Norris McDonald's Auto Racing Blog

Mario Andretti named to Canadian Motorsport Hall of Fame

One of the greatest drivers in the history of world motorsport, Mario Andretti of Nazareth, Pa., will be inducted into the Canadian Motorsport Hall of Fame’s International category at a ceremony and reception in September.

Dr. Hugh Scully, chairman of the board of the Hall of Fame, made the announcement Tuesday, explaining that Andretti would join Carroll Shelby, Bobby Rahal and his son Michael Andretti as International racers who have made significant contributions to motorsport in Canada.

Andretti will be inducted, along with Canadians Ron Fellows, Tom Walters, John and Sharon Fletcher, Jimmy Carr and the late Bob Armstrong, during the 19^th annual Hall of Fame Induction Ceremonies presented by Canadian Tire Sept. 28 at the CBC’s Glenn Gould Studio in downtown Toronto.

Nobody drove a Formula One car faster than Andretti at what is now Canadian Tire Motorsport Park, where he won the pole and recorded the fastest lap in 1977, the final year the Grand Prix of Canada was held at Mosport before being moved to Montreal.

Ten years earlier, the back straight at the iconic circuit was named Mario Andretti Straightaway after he was clocked at 178 miles an hour in a U.S. Auto Club (USAC) Indy car race.

On a global scale, Andretti was the first driver to win both the Formula One world championship (1978) and several Indy car championships (1965, ‘66, ‘69 and ‘84).

His versatility remains unparalleled and one of the many books about him is titled, "The Man Who Can Win Any Kind of Race," because he won the Daytona 500 stock car race in 1967, the Indy 500 and Pikes Peak hill climb in 1969, the USAC big car championship on dirt in 1974 (when he was also racing in F1!), three 12 Hours of Sebring endurance championships as well as a class win at the 1995 24 Hours of Le Mans.

In Canada, Andretti was unbeatable in the 1960s at Le Circuit-Mont Tremblant, winning all four races held in 1967 and ‘68. In 1975 at Mosport, he went green flag to checkers to win a Formula 5000 race.

In the Hall of Fame’s announcement, it notes that some of the bad luck associated with him at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway (" . . . and Mario Andretti is slowing down . . .") sometimes crossed the border when he came to race in Canada.

After turning the fastest-ever F1 lap at Mosport, engine failure sent him to the pits while leading. A broken halfshaft took him out of a USAC Indy car race at the same circuit.

His best finish in a Canadian Grand Prix was third in 1976. Later in his career, in the CART series, he was second in the Molson Indy Toronto in 1991 after finishing third in the Vancouver race a year earlier.

Although he says he raced in Canada in the early 1960s ("we went to some small tracks near Quebec"), the first recorded visit here came in 1965 at a USAC midget race at the CNE Stadium stock car track. He also raced in F1 at Montreal’s Circuit Gilles-Villeneuve and in Indy cars at the Sanair Speedway oval in Quebec.

Named the U.S. driver of the year in 1967, 1978 and 1984, Andretti was chosen Driver of the Century by the Associated Press.

Tickets for the informal, cocktail party-type gathering where attendees can mingle with Andretti and the other inductees following the induction ceremony will go on sale this Friday, June 21, on the Hall of Fame’s website, www.cmhf.ca or by calling 1-289-803-1375.

Tickets are priced at $80 apiece.

- NORRIS McDONALD

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Racing videos: '56 Le Mans, Tony Stewart stretches

Let’s take a break from Formula One (Mercedes is being hauled onto the carpet at FIA headquarters in Paris on Thursday over Tiregate, but that’s a few days away), NASCAR (Carl Edwards is angry with race winner and teammate Greg Biffle for not being polite when he passed him in Michigan on Sunday) and IndyCar (think Honda Indy Toronto) in order to enjoy a change of pace: a couple of videos and some South American racing photos.

Next weekend is the 24 Hours of Le Mans. In 1955, British driver Mike Hawthorn won the iconic race (with co-driver Ivor Bueb) but was also largely responsible for the dreadful accident that killed 83 spectators and another racer.

Hawthorn reportedly braked suddenly while approaching the pits and this caused the driver of the car following to swerve to avoid a collision. In so doing, the driver following, Lance Macklin, placed his car directly in the path of one being driven by Pierre Levegh, causing Levegh’s car to go out of control and literally fly into the crowd.

Here is a link to a fascinating video made the following year, a few days in advance of the 1956 Le Mans. Hawthorn drives a D-type Jaguar equipped with cameras and a microphone and describes a lap of the circuit (which is on public roads, not yet closed, and he has to keep a close eye out for other cars, motorcycles and people on bicycles while he bombs along and talks).

It is mildly chilling, as he approaches the scene of the carnage, to hear him say, in a somewhat dispassionate voice: "Just up ahead a bit was where they had a terrible accident last year . . ."

Hawthorn won the Formula One World Championship of Drivers in 1958 and promptly retired from the sport, only to die in a road crash a few months later at age 29.

Click here to enjoy a lap of Le Mans in 1956 with Mike Hawthorn.

NASCAR driver Tony Stewart is under contract to Mobil 1 motor oil. Their advertising people like to present him as a cheerful, positive, somewhat-cherubic teddy bear out to have some fun.  Of course, anybody who knows Stewart is very aware that he can be the polar opposite. But that’s the world of advertising for you.

Click here to watch a video of Tony and F1 driver Jenson Button (who’s also supported by Mobil 1) demonstrating what the sponsor’s product can do to improve flexibility.

Finally, a friend of mine who was a helluva Ontario Formula Ford driver in the 1960s who went on to turn heads in England and Europe while driving various racing cars overseas is riding his motorcycle throughout South America these days.

Clive Rayman is in Bolivia at the moment, in the city of Sucre, to be exact. It turns out that the country’s most famous motor race, the Oscar Crespo, is being held in and around the city while Clive is there, so he sent the following photographs. Note that the cars are quite close to the spectators in some instances.

Writes Clive:

"There are no motorbikes racing this year because of deaths and injuries in previous years. Man, they are taking the fun out of everything! Guess I better get to the Isle of Man before they stop that race!

"So today was qualifying for the 142 cars; yeah 142! A two-minute run...for a few kms...cars leave about 30 seconds apart...different classes...a lot of fast machines...the last group were the wanker cars...some real wankers, too!

"However for the poorest country in South America it was impressive. Driver and co-drivers...Nomex, helmets, roll cages, seat belts, some with no gloves though. Yes they do have tech inspection...that was yesterday.

"Tomorrow is the race. Two laps of 50 kms each on pavement and gravel. They go into a small town, Yotola, and circle back. They stagger them two minutes apart in the same class so there is little overtaking.

"On the map of the race, I counted around 151 +/- turns, kinks, hairpins...the only straights are coming into the Plaza...start/finish line and exiting for about 2 kms. The first corner after the start/finish line is full bore...apparently that is where a lot of guys bury it ...check the pic of the sand bags.

"There are 45 dangerous spots marked off for spectators not to be...but this is Bolivia so I doubt anybody will pay attention. There are safety barriers and cops right in the town but most probably not once the cars leave and are outside."

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Exiting the first corner.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The second straight from Corner 1.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

So you know where you're at.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Sand bags and gravel...this is where cars bury it...

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

What would a race be without lovelies?

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Note the girls on the road, at left.

 

 

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Grand Prix live blog: Vettel on pole - again

Driving a Formula One car at high speed is a challenge at the best of times but when the weather keeps throwing curves at you it can even give a world champion fits.

Sebastian Vettel, the 26-year-old German racer who’s won the drivers’ title the last three years, captured the pole position for Sunday’s Grand Prix of Canada during time trials on Saturday but acknowledged afterward that the on-again, off-again rain that fell during the three-round, knockout qualifying session put all of his skills to the test.

Vettel’s pole-winning time of one minute and 25.425 seconds, which translates into a speed of 183.782 km/h, was one of the slowest of the official timed sessions recorded on Friday and Saturday.  

It was significantly faster, however - by F1 standards - than second-place qualifyer Lewis Hamilton, who turned a lap of 1:25:512, just a tick faster than third-place finisher Valtteri Bottas' 1:25:897.

Vettel was not alone in feeling challenged. Both defending race winner Hamilton and surprising rookie Bottas also said the inclement weather made driving the powerful cars more difficult.

It must have done that, because one of the surprises of the session was the elimination from final qualifying of 2011 race winner Jenson Button of McLaren-Mercedes, who usually excels when there’s precipitation.

And Romain Grosjean, who finished third in both practice sessions Friday, was knocked out of qualifying in the first go-‘round, which was a blow to his Lotus-Renault employers as well as his future as a driver for that team.

Among the more successful drivers Saturday were Mercedes’ Nico Rosberg, the winner of the last Grand Prix at Monaco two weeks ago, who qualified to start fourth and Vettel’s teammate, Mark Webber, who will start fifth.

The rest of the top ten: Fernando Alonso of Ferrari, who led the second practice session Friday, qualified sixth; Jean-Eric Vergne of Scuderia Toro-Rosso will start seventh; Adrian Sutil of Force India-Mercedes, eighth; everybody’s favourite Kimi Raikkonen, ninth for Lotus, and Daniel Ricciardo, tenth for Toro-Rosso.

Vettel said the conditions were “very, very tricky,” adding that although he was optimistic that he’d do well in the Grand Prix, “I don’t know if there’s anybody who can give a precise forecast for every corner.”

This was in reference to the last 10 minutes of qualifying when one part of the Circuit Gilles-Villeneuve track was wet, complete with rain falling, while on other parts of the 4.361-km circuit there was a dry line.

“But no matter the conditions,” said the Infiniti Red Bull Racing driver who once again is leading the world championship standings, “we should be in good shape for the race.”

Hamilton, who won this race in 2007 and 2010 as well as last year, said he’s looking forward to challenging for his fourth win on Sunday.

“It’s good to be on the front row again,” said the Mercedes driver, “but I am a little disappointed with my last lap,” explaining that the track was really slippery and he missed a turn.

“Tomorrow should be a good opportunity. The car felt great yesterday (Friday) in the dry so we’ll keep our fingers crossed that the rain stays away for the race and hopefully we can give Seb a run for his money.”

