[INDY] INDYCAR 2008

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Townsend Bell confirmed at D&R

By Simon Strang Friday, March 7th 2008, 10:08 GMT

Townsend Bell, Dreyer & Reinbold, IRL IndyCar SeriesDreyer & Reinbold have confirmed that US single-seater veteran Townsend Bell will share their second car with Milka Duno in the 2008 IRL IndyCar Series.

Bell last completed a full season in the IRL with Panther Racing in 2004, but has since enjoyed one-off outings with Vision Racing at Michigan in 2005 and the '06 Indianapolis 500. He will drive selected races in the 2008 season, which will include a return to Indy.

"I'm ready to get going," said the 32-year-old, who tested for the D&R Dallara at Sebring on Thursday. "There are a few new things [associated with the car], and obviously the driver has a lot of rust. That showed up on the very first lap. I've done 15 laps in one of these cars on a road course at Sonoma a year and a half ago, and prior to that I hadn't been on a road course in three years.

"This is just a lot of cobwebs getting out of the system. The first couple of laps when the track was green it was like, 'Oh, yeah, these things are pretty fast.' ''

Bell's first race for Dreyer & Reinbold will be at St. Petersburg on April 6, and team co-owner Dennis Reinbold is confident the former International F3000 and Champ Car driver will be ready.

"Townsend fits right into the Dreyer and Reinbold mold," he said. "We've seen what he’s done in the past in this series, and we’re excited to see him in one of our race cars for this year.

“We’re confident that we’re making great strides with our race team. To bring in someone like Townsend allows us to gather information from an experienced driver, and at the same time, he can help share information with Milka and help her continue to improve and gain."

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The united IndyCar Series suffered another blow overnight, when it was revealed that Walker Racing would not be entering a team in the 2008 campaign.

The issued a short statement revealing that it had been forced to withdraw its attempt to join the series after the Team Australia partnership, which team boss Derrick Walker formed in association with Australian businessman Craig Gore, was brought to an unexpected end.

The revelation, which leaves 2007 drivers Will Power and Simon Pagenaud without a ride in the new series, came a something of a shock, not only because Walker Racing was the first Champ Car team to commit to switching codes, but also because Gore insisted that the Team Australia programme would not be affected by the business and health issues that had forced him to relinquish his two-entry Australian V8 Supercar programme last month.

Notwithstanding a commitment for 2008, Walker's decision to withdraw - which sees him join fellow Champ Car outfit Forsythe Racing on the IRL sidelines - ultimately came down to the lack of funding. After a lengthy search for new sponsorship partners drew a blank, ex-pat Scot Walker officially closed his programme on Friday.

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Paul Stoddart has decided not to enter his Minardi Team USA in the Indy Racing League this season.

He doesn't think the team, who ran Robert Doornbos to third in the Champ Car standings last season, could be competitive in their first year of IRL with the merger coming together so close to the start of the season.

When asked by autosport.com, he said: "I did enough tugging round at the back to know I don't want to do it again. I had a taste of victory last year and it was very nice, so I’ll just take a sabbatical and see what happens.

"I think realistically 2010 is the first opportunity for Champ Car teams to become competitive, when the new car comes."

Stoddart believes the unification of open-wheel racing in North America was for the best, but doesn’t think many Champ Car teams will make the switch for 2008.

“What happened was good for North American motorsport, it had to happen. But it wasn’t beneficial for any of the Champ Car teams. In anything like this there are winners and losers and all the Champ Car teams were the losers.

“Newman/Haas will be there or thereabouts but I don’t think we’ll see many other teams go across there. Not because they don’t want to, but with four weeks until the start of the season it’s a pretty big ask to change your entire operating facility to a car you’ve never seem, on ovals you’ve never raced on, and to go out and be competitive."

But Stoddart will field cars in the one-off Champ Car event at Long Beach next month.

“We’re going to have fun! I’m going to really enjoy that weekend and we’re going all out to do the best job we can for the last ever Champ Car race.

