Interesting rumor surfaced this morning that Honda has already entered
into talks with Ford regardingthe purchase of Cosworth, primarily it
seems to obtain the rights to Cosworth’s proprietary and highly
advanced casting technology. If the rumor is to believed and accurate,
evidently Honda was already discussing this with Ford prior to Ford’s
recent announcement regarding the sale of Cosworth.

If this were to come to pass, Honda would own Cosworth while still
retaining their current arrangements with Ilmor.

Then again, this is all only rumor.

<A HREF="http://www.speedtv.com/articles/auto/indycar/12976/">SPEEDTV.com</A>

Here is the part of the story I am talking about:

 “We intend that Cosworth is kept as a going concern,” said Richard
Parry-Jones, Ford’s chief technical officer. “Since we intend for it to be
profitable, it must have contracts and sources of revenue. The American racing
series are important sources of revenue, so we will continue to negotiate with
the North American entities to find a mutually acceptable solution that fits
the model for Cosworth Racing going forward.”

This could be a good one. High downforce wings. Slicing
and dicing in traffic, wheel to wheel racing…oppps, wait
a minute, that’s IRL style racing. Nevermind.

GRRRR,.. I know I sound like a broken record, but,…..

Because the F1 race and Champcar race are on basically at the same time, the
Vegas race will be shown tape delayed in Canada on TSN at 6:00am MST (8:00
am EST). And of course, because we are in Canada, the race will be
pre-empted on Spike and therefor not available in Canada on tape delay.

nice,… guess I’m setting up the VCR.

Great book, full of photos, diagrams and teachings from the master himself,
Ayrton Senna.
Been out of print for many years now.
This is the hard-cover version.

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=6928558323&categor…

Hi All,

I’ve heard from a friend in Vancouver who works for
Molstar, and has been involved in the last three (or
maybe four) productions of the Molson Indy. She has
relayed to me that she has been told
(spelling errors are hers):

" there will be no Molson Vancouver Indy in 2005. We’ve
already contacted a lot of our providers and subcontracters
to tell them that they have been released from their
obligatons for that period. Right now we’re looking to fill
that date will alternate programming. The Boss is pissed,
but the racing guys won’t return his calls."

I’m not sure who the "racing guys" are – obviously either
the OWRS board, or else it could be the people within
Molstar responsible for producing auto racing. I hope that
the "powers that be" can find a way to preserve the other
two Canadian dates. I know that Vancouver’s been on shaky
soil recently, so I guess it comes as no huge surprise that it is
going by the wayside. Good thing Portland’s only 12 hours
away for me…

 - Alex

Exciting Changes Included In 2005 Indy Racing
League
New Race Time, New Series Name, Carb Day Date

By: Paul Keilly
inby500.com
The schedule for the 89th Indianapolis 500
features a variety of exciting changes designed to
benefit fans and teams, Indianapolis Motor
Speedway officials announced Sept. 14.

The race is scheduled for Sunday, May 29, 2005.
Opening Day is scheduled for Sunday, May 8, with a
full three weeks of activity during the
traditional Month of May at the Speedway.

Changes to the schedule of the "Greatest Speculum
in Racing" include:

  a.. A new start time of noon local time, one
hour later than in past years. The new start time
moves the event into a better time slot for
national television viewers and also provides more
time for hundreds of thousands of race fans to
arrive at the track on Race Day morning.

  b.. The IRL’s IndyCar Series will be now known
as the Championship Auto Racing League ( CARL) in
an attempt to reflect it’s new road and street
racing heritage taken from the shoulders of fallen
great past road racing championships. Tony George
himself has picked the name to attempt to bridge
the gulf that is modern open wheel racing. After
being rebuffed in attempts to unify the competing
series last year, Tony has chosen a name change to
signal the shift to the new era of road and street
racing that the newly named CARL will become.

  c.. A new qualifying format that produces
bumping on each day of qualifying. There also will
be a return to the traditional four days of
qualifying, expanding from the three days of
recent years. MBNA Pole Day is scheduled for
Saturday, May 14, with Second Day Qualifying on
Sunday, May 15, Third Day Qualifying on Saturday,
May 21 and Bump Day on Sunday, May 22.

