2006 CCWS Rd. 12--Road America Grand Prix

All about the Champ Car World Series (CCWS)

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Who will win the Road America Grand Prix?

Poll ended at Mon Sep 25, 2006 4:32 pm

A.J. Allmendinger
0
No votes
Sebastien Bourdais
3
75%
Paul Tracy
1
25%
Alex Tagliani
0
No votes
Justin Wilson
0
No votes
Justin Wilson
0
No votes
 
Total votes: 4

mlittle
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2006 CCWS Rd. 12--Road America Grand Prix

Post by mlittle » Wed Sep 13, 2006 4:32 pm

The Kink. Canada Corner. Briggs & Stratton Corner. Moraine Sweep.

Mention these places to the average person, and you'll draw a blank stare; mention these to an open-wheel fan and the next thought that comes to mind is......Road America. With the exception of 2005, the stars of NA motorsports have been traveling to Elkhart Lake to the 4+-mile road course appropriately described as "America's Spa" in honor of Spa-Francorchamps. With long straights, flowing corners, tight-radius turns and non-stop, seat-of-the-pants driving, this is a driver's track.

Here is a list of past pole and race winners......
1982--Rick Mears, Hector Rebaque
1983--Mario Andretti, Mario Andretti
1984--Mario Andretti, Mario Andretti
1985--Danny Sullivan, Jacques Villeneuve(Sr.)
1986--Bobby Rahal, Emerson Fittipaldi
1987--Mario Andretti, Mario Andretti
1988--Danny Sullivan, Emerson Fittipaldi
1989--Danny Sullivan, Danny Sullivan
1990--Danny Sullivan, Michael Andretti
1991--Bobby Rahal, Michael Andretti
1992--Paul Tracy, Emerson Fittipaldi
1993--Paul Tracy, Paul Tracy
1994--Al Unser, Jr., Jacques Villeneuve
1995--Jacques Villeneuve, Jacques Villeneuve
1996--Alex Zanardi, Michael Andretti
1997--Michael Andretti, Alex Zanardi
1998--Michael Andretti, Dario Franchitti
1999--Michael Andretti, Christian Fittipaldi
2000--Dario Franchitti, Paul Tracy
2001--Kenny Brack, Bruno Junquiera
2002--Bruno Junquiera, Cristiano da Matta
2003--Bruno Junquiera, Bruno Junquiera
2004--Sebastien Bourdais, Alex Tagliani

Impressive list of winners, hmmm?
Here is the event schedule for Road America......

Practice Session #1}11:15 am, 22 Sept. 2006
Practice Session #2}3:00 pm, 22 Sept. 2006
Qualifying Session #1}3:25 pm, 22 Sept. 2006
Practice Session #3}11:30 am, 23 Sept. 2006
Practice Session #4}3:00 pm, 23 Sept. 2006
Qualifying Session #2}3:20 pm, 23 Sept. 2006
Final Practice Session}10 am, 24 Sept. 2006
Road America Grand Prix, 2 pm, 26 Sept. 2006(live tv coverage on Speed Channel(USA) and Global TV[Canada])

As always, I'll have qual. and race reviews, commentaries, thoughts and whatever crosses the mind. All I know is this......
Welcome back, Road America!!!!
Last edited by mlittle on Fri Oct 27, 2006 9:21 am, edited 1 time in total.
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RuSport to run one car at Road America

Post by mlittle » Thu Sep 14, 2006 2:43 pm

For the second race in a row, RuSport Racing will run just one entry w/Justin Wilson at the wheel for the upocming race at Road America. Team officials, though noncommital, also hinted that current IRL racer Dario Franchitti most likely won't be at the wheel for the team at Surfers Paradise and Mexico City, citing contractual squabbles' at the present time, according to both speedtv.com and autoracing1.com.
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Dominguez going from DCR to Rocketsports

Post by mlittle » Mon Sep 18, 2006 9:08 am

According to multiple sources, Mario Dominguez is going to his third team this year, as he reportedly has signed with Rocketsports Racing to run the last three rounds of the 2006 season(Road America, Surfers Paradise and Mexico City) with sponsorship from Pemex, GISCA Real Estate and Telmex. Dominguez will replace current Rocketsports' driver Nicky Pastorelli; it is unclear who will drive for Dale Coyne Racing in place of Dominguez.
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Re: Dominguez going from DCR to Rocketsports

Post by mlittle » Thu Sep 21, 2006 9:57 pm

mlittle wrote:According to multiple sources, Mario Dominguez is going to his third team this year, as he reportedly has signed with Rocketsports Racing to run the last three rounds of the 2006 season(Road America, Surfers Paradise and Mexico City) with sponsorship from Pemex, GISCA Real Estate and Telmex. Dominguez will replace current Rocketsports' driver Nicky Pastorelli; it is unclear who will drive for Dale Coyne Racing in place of Dominguez.

