F1 - Strong Drives, Crashes, And A Historic Win By Button In OZ

Jenson Button won the season-opening Australian Grand Prix on Sunday, giving Brawn GP a victory in its first Formula One race. Image Credit: Oliver Multhaup /AP

F1 - Strong Drives, Crashes, And A Historic Win By Button In OZ

The following quote reflects the happenings down in the land of OZ. Basically, F1 has been turned on its head from last season and rule changes, the spec' changes, Kers, and all have shuffled the deck and not everyone is happy.

This excerpted and edited from BBC -

Tremendous scenes as Jenson Button and Rubens Barrichello embrace and start celebrating in front of the adoring Melbourne crowd. Button is so excited, he looks like the Tazmanian Devil caught in a blender, and who can blame him? What a start to the season and what a race.

Well, we couldn't really have asked for a more explosive season-opener, could we?

A storybook finish for Brawn GP, a remarkable back-to-front run from Jarno Trulli and Lewis Hamilton, collisions aplenty involving the likes of Sebastian Vettel, Robert Kubica, Rubens Barrichello and Heikki Kovalainen, and still plenty of controversy over rear diffusers, safety car deployment and safety car overtaking to come.
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Lap 55 [of 57]: Unbelievable! Robert Kubica, attempting to pass Sebastian Vettel, collides with the Red Bull on Turn Three and both are wiped out. Vettel is too slow in Turns One and Two and Kubica eyes his chance, only for Vettel to tag his rear right wheel and both spin on to the grass. This race is Jenson Button's folks, with Rubens Barrichello second.
Reference Here>>

Eight of the 20 cars were either lapped (1), retired (4), or crashed out (3) at the end leaving only 12 cars running on the same lap.

The stand out performances have to be noted as coming from Lewis Hamilton driving the McLaren-Mercedes to P3 (elevated from P4 due to a penalty assessment) and the Toyota teammates who all started from the back of the grid with Jarno Trulli driving his pants off to P3 ... later penalized back to P12, and Timo Glock just missing (by 2 seconds behind the elevated Lewis Hamilton) the podium finishing at P4.

In the first post-race interview, Lewis Hamilton praises the "incredible job" done by his McLaren team after ending a difficult weekend by finishing fourth in the Australian Grand Prix. Hamilton was later promoted to third after a penalty for Toyota's Jarno Trulli. Image Credit: BBC

This excerpted and edited from The State -

Button wins F1's season-opening Australian GP
By CHRIS LINES - The State - Sunday, Mar. 29, 2009

Jenson Button won the season-opening Australian Grand Prix on Sunday, giving Brawn GP a victory in its first Formula One race.

The Englishman led from start to finish, beating teammate Rubens Barrichello and Toyota's Jarno Trulli, with the race finishing under caution following a late crash.

Barrichello, a Brazilian, recovered after being slow off the line at the start, while Italy's Trulli was strong after starting from pit lane.

It was the first time since 1977 that a F1 team had won in its debut, and the third time that a team had finished first and second in its first attempt. Alfa Romeo did it in the first ever grand prix in Britain in 1950, and Mercedes did it at the French GP in 1954.

It was only the second GP win for Button, who is in his 10th year of F1. He averaged 121.649 mph (195.775 kph) at the 3.3-mile (5.3-kilometer) Albert Park circuit and finished in 1:34:15.784.

The win capped a remarkable turnaround for the former Honda team which was at risk of disbanding in the offseason when the Japanese automaker pulled out of F1. Team principal Ross Brawn took over the team, which has benefited from development spending for 2009 by its former owner last year.
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Further boosting Brawn GP spirits was the knowledge that the past three winners of the Australian GP went on to win the championship.
Reference Here>>

How the machines and their pilots fared (BBC):

