells the journalist something in the middle of a session he then does the opposite. And he always seems mad and wanting to punch someone. Not everything about Puig is bad, he also let Lorenzo retired even if he had 1 more year with Honda, and he has never put pressure on the riders. And when riders have had a bad crash, and they feel like they are not at their best and will be dangerous on track despite being declared fit by the medical team, he let them not take part. He does understand riders and shields them as much as he can, but that doesn't make me like him.

I'm not sure how familiar you are with Boscoscuro and Gelete Nieto. They are Moto2 team principal of the SpeedUp and the Yamaha VR46 MasterCamp team respectively.

Luca Boscoscuro: in the 2020 season, he had Yari Montella and Jorge Navarro as his riders. Montella wasn't delivering the result he wanted, so he replaced him with Fermín Aldeguer. At first, it was said it was due to an injury/give time to recover from an injury after a bad crash, but when Fermín could not replace him, brought back Yari to push him away the next race. Technically, it was a mid-season (? more like the last 1/3) swap. He did the same with Fenati and Alonso, and apparently he had done the same in the past. If that's not enough, he gloats that his current line-up is under a tight contract for 3 years (not sure if it started last year or it's from this season onwards) and Alonso knew for like 2 races before it happened that he had a shot at the Moto2 seat because Fenati could be fired. And now, he is so proud of Alonso and it's shaming Fermín, but in Americas, after Alonso rode with leathers that were too small and caused pain/lost of sensibility on his forearms, he was praising Fermín and called Alonso stupid. Basically I don't like 2 face people, I prefer them to be mean face-to-face than do what he does.

Gelete Nieto: last year one of his riders had a pretty nasty crash and when he was asked the next day about the crash, his first reaction was to talk about the cost and the extensive work the mechanics had to repair the bike. Later he talked about the rider, but I didn't like his first instinct was to talk about the damage the team had instead of the rider. He was a rider, so I thought he would understand and be concerned about another rider. Another point is that he has no voice on whom are the riders on his team, it's all on Yamaha (not even Vale), and he shows preferences and implied that riders coming from Asia take more time and are worse than Spanish riders. He has put Manu on a pedestal, and he refuses to see past it.

Toto Wolff: I won't talk a lot because people have him on a pedestal, but basically the stress he put Bottas with the 1-year contract and the Monaco 2021 pit-stop saying it was Bottas fault for not pitting on the right spot. The poor decision he and the team took in 2021 during the championship fight. Giving Russell the 2nd Merc seat after punching another rider after a crash. Putting his riders in danger with a bouncing car because he refuses to admit he is wrong. The way he talks, uses and manipulates the media and fans... And basically the way fans adore him and excuses him. Talk about this with someone else changing his name to Horner, Steiner or Brown and people will riot.

Okay, this makes me sound like a hater, and that's not me. I also love some team principal like Aspar (and the combo he had with Borsoi and now with Nico Terol), José Angel Gutierrez Boé (BOÉ Team), Aurora Angelucci (not because she is a woman, it's because she is committed to her dream of having an all-female team on MotoGP and working towards it) and Davide Brivio when he was in MotoGP.

[dizzyduck44]

Are McLaren playing a long game?

Honda will power Aston Martin from 2026, Ford will power Red Bull, Audi have bought a controlling share of Sauber.

As other teams are jumping into bed with engine manufactures, everyone seems to have courted McLaren and married someone else. So what the hell is going on at Woking?

The Mercedes engine gives (generally) the reliability Renault and Honda failed to deliver but for the team that has the fated words of its former Principal Ron Dennis hanging over its head “you will never be successful unless you are a works team” why are McLaren seemingly turning everyone away?

Well I can think of 3 reasons.

1. McLaren is it’s own successful brand, with luxury road cars and 4 racing teams. It would be foolish to sell that to another company (as Audi were looking to). Right now, McLaren F1 is the weak link in the chain. You can’t really sell a declining team or get the money and power you feel you deserve when you are at the back of the grid. So much depends on getting the car competitive with what they have. They can then flex the new infrastructure and their technical capabilities to any potential engine providers.

2. They are riding the growing success of F1 in America and are looking to be the first in the queue if Chevrolet or Chrysler want a piece of the action. They could then be the works team, making the demands, sharing what they have already learnt in Formula E and Extreme E about electric power. F1 is probably salivating at the mouth at this possibility.