In addition to Dominguez going to Rocketsports, Dale Coyne Racing will run a ChampCar at Road America for driver Juan Cacares, who recently tested for the team at Sebring 12-13 Sept. 2006; the team is currently undecided as to who will drive for them in Surfers Paradise and Mexico City.
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Re: 2006 CCWS Rd. 12--Road America Grand Prix

Post by Julian Mayo » Fri Sep 22, 2006 5:41 am

mlittle wrote:The Kink. Canada Corner. Briggs & Stratton Corner. Moraine Sweep.

Mention these places to the average person, and you'll draw a blank stare; mention these to an open-wheel fan and the next thought that comes to mind is......Road America. With the exception of 2005, the stars of NA motorsports have been traveling to Elkhart Lake to the 4+-mile road course appropriately described as "America's Spa" in honor of Spa-Francorchamps. With long straights, flowing corners, tight-radius turns and non-stop, seat-of-the-pants driving, this is a driver's track.

Here is a list of past pole and race winners......
1982--Rick Mears, Hector Rebaque
1983--Mario Andretti, Mario Andretti
1984--Mario Andretti, Mario Andretti
1985--Danny Sullivan, Jacques Villeneuve(Sr.)
1986--Bobby Rahal, Emerson Fittipaldi
1987--Mario Andretti, Mario Andretti
1988--Danny Sullivan, Emerson Fittipaldi
1989--Danny Sullivan, Danny Sullivan
1990--Danny Sullivan, Michael Andretti
1991--Bobby Rahal, Michael Andretti
1992--Paul Tracy, Emerson Fittipaldi
1993--Paul Tracy, Paul Tracy
1994--Al Unser, Jr., Jacques Villeneuve
1995--Jacques Villeneuve, Jacques Villeneuve
1996--Alex Zanardi, Michael Andretti
1997--Michael Andretti, Alex Zanardi
1998--Michael Andretti, Dario Franchitti
1999--Michael Andretti, Christian Fittipaldi
2000--Dario Franchitti, Paul Tracy
2001--Kenny Brack, Bruno Junquiera
2002--Bruno Junquiera, Cristiano da Matta
2003--Bruno Junquiera, Bruno Junquiera
2004--Sebastien Bourdais, Alex Tagliani

Impressive list of winners, hmmm?
Here is the event schedule for Road America......

Practice Session #1}11:15 am, 22 Sept. 2006
Practice Session #2}3:00 pm, 22 Sept. 2006
Qualifying Session #1}3:25 pm, 22 Sept. 2006
Practice Session #3}11:30 am, 23 Sept. 2006
Practice Session #4}3:00 pm, 23 Sept. 2006
Qualifying Session #2}3:20 pm, 23 Sept. 2006
Final Practice Session}10 am, 24 Sept. 2006
Road America Grand Prix, 2 pm, 26 Sept. 2006(live tv coverage on Speed Channel(USA) and Global TV[Canada])

As always, I'll have qual. and race reviews, commentaries, thoughts and whatever crosses the mind. All I know is this......
Welcome back, Road America!!!!
This is a good thing. :lol:
The Mountain is a savage Mistress.

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Re: 2006 CCWS Rd. 12--Road America Grand Prix

Post by mlittle » Fri Sep 22, 2006 11:03 am

Julian Mayo wrote:
mlittle wrote:The Kink. Canada Corner. Briggs & Stratton Corner. Moraine Sweep.

Mention these places to the average person, and you'll draw a blank stare; mention these to an open-wheel fan and the next thought that comes to mind is......Road America. With the exception of 2005, the stars of NA motorsports have been traveling to Elkhart Lake to the 4+-mile road course appropriately described as "America's Spa" in honor of Spa-Francorchamps. With long straights, flowing corners, tight-radius turns and non-stop, seat-of-the-pants driving, this is a driver's track.

Here is a list of past pole and race winners......
1982--Rick Mears, Hector Rebaque
1983--Mario Andretti, Mario Andretti
1984--Mario Andretti, Mario Andretti
1985--Danny Sullivan, Jacques Villeneuve(Sr.)
1986--Bobby Rahal, Emerson Fittipaldi
1987--Mario Andretti, Mario Andretti
1988--Danny Sullivan, Emerson Fittipaldi
1989--Danny Sullivan, Danny Sullivan
1990--Danny Sullivan, Michael Andretti
1991--Bobby Rahal, Michael Andretti
1992--Paul Tracy, Emerson Fittipaldi
1993--Paul Tracy, Paul Tracy
1994--Al Unser, Jr., Jacques Villeneuve
1995--Jacques Villeneuve, Jacques Villeneuve
1996--Alex Zanardi, Michael Andretti
1997--Michael Andretti, Alex Zanardi
1998--Michael Andretti, Dario Franchitti
1999--Michael Andretti, Christian Fittipaldi
2000--Dario Franchitti, Paul Tracy
2001--Kenny Brack, Bruno Junquiera
2002--Bruno Junquiera, Cristiano da Matta
2003--Bruno Junquiera, Bruno Junquiera
2004--Sebastien Bourdais, Alex Tagliani

Impressive list of winners, hmmm?
Here is the event schedule for Road America......

