Edmonton race weekend thread (RACE RESULTS INCLUDED)

[luke]

Race 7 of 14
West Edmonton Mall Grand Prix of Edmonton
Finning International Speedway - Edmonton, AB, Canada






Weekend schedule:

P1 - July 15, 12:15 pm ET
P2 - July 15, 4:00 pm ET
Q1 - July 15, 4:25 pm ET
P3 - July 16, 12:30 pm ET
P4 - July 16, 4:00 pm ET
Q2 - July 16, 4:25 pm ET

W1 - July 17, 11:30 am ET
R - July 17, 3:30 pm ET - Race Director avalible



Weekend weather forcast:

Sunday
75°F (24°C) - Partly Sunny


Television:

U.S.
Race live on Speed Channel at 3:00pm ET

U.K.
Race live on Eurosport 2 at 8:30 GMT

Canada:
Saturday Qualifying: 7:00-8:00 ET (Global)
Sunday Race: 3:30-6:30 ET (Global)
Rebroadcast: Sunday night at midnight (Global)

Australia

Live on Race Director at 5.30am Monday Morning
Channel 10 Monday Night after Sports Tonight and Big Brother


Live Timing
(Live Timing and Telemetry are both available for every session)


Support series:

» Toyota Atlantic
» Trans-Am


Website: www.edmontonchampcar.com


Track length: 1.96 mile airport course

First Champ Car race: 2005

Total Champ Car races: N/A

Defending champion : N/A

[macdaddy]

You've likely seen it before, but here's my aerial view one more time.

I think that this will be an awesome race, with the huge crowds that Canadians have come to expect. Surely it will become a stalwart on the calendar for years to come.

[Jordi]

I hope it's as good a racetrack as Cleveland is

[luke]

I will tell you one thing I really can't wait for this race. After the exciting race last weekend and the competitiveness of the series this season I'm looking forward to the event already!

From Autoracing1

This weekend's Grand Prix of Edmonton and the World Masters Games, which kick off next week, should bring $40 million of extra money into the city, says the Edmonton Economic Development Corporation.

"We estimate it will be $20 million each," said Jim Rudolph, spokesman for the EEDC. "That includes money spent on hotel rooms, food, beverages, entertainment, shopping and transportation."

Also 80% of the grandstand tickets have already been sold.

It is just going to be a great event and so far this season we have had 5 winners in 6 races how cool is that?

[macdaddy]

Kudos (and thank-you's) to Luke for providing us with these threads. I know that I find them very useful regarding TV-times ect, as I'm sure all of us do.

[racerkeke]

Look for me and Racegypsy there... we'll be the ones in white!

keke

[marcus]

Im really looking forward to seeing this track , I hope it turns out be a great one and has a great future in the sport

[mabs_nsx]

I hope it is as good as last weeks race. That was such a great race!

[AJdinger]

If this race is as exciting as Toronto then we are in for a race!

[luke]

Glad to see you came on over AJ.

[macdaddy]

Welcome to 10T's!

[TedN]

Racers Expect Fast Run

American driver Ryan Hunter-Reay agreed.
"We'll be able to go 160 miles an hour through some of the corners," he said.

Ted

[luke]

Drivers itching to test new track

Canada.com

Alex Tagliani was revved up. It was evident in the way he rhapsodized about the new race track at Edmonton's City Centre Airport.
Bjorn Wirdheim hadn't yet seen the 3.154-kilometre course that will challenge the drivers in the inaugural West Edmonton Mall Grand Prix. But he was also jacked up about what lay ahead.

"We're at a disadvantage compared to the other drivers at the other tracks because some have 10 years experience racing on them," said Wirdheim, a Champ Car rookie driving the No. 4 car for HVM."I have to learn and get up to speed and it usually takes me until Saturday until I get there. And by that time, qualifying is over.

"So it will be interesting to see what happens here because everyone is starting with a clean sheet."

[Ac.]

Practice times are dipping below sixty seconds. It looks like the qualifying time will be similar to Cleveland(57 seconds), a track that is almost identical in length.

This means we should see some of the same kind of high speed action that the roar by the shore produces each year.

[enemy-ace]

Allmendinger on provisional pole with Wilson second. Bourdais way down the order so far. Considering it is supposed to be a soggy day tomorrow AJ could have sewn up pole today. This is shaping up very nicely so far. Wish I was in Edmonton right now.

[StickShift]

Not only is Allmendinger on pole, he is an arm and a leg ahead of the field. Considering Wilson's time, it looks like Rusport has found something in the setup.

[macdaddy]

I eat my words, when I've suggested earlier that only seventeen cars would take to the Edmonton grid. And I'm glad to do it!

