Mr. Lee Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> (...) but then just two laps before the
> finish my engine let go on the main straight and
> despite my best efforts to limp back to the pits
> it eventually quit at Bugatti corner.
My God :D, as I said, the same happened to me at the very same venue. Luckily, I managed to get through this back then
They say: 'Nothing happens twice' - yeah, sure :P
Round 9 - Talladega Superspeedway, AL
This is another race which was moved to another venue. Richmond Intl Raceway was unprepared and the race was to take place at Talladega Speedway.
I felt extremely comfortable on the track and set the fastest time in the qualifying session. For the second time in a row, Matsuura and Meira were right behind me. The race, at the beginning, looked as if it was gonna be another hands-down victory. Unfortunately, it wasn't the case this time. Somewhere in lap 35, I was lapping Sharp but he made a sudden move towards my car. As a result, my front left wheel got into contact with his rear right. I was sent into the air and when I fell down, the suspension was a bunch of broken carbon fibre and metal. The race was over for me. After that, the racing fans could observe a bone-crunching battle between Matsuura and Meira making a civil war in their team. Finally, Meira passed the Japanese and took the lead which he kept until the flag. The race was rather a calm one as the only who retired were Sarah Fisher whose engine blew up in lap 47 and me, after the collision with Scott Sharp.
The winner - Meira 2nd - Matsuura, 3rd - Rice
Round 10 - Watkins Glen, NY
It seems that bad luck is still with me :/ . The qualifying session took place in heavy rain. I put on monsoons but it didn't help much in car handling. I skipped the session hoping to attack from the last position. The qualifiers were won by Scheckter in front of Franchitti and Dixon. The race day was a sunny day with no chance of rain. I quickly passed a few rivals and got into 16th position. Then I entered a fast right hander in a very awkward way which resulted in hitting the kerb in improper way and losing traction. I swerved off and hit the wall. It is second consecutive race which I didn't finish. 8 drivers failed to finish the race but they were rather those starting from lower positions. The top 10 remained actually unchanged. Scheckter dropped to 5th while Franchitti took the lead and didn't let anyone to take it from him. I'm getting concerned with the performance of Meira who came 2nd. I keep losing points while he keeps finishing on podium on regular basis. I have to do something about it.
The winner - Franchitti, 2nd - Meira, 3rd - Castroneves
Round 11 - Atlanta Motor Speedway, GA
I was afraid of this track as the curves are not smooth here and one needs to be very careful not to crashe out. Luckily this time I was quick and careful enough to get the fastest lap time in the qualifying session. 2nd position for Sarah Fisher while 3rd for Buddy Rice alongside with Danica Patrick. Fromthe very start I was the fastest on the track. AS the race progressed my advantage was rising while there was nothing going on behind me - absolutely no passin, just as if everyone was satisfied with their position. The only pass was made by Patrick who passed Fisher and Rice and took 2nd position which made two Andretti Green cars running on the top. I pitted in the middle of the race and left the pits right behind Fisher and Patrick. I soon passed them as both girls went to the pits. Meanwhile, Fisher got passed by Rice and this is how the race ended. Marco Andretti must have signed some contract obliging him to finish 10th , as he did once again this season. All in all, me and Danica are on the podium and the things can't be better now for us. It was a great weekend for Andretti Green
I hope to keep the tempo in the following races.
The winner - Kosewski, 2nd - Patrick, 3rd - Rice
Round 12 - Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course, OH
I felt great anxiety as Mid-Ohio is one of non-oval tracks in the season's schedule. I entered the qualifying session with a doze of uncertainty as I actually forgot how to drive on non-oval tracks. Luckily, this fear disappeared after a few laps in the practice session. I entered the qualifying session with hope of finishing high on the grid. I thought I was quicker but it turned out that I nailed 16th best time. The pole position went to Hornish Jr. in front of Franchitti and Castroneves. The race start itself was an unexpectedly good one for me as I soon managed to climb up to 4th position in lap 3. However, this is the point at which my problems started. I couldn't keep the pace of Wheldon who was running in 3rd position. He kept pulling away and, instead of thinking of passing him, I had to concentrate on not letting the others pass me as Patrick and Matsuura, who dropped a few positions at the start, were charging from behind. Meanwhile, a lot of drivers crashed out of the race including Hornish Jr., Chesson, Fisher and Carpenter. I saw that Danica was faster than me so I gave her way to pass me. She did it but went a little bit wide so I could regain my position but then Matsuura decided to attack from behind. I made a quick move to the left but it was when I was hit by Danica who lost her patience and wanted to grab my position. As a result of the contact with my car, she spun off and had to retire. Meanwhile I got passed by a couple of drivers and when I thought I had settled in 6th position, I lost traction on one of the turns and got into one of the gravel traps and the race was over for me.