3. They are hoping Mercedes’ turn in form could lead to pressure to drop the F1 team, at which point McLaren open the doors and say welcome back! I know this is slim chance but never say never.

Ultimately I have to believe they have a plan. Audi wasn’t the right fit, the fans are still too scared from Honda engines. No way in hell Ferrari will sell an engine to their great historic rival, similarly I can’t imagine another Italian brand betraying the prancing horse. They can’t really take another super car’s engine such as Maserati or Bugatti anyway, because it then compromises their own luxury car brand.

Which leads me to an idea.

4. There is a BMW engine in the road car. BMW group currently don’t have any of their group brands represented on the grid. Are BMW looking to make a return to F1?

[sbknews]

Honda and Marc Marquez to end collaboration early by mutual agreement

Honda Racing Corporation and Marc Marquez to end collaboration early by mutual agreement. Honda Racing Corporation and Marc Marquez have mutually elected to terminate their four-year contract prematurely at the end of the 2023 MotoGP World Championship season. With a year still remaining on the four-year contract between HRC and Marc Marquez, both parties have mutually agreed to end their collaboration upon completion of the 2023 MotoGP World Championship season. Both parties agreed it was in their best interests to each pursue other avenues in the future to best achieve their respective goals and targets. This brings an end to 11 years of collaboration between the #93 and HRC in which they achieved six premier class World Championships, five Triple Crowns, 59 wins, 101 podiums and 64 pole positions together. Marquez took his debut victory in the premier class aboard the Honda RC213V at the Grand Prix of the Americas in Austin, Texas in 2013 to become the youngest premier class winner and would become the youngest premier class World Champion later that year. In 2014 he defended his title and won the opening 10 consecutive races of year, going on to also claim titles in 2016, 2017, 2018 and 2019 as an HRC rider with the Repsol Honda Team. Both parties will continue to give their full support for the remaining rounds of the 2023 MotoGP World Championship season. HRC wish Marc Marquez the best in his future endeavors. Read the full article

[ferrarism]

There's a party where you MotoGP/2/3, WSBK/WSSP/300, F1/2/3, FE drivers/riders or whatever are invited, but there's a catch. They need to be dressed up as something that starts as their first letter of their name/surname or popular nickname. It can be in any language you know. It can be as general as Celestino going in blue jeans and a blue sweater with his face painted in blue with black dots, as he is going as 'cielo' sky in Italian. It can also be specific as Celestino as Captain America.

So who is going to the party, and what are they wearing?

oooh an interesting question I love this very much, ty!

first of all i’ve been dying to talk about this for a hot minute so Joan Mir is there in a hot catsuit because ”mirri” in finnish means a cat. and he’d look very good in that i’d reckon.

now with one repsol honda rider we can’t miss his teammate, Marc, who obviously went for the costume route with ”Pedro Marquez” aka spiderman, a very fitting costume

the ”couple’s costume” goes for Fabio and Tom. they teamed up to for ”Tom of Finland” look with Tom dressing up in period clothing as ”Tom” Touko Laaksonen, the famous finnish artist, and Fabio in a hypermasculine leather getup reminiscent of Tom’s drawings straight from finland. it’s all very gay.

Lewis Hamilton is once again the most stylish person at the party, dressed up in his namesake Louis Vuitton’s clothing. I’d imagine it’s a loose look with interesting patterns and a pair of sunnies to go with it.

Valentino Rossi took the costume party also literally, as he is naturally going for a doctor costume. i wanna say they are doing a couple’s costume with Francesca, going as derek and meredith from grey’s anatomy (maybe the doctor’s jacket is named ”mcdreamy”)

his prodigee, Celestino Vietti is also there in a more of an interprative look, as ”vietti” means drive or libido in finnish, and he decided to dress like the god of love and seduction, Eros, with baby wings and a halo added.

Francesco ”Pecco” Bagnaia and Marco Bezzecchi went for a couples costume as well, going for a version of the classic finnish song ”Päivänsäde ja Menninkäinen” (Sunray and Hobgoblin). Pecco is wearing all fluffy yellow and light fabrics as the ray of sunshine, and Marco contrasts him with a darker, earthier look as the goblin.