Bottas, on the other hand, gave his Williams-Renault employers their best qualifying result in 2013 and he’d be just as happy if the rain continued Sunday.

Explaining that his race car doesn’t behave as well when the track is dry, he said that “some rain would help us like it did in the qualifying. It’s been so difficult, the first six races for us, and this will be a nice boost for the team. We really got everything right today.”

The only serious incident of the qualifying session came when Felipe Massa lost control of his Ferrari and went sideways into a barrier between corners three and four – normally a sharp right-left turn.

Massa wasn’t hurt – he’ll start 16^th Sunday – but the accident was eerily reminiscent of a crash he had at Monaco two weeks ago. There, he went sideways into a barrier exactly the same way and he hit on the same side, suffering bruises.

In a separate development, the news agency QMI reported Saturday that a tentative agreement had been reached to extend the contract between Formula One, the city of Montreal and the provincial and federal governments that is scheduled to end next year.

The new contract would run for 10 years and be worth a total of just under half a billion dollars, QMI said.

According to the news agency, the deal starting in 2015 and to run through 2024 would mean the three government partners would pony up $45 million a year, split exactly three ways.

Race organizers would neither confirm or deny the report.

One problem promoter Francois Dumontier faces in the short term is a request from F1 that the paddock be brought up to Formula One standards, something that could cost several millions of dollars.

Since 1978, when the race was moved here from Mosport after Toronto city council turned it down, the paddock has been squeezed between the circuit and the Olympic Rowing Basin and "suites" have never been much more than a bunch of Dickie Moore construction shacks covered with aluminum siding.

That will have to change and perhaps even before any contract extension. Dumontier could be forced into fixing the paddock as a sign of good faith in advance of any new contract.

EARLIER LIVE BLOG

Sebastian Vettel won the pole for the Canadian Grand Prix ahead of Lewis Hamilton and surprising Williams rookie Voltteri Bottas.

It is Vettel's third consecutive pole position at Montreal.

The rest of the top ten:

Rosberg, Webber, Alonso, Vergne, Sutil, Raikkonin and Ricciardo.

There is a bit of Spa-Francorchamps going on here. The race in the Belgian forest is notorious for being wet on one side of the circuit and dry on the other.

So it is here in Montreal. The side of the track closest to the city is wet and there is actually rain falling while on the other side, where the track i closest to the rowing basin, there is a dry line visible.

Vettel is fastest at the moment.

Jenson Button and Sergio Perez, both of McLaren's drivers, were eliminated from qualifying in Q2.

In the dying seconds, Button failed to get across the start/finish line in time to record a flying lap.

Hamilton and Webber were fastest, follwed by Vettel and the surprising Valttgeri Bottas in the Williams.

Felipe Massa crashes. Red flag displayed with two minutes left in Q2.

The driver is unhurt. The crash at turn 3 was eerily reminiscent of his crash two weeks ago in Monaco.

With five minutes remaining in the second session, both Jenson Button and Felipe Massa are outside the top ten.

Serious rain is now falling. Whoever said 20 per cent chance of rain (hello! Environment Canada) should have their head read.

Di Resta, Pic, Grosjean, Bianchi, Chilton and Van der Garde out after Q1

The cars and drivers are all over the place out there. Even Alonso was off the track.

The cars and drivers are all over the place out there. Even Alonso was off the track.

Vettel, Rosberg, Webber, Hamilton and Hulkenberg the top five.

Cars are on the track as qualifying begins.

You would think, with the threat of rain (a light drizzle has started) that everyone would be out there to get a time down before it really gets wet. But no - Alonso and Vettel, for instance, were slow to go out.

Max Chilton spun at the hairpin in the Marussia. No surprise but it shows how damp the track really is.

Formula One Grand Prix qualifying is pretty straightforward.

At 1 o'clock, all 22 cars entered can go out on the circuit and attempt to set a fast time. They have 15 minutes to do it. At the finish of that first session, the slowest six are eliminated and will start the Grand Prix Sunday from positions 17 through 22.

The survivors then get 20 minutes to set another fast time. At the conclusion, six more cars are eliminated but will be assigned their starting spots based on their speed.

The surviving 10 cars then have 10 minutes to set the fastest time possible in order to win the pole or to start close to the front of the pack.

At one time, qualifying would last an hour and all the cars would be on track and at some point they would post a "flyer" and the times recorded would determine the grid. Then they went to single-car qualifying: everybody got to put down one flying lap. This knockout format seems to be the most successful of all the ones tried.

As is the case in every sport and much of political life these days, the media follow the action on television. More than 200 journalists from around the world have been accredited for this event. You can see them above, hard at work during qualifying.

EARLIER

The news agency QMI is reporting that a tentative deal has been reached to extend the contract between Formula One, the city of Montreal and the provincial and federal governments.

The deal would run for 10 years and be worth a total of - wait for it - nearly half a billion dollars.

According to the news agency, the deal starting in 2015 and to run through 2024 would mean the three government partners would pony up $45 million a year, split exactly three ways.

I'm not saying there isn't a deal, or that one isn't close. But $45 million a year for a car race is ridiculous.

That would mean the federal government, which has about zero credibility at the moment, would  be staking a large part of its political future on a decision to give $15 million a year to Bernie Ecclestone and his jet-setting friends.

Which means the financial figure is very likely a figment of somebody's imagination, or wish list.

If you read down a little further, I discuss the reasons why Montreal wants to keep this race and the struggle it would put up if it was ever suggested that it wouldn't continue.

But $45 million a year?

Meantime, the clouds over Circuit Gilles-Villeneuve are low and chances of rain - or drizzle at the least - during qualifying are increasing almost by the second.

This could be really interesting.

EARLIER

Mark Webber went out in the final few minutes of the shortened, 30-minute, final practice session before qualifying for the Grand Prix of Canada and turned the fastest lap of the session: one minute, 17.815 seconds.

Adrian Sutil in a Force India-Mercedes finished just behind the Infiniti Red Bull driver, with Lewis Hamilton in third place in a Mercedes. Fernando Alonso, who was fastest in the second session Friday, was fourth in his Ferrari, with Sebastian Vettel fifth for Red Bull.

Nico Rosberg was next in his Mercedes, followed by Paul di Resta (Force India), Felipe Massa (Ferrari), Jenson Button (McLaren) and Kimi Raikkonen (Lotus-Renault). Romain Grosjean finished 11th in his Lotus, which represents quite a drop from his performance Friday when he ran third in both practice sessions.

Qualifying will start promptly at 1 p.m. It's hard to pick a favourite, since all three practice sessions ended with a different driver atop the standings. But the fact that Hamilton is shooting for yet another victory here in Canada - a win would be his fourth at Montreal - and has been swift in practice would seem to give him an edge. And as Hamilton goes, so would go his teammate, Rosberg.

Having said that, Vettel has won the last three poles at this race and so can't be counted out. that his teammate Webber led the final practice before qualifying could be a signal that the Red Bulls are dialed in.

EARLIER

Despite the awful weather - and it is awful; chilly and drizzly as compared to a year ago, which was swell - there are hardly any empty seats here at Circuit Gilles-Villeneuve.

Montrealers and tourists alike love their Formula One racing and will turn out to watch it in any kind of weather.

Now, I am on record as saying one of the few ways to save this race is to move it to Toronto and include a new track layout in the eventual renovation of  Ontario Place and the Canadian National Exhibition grounds. Casino or no casino, sooner or later that will happen and a Yas Marina-type project would be perfect for a Grand Prix.

As well, Toronto is the financial capital of the country and a title sponsor could be attracted, which is something the Canadian GP at Montreal has been lacking in recent years.

But that's when I'm in Toronto. I get to Montreal and I see the full seats at the circuit and the packed restaurants downtown and the news reports that say all the hotels are at 97 per cent capacity (rooms that normally go for $200, say, are $600 a night over the Grand Prix weekend and I realize that Montreal will never let this thing go. They couldn't afford to, and one way or another (if it comes down to money to bring the circus to town), they will find it.

Ergo, I expect F1 and Montreal will come to an agreement to extend the contract that will end in 2014. Francois Dumontier, who took over from Normand Legault as Grand Prix race supremo at Circuit Gilles-Villeneuve, is quoted in the Montreal Gazette as saying he wants a 10-year deal. He won't get that but he could get another five and that would be good news indeed.

One problem Dumontier faces in the short term is a request (some would say it's a demand) that the paddock be brought up to Formula One standards. Since 1978, when the race came here from Mosport, the paddock has been squeezed between the circuit and the Olympic rowing basin and "suites" have been not much more than a bunch of Dickie Moore construction shacks with aluminum siding attached.

That will have to change - and even before a contract extension. Dumontier might be forced into fixing the paddock as a sign of good faith in advance of any new contract.

EARLIER

What was initially billed as a slight delay in order to fix a barrier at Turn 11 here at Circuit Gilles-Villeneuve has turned into a somewhat lengthy delay.

Four cars - four, count 'em, four - in the Ferrari Challenge support series spun into the Armco just past the main hairpin at almost the same place. What a coincidence.

Organizers now say the final practice will start at 10:30 and last for only 30 minutes. The teams will have a lot to learn in a very short time as qualifying is scheduled for 1 p.m.

Grand Prix blog: Alonso fastest in second practice

F1 crowd favourite Fernando Alonso of Spain, driving his scarlet-red Ferrari, set the fastest time of the day at Circuit Gilles-Villeneuve Friday when he turned a lap of one minute, 14.818 seconds (209.837 kph) during second practice for Sunday’s Grand Prix of Canada.

Alonso’s time just pipped the 1:14:830 effort put forth by McLaren-Mercedes driver, and defending race champion, Lewis Hamilton of Britain. French racer Romain Grosjean (1:15:083) wasn’t far behind in a Lotus-Renault.

The afternoon’s times were a significant improvement over those recorded during the morning on Friday when Force India-Mercedes driver  Paul Di Resta came out of nowhere in the dying seconds of the 90-minute session to post a 1:21:020, which was  good for a speed of 193.774 kph.

But the morning session was conducted mostly in rainy conditions, with the track only drying out near the finish. The afternoon practice was dry from start to finish.

