2007 Indy Pro SeriesT Schedule Released
The Indy Pro SeriesT will feature a series-record 16 races in 2007, including seven races on ovals, seven on road courses and two on street courses. The series will compete three times at the famed Indianapolis Motor Speedway. The 2007 season begins March 24 on the 1.5-mile oval at Homestead-Miami Speedway, and concludes Sept. 9 on the 1.5-mile oval at Chicagoland Speedway. More than $3 million in prize money will be at stake. The Indy Pro Series, which introduced doubleheader weekends to its competitors in 2006, will expand from two to four doubleheader weekends in 2007, including on the road course at Indianapolis in support of the United States Grand Prix. New venues for 2007 include the 7/8-mile oval at Iowa Speedway and the 13-turn, 2.258-mile road course at Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course.
After a three-race swing through Florida to begin the season, Indy Pro Series drivers and teams will compete in the fifth annual Freedom 100 at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway on Carb Day, Friday, May 25, two days before the Indianapolis 500. The Indy Pro Series will join the IndyCar Series at The Milwaukee Mile the following weekend in the only back-to-back oval races of the season before returning to Indianapolis for the doubleheader on the road course just 22 days after the Freedom 100. The series will then alternate events at ovals and road courses through the season finale. The Indy Pro Series is the premier ladder series for drivers and teams striving to compete in the IndyCar Series and the Indianapolis 500. Teams compete for more than $3 million in prize money in cars that are second only in speed to the IndyCar Series at most tracks they visit. The complete Indy Pro Series schedule is telecast on ESPN 2 and available through live Webcasts. Recent graduates of this fast and cost-effective series include Marco Andretti, Ed Carpenter and Jeff Simmons.
 The complete 2007 Indy Pro Series schedule
Bourdais Wins Final Race Of Season
Sunday’s Gran Premio Telmex Presentado por Banamex was the last Champ Car race for the venerable Lola B2K00 chassis, so Sebastien Bourdais and Justin Wilson made sure the old warhorse went out in style in front of 104,422 fans in Mexico City. Bourdais and Wilson staged a duel for the ages over the last five laps of the 2006 Champ Car World Series season finale, with Bourdais battling back from four seconds behind to take his seventh win of the year and the 23rd of his career. Bourdais overcame a 360-degree spin - as he did in his 2004 title-clinching win - stretched the life of his Bridgestone Potenzas rain tires over two stints, escaped unharmed through a side-by-side battle through the fabled Peraltada, and made a hair-raising pass of Wilson on the last lap of the year to take the win.
The last-lap pass ended a courageous run for victory by Wilson who led a race-high 40 laps despite a broken wrist that caused him to miss the Australia event, but Wilson’s second-place run was enough to move him into a career-best second place in the final season standings. Will Power made some history of his own today, earning his first podium finish and the Roshfrans Rookie-of-the-Year title with a third-place finish. The 66-lap race started under spotty sunshine at the venerable Autodromo Hermanos Rodriguez, but the sun didn’t last long and clouds and rain rolled in by the race’s halfway point. By the end of the day the rain had taken charge, forcing everyone to change to rain tires and allowing some of the field to show their wet-weather skills.
Will Power took third ahead of Junqueira while Tagliani rounded out the top five. Forsythe Championship Racing’s debutants each scored top-10 finishes with David Martinez taking ninth ahead of tenth-placed Buddy Rice.
Sebastien Bourdais matched a career high with his seventh win of the season and his 23rd career win moves him into sole possession of 13th place on the all-time list
Will Power is the first Australian driver to score a Champ Car podium since Geoff Brabham finished third in Miami in 1987. His sixth-place finish in the final standings is also the best ever by an Australian driver.
The three-day attendance for the Mexico City event was 198,375, making it the third-highest figure of the season.
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Broken Wrist and All, Wilson Takes Mexico Pole
Wearing a brace on his rapidly-healing wrist, Justin Wilson could have easily passed for an injured basketball player as he negotiated the paddock on a cloudy Saturday at Mexico City’s Autodromo Hermanos Rodriguez. But once the engines fired for today’s final round of qualifying for the Gran Premio Telmex Presentado por Banamex, Wilson proved himself every bit the racer as he set a new track record in taking the Bridgestone Pole Award for Sunday’s Bridgestone Presents The Champ Car World Series Powered by Ford season finale. Wilson stormed around the 2.774-mile road circuit in a time of 1:24.801 (117.763 mph) to take the pole, becoming the first driver since Bobby Unser (1980-81) to win consecutive poles in Mexico City. Wilson started from pole a year ago and blitzed the field, leading 65 of 70 laps to score the victory. The RuSPORT driver shook off the ill effects of the broken wrist that sidelined him for the Australia event two weeks ago, and joined such luminaries as Mark Donohue, Ted Horn and Mauricio Gugelmin as Champ Car drivers to have won four poles.