The winner - Castroneves, 2nd - Wheldon, 3rd - Franchitti
Round 13 - Michigan International Speedway, MI
I was quite happy to get back to ovals. Once again I proved to be the most consistent driver on such tracks as I won the pole position, leaving behind such guys as Andretti, Meira and Dixon. The initial laps were calm - I kept pulling away and had no problem with the right groove. After some 10 laps I was about to lap Al Unser Jr. who was entering the pits. I hit him which sent me into the air. I thought that my race was over but when I landed I noticed that my car is not even scratched and I continued the race with skyrocketing adrenaline. That'sit when it comes to interesting facts from the race. The race results were a complete flip over of the qualifyings results. Castroneves who started from 16th finished 2nd while Buddy Rice, who completed the podium, started from 19th. Amazing race!
This way Castroneves advanced to 2nd position in general standings and is now 115 points short of me. There are only 4 races to participate in and I'm really looking forward to bringing it home
The winner - Kosewski, 2nd - Castroneves, 3rd - Rice
Round 14 - Las Vegas Speedway, NV
Of course, I set the fastest lap time at the circuit and I knew that if nothing wrong would happen, I would surely be the winner of the race. 2nd place in the qualy for Unser Jr whiel 3rd for Franchitti. The race itself was extremely boring. I kept extending the lead while the rest of the grid came peacefully to the finish of the race without any mechanical issues, crashes or passing attempts. the only, worth noting, event was the performance of Scott Sharp who finished third despite starting from 13th. Andretti completed the podium in 2nd as Franchitti finished 7th and lost the battle for podium.
The winner - Kosewski, 2nd - Andretti, 3rd - Sharp
Round 15 - Infineon Raceway, CA
I was happy to get back to non-oval tracks once more. I wasn't particularly successful at Mi-Ohio and now I wanted to avenge my fail at that track. I easily found the right racing groove on the track and set the fastest time in the qualifying session. However, I was only by 0.278 sec faster than Scott Dixon and by 0.374 than Dario Franchitti.
Luckily, the race day was as sunny as the qualifying day and I knew I wouldn't have problems on the track. The race start was a decisive one. When the lights went green I had problems pulling away and this was used by Dixon who made a good start to find himself next to me. I managed to close the door in front of the turn 1 but Dixon didn't deccelerate in time and hit me from the back. For a few factions of a second my both right tyres where in the air. However, I managed to keep the leadership and only now did I start pulling away from the rivals. There was one moment at which Dixon set the fastest lap and I was concerned that he might start decreasing the gap. Luckily it wasn't the case as my 14 sec advantage started growing from the very next lap. Dixon and Franchitti were still behind me. In lap 22 Danica Patrick, who started from 4th managed to climb up to 3rd position, however she lost it to Franchitti during the round of pitstops. In lap 66 Carpenter had serious problems as he swerved off on one of the corners. The yellow flags where still in the air while it took the organizers three laps to remove Carpenter's car from the track. Later on, Dixon lost his pace and dropped to 8th place as well as Danica who came 7th.
Anyway, I brought it all home making the final lap the fastest in the race and I won third consecutive race. There are two races to go and I've already clinched the IRL championship. That's an amazing feeling. It's cool to win in America.
The winner - Kosewski, 2nd - Franchitti, 3rd - Wheldon
Round 16 - Belle Isle, MI
I thought I was going to perform better at this trak but I kept losing traction and I felt there was a lot of problems awaiting me in the race. In the formation lap I hit the barriers and lost the left front wheel. Then I set the time which was by 6 seconds slower than the laps of others. Therefore, I decided to set the car up more offensively even at the cost of safety. However, I decided not to push too hard in the qualifyings. Pole position for Franchitti, 2nd for Hornish Jr. and 3rd for Andretti. The start of the race was extremely hectic but I managed to pass a lot of rivals and in the middle of the lap 1 I was 5th. However, when I was pushing even more hard, I once more lost traction and lost the left wheel. It was at the same corner as in the qualifyings. I went to the pits and it turned out that also Franchitti, Sharp and Andretti needed assistance in the pitlane. I got back to the race in 19th position and hoped to climb into the first ten. However, two laps later I crashed one more time. It's the third time I lost the front left wheel but this time I also lost the nosecone. That was the last straw. I retired from the race.
The winner - Rice, 2nd - Hornish Jr., 3rd - Carpenter
Edited 10 time(s). Last edit at 03/23/2010 06:18PM by abdelkader.