Alonso’s time is not far off last year’s pole time of 1:13:014, set by three-time world champion Sebastian Vettel  of Germany  in weather that was dry, warm and sunny. The best Vettel could do Friday was a time of 1:15:280 that he set during the second session.

Official qualifying will be conducted early Saturday afternoon following one last practice session in the morning and whether the pole for this year’s race will be won with a faster time than Vettel’s a year ago is doubtful.  The forecast for the weekend continues to call for rain Saturday and Sunday, although temperatures are expected to be higher than Friday’s 17 degrees Celsius.

Other notables: German driver Nico Rosberg, who won the Grand Prix of Monaco two weeks ago in his Mercedes, finished fifth on the time charts; Felipe Massa of Brazil was sixth for Ferrari; Jenson Button of Britain was ninth for McLaren-Mercedes and Kimi Raikkonen of Finland wound up 11^th in a Lotus.

Raikkonen’s poor performance was surprising, considering that his teammate, Grosjean. finished third in both the morning and afternoon sessions. Raikkonen, who is running second in the world championship to Vettel (107 points for the three-time champion as compared to Raikkonen’s 86) is still fuming over an incident at Monaco in which his race “was ruined” by McLaren’s Sergio Perez.

Said Raikkonen on Friday in Montreal: “He’s an idiot who shouldn’t be racing.”

Hamilton’s performance in the afternoon session Friday was a boost for his team and his fans who hope his recent domination of the Canadian GP will continue on Sunday and result in his fourth win.

Hamilton has won the Montreal event three times since 2007 (there was no race in 2009) and is tied with Nelson Piquet Sr. for second place in most wins. Michael Schumacher has won the most Canadian races: seven

There were plenty of spins and misses throughout both practices but nothing of consequence. The hardest crash of the day took place during the morning session and in the last five minutes when the racing groove had dried up and all the drivers were pushing for a quick time.

Pastor Maldonado of the Williams-Renault  team lost control at corner three, spun and shot across the track to hit the wall at the exit of turn four. He wasn't hurt and the damage was fixable; he was 14^th fastest in the afternoon.

The soggy conditions Friday morning were reminiscent of the situation two years ago when Jenson Button won the longest Grand Prix, time-wise, in history at just about the slowest average speed: four-plus hours and 74.864 km/h.

That was when it rained cats and dogs on race day and standing water on the track forced officials to throw a red flag after the start and hope the weather would improve. It did and the race even featured a thrilling finish when a charging Button forced triple world champion Vettel into making a rare mistake. Vettel went wide several corners froom the finish and Button passed him for the win.

Exciting as that was, no one really wants a repeat because everyone got soaked.

Results Friday:

os  Driver               Team                  Time       Gap       Laps 

 1.  Fernando Alonso      Ferrari               1m14.818s            48

 2.  Lewis Hamilton       Mercedes              1m14.830s  + 0.012s  45

 3.  Romain Grosjean      Lotus-Renault         1m15.083s  + 0.265s  40

 4.  Mark Webber          Red Bull-Renault      1m15.212s  + 0.394s  46

 5.  Nico Rosberg         Mercedes              1m15.249s  + 0.431s  46

 6.  Felipe Massa         Ferrari               1m15.254s  + 0.436s  43

 7.  Sebastian Vettel     Red Bull-Renault      1m15.280s  + 0.462s  41

 8.  Adrian Sutil         Force India-Mercedes  1m15.396s  + 0.578s  43

 9.  Jenson Button        McLaren-Mercedes      1m15.422s  + 0.604s  29

10.  Daniel Ricciardo     Toro Rosso-Ferrari    1m15.566s  + 0.748s  38

11.  Kimi Raikkonen       Lotus-Renault         1m15.599s  + 0.781s  35

12.  Sergio Perez         McLaren-Mercedes      1m15.661s  + 0.843s  39

13.  Paul di Resta        Force India-Mercedes  1m15.855s  + 1.037s  22

14.  Pastor Maldonado     Williams-Renault      1m16.319s  + 1.501s  46

15.  Jean-Eric Vergne     Toro Rosso-Ferrari    1m16.351s  + 1.533s  38

16.  Valtteri Bottas      Williams-Renault      1m16.374s  + 1.556s  40

17.  Esteban Gutierrez    Sauber-Ferrari        1m16.475s  + 1.657s  45

18.  Nico Hulkenberg      Sauber-Ferrari        1m16.929s  + 2.111s  35

19.  Jules Bianchi        Marussia-Cosworth     1m17.070s  + 2.252s  41

20.  Charles Pic          Caterham-Renault      1m17.236s  + 2.418s  35

21.  Max Chilton          Marussia-Cosworth     1m17.888s  + 3.070s  45

22.  Giedo van der Garde  Caterham-Renault      1m18.392s  + 3.574s  39

 

 

 

 

 

Fernando Alonso set fastest time in the second session today for Sunday's Grand Prix of Canada. Lewis Hamilton was second and Romain Grosjean repeated his third-place finish of this morning.

The rest of the top ten: Mark Webber, Nico Rosberg, Felipe Massa, Sebastian Vettel, Adrian Sutil, Jenson Button and Daniel Ricciardo.

More later.

Here is one of several subplots floating around here that might give you a kick.

Kimi Raikkonen is still p-o'd at Sergio Perez as the result of that little dustup they had in Monte Carlo two weeks ago. Kimi has accused Perez of being an idiot (the adjective he uses for that noun starts with an "f" and ends with a "g") and blames him for ruining his race.

Several reporters have already filed stories quoting Kimi correctly.

Now, the FIA has banned swearing on the podium after several drivers let their hair down a year ago and let loose with some colourful language while being interviewed post-race. But if this keeps up, you would think it only a matter of time before the FIA bans swearing whenever race drivers are interacting with media members.

Meantime, actor Hugh Grant was walking around the paddock at lunch, looking like Hugh Grant. The A-List celebrities don't show up till race day, Sunday.

EARLIER

Esteban Gutierrez was first out on track again this afternoon at Circuit Gilles-Villeneuve as second practice began in conditions that were significantly better than they were this morning.

Although it's still chilly - 17 degrees Celsius but with the wind blowing in over the water in the Lachine Canal and the Olympic Rowing Basin it feels five degrees colder - the cars can count on grip that was absent earlier when a steady rain was falling.

Within five minutes of practice starting, Gutierrez was back in eighth place in his Sauber-Ferrari as some of the top guns started to feel their oats. Nico Rosberg was atop the charts, with Mark Webber right behind him. Within seconds, however, Kimi Raikkonen had set fastest time with Paul Di Resta, who "won" the morning session, on his heels. Romain Grosjean, Felipe Massa and Adrian Sutil were flying and Lewis Hamilton was into the top ten.

BEFORE LUNCH

Esteban Gutierrez was first out on track again this afternoon at Circuit Gilles-Villeneuve as second practice began in conditions that were significantly better than they were this morning.

Although it's still chilly - 17 degrees Celsius but with the wind blowing in over the water in the Lachine Canal and the Olympic Rowing Basin it feels five degrees colder - the cars can count on grip that was absent earlier when a steady rain was falling.

Within five minutes of practice starting, Gutierrez was back in eighth place in his Sauber-Ferrari as some of the top guns started to feel their oats. Nico Rosberg was atop the charts, with Mark Webber right behind him. Within seconds, however, Kimi Raikkonen had set fastest time with Paul Di Resta, who "won" the morning session, on his heels. Romain Grosjean, Felipe Massa and Adrian Sutil were flying and Lewis Hamilton was into the top ten.

BEFORE LUNCH

Esteban Gutierrez was first out on track again this afternoon at Circuit Gilles-Villeneuve as second practice began in conditions that were significantly better than they were this morning.

Although it's still chilly - 17 degrees Celsius but with the wind blowing in over the water in the Lachine Canal and the Olympic Rowing Basin it feels five degrees colder - the cars can count on grip that was absent earlier when a steady rain was falling.

Within five minutes of practice starting, Gutierrez was back in eighth place in his Sauber-Ferrari as some of the top guns started to feel their oats. Nico Rosberg was atop the charts, with Mark Webber right behind him. Within seconds, however, Kimi Raikkonen had set fastest time with Paul Di Resta, who "won" the morning session, on his heels. Romain Grosjean, Felipe Massa and Adrian Sutil were flying and Lewis Hamilton was into the top ten.

BEFORE LUNCH

Esteban Gutierrez was first out on track again this afternoon at Circuit Gilles-Villeneuve as second practice began in conditions that were significantly better than theyk were this morning.

Although it's still chilly - 17 degrees Celsius but with the wind flowing in over the water in the Lachine Canal and the Olympic Rowing Basin it's feeling five degrees colder - the cars can count on grip that was abent earlier when a steady rain was falling.

Within five minutes of practice starting, Gutierrez was back in eighth place in his Sauber-Ferrari as some of the top guns started to feel their oats. Nico Rosberg was atop the charts, with Mark Webber right behind him. Within seconds, however, Kimi Raikkonen had set fastest time with Paul Di Resta, who "won" the morning session, on his heels. Romain Grosjean, Felipe Massa and Adrian Sutil were flying and Lewis Hamilton was into the top ten.

BEFORE LUNCH

Paul  Di Resta, driving a Force India-Mercedes, set fastest speed in the final seconds of today's first practice session for Sunday's Grand Prix of Canada, with Jenson Button second in his McLaren-Mercedes and Romain Grosjean third in a Lotus-Renualt.

Di Resta's time of one minute and 21:020 seconds compares unfavourably to last year's pole time of 1:13:014 seconds set by three-time world champion Sebastian Vettel in warm, dry and sunny conditions. Today's chilly temperatures accompanied by rain most of the morning kept speeds way down.

Vettel, for instance, was ninth fastest in the first session - another practice will be held this afternoon - and could only turn a 1:23:047 time.

Other notables: Fernando Alonso was fourth fastest for Ferrari; Kimi Raikkonen was fifth fastest for Lotus-Renault; Nico Rosberg, who won the last GP two weeks ago in Monaco, was seventh quickest; Mark Webber was tenth for Infiniti Red Bull; Lewis Hamilton, who's won three of the last five races here in Montreal, was 16th fastest, and Felipe Massa was only 11th fastest for Ferrari.

