Full Throttle

Johnny Herbert scored a long overdue win in the first race of the Speedcar Series finale at Dubai Autodrome on Friday.

The three-time Formula 1 grand prix winner, who was dominating the last race in Bahrain until he was forced out with a gear selection issue, came out on top of the 40-minute event after a fantastic battle with fellow ex-Formula 1 stars Jean Alesi and Gianni Morbidelli, as well as former world karting champion David Terrien.

There was excitement before the race as pole sitter Nicolas Navarro failed to take up his position at the head of the field, and was forced to join the race from the pitlane at the back of the pack.

That meant Morbidelli grabbed the lead, ahead of Alesi. Herbert charged past Terrien into the first corner and then attacked Alesi with a huge lunge into a hairpin bend. While Johnny got past Jean, Terrien passed them both!

It took another four laps for Herbert to re-pass Terrien, with a great move at Turn 1, by which time Morbidelli - who won both demonstration races here in January - had opened up a sizeable lead.

But Herbert chased him down, and after a couple of looks at the Turn 10 hairpin, Johnny got past Gianni with a smart move at Turn 1 on lap nine. Terrien quickly followed suit, passing Morbidelli at Turn 4 just moments later.

After that, it was a straight duel for victory between Herbert and Terrien, who traded fastest laps in the closing stages. Herbert stayed in front, however, winning by seven-tenths of a second - which led to him singing along to the British National Anthem on the podium.

“After my bad luck in Bahrain, where I could have won the first and definitely would have won the second, it’s nice to get a win,” said Herbert. “When I got in the lead, I was trying to make no mistakes, but seeing David in my mirrors did not help! We made some changes to the car after qualifying, and they definitely benefited me.”

Terrien said: “I tried my best to put as much pressure on him as possible. The problem was, the more pressure I exerted, the faster he went! I was expecting him to make a mistake, but he just kept getting quicker, so he deserves to win. My car was great in the corners, but I just didn’t have the top speed that the others had, so I struggled to stay in contact on the straights.”

Morbidelli finished third, six seconds in arrears of the lead duo: “My car was very good in the beginning,” he said. “But they were faster than me as the race went on. Third place became my only goal when I flat-spotted a front tire - the car was almost undriveable after that.”

Uwe Alzen finished fourth after a fantastic scrap with Marchy Lee, and he grabbed the lead of the championship after Alesi was forced to retire with engine failure when he was well-placed to add to his points tally.

Alzen now leads the championship by two points going into Saturday’s final round, while Terrien and Herbert have moved into contention thanks to today’s results. Terrien is five points behind Alzen, while Herbert is seven behind.

After his enforced delay, Navarro stormed through the pack to finish sixth, ahead of Al Maktoum and Stefan Johansson. Former F1 world champion Jacques Villeneuve finished ninth as he continues to get up to speed in the series.

The destiny of who will be the first Speedcar champion will be decided in Dubai, the home of the series, on Saturday afternoon at 15:00 local time. Johansson will start from pole position, as the top eight positions are reversed from today, ahead of local hero Al Maktoum. The title rivals will start in the order Alzen (fifth), Terrien (seventh), Herbert (eighth) and Alesi (14th) With a huge amount of money riding on the outcome, as well as professional pride between great drivers, expect some major fireworks.

Cross Posted @ Asian Motor Sports

Technorati Tags: GP2 Asia, Dubai Autodrome, Johnny Herbert, Full Throttle, Auto Racing, Sports, Motorsports

As previously noted Jacques Villeneuve is in Bahrain this weekend competing in the Speedcar Series.

Nothing entirely unusual in that, he is a racer and racers want to race.

Racing has been on Jacques’ the back burner since being ushered out of the Bill Davis Racing garage door in February for lack of sponsorship he was said to be bringing to the table.

With only June’s Le Mans 24 Hours driving a Peugeot 908 on his schedule it’s was a given he’s show up somewhere helmet in hand. (The Canadian joins Ferrari’s F1 test driver Marc Gene, Pedro Lamy, ChampCar champion and F1 Toro Rosso driver Sébastien Bourdais, Nicolas Minassian and Stephane Sarrazin in the Peugeot squad.)

However, having said that, it appears judging by Villeneuve’s quotes in Bahrain his participation in Speedcar seems to be lying beyond or outside the area of immediate interest.

He says parachuting into the series for a couple weeks will not only help him get some valuable seat time in preparation for an eventual return to NASCAR (presumably Montreal and the NNS event), but also to find sponsorship in new markets like Dubai.

“I’ve seen a lot of friends in Formula One as well that I haven’t seen in a long time and hopefully I can find some sponsors for NASCAR when we go to Dubai. I’m working hard on all that.”

The ref to Dubai is Dubai, U.A.E where Speedcar wraps up it’s inaugural season next week at the Dubai Autodrome and serves as the series’ home base.

Give credit to Villeneuve for one thing, he knows where the money is. Dubai (in addition to Bahrain, and Qatar) is set to be a major player in F1 and other forms of motorsport. The Dubai government is behind the takeover of the struggling Super Aguri F1 team by the London based Magma Group.

I’ll never question the Dhow loads of cash available in Dubai and the Middle East, 100 buck barrels of oil attest to that reality, I will be skeptical any of it will come to the U.S. in the form of a Villeneuve sponsorship.

If there’s cash to be had it will remain in Speedcar, GP2 Asia or possibly in the Lumina CSV Challenge series is held in Bahrain. I predict it won’t be in the hat Villeneuve was carrying in Bahrain looking for a lifeline back into NASCAR.

