(This blog entry was delayed in its publishing. First written 2-29-09)

IndyCar.Com

There are several new things to report from Indycar.com. The first will be the coverage.

Exept for a few races including the Indianapolis 500, most coverage will be from Versus Network.

VS. is a cable network not on the basic channel lineup, so for those irritated that ESPN won't be covering the races, it doesn't get better. The good news is there are several Indycar specials on VS. in the month of March before the first race in St. Petersburg, Fla. on April 4.

Versus Preseason Indycar coverage

All episodes air at 2 p.m. Eastern

March 7 Danica: Five Years and Running
March 14 Indycar's Closest Finishes
March 21 Crashes and Conflicts
March 28 Indycar Tour 2009

Indycar has several new names in the field, several rookies to the series including a few names you'll recognize.

Stanton Barrett, Team 3g, Mike Conway, Dreyer & Reinbold Racing

Rafael Matos, Luczo Dragon Racing

Robert Doornbos, Newman/Haas/Lanigan Racing

Dario Franchitti, Ganassi Racing

Though, Dario isn't a rookie to the IRL, it's his first trip back since going Nascar. Kudos to these up and comers, Matos will certainly be fast but his car may be a step off, Doornbos has a great ride with teammate Graham Rahal.

Photos: (from top)

1. Robert Doornbos in his elite Newman/Haas ride

2. AJ Foyt IV, Vision Racing

3. Vitor Meira, A.J.Foyt Ent.

4. Dan Wheldon, Panther Racing

-Katykarter

Photos from Cresson

Motorsports Ranch Cresson was the first race of SWRA's 2008 schedule. As readers know, I was only able to compete in this and the second race of that season, in defense of my KT100 Heavy title.

The following pics are of the fellow competitors and myself in the Sunday race.

Race winner Jamey Brown

2nd Place John Dale Brown

3rd and 4th Place #22 Oscar Moran and #21 Ian Carroll

#16 Keri Summers

Gene Brown



















Luke Heskith, Left and Blake Krueger, center






#27 J.R. Miller

#23 Julie Munden and #25 Luke Heskith

Justin Casey, left, makes last minute adjustments in the hot grid.

Justin talks with Blake pre-race

Your humble host, Ian Carroll (aka Katykarter), left and Colin Walker, right.

ps! thats David Munden with his back to the camera along with his wife Julie. That's about all anyone saw of David this year, he won the 2008 KT100 Lights and Heavies points championship. Congratulations, David!!

Click on "Cresson Opener a Fast One" in the Previous Posts section near the top of the page for a description of the Saturday and Sunday races.

-Katykarter

Hot Summer Racing

The summer of 2008 will probably go down in history as the summer the Olympic Games went to China. It is also a scorching season of racing in North America's elite racing series':

ALMS

The American LeMans Series went on the road last month...to LeMans for the 24, of course. Champion Audi and Risi Competition both won in their respective classes, and they are both mainstays here in the U.S. in the ALMS. ALMS is the "sprint" series of LeMans-style endurance racing. ALMS is stateside and has several extended races, Daytona has a 24 hour race, the prestigious 12 Hours of Sebring to name a few. But most races are shorter in time and on varying road courses and street courses throughout the U.S. and Canada. This week they were at Mid Ohio Raceway with the Indy Racing League, and ran an exiting race on Saturday.

Audi North America notched another overall victory after the smaller displacing but lighter LMP2's won at Limerock last week. With the several straights and higher speeds overall, the R10 Turbo Diesel stretched is legs and left the field in their dust again. Lucas Luhr and starter Marco Werner kept it between the lines and took fuel only on their last stop, the difference between their car and their teammate's car at the finish. Audi's Emmanuel Pirro and Dindo Capello drove their sister car to second step of the overall podium.

Romain Dumas and Timo Bernhardt piloted their Penske Porche RS Spyder to class victory in LMP2, outlasting the Acura of David Brabham and Scott Sharp. Gil DeFerran put his Acura P-2 on pole, and co-driver Simon Pagenaud drove a great race, but late problems in the pits cost them the race, with a pit fire and an injured crew member to show for it. Adrian Fernandez and Luis Diaz finished third in class in another Acura.

