Quick word on the broadcast of the Monterrey race.

After hearing all the grumblings and complaints over the first two race broadcast this season, I must say I was pleasantly surprised at the quality of this broadcast. I thought the camera’s captured most of the ontrack action, I thought the commentary was spot on and I thought the pit reporters did a heck of a job at getting the right person to talk too at the right time. Now, I don’t know if the pictures were from TV Azteca and I know that annoying girl with her lifestyle features wasn’t there, so that may have been the reason. But all in all, its hard to find much fault with this television show they put on. Is there room for improvement? Of course, there always will be.

Its funny, because I was thinking the same thing as all of you were (I saw the champcar fanatic thread) about the Newman/Haas and their whining. I guess when you are used to being at the top, the rules are a little different. I’m not talking about the official rules, but the rules of conduct and whatnot. Regardless, its hard to argue with results and they are allowed to whine all they want, as long as they win. Plus, as evident from the forums, people are starting a love/hate relationship with Newman/Haas. Me thinks they are becoming the big bad villains and someone (Rusport?) needs to be the knight in shinig armor and dethrone them! Milwaukee will be a good place to start!
Speaking of Milwaukee, that’s next on the ChampCar calendar and I hope by then I will have all of the OHATT’s and other videos completed. I say hope because, like I mentioned in earlier posts, my laptop and video camera’s went to Monterrey and I didn’t and now I am going out of town. Can you believe how complicated its been this year? On the other hand, have you watched the post Qualifying/Race reports that are done on champcar.ws? those are a lot of fun to do and that’s the main reason the camera has been so busy. Not to mention yours truly.

Well, I really enjoyed the Monterrey race this weekend. It was fun being able to watrch from my couch and not have a worry in the world. The pace of the race was incredible and a lot of credit has to be given to the these drivers for getting through the long event. It’s a credit to their fitness regiments.

What can you say about Sebastian Bourdais? There is little much to say and his numbers speak for themselves. But at the very least, he’s fighting harder than before for these wins it seems and if Forsythe can get to the level of Newman/Haas, then at least we could have a three-way dog fight instead of a two team dog fight. It was pretty obvious yesterday that Newman/Haas and Rusport were in a class of their own.

But its great to see Andrew Ranger do so well this year (he’d better stay put in that car all season long- I like Manning and all, but don’t take Ranger’s seat!). Three races in a row where he has won the most improved driver point? Did I read that correctly, that’s unbelievable considering the two tough races to begin the race and the relatively smooth race yesterday, meaning less strategy had to be involved and more “giddy-up” and Rangers just climbed the ladder and got the job done!

I had a interesting conversation with a driver in Houston and I was talking about Bourdais and asked said driver what his thoughts on Bourdais were. Well, I am paraphrasing here, but he said something like Bourdais is good, but look at his team. And Servia proved it last year by jumping in that number 2 car and finishing on the podium just about every race. Said driver suggested putting Bourdais in a Dale Coyne car to see what kind of results he would get. This driver made a very good point. Oriol did have unprecedented success last year after he jumped to Newman/Haas.

Take this example for what it is. Mario Dominguez, a fine driver, a race winner himself, jumped to Forsythe last year in what was then an 11th hour deal. Mario Dominguez now had an opportunity that few drivers have had. Bring mild success to a team that has had plenty of it. This was a golden opportunity for him and while he did have some success, it was hardly worth mentioning. I bring up Dominguez because, in my opinion, his stats are comparable to Oriol Servia’s. they have been in the league roughly the same amount of years. Dominguez has won twice, where, prior to last year, Oriol had a couple of podiums under his belt. Both jumped to new, big powerhouse teams last season with very little prep time, if any at all. And their respective results speak for themselves. My point here, of course, is that a lot of credit has to be given to the driver and while Bourdais does hold a coveted seat, its arguable that at least three other drivers in the series hold a similar seat than he does and yet he is still dominating. The seat helps, no question, but its not automatic.

Now, here is my suggestion: recently we have heard of inverted starts and whatnot. Well, for one race (not Milwaukee, but somewhere like Portland or Cleveland) we switch Bourdais and Swozlman. Let Bourdais drive a car for a mid-team. A team that definitely competes every weekend, but is not on the financial rung as Newman/haas. Give Bourdais the 34 and Charles the number 1. Here’s the best part: they pretty much look alike so we won’t even have to change the media guide! One race, one switch.
Well, my laptop should be arriving to my apartment shortly, in the next couple of days. But the bad news is that I am heading out of town for a couple of days. I know it has been frustrating this year with the Overheard at the Track and trust me, nobody has been more frustrated than me. Having a full week with no access to footage that I could have edited and shipped is not good. Hopefully things will change in the near future…until then we all have to wait.

CHAMP CAR DRIVER FINAL RACE QUOTES
TECATE GRAND PRIX OF MONTERREY PRESENTED BY ROSHFRANS

Sebastien Bourdais #1 McDonald’s Ford-Cosworth/Lola/Bridgestone – “That was a heck of a day, that's for sure. I think we really gave each other a run for our money. Nobody laid back or anything. It was running flat out the whole time. I wanted to get the point for the quickest lap of the race, which we did, not by much though. You know, I'm just extremely happy for this whole McDonald's team. Couldn't be a better start for this season.”

A.J. Allmendinger #10 RuSPORT Ford-Cosworth/Lola/Bridgestone – “It was for the most part a steady day. You know, I think for myself, the black tires were probably a bit better than the reds. I probably made a mistake of telling the team to go to the reds on the second set of tires. But, you know, I mean, all around, it was a good performance, good way to get the season back on track for my whole RuSPORT team, get Red Bull and CDW back on the podium with me. That was great.”