Luca Marini matched his eyes with his outfit full of wavy blues like the sea, mare. he wore a simple coloured jeans and jacket - look that had all kinds of blues painted on.

at first glance, it looks like Charles Leclerc has just worn his ferrari suit to the party. upon closer inspection, it comes apparent that the number is 95 and those are not shell logos but rust-eze, and he has actually dressed up as Lightning McQueen.

Alex Albon loves to dye his hair so naturally he went as the redhead Archie Andrews, in a comic book style with the letterman jacket with R and all.

Lando Norris is clearly dressed like Lando Calrissian.

Max Verstappen went for a roman emperor look like Magnus Maximus, toga and all.

and who can forget Oscar Piastri, who went for a full-body golden look as an oscar statue. all the paint took weeks to come off.

Jonathan Rea shows up to the party dressed in discount tags because ”rea” in swedish means for sale. he keeps flirting with his wife, saying he’s going cheap today.

Jack Doohan took the safe route and borrowed an old race suit from his dad, because hey, there’s a famous racer named Mick Doohan out there right?

whereas the other famous mick, Mick Schumacher, took his surname literally and dressed as an old-timey cobbler or a ”shoe maker”.

i’d imagine there’s a funny moment when Casey Stoner shows up very stoned to the party.

[coimbrabertone]

Champ Car: the World Series that Actually Was.

There's the old joke that Europeans always throw around, that we Americans invent our own sports that only we play, and then we call it the World Series. Now, nevermind that the baseball World Series features playing talent from all across the world - Shohei Ohtani, the top player right now, is Japanese, for instance - because there was an American sport that truly was a world series.

Champ Car.

The Champ Car story begins in 1978, when, following a plane crash that led to the deaths of eight top USAC - United States Auto Club - officials, Dan Gurney wrote the White Paper, calling for massive reforms. Dan Gurney was not only a team owner in CART, but his All-American Racers - under the guise of Anglo-American Racers - bad previously competed in Formula One.

In the 1967 Belgian Grand Prix, Dan Gurney won in his own car, the Eagle Mark 1, also known as the T1G. This beauty of a car, with its Weslake V12 engine, marked the only time that an American car with an American driver won a Formula One race.

When that guy says that your series is fucked, it's fucked.

So, Dan's White Paper led to the creation of CART - Championship Auto Racing Teams - which marked the team owners taking control of the series and organizing it on their principles. For more detail on this era of CART, I recommend Elizabeth Blackstock's Deadly Passions, Terrible Joys podcast, which recently did an episode on this.

For our purposes, the important thing to note is that, by the late 80s, CART was doing business as the "CART PPG Indy Car World Series" and began putting on events inside the US, but also outside of it. Toronto came first in 1986, there was a failed attempt to race in Fuji in 1989, a successful race in Surfers Paradise, Australia, from 1991, and a race in Vancouver from 1990.

There was a problem, however.

The reason that the Fuji race in 1989 failed was because the FIA intervened against CART racing outside of North America. CART's attention soon shifted to Surfers Paradise, where the FIA put pressure on the Confederation of Australian Motorsports to prevent Surfers Paradise from going ahead. Nevertheless, by 1991, CART was able to put on the Gold Coast IndyCar Grand Prix, which would soon become a mainstay on the CART calendar.

Shortly afterwards, CART and the FIA would reach a settlement: Surfers Paradise would be grandfathered in, CART had freedom to race anywhere they wanted in North America, but everywhere else in the world, CART would be restricted to ovals.

The first of these international ovals came at the 1.9-mile trapezoid known as "Emerson Fittipaldi Speedway" at Jacarepaguá, the former Formula One track in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. This came in 1996, as CART was experiencing the split, where the Indy Racing League broke away and took the Indy 500 with them.

In 1998, backed by Honda, Indycar would see another international oval in the form of Twin Ring Motegi, finally giving the series its race in Japan.

The loss of the Indy 500 seemed to mark CART doubling down on the international expansion, because in 2001, two additional international ovals followed: Lausitzring in Germany and Rockingham Motor Speedway (no relation to Rockingham Speedway, formerly known as North Carolina Motor Speedway) in the UK. Additionally, the 2001 season opener was on the Fundidora Park street circuit in Monterrey, Mexico.