Melbourne results
Full race timings
Sunday, 29 March 2009

Position Country Driver Car number Team Grid position Race time Points
1 great britain Jenson Button 22 Brawn-Mercedes 1 1:34:15.784 10
2 brazil Rubens Barrichello 23 Brawn-Mercedes 2 1:34:16.591 8
3 great britain Lewis Hamilton 1 McLaren-Mercedes 18 1:34:18.698 6
4 germany Timo Glock 10 Toyota 20 1:34:20.219 5
5 spain Fernando Alonso 7 Renault 10 1:34:20.663 4
6 germany Nico Rosberg 16 Williams-Toyota 5 1:34:21.506 3
7 switzerland Sebastien Buemi 12 Toro Rosso-Ferrari 13 1:34:21.788 2
8 france Sebastien Bourdais 11 Toro Rosso-Ferrari 17 1:34:22.082 1
9 germany Adrian Sutil 20 Force India-Mercedes 16 1:34:22.119 0
10 germany Nick Heidfeld 6 BMW Sauber 9 1:34:22.869 0
11 italy Giancarlo Fisichella 21 Force India-Mercedes 15 1:34:23.158 0
12 italy Jarno Trulli 9 Toyota 19 1:34:42.388 0
13 australia Mark Webber 14 Red Bull-Renault 8 lapped 0
RET germany Sebastian Vettel 15 Red Bull-Renault 3 retired, 56 laps 0
RET poland Robert Kubica 5 BMW Sauber 4 crash, 55 laps 0
RET finland Kimi Raikkonen 4 Ferrari 7 retired, 55 laps 0
RET brazil Felipe Massa 3 Ferrari 6 retired, 45 laps 0
RET brazil Nelson Piquet Jr 8 Renault 14 crash, 24 laps 0
RET japan Kazuki Nakajima 17 Williams-Toyota 11 crash, 17 laps 0
RET finland Heikki Kovalainen 2 McLaren-Mercedes 12 retired, 0 laps 0

... notes from The EDJE

The Wizard Of OZ - F1 Qualifying In Australia

Jenson Button took his first pole position in three years at the Australian Grand Prix, as Brawn GP utterly dominated qualifying on its debut. Image Credit: BBC

The Wizard Of OZ - F1 Qualifying In Australia

World famous British businessman, Richard Branson, stepped up and threw his sponsorship muscle behind one of the more promising F1 ventures to come along in this era of slick tires and modified areodynamics.

Virgin Group has become the first major sponsor of the Formula 1, Mercedes-powered, Brawn GP team. It is not a title sponsorship deal and the team's official name will remain unchanged for now.

Branson, who had been linked with a takeover of the former Honda team recently, said that moves to cut costs in the sport and a push by the American Gevo company, in which Virgin is investing, to come up with a clean fuel for the sport were contributing reasons for his decision to jump into F1 team sponsorship.

"I am very, very excited to be here today," said Branson, who had flown direct from London after agreeing the deal. "A few weeks ago I said that there were two preconditions for us to get involved with F1.

One was that the costs of F1 should come down. It was just too expensive to get enough new entrants into the sport, and the second one was that F1 should be spear-heading a clean-fuel revolution.", said Bransom at the announcement ceremony at Albert Park, Melbourne, Australia.

Branson's pledge of sponsorship support was soon rewarded, in that, the two drivers that pilot the Mercedes-powered Brawn GP machines placed the cars in P1 and P2 during qualifying for the OZ Grand Prix event to be run tomorrow.

Jenson Button and Rubens Barrichello confirmed the pace showed previously in testing, with the Briton, Button securing pole position ahead of the Brazilian, Barrichello ... and with rival teams admitting Brawn GP's cars were simply out of reach.

The Brawn team raced as Honda last season but secured their survival with Mercedes engines only at the beginning of this month following Honda's decision to quit F1 because of the global financial crisis. From Saturday, the Virgin logo was added to the previously unbranded white cars - and a new colour scheme will be unveiled at next weekend's Malaysian Grand Prix. Image Credit: BBC

This excerpted and edited from autosport.com -

Button leads all-Brawn front row in Oz
By Matt Beer, autosport.com - Saturday, March 28th 2009, 07:03 GMT

Jenson Button took his first pole position in three years at the Australian Grand Prix, as Brawn GP utterly dominated qualifying on its debut.

Rubens Barrichello led Button in a Brawn one-two in both Q1 and Q2, with a clear margin over their rivals in each session.

But in the pole position shoot-out it was Button who emerged on top, beating Barrichello to first place by 0.305 seconds.

Button had taken provisional pole by half a second on his first run, before being briefly deposed by his teammate, but he was able to redress the balance moments later.

Although Brawn GP is effectively a renamed Honda operation, it is officially classed as a new team - which makes today's result the first time a new entrant has taken pole for its debut since the factory Mercedes-Benz team in the 1954 French GP.

