F1

The reports were true. Scott Dixon's test times were just .004 seconds off of Ralfies. He had gearbox trouble early on and it cost him some laps. Dixon said he thought he could have gone faster.

He will get that shot at Barcelona next month.

This week it is on to Bahrain. The first race in the Middle East. I think the only thing we can be sure of is that Ferrari will be tough to beat.


NASCAR

Kurtis won the race at Bristol yesterday. Jr. was solid most of the day, but the late cautions really crippled his chances. He had fresh tires, but with the track yellow for so long he couldn't take advantage of them.

Tempers as usual were flaring. Kasey Kahne and Jamie McMurray got into a bump and run ending Kahnes day. Then later McMurray and Kennseth were into it and Jamie spun Matt on the cool down lap. Tony Sr. was called to the Oval Office after dissing NASCAR.

All in all, just a typical run at Bristol.

NASCAR

Congrats to Bobby Labonte for last weeks win at Darlington. Labonte had really been struggling since winning the Winston Cup just 4 years ago. His Gibbs Racing team mate Tony Stewart took not only the headlines, but most of the victories for the team in that time.

But Labonte held off the competition to win last week at “The Track Too Tough To Tame”.

This week it is on to the bullring known as the Bristol Motor Speedway. The little half miler can accommodate about a million spectators. Showers are expected Saturday and then again Sunday night.

Bristol is a strange deal. Almost every car comes out of it with big tire marks on the sides of their cars. It is fast, but because of its size is also very slow at spots. Fans and drivers alike, either love it or hate it.

Rusty Wallace seems to always have trouble there. Junior has yet to figure it out. Gordon and Stewart end up leaving mad as often as they leave happy and some guys would like to see the tunnels sealed and have it filled up to make a fishing hole.

Personally I like Bristol. It’s usually a good show. Tempers seem to flare and there is no better pit show on the circuit. Of course that may be because of the close quarters in said pits.

Plus it takes about 8 hours to run the race. Sure it only takes a few seconds to get around it, but there will probably be 8-10 cautions.

Hopefully Jr. will get it figured out this time and keep pace for the Big 10 shootout!


F1

Scott Dixon is getting that test drive today in the Williams. No real reports that I can count on at this point. FWIW, one unsubstantiated report had him just .004 seconds off of Ralfies pace.

IRL

Kind of a snoozer on Sunday at PIR. Congrats to Tony Kanaan for a fine drive that saw him pretty much run away from the field to win his second straight at Phoenix. Questions will abound though of what could have been had Sammy not spun the 6 car early in the race. He lost 6 laps and never recovered.

Robbie Buhl’s good run at Homestead was backed up with a complete turd in the desert. He was slowest in practice and in qualifying he was almost 9 mph off the pace. He started dead last even behind little AJ. In the race he improved only because of Adrian Fernandez going out and Sam’s spin and the fact that little AJ has no business on the track. His weekend was complete when he looped it coming out of 4. To add insult to injury he was slammed in to by Tomas Wreckter who was punted up the banking by a charging Dario Franchitti.

Speaking of Franchitti, his crew chief was on TV claiming they kept getting blocked by Wreckter. But in the crash replay Dario was so far behind that it almost looked intentional.

Anyway, Japan is next in about a month with Kanaan leading Julio by 6 early on in the championship chase. For those of you scoring at home that is one win for Honda, one for Toyota, and zero for the Chevworth.

F1

Sunday’s race in Malaysia put an exclamation point on how far ahead of the pack Ferrari is. While Juan made a valiant effort to come home second, only an off road excursion prevented Rubens from knocking him down a position and keeping Jensen Button from his first podium finish.

This week testing resumes at the Paul Ricard circuit in France and ALL of the teams chasing the Ferrari’s have a lot of work to do. One thing of note is that 2003 IRL champion Scott Dixon will get a test ride in the FW26. I fully expect Scott to be in one of those seats next year.

And of Williams, reports are swirling about Ralfie and Toyota. GrandPrix.com is reporting that deal is done and Ralfie will be in the Toy next year. Another report had Ralfie allegedly saying he would take a pay cut to stay at Williams. That doesn’t sound like him. Frankly I wouldn’t let that boob drive me to the airport.

Changes to the F1 qualifying procedures are being discussed in Paris today. Don’t expect any major changes.