Between Monterrey, Motegi, Toronto, Vancouver, Germany, Rockingham, and Surfers Paradise, seven of the series' twenty events were held outside of the US. It was supposed to be eight of twenty-one, however, the Rio 200 was cancelled in 2001 and the event never returned.

2001 was generally a season of disasters for CART, as its showpiece European doubleheader of Germany and Rockingham was overshadowed first by the 9/11 terrorist attacks, and then by Alex Zanardi's paralyzing crash at the Lausitzring.

2001, between various disasters, teams defecting to the IRL to get into the Indianapolis 500, and the Tobacco Master Settlement Agreement placing stricter limitations on tobacco advertising, marked the beginning of the end for CART.

However, two things happened.

First, the European Commission's Competition Directorate began a probe into the FIA in 1999, accusing them as acting as a monopoly on motorsports. They believed that the FIA and Bernie Ecclestone were using Formula One and their other series to block competitors, prevent rival series, and prevent contracted circuits from hosting competing events. By 2001, the FIA and EC would settle, and the FIA would no longer have a monopoly on motorsports.

In the short term, this allowed CART to replace the struggling Rockingham event with a "Champ Car London Trophy" at Brands Hatch for 2003, in the long term...well, I'll get to that in a moment.

Second, after the 2003 CART season, the series went bankrupt and it was eventually bought out by a trio of team owners, Gerry Forsythe (Team Player's), Kevin Kalkhoven (PK Raving), and Paul Gentilozzi (Rocketsports) who rescued the series. Buying a supply of Ford's Cosworth engines, they put together the Champ Car World Series as a successor to CART.

The 2004 CCWS season consisted of fourteen races, of which, Monterrey, Toronto, Vancouver, Montreal, and Surfers Paradise, were outside of the United States.

In 2005, Vancouver was replaced by Edmonton.

In 2007, Montreal would be replaced by Mont Tremblant, additionally, a Belgian race at Zolder and a Dutch race at Assen were added. Monterrey was lost, but it was not seven events in the US, seven outside.

The 2008 Champ Car World Series that never was, was due to add Jerez to the calendar, making for six US races to eight outside of the United States.

Instead, however, Champ Car merged with the IRL to create the modern Indycar series.

In 2008, Edmonton was retained, Surfers Paradise was a non-championship finale, and there was also the race at Motegi, which had joined Honda in defecting from CART to the IRL in 2003.

In 2009, Surfers Paradise would go away, but Toronto would return.

Motegi would persist until 2010, but the oval would be damaged in the 2011 Japanese earthquake and the resulting tsunami. A final race in 2011 - appropriately called "Indy Japan: the Final" - would instead be held on the Motegi road course, as seen in MotoGP.

Edmonton would last until 2012.

From 2010-2013, Indycar put together its own overseas race, the Sao Paulo Indy 300 on a street circuit in Anhembi Parque. Thus 2014 was the first time since 1990 that there was not an Indycar race of some form outside of North America.

To make up for this, 2014 had three doubleheader races, at Belle Isle, Houston, and in Toronto.

Since then, there was an attempt to return to Brazil in 2015 at the other Autodromo Internacional Nelson Piquet, this one in Brasilia, but that one failed to materialize.

Likewise, there was supposed to be an Indycar exhibition race at Termas de Rio Hondo in Argentina in either 2024 or 2025, however, the controversial President Javier Milei slashed government spending, which ultimately killed not only the Indycar Argentina event, but also the long running Argentinian Motorcycle Grand Prix in MotoGP.

Champ Car was a flawed series. It was the spectre of CART dragging out the American open wheel racing split for another four years. In those four years, Sebastien Bourdais won the championship each time, him and his Newman/Haas Racing team often seeming like the only competent team in a sea of Brazilian paydrivers and Formula One rejects.

That being said, it marked the high point of Indycar racing overseas and, despite only existing for four years, managed to build a completely new car - the Panoz DP01 - to replace its aging Lola B02/00 chassis.

There is a lot that modern Indycar is doing right - the return of ovals with doubleheaders at Iowa and Milwaukee in addition to the Gateway race, and now the season finale at 1.3-mile Nashville Superspeedway is great - however, one area where it is supremely lacking is international events.

