Virgin Racing sporting director John Booth says the team’s first target is to earn the respect of its rivals at the start of next season.

With the team’s VR-01 design on schedule for a first run in February, Booth says he has no doubts about the competitiveness of the outfit’s maiden contender that is being designed by Nick Wirth.

And with the plans for the team having been officially unveiled in London on Tuesday, Booth is keeping ambitions firmly in check.

“I think Nick is a design genius and I have absolute faith in his ability to design a fantastic car,” he said.

“In turn he has the belief in our ability to run it. There is already a great chemistry within the team and this is inspiring a lot of confidence. We’ve kept our heads down for the last few months and just got on with what we needed to do, but now people are starting to see what we are achieving.

“In 2010 my idea of success is to run reliably, safely and efficiently and earn the respect of our peers in the paddock. We need to perform well as a team. Then we can start carrying that through into car performance. Our clear objective is to end the season as the best of the new teams.”

Wirth, whose car will hit the tracks without having been run in a wind-tunnel, says his enthusiasm for F1 has returned after he departed the sport a decade ago.

“This is an incredible day for everyone involved with Virgin Racing,” he said. “The past year has been something of a rollercoaster ride as we first conceived the idea of entering Formula 1 and then navigated the route to our launch today in 12 very busy but rewarding months.

“I am immensely proud to be part of a team that isn’t simply ‘making it to the grid’, but which has surpassed even our wildest expectations – technically, in our racing operation and also commercially.

“When I left the sport in ‘99 I admit that I was disappointed and disillusioned. I felt that Formula 1 had become like Boeing versus Airbus. Teams were spending a million pounds a year on wheel nuts, with hundreds of engineers battling against each other for supremacy.

“I had absolute belief in the digital design approach but I knew I would have to wait for the F1 world to change. So we decided to prove the process in the USA, first in Indy Car and then in Sports Cars, in which we achieved phenomenal success. As soon as I heard about the proposals for a budget-capped Formula 1, the opportunity to prove the all-CFD approach at the highest level was too exciting for words. F1 under resource restriction? Welcome to my world.”

Vitor Meira was glad to sample NASCAR machinery for the first time after joining Nelson Piquet Jr to test a truck series car this week.

Meira ran for Red Horse Racing last Tuesday at Motor Mile Speedway, driving a second Toyota Tundra around the 0.416-mile oval.

Although he has previously stated that he plans to remain in the IndyCar Series, he was full of praise for NASCAR after getting a first taste of it on the track.

“I’m glad that I was able to test this truck to see exactly what it feels like to drive one of these things,” Meira said.

“Will this test lead to something in NASCAR and will I be able to take advantage of it? Time will tell. But, I’m really happy that I did it.

“For every driver in the world, if you don’t look at NASCAR in good eyes, there is something wrong. It is a great form of racing, has great drivers and very good competition. They have done a great job to be recognized as one of the best motorsports, and any driver would be happy to be a part of it.”

Despite his previous oval experience from IndyCar, Meira said driving the heavier NASCAR truck required a totally different approach than a single-seater.

“Coming into the test, I knew a little bit about ovals, but going from an Indy car to this truck, technically, I had to throw everything out the window,” Meira said. “Everything from the terminology, to the feedback you give the engineers and the team to the way the team attempts to fix the problem is different.

“With the truck, many of the changes you can make to make it faster are mechanical, trying to find grip.

“It is like nothing I have ever done. Really, my road course experience in IndyCar and before, helped more than anything I have done on an oval. In the truck, you have to think of the track as a small road course.

“You have to be able to go hard into the corner and brake, but not too hard that you screw up the exit. That is the best way I can describe it.”

Although Meira initially said his test was just to assist Piquet Jr, the 32-year-old ran his own program as the team had two cars for the day’s running at the track.

Vitor Meira was glad to sample NASCAR machinery for the first time after joining Nelson Piquet Jr to test a truck series car this week.

Meira ran for Red Horse Racing last Tuesday at Motor Mile Speedway, driving a second Toyota Tundra around the 0.416-mile oval.

Although he has previously stated that he plans to remain in the IndyCar Series, he was full of praise for NASCAR after getting a first taste of it on the track.

“I’m glad that I was able to test this truck to see exactly what it feels like to drive one of these things,” Meira said.

“Will this test lead to something in NASCAR and will I be able to take advantage of it? Time will tell. But, I’m really happy that I did it.