Hardest crash of the opening session - there were a few spins and misses but nothing of consequence - came in the last five minutes when the racing groove had dried up and all the drivers were pushing for a quick time with which to throw down the gauntlet.

Pastor Maldonado of the Williams team lost control at corner three, spun and shot across the track to hit the wall at the exit of turn four. He wasn't hurt and the damage was fixable.

EARLIER

The rain has stopped temporarily and many of the teams are installing slick tires (as distinct from the grooved rain tires) so that the drivers can start to lay down some times. With about 10 minutes left in the first practice session, Sebastian Vettel is quickest, followed by Nico Rosberg and Esteban Gutierrez.

EARLIER

It's cold (by summertime standards) and miserable in Montreal today.

It started raining late yesterday (Thursday) and the forecast is for rain right through the running of the Grand Prix of Canada on Sunday. Yes, the weatherpeople are suggesting there could be a window around 2 p.m. Sunday when it might not rain but nobody is believing them because when was the last time any of those folks were right?

Yet even with the precipitation, and a temperature of 13 degrees Celsius, many of the seats are filled with people wearing rain gear and holding umbrellas.

Sharp at 10 a.m., the F1 cars streamed out of the pits and onto the Circuit Gilles-Villeneuve led by Sauber-Ferrari rookie Esteban Gutierrez. Another rookie, Max Chilton, was away second with three-time world champion Sebastian Vettel out third in his Infiniti Red Bull.

Most of the 22 drivers entered for the Canadian race soon followed with the exception of McLaren-Mercedes' Sergiol Perez and Ferrari No. 1 Fernando Alonso.

 

The early laps, of course, were for reconaisance only; nobody will be trying for a speed till later. Jules Bianchi of the Marussia team had the dubious honour of bringing out the first local yellow flag when he came to a stop on the racing surface after missing corner three and having to drive through the grass to get back on track. Lewis Hamilton, winner of three of the last five races, went off at turn 13 but was able to continue.

There are two practice periods scheduled for today, with another practice session and qualifying planned tomorrow and then the race itself on Sunday afternoon at 2.

The soggy conditions are reminiscent of the situation two years ago when Jenson Button won what had to have been the longest Grand Prix, time-wise, in history at just about the slowest average speed: four-plus hours and 74.864 km/h.

That was when standing water on the track forced officials to throw a red flag and to wait for the weather to improve. It did and the race even featured a thrilling finish when a charging Button forced triple world champion Vettel into making a rare mistake in order to get past him on the last lap and go on for the win.

 

 

MONTREAL – F1 crowd favourite Fernando Alonso of Spain, driving his scarlet-red Ferrari, set the fastest time of the day at Circuit Gilles-Villeneuve Friday when he turned a lap of one minute, 14.818 seconds (209.837 kph) during second practice for Sunday’s Grand Prix of Canada.

Alonso’s time just pipped the 1:14:830 effort put forth by McLaren-Mercedes driver, and defending race champion, Lewis Hamilton of Britain. French racer Romain Grosjean (1:15:083) wasn’t far behind in a Lotus-Renault.

The afternoon’s times were a significant improvement over those recorded during the morning on Friday when Force India-Mercedes driver  Paul Di Resta came out of nowhere in the dying seconds of the 90-minute session to post a 1:21:020, which was  good for a speed of 193.774 kph.

But the morning session was conducted mostly in rainy conditions, with the track only drying out near the finish. The afternoon practice was dry from start to finish.

Alonso’s time is not far off last year’s pole time of 1:13:014, set by three-time world champion Sebastian Vettel  of Germany  in weather that was dry, warm and sunny. The best Vettel could do Friday was a time of 1:15:280 that he set during the second session.

Official qualifying will be conducted early Saturday afternoon following one last practice session in the morning and whether the pole for this year’s race will be won with a faster time than Vettel’s a year ago is doubtful.  The forecast for the weekend continues to call for rain Saturday and Sunday, although temperatures are expected to be higher than Friday’s 17 degrees Celsius.

Other notables: German driver Nico Rosberg, who won the Grand Prix of Monaco two weeks ago in his Mercedes, finished fifth on the time charts; Felipe Massa of Brazil was sixth for Ferrari; Jenson Button of Britain was ninth for McLaren-Mercedes and Kimi Raikkonen of Finland wound up 11^th in a Lotus.

Raikkonen’s poor performance was surprising, considering that his teammate, Grosjean. finished third in both the morning and afternoon sessions. Raikkonen, who is running second in the world championship to Vettel (107 points for the three-time champion as compared to Raikkonen’s 86) is still fuming over an incident at Monaco in which his race “was ruined” by McLaren’s Sergio Perez.

Said Raikkonen on Friday in Montreal: “He’s an idiot who shouldn’t be racing.”

Hamilton’s performance in the afternoon session Friday was a boost for his team and his fans who hope his recent domination of the Canadian GP will continue on Sunday and result in his fourth win.

Hamilton has won the Montreal event three times since 2007 (there was no race in 2009) and is tied with Nelson Piquet Sr. for second place in most wins. Michael Schumacher has won the most Canadian races: seven

There were plenty of spins and misses throughout both practices but nothing of consequence. The hardest crash of the day took place during the morning session and in the last five minutes when the racing groove had dried up and all the drivers were pushing for a quick time.

Pastor Maldonado of the Williams-Renault  team lost control at corner three, spun and shot across the track to hit the wall at the exit of turn four. He wasn't hurt and the damage was fixable; he was 14^th fastest in the afternoon.

The soggy conditions Friday morning were reminiscent of the situation two years ago when Jenson Button won the longest Grand Prix, time-wise, in history at just about the slowest average speed: four-plus hours and 74.864 km/h.

That was when it rained cats and dogs on race day and standing water on the track forced officials to throw a red flag after the start and hope the weather would improve. It did and the race even featured a thrilling finish when a charging Button forced triple world champion Vettel into making a rare mistake. Vettel went wide several corners froom the finish and Button passed him for the win.

Exciting as that was, no one really wants a repeat because everyone got soaked.

Results Friday:

os  Driver               Team                  Time       Gap       Laps 

 1.  Fernando Alonso      Ferrari               1m14.818s            48

 2.  Lewis Hamilton       Mercedes              1m14.830s  + 0.012s  45

 3.  Romain Grosjean      Lotus-Renault         1m15.083s  + 0.265s  40

 4.  Mark Webber          Red Bull-Renault      1m15.212s  + 0.394s  46

 5.  Nico Rosberg         Mercedes              1m15.249s  + 0.431s  46

 6.  Felipe Massa         Ferrari               1m15.254s  + 0.436s  43

 7.  Sebastian Vettel     Red Bull-Renault      1m15.280s  + 0.462s  41

 8.  Adrian Sutil         Force India-Mercedes  1m15.396s  + 0.578s  43

 9.  Jenson Button        McLaren-Mercedes      1m15.422s  + 0.604s  29

10.  Daniel Ricciardo     Toro Rosso-Ferrari    1m15.566s  + 0.748s  38

11.  Kimi Raikkonen       Lotus-Renault         1m15.599s  + 0.781s  35

12.  Sergio Perez         McLaren-Mercedes      1m15.661s  + 0.843s  39

13.  Paul di Resta        Force India-Mercedes  1m15.855s  + 1.037s  22

14.  Pastor Maldonado     Williams-Renault      1m16.319s  + 1.501s  46

15.  Jean-Eric Vergne     Toro Rosso-Ferrari    1m16.351s  + 1.533s  38

16.  Valtteri Bottas      Williams-Renault      1m16.374s  + 1.556s  40

17.  Esteban Gutierrez    Sauber-Ferrari        1m16.475s  + 1.657s  45

18.  Nico Hulkenberg      Sauber-Ferrari        1m16.929s  + 2.111s  35

19.  Jules Bianchi        Marussia-Cosworth     1m17.070s  + 2.252s  41

20.  Charles Pic          Caterham-Renault      1m17.236s  + 2.418s  35

21.  Max Chilton          Marussia-Cosworth     1m17.888s  + 3.070s  45

22.  Giedo van der Garde  Caterham-Renault      1m18.392s  + 3.574s  39

 

 

 

 

 

Honda, McLaren to race in F1 together again

So much racing news, so little time . . .

- Everything old is new again. Honda, which powered McLaren to 44 Grand Prix victories and several world championships between 1988 and 1992, announced today it would partner again with the legendary British marque, starting in 2015.

Of course, the previous run of success was due, in large part, to the driver lineup McLaren boasted in the late 1980s: Ayrton Senna and Alain Prost. In fact, in 1988, those two between them won 15 of the 16 GP races that year. Whether Jenson Button (who called the team's performance so far in 2013 "embarrassing," just the other day) and Sergio Perez can ever deliver the same results is debatable and you have to wonder whether a pilot shakeup might be in the cards as well.

Honda has been in and out of the sport over the years, leaving the last time after the 2008 season. For automakers, racing has always been about ROI (return on investment) and whether or not participation makes economic sense, even at the best of times.  Five years ago there was an economic meltdown and Honda, as well as Toyota, decided to fold cards and wait for a  better day.

In a release issued today, Honda said that beginning next year, "new F1 regulations require the introduction of a 1.6 litre direct injection turbocharged V6 engine with energy recovery systems. The opportunity to further develop these powertrain technologies through the challenge of racing is central to Honda’s decision to participate in F1.

"Throughout its history, Honda has passionately pursued improvements in the efficiency of the internal combustion engine and in more recent years, the development of pioneering energy management technologies such as hybrid systems. Participation in Formula 1 under these new regulations will encourage even further technological progress in both these areas."

The announcement means there will be no renewal of the contract McLaren has had with engine supplier Mercedes that goes back to 1995. It has not exactly been a fruitful partnership, with only one constructor's championship to the team's credit (and there are certainly no driver's or constructor's titles looming on the horizon this year).

Said McLaren team principal Martin Whitmarsh, at a media conference in Tokyo: "Honda has an unrivalled pedigree as a manufacturer of turbocharged engines, making it the perfect engine partner for McLaren as we strive to deliver future success in F1."