The 2024 NTT Indycar Series has drivers from all over the world - my last blogpost was about a Kiwi doing 234.2 miles per hour around the Indianapolis Motor Speedway - but it does not have the schedule to back it up. The fact that one of the most popular stars in the series in Pato O'Ward is literally from Monterrey, Mexico and the series hasn't even seriously considered going back there is downright foolish.

NASCAR is making moves to potentially go to Montreal, Canada and Mexico City, Mexico as early as 2025. If NASCAR, with exactly two foreign drivers - Daniel Suarez and Shane Van Gisbergen - beats Indycar to international expansion, then the Penske Entertainment regime will have truly failed.

And that makes me sad, because like I made clear in the last blogpost, Team Penske is an amazing team with so much history and so many successes.

I just wish their series ownership was as successful as their race teams.

[motorsportverso]

TCR Word Tour -Brasil-Interlagos

Que foi o retorno da campeonato mundial de carros de turismo da Fia ao Brasil após 12 anos , que de 2006-2012 teve o extinto Fia WTCC no também extinto autódromo de Curitiba, retorno agora em Interlagos junto com o TCR South America e TCR Brasil , a pole da corrida 1 no TCR Word Tour foi do Uruguaio Santino Urratia com o carro de fabrica da Link & Co e no TCR South America e TCR Brasil Raphael Reis, com o Cupra da W2 Pró GP.

Corrida 1

Na largada o Argentino Esteban Guerrieri largou bem

Momento em que Urrutia pressionava Guerrieri para recuperar a liderança

Momento em que o Frances Jhon Filipi estava parado com seu Audi no meio da pista, por causa disso foi colocado sefety car na pista.

Alem do Audi do Frances o Honda Civic do Uruguaio Enrique Maglione estava parado em outro ponto da pista.

Disputa da 5ª posição entre Thed Bjork e Mikel Azcona

O líder nesse momento no TCR South America e TCR Brasil era Rafael Suzuki

Disputa dos carros do TCR Brasil e TCR South America

Momento da escapada do Marcos Regadas

A disputa entre Pedro Cardoso e Raphael Reis

A batida do Argentino Matias Rossi.

A batida foi causada por um toque entre Nelson Piquet Jr e Miguel Azcona que deu em uma penalização a Nelsinho Piquet de 5s.

A vitória da corrida 1 no TCR Word Tour ficou com Esteban Guerrieri e no TCR South America e TCR Brasil ficou com Rafael  Suzuki.

Top 10

1-186-Esteban Guerrieri-Honda Civic FL5 TCR-Goat Racing-14 Laps

2-112-Santino Urrutia-Link & Co 03 TCR-Cyan Racing Link & Co

3-199-Marco Butti-Honda Civic FL5 TCR-Goat Racing

4-168-Yann Ehrlacher-Link & Co 03 TCR-Cyan Racing Link & Co

5-111-Thed Bjork-Link & Co 03 TCR-Cyan Racing Link & Co

6-105-Norbert Micheliz-Hyundai Elantra N TCR-BRC Hyundai N Squadra Corse

7-155-Qinghua Ma-Link & Co 03 TCR-Cyan Racing Link & Co

8-196-Mikel Azcona- Hyundai Elantra N TCR-BRC Hyundai N Squadra Corse

9-62- Dušan Borković-Honda Civic FL5 TCR-Goat Racing

10-8-Rafael Suzuki-Peugeot 308 GTI TCR-PMO Racing

TCR South America-Top 3

1-8-Rafael Suzuki-Peugeot 308 GTI TCR-PMO Racing-14 Laps

2-30-Nelson Piquet JR-Honda Civic TCR-Squadra Martino

3-16-Juan Rosso-Toyota Corolla TCR-Paladino Racing

TCR Brasil-Top 3

1-8-Rafael Suzuki-Peugeot 308 GTI TCR-PMO Racing-14 Laps

2-30-Nelson Piquet JR-Honda Civic TCR-Squadra Martino

3-16-Juan Rosso-Toyota Corolla TCR-Paladino Racing

Corrida 2

A pole da corrida 2 com grid invertido foi do Húngaro Norbert Micheliz , com Hyundai Elantra , e TCR South America e TCR Brasil Rafael Suzuki , com Peugeot 308.

