The roots of the problem: an Indycar TL

[kinnikuniverse]

And here is a little bonus post for you, dear readers: the French Canadian broadcast of the 1995 Indy 500! Of note is that the broadcast was actually not Live. It was tape delayed, hence the noticably shorter length than the american live broadcast version. I dunno the reason why it was tape delayed. The Habs weren't in the playoffs that year. Anyways, here it is.

 

[kinnikuniverse]

Marlboro Indycar World Series 1995

Round 6: Rex Mays Classic at Milwaukee Mile

One week after a spectacular and eventful Indy 500, the Marlboro championship trail heads over to the oldest track in America in Milwaukee. The biggest news of the week-end concerns the health of Stan Fox, who was victim of a terrible crash at the start of the Indy 500. The Indiana native has left the baptist hospital and has not suffered any serious injuries, but nonetheless, he understandably announced his retirement from racing shortly after.

In other news, with Willy T. Ribs suffering minor injuries after being involved in the Stan Fox crash, Lyn St. James substitutes for him in the Coors Light Payton/Coyne Lola for Milwaukee.

On track, a 4-way battle for the pole on saturday delivered A show as Jeff Gordon, Michael Andretti and the two Penske-Hondas of Ayrton Senna and Al Unser Jr took turns exchaning first place, with Jeff Gordon ending up putting his Pennzoil Reynard-Mercedes on pole in front of Senna.

Despite the rocket start by Walker's Robby Gordon, goign from 6th to 2nd at the opening lap, the race ended up being a three-way fight between Jeff, Little Al and Michael. Senna, running in 4th, crashed into turn 3 attempting to overtake Michael on lap 122, while Indy 500 winner Jacques Villeneuve had a solid race ending up in 6th, but he was nowhere near the leading trio.

In the end, Jeff and Little Al pulled away from Michael and dueled for the win. Jeff looked to block Little Al on the outside, but Unser dived into the inside on lap 179, with Jeff almost hitting the wall, giving away the lead to the reigning champion, who would cruise the last 20 laps to his second win of the season.

Little Al gaining momentum​

Milwaukee Race Results

1) Al Unser Jr20 pts
2) Jeff Gordon 16 pts
3) Michael Andretti 14 pts
4) Christian Fittipaldi 12 pts
5) Robby Gordon 10 pts
6) Jacques Villeneuve 6 pts
7) John Andretti 4 pts
8) Raul Boesel 3 pts
9) Jimmy Vasser 2 pts
10) Adrian Fernandez 1 pt

Round 7: Budweiser Grand Prix of New York at the Glen

Ayrton Senna scores pole position at Watkins Glen, but the show would be all about Robby Gordon. The brazilian led much of the first half, but the Walker driver never gave up, being right on his trail. A rare mistake by the brazilian saw him miss the boot, with Robby taking advantage and going into the lead, a lead which he would never concede as he dominated the second half to score his 4th career win and second of the season. Senna, after going through even more trouble, would end up retiring with a faulty gearbox, while Jeff Gordon's merc Engine blew up in smokes, along with the rahal team.

Robby Gordon leading at the Glen​

Watkins Glen Race Results

1) Robby Gordon 20 pts
2) Jimmy Vasser 16 pts
3) Scott Pruett 14 pts
4) Michael Andretti 12 pts
5) Al Unser Jr 10 pts
6) John Andretti 6 pts
7) Adrian Fernandez 4 pts
8) Christian Fittipaldi 3 pts
9) Jacques Villeneuve 2 pts
10) Parker Johnstone 1 pt

Round 8: GI Joe's 200 in Portland

Heading into the pacific Northwest, Ayrton Senna had a discussion with Roger Penske and Al Unser Jr concerning the status of the two drivers, with Senna thinking that the equal status setup might be more detrimental to the team than intended this year.

So far, it seemed that Penske heeded to his call, for Ayrton dominated the race with Little Al not really challenging him in second, even though he definitely looked tempted. However, controversy would ensue, as Littel Al's car was found to be underweight, and thus Unser was disqualified. Tensions are starting to brew in the Penske paddock...

Meanwhile, Jeff Gordon again had engine issues during the race, and he was becoming increasingly displeased with it. With his contract expriring after this season, it might be the beginning of the end for Jeff and Jim Hall...

