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senna hits dog
Senna Hits Stray Dog, Ends Day At Turkish Grand Prix
We watched the first part of the Turkish Grand Prix this morning and after the first corner featured some serious car over car accident action and the Ferrari/Mercedes slap fest, we got a little bored and sought out better things to do with our Sunday. Our mistake. We missed the Bruno Senna stray dog destruction derby. Yep, Fido (do wild dogs have names?) and a friend wandered onto the track. Fido's friend escaped but Fido wasn't so lucky, and ended up being struck by Senna's right suspension. Both the suspension and the dog found their end. Yeah, Felipe Massa may have won the race, but we definitely know who lost. Poor, poor Fido. This video is not safe for members of the ASPCA, small children or anyone else with a strong dislike for seeing dogs accidentally run over on a track. [Eurosport and Youtube]
[ABC/
racing news
Danica Patrick Runs Into Crewman At Indy, We're Checking To See If That's A First For A Woman
Danica Patrick, the current headline maker of the IndyCar Series has made yet another headline, this time it's not so much of the rah-rah-go-women type. In a practice round for the upcoming Indianapolis 500, she managed to run into Charles Buckman, the chief mechanic for Mario Moraes' Dale Coyne Racing team. Buckman suffered scalp and facial cuts as well as a concussion. We're not going to make stereotypical comments about women drivers, but we can't imagine what is going to happen when the Goodyear ad people find out, they're going to have a field day. [ESPN] (Images via AP; Video via ESPN)
gaming
Codemasters Wins F1 Video Game Bid
Forget about everything we speculated yesterday regarding next-generation Formula 1 video games after Sony opted out of renewing the ridiculously high bid Bernie Ecclestone wanted for F1 licensing. Game maker, Codemasters, turned the right tricks on old Bernard and has won the rights to license a F1 game (and pay F1 an undisclosed, but likely ridiculously high fee). The fun doesn't end there, there's plenty of more details that makes this great news for F1 fans. More »
racing news
Formula 1 Gaming Taking A Vacation?
We have some bad news to those that enjoy getting behind a Formula 1 racer and careening down the track (virtually, that is): it looks as though Formula 1 gaming may be taking a hiatus after a dispute between F1 bossman, Bernie Ecclestone, and Sony, the current F1 license-holder. Way back when, Sony agreed to pay $75 million for a five year licensing deal with F1 between 2002 and 2007. Now F1 is reportedly asking for a big increase that Sony does not want to pay. Don't break out the tissues yet, diehard F1 fans, there are other options available. More »
racing news
NY Times Calls Hillary-Endorsing Sarah Fisher IRL's "Top Woman"
In a long article about the Indiana Democratic Primary, there's a picture of Hillary Clinton getting the endorsement of IRL racer and team-owner Sarah Fisher, with the caption "Hillary Rodham Clinton paid an election-day visit to the Indianapolis Motor Speedway on Tuesday to appear with race car driver Sarah Fisher, a top woman on the Indy car circuit, who endorsed her this week." This is true in the same way that Hillary Clinton is the top performer in the Democratic race for the White House in that "top" here means "supreme but for those other people with superior records." Technicalities. More »
racing news
[YouTube via autoblog.nl]
Lada Takes To The Track, Beware The Bears Of May
When we told you about the Lada WTCC entrant we wondered if someone wasn't trying to play with our love of all things Russian. Would someone really square a Lada against Bimmers, SEATs, Hondas and Chevys? The answer is yes. And we have the video above to prove it. SEAT is currently leading the Manufacturer Championship, but they better watch their back as these two Ladas will be on their tail and sporting Opel power.[YouTube via autoblog.nl]
racing news
Lada To Race In World Touring Car Championship, We're Too Stunned To Make Russian Jokes
Normally, when you see a Lada on these pages it's because it is driving in the subway or has been transformed into a monster. But this time we've got a full fledged race version of the tough Lada 110 that's hoping to compete in the WTCC series opposite 3-series bimmers and Euro-spec Accords. If this is a joke we're biting down hard because we want to believe.More »
ayrton senna
Ayrton Senna's Last Lap
It was 14 years ago to the day that this world lost Ayrton Senna. More »