As mentioned, Honda has participated in F1 several times over the years, starting in 1964 when it designed and developed both the race car and the engine. That experiment ended in 1968.  Starting in 1983, it supplied engines to Lotus, Williams and Tyrrell before settling in at McLaren in 1988, dropping out of the sport again after 1991.

Jacques Villeneuve's manager Craig Pollock talked Honda into returning to F1 in 2000 to supply engines to BAR and Jordan and then in 2004 the Japanese manufacturer bought the team. From then until 2008, it ran the team, as it had in the beginning back in the 1960s, as an "all Honda" operation.

- Twenty-nine drivers flashed around the 2.5-mile Indianapolis Motor Speedway Wednesday in a time somewhere between 40 and 41 seconds. That’s how close the competition is this year.

Dario Franchitti was fastest at 40:1363 seconds while 29th-fastest was Pippa Mann at 40:9476.  Franchitti’s speed, incidentally, translates into 224.236 miles an hour while Mann went 219.793 mph.

Other notables: Townsend Bell, an Indy-only racer, was second fastest at 40:2295 seconds. Helio Castroneves was third quickest at 40:2327. Alex Tagliani of Montreal was fastest Canadian and eighth on the totem pole with a lap of 40:4768. The other Canuck, James Hinchcliffe of Oakville, who was fastest Tuesday, slipped to 13^th at 40:6009. Simona de Silvestro was fastest woman at 40:9353, just pipping Pippa’s 9476.

Michel Jourdain Jr. was the slowest of the 32 who practiced, turning a lap of 41:2774 (218:037 mph).

- Speaking of the Indy 500, check George’s TV Listings for Race Fans at wheels.ca for times of the Sportsnet coverage of time trials this Saturday and Sunday as well as for the race itself a week Sunday. And if you can’t get to a TV, and have satellite radio, Sirius XM (Channel 211) will be carrying most of the action as well, starting at 11 a.m. Saturday.

- The Grand Prix of Canada is fast approaching. As anybody who goes knows, there is more to watch on track at Circuit Gilles Villeneuve than the F1 cars. This week, organizers announced that the Ferrari Challenge, Porsche GT3 Cup Challenge Canada, the Canadian Touring Car Championship and the Formula Tour 1600 will each run two races on Friday and Saturday, June 7 and 8. The Grand Prix itself, of course, goes to the post on Sunday, June 9.

- Speaking of the Porsche GT3 Cup, the Canadian Touring Cars and Formula 1600, they all will be in action this coming weekend at Canadian Tire Motorsport Park as the annual Victoria Day Weekend Speedfest takes to the track north of Bowmanville.

The headline event will be the NASCAR Canadian Tire Series stockers and D.J. Kennington, J.R. Fitzpatrick, Scott Steckly and the rest of the trans-Canada chargers — oops, better not forget Andrew Ranger — will be out to start their national series season off with a bang.

Touring car drivers looking to get rolling early include Benjamin Distaulo, Bob Attrell, Remy Audette, Nick Wittmer, Roger Ledoux, Damon Sharpe, Frank Blanchet and Michel Sallenbach.

Also on the card at Old Mosport will be the Trans-Am big iron thunder cars and the new Canadian Supercar Series.

- Speaking of touring cars (not really, but I’m looking for a segway), the German Touring Car Series (DTM) will be at Brands Hatch in England this weekend and Canadian Robert Wickens is hoping for a better result than two weeks ago at the opener in Germany when a mechanical problem forced him out after he qualified better than he has in his DTM career — fourth on the grid.

Said Wickens, in a release: “After not finishing at the start of the season, I'm itching to get back in my STIHL Mercedes AMG C-Coupé at Brands Hatch (Norris note: I bet he said that . . .) to prove that a top-notch result would have been possible in Hockenheim. With P4 on the grid, I've shown the kind of speed I can produce. The adrenaline rush of being in the shoot-out for pole position in Q4 for the first time was enormous - I could easily get used to that in the future. While a sketch map of Brands Hatch may look quite simple, it's a real driver's circuit that demands the utmost concentration over 98 laps. One single error and the race is as good as lost."

Good luck, Robert.

- Everybody seems to be excited that Derrick Walker has been signed by IndyCar to be president, operations and competition.

So?

The competition is already pretty good.  So what is this going to do so far as bums in the seats and eyeballs on race telecasts are concerned, which to my mind are IndyCar’s two biggest challenges.

Once again, we have a top dog at that organization listening to two or three Indy car journalists who think moves like this are swell.

Marketing is where this organization needs help. And in public relations.

Not media relations, public relations.

- Finally, the Brantford-area Ohsweken Speedway's 18th annual Opening Night will take the green flag on Friday at 7:30pm, and large fields are expected in all of the regular Friday night divisions.

The opening event of Ohsweken's season will include the Corr/Pak Merchandising Sprint Cars, Affordable Towing & Recovery Thunder Stocks, HRW Automotive Mini Stocks, and Gale’s Auto Aftermarket Bombers, with extra-distance features on tap for each.

- NORRIS McDONALD

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Weekend rdp: F1, Kyle Busch and Bob McCown

For those of you who emailed wondering where I was, my real newspaper job sometimes gets in the way of my fun newspaper job and the fun newspaper job (this) has to take a back seat.

So, after a week’s absence, here are some random thoughts about the state of the sport following a weekend of ho-hum racing (at least the offerings on television).

1. The people who run Formula One have outsmarted themselves once again. To make the sport more exciting – they didn’t really have to do this; it was exciting enough – they ordered the one tire supplier, Pirelli, to build degradation into the product so the drivers would have to make more pit stops.

Now, everybody is either up in arms (if you’re a fan) or "concerned" (if you’re one of the people in F1 who thought this stuff up) because the tires are coming apart faster than anybody expected.

Most teams had to make four (count ‘em, four) pit stops during Sunday’s Spanish Grand Prix (click here for story and results) and critics (including 1997 world champion Jacques Villeneuve) were making fun of the spectacle rather than marvelling at the skill of the pit crews in getting the tires changed so quickly.

Said Villeneuve: "At this rate, F1 is going to become a pit-stop contest with a few race laps thrown in."

Every time anybody in any sport starts monkeying around with the thing to make it more "appealing" or more "exciting," they are just inviting trouble. Has baseball gone to four strikes to enable more hitters to reach base? Or moved the mound back a foot? Has hockey gone to four quarters instead of three periods? Of course not.

But F1 now has tires that disintegrate and drag reduction systems and kinetic energy recovery systems and, as a result, except for the opening laps there is very little racing going on any more.

Memo to F1: Stop this.

2. See second last paragraph above. The first lap of Sunday’s Spanish GP was edge-of-your-seat stuff with everybody reacting so quickly to lights out that analyst David Coulthard suggested at least one driver had jumped the start.

And although Mercedes pole-sitter Nico Rosberg held the lead to the conclusion of that first lap, everybody else was either charging to the front or sliding back.

Eventual race winner Fernando Alonso went from fifth to third in his Ferrari and passed two cars on the outside of one corner. Lewis Hamilton, who started second for Mercedes, dropped to fourth. Kimi Raikkonen, who went off third for Lotus-Renault, dropped to fifth. Three-time world champion Sebastian Vettel moved from third to second in his Red Bull-Renault and Felipe Massa went from ninth to sixth in his Ferrari. But the best of all was Adrien Sutil rocketing from 13^th place to eighth in his Force India-Ferrari and that, ladies and gentlemen, was an incredible example of car control and balls.

Oh, before I forget, Mark Webber had his usual crappy start and dropped out of the top ten from his seventh starting position and – I ask you – why should we be surprised? I suggest they put Webber in the simulator for a week and not let him out until he can make flying starts in his sleep.

3. In winning the Grand Prix, Alonso joined Vettel as two-time winners this season. Raikkonen is the only other winner, scoring his victory at Australia. Rosberg has now won two poles on the year but both times, in Bahrain and again at Spain, he faded out of the top five. He finished fifth in Spain and ninth at Bahrain.

And Esteban Gutierrez was the best of this year’s rookie crop, finishing in 11^th position for Sauber-Ferrari and beating his more experienced teammate, Nico Hulkenburg, who was 15^th. More impressive was the fact that Gutierrez qualified 16^th but was penalized three places for blocking Raikkonen during qualifying. Racing from 19^th starting position to 11^th earns him the McDonald "Hard Charger Award."

Elsewhere this weekend, Carlos Muniz – an Indy Lights driver – was fastest of the IZOD IndyCar Series drivers who went out to practice at Indianapolis Motor Speedway as the track opened for practice and qualifying leading up to the 97^th Indy 500 in two weeks.

Muniz recorded a speed of 223.023 miles an hour Sunday (it took him 40.3545 seconds to drive a lap of the 2.5-mile speedway; click here for details). James Hinchcliffe of Oakville was sixth fastest of the 23 drivers who turned time, recording a lap of 220.907 mph. Qualifying and bumping (if any) is scheduled for next weekend.

Speaking of Hinchcliffe, I was pleasantly surprised last Monday afternoon when, while driving home, I heard everybody’s favourite afternoon drive sports talk radio show host Bob McCown wax eloquently about James’ victory the previous afternoon in Brazil (which he won on the last corner of the last lap).

I haven’t heard McCown talk about car racing before, although I’m sure he has at one time or another. He simply said he’d tuned in the race to check it out with 15 or so laps to go and Hinchcliffe was running fifth and that he "had a feeling" and stayed till the end.

He went so far as to call the finish one of the most exciting moments in recent live sports television history (or words to that effect).

He brought it up with a couple of his guests – neither had been watching, by the way – and opined that he would be keeping an eye on young Mr. Hinchcliffe, whom he later interviewed (although I didn’t hear that).

Now, I realize that Bob McCown works for Sportsnet, and that Sportsnet is televising this year’s IZOD IndyCar Series races as well as the Indianapolis 500 and some "cross-promotion" is to be expected.

But I honestly think McCown was impressed with the finish (who wouldn’t have been!) and saw the potential that Indy car racing and Hinchcliffe both have. Good stuff.

