Bottom post of the previous page:
Dream on, Sam.Cynon wrote:I don't think Sam Hornish would take it, but he might. Hornish was offered an Indy 500 drive by Penske but turned it down because he wanted to get better in NASCAR.kals wrote:It's reported in Autosport magazine this week that Castro Neves may miss the Surfers race because of ongoing tax issues. He had to surrender his passport recently. If he doesn't race, I wonder who take his place. Hornish maybe?
Autosport.com wrote:Castroneves allowed to race at Surfers
By Matt Beer Saturday, October 11th 2008, 03:39 GMT
Helio Castroneves will be able to compete in the non-championship IRL IndyCar Series race at Surfers Paradise later this month after his bail conditions were modified.
The Penske driver has been indicted on tax evasion charges, and his initial bail arrangement precluded him from leaving the United States - potentially ruling him out of the Surfers event in a fortnight's time.
But yesterday Judge William Turnoff agreed with Castroneves' legal team's argument that he was unlikely to flee the country as his life and racing career were based in America.
"You have much to lose by not complying with conditions of release," Judge Turnoff was quoted as saying by the Associated Press.
Castroneves has been accused of failing to pay income tax on $5.5 million of earnings between 1999 and 2004, an offence that carries a possible custodial sentence.
The IndyCar Series runner-up first appeared in court to hear the charges in Miami last Friday, before flying out to Road Atlanta where he won the LMP2 class in the Petit Le Mans for Penske with co-driver Ryan Briscoe.
...that's precisely what I was thinking...Hotdogger wrote:Dream on, Sam.Cynon wrote:I don't think Sam Hornish would take it, but he might. Hornish was offered an Indy 500 drive by Penske but turned it down because he wanted to get better in NASCAR.kals wrote:It's reported in Autosport magazine this week that Castro Neves may miss the Surfers race because of ongoing tax issues. He had to surrender his passport recently. If he doesn't race, I wonder who take his place. Hornish maybe?
Ciobo declares Indy 'dead'
Mike Bruce
October 8th, 2008
INDY is dead after this year's event, says Gold Coast MP Steve Ciobo.
The Federal Opposition MP for Moncrieff said a source close to the event had confirmed to him that the Indy Racing League had absolutely no intention of racing in Surfers Paradise beyond 2008.
Blaming the State Government for the death of Indy, Mr Ciobo (pictured) accused Sports Minister Judy Spence of bungling negotiations in the US earlier this year with IRL bosses to retain the Surfers event beyond 2008, by failing to get agreement on a date change.
"The Government has completely dropped the ball on this, the biggest event to the Gold Coast," said Mr Ciobo.
"Her trip was a complete failure in securing the (Surfers Paradise) event for the future."
Mr Ciobo, the federal spokesman for tourism, said the reportedly minutes-long meeting with IRL supremo Tony George had made a farce of the Minister's $50,000 jaunt.
"How can the Government have mishandled the relationship with Indy so much that they have jeopardised this event so badly at a time when our industry is struggling so much?" said Mr Ciobo.
But Ms Spence last night said Mr Ciobo was wrong.
"As far as we're concerned it is full steam ahead for Indy on the Gold Coast this year and beyond," she said.
"Our commitment to the future of the race has seen us renew our agreement through to 2013 and we have signed an memorandum of understanding with the IRL.
"We knew the Gold Coast wouldn't yet be listed on next year's IRL calendar because we are still negotiating the dates and they will not be finalised until we sit down with the IRL during this year's Indy.
"Mr Ciobo knows this.
"We are committed to ensuring that there is a formula race as well as a V8 car race."
While race organisers and the State Government are adamant about retaining the late October date, IRL bosses have offered two alternative dates -- in March, or September, which clashes with the AFL and NRL grand finals.
But Premier Anna Bligh told The Bulletin in August that it was unlikely the Government would shift from its October date.
If the IRL does secure its preferred dates, however, the Surfers event would appear to be running without the V8 Supercars, according to the latest V8 schedule for 2009.
The V8 Supercars series has scheduled its 2009 Surfers Paradise race for October 22-25.
Indy chairman Terry Mackenroth said he was aware of the V8 calendar but was still confident of reaching agreement with IRL powerbrokers.