“For every driver in the world, if you don’t look at NASCAR in good eyes, there is something wrong. It is a great form of racing, has great drivers and very good competition. They have done a great job to be recognized as one of the best motorsports, and any driver would be happy to be a part of it.”

Despite his previous oval experience from IndyCar, Meira said driving the heavier NASCAR truck required a totally different approach than a single-seater.

“Coming into the test, I knew a little bit about ovals, but going from an Indy car to this truck, technically, I had to throw everything out the window,” Meira said. “Everything from the terminology, to the feedback you give the engineers and the team to the way the team attempts to fix the problem is different.

“With the truck, many of the changes you can make to make it faster are mechanical, trying to find grip.

“It is like nothing I have ever done. Really, my road course experience in IndyCar and before, helped more than anything I have done on an oval. In the truck, you have to think of the track as a small road course.

“You have to be able to go hard into the corner and brake, but not too hard that you screw up the exit. That is the best way I can describe it.”

Although Meira initially said his test was just to assist Piquet Jr, the 32-year-old ran his own program as the team had two cars for the day’s running at the track.

Nelson Philippe has joined Conquest Racing for the IndyCar rounds at Sears Point later this month and the October finale at Homestead-Miami.

The 23-year-old Frenchman has previously raced for the team in Champ Cars in 2004-05 and again in 2007, and contested this year’s Indianapolis 500 with HVM Racing.

“I’m very happy to be returning to Conquest Racing, it is an excellent team I have very much enjoyed working with in the past and look forward to working with again this season,” said Philippe.

“I’m excited to get back behind the wheel of an Indy car again and can’t wait to drive it on the road course at Sears Point.”

Conquest also hopes to run Philippe for a full IndyCar campaign in 2010.

“By doing only three races this year, I am keeping my rookie status and I can’t wait to fight for the Rookie of the Year title in 2010. I’d also like to thank Eric [Bachelart, Conquest team owner] for giving me this opportunity.”

Bachelart added: “We’ve always maintained an excellent relationship with Nelson and we’re very happy to have him back with us once again.

“We first had Nelson with us back when he was an 18-year-old rookie and it’s been nice to see him mature into the driver he is today. He had his first taste of the Dallara back in May at Indianapolis and we look forward to seeing him back in an Indy car at Sears Point and Homestead-Miami.”

Philippe holds the record for the youngest driver to start a Champ Car race, at 17, and is also the youngest winner following his victory at Surfers Paradise in 2006 aged 20.

Read more here:
Power dominates at Edmonton

IndyCar Series returnee Dario Franchitti says he has come back to the championship as a stronger character and a better driver after his brief period in NASCAR.

After winning the 2007 IndyCar title, Franchitti left the series with the intention of establishing a stock car career with Ganassi.

But his maiden NASCAR season was disrupted by injury and then came to an early end when the team ran out of funding for his car. He subsequently accepted Ganassi’s offer to return to IndyCar with them.

Despite his disappointment at how 2008 turned out, Franchitti said the challenge of changing series had been positive for him.

“I’ve been driving the Indy car for a long long time – over 10 years – and I got used to driving the car a certain way and I was comfortable in that,” he said.

“When I went over to drive in the NASCAR series, Nationwide or Sprint Cup, I had to take myself out of that comfort zone.

“I had to learn to drive a car completely differently, a lot looser than I would have driven, a completely different feeling, a different style of racing, becoming more aggressive. All those things were pluses and things I learned.

“I’ve been lucky enough in my career to always be with good teams and never have been in a situation of losing a sponsor like that and not being able to run so that was character building. A lot of my friends have gone through that before so I take something away from everything I learned last year.”

Franchitti admitted that he remained frustrated by how quickly his NASCAR bid had ended.

“There’s disappointment that I didn’t win anything,” he said. “I’ve been lucky enough to win in everything I’ve ever done so to come over and have everything cut short by not having a sponsor it was pretty tough to take.

“I felt at the start I was really struggling to understand the car and the cars weren’t particularly competitive at that time either, but the more I ran the better it was getting at driving the cars and understanding the car, the better the team was getting.

“But unfortunately I broke my ankle and that set us back again so it was a character-building year but there were definitely some high times and starting to run more competitively in Sprint Cup was really satisfying for me toward the end.

“Unfortunately for a bunch of reasons, we didn’t get the results we were probably looking at. Then running the Nationwide car and qualifying on pole on the road course, qualifying for the front row at Bristol and running up front there and leading a bunch of laps at that race gave me a lot of satisfaction but it would have been nice to have kept that going, but it wasn’t to be.”

