The Official Long Beach Discussion Thread

[marcus]

Starting Grid


1. Paul Tracy 1.07.485 (New lap record) (23rd Career pole)
Forsythe Racing
224th Career start


2. Bruno Junqueira 1.07.644 (14th Time starting 2nd)
Newman Haas
72nd Career start


3. Mario Dominguez 1.07.803 (2nd time starting 3rd)
Forsythe Racing
52nd Career start


4. Sebastien Bourdais 1.07.821 (5th time starting 4th)
Newman Haas
33rd Career start


5. Justin Wilson 1.07.919 (2nd time starting 5th)
Rusport
15th Career start


6. Timo Glock 1.08.274 (1st time starting 6th)
Rocketsports
Race Debut


7. Alex Tagliani 1.08.466 (12th time starting 7th)
Team Australia/Walker racing
92nd Career start


8. Cristiano da Matta 1.08.493 (4th time starting 8th)
PKV
80th Career start


9. Ronnie Bremer 1.08.613 (1st time starting 9th)
HVM
Debut Race


10.AJ Allmendinger 1.08.638 (1st time starting 10th)
Rusport
15th Career start


11.Jimmy Vasser 1.08.770 (18th time starting 11th)
PKV
219th Career Start


12.Ryan Hunter-Reay 1.08.792 (5th time starting 12th)
Rocketsports
33rd Career start


13.Bjorn Wirdheim 1.08.834 (1st time starting 13th)
HVM
Race Debut


14.Oriol Servia 1.08.928 (9th time starting 14th)
Dale Coyne Racing
87th Career start


15.Nelson Phillipe 1.09.334 (1st time starting 15th)
Conquest
12th Career start


16.Andrew Ranger 1.09.416 (1st time starting 16th)
Conquest
Race Debut


17. Marcus Marshall 1.09.784 (1st time starting 17th)
Team Australia/Walker racing
Race Debut


18.Ricardo Sperafico 1.09.879 (1st time starting 18th)
Dale Coyne Racing
Race Debut
No Picture

19.Fabrizio Del Monte 1.11.723 (1st time starting 19th)
Jensen Motorsport
Race Debut


All pictures from www.champcarworldseries.com


FAST FACTS

Want to know how they ran at Long Beach last year ? then why not click HERE

Paul Tracy set the pole Position time today with a time of 1.07.485 which is now a new Track record on this configuration of Long Beach. The previous record was held by Gil de Ferran set back in 2000 with a time of 1.07.494

this is the 22nd Grand Prix of Long Beach (Yes I know the logo above states the 31st annual but that includes the Formula One Grand Prix as well) and has boasted some prestigous winners dating back to the first race in 1984.

the list includes.

1984 : Mario Andretti
1985 : Mario Andretti
1986 : Michael Andretti
1987 : Mario Andretti
1988 : Al Unser Jnr
1989 : Al Unser Jnr
1990 : Al Unser Jnr
1991 : Al Unser Jnr
1992 : Danny Sullivan
1993 : Paul Tracy
1994 : Al Unser Jnr
1995 : Al Unser Jnr
1996 : Jimmy Vasser
1997 : Allesandro Zanardi
1998 : Allesandro Zanardi
1999 : Juan Pablo Montoya
2000 : Paul Tracy
2001 : Helio Castroneves
2002 : Michael Andretti
2003 : Paul Tracy
2004 : Paul Tracy

1998 saw the most cautions at this circuit with 7 safety car interventions while 1989 saw the least with no caution periods at all

The Champcar World series (in association with Ten Tenths of course ) welcomes debutants Timo Glock , Bjorn Wirdheim , Marcus Marshall , Ronnie Bremer , Ricardo Sperafico , Andrew Ranger and Fabrizio Del Monte to the series

and of course also welcome back to former Champion Cristiano da Matta

want to know even more about the beautifull city of Long Beach and this fantastic event then vist their official site right HERE

lets go Racing boys

[marcus]

Race Results


1. Sebastien Bourdais
(11th Career Victory)

2. Paul Tracy


3. Bruno Junqueira


4. Justin Wilson


5. Mario Dominguez


6. Timo Glock


7. Ronnie Bremer


8. AJ Allmendinger


9. Jimmy Vasser


10.Cristiano da Matta


11.Oriol Servia


12.Bjorn Wirdheim


13.Ryan Hunter Reay


14.Marcus Marshall


15.Alex Tagliani


16.Fabrizio Del Monte


17.Nelson Phillipe


DID NOT FINISH

Andrew Ranger ACCIDENT

Ricardo Sperafico MECHANICAL

Fastest Lap

Set by Sebatien Bourdais with a time of 1.09.171 set on lap 69

Mover of the race
there was in fact 4 drivers who moved the most in this race.
Sebastien Bourdais , Fabrizio Del Monte , Marcus Marshall and Oriol Servia all moved up 3 places at the end of the race compared to their starting positions.