The grid line-up was strikingly different to the previous season's form, with Red Bull and Williams among Brawn's main rivals, Ferrari near the foot of the top ten, and the McLarens 14th and 15th.
Reference Here>>

How the field sets up after penalties (the two Toyota cars that originally placed P6-Glock and P8-Trulli, will have to start from the back of the grid for having rear wing elements that were too flexible)

Melbourne results (BBC) -

Final Qualifying
Saturday, 28 March 2009
Position Country Driver Car number Team Qualifying time
1 great britain Jenson Button 22 Brawn-Mercedes 1:26.202
2 brazil Rubens Barrichello 23 Brawn-Mercedes 1:26.505
3 germany Sebastian Vettel 15 Red Bull-Renault 1:26.830
4 poland Robert Kubica 5 BMW Sauber 1:26.914
5 germany Nico Rosberg 16 Williams-Toyota 1:26.973
6 brazil Felipe Massa 3 Ferrari 1:27.033
7 finland Kimi Raikkonen 4 Ferrari 1:27.163
8 australia Mark Webber 14 Red Bull-Renault 1:27.246
9 germany Nick Heidfeld 6 BMW Sauber 1:25.504
10 spain Fernando Alonso 7 Renault 1:25.605
11 japan Kazuki Nakajima 17 Williams-Toyota 1:25.607
12 finland Heikki Kovalainen 2 McLaren-Mercedes 1:25.726
13 switzerland Sebastien Buemi 12 Toro Rosso-Ferrari 1:26.503
14 brazil Nelson Piquet Jr 8 Renault 1:26.598
15 italy Giancarlo Fisichella 21 Force India-Mercedes 1:26.677
16 germany Adrian Sutil 20 Force India-Mercedes 1:26.742
17 france Sebastien Bourdais 11 Toro Rosso-Ferrari 1:26.964
18 great britain Lewis Hamilton 1 McLaren-Mercedes
19 germany Timo Glock 10 Toyota
20 italy Jarno Trulli 9 Toyota

After this qualifying performance from Brawn GP, backed by the Virgin Group's timely sponsorship ... Richard Branson can now be called, for the moment, the Wizard of OZ.

... notes from The EDJE

A Transition Player Places P1 In Final ICS Test

Barber Motorsports Park, Leeds (Birmingham), Alabama - Image Credit: Google Earth via aimsports.com

A Transition Player Places P1 In Final ICS Test

Will Power, a CCWS/IRL sophomore who now drives, at least temporarlly, for the primier established IRL team, Penske Racing, posted the fastest track time among the sixteen drivers working out the pre season kinks in the final test session held at Barber Motorsports Park, Leeds, Alabama.

In 2008, Power began his IndyCar Series career driving for KV Racing Technology; where he earned his third Indy car victory in Long Beach and scored five top-ten finishes. In addition, the Australian started from the pole in the post-season exhibition event at Surfers Paradise and led the first 16 laps before an accident forced him out of the race.

Here is what the five Transition Players who participated in this final test session had to say:

WILL POWER, who currently replaces Helio Castroneves in the No. 3 Team Penske Dallara, effused, "It was good. I haven't spent much time with this team, so I spent the two days gelling with my engineer. We're really working well together now. We found some good things in the car, and we found a car that suits me.

We're happy and we'll be pretty confident going into St. Pete. This is a great track to get fit on because you never stop working. We won't use this much energy getting around St. Pete, so it was a good workout. I was just happy to get back in the car on a road course."

Graham Rahal, driving the No. 02 Newman/Haas/Lanigan Racing Dallara logged in at P5 said, "The car is pretty good. We're learning quite a lot, which is important. I think at the end of the day we're competitive here, but that's not what matters most. What matters most to us is to make sure that when we go to all the road races we've got a good shot at winning, and that's what we're trying to do right now - learn as much as we can. I think we're doing that. We've got a lot more knowledge and understanding than we did before, and that's what we need. We're trying things that we hope we can adapt to other tracks. That's been our focus."

Robert Doornbos - "Bobby D", who drives the No. 06 Newman/Haas/Lanigan Racing Dallara and ended the sessions at P6, commented on his sessions with, “I was very happy to drive on a circuit that I am familiar with, where I can use my experience in setting the car up to my liking and getting to know the team better, because it’s a whole new adventure for me.

This morning we did only 10 laps and the gearbox broke, so we had to wait a couple of hours to get it fixed. We just had to stay focused for the afternoon and make the most of it. We had a good setup and we got the car to my liking and did a quick lap time. I think it’s very important to make a good first impression, because the team gave me this chance. They know what I can do. They know that I can win races, and I just need to prove it.”

Justin Wilson, driving the No. 18 Dale Coyne Racing Dallara, who finished ninth overall felt, “We had our ups and downs today trying to shave off time. We started out with a bit of oversteer and brought the setup closer to where I was comfortable. Unfortunately, we ran out of time just as we were making great progress.”