John Bornholdt, John Buffum, Mark Donohue, Denise McCluggage and Grant Reynolds will join the inaugural 10 inductees during the ceremony closing the 2006 SCCA National Convention, February 4 in Kansas City, Mo.

Profiles:

John Bornholdt ­ John Bornholdt has been an SCCA steward since the 1950¹s when he oversaw the Giant¹s Despair Hillclimb, which was then part of the National Championship series. He is considered one of the standards by which fine stewards are measured. He has performed his stewarding tasks with great skill, knowledge, acumen, and ability over many years. Across time he has been a chief steward for most all of the major SCCA Pro Series and the United States Grand Prix, as well as countless Club Races. He is recognized for having administered them with an even hand, ensuring that all constituencies received a fair hearing, and he was recognized with the Woolf Barnato Trophy in 1975, the highest honor bestowed on an SCCA member. John is still active, and remains an example to others in the fine art of stewardship.

John Buffum - John Buffum is the single biggest name in the sport of rally in SCCA¹s history. He is the person that the world thinks of when they think of SCCA and rally. Buffum accrued 11 National SCCA ProRally Championships and more Pro Rally wins than anyone else. He has more FIA rally wins than anyone else, American or otherwise, in history. Outside of rally, Buffum also ran
SCCA Trans-Am in the 1970¹s and was the top Under 2.5 driver in 1973. He
also worked closely with the SCCA National Office and the ProRally Board, and served as SCCA National Pro Rally Steward for a number of years. Additionally, Buffum chaired two “rally of the year” events and was recipient of the Robert Ridges Award presented for exceptional dedication and sportsmanship in the rally program.

Mark Donohue - Donohue is regarded by many as the finest competition driver that SCCA ever produced. Beyond that, he exemplified the concept of the gentleman sportsmen that founded SCCA, even though he competed at the highest levels of motorsports. Donohue was so well respected as a sportsman, as a driver, and as a representative of SCCA, that he was awarded the Woolf Barnato Trophy in 1973. He won a Club Racing National title and the Kimberly Cup in the 1960s. Moving on to professional racing, Donohue was twice USRRC champion. three times Trans-Am champion, and a Can-Am champion. He had considerable success in Endurance competition, including a memorable upset win of the Daytona 24 hours in 1969. He went on to win in Indy cars, including the Indy 500. He died representing America in Formula One, and remained an SCCA member through that time. He served as an officer for the RRDC (Road Racing Drivers Club), which named its top honor the ³Mark Donohue Award,² presented annually to a driver at the SCCA National Championship Runoffs.

Denise McCluggage ­ Denise McCluggage proved to the world that women could compete in both SCCA and international racing. She was one of the first women road racers and she parlayed that notoriety into a motorsports journalism career that is still going strong today. She did not hold an office in the club, but she did do something that no one else had done, and arguably that no one else was properly suited to do at the time. In so doing, she gained great exposure for the Club and opened numerous doors for women, not only in SCCA, but in motorsports in general. McCluggage continues to be a renowned journalist and author, and served as the keynote speaker for the 2005 SCCA National Convention.

Grant Reynolds ­ Grant Reynolds was the second Chairman of the Solo Events Committee. He persuaded the Board of Governors to give the committee full Board status as the Solo Events Board, making it equal to the Club Racing Competition Board. It was also under Reynolds¹ leadership that the Solo Events Board integrated the gymkhannas being staged by various independent clubs, into what we now know as Solo. He proposed the idea of a National Championship event for Solo and helped create the first one. Reynolds is still an active race steward today.

The five 2006 inductees will join this year¹s class, including: Cameron Argetsinger, A. Tracy Bird, John Fitch, Arthur Gervais, Harry Handley, Vern Jaques, Bill Milliken, Sue Roethel, Art Trier and Rob Walker.

The Hall of Fame formation was announced February 7, 2004 at the National Convention with a mission ³to preserve, protect, recognize and record SCCA¹s accomplishments and history for current and future members through recognizing and honoring dedicated and loyal members who have made significant contributions to the development of Sports Car Club of America and its goals.²

Nominations were submitted to and reviewed by a Hall of Fame Selection Committee. Of the nominated individuals, five were selected for the 2006 Class.