Fall from Grace

Alex Tagliani took the first Fall from grace award in 2005 after qualifying 7th he finished the race way down in 15th after suffering mechanical problems in the last few laps

CHAMPIONSHIP POINTS

1 Sebastien Bourdais 34
2 Paul Tracy 29
3 Bruno Junqueira 27
4 Justin Wilson 24
5 Mario Dominguez 22
6 Timo Glock (R) 19
7 Ronnie Bremer (R) 18
8 A.J. Allmendinger (R) 15
9 Jimmy Vasser 14
10 Cristiano da Matta 11
11 Oriol Servia 10
12 Bjorn Wirdheim (R) 9
13 Ryan Hunter-Reay 8
14 Marcus Marshall (R) 7
15 Alex Tagliani 6
16 Fabrizio Del Monte (R) 5
17 Andrew Ranger (R) 4
18 Nelson Philippe (R) 3
19 Ricardo Sperafico (R) 2

Nations Cup Points

1 France 32
2 Canada 28
3 Brazil 25
4 England 23
5 Mexico 21
6 Germany 19
7 Denmark 17
8 USA 15
9 Catalonia 10
10 Sweden 9
11 Australia 7
12 Italy 5

Rookie of the year Points

1 Timo Glock (R) 19
2 Ronnie Bremer (R) 18
3 A.J. Allmendinger (R) 15
4 Bjorn Wirdheim (R) 9
5 Marcus Marshall (R) 7
6 Fabrizio Del Monte (R) 5
7 Andrew Ranger (R) 4
8 Nelson Philippe (R) 3
9 Ricardo Sperafico (R) 2



Next Race
Mexico May 22nd (My birthday )

[Flatspot]

I expect 70F, sunshine galore, a slight breeze from off shore, California girls everywhere, enjoying the sweet smell of methanol, strolling the paddock at sunrise, a few beers, close racing at the front with a smattering of early season/rookie mistakes, Junqueria for the win, Dominguez and Servia on the podium (OK that's going a little far), and a great weekend with my sons. Damn life can be good sometimes.

[macdaddy]

Have a great time, Flatspot! I know you will.
And thanks for taking the time to do the lineup/grid posts again this year, marcus.

[Tenoch]

First practice is over, no real surprises NH take top two sopts, FR takes next two Rusport 5 and 7 with Cristiano sneaking in there at 6. Oh this is so exciting I never thought Mario would adjust so quickly to the Forthsye team.

[Snrub]

Bourdais 01:09.9
Junqueira 01:10.1 0.124
Tracy _____01:10.2 0.299 0.175
Dominguez 01:10.3 0.318 0.019
Allmendinger 01:10.4 0.416 0.098
CDM ______01:10.4 0.502 0.086
Wilson 01:10.5 0.533 0.031
Tagliani 01:10.7 0.743 0.21
Bremer 01:10.8 0.853 0.11
Glock _____01:11.0 1.073 0.22
Wirdheim 01:11.1 1.118 0.045
Vasser 01:11.2 1.251 0.133
Ranger 01:11.4 1.478 0.227
Philippe 01:11.5 1.574 0.096
Servia _____01:12.2 2.287 0.713
Marshall 01:13.0 3.068 0.781
Hunter-Reay 01:13.0 3.079 0.011
Sperafico 01:13.9 3.978 0.899
Del Monte __01:16.7 6.737 2.759

[Snrub]

Darn, can't edit anymore, that's a big mess. It goes like this: Times/time behind leader/time behind previous. At the moment, they're a little behind last year's P1 and nearly a second behind Junquiera's Q1 time.

I know it's only practice, but...
I have to say that I'm really impressed with Tag's time. That's a completely new chasis for Walker/Team Ausi.
Bremer is beating Wirdheim, who would have expected that?
IMO Dominguez is one of the most underrated drivers in the series.
Hopefully things will become less organized by team/setup and more to do with drivers as the sessions progress.

[Hazard]

Hey Walker's been stuck with an undeveloped Reynard for years now, give them an up to spec Lola and they should do wonders.

Top rookie Bremer - didn't see that coming.

Newman-Haas 1-2, saw that one I'm afraid. Forsythe 3-4, not too unpredictable either...was hoping RuSport were on top after leading early on...but we'll see.

Jensen looking to be lapped pretty sharpish with those times.

[Mosport67]

I expect that Del Monte's time will improve. He has never been in a ChampCar. Does Jensen have access to someone's set up notes.

[Hazard]

# Put nosecone on front-end of the car
# Put the four big round black things on the pointy out things, ensure there are two on each side
# Put driver in car, mix with caffeine...and you're good to go

(Set-up notes obtained from Dennis Vitolo)

[marcus]

Harsh very harsh but amusing none the less

[BootsOntheSide]

A few drivers stand out as impressive - Tagliani, Glock and Bremer in particular. Other than Walker and Rocketsports there's a bit of a Noak's Ark vibe to it, with teh team-mates all very close together, which is probably down to setup as mcuh as anything.

[racefanatic]

Here are the practice 2 times.