Things aren't so smooth for Jeff Gordon​

Portland Race Results

1) Ayrton Senna 20 pts
2) Jimmy Vasser 16 pts
3) Bobby Rahal 14 pts
4) Michael Andretti 12 pts
5) Bryan Herta 10 pts
6) Parker Johnstone 6 pts
7) Mauricio Gugelmin 4 pts
8) Robby Gordon 3 pts
9) Adrian Fernandez 2 pts
10) Davy Jones 1 pt

Round 9: New England 200 at New Hampshire

Jeff Gordon once again starts on pole on an oval, but the biggest surprise is André Ribeiro of Tasman starting alongside the california kid. Gordon led comfortably for the first 42 laps, but he was forced to pit for damage after slightly clipping the wall on lap 47, damaging half of his front wing. He would make a great recovery drive and finish 6th, but still, another disappointement...

The race turned into a duel for the win between Michael Andretti and the underdog Ribeiro, who took turns passing each other for the lead. Ribeiro eventually took it with a daring manoeuver at the backstraight, and he would hold off Michael for a massive upset win.

However, slightly overshadowing that was Al Unser and Senna's battling for position. As if to show his miscontentement to Roger giving him an illegal car in Portland and Senna thinking he can just reverse their equal status like that, Little Al did a dirty move on Senna late in the race, squeezing him tightly on the inside. Little Al would end up in 3rd place, while Jacques Villeneuve takes advantage to pip 4th from senna and gain back precious points in the standings.

Ribeiro celebrating his upset win​

New Hampshire Race Results

1) André Ribeiro 20 pts
2) Michael Andretti 16 pts
3) Al Unser Jr 14 pts
4) Jacques Villeneuve 12 pts
5) Ayrton Senna 10 pts
6) Jeff Gordon 6 pts
7) Jimmy Vasser 4 pts
8) John Andretti 3 pts
9) Robby Gordon 2 pts
10) Bobby Rahal 1 pt

Round 10: Molson Indy Toronto

In the streets of Exhibition Place, Villeneuve scores his first career pole, barely beating Senna's lap by only 000.1 seconds.

Villeneuve and Senna battled it out for the win, putting on quite a show to the Toronto folks, with a very vocal contingent of québécois fans cheering on for Gilles's son. However, a third party came late in the race to play spoiler in Michael Andretti, the king of Exhibition Place. Andretti would find himself up front late in the race, but a spirited Villeneuve charged on, taking the lead at the end of the backstraight and never looking back, scoring his second win of the season and cementing his status as a title contender, while Senna ends up in 3rd. Al Unser Jr crashed with Scott Pruett at the backstraight on the opening lap, while Jeff Gordon finally has a decent result, finishing in 4th. Robbie Stanley gets another point for Foyt.

Toronto Race Results

1) Jacques Villeneuve 20 pts
2) Michael Andretti 16 pts
3) Ayrton Senna 14 pts
4) Jeff Gordon 12 pts
5) Robby Gordon 10 pts
6) Bryan Herta 6 pts
7) Bobby Rahal 4 pts
8) Adrian Fernandez 3 pts
9) Christian Fittipaldi 2 pts
10) Robbie Stanley 1 pt

Up next is the second 500 miler of the year at Michigan. Will the Penskes settle their differences and focus on the title? Will Villeneuve further establish himself? Will Jeff Gordon finally have something going right for his title aspirations? Or Will we see another upset like in Nazareth and New Hampshire?

To be continued...

 

[kinnikuniverse]

1995 so far proved to be an up and down year for Jeff Gordon.

It started off really well, especially in the NASCAR Winston Cup, winning in North Wilksboro, and then winning in Atlanta in both Indycars and stock cars, becoming the first man to win in Atlanta in both Indycar and NASCAR since AJ Foyt, increasing his profile further in the american sports mainstream with his dual excellence.

However, as the Indycar season trudged along, old problems resurfaced. The Merc Engines, while definitely as powerful, if not more so, than the Honda and Fords, proved once again to be unreliable, and that's without counting bad luck or being outplayed by Little Al at Milwaukee. Inspite of all this, the good result at Toronto managed to keep Jeff in the rough edges of the title race, as shown right now on his TV on ESPN Speedworld's standings:

Standings after 10 rounds

Ayrton Senna 0 14 16 16 16 0 0 20 10 14 106 pts

Michael Andretti 0 16 0 0 0 14 12 12 16 16 86 pts

Jacques Villeneuve 0 10 0 14 20 6 2 0 12 20 84 pts

Jeff Gordon 20 12 0 12 0 16 0 0 6 12 78 pts

Robby Gordon 0 20 0 0 10 10 20 3 2 10 75 pts

Al Unser Jr 0 3 20 0 DNQ 20 10 DSQ 14 0 67 pts

​

those moments of relaxing at the hotel, away from the flashing lights and interviews with magazines and ESPN and the Sponsor commitments, were crucial in any racing driver's career, but especially Jeff's, what with his status as a dual-sport superstar. Seeing all those people and their flash photography, some of them coming a little too close for comfort, can take a toll on his mind. Especially after he won the Pepsi 400 at Daytona, he remembered the frenzy afterwards.

