Edmonton

[cos]

We're go for the race weekend and first practice is done. Tracy and the other experienced CC guys getting on well so far.

Pos	Driver	No	Difference
1	Helio Castroneves	3	--.----
2	Ryan Briscoe	6	0.2103
3	Will Power	8	0.2776
4	Oriol Servia	5	0.3151
5	Tony Kanaan	11	0.3273
6	Bruno Junqueira	18	0.4242
7	Paul Tracy	22	0.4418
8	Scott Dixon	9	0.5133
9	Justin Wilson	2	0.5212
10	Hideki Mutoh	27	0.525
11	Ryan Hunter-Reay	17	0.5897
12	Graham Rahal	6	0.8218
13	Dan Wheldon	10	1.1664
14	Mario Dominguez	96	1.1773
15	Vitor Meira	4	1.2814
16	Marco Andretti	26	1.3579
17	Darren Manning	14	1.3917
18	Danica Patrick	7	1.5089
19	Buddy Rice	15	1.5573
20	Mario Moraes	19	2.0599
21	AJ Foyt IV	2	2.1912
22	Enrique Bernoldi	36	2.42
23	EJ Viso	33	2.5067
24	Ed Carpenter	20	2.629
25	Townsend Bell	23	2.8708
26	Jaime Camara	34	3.1141
27	Marty Roth	25	7.4693

[Leighton Irwin]

'Stompin' Danica' must have bee blocked by PT since he is 7th and the 'Princess' is 18th.

[cos]

Qualifying groups. For those who are interested the ICS cars are 4-5s slowers than the DP01s round Edmonton.

[mattcat]

Combined practice results are up. Will Power looking strong in P1, which is not surprising considering his track record on street circuits. Servia, too. He has been the most surprising out of the crossover teams, in my opinion.

PT is surprisingly quick in his second IRL appearance. Nice to see what a Vision car can do in capable hands, I look for him to only get stronger as the weekend progresses.

Danica looking more like Milka this weekend, so far. Which is not a shame.

Looks to be an exciting time, can't wait for the race!

[gomick]

6 of the top 10 have raced Champcar on this track... Bruno only did 3 laps for the 10th quickest lap

[cos]

Starting grid. Penske 1-2, KV cars both in top 6, Wilson didn't make a run in final 6 after damaging suspension in penultimate session. PT caught out by yellows and carrying too much fuel, but lines up alongside Danica, should be fun. DCR cars did well, Junquiera starts 7th despite driving the spare, heavier tub and Moraes could well have done better than 10th had he not nerfed the tyres in his session.

[drdisque]

Bernoldi also managed to get out of Q1 and AJ4 had a pretty good run considering how much he struggled on Thursday.

[mac]

Go Ryan and Will!

Kanaan should be good to watch coming from the back - you can pass at Edmonton.

The top eight drivers have all driven in CART/Champ Car at some point.

And the guys at KV, Newman Haas, Conquest and even Walker have shown just how competitive Champ Car was. Good to see a strong mix of IRL and crossover teams throughout the grid - a good sign for the future of this series.

[gomick]

Go Ryan - good effort for Dale Coyne too, 2 cars in the top 10!

[mp356a]

Who is covering this race on the East Coast?

[mattcat]

A decent run, too, for Marty Roth. 113.70% off Briscoe's pole time, not bad. Watch for him to make some nice moves from the back.

mp356a, race should be on ESPN.

[mp356a]

Thanks. Is this race Saturday or Sunday?

[cos]

Starts in about 5 hours time.

[gomick]

what a jib Briscoe getting taken out like that - hope he can fight back & get a decent result...

[cos]

Dixon wins, from Helio, Wilson, Tracy, Servia and Briscoe.

[Hazard]

Great race from Ganassi and Penske again, and a great win for Dixon.

Briscoe drove well, and was easily the top tip for the win until they called it a timed race. My second tip would have been Wheldon who was clearly saving more fuel than Dixon & Castroneves who I'm sure wouldn't have made 95 laps.

Andretti Green are showing themselves to be a bit of a shambles. Patrick was running slowly all weekend but at least working her way up on a decent strategy as Kanaan & Andretti's alternative strategies just plainly didn't work.

But then Marco Andretti, first refusing to let Tony by and with that high attitude response on the radio, and then taking out Danica, and then effectively Dan Wheldon as well after screwing up after leaving the pits is now beyond a joke. This guy isn't F1 material, he isn't even F3 material - and if he wasn't the team owners son he wouldn't be in that #26 car in two weeks I assure you!

Michael's running a 3 car team plus kids go free seat at the moment - he really needs to sort this out.

[nic.v814]

marco does seem to be a little accident prone especially around his team mates i remeber he took out franchitti on a road course last year. He does have skill hes just suffers from severe brain fade at times i think

[gomick]

Points after 13 rounds...

1. Scott Dixon - 505
2. Helio Castroneves - 440
3. Dan Wheldon - 390
4. Tony Kanaan - 387
5. Ryan Briscoe - 324
6. Danica Patrick - 296
7. Hideki Mutoh - 286
8. Oriol Servia - 280
9. Ryan Hunter-Reay - 276
10. Marco Andretti - 276

[cptkablamo]

If Marco was Viso or Moras, people would be out for blood, but since he is racing for daddy's team, he is ok...TK is the only driver worthy of his seat at that team - he deserves better...

But a great race from Wilson, Servia and Tracy - finally Wilson has some luck and able to get a podium...shame Junky had a problem at the end too, otherwise he would have been 6th I think.

But the cream rises to the top - Ganassi and Penske just seem unbeatable at the moment...

[gomick]

you are right on Marco, though he has won before, he does need to pull his head in though & finish the season of incident free!

[mp356a]

Originally Posted by cptkablamo

If Marco was Viso or Moras, people would be out for blood, but since he is racing for daddy's team, he is ok...TK is the only driver worthy of his seat at that team - he deserves better...

But a great race from Wilson, Servia and Tracy - finally Wilson has some luck and able to get a podium...shame Junky had a problem at the end too, otherwise he would have been 6th I think.

But the cream rises to the top - Ganassi and Penske just seem unbeatable at the moment...

Mutoh should take his money and go to Walker. TK needs to get away from those other two ego-maniacs. DP and MA are the worst teammates a person could have. IMHO...

Another fine drive from Servia and it was nice to see Wilson's luck turn around.

The race coverage was pretty bad though. They really needed to get away from the front three/four and focus on the good stuff like PT's race or TK's run from the back.

[mattcat]

I don't think that you can solely lay the blame on Marco for the incident with Danica. I dislike Marco Andretti and his father more than anyone, but Danica blocked him and that is why they made contact. Perhaps a little more prudence by both parties was warranted, as they are teammates. After all, is not the number one rule in racing don't take out your teammate?

Also, I wanted to comment on the fact that Tony Kanaan was upset that DP and Marco wouldn't move over for him. I understand that he is points racing, but if you cannot pass a car on the track, you do not deserve the position in question, teammate or not. For the team to tell both Marco and Danica to move over for him is ridiculous, and (now pay attention, because this will be the first and possible last time I compliment either one of these drivers) kudos to the both of them for refusing to do so.

A fine drive for Paul Tracy, finishing in the top five. Hopefully this bodes well for him being in the series for the rest of the season. I love watching PT drive, glad to have him back! He sounds quite interested in sticking around.

All in all a good race, looking forward to Kentucky in two weeks time .