First, Graham Rahal became the youngest winner of a major open-wheel racing
event at 19 years, 93 days at the Honda Grand Prix of St. Petersburg on April 6.
Danica Patrick followed by becoming the first female to win a IndyCar
Series race at the Indy Japan 300 on April 20 – the same weekend on which
Australian Will Power won the last ever Champ Car race.
While an
Australian won the Champ Car Finale, in Japan a Brisbane-born Kiwi looked set to
take the honours before fuel strategy saw Scott Dixon forced to pit from the
lead with five laps remaining. Dixon had led 101 of the 200 lap hit-out and
finished third - his second podium of the season after his opening-round win.
Also making a strong showing for ‘Down Under’ was Sydney’s Ryan Briscoe,
who after starting from the eighth row on the grid as a result of a
rain-affected qualifying despite being fastest in practice, surged through the
field to take ninth position and along with Dixon is sure to be on the pace in
Kansas.
Teams and drivers will use the Kansas Speedway race as a final
tune-up for the month of May and the Indianapolis 500. No team has more to gain
than Luczo Dragon Racing, which makes its 2008 debut at Kansas Speedway after
finishing fifth in last year’s Indy 500 with Briscoe. This year, Tomas Scheckter
takes the wheel with four top-10 finishes at Kansas in six starts.
Australian fans can catch the Road Runner Turbo Indy 300 action at
Kansas Speedway live by tuning into ESPN on Foxtel at 7.00am Australian Eastern
Standard Time this Monday, with a re-run scheduled for 7.30pm that same day,
fans should check local guides for more information.
Following the Road
Runner Turbo Indy 300 the unified series continues on a schedule that is the
most diverse in world motorsports.
The 2008 schedule will take the teams
and drivers to short ovals, superspeedways, and road and street courses
including the Gold Coast Indy 300 which is regarded as a ‘crown jewel’ in
international motorsport.
The future of the Gold Coast Indy 300 was
recently secured for at least another six years with a deal being reached with
the new-look IndyCar Series and V8 Supercars Australia.
Now regarded as
one of the world’s iconic motorsport events, the Gold Coast Indy 300 will now
continue until and including 2013 with major plans already underway for a
massive 20th anniversary celebration in 2010.
With 96 hours of non-stop
excitement over October 23-26 as the Gold Coast comes alive to the sound of the
IndyCars burning up the track and Australia’s own V8 Supercars scorching around
one of the most famous beach-side cities in the world, the event is the hottest
ticket in town.
Tickets are now on sale for the Gold Coast Indy 300 with
ticket options to suit everyone's needs. Four day Grandstand passes are
available for those who prefer to watch the racing from the comfort of their own
reserved seat or for those who prefer to wander around and soak up the
atmosphere then a four day, weekend or single day General Admission pass might
be more their style. For more information on ticket options go to indy.com.au.
For information on Corporate Hospitality packages please call our Sales Team on
(07) 5588 6800.
WHAT THEY HAD TO SAY:
Danica Patrick -
#7 Motorola Honda/Dallara/Firestone
[On whether her win will change her
approach to Kansas]
"I don't think any pressure is going to compare to what
it was like to get a win in and have that forever - so it's nice to do that and
it's nice to not have to answer any questions about (not having won), about when
and how and why hasn't it (happened)," said Patrick.
"But you know, the
attitude really is just that we'll start thinking championship, and it's not
that I haven't been, but it's even more realistic now with having a win and in
turn, hopefully more come and more come easily even. They always say that first
one is the hardest one to get, which I agree.
"I think that I've always
thought that I was somebody that could compete for a championship, because I'm a
consistent driver, and, you know, hopefully smart out there. But, what I had not
done (then) was win races, and it really does take wins to win championships."
Tony George - CEO, Indy Racing League
“It’s great for Danica
and the league,” Indy Racing League founder and CEO Tony George said after
watching Patrick prevail on the 1.5-mile Twin Ring Motegi oval.
“Everybody has been waiting for this day to arrive and it finally has. A
lot of credit is due to that team and to Danica as a driver for getting to this
position.”
