Legge Back In Champ Car
Five days after walking away unscathed from a horrific crash at the Champ Car Grand Prix of Road America in Elkhart Lake, Wisconsin, PKV Racing’s Katherine Legge showed no hesitation today during a test session at Sebring International Raceway. Legge was having an impressive race running solidly in sixth when, with just five laps remaining in the 51-lap contest, part of her rear wing broke. The car launched into the retaining wall, up the catch fence and, in flames, began cart-wheeling through the air coming to rest alongside the track. Despite massive damage to the car the talented 26-year-old rookie walked away from the crash with only bruises on her legs. Friday’s test, which was conducted in a back-up PKV Racing machine, marked the first time Legge has driven a Champ Car since the incident. She ran 150 miles on the 1.66-mile Sebring “short course” with a very competitive time of 51.8 seconds.
“It was good to get back in the PKV Racing car,” said Legge. “There were some things the team wanted to test for Surfers Paradise and I had a test day available, so it seemed like the logical thing for me to get back in the car. We accomplished a lot today and I feel good about the results.” -- Commenting on being back in a Champ Car for the first time since the spectacular crash at Road America Legge said, “As soon as I drove out of pit land for the first run, I felt like I always have. I had no issues getting back in the car…it actually felt good. The Bell Micro – PKV Racing crew did a great job today and I am looking forward to racing at Surfers Paradise in a couple of weeks.”
-- Legge, a rookie, made her 12th career Champ Car start and first at Road America, last Sunday (she did compete at Road America last year in the Atlantic Championships qualifying third and finishing second). So far this year the native of Guilford, England has earned four top-10 finishes in her first 12 Champ Car races placing a season, and career, high sixth at Milwaukee, eighth in her Champ Car debut at Long Beach eighth in Cleveland and ninth in Denver. She has qualified in the top-10 twice in 12 attempts this year (eighth on the oval in Milwaukee and on the Road America road course). The resident of Indianapolis, Indiana is third in laps completed and ninth in laps led with 12. Legge is 16th in the standings with 122 points, 46 points out of 10th. She is fifth in the Roshrans Rookie of the Year race.
Indy 500 Tickets On Sale
Tickets for the 91st Indianapolis 500, scheduled for Sunday, May 27, 2007, will go on sale Sunday, Oct. 1 at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway's Web site, www.indianapolismotorspeedway.com. Fans also can purchase tickets by phone or at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway Ticket Office starting Monday, Oct. 2. The IMS Ticket Office can be contacted at (800) 822-INDY outside the Indianapolis area or (317) 492-6700 locally. Ticket Office hours are 8 a.m.-5 p.m., Monday through Friday. The Ticket Office is located in the IMS Administration Building, at the intersection of 16th Street and Georgetown Road in Indianapolis. Parking and camping permits for "The Greatest Spectacle in Racing" also can be purchased online, by phone or at the Ticket Office.
IRL Will Race Detroit In 2007
The IndyCar® Series will headline automobile racing's return to Detroit in 2007. Series officials joined city leaders and IndyCar Series championship-winning car owner Roger Penske to announce the addition of the Detroit Grand Prix to the 2007 schedule. The race is scheduled for Sept. 2 on Detroit's picturesque Belle Isle, an island park located just east of the central business district on the Detroit River. The 13-turn Raceway at Belle Isle will be staged on 2.096 miles of roadway on the island's western tip. Detroit has hosted several recent marquee sporting events including the 2005 Major League Baseball All-Star Game and Super Bowl XL in February. The Detroit Grand Prix will serve as the IndyCar Series' penultimate race.