Next up is Bahrain. A new track for the F1 circus. The track is similar to the Catalunya circuit in that it turns back in on itself and is sort of “self-contained” if you will. This whole thing really intrigues me. Who would have ever thought a bunch of rag heads would care about auto racing, let alone get an F1 race? I saw their website yesterday and the track looks nice and the facility first class. But there is a lot of money over there. Probably won’t be a lot of American citizens at the race, but interestingly enough, all of the gear for sale on their site is in American dollars.

Hey, if anyone is going, get me a hat!

F1

Race Report-The story of the early part of the race had to be Mark Weber. Weber, who’s best ever qualifying effort landed him in the front row next to Michael Schumacher, had a miserable start. He basically went all the way to the back of the grid when he nearly stalled his car. A foreboding may have come in the formation lap when he nearly stalled the first time.

Weber’s poor start allowed Rubens and Juan to pass and pursue Schumacher. Rubens eventually went off course allowing Montoya to pass. For the rest of the race, a 3 stopper, it remained the same. Montoya closed to within 3 seconds, but he could never get any closer.

Ralfie blew an engine about halfway through the race and Raikkonen dropped out a bit later. Within 20 laps Weber and Zsolt Baumgartner were a lap down.

I know it’s only two races into the season, but some of these drivers have to be getting worried about their jobs.

BAR had a good run and continued to show the improvement they displayed in winter and spring testing.

The race started with clearing skies, but as the day wet on the skies darkened and raindrops were clearly visible a couple of times. Ferrari started with the softer tyre compound and it was to their advantage as track temperatures had dropped nearly 40 degrees.

Ultimately it was Schumacher taking first, Montoya second and Button garnering his first career podium.

F1

The first two practices are done at Sepang and Ferrari won the first battle with Schumacher and Raikkonen in the McLaren was fastest in the second. However this will not change my prediction that Ferrari will once again dominate the weekend. My race prediction is:

1. Michael Schumacher
2. Rubens
3. Juan
4. Alonso
5. Ralfie
6. Raikkonen

IRL

Bobby Rahal yesterday made the switch to the IRL. However, he is not bringing sponsorship or a driver with him. He is working on getting Mexico's Gigante to come over with him but so far they have decided to continue as Michel Jourdain Jr's sponsor. What exactly Rahal is doing reamains unclear to me. But one thing is certain, the 1986 Indy winner and 3 time CART champ had to swallow hard to come over to the IRL full time.

Folks it's just a matter of time before TG's money lures them all over and the farce that is OWRS will be over.

Also look for Pat Patrick to put Al Unser Jr. in a car either this weekend or in Japan.

Good luck Robbie at Phoenix!

F1

The Bernie has made some minor changes to the qualifying process for this weekends race at the Sepang circuit. Basically he has put more time between the sessions to give the teams more time to prepare. It's not overnight like last year, but it should help.

In other news, Scott Dixon has been scheduled for two tests with the Williams team. I discussed a couple of days ago the possibility of Dixon making the jump to Williams for next year. It looks like the wheels are in motion to see if he can handle it. Dixon is a fantastic driver who, at only 23 has almost his whole career in front of him. That sounds amazing when you think about how much he has accomplished so far.

IRL

The IRL scored another victory Friday by attracting car owner Adrian Fernandez into the fold. Fernandez who was already running one car in the IRL will now run another with himself as the driver. If you know me I don’t think much of the owner/driver arrangement but it is good to see Fernandez bring the Tecate and Quaker State money with him.

The bigger tell might be what he said. Fernandez went to the big season opening gala put on by Bridgestone presents the Champcar World Series powered by Ford (or whatever the hell it is) and didn’t like what he saw. So he switched leagues and will be at Phoenix for this weekends race.

And what of the rest of OWRS. Bobby Rahal has already been thinking about switching. He is the car owner of one car in the IRL and is thinking about bringing Michel Jourdain over as well. Apparently the news of Fernandez’s defection to the IRL has made the Mexican sponsors nervous and with Gigante being a Rahal sponsor they may be forced to move to the IRL.

Newman/Haas, one of the real CART and now OWRS stalwarts has tested IRL cars at Phoenix and could be the final nail in the OWRS coffin if they leave.

TG offered $13.5 million for the CART assets to the bankruptcy court a month and a half ago. Now he might get the assets and spend somewhat less. He doesn’t deserve it because he is an idiot, but he will win by default simply because he has the 500.

NASCAR

Congrats to Junior for his win yesterday at Atlanta. But I gotta tell you, even though it is the fastest of the Cup races, it was boring as hell. Junior closed the gap on points leader Kennseth as they go to Darlington this week.