One last thing: he said he didn’t like cars racing on ovals because ovals are for horses. Then he hesitated, and mused: "I wonder how horses would do on a road course?"

Okay, moving right along, I have two things to say about the NASCAR Southern 500 at Darlington Saturday night (for story and results, click here)

1. That Matt Kenseth won was the perfect revenge for Joe Gibbs Racing, which had been put through the wringer in recent weeks by NASCAR over nothing. I hope Kenseth wins every race between now and the end of the year and that Joe Gibbs rubs NASCAR’s nose in it when he stands up to accept accolades at the season-ending banquet.

Joe Gibbs is a religious, God-fearing man. NASCAR, which cast the first stone, should brace itself for what’s coming.

2. NASCAR loves to go around penalizing and fining drivers and teams enormous amounts of money in order to show them who’s boss. I think it’s time Kyle Busch was fined something like – oh, off the top, I‘d say – $200,000 for having a snit yet again because he didn’t win a race.

All the others losers of the Southern 500 – all 41 others – made themselves available to TV and other reporters after the race because that’s what they’re supposed to do as representatives of the sport of stock car automobile racing.

They are on the top of the mountain and they owe it to their fans and sponsors to address the media after the races, win or lose. Kenseth won the race but Jimmie Johnson went on TV, as did Jeff Gordon and Kevin Harvick and a couple of the others.

But not Kyle, because he was off somewhere having a hissy fit. He was only too happy to talk on Friday night, after he won the Nationwide Series race, but not Saturday because he lost.

I can remember several years ago everybody making great fun of Danica Patrick stamping her feet in anger after being edged out of a win in the Indy car series. But after she did what competitive people do - which is to work out their frustrations and then take a deep breath and calm down - she went to the post-race press conference and answered questions like a true professional.

But not Kyle and I think it’s time NASCAR brought him to heel. Every professional sport demands its performers be accountable to the media. Win or lose, the hockey players and coaches have to talk to reporters. Baseball managers and players are contractually obligated, and so on.

The next time Kyle Busch doesn’t win and then pulls one of his disappearing acts, he should be hit in the pocketbook.

And told to grow up.

Other racing: Lucas Luhr and Klaus Graf won the American Le Mans Series race at Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca on Saturday. Jan Magnussen and Antonio Garcia were first in GT, with Marino Franchitti and Scott Tucker first in P2. Mike Guasch and Luis Diaz won the Prototype Challenge race while Nick Tandy and Henrique Cisneros were first in GT Challenge.

Ryan Briscoe finished fourth overall and second in P2 before heading off the Indianapolis where he is among the favourites to win this year’s Indy 500. Townsend Bell also raced in ALMS before flying to Indy.

Kyle Marcelli of Barrie was eighth overall and fourth in PC. Kuno Wittmer of Montreal didn’t do all that well this weekend and was well back.

Okay, I have to say it: sometimes sports car racing doesn’t make any sense. We all know that all the classes – five of them this season – all go out and race together. And that the first three finishers in every class make it onto the podium, which means 15 or more drivers can sometimes be on the podium in a sports car race.

Saturday evening, I got an email that trumpeted "Delta Wing car on podium in ALMS race in California." Hey, I thought. That’s damn fine. And Katherine Legge, who’s been run out of Indy car, must be feeling pretty good about making it onto the podium in her first ALMS race.

Then I looked at the results. There were 36 cars in total in that race Saturday and the Delta Wing finished 32^nd. I don't care about rules or tradition. That is not a podium.

The Southern Ontario Sprints will start their 18^th season next Saturday night at Brighton Speedway. Lee Ladouceur of Alexandria will try for his third consecutive championship this season. Other top runners expected to be on hand include Glenn Styers, Keith Dempster, Chris Jones, Adam West and Warren Mahoney. I betcha Warren's Dad, Dick Mahoney, will be out there too.

Indy car driver and partner in the Schmidt-Petersen Indy car team, Davey Hamilton, won the supermodified feature at Oswego Speedway on Saturday night. At Merrittville Speedway outside Thorold, Erick Rudolph and Kevin Knapp scored their first 2013 wins in the Bobcat of Hamilton 358 Modified and Hoosier Stock Divisions respectively. In Lucas Oil Weekly Racing Series action, Kyle Pelrine, Josh Sliter and Brad Rouse won in the Turn 4 Collision 4 Cylinder, J&S Heating and Air Conditioning Modified Lites and the Rick’s Delivery Sportsman Features.

Most southern Ontario oval facilities will be in action next weekend and the Victoria Day Speedfest is on tap at Canadian Tire Motorsport Park but that’s not all. Attention all you drag racing fans out there. Toronto Motorsports Park near Cayuga has got a monster lineup scheduled with 300 mph jet dragsters, the Pro Modified Racing Association, the Quick 32 top dragsters and sportsman plus pro bikes and sleds. They get going out there on Friday night and plan to blast all the way through till Sunday. Go to torontomotorsportpark.com for more info.

Speaking of "most southern Ontario oval facilities," if you head on out to Peterborough Speedway, it won’t cost you anything to sit in the grandstand. Country 105 radio station is picking up the tab for the season-opener. For info, go to peterboroughspeedway.com.

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Gilles Villeneuve, Gordon Smiley, and me

We all, or many of us, have our memories of this day 31 years ago when Canada and the world lost Gilles Villeneuve.

It was May 8, 1982, and Gilles – still seething with anger at the double cross performed by Ferrari teammate Didier Pironi at the previous Grand Prix at Imola – was on it, as he always was, in qualifying for the Belgian Grand Prix at Zolder when he collided with Jochen Mass’s car.

And then it was over.

I can still hear my wife, a few moments after 5 o’clock that Saturday afternoon, yell these words down the stairs to where I was in the cellar: "Villeneuve! Fighting for his life."

She’d heard the news on the radio but there were no other details. No Internet in those days, we had to wait till 6 o’clock for the next CBC Radio news update and I couldn’t believe that the accident wasn’t the first item. (Some things never change.)

By 11 p.m., he was dead and it led the TV news. And then his story dominated the airwaves and the front pages of the newspapers until his funeral in the week that followed (click here).

I was crushed when I heard those five horrible words that my wife had called out to me, for several reasons. I’d been in my rec room that day, going over a checklist in anticipation of my debut the following weekend as a driver of supermodified racing cars at New York’s Oswego Speedway. I’d had some experience in less-powerful oval race cars, and had done a season of formula car racing, but I’d never been pushed off in as powerful a racing machine as a supermodified and I was apprehensive.

So, as well as being destroyed by the initial news that my hero had been grievously injured, my faith in my own existence was shaken. I started wondering if I was doing the right thing.

All weekend and into the week of the funeral, I was thinking (and you’ve heard this sort of thing from professional drivers after someone of the talent and stature of, say, a Jim Clark or an Ayrton Senna dies by racing accident), "If it can happen to Gilles, it can happen to anybody."

I thought about that, a lot.

But I’d pushed those thoughts aside by the time the following Saturday arrived. It was May 15. I was in the pits at Oswego and just about ready to strap into the car for my first warmup session when the late Mike Stone, a race driver from Toronto, walked up to me and said these words:

"Gordon Smiley just hit the wall at Indy. He never had a chance."

Smiley was trying to qualify for his third Indianapolis 500 that day and had overcorrected going into Turn 3, sending the car straight into the concrete at 200 miles an hour, destroying it and himself.

I still went out to race, but Gilles Villeneuve and Gordon Smiley were heavy on my mind and I just couldn’t bring myself to put my foot down all the way – that night, or ever.

They say all things happen for a reason.

I wonder.

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BUT INDYCAR FORGETS LESSON LEARNED WHEN KROSNOFF KILLED

TWO NASCAR RACES ALSO WON ON THE LAST LAP

Years ago, when I started writing stories about Indy car racing's newest super nova, James Hinchcliffe of Oakville, I thought he was one of the most delightful people I had ever met but a race driver of marginal talent.

It wasn't because I didn't think he was a good racing driver. It's just that the higher up the open-wheel ladder you get, you run into a whole bunch of other drivers who are just as good or better than you are.

As a result, Hinch's trips to Victory Lane lacked, shall we say, any degree of regularity, which is something you look for when evaluating a potential champion.

Until now.

With his thrilling last lap, last corner, victory Sunday in the Sao Paulo Indy 300 through the streets of the Brazilian city, Hinchcliffe scored his second victory of the four-race-young 2013 IZOD IndyCar Series season and showed the world that when the chips are down, he's as brave and as fast and as hard a racer as anyone in the sport today.

Takuma Sato, driving for A.J. Foyt and winner of the last race in Long Beach, finished second, 0.3463 of a second behind the winner, and Hinchcliffe's Andretti Autosport teammate, Marco Andretti, was third.

Police-sitter Ryan Hunter-Reay was 11th. Will Power - who won the last three Sao Paulo races - was eliminated when his car caught fire. Alex Tagliani, the second Canadian in the race, finished 12th.

Hinchcliffe, 26, won the season-opening race - and the first race of his big-league IndyCar career - in St. Petersburg, Fla., in March. Then he failed to finish the next two races at Barber Motorsports Park in Alabama and at the Long Beach Grand Prix.

Now this.

“There’s no cooler way to win a race  - in the last corner of the last lap," said Hinchcliffe, the series' first repeat winner of 2013, moments after getting out of his car. 

"Takuma was making that race car really wide and he was defending the inside pretty well - almost too well a couple times. He just outbroke himself just a little bit and I was able to do a high-low (pass) and get the win."

Hinchcliffe was running third late in the race while Sato, who was leading, battled hard to hold off Josef Newgarden. As they fought each other, the Oakville driver gradually caught up to them.

"Thank goodness they were racing, or I never would have caught them," Hinchcliffe said "It's awsome to get my second win. One was good, but two's better."

Team owner Michael Andretti loved the results.

"That's Indy car racing," he said. "That's what it's about. It seems that so many of these races go down to the last turn of the last lap - that's what makes it such a great sport. I'm glad we came out on the good end of the stick for sure. It's awesome to have two cars on the podium (Hinchcliffe and Marco A.)."