Will Power - #8 Aussie Vineyards - Team Australia
Honda/Dallara/Firestone
“It was such a great feeling for our whole team
to get a win last weekend in Long Beach and now we are carrying that great
feeling into Kansas,” said Power.
“We are back in the Aussie Vineyards
Dallara IndyCar and back on an oval, so things will be very different this
weekend. Again, my crew have worked very hard and done a superb job to get the
#8 Aussie Vineyards car ready in only a short space of time.
“It will be
our second crack at an oval and Kansas is a different sort of oval to Homestead,
so we’ve got a lot to learn.
“The more experienced IndyCar teams will
really have the edge on us again this weekend, but it’s going to be good to get
a second hit-out on an oval after the things we learned in Homestead, as well as
a good warm-up for the month of May at Indy.”
Scott Dixon - #9 Target
Chip Ganassi Honda/Dallara/Firestone
[On backing-up from an
international race last weekend ahead of Kansas]
“I don’t normally have too
much problem with it, also this year was a little easy over there as my wife
Emma didn’t come and she finds it very hard and also, when she is awake, she
thinks I should be awake," said Dixon.
"Getting back into the time zone
has been pretty good so far. I think I’m back.”
ENTRY LIST – IndyCar®
Series Road Runner Turbo Indy 300 At Kansas Speedway
Car - Driver -
Entrant
2 - A.J. Foyt IV - Vision Racing
3 - Helio Castroneves -
Team Penske
4 - Vitor Meira - Panther Racing
5 - Oriol Servia - KV
Racing Technology
6 - Ryan Briscoe - Team Penske
7 - Danica Patrick -
Andretti Green Racing
8 - Will Power (R) - KV Racing Technology
9 -
Scott Dixon - Target Chip Ganassi Racing
10 - Dan Wheldon - Target Chip
Ganassi Racing
11 - Tony Kanaan - Andretti Green Racing
12 - Tomas
Scheckter - Luczo Dragon Racing
14 - Darren Manning - A.J. Foyt Enterprises
15 - Buddy Rice - Dreyer & Reinbold Racing
17 - Ryan Hunter-Reay -
Rahal Letterman Racing
18 - Bruno Junqueira - Dale Coyne Racing
19 -
Mario Moraes (R) - Dale Coyne Racing
20 - Ed Carpenter - Vision Racing
23 - Milka Duno - Dreyer & Reinbold Racing
24 ! - Jay Howard (R) -
Roth Racing
25 - Marty Roth - Roth Racing
26 - Marco Andretti - Andretti
Green Racing
27 - Hideki Mutoh (R) - Andretti Green Racing
33 - E.J.
Viso (R) - HVM Racing
34 - Franck Perera (R) - Conquest Racing
36 -
Enrique Bernoldi (R) - Conquest Racing
02 - Justin Wilson (R) -
Newman/Haas/Lanigan Racing
06 - Graham Rahal (R) - Newman/Haas/Lanigan
Racing
All cars use Dallara chassis, Honda engines and Firestone tires,
(R ) denotes Rookie Status.
RACE NOTES
- The Road Runner
Turbo Indy 300 will be the eighth IndyCar Series event conducted at Kansas
Speedway. A different driver has won the race each year. Past winners Dan
Wheldon (2007), Tony Kanaan (2005) and Buddy Rice (2004) are entered in this
year’s race.
- Fifteen drivers entered in the Road Runner Turbo Indy 300
have raced in previous IndyCar Series events at the track. Seven of those
drivers have led laps (Dan Wheldon 333, Tomas Scheckter 165, Tony Kanaan 108,
Scott Dixon 103, Buddy Rice 95, Vitor Meira 37 and Helio Castroneves 16).
-
Three Indianapolis 500 champions are expected to participate in the Road Runner
Turbo Indy 300: Helio Castroneves (2001, 2002), Buddy Rice (2004) and Dan
Wheldon (2005).
- Three IndyCar Series champions are scheduled to
participate in the Road Runner Turbo Indy 300: Scott Dixon (2003), Tony Kanaan
(2004) and Dan Wheldon (2005).