”More above anything else, Champ Car stood for entertainment and fun. I will be sad afterwards as it’s the end of an era, but it’s overwhelmingly right for North American motorsport to reunify.”

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Op woensdag 12 maart 2008 14:44 schreef Migue het volgende:
Beter noemt Keith Wiggins het team dan weer Bettenhausen Motorsports, zoals het hoort. Zijn we van de naam Minardi af èn heeft het team de enige juiste naam terug

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Op dinsdag 18 maart 2008 19:04 schreef Earl_J_Hickey het volgende:
En de wagens van Conquest:
[ afbeelding ]
34. Frank Perera
36. Enrique Bernoldi

Erg mooie livery!

Nog 2 weken en dan begint het spektakel.

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Op donderdag 20 maart 2008 14:03 schreef Atreidez het volgende:
Power voor Indycar Champ _{daar zou ik zo voor tekenen}

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Op woensdag 19 maart 2008 19:41 schreef Migue het volgende:
INDYCAR SILLY SEASON 2008:

Vaste inschrijvingen:

#14: A.J. Foyt Enterprises - Darren Manning
#33: HVM Racing - Ernesto Viso

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Op woensdag 26 maart 2008 08:26 schreef mikezwet het volgende:
Ok 30 maart de eerste Indy race. Is 30 maart ook de laatste champ car race in long Beach ?

Is er nog een manier om het in nederland te volgen, desnoods via internet? Ik download de race altijd een dag later.

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Op woensdag 26 maart 2008 12:14 schreef sasquatsch het volgende:

[..]

Zaterdag 29 maart is de eerste IRL race.

Zondag 20 april is de ChampCar finale in Long Beach.

Vorig jaar had iemand hier (daar) een link gepost naar zo'n site met allemaal p2ptv dingen voor IndyCars, NASCAR, Formule 1 en dat soort gedoe. Erg mooie site, maar ik ben de link door een pccrash kwijtgeraakt, dus als iemand mij daar mee wilt verblijden zou ik dat wel heel liev vinde

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Indy Lights name returns to IRL

By Steven English Wednesday, March 26th 2008, 16:46 GMT

Indy Lights SeriesThe IRL IndyCar Series' feeder category has been relaunched as Indy Lights following the IRL's merger with Champ Car and the return of title sponsor Firestone.

The tyre manufacturer previously backed Indy Lights between 1991 and 2001, until the series disbanded and became the Indy Pro Series in 2002, and Firestone reduced their involvement to a supplier.

IRL boss Tony George is pleased to see the brand, which also supports the IndyCar Series and Indy 500, return to support the junior category.

"Firestone have been one of the most loyal suppliers to open-wheel racing - their involvement dates back to the first Indy 500 in 1911," he said.

"They have supported the development series in both CART and the IRL, which demonstrates their commitment to the future."

Firestone's Al Speyer added: "Tony George asked us to step up and support the sport even more than we have done in the past. With the unification of open-wheel racing, we thought it the perfect time to merge the IRL's growing support series with the rich history of Firestone Indy Lights.

"One of the most noticeable results of this agreement is that participants will see an increase in prize money of more than $250,000 throughout the season."

Current IndyCar drivers Tony Kanaan, Oriol Servia, Scott Dixon, and Townsend Bell are all previous champions of the Indy Lights series, which was also a stepping stone for Indy 500 winners Dan Wheldon and Helio Castroneves.

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Servia fastest IRL convert at Miami

By Simon Strang Wednesday, March 26th 2008, 11:01 GMT

Oriol Servia, KV Racing, IRL 2008US single-seater veteran Oriol Servia was the fastest of the Champ Car refugees on the final day of the IRL Homestead-Miami Speedway test arranged specifically for the nine converted entries.

Though the Roth Racing duo once again set the pace overall, with Marty Roth (212.816mph) and Jay Howard (211.668mph )topping the times, the Spaniard's 210.176mph proved that KV Racing were in the ball park with the regular IRL runners, despite limited running with the Dallara-Honda package in oval configuration.

