September 21, 2011
(Image © 2011 - John Thawley Motorsports Photography - http://www.johnthawley.com)
This Saturday the ALMS Petit Le Mans endurance race will be held at Road Atlanta. We will have full coverage of the premier event next week. In the meantime, you can check out yet another fabulous photo gallery from John Thawley here from last weekend's American Le Mans Series race at Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca. - WG
(Michael Levitt/LAT)
Scott Dixon (No. 9 Target Chip Ganassi Racing Dallara/Honda/Firestone) held off Will Power (No. 12 Team Penske Verizon D/H/F) on a restart with two laps left to win the Indy Japan at Motegi by 3.4 seconds and remain a factor in the IZOD IndyCar Series title chase.
(Chris Jones/IndyCar)
Will Power burns out of the pits on his way to his 11th top-five finish of the season and the IZOD IndyCar Series points lead. Power increased his point total to 542, which is 11 points ahead of Dario Franchitti, who finished eighth. Dixon is 59 points out of first heading into the final two races. "It was a good day for us points-wise in the championship, but I'm really not worried about points right now," said Power, who clinched the Mario Andretti Road Trophy for the top points producer on the 10 road/street courses. "I just need to keep finishing in front of the 10 car (Franchitti) the rest of the way and we'll be fine. We'll keep chipping away like we have been."
(Chris Jones/IndyCar)
The championship chase turned on a Lap 26 restart when Franchitti (No. 10 Target Chip Ganassi Racing D/H/F), who carried a five-point leader over Power into the 63-lap race on the 2.983-mile road course, swung to the right and made contact with the right-rear of the No. 6 Guidepoint Systems Team Penske D/H/F driven by Ryan Briscoe entering Turn 1. Race Control levied an avoidable contact penalty on the reigning series champion, which sent him to the rear of the field (25th). "It was a stupid move on my part," said Franchitti, who also started ninth. "I did a lot hard work to get from ninth to fifth, and I'd been saving fuel the whole first stint. I thought there was a gap and Ryan was going wide on the entry and that was that. It was just a stupid move and we had a great fight back. We'll shrug this one off, move forward and see if we can do better next (race)."
(Michael Levitt/LAT)
Marco Andretti finished third in the No. 26 Andretti Autosport Team Venom Energy D/H/F, his best road/street course placing of the season. Here he runs ahead of Alex Tagliani, who advanced 11 spots relative to his starting position to finish fourth in the No. 77 Bowers & Wilkins/Sam Schmidt Motorsports D/H/F machine.
(Michael Levitt/LAT)
Oriol Servia charged from 16th to fifth in the No. 2 Telemundo Newman/Haas Racing D/H/F machine. Next up for the series is the Kentucky Indy 300 on Oct. 2 at Kentucky Speedway. The race will be televised live at 2 p.m. (EDT) by VERSUS and broadcast by the IMS Radio Network and on SiriusXM. The next Firestone Indy Lights race is the Kentucky 100 on Oct. 2 at Kentucky Speedway. It will be televised live by VERSUS at noon (EDT).
(Chris Jones/IndyCar)
Dixon, here receiving congratulations from team owner Chip Ganassi after the race, picked up his 27th Indy car victory, breaking a tie with Rodger Ward and tying Johnny Rutherford for 11th on the all-time list. He has the distinction of winning on the 1.5-mile oval and now the 2.983-mile road course at Motegi. "I have to give a lot of credit to Team Target; they gave me a fantastic car. In some sections of the race I was just cruising trying to save fuel," he said. "Great pit stops and fuel strategy, and everything was flawless."
(Grand-Am)
Ryan Dalziel (No. 8 Starworks Motorsport Ford/Riley) held off Scott Pruett by .416 seconds to capture Saturday's Grand-Am Rolex Sports Car Series season-ending EMCO Gears Classic presented by KeyBank at Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course. Pruett made numerous attempts to get by, but Dalziel was up to the task in his Ford/Riley which was started by Venezuelan rookie Enzo Potolicchio. It was their first victory of the season.