Hinchcliffe's victory moved him up to fourth in the points race behind Sato, Andretti and Helio Castronever, who finished 13th Sunday.

Next stop: the Indianapolis 500 in three weeks. 

It was an excellent race, with lots of dicing in the pack and good, hard racing toward the end. In the closing laps, Sato made it very difficult for, first, Newgarden to pass him, and then Hinchcliffe.

Asked if he thought he was blocking, which is illegal in open-wheel racing, Sato acknowledged that to be the case. "You could say that," he replied when a TV interviewer asked him about it.

"But it's a matter of trust," he said. "We are a group, we were passing together, we could see in our mirrors, we could see what each of us were doing. I am sure he had great confidence in me. I think I'm okay and we had such fun."

The last-second pass, for those of you who didn't see it (or haven't seen it on the newscasts) went like this:

Sato was ahead on a long straight on the last lap. Hinchcliffe was right behind him and had one "push-to-pass" burst left (push-to-pass allows a driver to increase horsepower for short periods) while Sato was out of them (each driver gets a limited number to use during the race).

Hinchcliffe dove to the inside heading for the final, right-hand turn. Sato moved over to chop off his progress - known as "defending one's position" in road-racing circles and "blocking" in oval racing.

Hinchcliffe then pulled to the outside, as if to pass Sato on his left. The Japanese driver moved over to block the Canadian as they reached the corner (Hinchcliffe was very kind to suggest Sato had "outbraked" himself) and, in that millisecond, Hinchcliffe cut sharply inside Sato and exited the corner in the lead.

Which he held for the final 300 yards of the race.

NOTEBOOK JOTTINGS:

How soon they forget. The street-race death in Toronto in 1996 of CART racer Jeff Krosnoff, I mean, which happened when he went to pass another driver going into Corner 3 of the track at the CNE and that driver moved over to block him.

Krosnoff went up and over that other car, smashing into a light standard. He was killed instantly. A marshal, Gary Avrin, also died - hit by a wheel of the car as it started up on its fatal flight.

Takuma Sato blocked two drivers Sunday in exactly the same manner - first, Josef Newgarden and then James Hinchcliffe. Hinch, in fact, came very close to clipping the rear of Sato's car.

Although some could argue that Sato was simply defending when he moved over on Hinchcliffe, there is no excuse what he did to Newgarden (replays clearly showed he moved twice).

That the IndyCar officiating crew, led by Beaux Barfield, saw no reason to discipline him is scary.  Why? Because all the other drivers will see what Sato got away with and they will now do it too.

To make matters worse, Sato admitted to blocking (see above). And here's what the 2013 IndyCar rule book says about it:

"9.3.2. Blocking – A Driver must not alter his/her racing line based on the actions of pursuing Drivers to inhibit or prevent passing. Blocking will result in a minimum of a black flag 'drive through' penalty."

 I'd suggest that's exactly what Sato did to Newgarden and Hinchcliffe. If the Barfield-led officials reviewed his moves and determined he didn't block, then the Indy car series is in bigger trouble than anybody ever imagined.

The installation of Barfield, which followed the firing of previous head of race control Brian Barnhart, was carried out by former IndyCar CEO Randy Bernard at the behest of certain influential media.

Barnhart certainly had his faults, but the officiating in the IndyCar series since has not been any better and, it could be argued, has gotten worse.

This is another prime example.

 Hey, Hinchcliffe was a star on the track and off it, too. He starred in many of the Go Daddy commercials that aired on Sportsnet during the coverage of Sunday's race.

The start of the race and the restarts were terrific. IndyCar obviously slowed down the field and made the drivers line up properly before throwing the green, something that didn't even come close to happening in Long Beach. Will that be the case in Toronto, too? Hope so.

All those Kit Kart chocolate bar signs told me something: you can attract sponsorship for a car race these days far away from the traditional auto-related advertisers.

How the camera lies: I'm sure they had a decent crowd in Sao Paulo Sunday but when the camera scanned the grandstands from ground level and at an angle, the place looked packed. The overhead shot from the helicopter showed a completely different picture, though. In fact, I bet there were more people in the traffic jam on the freeway beside the circuit than there were actually in the grandstands.

OTHER RACING THIS WEEKEND

- In the opening race of the 2013 season for the German Touring Championship (DTM), Augusto Farfus was first in a BMW. Defending champion Bruno Spengler of Saint-Hypolite, Que., finished fifth. Poor Robert Wickens, of Guelph and Toronto, started fourth and had moved up to third but a gearbox problem forced him out of the race on the fifth lap. . .

- When NASCAR goes to the Talladega Super Speedway, they should always turn on all the lights in the place. Both times this weekend - the Nationwide race Saturday and the Sprint Cup race Sunday - were almost called on account of darkness following three-hour-plus rain delays. They got them both in, but it was close.

Regan Smith won the Nationwide race but it was a controversial call. After the red flag for the rain, NASCAR cut 10 laps from the race distance because it was getting dark. When there was a yellow, they called for one shot at a green-white-checkers finish and when there was another yellow they said Smith was ahead when the field was frozen, even though Kasey Kahne crossed the finish line in front.

Oh, and there were lots of crashes.

Sunday was almost a carbon copy of Saturday, with a three-hour rain delay. Six laps or so before the end, there was a classic Talladega "Big One" and Kurt Busch's car flipped half a dozen times, even landing on top of Ryan Newman's car and just about destroying it.

Danica Patrick was caught up in her second wreck of the weekend (she crashed in the Nationwide race Saturday) and was furious as she seemed to be heading for a top ten finish.

The race was won by David Ragan, who thanked God, first, and teammate David Gilliland, second, for getting him the victory as Gilliland pushed Ragan into the No. 1 position on the last lap of the restrictor-plate race.

Gilliland also thanked God first, and Ragan second for being in position for him to push. Complete details and full results can be found by clicking here.

Formula One returns next weekend with the Grand Prix of Spain at Catalunya. The start of the "European season" always brings out the best in everybody. Reports in Europe, meantime, suggest technical chief Charlie Whiting will be meeting with team principals to discuss a possible demerit-points system to govern driver behaviour. . . At the Jerez circuit in Spain, Dani Pedrosa won the Moto GP race, with youngster Marc Marquez second and Jorge Lorenzo third. Marquez muscled Lorenzo out of the way on the last lap to just squeeze into the runner-up spot. . .  . Audi cars swept the podium at the Six Hours of Spa FIA World Endurance Championship race. . . . Ryan Villopoto won his tenth supercross of the season Saturday night in Las Vegas. he wrapped up the Monster Energy Supercorss Championship earlier, so this was just icing on the cake. . . .

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Why I like NASCAR best (and other mid-week observations)

I was caught up short when I bumped into a media colleague earlier this week and he said to me: “What have you got against NASCAR?”

This was in regards to a column I wrote in which I suggested that NASCAR, in suspending owner Joe Gibbs for six races for a relatively minor transgression (among other penalties levied against other competitors), was acting irrationally.

So when he said what he said, I said something flippant in reply but afterwards I thought, “Uh-oh.”

I like and admire the journalist in question, so if he’s wondering about my motives, perhaps others are too and that’s why I’ve called you all together today to say this:

I think NASCAR is the best organized and best managed racing business in the world.

In the world.

Formula One has been held together by one man, Bernie Ecclestone, and I guarantee you that when he either retires, is fired, or forced out, or dies, F1 will be a mess of public bickering and backstabbing. And the Indy car series, regardless of who’s been in charge, has been in chaos much of the time ever since the original split that saw CART break away from the USAC in 1979.

Yes, NASCAR has been, essentially, a France family business and it’s been their way or the highway. But I don’t think they’ve abused that trust and they've reached out to the grassroots by sanctioning and administering local racing just about everywhere in the United States and, on occasion, in Canada. Their regional racing series – eight, including the NASCAR Canadian Tire Series – has given (and is giving) scores of ambitious and talented racing drivers a professional environment in which to grow and demonstrate their talents. Their diversification program has demonstrated a commitment to helping minorities, be they non-Americans, drivers of colour, or women, advance in the motor sport. In short, no other sanctioning body has even attempted what NASCAR has already achieved.

So I’m a big fan of NASCAR.

That doesn’t mean I like everything – I think they need more road course races, with at least one during the Chase – but in a clutch I would take Mike Helton, Robin Pemberton, Brian France and the rest of the executive group over anybody that the other big leagues have to offer.

Which makes it even more puzzling for me, after reading what I’ve just written, to understand that penalty against Gibbs. And a $25,000 fine charged to Denny Hamlin when all he did was say he didn’t like the new car.

What?

When something goes wrong in a business, or a marriage, or whatever, things that don’t normally happen start happening.

They are usually signals, or symptoms, of something else going on – sometimes beneath the surface and away from public view.

So I wonder what’s happening inside NASCAR?

Because a $200,000 fine for next-to-nothing ain't normal.

I posted a report on Monday afternoon about the visit to Canadian Tire Motorsport Park of executives from the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series and a truck from the Turner Scott Motorsport stable.

Led by series director (and former Sprint Cup competitor) Chad Little, the contingent gave Old Mosport the once-over in advance of the truck race there on Labour Day weekend - called the Chevrolet Silverado 250, by the way - and driver Nelson Piquet Jr. shook down the TSM entry in order to record data that will be shared with other teams in the series who won’t even see the facility until they arrive for the Sept. 1 race.

Although Piquet was the only one to get any track time, three other drivers came up for a look-see including defending truck series champion James Buescher, 20-year-old hot-shoe Jeb Burton (son of Daytona 500 winner Ward Burton and nephew of Jeff Burton) and Miguel Paludo, a Brazilian Porsche GT3 Cup driver now trying his hand at NASCAR.

But in posting my report, I didn’t have time to include photos so I’ve posted a bunch with this post over at wheels.ca that were taken by me (uncredited) or by Gary Grant, who writes Auto News for Toronto Star Wheels and the Insider Report for wheels.ca

(That's his photo here, by the way, with Paludo (left), Burton, Piquet, CTMP co-owner Ron Fellows and Buescher.)

Also, if you want to take a video tour of Mosport with Piquet, courtesy of Joel Robinson, click here 

Road racing in Ontario will officially get under way at Canadian Tire Motorsport Park this coming weekend, May 4 and 5.