As Bob Varsha and David Hobbs were now busy talking about Formula 1, with Schumacher's dominance, Alex Zanardi's emergence in Montréal and Nurburgring, Ukyo Katayama's inspiring story from cancer survivor to F1 race winner for Benetton and whatever antic Paul Tracy was up to at McLaren, Jeff received a phone call from Jim Hall.


"Hey, Jeff. It's Jim....have you made a decision regarding your contract?" Jim asked.

"Nah, not yet. I'm still thinking about it." Jeff responded. The same answer he gave for a while now.

while he was still in the Hunt for the 1995 championship, it was becoming clearer in his mind that he will sport new colors in 1996. Switching to NASCAR full time with Hendrick is tempting, but he absolutely want to continue this dual-sport endeavour. He still wants to win the Indy 500. And it was clear that he needed the Honda engines.

penske was out of the question, and Forsythe, from what he heard, is looking to stick with Ford and the development of Canadian talent, as per Player's agreement, something which didn't sit well with the Green Brothers and Tony Cicote, who wants to run Honda engines and sign the best driver available. The idea of joining the Green Brothers, with their proven winning methods with Jacques Villeneuve, sounded intriguing.

and then, there was Ganassi.

Chip Ganassi has proven his worth as a team owner, managing to win races and get a major sponsor in Target despite relatively modest means and a blank track record. And he was quite ambitious, too, signing former F1 and Pat Patrick engineer Mo Nunn and becoming friends with higher ups at Honda of America...

But, for now, Jeff needed to concentrate on the upcoming race: the Michigan 500. Winning that race will send him back into title contention, and the competition looks really tough. Especially with this fellow Indiana native, Tony Stewart, snatching his pole position away from him at the last minute on saturday....

To Be Continued....

 

[kinnikuniverse]

Motorsports world 1995 mid-season report
​

NASCAR Winston Cup

the premier Stock Car series in America kickstarted with Morgan-McClure's Sterling Marlin achieving a stunning victory over Dale Earnhardt and Mark Martin at the Daytona 500. The Hendrick team then took over in the next three races, with Terry Labonte conquering Richmond and part-time Indycar star Jeff Gordon dominating at North Wilkesboro and Atlanta, achieving the NASCAR-Indycar double a week later at the same track.

at Bristol, however, a major upset was scored as Alan Kulwicki again worked his magic to win it from Penske's Rusty Wallace. Mark Martin then narrowly holds off Jeff Gordon for a lights-to-flag win from pole at Talladega. Gordon would get his third win of the season at the Pepsi 400, his first win at daytona, which launched a media frenzy, his dual-sport exploits turning him into an household name in american sports.

However, there is no doubt who is the man to beat. The Intimidator has been incredibly consistent with his top 5 finishes, and now comfortably leads the championship. With Davey Allison and Robert Yates racing having an uncharacteristically pff-year, it seems that Dale is poised to win championship number 6.


World Touring Car Championship

the 1995 WTCC season saw Alfa Romeo have its aerodynamic advantage cancelled by Alan Gow mandating All cars to be equipped with the same aerodynamics as the 155. The results would bring an unexpected old dog to victory at the opening round in Argentina, as Bernd Schneider and John Cleland won it for Opel Team Joest in the aging Vectra. From the Fuji Intertec 500 onward, however, we see the two née contenders rising to challenge Alfa in the Williams-backed Renault Laguna driven by Alain Menu and the new Volvo 850 Coupe driven by Rickard Rydell and Will Hoy. Rydell was easily the best qualifier, but he would frequently be putmatcged by the superior race intellect of Menu and Alfa's duo of Gabriele Tarquini and Gianpiero Simoni, as evidenced in the Burgundy Grand Prix at Dijon-Prenois and Kyalami.

At the RAC Tourist Trophy in Silverstone, under the rain, however, Paul Radisich in his Rouse Ford Mondeo would steal the show, holding off Hoy in the Volvo for a dramatic victory. Among the midfield pack, the most noteworthy challengers are the Peugeots of Fabrizio Giovanardi and Laurent Aiello, continuing on their successful and steady rise in 1993 and 1994 with a few podium finishes, while the TOM's Toyota Carinas, on their way out to make way for the Toyota Chaser next year, being driven by very capable hands in David Brabham and 2-time JTCC champion Tom Kristensen, who announces his arrival on the world stage with stunning results, including two 4th place finishes in Auckland at the New Zealand 500 and at Dijon-Prenois.