Micheliz se manteve na frente.

A disputa pela liderança entre Bjork e Micheliz

A panca do Uruguaio Enrique Magline com o Honda Civic da Squadra Martino.

O toque foi causado pelo Thiago Vivacqua no Uruguaio. Que foi colocado sefety car na pista.

Micheliz na relargada se manteve na frente novamente.

A disputa entre Gerolami e Galid Osman pela 14ª posição.

Disputa entre os carros de fabrica da Link & Co

A disputa entre Santino Urrutia e Rafael Suzuki.

Norbert Micheliz foi o vencedor da corrida 2  e no TCR South America e TCR Brasil , vitória do Rafael Suzuki.

Top 10

1-105-Norbert Micheliz-Hyundai Elantra N TCR-BRC Hyundai Racing Team-18 Laps

2-111-Thed Bjork-Link & Co 03 TCR-Cyan Racing Link & Co

3-155-Quing MA-Link & Co-Cyan Racing Link & Co

4-186-Esteban Guerrieri-Honda Civic Type R FL5-Goat Racing

5-112-Santino Urrutia-Link & Co-Cyan Racing Link & Co

6-199-Marco Butti-Honda Civic Type R FL5-Goat Racing

7-127-Jhon Filipi-Audi RS3 LMS TCR-Volcano Motorsport

8-8-Rafael Suzuki-Peugeot 308 GTI TCR-PMO Motorsport

9-196-Mike Azcona-Hyundai Elantra-BRC Hyundai Racing Team

10-77-Raphael Reis-Cupra Leon Competition (VZ)-W2 Pró GP

TCR South America

1-8-Rafael Suzuki-Peugeot 308 GTI TCR-PMO Motorsport-18 Laps

2-77-Raphael Reis-Cupra Leon Competition (VZ)-W2 Pró GP

3-5-Fabián Yannantuoni-Toyota Corolla-Paladini Racing

TCR Brasil

1-8-Rafael Suzuki-Peugeot 308 GTI TCR-PMO Motorsport-18 Laps

2-77-Raphael Reis-Cupra Leon Competition (VZ)-W2 Pró GP

3-5-Fabián Yannantuoni-Toyota Corolla-Paladini Racing

[dystini]

Indycar Driver Lore

Indycar Driver Lore Masterlist

Alexander Michael Rossi

Birthdate: Sept. 25, 1991 Hometown: Nevada City, California Residence: Indianapolis Height/Weight: 6’1”/154lbs

Rookie Year: 2016

Team: Arrow McLaren

Follow him on: Instagram Twitter

Career Stats

2016: Andretti Herta Autosport w/ Curb-Agajanian - 11th Overall 2017: Andretti Herta Autosport w/ Curb-Agajanian - 7th Overall 2018: Andretti Autosport - 2nd Overall 2019: Andretti Autosport - 3rd Overall 2020: Andretti Autosport - 9th Overall 2021: Andretti Autosport - 10th Overall 2022: Andretti Autosport - 9th Overall 2023: Arrow McLaren - 9th Overall

Podcast: Off Track with Hinch and Rossi

Ask Off Track Twitter

Off Track with Hinch and Rossi on YouTube

IMSA 2014 DeltaWing Racing Cars – Daytona 24 2019 Acura Team Penske – Daytona 24, Sebring 2020 Acura Team Penske – Daytona 24, Petite Le Mans, Sebring 2021 Konica Minolta Acura – won Daytona 24, Sebring, Watkin’s Glen, Petite Le Mans 2022 Konica Minolta Acura – Daytona 24 2024 Pfaff Motorsports – Daytona 24

2018 Baja 1000 2nd in class 2019 Baja 1000 mechanical problems 2021 Baja 1000 Class 7 victory 2019 Supercars Bathurst 1000 18th