The third-year Champ Car star sealed the pole on his seventh lap of the day, but then had to watch as three-time series champion Sebastien Bourdais took two final shots at upending him as the session closed, only to come up less than two-tenths of a second short. Bourdais carded the second-best time of the day with a 1:24.986 (117.506 mph) clocking, and will start from the front row for the seventh consecutive race. Bruno Junqueira will start third followed by Will Power, Ryan Briscoe and Dan Clarke to round out the top six. Sunday’s Champ Car season finale will cover 66 laps around the demanding 17-turn layout, and begins at 2 p.m. local time. The race can be seen live on SPEED Channel beginning at 3 p.m. Eastern Time, with live timing and scoring along with in-car audio and video available via the Race Director feature available on the official website of the Champ Car World Series, (www.champcar.ws).
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IndyCar Series Preseason Testing at Daytona
The IndyCar® Series will try something new while continuing with tradition in its 2007 preseason testing. League officials announced today that the IndyCar Series will conduct preseason testing at Daytona International Speedway Jan. 30-Feb. 1, 2007 and at Homestead-Miami Speedway Feb. 21-22. The series will test at Daytona for the first time while the seventh preseason visit to Homestead will include testing under the lights for the first time. In late September, the IndyCar Series completed a successful compatibility test at Daytona International Speedway, featuring past series champions Sam Hornish Jr. (2001, '02, '06), Scott Dixon ('03), Tony Kanaan ('04) and Dan Wheldon ('05) and Vitor Meira.
The visit allowed IndyCar Series officials to determine the possibility of DIS serving as a preseason testing venue. Series officials were able to see transitions onto the banking, tire wear/side loads and braking zones while looking for any challenging surface areas on the track. The test took place on the 2.73-mile road course, which included 10 turns and the tri-oval of the famed Daytona oval. The September test also was the first time IndyCar Series cars used the 100 percent fuel-grade ethanol that will power the field in 2007. The preseason test at Daytona will mark the first time that all cars will run with the new fuel mixture.
The IndyCar Series will continue to test at Homestead-Miami Speedway with a new wrinkle - an afternoon/evening schedule (4-10 p.m.) - on the 1.5-mile oval. Testing at Homestead-Miami Speedway also will include the Indy Pro Series, which will use the venue for both road course (Feb. 20) and oval (Feb. 22) testing. Homestead-Miami Speedway will host the IndyCar Series' season-opening race for the sixth consecutive season - a 300-mile primetime event on March 24. Four of the last six IndyCar Series champions (Hornish '01 & '02, Dixon '03 and Wheldon '05) won at Homestead-Miami Speedway in their championship-winning seasons.
The tentative schedule for both preseason tests:
Daytona International Speedway
Jan. 31 - IndyCar Series Testing (10 a.m. - Noon; 1- 5 p.m.)
Feb. 1 - IndyCar Series Testing (10 a.m. - Noon; 1- 5 p.m.)
Homestead-Miami Speedway
Feb. 20 - Indy Pro Series Road-Course Testing (10 a.m. - Noon; 1- 5 p.m.)
Feb. 21 - IndyCar Series Oval Testing (4 p.m. - 10 p.m.)
Feb. 22 - Indy Pro Series Oval Testing (9 a.m. - 3 p.m.)
Feb. 22 - IndyCar Series Oval Testing (4 p.m.-10 p.m.)
The complete in-season Open Test schedule will be announced in the future.
Sharp, Patrón Join Rahal Letterman Racing
1996 IndyCar Series co-champion Scott Sharp will drive for Rahal Letterman Racing in 2007 the team announced on Nov. 9. Sharp whose No. 8 Honda-powered Dallara will be backed by The Patrón Spirits Company, will join Jeff Simmons who will return to pilot the No. 17 Team Ethanol Honda-powered Dallara.
Sharp, a consistent performer who has finished nearly 75% of his races in his 14-year career comes to RLR as the career leader in IndyCar Series starts (129) and with nine wins and 35 top-five starts to his credit. Sharp, the only driver to compete in each of the previous 11 IndyCar Series seasons, and has posted eight top-10 championship results in his career.
Simmons, who started 12 races for the team in 2006, will return for his first full season in the IndyCar Series. The Hartford, Conn., native finished second in the Bombardier Rookie of the Year competition, collected a team best four consecutive top-10 results and finished 16th in the championship.
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Andretti Nominated For RACER Rookie Award
2006 Bombardier Rookie of the Year Marco Andretti is among the contenders for the RACER Rookie of the Year Award which will be awarded during the inaugural SPEED Performance Awards. Nominees for the inaugural RACER Magazine Rookie of the Year include Andretti, Colin Braun (Grand Am), Dan Clarke (Champ Car), Bryan Clauson (USAC), Denny Hamlin (NASCAR) and Robert Kubica (F1).