F1

Last weeks testing failed to produce any stirring results. McLaren did manage to improve steadily as the week progressed, but Williams and Renault still found themselves struggling.

Now the teams are preparing for this weekends Malaysian Grand Prix. The weather will be hot and as usual, there will be a chance for rain. Last years winner Kimi Raikkonen will have a tough time defending his win if Australia is any indication.

The qualifying controversy from Australia has also been addressed. Earlier reports said that Bernie would not make any changes until at least Imola. However, crash.net is reporting that Ecclestone has proposed changing back to last years system of a lap on Friday and one on Saturday or eliminating the first round all together. Apparently neither motion had enough support but the issue will be revisited when everyone gets to Sepang.

In other news the battle rages on between Frank Williams and Ralfie boy. Ralfie says he is getting fed up with the lack of response from Williams regarding his contract. Frank Williams for his part has not commented publicly. Reports had surfaced a week or so ago that Ralfie was about to make the jump to Renault for next season. This would leave Williams with no driver and most likely force Jarno Trulli out at Renault. However, given the relationship between Frank Williams and Chip Gannasi don't be surprised if Scott Dixon gets a shot at a Williams seat next year.

As for Renault it looks like they will not change unless Fernando Alonso would make the jump to Ferrari if Michael Schumacher retires. Rather it seems now that Ralfie is talking to Toyota about next season. This would almost assuredly knock Olivier Panis out of his seat. Ralf sucks and I honestly hope he does not go to Toyota. Frankly I think he is better suited for a Minardi!

And finally, the Bernie has laid down the law with the officials of the track at Imola and the repercussions could affect the future of the Grand Prix of San Marino. The aging facility known as both the Ferrari home track and the track where Ayrton Senna lost his life needs approximately $25 million in upgrades. Ecclestone has told the officials they will not retain the race if the improvements are not approved and made. San Marino is in the last year of its F1 contract.

It's hard to imagine the season not having what amounts to two races in Italy so look for the announcements to be made. San Marino track officials are in discussions with the Italian government to get the money for the improvements. One also has to wonder what Bernie has up his sleeve. With Austria out this year he still has 18 races and a Concorde agreement that calls for a maximum of 16.

The Las Vegas Motor Speedway hosted the third round of the 2004 Nextel Cup series on Sunday. Matt Kenseth took his second victory in a row and second in a row at Las Vegas. With the win he takes over the points chase from Junior who suffered through an embarrassingly bad weekend.

This weekend they move back east to the Atlanta Motor Speedway. Hopefully Junior and the boys can get it back together.

INDY NEWS

Well that brilliant guy we know as Tony George is at it again. He says he is considering shortening the month of May even further and possibly reducing the field for the 500. He says he is concerned that their is a lack of quality cars at the back of the fields and he wants to reduce that.

Well dipshit, how about if you go out and find some sponsors and some drivers and teams and bulk up your series. This dolt says it is the economy and that even NASCAR is suffering. Well who gives a shit about NASCAR.

I swear every time that moron opens his mouth he just makes a bigger fool of himself. Why don't he just shut the hell up?!

Australian Grand Prix Wrap

One down, 17 to go for the F1 boys. Unfortunately, it looks like if you are not Rubens or Michael Schumacher it is going to be a long season.

Ferrari simply dominated the weekend at Melbourne. Taking fast times in all of the practices and the front row in qualifying they backed it up with an impressive 1-2 finish in the Australian Grand Prix.

Fernando Alonso managed to grab the final podium position. Ralfie was fourth and Juan fifth.

The biggest story other than the Scuderia domination was probably the outcry over the qualifying procedure. Nearly every team complained of the new rules and even Bernie himself thinks a change may have to take place to keep viewers. Most were unhappy about the fact they had to run two laps in 90 minutes and the first one really didn’t count and no changes could be made.

However the Bernie has decided there will be no change until at least the fourth race at Imola.

So now it is back to the drawing board for everyone except Ferrari. Williams was never a factor, Renault probably had as good of a day as they could expect with their 3rd and seventh place finishes. Takuma Sato and Jensen Button brought the BAR’s home in ninth and sixth respectively, which should have made them happy. Coulthard was eighth and has been crying like a little baby since the weekend over the lack of car he perceives to have. His team mate Raikkonen failed to finish and ended up dead last.