Provisional Qualifying:

01 - 58.628 (-0.000) Allmendinger (121.150 mph)
02 - 58.954 (-0.326) Wilson
03 - 59.497 (-0.869) Tracy
04 - 59.592 (-0.964) Servia
05 - 59.769 (-1.141) da Matta
06 - 59.782 (-1.154) Tagliani
07 - 59.873 (-1.245) Vasser
08 - 59.990 (-1.362) Dominguez
09 - 60.121 (-1.493) Glock
10 - 60.462 (-1.834) Bourdais
11 - 60.569 (-1.941) Wirdheim
12 - 60.777 (-2.149) Philippe
13 - 60.884 (-2.256) R. Sperafico
14 - 60.916 (-2.288) Hunter-Reay
15 - 61.271 (-2.643) Ranger
16 - 61.349 (-2.721) Bremer
17 - 61.984 (-3.356) A. Sperafico
18 - 63.811 (-5.183) Marshall

Times are surprisingly spread-out. Only four cars within one second of the leader. Some of the guys at the back of the pack had better get their acts together!

[Ac.]

Over at SpeedTV.com, writer Cassio Cortes has been refering to the track as "Finnigan International Speedway". Perhaps Casey and Mr.Dressup will be the honourary race marshalls in his next report.

[macdaddy]

There's a really good read on Speed.
(That's a poem)

The circuit was often described as a cross between a typical airport circuit... a road course... and a street circuit.

Oriol Servia:
“This track is a lot of fun! But it’s also the most dangerous."

Overall, the drivers seem to love this circuit. I sounds like it may have instantly become a favourite amongst a few of them! But the link goes on to explain more about Servia's concerns...

...Turns 13 and 14 was one of a number of spots on the track that got a lot of drivers’ attention. Particularly the fact that the barrier on the outside of the corner was fronted by just a single-layer tire wall.

...Kneifel says there will be some tweaks done to the track overnight, mainly repositioning and/or adding some tire barriers...

Evidently, a number of drivers objected to the sign bridges which span the track in a couple of spots, citing the bridge supports (which are protected by concrete walls fronted by tire barriers) as potential safety issues. Kneifel concedes the sign bridges are a necessary evil.

Drivers exiting the pits re-enter the track on the outside of Turn One without the benefit of a clear view of the cars approaching or already in that turn.

Just how easy was proven this morning when Mario Dominguez and Andrew Ranger crashed heavily in the waning moments of the practice session when the Mexican’s pit lane exit intersected with Ranger’s Turn One exit.

Also...

Official attendance today (Friday) was set at 55,722, a figure not seriously questioned by anyone who had to work their way through the throngs to get in and out of the paddock.

Paul Tracy:
“It was just amazing today. To see the grandstands completely packed today for qualifying, I don’t know how many people were officially here, but it looked like the stands were sold out, the suites were sold out, the infield by the trucks is packed. It’s a great feeling to come to a new venue and have the kind of support we’ve had. The series and the promoter here, they’ve hit a home run.”

The article also explains how most of the drivers used at least one set of "reds" on Friday quals, as they're expecting a wet Saturday session.

[macdaddy]

TSN elaborates on the Dominguez/Ranger wreck:

Ranger's car spun away after impact and hit the concrete retaining wall nose first. The left front tire folded against the chassis and the entire front end was badly damaged.

Both drivers walked away and X-rays later showed Ranger's hand to be bruised but otherwise fine.

''That crash was very stupid by Mario Dominguez,'' he said. ''I was in my line and he tried to pass me.''

But Tracy, who is Dominguez's teammate with Forsythe Championship Racing, said Dominguez told him a track official failed to wave a blue warning flag to alert him.

''You can't see the cars coming when you come out of the pits,'' said Tracy. ''If the flagman doesn't wave the flag, you think it's clear to go.''

[luke]

Race Director is showing Trans-Am practice and it is pouring with rain....

[enemy-ace]

I didn't know Race Director showed Trans Am as well.
Looking like AJ will rretain his pole!

[luke]

Originally Posted by enemy-ace

I didn't know Race Director showed Trans Am as well.
Looking like AJ will rretain his pole!

Rarely...Stupid rain!!

[StickShift]

The rain has stopped and the practice 4 is underway in drying conditions. It seems touch and go whether the track will be quick enough to challenge yesterday's times in Q2.

[Snrub]

It's wierd that there is such a big gap between times. The new track is really shaking things up. The fact that RuSport is on top is an ominous sign for NH and Forsythe. If the playing field of experience was even, I think RuSport is around the same level as those two teams.

Good for AJ. Hopefully he can pull out a win.

Apparently 55k people attended for Friday Q1! The Edmonton Sun has been running multiple articles every day for weeks. I don't live there, but I get the impression that Edmontonions are very excited about the race. I've sort of suggested it before, larger medium sized cities get very excited about things that put them on the map. Large cities have so much going on that an event like CC isn't going to make as much of an impact. Looking at staging races at larger-medium sized cities may be the way to go.