Mario Moraes, who now will be driving for KV Racing Technology, missed most of the afternoon after the No. 5 KV Racing Technology car sustained damage after contact with the tire barrier shortly before the lunch break. Moraes returned to the track for the final 20 minutes.
(Quotes - ht: autoracingdaily.com)

This excerpted and edited from autosport.com -

Power leads final IndyCar winter test
By Matt Beer
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The Australian's long-term future with Penske remains unclear, as he has been signed as a substitute for Helio Castroneves while the former Indianapolis 500 winner is on trial for tax evasion charges. Castroneves' trial began in Miami three weeks ago.

But Power showed that he has already settled into the Penske Dallara-Honda by lapping in 1m09.4557s today, beating second-placed Dario Franchitti (Ganassi) by 0.3 seconds.
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Newman/Haas/Lanigan duo Graham Rahal and Robert Doornbos completed the top six, while Marco Andretti was Andretti Green Racing's leading representative in seventh. His team-mate Tony Kanaan, who was next up in eighth, played down AGR's low-key performance.

"The great thing about a test is not having the pressure of lap times and who is the fastest," he said. "We are only concerned about figuring out what to do to make the car better overall. We need to understand the changes that we make and learn what or what not to do to in order to make the car better."
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KV Racing's Mario Moraes had starred in the previous test at Homestead last month, but crashed today and missed most of the afternoon session, leaving him 14th. Panther Racing driver Dan Wheldon and Luczo Dragon's rookie Raphael Matos were among the other drivers to have small incidents during the test.
Reference Here>>

Pos - Driver - Team - Time - Gap (* denotes a Transition Player)
1. *Will Power Penske 1m09.4557s
2. Dario Franchitti Ganassi 1m09.7776s + 0.3219s
3. Ryan Briscoe Penske 1m09.8401s + 0.3844s
4. Scott Dixon Ganassi 1m09.8904s + 0.4347s
5. *Graham Rahal Newman/Haas/Lanigan 1m09.9176s + 0.4619s
6. *Robert Doornbos Newman/Haas/Lanigan 1m10.0229s + 0.5672s
7. Marco Andretti Andretti Green 1m10.0908s + 0.6351s
8. Tony Kanaan Andretti Green 1m10.3072s + 0.8515s
9. *Justin Wilson Dale Coyne 1m10.3177s + 0.8620s
10. Hideki Mutoh Andretti Green 1m10.3573s + 0.9017s
11. Dan Wheldon Panther 1m10.5267s + 1.0710s
12. Mike Conway Dreyer & Reinbold 1m10.6965s + 1.2408s
13. Raphael Matos Luczo Dragon 1m10.7051s + 1.2494s
14. *Mario Moraes KV 1m10.7207s + 1.2650s
15. Danica Patrick Andretti Green 1m10.8411s + 1.3854s
16. Ed Carpenter Vision 1m11.5245s + 2.0688s
IRL Timing & Scoring

The test was the second and final official ICS Open Test before the 2009 season begins April 5 with the Honda Grand Prix of St. Petersburg. Several teams still plan to fit in private tests before the championship gets underway.

... notes from The EDJE

Unser Jr., Rahal, Long Beach Motorsports Walk Of Fame – ‘Nuff Said

2008 LONG BEACH MOTORSPORTS WALK OF FAME induction ceremony - Mario Andretti, Parnelli Jones and Gary Gabelich were the honorees. Image Credit: Edmund Jenks (The EDJE) 2008

Unser Jr., Rahal, Long Beach Motorsports Walk Of Fame – ‘Nuff Said

The previous honorees to have a custom medallion honoring their motorsports achievements ... laid in a concrete strip running North to South along Pine Avenue, in front of the West facing Long Beach Convention Center ... all had a connection to the event of the Long Beach Grand Prix, lived and worked out of Southern California, and/or had broad motorsports careers of great achievement and success.

Phil Hill (left) and Jackie Stewart at the 1991 United States Grand Prix. Image Credit: Stuart Seeger

The first inductees of Phil Hill, the first American Formula 1 champion in 1961 and was raised in Santa Monica, California, where he lived until his death August 28, 2008, and Dan Gurney who also made most of his fame in Formula 1 (86 Grand Prix starts ranks third, and his total of four GP wins is second only to Mario Andretti) and team owner from Riverside, came in 2006.