No teams lost both of their cars in the race, although Minardi’s team of Baumgartner and Gimmi Bruni were close as Baumgartner went out and Bruni was down 15 laps after long delays in the pits.

Frankly it was a crappy race. Juan got punted early trying to hold of Alonso and with that the Ferrari’s took off.

Next it is off to Kuala Lumpur and the Malaysian Grand Prix. It’s a fast track with three slow corners. Temperatures are usually high and could play a part in engine reliability. However, unless the teams can figure out how to match Ferrari’s pace, it is going to be a long season.

Qualifying for the F1 and NASCAR boys is complete. Here are your lineups for the races.

F1

No surprises here especailly after Friday's practice. Probably see a podium finish the same as the start.

Pos No Driver Team Time
1 1 Michael Schumacher Ferrari 1:24.408
2 2 Rubens Barrichello Ferrari 1:24.482
3 3 Juan Pablo Montoya Williams-BMW 1:24.998
4 9 Jenson Button BAR-Honda 1:24.998
5 8 Fernando Alonso Renault 1:25.699
6 14 Mark Webber Jaguar-Cosworth 1:25.805
7 10 Takuma Sato BAR-Honda 1:25.851
8 4 Ralf Schumacher Williams-BMW 1:25.925
9 7 Jarno Trulli Renault 1:26.290
10 6 Kimi Räikkönen McLaren-Mercedes 1:26.297
11 12 Felipe Massa Sauber-Petronas 1:27.065
12 5 David Coulthard McLaren-Mercedes 1:27.294
13 16 Cristiano da Matta Toyota 1:27.823
14 11 Giancarlo Fisichella Sauber-Petronas 1:27.845
15 18 Nick Heidfeld Jordan-Ford 1:28.178
16 19 Giorgio Pantano Jordan-Ford 1:30.140
17 21 Zsolt Baumgartner Minardi-Cosworth 1:30.681
18 17 Olivier Panis Toyota
19 15 Christian Klien Jaguar-Cosworth
20 20 Gianmaria Bruni Minardi-Cosworth

NASCAR/Nextel Cup

A nice run for Kasey Kahne. He is proving to be quite a driver in his first season.Props to Kurt Busch. The local boy did good. As for the Checker Cab Racing team, they start Harvick(16th), Sadler (11th), Whiffle (19th) and Ronald McDonald(10th). Go team!

Pos. Car Driver Make Sponsor Speed Time Behind
1 #9 Kasey Kahne* Dodge Dodge Dealers/UAW 174.904 30.874 Leader
2 #97 Kurt Busch Ford IRWIN Industrial Tools 174.548 30.937 -0.063
3 #25 Brian Vickers* Chevrolet GMAC Financial Services 174.537 30.939 -0.065
4 #42 Jamie McMurray Dodge Texaco/Havoline 174.436 30.957 -0.083
5 #12 Ryan Newman Dodge ALLTEL 174.340 30.974 -0.100
6 #19 Jeremy Mayfield Dodge Dodge Dealers/UAW 174.267 30.987 -0.113
7 #18 Bobby Labonte Chevrolet Interstate Batteries 173.863 31.059 -0.185
8 #77 Brendan Gaughan* Dodge Kodak EasyShare 173.824 31.066 -0.192
9 #16 Greg Biffle Ford National Guard/Subway 173.807 31.069 -0.195
10 #91 Bill Elliott Dodge UAW-National Training Center 173.768 31.076 -0.202
11 #38 Elliott Sadler Ford M&M's 173.740 31.081 -0.207
12 #48 Jimmie Johnson Chevrolet Lowe's 173.444 31.134 -0.260
13 #41 Casey Mears Dodge Target 173.405 31.141 -0.267
14 #15 Michael Waltrip Chevrolet NAPA Auto Parts 173.266 31.166 -0.292
15 #10 Scott Riggs* Chevrolet Valvoline 173.066 31.202 -0.328
16 #29 Kevin Harvick Chevrolet GM Goodwrench 173.010 31.212 -0.338
17 #32 Ricky Craven Chevrolet Tide 172.983 31.217 -0.343
18 #84 Kyle Busch Chevrolet CARQUEST 172.955 31.222 -0.348
19 #20 Tony Stewart Chevrolet Home Depot 172.728 31.263 -0.389
20 #24 Jeff Gordon Chevrolet DuPont 172.469 31.310 -0.436
21 #2 Rusty Wallace Dodge Miller Lite 172.403 31.322 -0.448
22 #31 Robby Gordon Chevrolet Cingular Wireless 172.150 31.368 -0.494
23 #40 Sterling Marlin Dodge Coors Light 171.996 31.396 -0.522
24 #43 Jeff Green Dodge Lucky Charms 171.750 31.441 -0.567
25 #17 Matt Kenseth Ford DeWalt Power Tools 171.679 31.454 -0.580
26 #8 Dale Earnhardt Jr. Chevrolet Budweiser 171.516 31.484 -0.610
27 #6 Mark Martin Ford Viagra 171.505 31.486 -0.612
28 #99 Jeff Burton Ford Pennzoil 171.483 31.490 -0.616
29 #88 Dale Jarrett Ford UPS 171.423 31.501 -0.627
30 #30 Johnny Sauter* Chevrolet AOL/IMAX NASCAR 3D 171.358 31.513 -0.639
31 #49 Ken Schrader Dodge Schwan's Home Service 171.352 31.514 -0.640
32 #45 Kyle Petty Dodge Georgia Pacific/Brawny 171.146 31.552 -0.678
33 #21 Ricky Rudd Ford Motorcraft Quality Parts 171.130 31.555 -0.681
34 #0 Ward Burton Chevrolet NetZero HiSpeed 170.783 31.619 -0.745
35 #4 Kevin Lepage Chevrolet YokeTV.com 170.444 31.682 -0.808
36 #09 Johnny Benson Dodge Miccosukee Gaming & Resorts 170.401 31.690 -0.816
37 #5 Terry Labonte Chevrolet Kellogg's 170.304 31.708 -0.834
38 #01 Joe Nemechek Chevrolet USG Sheetrock 169.977 31.769 -0.895
43 #89 Morgan Shepherd Dodge Voyles/Carter's Royal Disposall 164.986 32.730 -1.856