Formula 1

after one of the best grand prix seasons in history alst year, Formula 1 sees the return of (slight) driver aids and revanped circuits following the various accidents and the fatality of Roland Ratzenberger at Imola. Many expected Michael Schumacher and Benetton to dominate following their controversial close call in 94 against Williams, and that is what we saw in Brazil, as Schumi took his Benetton B195, now powered by the same Renault engines as Williams, to a dominant win despite Jean Alesi and Damon Hill having better cars.


However, both Schumi and Hill would be disqualified for running illegal fuel, giving the win to 3rd place Gerhardt Berger in the Ferrari, with the McLaren-Mercedes of Mika Hakkinen and Paul Tracy rounding up the podium and Martin Donnelly scoring for Tyrell. Ron Dennis managed to secure a pair of mercs for McLaren following their success last.year with Sauber, who gladly build an extra pair of engines for the Woking team.

Damon would dominate in Argentina and San Marino, with the Italian favorite Alex Zanardi both finishing 2nd and showing incredible pace with the Ferrari. Schumi would come back in full force, however, thrashing the field in Barcelona and Monaco, with new teammate Ukyo Katayama, signed under the insistance of japanese sponsor Mild Seven, finishing 2nd in Barcelona.

However, already, all Hell broke loose in Montréal at circuit Gilles-Villeneuve, as many of the leaders retired, leading the way for Alex Zanardi to score his Maiden win in F1 and becoming the first Italian to win in a Ferrari since Michele Alboreto! Rubens Barrichello and Eddie Irvine rounds up the podium for Jordan. Zanardi, overexcited with his first ever Grand Prix win, did an unusual celebration where he drew donuts in front of the crowd at the hairpin, making the Ferrari run out of fuel. Thankfully, Schumi was there to lift him up and give him a lap pf honor.

Schumacher would dominate in France, and Ukyo Katayama would become the second japanese driver to win à grand prix after Satoru Nakajima in Adelaide 1989 by winning the britidh Grand Prix at Silverstone. Katayama would reveal that he has secretly been battling a tumor on his back, further giving emotional gravita to his Maiden win.

Ukyo Katayama​

This would lead to an all-time classic duel between Michael Schuamcher and Alex Zanardi for the win at the European GP in Nurburgring. Racing in front of his people, Schumi and his benetton charged on and put immense pressure on Zanardi and his Ferrari, obertaking him with 4 laps to go. Zanardi attempted a daring pass into the chicane, and miraculously, Zanardi came out the better of it at the exit of the chicane, and he would squeeze every last Drop of the gluttonous V12 engine to win hsi second grand prix, with David Coulthard in the brand new Lotus 112 rounding up the podium using works Ford Z-Tec V8 engines.

Schumacher and Zanardi dueling for the win at Nurburgring

​

The Lotus 112, driven by Johnny Herbert and David Coulthard, powered by Ford Z-Tec V8, the same engines run by Benetton previously.


Schumi is in command of the championship, and by a considerable margin over Zanardi and the Williams. Zanardi's emergence, however, could really put a spanner in the works for benetton and Williams this season.

 

[SealTheRealDeal]

Opel mentioned!

 

[kinnikuniverse]

1995 Marlboro Indycar World Series

Round 11: Marlboro Michigan 500

On a bright summer day in Brooklyn, Michigan, the MIS hosts the Indycars for the second 500 Mile race of the season. It has been quite an eventful week-end, starting with the track itself getting completely repaved. Gone is the previously bumpy surface that characterised the Michigan 500. The track is now silky smooth like a magic carpet, and the cars themselves are now carrying restrictions in both aerodynamics and turbocharger boosts, seen by many as a reaction to Stan Fox's horror crash at Indianapolis.

the bad Boy of Indianapolis is back for another round​

The biggest news heading into the race was the return of Tony Stewart. The rookie sensation Sprint car driver, who almost won the Indy 500 had it not been for a costly mistake late in the race, returns with the Menard outfit for his second Indycar appearance, and quickly made his presence felt, being the fastest in both practice and qualifying, pipping out Jeff Gordon for the pole in a thrilling shoot-out on saturday, having the fastest speed at almost 231 MPH, showcasing the power of Menard's modified Buick V6 engine. Gordon achieved 229.7, while Michael Andretti was third fastest at 229.2.

