World Rally News

• Colin McRae splits with Nikky Grist. 
• No word from Ford if they will renew Carlos Sainz's contract. 
• Valentino Rossi - will he prefer a BAR Honda over a WRC?

Stand By Your Man

Ford says it's in Formula One to stay. And that it's not in for short term marketing goals. OK, let's see an excerpt from a Ford F1 racing's review board report

F1 continues to provide a very good return on investment in terms of technological, personnel and marketing development.

The reassuring statements in the Ford report shall be in effect until such time as Ford sees fit to cease it's racing program. In other words,  Ford could still pull out of F1 at any time.

Formula One's American Idol

Red Bull is sponsoring a Formula One talent contest.

Conspiracy to Kill CART?

In an excellent article, autosports writer Robin Miller says Tony George didn't act alone to cripple, or perhaps kill, CART. He says F1's Bernie Eccelstone and NASCAR's Bill France Jr. may have helped.

Miller points out the growing TV audience for CART in 1995 and how France might have been a bit threatened by that. He says Eccelstone was furious that F1 champion Nigel Mansel went to CART in 1993.

Now, there's no way to prove that France and Ecclestone encouraged George to start the IRL, but it sure is easy to see how they've both benefited from this country 's open wheel civil war the past seven years. 

While IRL and CART divided their fans, sponsors and teams, NASCAR circled like a vulture and steadily feasted on their carcass. Phoenix, Milwaukee and Michigan became Cup crowds while IRL and CART began playing to more and more empty seats on ovals.

Ecclestone extracted some revenge (not to mention a sweetheart financial deal with George) when he resurrected the U.S. Grand Prix at Indianapolis in  2000. Its attendance goes down every year but Ecclestone couldn't care if there were 25,000 people in the grandstands -- that's about the only revenue he doesn't get.

I think Miller overestimates CART's appeal in 1995 and underestimates NASCAR's lack of appeal, but for the most part he seems to be on target. Go read the whole article,

50 for Button

If Jenson Button starts this weekend's United States Grand Prix he will be the youngest driver, at 22 years old, to reach 50 GP starts.

Here is a picture of me and Jenson Button.

History of the Brickyard

F1-Live has an interesting short history of the Indianapolis track.

I have some pictures of my trip to the inaugural United States Grand Prix in 2000.

Bernie's Not Quaking Yet

It appears that the major Formula One manufacturers are still planning to start their own series.

The members of the Grand Prix Championship series met in Paris recently. They want to get the series on the road by 2008.

Bernie Eccelstone's domination of Formula One racing may be coming to an end. Everyone wants a bigger piece of the pie.

Montoya Does Letterman

Williams star Juan-Pablo Montoya will make an appearance on tonight's Late Show with David Letterman on CBS at 11:30 pm eastern time.

Montoya is also the youngest champion in the history of CART.

Couthard Disses Women as Drivers

McLaren driver David Couthard says women don't have a chance of competing against men in Formula One.

"As far as I'm concerned, it's a question of genetics,” he was quoted as saying in the Record. “Look at it this way, you buy little boys a tractor to play with and little girls a doll. Try it the other way and it just doesn't work."

IRL driver Sarah Fisher will complete a demonstration run at this weekend's United States Grand Prix.

McRae to Leave Ford

Ford WRC star Colin McRae may be going to Citroen.

It's been rumored that Ford would like to cut costs and channel more money into car development. With two money drivers like McRae and Carlos Seinz, Ford has to slash payroll, that means a driver has to go. It looks like it's going to be McRae.

If McRae goes to Citroen, someone will be out of a job there. Who will it be?

Is the News Really Worth It?

I've just finished a monumental struggle to get my web log on my web site's home page. Well, not so monumental, but a struggle nonetheless.

I had to reformat the page and swap the navigation from the right to the left (where it should have been all along). I had to get the archives straightened out. Make sure the Blogger link remains! I just installed a slick comments system, Snorcomments V2.0.

After every step my news headlines from Moreover.com would mysteriously disappear. I had not altered the code in any way, but poof! Gone. Sometimes the headlines would just mysteriously re-appear.

After installing the comments system, the headlines seem to be gone for good. I'm tempted to just remove them altogether. I just think it's pretty cool to have the latest news on the front page of my web site. And to have them for free, well, it's just the American Way.

I'll make one last attempt at restoring my news headlines. If I can't get them to work. They will be evicted!

Comments Anyone?

I have just installed the easiest comment system in the world (i think). Snorcomments V2.0 is made up of a few perl\nscripts and a cgi file It seems to be working and it looks halfway decent. It took me a little over an hour to install and configure. I'm still working out a few minor bugs, but all seems to be working fine.

Comments

I'm attempting to install a comments system. Here goes! 

I've just installed and configured Snorcomments V2.0. I haven't even looked at my page yet. Let's see if it fouled my page up completely!

He's Back

Heinz-Harald Frentzen will drive for Sauber in the US Grand Prix September 29. He will replace Felipe Massa who has been penalized ten starting places.

USGP Ticket Sales Down

Indianapolis Motor Speedway is reporting fewer tickets sold for this year's United States Grand Prix compared to 2001 and 2000. Speedway president Tony George expects an increase in sales this week leading up to the race and a higher number of walk-up ticket sales then in year's past.

Some blame fewer ticket sales on fears of terrorism, Ferrari dominance or like McLaren boss Ron Dennis, the economy.

"No one wants to say we're in an economic crisis," said McLaren team principal Ron Dennis. "But we are."