Provisional
39 #22 Scott Wimmer* Dodge Caterpillar 169.673 31.826 -0.952
40 #50 Derrike Cope Dodge redneckjunk.com 169.311 31.894 -1.020
41 #02 Carl Long Pontiac RacingJUNK.com 163.701 32.987 -2.113
42 #172 Kirk Shelmerdine Ford Freddie B's/Tucson 163.320 33.064 -2.190

All the previews are in and it is time to go racing for the F1 boys! Starting this weekend in Melbourne, new team configurations, rules and cars will be pushed to the limit to give an early glimpse into how the 2004 FIA World Championship will shake out.

While next year will offer the most intriguing driver changes, the fact that some of those changes are already known could play a part in this seasons action. Williams may actually feature two lame duck drivers if Ralfie boy doesn’t get his contract with Frank Williams worked out. David Coulthard will be departing McLaren after the season and I don’t see him taking a second class ride so I think he will retire. And what of Michael Schumacher? At age 35 he is old by F1 driver standards but he doesn’t seem to have missed a beat. Will he retire at the end of the season? I doubt it, but if he wins the title he just might.

Elsewhere, only Renault seems set with its lineup for the foreseeable future.

A change the fans will notice is the weekend schedule. Last year’s Friday morning (Thursday at Monaco) practice is gone. Some of the teams at the back of the grid who gained experience with those sessions will suffer this loss the most.

There will be two one-hour sessions on Friday in which all teams except the top 4 from last season will be able to run three cars. In fact, that third car can sport alternate livery of the team

Saturday will feature 2 45 minute practice sessions followed by 2 qualifying sessions. The qualifying sessions will follow last years guidelines i.e. one lap per car in the first session and those times will determine the order of the second session which will also be one lap.

The other big weekend change is the “one engine” rule. If a driver ruins an engine prior to qualifying he will be charged 10 positions on the starting grid for a replacement. If it happens in qualifying or after, he will have to start at the rear of the grid.

Also, launch control and automatic transmissions have been outlawed this year.

Finally, the season has been changed. Despite the Concorde Agreement’s mandate of a maximum of 16 races, this season will feature 18 races with new stops at Bahrain and in China. The Canadian stop, originally thought to be gone was reinstated as was Belgium after a one year hiatus. The US race has been moved to June and the Brazil race is now the season ender.