- Drivers entered in the Road Runner Turbo
Indy 300 as of April 22 have combined for 56 IndyCar Series victories, 66 pole
positions and 945 starts.
SEASON-TO-DATE
- Helio Castroneves
is the only driver to finish in the top five in all three races this season.
Tony Kanaan and Danica Patrick are the only other drivers to finish in the top
10 in all three races.
- For the second consecutive season, three drivers
representing three teams have won the first three races of the season.
MILESTONES AND RECORD
- Helio Castroneves will attempt to
make his 101st career IndyCar Series start. It would also be his 98th
consecutive start.
- Helio Castroneves can establish an IndyCar Series
record for most consecutive seasons with at least one win should he win the Road
Runner Turbo Indy 300. Castroneves is tied with Scott Sharp with victories in
seven consecutive seasons.
- Helio Castroneves can extend his IndyCar Series
record for consecutive seasons with a pole to seven if he can win the PEAK Motor
Oil Pole Award.
- Tony Kanaan will attempt to qualify in the top 10 for the
21st consecutive race.
- Vitor Meira has gone 79 starts without a victory in
the IndyCar Series, the longest drought of any IndyCar Series driver.
2008 IndyCar Series Championship Standings Top Ten - Post Round Three
1. Helio Castroneves - 112 points
2. Scott Dixon - 100
3. Danica
Patrick - 98
4. Tony Kanaan - 89
5. Will Power - 87
6. Dan Wheldon -
85
7. Enrique Bernoldi - 74
8. Oriol Servia - 74
9. Graham Rahal -
70
10. Ed Carpenter - 70
20. Ryan Briscoe - 46
2008
Bombardier Rookie of the Year Standings – Post Round Three
1. Will Power
87
2. Enrique Bernoldi 74
3. Graham Rahal 70
4. EJ Viso 67
5.
Hideki Mutoh 59
6. Franck Perera 56
7. Justin Wilson 49
8. Jay
Howard 45
9. Mario Moraes 40
About the Gold Coast Indy 300
The annual Gold Coast
Indy 300 is a partnership between the Queensland Government and IMG. The Gold
Coast Indy 300 will be held from October 23 to 26 in 2008.
IMG is the
world's premier Sports, Entertainment and Media Company. IMG is a diversified
global business with two major business segments: IMG Sports &
Entertainment, and IMG Media. IMG employs over 2,300 people in 30 countries.
Forstmann Little & Co. purchased IMG in 2004.
IMG Sports &
Entertainment includes: consulting services; event ownership and management;
fashion events and models representation; licensing; golf course design; client
representation in golf, tennis, broadcasting, European football, rugby, cricket,
motorsports, coaching, Olympic sports and action sports. In addition, IMG
Academies are the world's largest and most advanced, state-of-the-art,
multi-sport training and educational facility, delivering world-class sports
training experiences to over 12,000 junior, collegiate, adult and professional
athletes each year.
IMG Media, which includes our content production
subsidiaries TWI, Darlow Smithson Productions (DSP) and Tiger Aspect Productions
(TAP), is recognized as a global leader in the delivery of traditional and new
media content and services, with Internet, broadband and mobile expertise,
transforming how audiences access and interact with content.
IMG Media
produces and distributes over 10,000 hours of sports, documentary, drama,
comedy, entertainment, popular factual and children’s content annually, over
multiple platforms across 200 countries, including award-winning television and
radio programming. It also represents the broadcast rights to many of the
world’s premier sporting events and has the world’s biggest sports archive with
more than 200,000 hours of footage.
More information about IMG is
available at www.imgworld.com, www.darlowsmithson.com and www.tigeraspect.co.uk
|
Graham Rahal celebrates his
history-making win after parking in victory lane (Credit - IndyCar Series
Media)
Patrick pumps the air after claiming
her history-making win (Credit - IndyCar Series Media)
Will Power takes victory at the 34th
Toyota Grand Prix of Long Beach (Credit: LAT)
Ryan Briscoe leads Darren Manning
during the Indy Japan 300 (Credit - IndyCar Series Media)
Scott Dixon finished third at Twin
Ring Motegi after leading 101 of the 200 laps (Credit - IndyCar Series
Media)
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