IRL

I have to tell you I am glad to see Phoenix in the rear view mirrors. I don’t like that track for Indy Cars. It is too flat. Pretty much my feelings about Milwaukee, but PHX has been a part of the Indy scenery for so long it just stays.

I can’t wait for the ratings for that one to come out, especially seeing how there was a reported 15,000 fans at the track.

Sammy won a taut battle that Dario probably would have won had he not hit the wall with just a lap to go. Other than that it was pretty uneventful. AGR was the class of the field again, but Penske and his pit stops were crucial to keeping Sam and Julio in the hunt.

Since there is not much else I can say nice I won’t say anything else.

F1

Two rounds down and there are already some patterns showing. One, and most surprising to me is how bad the Ferrari is doing against the other teams. For what it is worth, Schummi has looked very ordinary at Melbourne and Kuala Lumpur. I’m not ready to write him off just yet, but as many have speculated, he has been in superior equipment to this point and is not the automatic winner in just anything. It also speaks volumes about the Ferrari organization. Where is the 2005 car and why was it not ready for the start of the season?

The next obvious thing is that the Renault is by far the class of the field so far. Yes, McLaren looks good, Toyota looks great and Red Bull is overachieving, but the Renault has won both races, both poles and no one really seems to be on their level at this time.

BAR is awful. I have no idea what has happened to the Brackley team but they are just terrible. They have failed to score any points and at Malaysia failed to finish either car. Engines were the trouble this week. A very unusual situation for Honda who may be trying to build a motor that they are not accustomed to.

Jacques Villeneuve is done. He had a pitiful 13^th place finish at Melbourne where he was simply outmatched against everyone he ran up against. In Malaysia, he failed to finish at all. The last two weeks, Jacques, as is his nature, blamed anyone and everyone but himself. I haven’t heard any comments yet from him, but I am sure there is a reason he sucked so bad. Face it Cruise, it’s over and you will not ever get it back.

The GP itself was pretty much without excitement. Dumbass Fisichella tried to kill Mark Webber. Other than that it was all Fernando Alonso.

There was a meeting held yesterday. A meeting called by Sir Frank. Apparently there is still quite a chasm between Ferrari and the other teams regarding testing. Rules in place this year have greatly diminished the amount of time the teams can test. However, Ferrari has argued that they, being the only Bridgestone participant, need to test more since Bridgestone doesn’t have the body of knowledge Michelin has. They probably have a point, but they still are bound by the rules which they have ignored to this point. If there is to be a new agreement in 2008 and the GPWC is to be slain, Ferrari is going to have to understand it is not bigger than the sport. An eventuality that will not come easy to the gang from Maranello.