Junqueira 1:09.233
Allmendinger 1:09.582
Ranger 1:09.931
Bremer 1:10.135
Bourdais 1:10.175
Tagliani 1:10.180
Dominguez 1:10.277
Tracy 1:10.311
Hunter-Reay 1:10.597
Glock 1:10.704
Wilson 1:10.946
Wirdheim 1:10.947
Servia 1:11.413
Philippe 1:11.541
Sperafico 1:11.844
da Matta 1:11.889
Marshall 1:12.283
Vasser 1:12.449
del Monte 1:16.539

Bring on Q1!!

[Silk Cut Jaguar]

Wilson's looking strong, P4 in Quali 1. Overall it looks like a competitive season awaits us.

[marcus]

Qualifying 1 Results


Pos Driver Lap Time Behind leader
1 B. Junqueira 1:08.342

2 P. Tracy 1:08.494 0.152

3 S. Bourdais 1:08.736 0.394

4 J. Wilson 1:08.884 0.542

5 A. Tagliani 1:09.056 0.714


6 M. Dominguez 1:09.058 0.716

7 A. Ranger 1:09.416 1.074

8 A. Allmendinger 1:09.425 1.083

9 R. Bremer 1:09.514 1.172

10 B. Wirdheim 1:09.619 1.277


11 C. da Matta 1:09.626 1.284

12 T. Glock 1:09.713 1.371

13 J. Vasser 1:09.793 1.451

14 R. Hunter-Reay 1:09.852 1.510

15 O. Servia 1:10.067 1.725


16 N. Philippe 1:10.193 1.851

17 R. Sperafico 1:10.844 2.502

18 M. Marshall 1:11.137 2.795

19 F. Del Monte 1:13.501 5.159

[carsten66]

Qualifying 1: the usual subjects in the front rows (), the "first" 14 drivers in the 1.08 and 1.09 (whow, well done boys ), the rookies Bremer and Ranger have the speed (respect)... and del Monte 5.159 behind the leader (ruined with his late spin the session )

[Omega99]

The man who's impressing me right now is Ranger! He's on fire!

Talgiani doing well, but that doesn't surprise me.... nor should it anyone.

Hunter-Reay struggling a bit.

[Hazard]

Tags is as fast as usual...good to see he doesn't have to break the Walker Lola in for a few races before we seem him up front...and Dominguez already on the pace is good news too.

Ranger top rookie, nice work. Poor Philippe...fortunately McDonalds provide catering facilities to every event now, so he can still travel to all the races in his next job.

(I know, I know, I'm just being silly - he's a millionaire-heir - why would he want to work in McDonalds? ... ... when there's KFC)

[enemy-ace]

Ranger is very quick. Keep your eye on this kid. Outqualified last years rookie of the year AJ.
The Newman-Haas guys are quick as expected, nice to see PT right in there. Mario quitely getting up to speed as well. Mind you the Newman-Haas guys only had to run a handful of laps (insert ominous foreboding music here). Rusport are looking competitive, with little to choose between AJ and Justin all weekend. Wilson draws first blood. That tandem are going to be great to watch.
Pretty respectable showing from Jensen as well IMO. Have been showing increases in pace throughout today. Considering the top guys are probably at their max, they have a definite goal to strive for.
Just another 24hrs until I get more.

[StickShift]

Oh Ranger...

It looks like we're in for a good race. Newman-Haas, Forsythe, and Rusport are all right there.

PKVR on the otherhand...

[Snrub]

Lol, Hazzard, I'm laughting my butt off.

I'm really surprised at PKV's lack of pace. Actually I'll say the same for Rocketsports, althought a little less so with them.

It's interesting that both the ex-Atlantic rookies are showing so well. Yes they have experience on the track, but I didn't expect either to be particularly fast for the first event. It's REALLY early to say this, but Danica who finished 3rd in the Atlantics championship (compared to 4th Ranger, 5th Bremer) certainly isn't showing that kind of form in the IRL.

[Omega99]

Well, I'm not so sure that you could say either Rocketsports or PKV lack pace when you've got NH, Forsythe, RuSport to contend with as well. Not every team can be a top team all the time, I guess... Hopefully they can find it. Jim McGee knows his stuff.

[GTRMagic]

Its early days, be good to see a clean Q2 session, and see who is really top of the tree....

I doubt Mr Vasser is destined to be at the back, or that the DCR cars are in front of anyone (sorry Mr Servia) except maybe Jensen...

The gaps between the cars is amazing considering they are supposedly the same bespoke package

[Hazza]

This will be a great race, I wonder how CDM will go in 2nd Qualifying, I hope he picks up the pace. Ooh the tension of waiting till Monday night for the race.

And as for "Team Australia", I think Marcus will be a "Startline Special", the only coverage Gore will get is when MM gets lapped or when he spins into the barriers . But hear's for a good result anyway

[dubby99]

Life........it's all starting to come back together after a very long off season.
Champcars are back with a vengence to do bussiness and to show the world what OW racing is all about. New talent new sponsors new venues new excitetment, when is this going to stop.

To all you methanol sniffers out there let's get highhhhhhh on Champcar racing.

Forever