-Co-Hosts a popular podcast with fellow driver James Hinchcliffe called “Off Track with Hinch & Rossi” -Competed in Season 30 of CBS’ “The Amazing Race” with fellow driver Conor Daly as his teammate. The duo appeared in every episode. -A music lover, he enjoys everything from alternative rock to country music. -Enjoys skiing, dirt bikes, wakeboarding, cooking, and cryptocurrency. Recently obtained his private pilot license. His favorite city is Lake Tahoe, California. -When unable to enjoy the great outdoors, you can find him fawning over his bourbon collection, hanging with his two dogs or binge-watching TV shows with his fiancée, Kelly. -doesn't eat breakfast -Makes good bacon -Mint choc ice cream -will only run when chased, prefers to swim -Obsessively researches things he is interested it (smoking meats, pool chemicals) -Has a pilot's licence (small aircraft) -Tattoos: heartbeat on inside left forearm near elbow. Unknown on ankle -Co-owns a plane with Ed Carpenter -Prefers to be called Alex -has a ‘candy closet’ in his basement, which is exactly what it sounds like. -lived with James Hinchcliffe when he first came to Indianapolis (as did Conor Daly at the same time)

Iconic/memorable moments

INSIDE THE RACE: Alexander Rossi // Road America INDYCAR 101 // ALEXANDER ROSSI Alexander Rossi shares his "Rossi's Risotto" recipe | IndyCar | Motorsports on NBC A Winning Strategy: Inside Alexander Rossi's Indy 500 Win! - Motor Trend Presents Alexander Rossi explains his Indycar journey and transition from Formula One Outside the Line: Alexander Rossi 7 Things with Alexander Rossi NAPA KNOW HOW Blooper Reel with Alexander Rossi Alexander Rossi + Avalanche HONDA PACE CAR // COLTON HERTA AND ALEXANDER ROSSI Alexander Rossi and Juan Pablo Montoya messing around with Tony Kanaan | 2022 Indy 500 Group Photo Breakout Room Highlights with Scott Dixon, Tony Kanaan, and Alexander Rossi Andretti IndyCar Drivers Test Their Pit Stop Skills | #AllAndretti | Indy 500 IndyCar's Alexander Rossi and Conor Daly on their The Amazing Race experience Conor Daly's epic reaction to Alexander Rossi vs Santino Ferrucci! Conor Daly & Alexander Rossi Visit Space Camp Doug and Drivers: Alexander Rossi Doug and Drivers, season 2: Alexander Rossi Alex's Aliens Butt Chugging Sunlight Guess the song Tiny Cars with James – Alexander Rossi Giving milk to Alexander Rossi James Hinchcliffe and Alexander Rossi: sharing a car at Daytona 24 Don’t touch the cones!!! How tall are McLaren drivers? Arrow McLaren: Red Flag Green Flag

Arrow McLaren: Red Flag Green Flag Again Measuring noses Alex making faces Which driver smells the best??? Wakeboarding Alex and Felix put up a tent Nashville Cowboy hat shopping Indianapolis Motor Speedway Fair Imitate Famous Landmarks Phone Flip - Drivers in the Paddock Part 1 Part 2 Driver Superlatives Part 1 Part 2 Trying Different candy part 1 part 2 Holiday Tree Blindfolded Challenge Holiday Family phototshoot Behind the Scenes Baking Challenge: Part 1 Baking Challenge: Part 2

Alex’s Creed obsession Rainy day activities Spill your guts game Intro Part 1 Part 2 Off Track with Hinch and Rossi – The Papaya One Area Codes Our cinnamon rolls Alex has a Pickleball court Go-to Karaoke song

Long Beach Runoff

Alex is known as the grumpy one, rarely smiling (so rare that it became a meme of sorts on social media of to comment when he did in 2022). This may be changing in 2023 with a change to McLaren after six years at Andretti. New season, new team, new Alex? Time will tell. He still isn't the most social of people, preferring people people (friends and family) over people (everyone else). He has a soft spot for child fans, often going out of his way to interact with them.

His conservative upbringing shows on occasion, particularly on his podcast where he and good friend James Hinchcliffe discuss the latest racing news and whatever else comes into their heads. The number of times James has said "No, Alex. We've talked about this." when Alex says something that could be considered concerning for a rational person to say (often related to those conservative views he was raised with) is numerous. Much credit to Mr. Hinchcliffe for having the patience to educate his friend.

Alex extensively researches (perhaps obsessively) what catches his interest, be it smoking meats, the PH of his pool, or weird flavored soda cocktails. He is generous to his closest friends, recently planning a "not Bachelor party" weekend for a friend. He is something of perfectionist and a (self-admitted) clean freak. He enjoys betting on sporting events, although now must do his betting through friends as he allowed James to parental lock the betting app on his phone.