It appears that racing legend Mario Andretti finds some fault with the track.

"The ambiance in these facilities is not what road racing aficionados are looking for, but Indy has come the closest to providing some of that," he said. "There's going to be a lot of empty seats Sunday, and that will be too bad."

Indeed. I want Formula One to succeed in the United States. I just hate to see Tony George profit from it.

Rumor in Formula One

Almost every time there is a rumor in Formula One, it is later revealed to be true. Often a story starts out as a news leak or offhand comment by a driver or team manager. Soon you get an additional scrap of information, perhaps another comment, and the story starts to firm up.

For example, last week we heard a rumor that Minardi Driver Alex Yoong may not compete in the final races of this F1 season and may be replaced because of his poor qualifying performance.

It's not been confirmed that Yoong is out for the remainder of the season. However, comments by Yoong seem to point in that direction.

Adrian Fernandez

Adrian Fernandez is still recovering from injuries suffered in his crash in Vancouver. He won't be able to drive in this weekend 's Mid-Ohio CART race.

For Fernandez, Vancouver was a real pain in the ass .

Audi's Win Again!

In the American LeMans Series, the headline "Audi's Win Again!!" has become so boring that sportswriters have to take a different angle.

How about this,  After Starting from 20th Place ,  Audi's Win Again!!

Ford to Compete with Self

Ford to compete with self in Formula One. Autosport magazine is reporting that Ford is set to supply engines to Eddie Jordan's team at the end of next year.

I'll bet FoMoCo wishes it could just sell off or somehow get away from the Jaguar team.

Money Woes

Money woes at Arrows causes  Heintz-Herald Frentzen to resign.

Unnamed Sources

Unnamed sources tell  Racer magazine that Bryan Herta wants to pilot Alex Yoong's Minardi for the last three races of the season.

I think it's great to see an American in F1. But, come on! I mean Bryan (cryin') Herta.

I never thought Herta was that competitive when he drove for Bobby Rahal. Herta just seemed to come unglued toward the end of his CART career. Rahal stuck by Herta for a long time waiting for him to get his act together and it never happened.

Maybe Herta's personality is better suited to F1. We'll see.

Cristiano da Matta to F1

Autosport magazine is reporting that CART points leader Cristiano da Matta is poised to jump to F1 next year.

Da Matta would drive for Toyota, which means Salo or McNish will be looking for rides. Toyota has been denying rumors that McNish is out for next year. So that means ...

Johnny Herbert and Mark Blundell

An exciting proposition! Johnny Herbert and Mark Blundell drive for an All-England CART team for the Rockingham race. It sounds like a lot of details are yet to be worked out.

If only some Americans (hello Ganassi) could put together an All-American F1 team.

Glossary of Terms

Glossary of terms commonly used in F1 racing.

The Silly Season

What's more fun than the rumors and speculation about the shuffle of F1 drivers and teams for next year?

It's called "The Silly Season" because it's a lot like musical chairs. A driver doesn't want to be the only one left standing without a ride when the music stops.

Doesn't it seem like The Silly Season starts earlier and earlier?  One reason may be because this year Schumacher wrapped up the championship so early. Teams figure if they can't contend for the championship, they might as well start looking forward to next year.

Team Kool Green

It appears that the Andretti Team's (formerly Team Kool Green) implosion is right around the corner. Rumor has it that Honda wants the team to compete in the IRL next year and that Paul Tracy is already signed to Players/Forsythe.

Gerhard Berger

Former F1 star Gerhard Berger is considering stepping down as BMW motorsports director.

Pontiac GTO

What the hell is this world coming to???!!!

A paramount symbol of American culture is cars, and nothing is so American as the Pontiac GTO. Even those of us who are not fans of American cars can appreciate what the original 1964 GTO did to spawn the muscle car phenomenon.

Pontiac is bringing the GTO back for 2004. It's essentially a Holden. Yes, that's right the new GTO will be imported from Australia.

Barry Green Sells

Barry Green sells his CART team to Michael Andretti and they all promptly finish in the top 6. Franchitti and Tracy 1-2

Multiple Personality Disorder

It's fairly easy to make a case for the schizophrenia of some news sources. However, it's not very often that I see such a glaring example of multiple personality disorder. Both of these reports are from Reuters and are dated July 30.

The first report claims Australian Formula One driver Mark Webber is not driving for the Jaguar team next year and the second claims a deal is close for him to begin driving for Jaguar next year.

I'm not really surprised. Rumors and speculation surrounding drivers and teams are what makes following the world of Formula One so much fun.

Oh, and the racing too.

Hakkinen Retiring

Two-time Formula One champion Mika Hakkinen is retiring.

Michael Schumacher has an Achillies Heal

It appears that Formula One great Michael Schumacher has an Achillies Heal  -- the German Grand Prix.

The web site formula1.com writes

... he [Schumacher] also faces the knowledge that he has only won his  home Grand Prix once in ten years, and has not appeared on the podium for the past four. The German not only intends to redress this unflattering balance, but also to enjoy the opportunity to celebrate his latest title in front of     thousands of supporters.

Schumacher doesn't have to worry too much about winning the German GP. He has already wrapped up his fifth world championship and tied record holder Juan Manual Fangio.

The German Grand Prix is Sunday July 28th in Hockenheim.

PR Doublespeak

I really enjoy these type of articles where journalists translate PR doublespeak into what\'s really being said.

My lovely wife Charlotte wanted to read  this article by ESPN's Robin Miller. In it, Miller translates Michael Andretti's and Barry Green's carefully chosen words into what they really mean.