[IRL/FIL] 2009 Season

Including the Indy 500 and all junior series leading up to IndyCar
RWRMotorsports
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#31

Post by RWRMotorsports »

Bottom post of the previous page:

Penske has always been about american drivers why on gods green earth will he not sign Ryan Hunter Reay? Hes good on all the tracks and given the right car he would be a front runner for sure.
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#32

Post by kals »

*facepalm*
Autosport.com wrote:Power confirmed at Penske

By Pablo Elizalde Tuesday, January 13th 2009, 16:41 GMT


Penske have confirmed that Will Power will join the team in place of Helio Castroneves while the Brazilian driver prepares for his impending court case.

The 27-year-old Australian will join Penske during pre-season test sessions and his stay in the team will depend on the timing and outcome of Castroneves' pending court case.

"We remain hopeful that Helio's situation will have a positive outcome and the team is fully behind him," said Tim Cindric, President of Penske Racing.

"While Helio prepares for his court case, we're excited to welcome Will Power to the team. Will has already proven that he's a terrific racer and we think he's going to be a good fit with Team Penske."

Power will be working alongside compatriot Ryan Briscoe, who drives the second Dallara/Honda from Penske.

"It is a tremendous opportunity for me to join one of the best teams in all of racing," said Power. "I'm looking forward to the start of the season and assisting Team Penske in its preparation for 2009."
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#33

Post by Cheeveer »

Awesome, but two aussies at Penske feels a little bit odd.
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#34

Post by kals »

There must be a reason why RHR and JW were overlooked. I just only hope those two can now secure decent drives. Has anyone been confirmed at Rahal Letterman Racing yet?
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#35

Post by bbgunn »

kals wrote:There must be a reason why RHR and JW were overlooked. I just only hope those two can now secure decent drives. Has anyone been confirmed at Rahal Letterman Racing yet?
This from Trackside Online:

"85% 1st car
Rahal Letterman Racing - 1 car - Ryan Hunter-Reay???. UPDATE 1-12-09. This team should be back and according to the team they are ready to go with the equipment, just need the sponsorship. They were in contention for the APEX money, though that may or may not happen for anyone in 2009. "
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#36

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Autosport.com wrote:KV working on Tracy deal

By Matt Beer Friday, January 16th 2009, 09:55 GMT


KV Racing co-owner Jimmy Vasser says he is working to sign Paul Tracy for the 2009 IndyCar Series, and hopes the Indy Racing League will assist his efforts.

Tracy has been out of a full-time drive since his Forsythe team chose not to join the merged championship last year, although he did come from 16th to fourth in a one-off appearance in a Walker Racing-run car at Edmonton.

Vasser says KV are working with Tracy to try and find sponsorship for this season.

"We're trying to run down some stuff up in Canada and I think Paul has a couple of possibilities in the States but he needed a team to work with him so that's what I'm doing," Vasser told speedtv.com.

"What I love about PT is that he's still got the fire to go for it and I think we all saw last year at Edmonton that he's still got a few good years left in him."

The IndyCar Series is doubling its presence in Canada this year by adding the Toronto street race to its Edmonton date, but currently Conquest Racing's Alex Tagliani is the only Canadian driver on the entry list.

Vasser believes that having Tracy in the field would be a huge draw and urged the IRL to help put a deal together.

"PT is exciting, he sells tickets, he gets a lot of press and the league needs him - especially with two races in Canada," he said.

"If I could get close (to the budget) then I'd go to the IRL and ask for some help because I think they need a guy with his stature and personality."
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#37

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Conway switches to IndyCar

By Jeff Olson Tuesday, January 20th 2009, 21:39 GMT

Former British Formula 3 champion Mike Conway will compete in the IndyCar Series in 2009 with Dreyer & Reinbold Racing.

The 25-year-old rookie had his first taste of an IndyCar Series machine during a test with Panther Racing last summer at the Infineon Raceway. Although no official times were available, Conway was recognised as the fastest man at the test.