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Wow.bbgunn wrote:INDYCAR: Porsche, Audi, and Alfa-Romeo Show Interest in SeriesWritten by: Robin Miller 10/12/2008 - 06:59 PM
Indianapolis, Indiana
http://auto-racing.speedtv.com/article/ ... to-series/
...so, do we start placing bets on who they are? Also, has anyone heard anything about Justin Wilson returning (or not returning) to the #02 McDonalds car for Newman-Haas?HC wrote:Also there was talk at the Road Atlanta paddock that three other IRL drivers were using a similar tax shelter. And they are pretty worried now.
videos, a racing league that exists only on the internet with the fiercest competition around. Autosport.com wrote:Power dominates Surfers practice
By Matt Beer Friday, October 24th 2008, 02:34 GMT
Home favourite Will Power left the rest of the field trailing in his wake in second practice at Surfers Paradise, as he topped the session by 1.3 seconds.
The KV Racing driver moved to the front halfway through the session, usurping early pace-setters Graham Rahal (Newman/Haas/Lanigan) and Ryan Hunter-Reay (Rahal Letterman) and then casually extended his advantage, eventually setting a 1:34.8084.
That performance will boost Power's hopes of taking a third consecutive pole position at Surfers, following on from his poles in the final two Champ Car events at the track. But despite his speed on the Australian street circuit, Power has always suffered poor luck on race day and is still hunting for his first home win after collisions in all three of his Surfers races to date.
Helio Castroneves improved on his morning performance to take second for Penske, albeit still a long way behind Power's pace.
Dario Franchitti maintained his earlier third place as his very impressive return to the IndyCar Series continued. This time he was four places clear of his Ganassi teammate Scott Dixon.
Power's teammate Oriol Servia briefly made it a KV Racing/Team Australia one-two towards the end of the session, before being edged back to fourth as Castroneves and Franchitti improved.
Newman/Haas/Lanigan duo Rahal and Justin Wilson completed the top six.
AJ Foyt IV (Vision Racing) and Townsend Bell (Dreyer & Reinbold) both gave their crews plenty of work to do this evening after crashing at the chicane on the backstraight, with Bell's incident bringing the chequered flag out slightly early.
They were the only drivers to make contact with the wall, but certainly not the only people to make errors - with Ryan Briscoe (Penske), Hunter-Reay, Dan Wheldon (Panther), Mario Moraes (Dale Coyne), Buddy Rice (Dreyer & Reinbold) and Hideki Mutoh (Andretti Green) all taking trips down escape roads.
Following his accident at the end of morning practice, Conquest Racing's Alex Tagliani had to sit out much of the second session and could only manage 13th, eight places down on his practice one position.
Pos Driver Team Time
1. Will Power KV 1:34.8084
2. Helio Castroneves Penske 1:36.1609 + 1.3525
3. Dario Franchitti Ganassi 1:36.1712 + 1.3628
4. Oriol Servia KV 1:36.4394 + 1.6310
5. Graham Rahal Newman/Haas/Lanigan 1:36.4963 + 1.6879
6. Justin Wilson Newman/Haas/Lanigan 1:36.5127 + 1.7043
7. Scott Dixon Ganassi 1:36.5812 + 1.7728
8. Ryan Hunter-Reay Rahal Letterman 1:36.8863 + 2.0779
9. Ryan Briscoe Penske 1:37.5183 + 2.7099
10. Tony Kanaan Andretti Green 1:37.5488 + 2.7404
11. Bruno Junqueira Dale Coyne 1:37.7709 + 2.9625
12. Mario Moraes Dale Coyne 1:38.6572 + 3.8488
13. Alex Tagliani Conquest 1:38.8099 + 4.0015
14. Hideki Mutoh Andretti Green 1:38.8353 + 4.0269
15. EJ Viso HVM 1:38.8784 + 4.0700
16. AJ Foyt IV Vision 1:39.0920 + 4.2836
17. Vitor Meira Foyt 1:39.1538 + 4.3454
18. Dan Wheldon Panther 1:39.8513 + 5.0429
19. Marco Andretti Andretti Green 1:39.8582 + 5.0498
20. Danica Patrick Andretti Green 1:40.0527 + 5.2443
21. Jaime Camara Conquest 1:40.4821 + 5.6737
22. Buddy Rice Dreyer & Reinbold 1:40.7196 + 5.9112
23. Ed Carpenter Vision 1:41.4711 + 6.6667
24. Townsend Bell Dreyer & Reinbold 1:41.5490 + 6.7406
I haven't even heard of KV bringing a car back -- meaning no #5 car for Servia and no #8 car for Power...OSNOF wrote:Craig Gore and Aussie Vineyards are gone after Gore suffered a major health scare last month.
KV needs some sponsorship sharpish.
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