"It would be tough even if we would have made the move in October," said Servia, whose lap was three miles per hour slower than Dan Wheldon's fastest from the IRL regulars' open test in February. "We're learning so much with the car, but the race weekend is here soon. We don't have much time."

Former Arrows Formula One driver Enrique Bernoldi was fourth quickest overall for Conquest ahead of Will Power in the second KV machine.

Graham Rahal set the sixth fastest time ahead of his Newman Haas Lanigan teammate Justin Wilson, despite causing the only crash of the session.

“The car felt really good,” said Rahal. “I caught Oriol and overtook him in Turn 1 and was almost past him. I was on a higher line than I had been taking and that was a lot bumpier with a little less grip up there.

"The rear stepped out on me and I caught it and then it did it a second time and I couldn’t catch it and crashed.”

Wilson, who could reasonably have expected to start the Champ Car season as favourite, is still getting used to the Dallara since the switch, having missed out on the Sebring test last week.

The Briton, himself a former Minardi and Jaguar F1 racer, admitted he was still not entirely at ease in the cockpit of the IndyCar.

“We just have a few more bits to do inside the cockpit to make me feel more comfortable,” he said. “Fitting in these cars is not a straight-forward thing.”

Franck Perera was eighth quickest for Conquest ahead of HVM's Ernesto Viso. Dale Coyne Racing's Bruno Junqueira, who only ran on the second day, and Mario Moraes completed the runners.

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12

Pos  Driver     Team                    Time             Laps  1.  Roth       Roth Racing             25.1203 212.816  60  2.  Howard     Roth Racing             25.2565 211.668  101  3.  Servia     KV Racing               25.4358 210.176  95  4.  Bernoldi   Conquest                25.4472 210.082  132  5.  Power      KV Racing               25.4839 209.780  145  6.  Rahal      Newman Haas Lanigan     25.4918 209.714  35  7.  Wilson     Newman Haas Lanigan     25.4929 209.705  99  8.  Perera     Conquest                25.5560 209.188  93  9.  Viso       HVM                     25.5682 209.088  100 10.  Junqueira  Dale Coyne              25.6231 208.640  82 11.  Moraes     Dale Coyne              25.8416 206.876  129

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Op woensdag 26 maart 2008 19:29 schreef Migue het volgende:
Vorig jaar had iemand hier (daar) een link gepost naar zo'n site met allemaal p2ptv dingen voor IndyCars, NASCAR, Formule 1 en dat soort gedoe. Erg mooie site, maar ik ben de link door een pccrash kwijtgeraakt, dus als iemand mij daar mee wilt verblijden zou ik dat wel heel liev vinde Dat was dus PM, en die site doet het helaas niet meer

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Op donderdag 27 maart 2008 00:34 schreef Atreidez het volgende:
Ik zit tegenwoordig op een site met een veel kortere responstijd

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Op donderdag 27 maart 2008 10:08 schreef Kleffe_Dop het volgende:
Kunnen we de IRL wedstrijden daar verwachten?

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Rahal mist eerste race van het seizoen
27 maart 2008

Graham Rahal neemt niet deel aan de eerste race van het IRL-seizoen, die komende zaterdag wordt verreden in het Floridase Homestead. De wagen van de Amerikaan liep eerder deze week zware schade op bij een crash tijdens een testsessie en zijn team kan de auto niet repareren omdat zij niet over voldoende onderdelen beschikt.

"Het is zeer teleurstellend dat ik niet kan rijden in de seizoensopener. Ik baal er ontzettend van", reageerde de voormalig Champ Car-coureur. "Ook al hadden we de beschikking over alle benodigde onderdelen, dan nog zou het ons waarschijnlijk niet zijn gelukt om de auto in elkaar te zetten voor de eerste training. Het heeft ook geen zin om de jongens de hele nacht door te laten werken. Ze hebben de afgelopen weken al zo hard moeten werken om ons te krijgen waar we nu zijn."

Rahal zal nu op 6 april zijn IRL-debuut beleven, in St. Petersburg.