Alex Tagliani #5 Aussie Vineyards Ford-Cosworth/Lola/Bridgestone – “It was not the best weekend, we obviously struggled, got better, struggled, got better. I’m pretty satisfied with top five; we scored some great points. When the car is not perfect I think coming out with a top five finish is pretty good. The guys did a fantastic job in the pit. On the last stint they realized we didn’t have enough fuel and at the end of the race we ran out of radio, I couldn’t hear the team and they couldn’t hear me. There was a fuel error this morning in the engine after the warm-up so we were concerned about that. After the second pit stop we didn’t know how much fuel we got in, so just to be on the safe side they told me to hit a fuel number, save fuel and stop fighting for fourth with Paul. As a result I had to save fuel and just bring the car home safe today.”

Andrew Ranger #27 Mi-Jack Ford-Cosworth/Lola/Bridgestone –“Starting 13th and finishing fourth is another excellent result for the team. It was a tough race. With only one yellow it was hard to catch up to the front runners but the team did excellent pit stops and we had a great race. We finished one position behind where we finished the first two races but I am still very, very happy. The team proved that we can be competitive, be in the top-ten and that we work hard. I’m still fourth in the championship which is fantastic. I want to thank the Mi-Jack Conquest Racing Team and Procter & Gamble.”

Oriol Servia #6 Gulfstream - PKV Racing Ford-Cosworth/Lola/Bridgestone – “The Gulfstream – PKV Racing team’s is disappointed with our weekend. The first two races we were much faster. In Houston we had the second fastest lap of the race…a super fast car and we couldn’t finish the race. So at least here we were not the fastest out there, but at least we finished eighth and got some points. And, we needed the points because it is the third race of the season. Obviously, eventually, we want the Gulfsteam – PKV Racing car up there in the top-three in the championship, so a day like today when you can get good points when you do not have a fast car is important.”

Bruno Junqueira #2 Newman/Haas Racing Ford-Cosworth/Bridgestone/Lola – “I don’t feel I blocked, I felt I just held my line. I moved before Tracy moved and I thought that was okay and then Tracy passed me. I didn’t drive my car into his car; I gave him space to make the move so he passed me. I don’t feel that was blocking. I sat one year out and watched the races including Houston and Long Beach this year and saw what other people were doing which was much worse than what I did. They were throwing their car in front of the other guy and nobody got penalized. They didn’t give me a warning or nothing. I had a lot of understeer but worst case scenario I could have finished fifth and that would have been definitely better than tenth place.”

Will Power #5 Aussie Vineyards Ford-Cosworth/Lola/Bridgestone – “Today was a tough race, it was very hot out there and I got really fatigued. This was definitely another race where I learned something new, and I’m happy I finished as one of the highest rookies. My goal is to keep finishing and get points. The track gripped up a lot today, but overall the car did well and the guys did a great job on the car which made it better at the end of the race.”

Charles Zwolsman #34 GoldenPalace.com Ford-Cosworth/Lola/Bridgestone –“Our first two stints went good, we were saving fuel to pit later than everyone but then the yellow came out so we pit with everybody else. After the restart the car ahead of me made a mistake so I went on the outside to avoid hitting him, I went into the grass and lost a few positions. After that it was fun, I battled with a few cars but then later on in the race the car was not as good and I ended up 12th.”

Dan Clarke #14 CTE Racing-HVM Ford-Cosworth/Lola/Bridgestone - “I was unlucky at the beginning of the race at turn one as the field crowded causing Nelson and I to make contact. We were the two unlucky ones that were squeezed. I feel sorry for Nelson, as he was unable to finish the race. I know the he could have run the same pace as me. We both could have made good progress through the field. My crew and I were unlucky to have missed the pit window but it did give us some point for leading a lap. This is a learning experience for the team and me. We all continue to contribute to do a professional job and I am proud to say that all the guys did a great job this weekend. We have changed the mood from Houston so it can only get better from here. We’re looking forward to a better result in Milwaukee.”

Nicky Pastorelli #8 Bavaria City Racing/Rocketsports Ford-Cosworth/Lola/Bridgestone - “I am happy to finish my first Champ Car race today. We started on the Bridgestone Potenza Red Tires today for the race, but they were not holding very long as I lost grip early on. When I came in for my first pit stop, we put on the Bridgestone Potenza Black Tires and we were doing good from that point on. I lost some time after that stop when I was behind Jan Heylen. I was quicker than him, but there were not many opportunities to pass here. I was definitely trying hard to pass him, and on the front straight I took a shot at it, but you have to go off-line to try to make the pass and there is no grip out there, so I couldn’t hold on to it to obtain the position. In terms of the penalty that I received for blocking, I do not feel that I did anything wrong. I changed the line that I was driving once and went on the inside, but I do not feel that move was in any way blocking Dan Clarke. My team told me that Clarke had been running faster times than I was, so that is why that call was probably made, but it was for a race position so I don’t think that it was something that I should have just given away. It just makes no sense to me. The Rocketsports team did an excellent job today for me during the pit stops, and I was actually quite impressed in myself on how well the two stops went. We need to find some more speed, but I know we will get there as we continue to work together.”
Katherine Legge #20 Bell Micro - PKV Racing Ford-Cosworth/Lola/Bridgestone - “The Bell Micro – PKV Racing team had a really difficult weekend. I made some mistakes and we had a call go against us. It’s a shame because we ran at a good pace in the race. We had the seventh fastest race lap, so we are obviously very disappointed with today’s result. The Bell Micro – PKV Racing crew did a great job this weekend. I just have to keep working hard, continue to learn and better results will com