Fanfic Lore

Good friends with James Hinchcliffe, James Hinchcliffe and Marco Andretti. The four could be considered a 'band of brothers'

Often paired with one of the others of the band.

Paired with teammate Pato O'Ward

[f1]

F1s growing popularity in America a factor in Hondas 2026 return | Formula 1

Honda says Formula 1’s growing popularity in North America is part of the reason why the brand chose to return to the series. The United States is Honda’s biggest market for road car sales. F1 will race in North America five times this year, with three events in the USA, all of which are contracted to feature on the calendar for at least the next two seasons. During Honda’s previous F1 involvements as power unit provider to McLaren, AlphaTauri and then Red Bull, there was limited marketing potential for its activities in such a key market as the USA. But that has changed as the sport’s popularity has grown under American owners Liberty Media. F1’s growing presence in the USA has been helped by Netflix’s Drive to Survive series, interest in which grew during the Covid-19 pandemic. Koji Watanabe, president of Honda Racing Corporation, said it was “difficult” to say how influential F1’s North American popularity has been on Honda’s return, but confirmed “it was one of the factors which led to this decision” and their presence in F1 will complement their other American racing activities. “The major reason for this decision is that our direction and the F1 regulation direction were in sync,” said Watanabe. “We thought that in the age of electrification, this will be very meaningful for us to participate in F1. “The United States popularity was part of the reasons. And of course, we’re doing other racing activities in the US, and we want to strike a balance so as to contribute to motorsports development, and ultimately contribute to the car industry’s development.” Advert | Become a RaceFans supporter and go ad-free Honda Performance Development, a performance subsidiary of the American arm of Honda, is already heavily involved in motorsport but has never been engaged in F1 and will not be part of the future project with Aston Martin. HPD’s two highest profile racing programmes at present are a hypercar built to compete in IMSA’s top GTP class and a supply of twin-turbocharged 2.2-litre V6 engines to more than half of IndyCar’s grid. Tests are already underway by HPD for the hybrid engines being introduced to IndyCar next year. “Talking about the changes from the past, as you know, in North America, F1 is becoming more and more popular. It’s quite popular these days,” Watanabe explained. “In the past, the United States, they didn’t show that much interest in F1. And I think therefore that was the reason we did not focus that much on branding and marketing, because the US is our major market. But looking at the trend now, our racing in F1 can be maximised in branding and marketing.” Honda’s Global CEO Toshihiro Mibe said he expects the brand to do a better job of marketing its presence in F1 when it teams up with Aston Martin. “We have to work on motorsports activities to try to enhance our brand,” said Mibe. “I think that is important. “We are still not sufficiently addressing this need. But Aston Martin, we will consult with them and together try to make it so that our F1 activities can contribute to marketing.” Advert | Become a RaceFans supporter and go ad-free 2023 F1 season Browse all 2023 F1 season articles via RaceFans - Independent Motorsport Coverage https://www.racefans.net/

[pixelswd45]

Hub continues INDYCAR sponsorship | Insurance Business America

The interntaional brokerage Hub International Limited has announced that it is continuing its partnership with Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing (RLL) as the primary sponsor of Jack Harvey’s No. 30 entry at the 2023 Honda Indy Toronto event. The race is scheduled for July 14-16. Hub will also be a full-season associate sponsor of the team and will appear on driver Graham Rahal’s No. 15 entry, team…

[rodspurethoughts]

2023 Honda Pilot TrailSport Takes on Ultra Challenging Rebelle Rally in Off-Road Competition Debut

Prior to its full reveal this fall, the all-new 2023 Honda Pilot TrailSport will make its competition debut at the 2022 Rebelle Rally, an extremely challenging eight-day competition through the unforgiving desert conditions of the American Southwest

RAYMOND, Ohio All-new Pilot TrailSport is the most rugged Honda SUV everEarly production, unmodified 3-row SUV will cover more than 1,500 miles of off-road terrain in Nevada and CaliforniaTwo Honda associates ready for adventure of a lifetime in all-women 2022 Rebelle Rally off-road navigation event Prior to its full reveal this fall, the all-new 2023 Honda Pilot TrailSport will make its…