The 63rd annual (wow!) British Empire Motor Club Spring Trophy Races will involve eight classes, including the BF Goodrich GT Challenge, GT Sprints presented by CSC Racing, Toyo Tires F1600 Championship, Formula 1200, Formula Libre, Formula Four, Vintage/Historic and G70+.

Action gets under way with a driver’s meeting in front of the infield restaurant at 7:45 a.m. Saturday morning. For more information, the weekend schedule and FREE TICKETS, go to the CASC-Ontario website (click here).

Speaking of NASCAR, and penalties (see lead item), the two Richard Childress Racing crew members arrested and charged with assault after approaching driver Piquet and another man outside the speedway in Richmond, Va., last Friday night following an altercation in the pits earlier have each been fined $15,000, suspended for the next four Nationwide Series races and placed on probation till the end of the year.

Piquet and another driver, David Scott, who got into a shoving match in the pits, have been put on probation till June 26th.

Oh, and late-breaking news has the penalties against Team Penske, for trying to sneak unapproved parts past NASCAR inspection, upheld by an appeals panel. Just about everybody has been suspended for six races (not the drivers) and the crew chiefs for Joey Logano and Brad Keselowski have been fined $100,000 apiece.

About as appalling as the refereeing in the NHL, if you ask me.

Denny Hamlin says he will start the Talladega 500 on Sunday and then give way to relief driver Brian Vickers. That’s what he tweeted Tuesday.

"They (his doctors) all came to the conclusion they were happy with me starting Talladega and getting out when it's a safe time to get out,'' Hamlin said.

He told ESPN.com that he would drop to the back of the pack and then pit at the first caution, confident that he and Vickers can switch and not lose a lap under yellow.

Okay, I want to say right here and now that if  he’s out there, and he’s racing, and he’s feeling good, that Denny Hamlin will not get out and let Brian Vickers in. He just won’t.

He’s a tough mother when it comes to pain. He’s done it in the past and he’ll do it again.

Mark my words: Once in the car, he won’t leave it.

It’s official. Dreyer & Reinbold Racing, known officially this season as Panther DRR with driver Oriol Servia up, will drop out of this season’s IZOD IndyCar Series following the Indianapolis 500.

Co-owned by Indy new-car dealer Dennis Reinbold and former driver Robbie Buhl, the team has run full-time in the series for the past 13 seasons.

Even if you’re low buck, car racing is a financial drain and these guys, racers to the core, can’t afford to keep doing it.

Sorry to see them go. They gave it their all.

Here’s what’s on tap at Toronto Motorsports Park. Starting today on the road course, motorcycle lapping is scheduled till 5 p.m. Registration is at the track and it’s $115 plus HST. Open car lapping is scheduled for Friday from noon till dusk for $130 plus HST. If you can’t make it till 5 p.m., the price drops to $90 plus HST.

Finally, on the dragway, the first Friday night test and tune will cost $20, $10 for spectators. ONDR Nostalgia Drag Racers plus test and tune on Saturday is $30 for competitors and $15 for spectators. Test and tune on Sunday, the 5th, is $30 for participants and $10 for spectators.

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NELSON PIQUET JR. SOUNDS OFF ABOUT RACING IN NASCAR AND THE EXCITEMENT IT GENERATES

There were several reasons why Toronto-area motorsport writers and broadcasters were summoned to Canadian Tire Motorsport Park on Monday.

First, the snazzy new Corporate Event Centre on a hill overlooking the circuit's Turn 10 was shown off for the first time. Since what was originally named Mosport Park was opened in 1961, corporate events have been held in tents. A race control tower and media centre was opened in 1962 and until last October track management, event organizers and reporters/photographers and TV camera operators were all crammed into the aging structure that also included a medical trauma room.

That cramped old tower now gone - bulldozed into the ground last fall - the new Event Centre is big enough to hold wedding receptions, if a happy young couple should want to rent the place for such a special occasion. Bottom line: it is large enough for race sponsors to entertain hundreds of  their guests and corporate clients and there is plenty of room on another floor for writers and broadcasters to do their work without sticking their elbows into the faces of the people sitting next to them.

In short, Old Mosport has been brought into the 21st Century and combined with improvements made to spectator and camping areas as well as to the circuit itself (several runoff areas have been paved, for example), the time has come to start showin' off.

The second reason was to announce that the much-anticipated NASCAR Camping World Truck Series race on Labour Day Weekend will be sponsored by General Motors of Canada and titled the Chevrolet Silverado 250.

"GM Canada is really proud to be a part of this," said GM spokesman George Saratlic, in making the announcement. "Really, it was a no-brainer for us, it being in our own backyard (CTMP is a short distance from GM's Canadian headquarters in Oshawa).  What better place to showcase our product."

Said circuit co-owner Ron Fellows: "This is great for the facility and I couldn't be more proud to have Chevy and GM Canada involved in our first-ever NASCAR Camping World Truck Series race. Thanks to NASCAR for its assistance, which is ongoing, and to Chevy, which is the winningest brand in the . . . series."

As was the case with his own entry, Fellows had no official announcement to make about Canadian driving content in the Labour Day classic.

When asked, he was coy about whether he will race in the event himself - he likely will, but the official announcement will come at a later date - and said he'd talked with Canadian  legend Paul Tracy about entering the race, but not Jacques Villeneuve. "I wouldn't be surprised if a couple of drivers from the NASCAR Canadian Tire Series entered the truck race," he added.

The third reason was that Camping World Series entrant Turner-Scott Motorsports hauled north with one of their trucks and brought driver Nelson  Piquet Jr. along to conduct a test. The reconnaisance information recorded by TSM and Piquet will be shared with other participants in the truck series, an arrangement agreed between the teams and NASCAR whenever the series goes to a new track.

Piquet, of course, is very much in the news these days because of an altercation he had last Friday night with fellow Nationwide Series driver Brian Scott at the conclusion of the race at Richmond, Va. Following a scuffle between the drivers and some crew members in the pits, Piquet and other man were accosted outside the race track and two members of Scott's team, who are employees of Richard Childress Racing, were each charged with one count of assault.

Piquet was most agreeable to talk about the test, the Canadian Tire circuit and the post-raced squabble he lived through at Richmond.

He said the Canadian Tire circuit is challenging to drive, and that "if you make a mistake, you will pay for it.  There is no forgiveness, there is no margin for error here. I'm sure the drivers are going to be very careful and only take risks toward the end of the race."

He said many of the truck drivers, who race mainly on oval tracks, will be at a disadvantage. "What they lack is (the ability to handle) the slow, stop-and-go corners. There are a lot of long, sweeping corners here and they should be able to handle them better."

He said the way race drivers feel about tracks, whether they like them or not, can often depend on how well they do in competition there.

"When you race well, you always love the track. Road America, for example, was a track I didn't think much about. We had a good race, a great weekend over there, so I like the track now. (CTMP) is difficult to judge. It's a tricky track with a lot of high-speed corners so you need to have a lot of courage over here."

Piquet said it's possible he could compete in the Labour Day race but it would depend primarily on sponsorship. "I would love to come here and compete," he said. "We might take the risk and do it. Obviously, we would have to come here straight for the race (after running in the Nationwide race at Atlanta on the Saturday), no qualifying, no practice, no anything."

He said although he misses some things about European racing, he feels quite at home racing in North America.

"The racing over here is much more exciting, much more fun," he said.  "And there's more racing; you can race much more. I'm the kind of guy who likes to race all the time, as often as I can, which pisses my father off, but I just love to be driving. I'm going to be racing every weekend this year, although I won't do the dirt-track race at Eldora Speedway. Every weekend I have off from NASCAR, I'm  going to do the X-Games."

He said he hopes what happened the other night in Richmond - the confrontation with Scott - is over.

"What happened is unfortunate. Obviously, we don't want to be getting into fights, but I've learned one thing and that's that you have to stand up for yourself. He ran into me after the race was finished; he'd done the same thing to me last year. I won't accept it any more.

"Both of the instances we had, the race last year and this one, wasn't bad. Last year, I was racing hard to win the race in Martinsville and I didn't hit anybody from behind but when you go into the corner you bang doors and it doesn't matter. And the incident the other night, I was passing him, we were both fighting, we had old tires and it was the end of the race, we were all struggling and I barely touched him and we both went sideways and there was no reason for him to get upset.

"If he wants to get upset, so come and talk to me, not come and hit my car, destroy my car, after the race when everything is done. You shouldn't do things like that.

"If I had done something wrong, if I had been too hard in the race, okay. But that was not the case. And then I had 20 guys running at me and I kicked them back. Unfortunately it was in the wrong place (Scott's groin area) but it certainly was not the plan. I just came out of the car, you see him  coming with a bunch of guys, what are you going to do? Just stand there and put your face out there and be hit?

"I  was just trying to get everybody away from me. I was defending myself, yes, but I just wanted to get everybody away."

Piquet said hard racing, NASCAR style, is what race fans like and want.

"You saw what happened with Jeff Gordon and Clint Bowyer last year," he said. "You don't want people getting hurt, but it's part of racing. Racing in America, people get angry and they'll show their feelings and sometimes they get a bit out of control."

He said the racing in Europe, primarily open wheel, doesn't allow for tradin' paint.

"You don't go banging wheels (in Europe), he said. "If they had closed fenders and were racing hard, I'm sure it would happen (emotions boiling over). It's not because they're more educated, or sophisticated; with the kind of cars they have, it doesn't allow them to."

Piquet said emphatically he has no plans to try Indy car racing.

"When I saw the possibility of doing NASCAR, what intrigued me in the beginning was the challenge," he said. "It is so different, it is so tough. That is what drove me to come over here. That was even before falling in love with the sport. After I got addicted, I just love it."

He says he has a lot to learn about stock car racing and NASCAR before leaving Nationwide and trucks to try the Sprint Cup circuit. And he would like to take the step with the right team.

"I do not want to go up to Cup until I have the right team to do it," he said. "If it's going to be two, three, four years - I don't know. I want to learn as much as I can to be prepared. Then if the right opportunity comes along, I'll do it."

- NORRIS McDONALD

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