He has spent his whole career to date in European single-seater racing, having won the British F3 title and Macau Grand Prix with Raikkonen Robertson Racing in 2006.

Conway subsequently spent two seasons racing in GP2, winning at Monaco last year, while also testing for the Honda Formula One team.

"I'm looking forward to the opportunity to race in the US with Dreyer & Reinbold Racing in the IndyCar Series," Conway said. "I'll be visiting a lot of new tracks for the first time, especially oval tracks, but I'm very much looking forward to the challenge."

The Briton will drive for Dreyer & Reinbold for the first time in a private rookie test before the IndyCar Series open-test at the Homestead-Miami Speedway on 25-26 February. These tests will be his first laps on an oval.

Team co-owner Dennis Reinbold believes that Conway, who is managed by former Champ Car race winner and F1 driver Mark Blundell's 2MB Sports Management company, can take his squad forward.

"We're excited to get the things rolling in getting ready for the 2009 season," Reinbold said. "We've made a lot of improvements in the off-season, and combined with Mike's talent, we're excited to see lots of positive results in this year's IndyCar Series events."

Dreyer & Reinbold are planning to field a second car, and autosport.com understands that their 2008 driver Milka Duno is a strong contender for this seat, but that her teammates last year Buddy Rice and Townsend Bell are unlikely to stay with the outfit.

Source: Autosport
Quite unexpected, I would say. I thought Mike was good in the F3's but after that his career went nowhere. But its difficult to rate him. Both he and Ho Pin Tung were always racing in the back, but that's to be expected with teams like Super Nova and Trident. They did have a bit of success, Mike won at Monaco while Tung finished second. Hopefully Conway can impress just as much as Viso did last year. Now its time to really see how good he is.

Shame that Milka will most likely be back, hopefully Citgo and SAMAX will also have to make cuts due to the credit crunch. I would much rather see Bell back in, he's good.
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#38

Post by Cynon »

Milka Duno is probably one of the most inept drivers I've seen ever since the likes of Alessandro Zampedri... he who is chairman of the "I-Caused-A-Pileup-Before-The-Green-At-Surfers-Paradise" club. :P

Despite Townsend Bell being a pay driver (if what I hear is correct), he can at least put his money where his mouth is. Far more deserving of the second seat than Milka Duno.
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#39

Post by kals »

Milka is only there because of here sex. Simple as. You could argue Danica Patrick is the same, but at least she can drive.
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#40

Post by bbgunn »

Milka possibly going to Newman Haas:
http://auto-racing.speedtv.com/article/ ... s-lanigan/
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#41

Post by kals »

Is it April Fools already? Wow. Are NHL that in need of sponsorship? I suppose they are a business after all.
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#42

Post by bbgunn »

kals wrote:Is it April Fools already? Wow. Are NHL that in need of sponsorship? I suppose they are a business after all.
5 Million is a lot of money. More than the "Hole in the wall gang camp" could probably muster. I wonder who the other big sponsor is that they talk about in the article.
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#43

Post by erwin greven »

Doornbos drives for Newman-Haas team this season.
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#44

Post by kals »

That is good news
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#45

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Autosport.com wrote:Dixon tops first IndyCar test of 2009

By Jeff Olson Wednesday, February 25th 2009, 05:19 GMT


Scott Dixon led the way in the IndyCar Series' first test session of the 2009 season at Homestead on Tuesday night, ahead of Ryan Briscoe and Dario Franchitti, while Mario Moraes, Will Power and Robert Doornbos impressed with strong performances in their wake.

Defending champion Dixon (Ganassi) had the fastest lap of the six-hour session, a 25.2919-second (211.372 mph) effort, ahead of his likely title rival Briscoe (Penske) and his Ganassi teammate Franchitti, the 2007 champion who has returned from NASCAR for 2009.