Here is the complete schedule courtesy of SpeedTV.com…

Australia
Practice Thu, Mar 4 11pm SD
Qualifying Fri, Mar 5 12am SD
Australian Grand Prix Sat, Mar 6 9:30pm LIVE

Malaysia
Practice Thu, Mar 18 1am LIVE
Qualifying Fri, Mar 19 2am LIVE
Malaysia Grand Prix Sat, Mar 20 1:30am LIVE

Bahrain
Practice Fri, Apr 2 6am LIVE
Qualifying Sat, Apr 3 7am LIVE
Grand Prix of Bahrain Sun, Apr 4 7am LIVE

San Marino
Practice Fri, Apr 23 8am LIVE
Qualifying Sat, Apr 24 9am LIVE
San Marino Grand Prix Sun, Apr 25 7:30am LIVE

Spain
Practice Fri, May 7 8am LIVE
Qualifying Sat, May 8 9am LIVE
Spanish Grand Prix Sun, May 9 7:30am LIVE

Monaco
Practice Thu, May 20 8am LIVE
Qualifying Sat, May 22 9am LIVE
Monaco Grand Prix Sun, May 23 7:30am LIVE

Europe (Nurburg)
Practice Fri, May 28 8am LIVE
Qualifying Sat, May 29 9am LIVE
Grand Prix of Europe Sun, May 30 7:30am LIVE

Canada
Practice Fri, Jun 11 2pm LIVE
Qualifying Sat, Jun 12 2pm LIVE
Canadian Grand Prix Sun, Jun 13 12 noon LIVE

USA
Practice Sat, Jun 19 10am LIVE
Qualifying Sat, Jun 19 2pm LIVE
United States Grand Prix Sun, Jun 20 12:30pm LIVE

France
Practice Fri, Jul 2 8am LIVE
Qualifying Sat, Jul 3 9am LIVE
French Grand Prix Sun, Jul 4 7:30am LIVE

Britain
Practice Fri, Jul 9 9am LIVE
Qualifying Sat, Jul 10 10am LIVE
British Grand Prix Sun, Jul 11 7:30am LIVE

Germany
Practice Fri, Jul 23 8am LIVE
Qualifying Sat, Jul 24 9am LIVE
German Grand Prix Sun, Jul 25 7:30am LIVE

Hungary
Practice Fri, Aug 13 8am LIVE
Qualifying Sat, Aug 14 9am LIVE
Hungarian Grand Prix Sun, Aug 15 7:30am LIVE

Belgium
Practice Fri, Aug 27 8am LIVE
Qualifying Sat, Aug 28 9am LIVE
Grand Prix of Belgium Sun, Aug 29 7:30am LIVE

Italy
Practice Fri, Sep 10 8am LIVE
Qualifying Sat, Sep 11 9am LIVE
Italian Grand Prix Sun, Sep 12 7:30am LIVE

China (Shanghai)
Practice Thu, Sep 23 2am LIVE
Qualifying Fri, Sep 24 3am LIVE
Grand Prix of China Sat, Sep 25 1:30am LIVE

Japan
Practice Thu, Oct 7 1am LIVE
Qualifying Fri, Oct 8 2am LIVE
Japanese Grand Prix Sat, Oct 9 1am LIVE

Brazil
Practice Fri, Oct 22 12pm LIVE
Qualifying Sat, Oct 23 3:30pm SD
Brazilian Grand Prix Sun, Oct 24 12:30pm LIVE

Events from Australia, Malaysia, China and Japan which begin after midnight Eastern Time are listed as occurring on the previous day. For example, Australia qualifying begins at midnight Friday, and will be found in Friday’s listings on Speed’s Program Schedule page.

SD = Same Day Delay



So what does it all mean? Are we going to have any surprises this season? My thoughts are this: Unfortunately I don’t see any team beating Ferrari for the championship. And having said that it is tough to pick against Schumacher to win his seventh title. Honestly I don’t think Juan will have much incentive to get his team the title although he sounds like he is focused and ready to do the job. Ralfie sucks and wouldn’t win against me.

Kimi Raikkonen and David Coulthard are a little more intriguing. Raikkonen was only 2 points back at the end of the season last year and you know he wants to get a title this year to lord over Juan when he gets there next year. And Coulthard wants to show the team they are making a mistake by letting him go. Unfortunately theirs may come down to a car issue. The McLaren is always a thing of beauty, but the Mercedes engine winds so high. It has been detuned to help it last the weekend, but at what cost?

Renault will have a say so in some races, but I don’t feel they are ready yet to challenge for the constructors or drivers titles.