novelties
BMW Publishes Nürburgring Driving Guide
Maybe Tochio Suzuki doesn't need a guide to the Nürburgring to pilot a Nissan GT-R to a 7:29 lap around the Nordschleife, but we do. How convenient for us BMW decided to publish a handy-dandy corner-to-corner guide to the legendary track. Available as an inconvenient PDF file, the guide provides apexing tips, dangerous corners to watch for, gear selection recommendations and where to brake for greatest effect. Next time we find ourselves in Germany with something delightful and powerful at hand, now we'll be well equipped to turn in lightning fast times. [Bimmerfile]
novelties
The Anatomy Of A Race Car Driver
It pains us to hear it, but everyone is up in arms lately over the racing wins by Danica Patrick and Ashely Force. One of the lingering stances on the matter (and one we heard on that bastion of common sense: talk radio) is that the women have every right to compete and win because racing relies mostly on the car, and not the competitor. Well, anybody whose driven a car faster than 65 mph knows that a car can put strain on the body. Wired put together an excellent infographic detailing parts of the body and what a 200-plus mph can do to it. Click the picture above or the link below to see it in its full glory. If anything, being a race car driver is harder on women who generally have smaller body frames than men, possibly making their victories even more impressive. Now, let the debate begin! [Wired]
vw scirocco
Volkswagen Builds 300 HP Scirocco For Nürburgring 24-Hour Race
A lot of people think VW's upcoming Scirocco could use a little more oomph under the hood. The stock engines are rated from 122 HP to 200 HP, but this new version has a 300 HP version of the 2.0-liter TFSI inline-four. That's because the car has been race-prepped specifically for next month's 24-hour endurance race at the Nürburgring. More »
racing news
Randy Moss To Start NASCAR Truck Team And No, We're Not Joking
Randy Moss, the man who combined with Tom Brady to give us quite the fantasy football season last year (and, apparently, helped take the Patriots to the Super Bowl), is going to be starting a NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series team. Fox Sports is reporting that Moss hopes to get the team running in races later this year in advance of a full 2009 season. At the moment he lacks a manufacturer, a driver and a sponsor. But he's Randy Moss, so that doesn't much matter. Plus, if Dan Marino and Troy Aikman can do it why can't he? More »
racing news
Wife Busts Tony Kanaan's Balls After Qualifying Behind Danica Patrick
She's everywhere these days - Danica Patrick is the Valentina Vladimirovna Tereshkova of open wheel racing and everyone wants a piece of the moment. Well, maybe except teammate Tony Kanaan and his wife. A quick item at Automobile relays a phone call from Kanaan's pregnant wife after he qualified third and behind Patrick at the last Mid-Ohio IRL race. When she heard about the result, she had a question for him: More »
racing news
Ashley Force Wins Funny Car Race, Seriously
After Danica Patrick won her first Indy race, there was a lot of noise from talking heads, with serial bloviators like Pedro de la Rosa and Gregg Doyel weighing in on the topic of women in motorsport. So, to shut up all the skeptics, Ashley Force won at yesterday's NHRA Southern Nationals to become the first female driver to win a national Funny Car event. The victory came against her dad, the legendary John Force, denying him of what would have been his 1000th career win. Her final 1/4-mile run was 4.837 seconds at 320.36 MPH— lets see you macho guys do that without needing to change your underwear. More »
racing news
tire wheel on Heikki Kovalainen' McLaren Mercedes exploded, sending the car straight into a wall. Race stewards at Barcelona worked for about 10 minutes to safely free the Finnish driver from the wreckage who was taken to the track's medical center wearing a neck brace. But all signs point to a full recovery as he gave a reassuring thumbs-up sign to spectators. Mike Utley did that too, right? Kovalainen is said to be in stable condition, which is more than can be said for the shredded McLaren MP4-23. [AP, Axis of Oversteer]
McLaren's Heikki Kovalainen's Close Scare
There was a scary moment at yesterday's Spanish Grand Prix that may not have been as scary as Stephane Ortelli's car flying through the air with the greatest of ease, but was scary nonetheless. The fear factor began when some part of the front left
racing news
