2008 IRL Rd. 18--Nikon Indy 300[non-points race]

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Should the IndyCar Series return to Surfers Paradise in 2009?

Poll ended at Mon Oct 27, 2008 3:23 pm

Yes
1
100%
No
0
No votes
 
Total votes: 1

mlittle
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Post by mlittle » Fri Oct 24, 2008 8:33 am

Top-5 at the moment
Rahal, Power, Wilson, RHR and Meira
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Post by mlittle » Fri Oct 24, 2008 9:04 am

Still no timing and scoring; now, the video feed is beginning to go in and out..... :shock: :shock: :shock: :shock:
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Post by mlittle » Fri Oct 24, 2008 9:34 am

Currently on the video screen being interviewed is Nikon Indy 300 chairman Terry Mackenroth, who made it clear as possible that "there will be an event on the Gold Coast next year" and "that no other (open-wheel) series has been contacted."
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Post by mlittle » Fri Oct 24, 2008 9:36 am

Session over......and finally, the timing and scoring works.

:shock: :shock: :shock: :shock: :lol:
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Post by mlittle » Fri Oct 24, 2008 1:19 pm

....... quoting from TrackSide Online.............


Will Power led the IndyCar assault on Australia by being fastest in the first practice session. Justin Wilson was third quick, with Dario Franchitti third in his return to the IndyCar Series. Scott Dixon was fourth, with Alex Tagliani fifth. Tagliani brought out an early end to practice when he made a half-spin at Turn 7, making very gentle contact. Alex was able to drive the car back to the pits.

There were a few yellows during the session for spins and restarts, but only two that involved contact. In addition to Tagliani's earlier incident, Oriol Servia got the first chicane all wrong and made left front contact, ending his session early. The car had to come back on the hook, but the damage should be repairable for the next practice session.

Session Times from Practice Session #1.....................
note........from L-R, position, driver, car #, fastest time in session, speed(mph), laps
1 Will Power 8 1:36.3391 104.444 21
2 Justin Wilson 2 1:36.5607 104.204 21
3 Dario Franchitti 10 1:36.9904 103.742 15
4 Scott Dixon 9 1:37.0052 103.726 17
5 Alex Tagliani 36 1:37.0625 103.665 14
6 Tony Kanaan 11 1:37.0650 103.662 16
7 Bruno Junqueira 18 1:37.3127 103.399 13
8 Oriol Servia 5 1:37.4146 103.290 9
9 Ryan Briscoe 6 1:37.5896 103.105 20
10 Graham Rahal 6 1:37.6370 103.055 20
11 Helio Castroneves 3 1:37.6514 103.040 18
12 EJ Viso 33 1:38.3860 102.271 20
13 Mario Moraes 19 1:39.1186 101.515 19
14 Ryan Hunter-Reay 17 1:39.1631 101.469 17
15 Hideki Mutoh 27 1:39.4673 101.159 21
16 Vitor Meira 14 1:39.7604 100.862 22
17 AJ Foyt IV 2 1:40.1178 100.502 28
18 Marco Andretti 26 1:41.1604 99.466 24
19 Buddy Rice 15 1:41.1624 99.464 29
20 Dan Wheldon 4 1:42.0197 98.628 15
21 Danica Patrick 7 1:42.5072 98.159 21
22 Townsend Bell 23 1:42.6594 98.013 14
23 Jaime Camara 34 1:42.8451 97.836 23
24 Ed Carpenter 20 1:43.0083 97.681 19
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Post by mlittle » Fri Oct 24, 2008 1:21 pm

Session 2 summary(quoting from TSO)...................


We have additional notes we're working on, but the Australians are practicing the flyover at around 100 feet above the media center so we need a few extra minutes to compose ourselves.

In the second session, AJ Foyt IV made wall contact at Turn 7 when he lost it coming out of the last part of the chicane and made a half-spin, making decent contact with the left side of the car. Townsend Bell brought out an early end to the session when he backed his car into the wall at the same complex.


Session Times from Practice Session #2........................
1 Will Power 1:34.8084 106.130 19
2 Helio Castroneves 1:36.1609 104.637 19
3 Dario Franchitti 1:36.1712 104.626 15
4 Oriol Servia 1:36.4394 104.335 15
5 Graham Rahal 1:36.4963 104.273 18
6 Justin Wilson 1:36.5127 104.256 16
7 Scott Dixon 1:36.5812 104.182 16
8 Ryan Hunter-Reay 1:36.8863 103.854 16
9 Ryan Briscoe 1:37.5183 103.181 19
10 Tony Kanaan 1:37.5488 103.148 17
11 Bruno Junqueira 1:37.7709 102.914 21
12 Mario Moraes 1:38.6572 101.990 14
13 Alex Tagliani 1:38.8099 101.832 7
14 Hideki Mutoh 1:38.8353 101.806 14
15 EJ Viso 1:38.8784 101.761 12
16 AJ Foyt IV 1:39.0920 101.542 17
17 Vitor Meira 1:39.1538 101.479 16
18 Dan Wheldon 1:39.8513 100.770 18
19 Marco Andretti 1:39.8582 100.763 12
20 Danica Patrick 1:40.0527 100.567 18
21 Jaime Camara 1:40.4821 100.137 15
22 Buddy Rice 1:40.7196 99.901 9
23 Ed Carpenter 1:41.4751 99.157 18
24 Townsend Bell 1:41.5490 99.085 16
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Post by mlittle » Sat Oct 25, 2008 3:06 am

Image

Image

Image
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Post by mlittle » Sat Oct 25, 2008 9:28 am

Qualifying Groups for Surfers Paradise.............