Here are my predictions for the 2004 season…

World Champion – Michael Schumacher
Runner up – Juan Montoya
Third – Rubens Barichello

Constructor Champion – Ferrari
Runner up - Williams – BMW
Third – Renault
Fourth – McLaren-Mercedes
Fifth – BAR – Honda
Sixth – Toyota
Seventh – Sauber
Eighth – Jordan
Ninth – Jaguar
Tenth - Minardi

Enjoy the season, stay tuned for more and I’ll see you at Indy in June!

Ferrari (shell.com/home/Framework?siteId=ferrari-en)

As with the Williams team, Ferrari really needs no preview. Winners of the past 5 Constructors Championships and Drivers Titles with Michael Schumacher this team has achieved the top of the mountain and look poised to stay there.

Ferrari chose to do most of their preseason testing in private at their home track so there wasn’t a lot of data to judge by. However, in the final testing session at Imola, with other top teams present, the Scuderia beat all comers.

Ferrari has a new chassis this year, the F2004, that is drawing rave reviews from both Schumacher and Rubens Barichello. With Ferrari power and Bridgestone tyres the team is once again the mark by which all others will be measured.

Last season Ferrari won 8 races. Schumacher won his 6th title while Barichello finished fourth. As much of a wimpy puss that I think Schumacher is, I can’t deny his or his teams ability. I would really like to see the team give Rubens more of a chance, but that isn’t likely to happen.

Back in 1999 when Ferrari shook off the stink that had followed the team for years I thought it was a very cool thing. Now, whenever I see the flags, Jean Todt looking up at the monitor, or hear an air horn I want to puke. But the fact remains, these guys are at the top of their game in every aspect.

2004 once again shapes up to be a Ferrari year. Williams, McLaren and Renault all have a ways to go to beat them. It can be done. It just remains to be seen if it will be done.

Williams/BMW (williams.bmwf1.com)

These last two previews really need not even be done. I mean the whole world knows about Frank Williams and his F1 team as well as they know the Scuderia Ferrari team. Both teams have had legendary pasts and are at this time at the top of their games.

However, change is afoot at Williams. First off is the brand new, radically designed FW26. Some pundits have called it the ugliest car on the grid, but begrudgingly say it may also be the fastest. The car has what can almost be described as 2 arms reaching forward from the front and holding the front wing.

There has never been any question of the power of the BMW P84 V-10 engine and in the hands of Juan Montoya and Ralf Schumacher the team may finally get past the Maranello gang. As has been the case the past couple of years the Williams team will have Michelin Tyres.

HP and Allianz are once again the main sponsors, but Budweiser has extended and actually increased their sponsorship of the team.

Testing has gone well for the team. Estimates from the team and independent sources place the testing program at 5 tracks in 33 days and over 20,000 kilometers. Montoya and Schumacher have been at or near the top of the speed chart in every session.

This season there seems to be only two things standing in the teams’ way of both a driver and constructor title. One, and it is an 800 pound gorilla, is Ferrari. With Michael Schumacher and Rubens back in the saddle they will be nearly impossible to beat. The other, and probably even more ominous problem they are facing is their driver situation.

Montoya is gone at the end of the season for McLaren. The big questions are how hard will he drive for his team since he knows he will be leaving and how much of a car or information will the team give JP since he will be going to the competition. The answers to these questions will probably be revealed as the season unfolds and really no sooner. And finally, how much of a big baby will Ralfie boy be. He started out spring testing talking about who he would like to have as JP’s replacement. But recently he has expressed that he too may depart after the season. For Williams, losing Montoya is going to be a blow, losing Schumacher would be a blessing in my opinion. That guy is overated.

McLaren F-1 (mcclaren.com.uk/)

The McLaren-Mercedes F1 team finished last season in third place in the Constructors Championship behind only Williams BMW and Ferrari. But they also finished the season with two drivers who seemed to be going in different directions.

Kimi Raikkonen finished a scant 2 points behind champion Michael Schumacher while David Coulthard was a distant 40 points back. Coulthards showing basically cost the team a shot at second place in the Constructors race.

I don’t see anything radically different happening for this team. Coulthard knows he is out at the end of this season to make way for Juan Pablo Montoya. With the Scot being one of the oldest F1 drivers he probably knows his days in the sport are numbered. It’s not that he is washed up; it is just the way it happens in F1. The premium is not on experience, but rather it is on youth.

Coulthard finished second just two years ago. Last years fifth place finish was his worst since 1996 when he finished 7th. Now the team is focused on Raikkonen. The Finn is 8 years younger and with his second place finish of last season, is being touted by many as the prime candidate to unseat Schumacher this season.