In GT-1, the Corvette of Johnny O'Connel and Jan Magnussen finished ahead of teammates Olivier Baretta and Oliver Gavin, but a rough exit from the pits had O'Connell and Baretta leaning heavily on each other in an effort to get ahead. No harm, no foul. Interestingly, when asked what kind of music Jan Magnussen liked when he was alone, he said, "...dark, heavy, heavy metal..". Hmm, let's jam, Jan.

In GT-2 points leaders Dirk Mueller and Dominic Farnbacher lead with almost a lap on the entire field to win for the 3rd time this year. Their Ferrari F430GT was rarely out of the lead. Second on the podium was the Team Flying Lizard racing Porsche of Johannes Van Overbeek.

Formula 1

Lewis Hamilton and Heikki Kovalienen impressed a large crowd at Hockenheimring for the German Grand Prix. Team McLaren, if they can have a fine-free season will challenge Ferrari for dominance this year. After staying out of the pits during a safety car period, Hamilton made several more laps before pitting, and after coming out of the pits some 18 seconds back from new race leader Nelson Piquet Jr, Hamilton, and the McLaren made mincemeat of the field catching the leader with 8 laps left, passing him and taking Piquet's closest proximity to a win since debuting in Formula 1 last season. Second place points are a helluva consolation prize, though, especially for Piquet who was reportedly under scrutiny for lukewarm results so far in his first full year at Renault.

Felipe Massa finish third for Ferrari giving points to the constructor points competition.

Indy Racing League

There were several story lines to this race, but in the end, careful planning and precise execution led to a 1-2 victory for Penske. Ryan Brisco steered his car to victory over Helio Castroneves, and Scott Dixon, while Marco Andretti got caught up in a melee. Danica Patrick had a heated post-race conversation with fellow-female driver Milka Dunho which didn't appear to go well. Patrick will get an elitist reputation soon by admonishing the younger drivers in the series when they make errors. Dixon, last week was critical them also and of Danica herself, saying he is uncomfortable with her and any driver who can't seem to keep their car where it belongs. This demonstrates the underlying conflict in open wheel racing on ovals, especially: you have to have confidence in you fellow competitor's ability. If not, passing is not just difficult anymore, it's suicidal.

Nice weekend of professional racing on planet Earth. Looking forward to ALMS at Road America, IRL at Kentucky and Formula 1 at Hungary.

-Katykarter

2008 24 Hours of Le Mans

Le Mans, France, Circui De La Sarthe

The 2008 Le Mans proved to be an extremely close affair if you consider the distance the cars travel in the 24 hour period, to be separated by only one minute is a testament to the drama. Audi, and it's North American team, Audi Sport North America had it's two car team in the field, set to defend their stranglehold on the Prototype class.

Kristenson, McNish and Capello captured the third straight Audi TDI R-10 overall victory at Le Mans, but also Audi's eighth in nine years, beaten only by the Bentley Speed 8 in 2003 (Pictured below in a museum).

This year Peugeot mounted their hardest assault on Audi to date, with the 908, a turbo-diesel like the Audi. They finished less than a lap after the Audi, clearly a faster car, with good handling, but needing more time in the pits, which was the difference in this year's race.

Jacques Villenueve piloted the lead Peugeot and stood to become the first Indy 500 winner, Formula 1 Champion and 24 Hours of Le Mans overall winner. But it was not to be, and Jacques will have to go back to raising money to race in NASCAR.

Peugeot as a team had troubles in the pits, as well as overheating problems in their engines. Late in the race, early morning and rain had fallen overnight. At one point, one Peugeot had full rain tires and the other had full dry. Of course, the car that had the dry tires had to make another pit stop to correct the mistake. Twice, the French team had to bring their cars into the garage and cool their radiators for several minutes each time. Smaller, sprint-style radiators were probably the cause, commented David Hobbs.