~~Group 1..............
Servia
Briscoe
Patrick
Meira
Hunter-Reay
Junqueira
Moraes
Carpenter
Bell
Viso
Tagliani
Rahal
~~Group 2...............
Foyt IV
Castroneves
Wheldon
Power
Dixon
Franchitti
Kanaan
Rice
Andretti
Mutoh
Camara
Wilson
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Post by mlittle » Sat Oct 25, 2008 1:02 pm

........quoting from TSO.................


Justin Wilson spoiled the party by setting fast time in the first session ahead of local hero Will Power. Scott Dixon was third, with new teammate Dario Franchitti fourth and Helio Castroneves fifth.

There were two incidents in the session. Vitor Meira made contact - not sure where or how severe, but we will find out. Scott Dixon brought out a yellow when he spun coming out of Turn 3 to end the session. He stopped without hitting anything and drove around after being turned by track workers.

Session #3 times................
1 Justin Wilson 1:34.5072 106.468 12
2 Will Power 1:34.6523 106.305 12
3 Scott Dixon 1:35.0784 105.828 12
4 Dario Franchitti 1:35.1053 105.799 10
5 Helio Castroneves 1:35.7208 105.118 11
6 Ryan Hunter-Reay 1:35.8260 105.003 13
7 Ryan Briscoe 1:36.0483 104.760 11
8 Oriol Servia 1:36.1073 104.695 12
9 Graham Rahal 1:36.2337 104.558 11
10 Alex Tagliani 1:36.5997 104.162 10
11 EJ Viso 1:36.6073 104.154 9
12 Bruno Junqueira 1:36.7597 103.990 13
13 Mario Moraes 1:36.9109 103.827 9
14 Tony Kanaan 1:37.0313 103.698 10
15 Hideki Mutoh 1:37.7170 102.971 11
16 AJ Foyt IV 1:38.2213 102.442 12
17 Vitor Meira 1:38.4132 102.242 12
18 Dan Wheldon 1:38.6506 101.996 10
19 Jaime Camara 1:39.0564 101.578 12
20 Ed Carpenter 1:39.2413 101.389 13
21 Marco Andretti 1:39.3099 101.319 12
22 Buddy Rice 1:39.3540 101.274 13
23 Danica Patrick 1:39.8326 100.789 9
24 Townsend Bell 1:41.0120 99.612 10
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Post by mlittle » Sun Oct 26, 2008 9:19 am

Starting Lineup, Nikon Indy 300
note......from L-R, position, (car #), driver, chassis-engine, fastest speed



1. [8] Will Power, Dallara-Honda, 105.977
2. (9) Scott Dixon, Dallara-Honda, 105.067
3. (6) Ryan Briscoe, Dallara-Honda, 105.031
4. (10) Dario Franchitti, Dallara-Honda, 104.885
5. (17) Ryan Hunter-Reay, Dallara-Honda, 104.374
6. (3) Helio Castroneves, Dallara-Honda, 104.008
7. (36) Alex Tagliani, Dallara-Honda, 99.317
8. (11) Tony Kanaan, Dallara-Honda, 99.229
9. (02) Justin Wilson, Dallara-Honda, 98.606
10. (33) E.J. Viso, Dallara-Honda, 97.767
11. (14) Vitor Meira, Dallara-Honda, 96.440
12. (19) Mario Moraes, Dallara-Honda, 90.238
13. (06) Graham Rahal, Dallara-Honda, 87.030
14. (26) Marco Andretti, Dallara-Honda, 89.672
15. (5) Oriol Servia, Dallara-Honda, 86.994
16. (27) Hideki Mutoh, Dallara-Honda, 88.781
17. [18] Bruno Junqueira, Dallara-Honda, 85.258
18. (4) Dan Wheldon, Dallara-Honda, 88.328
19. (20) Ed Carpenter, Dallara-Honda, 84.721
20. (34) Jaime Camara, Dallara-Honda, 88.223
21. (23) Townsend Bell, Dallara-Honda, 84.607
22. (15) Buddy Rice, Dallara-Honda, 87.994
23. (7) Danica Patrick, Dallara-Honda, no speed
24. (2) A.J. Foyt IV, Dallara-Honda, no speed
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Briscoe wins at Surfers Paradise........

