EDWARDS WRECKS KESLOWSKI

EDWARDS WINS: BUT WAS IT FAIRLY ?

The feud between Carl Edwards and Brad Keselowski — dormant since Atlanta in March — erupted like an angry volcano at Gateway International Raceway. In a duel to the finish line, Edwards sent Keselowski hard into the outside wall on the way to winning Saturday night's Missouri-Illinois Dodge Dealers 250 Nationwide Series race at the 1.25-mile track. As Edwards took the checkered flag two car lengths ahead of runner-up Reed Sorenson, Keselowski careened into the inside retaining wall and took a vicious shot from Shelby Howard's Chevrolet just short of the finish line. Less than a lap earlier, Keselowski had bumped Edwards in Turn 1 in an attempt to take the lead after a restart on Lap 199 of 200. Edwards' Ford and Keselowski's Dodge raced side-by-side for most of the final lap. With Keselowski edging ahead as the cars approached the stripe, Edwards turned Keselowski's Dodge, igniting a multicar pileup on the frontstretch. "I just couldn't let him take the win from me," said Edwards, who drew a three-race probation in March for unabashedly turning Keselowski in a Sprint Cup race at Atlanta, with the unintended consequence of sending the No. 12 Dodge upside-down into the frontstretch wall. "My guys work way too hard for that.

PEUGEOT POWERS BACK IN PORTUGAL

After playing second fiddle to the Peugeot factory team for most of 2010, the Oreca Peugeot team of Stephane Sarrazin, Olivier Panis and Nicolas Lapierre have won the Algarve 1000 kms in Portugal, the third round of the 2010 Le Mans Series. It was a dominant performance by the works assisted team, winning the race by five laps after starting from pole. "It's good to win!." said Sarrazin after the race. "The team did a super job. We were under a little pressure but we did what we had to. The refuelling stops were excellent and we dove the right kind of race - a good pace and no mistakes. It's also worth underling the way the team's matured since the Le Castellet 8 Hours. I'm delighted to taste the joys of victory again." Second place went to the Rebellion Racing Lola of Nicolas Prost and Neel Jani, It was a great performance by the team who drove their way through the field after starting the race in last place. Aston Martin was third today with Team Signature coming back strong after the retirement at Le Mans. The third place was also a great result for Vanina Ickx who shared the drive with Pierre Ragues and Franck Mailleux.

YOUTH, EXPERIENCE AND THE UNMENTIONABLES

It’s a great thing to see a F1 team manager finally recognising that youth is not the simple answer or solution to hiring an F1 driver. The announcement of former Super Aguri & Spyker driver Sakon Yamamoto being given a second chance to race this year in the German Grand Prix for HRT comes after his drive the British GP a fortnight ago.  Unfortunately, that comes at the cost of the popular Karun Chandhok being cast aside. This age long debate of balancing youth or experience in professional employment continues to be a raging argument in motor racing.  As the current F1 season has turned out, Michael Schumacher’s return to full time racing has not produced results and the seven time World Champion is lagging well behind his much younger team mate Nico Rosberg. (A situation not helped by yet another Brackley dud).  On the other hand, an experienced drivers such as Sakon has been recognised and rewarded for his persistence, qualities and experience directly related to the job at hand.

MARKO: MORE RED BULLSHIT ?

Red Bull Racing team advisor, and President elect of the Sebastien Vettel Appreciation Society, Dr.Helmut Marko has launched another stinging attack on Mark Webber. Speaking to the magazine Auto Motor und Sport, Marko said Webber should be more grateful to the team. "Where was he two years ago?" said Marko. "Then he could not even dream of grand prix victories. Today, we have given him a car that he can win on his own." he said. Marko who is Red Bull owner Dietrich Mateschitz's chief Formula One advisor, has made no secret of his support of Vettel over Webber. It was Marko who was the most vocal supporter of the German after the coming together in Turkey.

FERRARI CHALLENGE HEADING DOWN UNDER ?

Ferrari's new 458 Challenge series has been announced and it could be heading to Australia. The unveiling of the new series took place in Maranello during the Annual Dealer Meeting, a traditional event that brings together the representatives of Ferrari’s international sales network. Speaking at the launch the company said that the series, would be expanded to include a new Asia Pacific series. Coming just  months after the Frankfurt Motor Show unveiling of the 458 Italia on which it is based, the 458 Challenge introduces a number of important modifications to adapt it for competition use. The direct injection 4497 cc V8 remains strictly in production tune, with an output of 570 hp at 9,000 rpm. That said, modifications have been made to the gear ratios and calibration of its dual-clutch F1 gearbox to guarantee higher torque at lower revs. The 458 Challenge is also equipped with the E-Diff electronic differential already employed on the road-going version, a first for Ferrari’s track-only cars.

US DRAG RACING FACES ANOTHER TRAGEDY

American Drag Racing has been stunned by another fatality, the third this year. In a statement released by the NHRA Top Alcohol dragster racer Mark Niver, 60, from Phoenix, was named as the driver. Niver’s Top Alcohol dragster failed to stop in the braking area after his parachutes came off the car at the end of [...]

BRABHAM, PAGENAUD WIN UTAH ALMS

Australian David Brabham and team-mate Simon Pagenaud have raced to their third consecutive victory in the American Le Mans Series with a hard-fought victory in the Utah Grand Prix. Pagenaud drove the final 1:45 in the team’s HPD ARX-01c, and the Patrón Highcroft crew took advantage of a quick final pit stop to beat Drayson Racing’s Emanuele Pirro to the line by 19.116 seconds at Miller Motorsports Park. Pagenaud and Brabham haven’t lost since the Long Beach round in April and increased their championship lead in LMP to 11 points over Muscle Milk Team CytoSport’s Klaus Graf. He and Greg Pickett, driving a Porsche Spyder, were third, 90 seconds behind the winning car.

NOT BAD FOR A NUMBER 2 DRIVER: WEBBER WINS BRITISH GP

Australia’s Mark Webber surged back into contention for this years World Formula One Championship with a forceful all the way win in the British GP at Silverstone. Webber confounded his critics by winning the start over his team mate Sebastian Vettel with the young German  picking up a rear puncture and dropping to the rear of [...]

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