But the Peugeot's were clearly faster. Several times, the Peugeot drivers had to pass the R-10's to get their laps back. There were several miscues by each team, with Kristensen having a rare brush with a competitor. Marco Werner spinning the Audi and Manassian spinning the 908 at the start/finish line.

In 1966, the Ford GT 40's take the checkered flag a la formacion. Unfortunately, it cost driver Denny Hulme the win due to allowing the second Ford to close. In 1966, the rules stated the furthest distance traveled in 24 hours wins. Since Bruce McLaren had started further back, it was deemed that he won the race by 8 meters.

Talking Turkey and Ayrton

Peter Windsor, the pit reporter for Speed Channel's coverage of Formula 1 was remarking at the appearent fragility of the Red Bull car driven by Mark Webber. As constant fans remember, the Red Bull team had a vote of lack of confidence by the technical director of FIA after the front wheels popped off of David Coulthard's car in Australia after he tried to re-enter the track after a slight off. While the curbs taper up from the track, if you try to cross the curb from the backside as Coulthard did, you must bouce over a large bump. We saw several cars try to do this this weekend, as Fisichell did, shattering his front nose and requiring a replacement. The Red Bull car, however, was completely smashed when it tried this crossing, both suspension on the front end giving up and breaking away.

During the Friday practice at this weekend's Turkish Grand Prix, Webber spun coming out of turn 9 and the car crossed back over the track, spun again and impacted the arcove barrier nose first...and the front wheels and suspension broke away clean. It was a substantial impact, though, curiously, the nose seemed not to be damaged!

Windsor's comment included this nugget of info from Ayrton Senna's fatal crash in 1994 at Monza. Senna, during the race, left the track and slammed into the wall and was killed, but, according to Windsor, and I'd never heard this before: his death was caused by a component of the suspension entering the driver's cockpit.

It was obvious from the footage available, that Senna was moving after the car came to rest, and from trackside reports, Senna was bleeding profusely, but the flying debris was never suggested as the actual cause of death.

Ten Years after his death, Senna's team, Williams was exonerated of blame in his death by a court in Europe.

Qualifying for the Turkish Grand Prix, during a tense Q3, Hamilton, Kovalienen and Raikkonen posted fast laps, but it wasn't enough to defeat Felipe Massa. His Ferrari posted the fastest Q3 time as well as the fastest time of the weekend to claim the pole, his third in a row this season. Massa is also the defending Turkish Grand Prix champion.

Long Live Senna...

-Katykarter

SWRA Swoops into Eagles Canyon

Five hours north of West Houston, just north of Ft. Worth, Texas near Decatur, Eagle's Canyon Raceway was recently completed and word was SWRA was the first official event at the new track.





The track is a technical majesty, the four outer left-turns are four different, double apex 180's of varying diameter. Turn 3 is a quick left into a full out exit, turn 6 is a tight turn in and a tight, compression exit with a lot of track to deal with, painted apex and exit curbs. Turn 9 has a massive elevational drop, but with the off-camber left/right to enter, it's a joyous run downhill through the Turn 9 complex. The fourth double is Turn 11, an even-tighter double left after a long straight. There are many elevational changes in the 2.5 mile track, making entries and exits exciting.



Competition was fierce again, with Jean and John Dale Brown in attendance on Friday for the lights, and Jamey on Sunday due to scheduling constraints. I was unable to be there for Friday practice, but I arrived early Saturday to assemble my unprepared kart. I hadn't completed the necessary repairs, and parts from Frank's shop met me at the track. Aside from a missing gas tank, and a new one ($55 trackside), the Birel went together with no hitches. Dropping out onto the track in the lights race without any practice laps put me down early. In the 12 or 13 laps of the race, I was able to shave 4 seconds off my times, and made my last lap my fastest, a 2:20.

The leaders with the three kart draft were lapping at 2:13 though, so I never saw them after the start. I passed several slower karts to finish 6th thanks to one of the lead pack going off on the final lap. I felt a lot of horsepower was left on the table after this race: some in the motor, some in the clutch, and some in my overall body weight, but after some consideration I think it'll also prove effective to update the aero package, it's ten years old now and though it's complete, it is a bit of an air dam.