(Grand-Am)
Scott Pruett and Memo Rojas (No. 01 TELMEX BMW/Riley) clinched their third Grand-Am Daytona Prototype title in four years at Mid-Ohio. It was Pruett's fourth DP title and the fifth team championship for Chip Ganassi Racing since entering the Rolex Series in 2004. BMW also won the DP Manufacturer's championship in a double tiebreaker with Chevrolet, based on the team's five second-place finishes.
(Grand-Am)
Ronnie Bremer and Robin Liddell took the GT victory at Mid-Ohio - combining to lead 34 laps to win the second straight race for the No. 57 Stevenson Auto Group Chevrolet Camaro.
(Grand-Am)
Andrew Davis and Leh Keen finished fourth to capture the championship in Brumos Racing's first season in the GT class. It was the first title for Brumos Racing since 1994 (North American Endurance Championship).
(Grand-Am)
Matt Plumb passed Billy Johnson (No. 61 Roush Performance Ford Mustang Boss 302R started by Jack Roush Jr.) with three laps remaining in the final round of the Continental Tire Sports Car Challenge and held on to win the GS class by .692 seconds to score the third victory of the season in the No. 13 Rum Bum Racing BMW M3 co-driven by Nick Longhi. Turner Motorsport captured the team championship, and BMW captured the Grand Sport manufacturer's championship over Ford.
(Grand-Am)
Paul Dalla Lana is the 2012 Continental Tire Sports Car Challenge GS champion. His co-driver, Boris Said, rallied to finish sixth in the No. 96 Turner Motorsport BMW M3, giving Dalla Lana the Grand Sport title in his third year of competition.
(Grand-Am)
The Street Tuner race featured a first-time winner, with brothers Mark and Mathew Pombo combined to cap their first professional season with a victory in the I-Moto No. 31 Mazda/Cybernation Mazda Speed 3. Mark Pombo lead twice for 30 laps - including the final 11 - to win over Tim Bell and BJ Zacharias in Doran Racing's No. 14 Office Depot/Intersil BMW 128i.
(Grand-Am)
Nic Jonsson (shown here with Michael Galati) is the 2012 Continental Tire Sports Car Challenge Street Tuner champion. Jonsson finished seventh in the No. 10 Kia of America/Infinity Audio KIA Forte Koup, giving him the title by six points over Ryan Eversley, who finished 10th. Jonsson began his Kinetic Motorsports program with Kia 26 months ago, and it was a year of firsts for KIA - first podium (second at Daytona), first victory (Barber, backed up at Road America), and first championship. Kinetic Motorsports captured the team championship, with Mazda winning the ST title over Volkswagen.
SCCA. The Sports Car Club of America will again have flag-to-flag coverage of the National Championship Runoffs® from Road America, "America's National Park of Speed" in Elkhart Lake, Wisconsin on the internet via SpeedcastTV.com. The event will be broadcast live in High Definition for the first time ever. Viewers worldwide can catch each lap of the 24 races that comprise the prestigious event which crowns 24 National Champions and has been long referred to as the “Olympics” of motorsports. Races will be broadcast live Friday, Sept. 23 through Sunday, Sept. 25 from 8 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. (CDT). Following the live broadcasts, each race will be available on demand. Both the live and the on-demand broadcasts are free of charge.The action will be called by familiar voices to road racing fans, including Greg Creamer, Chip Herr, Dorsey Schroeder and Jim Tretow. John Bisignano returns as the grid and winner’s circle reporter, the 16th-consecutive Runoffs for the former Formula 1 broadcaster. “We’re very excited about the Runoffs webcast this year,” SCCA VP of Marketing & Communications Eric Prill said. “We have a talented and knowledgeable team of broadcasters, and the move from standard definition to HD will definitely enhance the viewing experience. Special thanks have to go to our Official Vehicle, Volkswagen, for making the upgrade to HD happen.”
Editor-in-Chief's Note: If you really must keep up on all of the latest F1 developments and the potential U.S. GP in Austin, Texas, go here. - PMD
Editor-in-Chief's Note: Check out Michelin's racing website - "Michelin Alley" - and get in on all of the behind-the-scenes buzz. Go here. - PMD
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