Post by mlittle » Tue Oct 28, 2008 1:18 am

........as event and series officials continue to discuss whether to place the event on the 2009 schedule.......
(from SU, 26 October 2008)


Image



After fellow Australian Will Power dominated most of the race weekend but crashed out of the race while leading easily, Ryan Briscoe took command of the Nikon Indy 300 race in Surfers Paradise, Australia and then held off a charging Scott Dixon of New Zealand to become the first Australian to ever win on his home turf. American Ryan Hunter-Reay finished third ahead of Canadian Alex Tagliani and Spaniard Oriol Servia.

Briscoe beat reigning IndyCar Series champion Scott Dixon by 0.5019 of a second to win the inaugural Nikon Indy 300 on the streets of Surfers Paradise, which since 1991 was run as a Champ Car event.

Quotes from the top-three plus additional quotes.............
~~Ryan Briscoe, #6 Team Penske D/H,
. “Dixon is very quick and consistent, and he was in my mirrors all day long, but I just had to focus on not making a mistake and bringing it all home. Dixon made me work for it, for sure - as his fuel load got lighter, he kept coming on stronger, but I knew I had the equipment to keep ahead of him. It‘s so nice to win in my home country. This is certainly special and it’s a big honor to win here.
~~Scott Dixon, #9 Target D/H,
We had a bit bad start and had to shortcut the track and give (Ryan) Briscoe a position back. It was unfortunate because it's so hard to pass on track. The traffic at the end made it exciting. (If there was another lap, could you have passed?): We were quicker in different spots. He was quicker than me, but we were quicker on the backside. I don't know, if he had made a mistake, we could have got him.
~~Ryan Hunter-Reay, #17 Ethanol D/H,
It was a long race with those curbs. They beat the hell out of you. It was nice to get by Dario (Franchitti) in the beginning. From there I picked off good laps. Unfortunately, I got held up by (Alex) Tagliani for good while there, but the guys did a great job in the pits to get us by him, and I did my usual deal at Surfers. I've never been out of the top-five here.
~~Alex Tagliani, #36 Sanctuary Cove D/H,
I’m very happy with this result for the Conquest team, Brandon (Fry) and Eric (Zeto) worked so hard on the engineering aspect of the car. They saw potential in Detroit and were very excited with the feedback they received. They were able to take that (and) prepare for this race in Australia. I’m pretty sure that the winter will be much sweeter for this with this good result. Coming here and fighting with Dixon, the champion of the series, Briscoe with Team Penske, it was a great showing for our team. The last pit stop is kind of what cost us a podium. We had a problem with the fuel going in the car and Ryan Hunter-Reay passed us. I think the team finished the season the way we wanted and now we will continue working over the winter.
~~Oriol Servia, #5 KVRT-Aussie Vineyards D/H,
I finished the season with another top-five, which is great, but it was a race where I think KV Racing Technology – Team Australia had the dominant car. KVRT has shown that on road/street courses that we have everything it takes to win. It's just tough racing out there and everything has to go your way. Again, we got very close to a great race, and actually, I think we had a good race, going from 15th to fifth. We passed a lot of cars on track, which is not very easy these days, so I am very happy with the race. We have the potential to win races together, but we just need to keep working hard.
~~Will Power, #8 Aussie Vineyards D/H,
Obviously, I'm very disappointed. The KV Racing Technology – Team Australia car was very quick. You could see how fast we were at the start of the race. The I backed off to save a lot of fuel, not pushing hard and then got caught out and clipped the inside wall and ricocheted into the next one. It was a really bad mistake, the worst of my life. It's was a very bad day for me and I am very disappointed. I want to thank all of the KVRT Team Australia for all their hard work this weekend. They really gave me a great car, and it's a shame we could not finish the race.

Final Results from a beautiful Surfers Paradise...................
note.........L-R, finishing position, driver, laps completed/distance behind
Pos Driver Difference
1 Ryan Briscoe 60 Laps
2 Scott Dixon 0.5019
3 Ryan Hunter-Reay 9.1179
4 Alex Tagliani 19.9844
5 Oriol Servia 20.4376
6 EJ Viso 33.7249
7 Helio Castroneves 34.4931
8 Hideki Mutoh 55.7467
9 Graham Rahal 1:20.0592
10 Dan Wheldon 1:31.9002
11 Justin Wilson 1:31.9353
12 Buddy Rice 1:33.9068
13 Marco Andretti 1:38.3970
14 Vitor Meira 59 Laps
15 Bruno Junqueira 59 Laps
16 Dario Franchitti 59 Laps
17 AJ Foyt IV 58 Laps
18 Danica Patrick 58 Laps
19 Jaime Camara 58 Laps
20 Ed Carpenter 57 Laps Off Course
21 Tony Kanaan 34 Laps Mechanical
22 Will Power 16 Laps Off Course
23 Townsend Bell 8 Laps Contact
24 Mario Moraes 7 Laps Off Course
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