The Andy Granatelli STP Special Gas-Turbine car driven by Parnelli Jones in 1967, on display at the Indianapolis 500 Motor Speedway Hall of Fame Museum. Image Credit: The359 (2007)

2007 Walk of Fame Inductees saw Brian Redman the first winner of the LBGP in 1975 with the one-time Formula 500 series event (a feeder series to Formula 1), Chris Pook the innovator of the modern day temporary circuit and creator of the 34, going on 35 year LBGP event, and Newman/Haas Racing Team owners - Paul Newman and Carl Haas who as team owners delivered a car and driver combination that won the LBGP a record six times (three wins with Mario Andretti / three wins with Sebastian Bourdais).

Walk of Fame Inductees for 2008 included Mario Andretti, a four time winner of the LBGP and the only driver to have repeat wins while driving in different open wheel sanctioning series (1977 with Formula 1 and beginning in 1984 in the inaugural CART/ChampCar World Series race).

The Long Beach Motorsports Walk of Fame medallions include renditions of the racers' cars and their major achievements in motorsports. 2008 inductee Mario Andretti's medallion above. Image Credit: Edmund Jenks (The EDJE) 2008

Life long resident of Torrance, California, racing legend Parnelli Jones won races in many types of vehicles: sports cars, IndyCars, sprint cars, midget cars, off-road vehicles, and stock cars. With the sanctioning take over of the race by IndyCar in the merger, Parnelli was a key inductee in that he is most remembered for being the first driver to qualify over 150 mph at the Indianapolis 500, winning the pole position at a speed of 150.370 mph in 1962, his 1963 Indianapolis 500 win, and almost winning the 1967 Indy 500 in an Andy Granatelli STP sponsored turbine car. The third inductee for 2008 was Gary Gabelich who was honored posthumously (August 29, 1940 – January 26, 1984) by the City of Long Beach. Gary, a resident of Bixby Knolls, set the land speed record with his rocket-powered vehicle "Blue Flame" on October 23, 1970, achieving an average speed of 622.287 mph (1,001.474 km/h).

Al Unser, Jr. and Bobby Rahal represent drivers (and car owners) from a more current era. These guys could almost hop in a Dallara IndyCar right now and be competitive on the track through the 11 turns and two speed sections that make Long Beach the challenge that has set the standard for temporary street circuits. After all, this would be the first time the Dallara will be racing in the streets of Long Beach, but these inductees have owned the track a time or two during the heyday of their driving careers.

1991 Long Beach Grand Prix podium left to right with Eddie Cheever 3rd, Al Unser, Jr. 1st, and Bobby Rahal 2nd. Image Credit: indycar.com

This excerpted and edited from Motorsport.com –

RACING LEGENDS BOBBY RAHAL AND AL UNSER JR. TO BE HONORED AT LONG BEACH MOTORSPORTS WALK OF FAME
Motorsport.com - 2009-03-16

"I'm delighted that we will add two more racing legends to the Long Beach Motorsports Walk of Fame," said Mayor Bob Foster, who will be presenting the medallions to the honorees.
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"This year's inductees represent not only great drivers, but individuals that have contributed much to the success of the Toyota Grand Prix of Long Beach over the years," said Jim Michaelian, president and CEO of the Grand Prix Association of Long Beach. "That's why 'Little Al' is known as the 'King of the Beach' and Bobby has achieved great success at Long Beach not only on the track but also as an owner."

Al Unser Jr. followed in the footsteps of his father and an uncle (Bobby) to become repeat champion at Indianapolis, winning the '500' in 1992 and 1994. Champion of the Championship Auto Racing Teams (CART) series in 1990 and 1994, Unser won the Toyota Grand Prix of Long Beach an incredible six times: 1988, 1989, 1990, 1991, 1994 and 1995 and, overall, took the checkered flag in 31 events between 1984 and 1995. Unser won the 24 Hours of Daytona at age 24, is a two-time IROC champion and the youngest IROC champion ever. In 1994 he dominated the CART open-wheel racing season winning eight of 16 races and was named ABC's Wide World of Sports Athlete of the Year. Unser will be competing in this year's Toyota Pro/Celebrity Race, Saturday, April 18, having won the world-famous event in 1985.

