A Few Current Events

This post is just 3 small blog posts about some recent events in the world of racing!

1- So Marco Andretti tested the Honda F1 at Jerez! For his first time in a Formula One car he did pretty decent. He posted a time of 1m21.8 which was only 2 seconds off of the pace of Lewis Hamilton, the hot lap leader of the test at Jerez on Friday. Marco Andretti states that F1 is a big dream of his and plans on moving to Formula One once he wins the Indy 500. He believes that he will win the Indy 500 in 2007 or 2008 and then Formula One will be his main focus. He came in a close second for the '06 Indy 500 and got his first win in the Indy Racing League at Infineon Raceway this summer.

2- Team USA a man short? Well it's that time of year again for the ever so popular Race of Champions! The original line up for Team USA this year was Travis Pastrana and Jimmie Johnson. Johnson had to withdraw from the Race of Champions due to a broken wrist that he sustained from falling off of a golf cart at a charity golf event. The first person he called to replace him in the RoC was Indy Racing Leage champion Sam Hornish. Sam Hornish had to decline the offer due to short notice. Johnson then scrambled to find another American driver and thought Scott Speed would do just great! Well to our surprise Speed Injured him self while testing at Jerez for Toro Rosso. With one day until the Race of Champions they were not able to schedule a second drive, rumor has it that Marco Andretti was next on the list. Leaving Travis Pastrana to race for Team USA by him self.

3- With Michelin departing the Formula One circuit Bridgestone will be left as the single tyre supplier of the series. Felipe Massa Claims that passing will be much more difficult with a single tyre supplier and says "These tyres make you less aggressive, so it is not going to help passing". Ralf Shumacher on the other hand thinks the complete opposite of this. Ralf said "I am convinced the cars will slide more since the grip levels are lower than in the past. In theory, this should lead to more overtaking maneuvers, but we'll have to wait and see." Bridgestone is proposing a system much like The Champ Car World Series where each team has both a soft and a hard compound tyre and must use both in the course of a race.

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