Practice Session #1}11:15 am, 22 Sept. 2006
Practice Session #2}3:00 pm, 22 Sept. 2006
Qualifying Session #1}3:25 pm, 22 Sept. 2006
Practice Session #3}11:30 am, 23 Sept. 2006
Practice Session #4}3:00 pm, 23 Sept. 2006
Qualifying Session #2}3:20 pm, 23 Sept. 2006
Final Practice Session}10 am, 24 Sept. 2006
Road America Grand Prix, 2 pm, 26 Sept. 2006(live tv coverage on Speed Channel(USA) and Global TV[Canada])

As always, I'll have qual. and race reviews, commentaries, thoughts and whatever crosses the mind. All I know is this......
Welcome back, Road America!!!!
This is a good thing. :lol:
Now, if we could just move the United States Grand Prix there...... :shock: :lol: :lol: :lol:
The Sci-Fi Station Come by and visit when you get the chance. :)
The Wayward Tarheel I'm even in the blogosphere.... :shock:

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Post by Julian Mayo » Fri Sep 22, 2006 2:00 pm

Never say die, Mfer
The Mountain is a savage Mistress.

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Practice #1 summary

Post by mlittle » Sat Sep 23, 2006 4:48 pm

From a wet Road America, it is good to be back at the racetrack! :wave: :wave: :burnout: :up:

Of all the reasons many(myself included) consider Road America to be similar to F1's Spa-Francorchamps is, at times, the ever-changing weather conditions, which played havoc on tire selections and setups in the first practice session. In the end, though, Forsythe's Paul Tracy sat atop the timing charts; here are the top-5 from the session........

1}#3 P. Tracy, Forsythe Ch. Racing.....................2:10.105 sec
2}#1 S. Bourdais, Newman-Haas Racing..............2:10.401 sec
3}#9 J. Wilson, RuSport Racing...........................2:10.903 sec
4}(R)#5 W. Power, Team Australia......................2:11.306 sec
5}(R)#14 D. Clarke, CTE-HVM Racing..................2:13.910 sec
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Practice #2 top-5.....

Post by mlittle » Sat Sep 23, 2006 5:13 pm

Here are the top-5 from the second practice session at a damp and ever-changing Road America..........

1}#1 S. Bourdais, Newman-Haas Racing..................2:06.899 sec
2}#9 J. Wilson, RuSport Racing...............................2:07.272 sec
3}(R)#5 W. Power, Team Australia..........................2:07.888 sec
4}(R)#14 D. Clarke, CTE-HVM Racing......................2:08.293 sec
5}#15 A. Tagliani, Team Australia...........................2:08.532 sec
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Gamble pays off......Speedy Dan Clarke takes QS-1 pole

Post by mlittle » Sat Sep 23, 2006 5:30 pm

No, that's not a typo above; as the track was drying from intermittent showers, Brit "Speedy" Dan Clarke made a major gamble, taking on slicks when seemingly everyone save for MJCR's Charles Zwolsman stayed on intermediates....and, with the Flying Dutchman, ran away with the top spots on the QS-1 qual. board. :lol: :shock: :shock: :lol:

Indeed, Clarke and Zwolsman were separated by less than a half-second; everyone else behind them were over 2 seconds behind.....naturally, Clarke was exuberant over winning the provisional pole, the championship point that goes with it and the guaranteed front-row starting spot in Sunday's race......
I think I did two, three, maybe four laps on the dry....so at that point you're thinking, 'God, somebody else has to have figured this out and be chasing me....'. I just kept pushing and pushing, finding the grip, getting more and more heat in the tires because that gives you more and more grip over the damp spots. The car was sideways through most of the turns; it was like some 70's Grand Prix car. It was really fun.
On the other hand, Zwolsman wasn't so exuberant.......
I'm a bit bummed out that I didn't get the pole because if it doesn't rain tomorrow, it's going to be worthless; I'll have to do it all over again. Right now I'm just praying for rain and then it's to be real good.
Here are the top-5 from Friday qualifying.......................
1}(R)#14 Dan Clarke, CTE-HVM Racing..........................1:55.123 sec
2}(R)#34 Charles Zwolsman, CTE-HVM Racing................1:55.599 sec
3}#15 Alex Tagliani, Team Australia...............................1:57.517 sec
4}#7 A.J. Allmendinger, Forsythe Ch. Racing...................1:58.507 sec
5}#1 Sebastien Bourdais, Newman-Haas Racing..............1:58.945 sec
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Post by Julian Mayo » Sat Sep 23, 2006 5:59 pm

What happened to Will Power? How is it that Tags has Qualified ahead of him? :?
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Friday's Observations from Kettle Moraine.....

