Caution on the race track...

Caution was the name of the game for the past two IRL races. Unfortunately, for all involved, except for winners Ryan Briscoe and Scott Dixon, both races ended under caution. Both race ending cautions involved Marco Andretti, who now has DNFs in all but 3 of the 7 races this season. This is not very good news for Marco nor the team as a whole, especially with tension between he and Tony Kanaan. Kanaan, frustrated after the close racing incident at Indy, commented to the team over the radio that he would put the Blockbuster car (Marco’s car sponsor) into the wall, as Kanaan was being raced hard by his teammate Marco. Kanaan, is in his last year of his contract at Andretti Green Racing, and many are doubting that he will be back with the team next year. Kanaan, who already has one IRL championship and many wins with AGR, would be a valuable asset to any team, especially the transition teams from CART. With the right sponsorship and money, Kanaan maybe looking elsewhere for next year, if nothing more than to be considered and treated as the number 1 driver on the team. Teams with deep pockets like Newman Haas Lanigan Racing and Vision Racing or others who have reputations of being a strong, Panther Racing, could lure Kanaan away. One thing is for sure, Marco isn’t going anywhere. Even Danica is going to get a test with Honda’s F1 team in the Fall, to evaluate her pace, according to Nick Fry. I honestly don’t believe she is deserving of anything more than a test, yet anyway. She may be talented enough, but at this point, it’s no more than a marketing / PR presentation. If she does prove to be fast, then allow her to finish logging laps in the IRL for one more season or support her in GP2 and as a test driver for at least a year. If I were Honda, or any other F1 team considering an American driver, I would look to Graham Rahal first. He is talented, mature, and young enough to still start a driver development program. Honda is going to need new talent in at least one of their cars in a couple of years or so to replace Rubens Barrichello, who will possibly practice his craft in IRL or at least the Indy 500 with Honda’s backing. Well, the silly season is just beginning, so there is a lot more speculation to be had, so stay tuned. Oh yea, and as for the ending the race under caution, absolutely not. IRL needs to come up with their own version of a “green-white-checker” finish to late race cautions, preferably implemented before season’s end. They owe that much to the fans and the teams.

Until next time, enjoy all your motorsports viewing and participation!!!

Congratulations Kubica & BMW Sauber!!!

It’s been an interesting and exciting couple of weeks in motorsports, both on and off the track. Not to mention the automobile industry as well. So, here I am again. I know its been a’lil while since I’ve gave my opinion and analysis about all the recent issues, but it’s been a busy month all around. First off, I’d like to share in all the congratulations towards Robert Kubica, and BMW Sauber on both their maiden wins and first 1, 2 finish as driver and constructor in F1. Kubica was followed by teammate Nick Heidfeld in 2nd, and now Kubica sets precedence as the first Polish driver to ever win in F1 and lead the F1 drivers’ world championship by 4 points. Although, some may say it was a gifted victory, since championship point leader Lewis Hamilton made a very costly mistake of slamming Kimi Raikkonen’s Ferrari in the rear because of not paying attention to the red light at pit lane exit while under caution. He was not the only one who suffered from his mistake, since Kimi also retired. I still believe Kubica had a strong enough car to win outright against the likes of McLaren and Ferrari. Hamilton should have been more cautious of such “rookie” type mistakes, especially at Circuit Gilles-Villeneuve, which always provides unpredictable race results. Ironically, Hamilton’s first win came at this track last year, after Ferrari rival Felipe Massa was forced to withdraw from the race after he failed to acknowledge the red light under caution, as well. So it’s fitting that a track giveth and taketh away. In Massa’s defense of last year’s incident, a team member should’ve been aware and notified Massa of the closed pit lane exit. However, in Hamilton’s case, he should’ve clearly seen that there were two cars stopped side by side at the end of pit road, even if no one alerted him of the red light. He had no reason to be in such a hurry, since he obviously had no place to go further forward. Hamilton is now being rightfully assessed a 10 grid spot penalty at the next race in France. I guess senseless wrecks were just part of the Hamilton trait, as his father also wrecked a borrowed half million dollar Porsche GT into a school yard. Oh well, as they would say in Montreal and France, “se la vie!” Congratulations are also in order for David Coulthard and Red Bull on their first podium finish together as a team, and his first points of the season. His podium finish may just be the catalyst Coulthard needs to provide his team better points paying results to secure his seat for at least the rest of the season. Rumors are abound that Sebastian Vettel is in-line to replace Coulthard as early as mid-season or next year. We have a lot to look forward to next week, at what could very well possibly be that last F1 race at France’s Magny-Cours. Please join Speed TV’s commentator team on your local FOX affiliate.