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Renova Energy To Provide IndyCar Ethanol
A worldwide racing first, the IndyCar Series is poised to open its 2007 season on March 24 at the Homestead-Miami Speedway with the debut of the new 3.5-liter Honda Indy V-8 engine fueled by 100 percent fuel-grade ethanol. The ethanol industry is proud to be involved in the most significant racing fuel change in recent history. The cutting-edge technology developed for this series has performed flawlessly in extended testing. The combined efforts of the ethanol industry and the IndyCar Series have helped drive consumer awareness of ethanol and its performance and environmental benefits. The Ethanol Promotion and Information Council (EPIC) is responsible for providing the fuel and has contracted Renova Energy, based in Torrington, Wyo. to supply ethanol to the IndyCar Series throughout the 2007 season.
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Panther Partners with Super Aguri to Run Matsuura in 2007
Two-time IndyCar Series champion Panther Racing announced a partnership with Aguri Suzuki to field an entry for 2004 IndyCar Series Bombardier Rookie of the Year Kosuke Matsuura in 2007. Super Aguri Panther Racing, as the partnership will be known, will field Matsuura in his familiar No. 55 Panasonic ARTA Honda-powered Dallara alongside Vitor Meira, who finished fifth in the championship standings for Panther Racing in 2006. Matsuura, who earned both the Indianapolis 500 Chase Rookie of the Year and Bombardier Rookie of the Year honors in 2004, has collected 17 top-10 finishes in his IndyCar Series career, highlighted by a personal-best finish of fourth place at Kentucky Speedway during his rookie season.
The 27-year-old Matsuura is originally from Aichi, Japan and entered the IndyCar Series after successful stints in the Formula Renault V6 Eurocup Championship and German Formula 3 Championship. Last season, he finished 13th in the IndyCar Series standings, with six top-10 finishes and a best result of sixth at Homestead-Miami Speedway. The announcement marks Panther Racing's return to a two-car operation after spending 2006 as a single-car effort. Panther previously fielded two cars during the 2004 season and as many as three entries during parts of the 2005 campaign. The team earned back-to-back series championships with Sam Hornish Jr. in 2001 and 2002 and has collected 15 race victories in its nine-year history.
With the formation of Super Aguri Panther Racing, the team welcomes former Formula One driver Suzuki to the team. Suzuki, who became involved in the IndyCar Series in 2002, is one of Japan's most successful Formula 1 drivers and has been helping promote young Japanese drivers through the ARTA (Autobacs Racing Team Aguri) Project.
Greg Moore Legacy Award Nominees Announced
The 2006 Bridgestone Presents The Champ Car World Series Powered by Ford season has seen a number of new talents and fresh faces emerge in the top level of open-wheel racing, but as the season comes to a close it is fitting that the series continues to recognize those that helped make Champ Car one of the most popular forms of racing in the world. The annual Greg Moore Legacy Award is one way that Champ Car pays homage to its past, honoring the mercurial Canadian star that lost his life during a 1999 race at California Speedway. The award, now in its seventh year, honors the driver who most typifies Moore’s distinctive combination of on-track talent and dynamic personality that led him to become a favorite among the fans, the media and everyone involved with Champ Car racing. The award winner is determined by a select board of Champ Car personnel, along with media and fan voting, with the honoree being chosen from a list of four nominees.
Champ Car World Series stars Alex Tagliani, Justin Wilson and Nelson Philippe were selected as this year’s nominees from the series along with Champ Car Atlantic Championship competitor James Hinchcliffe. A seven-year veteran of the Champ Car, Tagliani was part of the same Player’s/Forsythe program that Moore raced with, although the two never competed directly against each other. Tagliani has been one of the driving forces in Team Australia’s success in the last two seasons, earning four podium finishes including a popular third-place finish in Australia two weeks ago. The Canadian driver can secure a top-ten berth in the final standings this weekend in the season finale despite the fact that he missed a race for the first time in his career, sitting out the Milwaukee event after an accident in practice. Wilson, like Tagliani, has battled back from an injury this year as he returns to his RuSPORT machine for the season finale after missing the Australia race with a broken wrist. Wilson scored a win in Edmonton this year and needs to finish seventh or better in the finale to move into second place in the standings.
Philippe has had a breakout season in 2006, just one year after being named the winner of the Bosch Most Improved Driver Award. The flamboyant Frenchman became the youngest driver in Champ Car history to win a race – an honor once held by Moore – when he took the checkered flag in Australia two weeks ago, giving CTE Racing – HVM its first win in more than two seasons. Hinchcliffe is the one of the latest Canadian open-wheel prodigies to follow in Moore’s footsteps, scoring a victory in Portland and taking the pole in Montreal in his first season in Champ Car Atlantic competition with Forsythe Championship Racing’s new Atlantic squad. The popular driver has also displayed his skills off the track as well in 2006, serving ably as the color analyst on the international Champ Car race broadcasts. Fans can participate in the voting for this year’s Greg Moore Legacv Award by visiting the official website of the Champ Car World Series, (Champ Car World Series). The voting will take place in the ‘fan poll’ section on the front page of the website. Voting will close on the website at noon Eastern Time, Monday, November 13.
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