But it was Moraes, a 20-year-old who moved from Dale Coyne Racing to KV Racing Technology during the off-season, who raised eyebrows with his lap of 210.151 mph in fourth place.

"It wasn't about speed but to try to get a good set-up for races," Moraes said. "It think it went well, and I felt comfortable with the car. We will come back tomorrow and try out other set-ups and try to learn more about the car."

Power, who raced for KVRT last year but landed with Team Penske as a temporary or possible long-term substitute for Helio Castroneves, had the fifth-fastest lap of the session.

"The day went well," Power said. "I was just getting back into the groove. I haven't been on an oval in a while, so we went through a number of things and we were able to get the car better.

"I'm really just trying to learn the car and the team as quickly as I can. We're not trying to set the world on fire in practice, we just want to learn and get better."

Castroneves, who did not attend Tuesday's events, is scheduled to face a lengthy trial on tax evasion charges beginning on March 2 in Miami.

Meanwhile, Doorbos, the former Champ Car and Formula One racer, followed Andretti Green's Marco Andretti with the seventh-fastest lap among the 20-car field in his first effort for Newman/Haas/Lanigan.

Briscoe got acquainted with Eric Cowdin, Tony Kanaan's long-time engineer who joined Penske late last season, by first running a set-up lap for Power in the No.3 car that stood as the eighth-fastest lap of the day, then recording the second-best lap in the No.6 car.

"We had a lot of time to test several things, and the session also gave me the perfect opportunity to work with my new race engineer," Briscoe said. "Today was a lot about learning to understand each other. All in all I'm happy with how the day went, and I think we were able to make a lot of gains."

Kanaan (Andretti Green) and Graham Rahal (Newman/Haas/Lanigan) rounded out the top 10. The two-day test resumes at 4pm local time today.

Pos Driver Team Speed
1. Scott Dixon Ganassi 211.372
2. Ryan Briscoe Penske 210.793
3. Dario Franchitti Ganassi 210.603
4. Mario Moraes KV 210.151
5. Will Power Penske 210.138
6. Marco Andretti Andretti Green 209.696
7. Robert Doornbos Newman/Haas/Lanigan 209.584
8. Tony Kanaan Andretti Green 209.067
9. Graham Rahal Newman/Haas/Lanigan 208.802
10. Danica Patrick Andretti Green 208.720
11. Raphael Matos Luczo Dragon 208.694
12. Ed Carpenter Vision 208.672
13. EJ Viso HVM 208.637
14. Mike Conway Dreyer & Reinbold 208.568
15. Hideki Mutoh Andretti Green 208.029
16. Milka Duno Newman/Haas/Lanigan 207.403
17. Jaime Camara Conquest 207.378
18. Vitor Meira Foyt 207.184
19. Justin Wilson Dale Coyne 206.843
20. Stanton Barrett 3G 205.834
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#46

Post by kals »

Autosport.com wrote:Petty to enter car in Indy 500

By Matt Beer Monday, April 6th 2009, 19:39 GMT


NASCAR legend Richard Petty is to enter a car in the Indianapolis 500 for the first time this year.

Veteran driver John Andretti will drive for the team, which will be run in association with IndyCar Series squad Dreyer & Reinbold Racing.

Seven times NASCAR champion Petty said he was achieving an ambition by entering Indy.

"This is pretty exciting news for all of us," he said. "Never did I think I would have the opportunity to be part of the Indianapolis 500. I know how much this means to John Andretti and the Andretti family, and I'm looking forward to seeing John on the track in May.

"I'm not sure if I can be of any help to him, but he's going to have no bigger supporter than myself."

The car will run with the No.43 made famous by Petty in NASCAR.

Andretti has primarily raced in NASCAR in recent years, including a stint with Petty's team, but has returned to IndyCars for the past two Indianapolis 500s,

"We have had success before in the stock cars, and we hope to have another strong run in the Indy 500," said Andretti. "I am really excited about being a part of Richard's first entry into open-wheel racing."
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