Bobby Rahal is one of a select group of individuals who have won the Indianapolis 500 as a driver (1986) and an owner (2004). Between 1982 and 1992, Rahal won 24 races and captured the CART season title in 1986, 1987 and 1992. He won on ovals, road courses and competed in Formula One and NASCAR events. Rahal won championships driving sports cars, winning several SCCA titles and shared the winning car in the 24 Hours of Daytona (1981) and the 12 Hours of Sebring (1987). He made 15 starts at the Toyota Grand Prix of Long Beach, finishing second four times. In 1996 he formed Rahal Letterman Racing, with David Letterman as a minority owner.
Reference Here>>

The 4th annual induction ceremony for the Long Beach Motorsports Walk Of Fame, and the first one held with the full field of IndyCar Series teams and drivers ready to take it to the streets of Long Beach, is April 16 during Toyota Grand Prix of Long Beach Week.

The ceremony is scheduled to begin at 11:00 a.m. at the Long Beach Motorsports Walk of Fame, located on the Eastside of South Pine Avenue right in front of the Long Beach Convention Center.

… notes From The EDJE

IndyCar 2009 - Expanded Cable Telecast Coverage On VERSUS

VERSUS - The network will air more than 130 hours of IndyCar Series coverage throughout the season with a minimum of seven hours each week the network airs a race, the most ever during a race week. Image Credit: VERSUS (2009)

IndyCar 2009 - Expanded Cable Telecast Coverage On VERSUS

We are now entering the sophomore year in the merger of North American open wheel series racing unified under the banner of IndyCar and the IndyCar Series. The teams and drivers that had transitioned from the ChampCar World Series into the ICS are now familiar with the equipment, all of the tracks (with an advantage going to them at Long Beach ... which will be new to the "established" IndyCar teams), and the competition that can be expected from the other drivers.

A pretty amazing transition when one thinks of it ... the teams and drivers from one series, that is having trouble making a profitable run of it, being able to become one with a similar open wheel racing series and continue their craft of competition.

One of the major benefits of the merger in this second year is the commitment one cable television channel is able to make toward the programming broadcast of the series.

VERSUS, the network that celebrates real competition and the exclusive cable television home of the IndyCar Series, announced details for extensive additional race programming in 2009. In total, the network will air more than 130 hours of IndyCar Series coverage throughout the season with a minimum of seven hours each week the network airs a race.

The programming will include four hour-long specials in March, additional programming in May surrounding the Indianapolis 500 and three-hour programming blocks on Mondays each race week that will feature flag-to-flag coverage of Firestone Indy Lights events and encores of IndyCar Series races. All IndyCar Series telecasts will be produced and available in HD.



This excerpted and edited from VERSUS -

“It’s important to us that racing fans are given more coverage than ever before and we are very excited about the terrific schedule we put together for the first season of the IndyCar Series on VERSUS,” said Marc Fein, Executive Vice President of Programming, Production and Business Operations for VERSUS. “Ancillary programming to launch the season a month early, coupled with Indy Lights events and encores of IndyCar Series races throughout the season are great complements to the in-depth coverage of our 12 live races.”

VERSUS will kick-off the racing season a month early with four one-hour specials airing each Saturday in March at 2 p.m. ET.

The first show aired on March 7, it was titled "Danica: Five Years Running" and will include highlights of her career—including her 2008 IndyCar Series win—and her thoughts on the upcoming season.

The second program, IndyCar Series: Top 10 Closest Finishes on March 14 will feature the top-10 closest finishes in IndyCar Series history, including the 2008 season finale at Chicagoland Speedway and the closet finish ever as recognized by the Guinness Book of World Records. The show will also include the last several laps of each race and post-race driver interviews.

On March 21 VERSUS will air IndyCar Series: Crashes and Conflicts which will showcase some of the most memorable incidents and conflicts between drivers and several of the most incredible crashes in recent IndyCar Series history.

The network concludes its month of programming on March 28 with IndyCar Series World Tour 2009. This special not only features highlights from each race track on the 2009 IndyCar Series schedule, but also showcase highlights from the first street-course race in series history in St. Petersburg, Fla., in 2005 and top photo finishes from the site of the 2009 championship race at Homestead-Miami Speedway.

“IndyCar fans have been asking for significantly more coverage of the sport and with our new partnership with VERSUS we have responded to our fans in a way that we think they will love,” said Charlie Morgan, president and chief operating officer for IMS Productions. “With the new VERSUS schedule it will be a weekend of IndyCar programming with Qualifying coverage, expanded race day coverage, and race encores. With so many great drivers, teams and sponsors, the time is right for expanded programming.”