Cross posted @ Asian Motor Sports

P.S. The helmet Villeneuve carried came up empty also, he finished 6th in a controversial race one at Bahrain.

When last seen Jacques “International Man of Mystery” Villeneuve was getting summarily booted out of the Bill Davis Racing Toyota Camry for lack of greenbacks. Greenbacks, it should be added, the organization was promised would flow like water down a flushing toilet. (metaphorically speaking of course. I think. -ed)

The cash never materialized and neither did Villeneuve’s performance after crashing out of Daytona 500 qualifying and failing to secure a spot on the grid for The Great American Race.

The man is nothing if not undaunted by his tin-top efforts in America and has risen like the proverbial mythical bird Phoenix, resurfacing in Asia’s Sprint Cup clone the Speedcar Series.

Villeneuve will race with Speedcar in the last two rounds of the Series’ inaugural season. He will take to the grid for the upcoming race at the Bahrain Grand Prix on April 4-6 followed by the final round in Dubai a week later on April 11-12.

“Speedcar Series looks like a great event and I have heard that it is a lot of fun,” Villeneuve said. “It’s a series still in its infancy and will build up but I think it’s a great idea. On a personal level, Speedcar will give me more road racing experience with this kind of cars which will be useful in future NASCAR road courses events, and it’s also a great excuse to meet race fans.”

Well, ok Jacques, but next time don’t show up with empty promises of bulging wallets.

Villeneuve won’t be the only Johnny-come-lately F1 driver on the Bahrain Grid, Heinz Harald Frentzen will also be on hand and at the wheel of the Legends Car.

Alternative Capital Invest (ACI) introduced the Legends Car into the Speedcar Series mix, featuring a different celebrity driver behind the wheel at each race weekend. The ACI sponsored car is part of the German Phoenix Racing Team.

Cross posted @ Asian Motor Sports

Jean Alesi won a spectacular Speedcar Series race at Sepang International Circuit on Saturday morning as the championship supported a Grand Prix for the first time. Many big names from the F1 world paid close attention to the action as Alesi won a race-long battle with his old friend and sometime Sauber team mate Johnny Hebert, finally getting the better of the Englishman on the last lap.

Winner of the first race in Sentul, Alesi took pole position ahead of Herbert, Mathias Lauda, David Terrien, Uwe Alzen and Ananda Mikola. Former F1 stars Ukyo Katayama, Gianni Morbidelli and Stefan Johansson were eighth to 10th, while at the back were series rookies Christian Danner, Alex Yoong and JJ Lehto, all of whom had very little time to get used to the car after joining the series this weekend.

Among those who came to visit the cars on the grid were three-time World Champion Niki Lauda, and Toro Rosso boss Gerhard Berger, who was keen to wish his old pal Alesi well.

There was drama even before the start as Katayama and Morbidelli clashed as the field came through the corner onto the pits. The Italian spun, while Katayama retired to the pits with front end damage.

At the front Alesi held on to his advantage ahead of Herbert and Lauda. There was more excitement behind when Alzen nudged Terrien into a high speed spin and claimed fourth, while further back Danner and Yoong tangled, and the local hero spun.

Alesi and Herbert soon pulled away from the rest, and circulated nose to tail as Herbert sized up possible passing opportunities. Meanwhile Alzen closed in on Lauda, and began pushing him for third place. Mikola, Johansson and Nicolas Navarro were next, while behind that group the recovering Terrien was hassling fellow Frenchman Fabien Giroix.

There was no change at the front until lap 11, when Herbert passed Alesi for the lead with a mighty effort at the penultimate corner of the lap. The Frenchman didn’t give up however, and was close enough to have a big go at the start of the final lap. He didn’t make it at that attempt, but snuck by later round the lap.

Herbert very nearly got him back straight away, but tucked in behind and readied himself for a last corner effort. However, Alesi kept the door closed and despite a nudge from Johnny that left dents in both cars Jean crossed the line just ahead, to cheers from watching F1 folk. Many of the BMW Sauber mechanics came along to the podium to cheer their former drivers.

“It was really down to racing, and I lost again!,” joked Herbert. “In the last couple of laps I started struggling with the back end, especially at the hairpin and coming out of the last corner. I was aware of it, and maybe Jean saw that and that’s what he went for. At the last corner we were level I knew I had to go a bit wider. I thought I had a run on him, but I nudged him and had to ease off, so I didn’t get the win that I truly deserved!”

Behind the two pacesetters Alzen relieved Lauda of third on the ninth lap, but the Austrian repaid the compliment with two laps to go, and thus claimed his fourth podium finish in five starts. His proud father watched as he took his trophy.

Alzen had to settle for fourth, ahead of Mikola, Johansson, Navarro and Terrien. Giroix retired from the fraught battle with a flat front tyre. Morbidelli, who won the two Dubai races, had recovered to ninth by the flag.

The top eight grid spots will be reversed for the second race on Sunday morning, so Terrien and Navarro will be on the front row, and Herbert and Alesi on the fourth.

Cross Posted @ Asian Motor Sports

Speedcar from AC on Vimeo.

Mike Mulhern, one the the better NASCAR beat writers (insert your description here), seems to have opted for a bit of cloak and dagger in his Sunday featured piece. But before I highlight his intrigue I’ll get the prerequisites out of the way first.

Mulhern notes the Paris Tuning and Racing Show (video here with the “required” N-word laced rap song) highlights the headline