Post by mlittle » Sat Sep 23, 2006 6:11 pm

Whilst I continue to recover from all the beer n' brats consumed at all the various paddockside functions(...how many hospitality tents can they cram into the paddock......? :shock: :shock: :lol: .......), here is the Friday notebook.....now,does anyone have any Motrin.......? :shock: :shock: :shock: :shock: :lol:

1}Imagine that.........For all his work with children's charities back in England, "Speedy" Dan Clarke picked up a new sponsor for the remainder of the 2006 season as officials from the Imagine Appeal charity based in Liverpool, England made the announcement Thursday...Clarke rewarded them by taking the provisional pole on Friday. It was IMHO a very ballsy and gutsy move, putting on slicks as the track was beginning to dry and it paid off, as Clakre reeled off several dry laps, putting himself on the point for the first time in his career. Fellow rookie Charles Zwolsman was the only other driver to go to slicks in QS-1, taking second. Everybody else for some reason stayed on intermediates and, in Paul Tracy's words,
.....dropped like a brick....
2}Playing it safe......while Clarke and Zwolsman gambled and won, the three remaining championship contenders, Sebastien Bourdais, A.J. Allmendinger and Justin Wilson, played it safe, running on intermediates the whole session(SeaBass was 5th in QS-1, A.J. was 4th and Wilson was 6th). For Bourdais, the risk didn't match the reward, and has he put it,
It's annoying but it's what you have to deal with.
3}A different strategy......while Dan Clarke gambled and took the pole, fellow Brit Katherine Legge tried a different tack in the QS-1 session; rather than risk going out on slicks, the team elected to let her run all 15 qual. laps on intermediates and for the second time this year, she outpaced teammate Oriol Servia, setting the eighth-fastest time while the Catalonian set the 13th-fastest time.

4}Third's still good......for Team Australia's Alex Tagliani, it was a mixed day. On the one hand, before Clarke and Zwolsman changed to slicks, Tag was on point at times during QS-1. On the other hand, he was content to settle for third; however, when he was asked about the session, he commented,
It was a very good session for us; I'm happy with the car. I think when it's time to put on slicks, we'll be at the front, for sure.
Seen and heard..........whilst wandering the paddock, there were a few things of interest of note:
~~former Honda Racing F1 development driver Adamn Carroll was seen over at the CTE-HVM paddock talking to team principal Keith Wiggins; rumor has it that Carroll's interested in running in ChampCar in 2007
~~current IRL team owner Robbie Buhl(co-owner of Dreyer & Reinbold Racing) was seen hanging around the Panoz Motorsport paddock; rumors are that he was discussing the new Panoz DP01 chassis w/them
~~at Friday's Briggs & Stratton Track Day media event were drivers Ryan Hunter-Reay and Robby Gordon(although Gordon currently is a driver/owner in NASCAR's Nextel Cup, RHR is still looking for a ChampCar ride for 2007; rumor has it that Gelles Racing's interested.....)
~~all of North America will get to see the last three races of the 2006 ChampCar season as series officials and media reps from Mexico's TV Azteca singed a three-race deal to broadcast the series in meixco for the remainder of the year.
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Post by mlittle » Sun Sep 24, 2006 10:07 am

Julian Mayo wrote:What happened to Will Power? How is it that Tags has Qualified ahead of him? :?

My guess, Julian.........two things, lack of experience on Power's end(it is his first visit to Kettle Moraine; it's Tag's sixth visit to the track) for one, and the fact that, with the rain and ever-changing weather conditions Friday, everyone had to adapt.....other than "Speedy" Dan Clarke and Charles "the Flying Dutchman" Zwolsman, nobody had a decent session.
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Post by Julian Mayo » Sun Sep 24, 2006 10:11 am

Yeah, its odd, cos he was going well on friday :?
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Practice #3 top-5.......

Post by mlittle » Sun Sep 24, 2006 10:14 am

With the sun finally making an appearance around Kettle Moraine, here are the top-5 from the third practice session......

1}#1 S. Bourdais, Newman-Haas Racing.......................1:42.913 sec
2}#2 B. Junquiera, Newman-Haas Racing......................1:43.546 sec
3}#7 A.J. Allmendinger, Forsythe Ch. Racing.................1:44.075 sec
4}#6 O. Servia, PKV Racing.........................................1:44.554 sec
5}#9 J. Wilson, RuSport Racing....................................1:44.759 sec
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