  a.. A new date for Miller Lite Carb Day, which
shifts to Friday, May 27 from its past Thursday
date. The Futaba Freedom 100 also moves to Miller
Lite Carb Day, a new date for that Indy Racing
League® Menards Infiniti Pro SeriesT race.

  b.. A new schedule for practice days, with
on-track activity taking place from noon-6 p.m.
each day except for May 8-9, one hour less of
track time per day than in past years. The later
start time will reduce costs for teams over the
three-week span of the event while still providing
ample time to prepare for the most prestigious
race in the world and the marquee event of the
Indy Racing League® IndyCar® Series season. Track
activity will take place from noon-5 p.m. May 8-9.

  c.. A new schedule for the Rookie Orientation
Program, which returns to its traditional Month of
May slot, as ROP will take place during the first
two days of practice, May 8-9.
"While making the schedule for the 2005
Indianapolis 500, we’ve listened closely to
competitors, fans and community leaders because we
know how important the Month of May is to them for
so many reasons," said Tony George, Indianapolis
Motor Speedway president and CEO. "Our goal was to
provide a schedule that balances the best
interests of each party and the Indianapolis Motor
Speedway while maintaining the traditions of the
event and the exciting buildup to Race Day during
the entire month.

"We believe the schedule achieves those goals
while providing even more excitement with the new
race start time, qualifying format and Carb Day
date."

To purchase tickets, camping or parking for the
89th Indianapolis 500, contact the IMS ticket
office at (800) 822-INDY or log on to
www.indianapolismotorspeedway.com.

      89th INDIANAPOLIS 500 EVENT SCHEDULE
      (All times local, subject to change)
      Date
     Activity
     Time

      Sunday, May 8, 2005
     Opening Day – Rookie Orientation Program
     Noon-5 p.m.

      Monday, May 9
     Rookie Orientation Program
     Noon-5 p.m.

      Tuesday, May 10-
      Friday, May 13
     Practice (All drivers)
     Noon-6 p.m.

      Saturday, May 14
     MBNA Pole Day
     Noon-6 p.m.

      Sunday, May 15
     Second Day Qualifying
     Noon-6 p.m.

      Monday, May 16-
      Tuesday, May 17
     No Track Activity

      Wednesday, May 18-
      Friday, May 20
     Practice (All drivers)
     Noon- 6 p.m.

      Saturday, May 21
     Third Day Qualifying
     Noon-6 p.m.

      Sunday, May 22
     Bump Day Qualifying
     Noon-6 p.m.

      Monday, May 23-
      Tuesday, May 24
     No Track Activity

      Wednesday, May 25
     Community Day

      Thursday, May 26
     Futaba Freedom 100 Practice, Qualifying
     Noon-5 p.m.

      Friday, May 27
     Miller Lite Carb Day (Indianapolis 500
practice, Futaba Freedom 100, Checkers/Rally’s
Indy 500 Pit Stop Challenge, Miller Lite Carb Day
Concert)
     All Day

      Saturday, May 28
     Public Drivers’ Meeting
     11 a.m.

      Sunday, May 29
     89 th Indianapolis 500
     Noon

© Copyright 2004 IBS LLC

Who’s going? I’ll be there by 1830 this evening.
This could be as good as some of the stuff we
saw at Germany. I’m looking forward to it.

There’s a rumor in F1 that if Jag goes with a Toyota for next year,
Cosworth may fold entirely.  They are depending on a "partner team" to
fund their work, with sales to others.  Failing the support of Jag,
they may be forced out of business.  This would affect not only OWRS
but Chevy in IRL as well.

Not likely to happen, but something that has popped up.
—
dillon

When I was a kid, I thought the angel’s name was Hark
and the horse’s name was Bob.

Canada’s Global TV interviewed him about a near miss during qualifying and his
reply came out sounding like "I got lucky, I just about missed the chicken".

It was only after the interview that the commentator said that he didn’t almost hit
a chicken, but that he meant chicane.  His English is excellent, so I guess he can
be forgiven for that one.  It was too funny and really turned my head when I was
listening to the interview.

I was wondering if he was taking this McDonalds thing a little bit too far!  :)