Detroit hosted Formula One races on a downtown street course from 1982-88. In 1989, CART raced open-wheel cars on the downtown street circuit. In 1990, the open-wheel race was moved to Belle Isle Park. The last race was held on the island in 2001. "We are excited about racing in Detroit," said Brian Barnhart, president and COO of the Indy Racing League. "The island course will prove to be a worthy challenge for our drivers while at the same time providing fans with an exciting racing experience." The IndyCar Series has announced the following events for 2007:
Date Facility
March 24 Homestead-Miami Speedway*
April 1 Streets of St. Petersburg, Fla.*
April 21 Twin Ring Motegi
April 29 Kansas Speedway
May 27 Indianapolis Motor Speedway*
June 3 The Milwaukee Mile*
June 9 Texas Motor Speedway
June 24 Iowa Speedway*
June 30 Richmond International Raceway
July 8 Watkins Glen International*
July 14 Nashville Superspeedway*
Aug. 11 Kentucky Speedway*
Sept. 2 Raceway at Belle Isle
Sept. 9 Chicagoland Speedway*
The remainder of the 2007 IndyCar Series schedule
will be announced at a later date.
* denotes Indy Pro Series event to be held.
IRL Testing Concludes at Daytona
After 1,331 miles of testing over two days, Daytona International Speedway's hosting of the IndyCar Series was deemed a unanimous success by drivers, manufacturer representatives, IndyCar Series officials and track officials. The four-hour second-day session wrapped up with a few bent suspensions from drivers with personal speed tests around the 2.73-mile, 10-turn course that incorporated Turns 3 and 4 (31 degrees of banking) and the frontstretch (18 degrees of banking). But the work was effectively and smoothly accomplished. Kanaan's No. 11 Team 7-Eleven car and the No. 6 Marlboro Team Penske car driven by reigning IndyCar Series champion Sam Hornish Jr. were equipped with the 3.5-liter Honda Indy V-8 engine that will be used by the entire field in 2007. They turned more than 600 miles using the engine, which is powered by 100 percent fuel-grade ethanol. The IndyCar Series is the first in motorsports to embrace a renewable fuel source.
On-track performance supported dynamometer testing of the marriage, and Firestone engineers reported no issues with the Firehawk racing radials. The engine, increased in displacement from 3.0 liters this past season, will be implemented with the goal of longer life between rebuilds (1,500-plus miles) and more torque for the demands of road- and street-course racing. That the modified AMA circuit passed muster with IndyCar Series officials and drivers could lead to a second warm-weather testing venue. The IndyCar Series has tested on the Homestead-Miami Speedway road course the past few years.
2007 Champ Car Schedule Released
The Champ Car World Series will venture into a new era in 2007 with a brand-new car, an influx of new teams, and now a new-look schedule that will see the series visit a number of exciting markets throughout the world. The 15-race slate will open and close with inaugural events in Las Vegas and Phoenix respectively, will see the Champ Cars visit historic Mont Tremblant in St. Jovite, Canada for the first time since 1968, and features a groundbreaking event in Zhuhai, China - marking the first time that a major American sports organization will hold a regular-season event in mainland China. The 2007 campaign will begin April 8 with the inaugural Vegas Grand Prix, to be run on a downtown street course in the Gaming Capital of the World. The Vegas event kicks off a slate of three races in three weeks, as Vegas is directly followed by the Toyota Grand Prix of Long Beach April 15 and the second running of the Grand Prix of Houston on Sunday April 22.
Champ Car makes its groundbreaking trip to Zhuhai, China on May 20, before heading back stateside for the June 10 Portland Grand Prix and the 26th running of the Grand Prix of Cleveland. The Cleveland race, which is the longest-running event in the series, launches a second stint of three races in three weeks as teams travel from Cleveland to Circuit Mont Tremblant for a July 1 event on Canada Day. The Mont Tremblant race also starts a run of three consecutive Champ Car races in Canada. The July 8 Grand Prix of Toronto follows the trip to Mont Tremblant, with the third running of the July 22 Grand Prix of Edmonton next on the slate. The third annual trip to Silicon Valley for the Grand Prix of San Jose follows the three-race Canadian swing on July 29, with August featuring events at Road America on the 12th and in Denver the following weekend.
The 17th running of the Lexmark Indy 300 on the streets of Surfers Paradise, one of the highest-attended races anywhere in American auto racing, will take place on October 21 while the season wraps with a November 11 sojourn to Mexico City's Autodromo Hermanos Rodriguez and a new event in the streets of Phoenix, Arizona on December 2. The series is also exploring options for adding events during the month of September with details to be released in the near future.
2007 Champ Car Schedule...
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