As has been the case for several years the team will once again sport the Mercedes V-10 engine and Michelin tyres. However, early reports and complaints from the drivers say the engine is down on power. This was done in an effort to make sure the engine lasts the weekend. Raikkonen however thinks the car is underpowered and unreliable. The Finn has also stated he did not think the car would last the race in Australia. The MP4-19 has not shown any real promise in testing. Raikkonen did have the fast lap in Valencia on Feb. 19th, but the team has struggled since. In testing at Imola and Silverstone the team was middle of the pack at best.

Last season Coulthard won at Australia and Raikkonen won the next race at Malaysia. From all indications the team is not on pace to repeat that start. But McLaren has deep pockets and team manager Ron Dennis will have the team competitive sooner rather than later. No less an expert than Bernie Ecclestone has said he thinks Raikkonen will win the title, although one must take whatever Bernie says with a grain of salt.

I figured this team would struggle with personal chemistry with Coulthard being the lame duck driver, but if they have car issues they will struggle to stay ahead of the surging Renault team this season.

Renault (renaultf1.com/)

Last season Renault truly distinguished themselves as the clear number 4 team on the circuit. After several years of dealing with Jordan and BAR the team solidly beat both of them down to position themselves for a run to the front.

Renault, as it has been known for the past couple if years is one of only three true factory efforts with Ferrari and Toyota. This does allow them to afford luxuries some of their lesser competitors do not enjoy.

This year Flavio Briatore fields the same drivers as last year. Fernando Alonso really made great strides in his driving. His win at Hungary and 55 total points was good enough for 6th place in the standings. He is joined by Jarno Trulli who also had a solid season. He finished 8th with 33 points. By the time the team hit the US they were in high gear.

This year the team will drive the Mild Seven R24-03 with a revised V-10 engine on Michelin tyres. The engine revision was caused by the new F1 rules permitting only one engine per weekend. The V-10 was very strong before, but its reliability over the course of an F1 weekend was still undecided. The team felt it better to play safe.

This team did a lot of practicing over the winter, but clearly took it easy in February. This team is probably as good as McLaren right now. But they still have to get over the hump on scoring points. With DC’s future uncertain and Ralfie boy crying over at Williams it might be a prime time to get further up the finishing order. Expect to see both Alonso and Trulli on the podium multiple times. While I don’t know if they can make the jump to third place in the Constructors Championship, they should give it a good go.

Congrats to Sam Hornish Jr. for his win in yesterday’s IRL season opener at Homestead. Sam waged a great battle with Julio before taking the lead on the last lap in his first race as Julio’s team mate and collecting $115,800.

Dan Weldon, Tora Takagi and Tomas Scheckter rounded out the top 5. Once again the margin of victory was well under a second. There were 15 lead changes among 8 drivers.

Robbie Buhl managed to come home in 10th, but for a long time it seemed like he might be a top 5. While watching the race we thought he was doing fine and the next thing you know he was 10th. Apparently the car lost a gear on their last pit stop. Buhl had a pretty good drive. He kept the car on the track and managed to finish on the lead lap. I’ve got to feel that the team will be a little disappointed with the finish, but they should be happy with the overall race and drive.

The real disappointment had to come from Scott Dixon and Dario Franchitti. Dixon was fighting for the lead with Sam and Julio when the cars started to make green flag pit stops on lap 87. Dixon spun around coming into the pits and made a lot of contact with the pit lane attenuator spraying sand and parts all over the track.

17 laps later Franchitti slammed his racer into the 4th turn wall. Neither Dixon nor Franchitti were hurt in their accidents. Alex Baron who started 2nd also found the wall on lap 126 and rookie Mark Taylor crashed the Menards car on lap 39. Both Taylor and Baron were uninjured as well.

Some other notable items were Scheckter keeping his car intact, little AJ moving up 4 spots only because of the crashes and having his engine expire 10 laps from the finish and polesitter Buddy Rice coming home 7th.

As for Scheckter it is always news when he doesn’t hit anything. AJ might as well give up. Even if AJIV was up to the challenge, the cars aren’t. They are the worst team in the league with no prospects of getting any better anytime soon. They are pathetic.

Crowd wise it looked pretty good on TV. The main stands looked about 95% full and overall it looked like about a 65% turnout. The weather looked great and as usual, the IRL put on a great show for the fans.