The network will air 12 live IndyCar Series events in 2009 beginning with live coverage of the season-opener from St. Petersburg on April 5. Each of VERSUS’ race telecasts will last a minimum of three hours and will include extended pre-race coverage. VERSUS will also air one-hour preview shows at 6 p.m. ET the day before each race which will feature qualification highlights and all of the relevant IndyCar Series stories of that weekend.

VERSUS will present encore presentations of its IndyCar Series races in a two-hour block each Monday following the live Sunday events.

The Twin Ring Motegi race and season finale Homestead-Miami event will re-air on Saturday and Sunday, respectively, due to their Friday and Saturday live race dates. The network will also air highlights of 12 Firestone Indy Lights races in weekly hour-long telecasts each Monday after the event takes place. In addition to the re-broadcasts, VERSUS will air two Firestone Indy Lights races live in the 2009 season: the May 22 event at Indianapolis Motor Speedway and the October 9 race from Homestead-Miami Speedway. For exact times and dates of all IndyCar Series and Firestone Indy Lights programming, return to VERSUS.com. VERSUS will also feature extensive coverage of all qualification days at Indianapolis Motor Speedway leading up to the Indianapolis 500. The network’s month of May schedule will be announced in mid-March.
Reference Here>>

... notes from The EDJE

A Tweet And A Test For Lance

Lance Armstrong returns; cycling comeback starts in Australia January 19, 2009 - Members of the media surround Lance Armstrong and other riders on Sunday in Adelaide, Australia, before the start of the Cancer Council Classic, a prelude to the Tour Down Under. Image Credit: Jamie McDonald / AFP / Getty Images

A Tweet And A Test For Lance

After spending the weekend in Los Angeles participating in a fundraising event in conjunction with NIKE and many trendy young artists at the Motalban Theater called "Stages", Lance Armstrong flew to Nice France to train and catch up with his team. He was there about 36 hours when he launched this Tweet!

A Twitter logged 3-11-2009 12:pm PT:

Sitting down and eating dinner and guess what? Knock knock. Anti-doping control. This is the 23rd one since the comeback.

This is important to note because Lance officially began his comeback about the time Barack Obama took the oath of office to become the President of the United States.

Using January 19, 2009 as the time that the Lance Rides Again Comeback actually started, and today being March 11, 2009 ... that makes it that Lance Armstrong can expect an avarage of one test request per 2.26 days.

Contador Retains Yellow Jersey in Nice - Posted by Astana Cycling | Mar 9, 2009 12: 0 AM PDT - Image Credit: LAF

The next time anyone says that Lance rides dirty remember the above statistic ... Lance Armstrong has the strongest case I've ever heard of to lay claim as the most drug tested athlete on Earth ... and of all time.

In the run up to the 2009 Tour de France, the testing will only become more frequent giving a reason why Mr. Armstrong probably has the best first name ever for this type of intensive scrutinity.

That's right ... LANCE!

Blood test, please, Mr. Armstrong.

... notes from The EDJE

Lance Armstrong Says "Thank You LA" From Stages Event

Lance Armstrong leads approximately 700 cycling enthusiasts through the streets of the East side of Hollywood 2.2 miles to the Montalban Theater and the Stages event. Stages, a global art exhibition and sale event, sponsored by NIKE, provides a new way to support the Lance Armstrong Foundation (LAF) and its LIVESTRONG Global Cancer Campaign. Image Credit: Lance Armstrong via Twitter (2009)

Lance Armstrong Says "Thank You LA" From Stages Event

After Hope Rides Again 2-mile cycling tour in Los Angeles Saturday afternoon, the 7-time Tour de France champion and cancer survivor Lance Armstrong declared a new global initiative to combat cancer. Along side Mark Parker, CEO & President of Nike, activist/artist Shepard Fairey, Barry McGee and others, the announcement was made among 700 people in attendance at the Montálban Theatre. To kick-off the event, an official unveiling took place for Shepard Fairey’s latest work, inspired by Lance Armstrong.

Nike Sportswear + Lance Armstrong - "Stages" Touring Art Exhibition Supporting Livestrong from Stephen Wong on Vimeo

"This year, it's about more than winning the race. It's about people coming together to use our talents and abilities for a cause bigger than ourselves and doing everything within our power to help those in their fight to overcome cancer," said Lance Armstrong. "This endeavor will help raise awareness and much needed funds for the foundation and those who need it most, researchers, patients, and their families."