The other Menard cars of Scott Brayton and 1992 Michigan 500 winner Scott Goodyear were outqualified by Jacques Villeneuve on the second row, while Ayrton Senna starts on the 4th row in 10th place alongside Jimmy Vasser and Scott Pruett and Al Unser Jr starts right behind on the 5th row with Gugelmin and Davey Hamilton. Robby Gordon, 5th in the standings, will not participate, as he fell victim of a crash at turn three during practice, caused by à fractured left rear wishbone failure and kmockin him unconscious. While he came out okay and was given the go to race by a neurologist, Indycar Inc. Forbade him from racing as per their rules concerning à driver being knocked unconscious during a week-end. As such, only 34 out of the 35 cars entered will compete.

Already before the race, the press went with the whole "Gordon vs Stewart" angle for today's race, pushed as a battle of the new generation of american racing stars looking to take over from the Andrettis and Unsers. Stewart even added fuel to the fire by casually saying that he was gonna smoke Gordon's ass.



Stewart brought the field slowly to the green flag and the start was waved off by Indycar officials. The field was not aligned well for the second time and the start was waved off again. When the race began, Smoke established himself as the fastest car.

The first caution of the day came out on lap six when Mark Smith crashed in turn four. When the race resumed, Stewart maintained his lead. Outside of five laps during pit stop cycles, Stewart led 52 of the first 57 laps, with Jeff Gordon his closest challenger and leading the other laps as they exchanged the lead with thrilling overtakes that left the crowd breathless.

Smoke leading at Michigan​

Stewart's attempt to get his first win was ended while leading on lap 58 by a bad wheel bearing. He returned to the track 28 laps behind the leaders and retired for good after brake failure after breaking a right-rear upright.

The Indiana native's problems gave the lead to his teammate Scott Brayton. With the exception of green flag pit stops, Brayton led 68 of the next 72 laps. While leading on lap 129, Brayton was sidelined by electrical problems.

After the departure of the two Menard cars, Al Unser Jr., Jeff Gordon and Scott Pruett established themselves as the three fastest cars. Unser led for a total of 66 laps.

On lap 194, Lyn St. James blew an engine and crashed in turn two. Scott Sharp slid in the oil and both cars crashed into the wall. Sharp suffered a broken pelvis and was airlifted to a local hospital. He will surely miss the next 3 races, at least.

While leading on lap 230, Unser was forced to make a pit stop under green because of a blistered right-rear tire. That allowed Scott Pruett to re-take the lead, with Jeff Gordon right on his tail.

Pruett leading Firestone's first laps since 1974.​

With 13 laps remaining, Willy T. Ribs in the Mi-Jack car crashed in turn four and brought out the caution flag. That allowed Unser to catch up to Pruett and Gordon for a final five-lap run to the finish.

As the cars approached the final lap, Unser pulled to the outside and completed the pass on Pruett entering turn one. Down the first turn, Pruett followed the draft of Unser and drove deep into turn three, pulling to the outside of Unser. But Jeff Gprdon, using all of the mercedes 500I's power, put the pedal to the metal and blasted off past Unser at the backstraight, and then went on the inside of Pruett after successfully baiting him to take the high line, pulling ahead ever so slightly to take the checkered flag and avenge his heartbreaking loss at Michigan last year!

Jeff Gordon won by 0.056 seconds, the second closest margin of victory at a 500 mile Indycar race behind the 1992 Indianapolis 500. That victory, plus the retirement of Michael Andretti and Jacques Villeneuve fimishing in 10th, shot Gordon to 2nd in the standings with 98 points, albeit behind Ayrton Senna, who drove a quiet but smart race to finish 5th and stay on top of the standings at 116 points.

​

A brilliant victory for Jeff Gordon

Michigan Race Results

1) Jeff Gordon 20 pts
2) Scott Pruett 16 pts
3) Al Unser Jr 14 pts
4) Scott Goodyear 12 pts
5) Ayrton Senna 10 pts
6) Parker Johnstone 6 pts
7) Jimmy Vasser 4 pts
8) Bobby Rahal 3 pts
9) John Andretti 2 pts
10) Jacques Villeneuve 1 pt

To Be Continued...meanwhile, drive alongside Jeff Gordon, Ayrton Senna and all the stars of Indycar racing in the brand new hit racing game for PC, Indycar Racing 2 by Papyrus!

​

 

[HesitatedEye]

9 year old me would be bugging the hell outta my parents for that game right about now.