Sunday's race was better for me, I finished 4th and improved on my lap times, but performance-wise it was the same. I look forward to our next race at Oakhill. We'll visit SWRA's home track twice in the year, May 16-18 and again Oct 17-19.

Sponsorship operations need to improve. There were several last minute donors prior to this past weekend, but overall, sponsorship is anything but busy.

The good news is I should be in the lead in points in the Heavies and fourth in points in the Lights.

-Katykarter

Starting Tribulations and Trials

The start of a race is an all important moment.

The green flag drops and all your systems come on-line at once: a flurry of movement and synergy: a flood of karts funnelling towards the first turn...

but the start is just a moment when you drop the accelerator and steer towards daylight.

Its over so quickly, it seems like just a moment. In truth, you prepare for the start giving it the extra attention and preparation it deserves. The start, done properly, can give an extra place or two in addition to the strength/weakness of your kart. That will play out on the high speed road course ahead. Starting grand prix style, or from a dead start, depends on reflexes, skill, and determination. When more karts than can fit dodge into the first turn mayhem ensues. Open wheels tend to not rub but launch skyward! Often, a small space is all you have, and it's everything you can do to just survive. But when an opening pops up, or a wreck happens, instinct, luck and skill provide the means to take advantage of it.

A Clutch in the hole is worth...everything

The start starts with the clutch. It's impossible to overstate the importance of a properly set clutch. With it, you'll rocket out of the hole into the lead. Without it, your mired in whatever-place.
Lately, the clutch is presenting itself as the center of the kart's universe: it has become the difference in the competition and us. This is no new revelation either, Frank has been collecting data, testing, using different models, different makes. Changing the weights, springs and friction plates. Our clutches are hard-hitting SMC's and they are highly tunable. The competition uses SMC as well, but some use Horstman and Hartman, both 'back in the day' clutches that literally kick-ass with regular rebuilding. The launch is maybe the most important role the clutch plays, but it is just beginning it's job, proper adjustment keeps you launching hard out of the slowest corner all race long.

The Kt 100 is a venerable motor produced by Yamaha in it's present configuration and displacement for decades. I don't know when it came on the scene, but Frank started tuning it and rebuilding it almost immediately, and that's some 30 or more years ago. It's a 100cc two stroke motor making peak power at almost 13,000 rpms. That's pretty high and your clutch will engage sometime before that in the rpms' screeching rise and you've got the motor's full power after that.

Keeping the Motor Running

The Walbro carburator is another old time/all time part to this package, it is relatively the same as in years past. The carb has two fuel-mixture adjustments: the low speed and the high speed. Because of the Kt's penchant for running at WOT (wide-open throttle), it needs to be greatly leaned-out prior to the start so it will stay running. In this extra-lean state, the carb keeps the motor alive, but on the start, or throttle input WOT, it needs to be richened immediately or it's lights-out for the motor. It can't handle that lean of a mixture: the added heat seizes the piston in mid stroke causing quite a mess not to mention an immediate halt.

Depending on the ambient conditions, after richening the mixture properly, the needle will be set to a position to accommodate the heat. Heat kills the motor (and clutch), and it's ever present in racing conditions. Ambient temperature, humidity and dew point greatly affect the carb's performance and in turn the motor's performance.

During the start of the Cresson 'Lights' race, I richened the mix sharply, and the motor chugged in protest. I screwed it back down a fuzz, allowed the motor to get it's breath and started out again, this time richening it evenly: a horrible start! Sunday I richened it evenly and had a superior start. There are still several slower karts in the fields, and at the start they are obstacles to avoid. Compound that with spins and offs, dust, smoke, flipping karts...it's a little hairy.

To Finish First...

All of this happens moments after the green flag drops. Getting through Turn 1 intact is paramount but getting the best start puts more behind you than is in front of you, making fitting into Turn 1 all that much easier. Finishing is even more important, so throwing it into Turn 1 recklessly is like going "all in" on the first hand of the poker tournament! Don't do it!

Instead, visualize smoothly accelerating past the field into lone possession of first place.

Now...make it happen.

-Katykarter