TREK cycle stylized by street/pop artist, KAWS. Lance Tweeted - "OMG. My new Trek Madone that KAWS designed. Wow. Speechless." - Image Credit: Lance Armstrong via Twitter (2009)

The new initiative, titled Stages, is a global art exhibition, of which more than 20 of the world’s most influential contemporary artists will showcase artworks specifically created for the exhibition tour. Some of artists to participate include Shepard Fairey, Damien Hirst, Tom Sachs, Barry McGee, Marc Newson, and more, with the first leg of the tour at Emmanuel Perrotin Gallery in Paris on July 16th, 2009. All works will go on sale with proceeds toward Lance Armstrong Foundation (LAF) in the fight against caner. Other legs on the Stages: Global Art Exhibition include New York, Portland, Oregon, and Los Angeles.

To further contribute in the fight against cancer, Nike also announced 2 new athletic wear collections: Hope Rides Again - apparel and footwear collection and Greatest Hits footwear pack, with all proceeds going to LAF.

The extraordinary list of participating artists will also include:
Geoff McFetridge | Raymond Pettibon | José Parlá | Ed Ruscha | KAWS | Christopher Wool | Dzine | Eric White | Barry McGee | Kenny Scharf | Os Gêmeos | Marc Newson | Rosson Crow | Taryn Simon | JR | Yoshitomo Nara | Suejin Chung | Lari Pittman | Aaron Young | Jules de Balincourt | Takashi Murakami

Additional Tweet by Lance Armstrong - "At the end of the event here at the Montalban [Theater, Stages Event]. My boy Ben Harper and Relentless 7 performing. Love him like a brother." Image Credit: Lance Armstrong viw Twitter (2009)

A great time was had by all, starting with Ben Stiller to open and Relentless 7 toward the end!

Next up, it was announced at last night's NIKE event at the Montalban Theater, news of the upcoming “Stages” art show that will debut at GALLERIE EMMANUEL PERROTIN in Paris on July 16th, 2009 during the 2009 Tour de France.

Lance leaves LA, for now ... final Tweet, 6:45 pm PT:

At LAX flying to Europe. Had one of those video/papparazzi dudes here asking dumb questions. Felt bad for the guy, he needs better material.

Additional Photos Of The Nike Sportswear Livestrong Collection>>

... notes from The EDJE

Lance Armstrong Will Be Ready For His Close-Up In Hollywood

After a very eventful East coast swing, Shepard Fairey is back working his home turf of LA, and this time it’s a BIG canvas… How big? Well how about the side of a theatre? To be exact, it’s the side of the historic Montalban Theatre, which now houses Nike’s crown jewel “Sportswear” store. This enormous mural is a collaboration commissioned by Nike to commemorate Lance Armstrong’s return to cycling. This amazing mural will be officially unveiled on Saturday, March 7th at the conclusion of Lance Armstrong’s “Hollywood Ride”, a fundraiser to benefit the fight against cancer. Image Credit: Arrested Motion

Lance Armstrong Will Be Ready For His Close-Up In Hollywood

This Saturday, Nike Sportswear and Lance Armstrong (7-time Tour de France winner) will team up to launch Stages (located on the East side of old Hollywood), a global art exhibition and sale featuring original artwork from more than 20 of the world’s most creative and diverse artists. The event will include globally renowned artists: Shepard Fairey, Geoff McFetridge, Eric White, and Rosson Crow.

"ACTION" section of a much larger murual - Shepard Fairey x Lance Armstrong Mural @ Nike’s Montalban - Image Credit: Arrested Motion

Stages will provide a new way to support the Lance Armstrong Foundation (LAF) and the ongoing battle to overcome cancer.

LOCATION:
Nike Sportswear at the Montalbán Theater - 1615 Vine Street - Hollywood, CA 90028

The last time that Lance Armstrong was on a bike in these neighborhoods was when the 2009 Amgen Tour of California came to the LA Basin during Stage 7: Santa Clarita to Pasadena. The peleton here is making one of its five circuits around the Rose Bowl led by Astana with its most famous team member, Lance Armstrong riding about eight riders back in the helmet with the yellow top. Image Credit: Pro Cycling Media Group

In addition to the launch of Stages, Lance Armstrong will lead a group of 700 cycling enthusiasts on a 2.2 mile ride through the streets of Hollywood to celebrate his return to the bike and to unveil a new collection of Nike Sportswear apparel and footwear designed to celebrate human potential and overcoming adversity.


The ride will commence at the Children’s Hospital 4650 W. SUNSET at 5:45pm, also on the East side of Hollywood - Near the main Church of Scientology Center in Los Angeles.

A great time was had by all, starting with Ben Stiller to open!

... notes from The EDJE