Montoya Tests at Sebring

Juan Pablo Montoya's return to open wheel racing began yesterday and continues today at Sebring International Raceway.

His new teammates are united in their opinion of his abilities: He's fast.

The first few sessions in the Penske Chevrolet Indy car on November 25 at Sebring brought JPM
closer to being comfortable in the new ride.

"The torque was amazing, so that's fun", Montoya remarked to the press after the first day. The team brought Will Power to shake the car out for about ten laps, then Montoya took to the course, returning to analyze data with his crewchief, and several other teammembers who dropped in on the test: Tim Cindric, Helio Castroneves and Rick Mears.

Montoya will drive the #2 Penske machine, Castroneves will be in the #3 as usual and Power will also still be in the #12.

Indy Car's 2014 Season starts late in March at the temporary street course of St. Petersburg, Florida

-katykarter

Dario Franchitti Retiring from Racing

After his massive last-lap crash during the Houston Grand Prix, 4-time Indy Car series champion and 3-time Indianapolis 500 winner Dario Franchitti has been advised by Miami doctors not to race again but not for reasons you might think.

 

 

Exiting turn 5 on the last lap of the Indy car race in Houston, the Scot, driving the #10 Team Chip Ganassi Racing machine went to pass Takuma Sato's AJ Foyt owned ABC Supply machine at the wrong moment. Contact sent him into the catch fence and tumbling back onto the track. The wreck caused several injuries, including a broken ankle which was operated on twice, first in Houston then again in Miami, a spinal cord injury although there are no further details, and most notably a severe concussion. This was his third, and  due to the massive nature of the concussion, Miami doctors advised him not to risk further nuerological injury and possible brain trauma by getting another concussion.

 

"He's very susceptible now, to a low level, low energy crash causing major damage" said his team owner and friend Chip Ganassi, "He's a professional and would never put other professionals at risk, or put a black eye on the sport" by continuing.

Concussions in Pro Sports

Concussions and brain trauma are a big subject in professional sports these days. Dale Earnhardt Jr.
suffered two concussions last year, and sat out three races. Since then, Nascar has implemented 'baseling concussion testing' starting prior to the 2014 season.

Pro football in the U.S. is coming to terms with a broader effect multiple concussions are having on their sport. Prolonged impact and multiple concussions have led to high profile players in the NFL suffering from dementia and brain trauma. Some, like Junior Seau have committed suicide. Amazingly, it is speculated Seau chose not to damage his brain allowing doctors to examine it post mortem. He shot himself in the chest.

 

For some race car drivers, like Brad Keselowski, the fuzzy understanding of the brain means doctors don't always know whats best. "They are not risk takers. We are", said the defending Nascar champ, "They've never understood our sport and they never will".

 

Franchitti's Replacement

There has been furious chatter about the vacancy Dario's retirement causes, and could be a domino-tumble effect on the drivers and seats extending into GP2, Rolex and Formula 1.

 

Names like Kovalienen, Daly and Karam are bandied about, but with the addition already of Tony Kanaan to TCGR, Ganassi concedes Tony is a candidate for the vacant #10 Target car. Kanaan's sponsorship would have to be worked out though, as he's already signed with a main sponsor. That would leave the #38 car's seat up for grabs.

Justin Wilson

 

 

Takuma Sato

 

 

Dario 1999 CART Team Kool Green

 

Dario and Juan Pablo Montoya celebrating the 24 Hours of Daytona victory

 

Other Indy car drivers to be considered would have to be Alex Tagliani who drove the #10 car in the final race of the season for TCGR, and Ryan Briscoe who's driven for Ganassi before. Also under consideration should be Justin Wilson who's recovering from a pelvis injury sustained during the last race of the season. Wilson is committed to drive for Dayle Coyne Racing again next year, and though Coyne might let him out of the contract, it will probably be a decision left until right before the start of the season as Coyne has done in the past.


-katykarter

 

US Grand Prix 2013

Sebastien Vettle is unstoppable as The 2013 F1 Champion again, making him an historic 4-time Drivers Championship winner. The Wunderkind isn't slowing down either. He'll have two more races this year, Austin, Tx USA and Interlagos, Brazil, but the points are wrapped up with a very dominating season indeed.

I have a story from last year's USGP.  It was a fantastic weekend, we were there all three days along with 250,000 over the whole weekend- Historic Grand Prix, Ferrari Challenge, and Hamilton's gutsy pass of Vettle on a slick track to take the lead and the win on Sunday.

The driver parade commenced with the drivers riding seated on the rear decks of American muscle cars: Mustang, Camaro, Impala. Remembering this story brought me a chuckle.

Michael Schumacher and Kimi Raikkonen in the 2012 USGP Driver Parade

 

 

This is your shot!

The driver parade before each race lets fans wave to the drivers and vice versa.
It was recently announced this was Michael Schumachers' last year. He is re-retiring! After a struggling 4-year return with Mercedes as the sports greatest champion, this was Michael's second to last race and he sat atop the rear deck of a 1965 Mustang convertible. The Mustang was one of 24 local cars used in the drivers' parade.

But something was wrong...was there correct fuel pressure? Why not start? Michael leaned forward
to add to the consternation, but after a lengthy wait. he shrugged and hopped down and walked back to the next car inhabited by Kimi Raikkonen.  They proceeded towards Turn 1, close to where we were.

It must have been such an honor to have the 7-time world champion in your car, and what a crusher for it not to start! The car did fire up a few minutes later and the car's owner sped up the hill to Turn 1 where Michael and Kimi had progressed. Pulling alongside, you could imagine the owner's pleas: "It's fixed Michael! Please come back, ride in my car! I promise it won't break again!!"

Michel assented and the crowd gave a small cheer when Schumi dashed back over to the Mustang.
Schumacher's Mercedes had mechanical problems in the race putting him off the pace. It seemed the stall in the driver parade was a harbinger.

-katykarter