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2006 SCCA Hall of Fame Class Announced; Champions Buffum, Donohue Among Inductees

ESPN RUSSELL RACING SCHOOLS PUT RACING FANS IN DRIVER’S SEAT

Bristol, CT & Sonoma, CA – (May 25, 2004) – ESPN, the Worldwide Leader in Sports, and Jim Russell Racing Drivers School, the pioneer and premier name in racing and driving instruction, announced today they have created the ESPN Russell Racing Schools, which includes the SCCA Formula Russell Championship. The ESPN Russell Racing Schools will introduce a wider cross section of North American sports fans to the exciting world of auto racing, combining ESPN’s vast media resources and Jim Russell’s expertise in professional driving instruction.

This is the latest agreement for ESPN Enterprises, the ESPN division charged with creating, launching and incubating new business opportunities – working independently or with outside partners. The launch of the new racing brand is timed to take advantage of the growing interest in motorsports. More than 20 million fans attend auto racing events annually and millions more watch racing on television.

“ESPN Enterprises is building a network of leading sports instruction schools, which started with the ESPN Golf Schools and now includes a racing school,” said Rick Alessandri, senior vice president and general manager of ESPN Enterprises. “Our companies have a shared belief in the growth potential of the schools and feel this agreement will benefit both organizations, as well as casual and avid auto racing fans.”

Each week, 94 million people interact with ESPN media – watching, listening, reading and logging on.

The ESPN Russell Racing Schools offer more than 10 different programs to race fans and driving enthusiasts from its base location at Infineon Raceway in Sonoma, Calif., and with courses held at famous racetracks around the country.

For amateur racers and aspiring professionals, the schools offer courses ranging from half-day “test drives” to three-day advanced racing classes in open-wheel formula racecars. Drivers interested in competing can enter the “arrive-and-drive” championship racing series. On its state-of-the-art karting track, the schools offer sprint and shifter karting classes for drivers ages 8 and older, in addition to an “arrive-and-drive” competitive series.

Additional courses include high performance driving classes at Infineon Raceway and through Performance Track Days at tracks across the country, defensive driving for teens and adults, and corporate programs to train commercial drivers or to entertain teams of employees.

The school also operates an internationally recognized Mechanics Training Program to train men and women to become race car mechanics.

“Few sports can match the thrill of racecar driving on a challenging race track,” said Ken Ude, president of the ESPN Russell Racing Schools. “This landmark partnership will introduce more people to the sport of racing with the highest caliber of racing and driving instruction offered in the industry.”

Instructors at the ESPN Russell Racing Schools have trained numerous champions in all of the top racing series including IRL, NASCAR and Formula One. Russell alums include:

- Tony Stewart –IRL Series winner and NASCAR champion
- Emerson Fittipaldi — two-time Indy 500 champion, two-time Formula One winner and CART series champion
- Danny Sullivan — Indy 500 and CART PPG Indy Car World Series winner
- Jacques Villeneuve — Indy 500 winner

Other rising stars who have trained at the school include Nextel Cup driver Kasey Kahne and Red Bull F1 Driver Search scholar Scott Speed.

Initially the ESPN Russell Racing Schools will operate from a base location at Infineon Raceway, a 12-turn, 2.5-mile road course on the NASCAR circuit in Sonoma, Calif. Additional locations are planned.

About ESPN Russell Racing Schools

Racing legend Jim Russell created the racing school industry more than 45 years ago. For more than three decades, the Jim Russell Racing Drivers School in North America has been dedicated to teaching true racing techniques to professional drivers and people looking for the experience of a lifetime. The school, now called ESPN Russell Racing Schools, employs professional instructors and offers more seat time in the most powerful, well-maintained race cars of any driving school. The schools operate from its home base at Infineon Raceway in Sonoma, Calif., www.espnrussellracing.com

About ESPN

ESPN, Inc. is the world’s leading multinational, multimedia sports entertainment company featuring a portfolio of over 40 multimedia sports assets. The company is comprised of seven domestic television networks (ESPN, ESPN2, ESPN Classic, ESPNEWS, ESPN Deportes, ESPN Now, ESPN Today), ESPN HD, ESPN Regional Television, ESPN International (networks and syndication), ESPN Radio, ESPN.com, ESPN The Magazine, SportsTicker, ESPN Enterprises, ESPN Zones (sports-themed restaurants), and other growing new businesses including ESPN Broadband, ESPN Wireless, ESPN Video-on-Demand, ESPN Interactive and ESPN PPV. Based in Bristol, Ct., ESPN is 80 percent owned by ABC, Inc., which is an indirect subsidiary of The Walt Disney Company. The Hearst Corporation holds a 20 percent interest in ESPN.

Link this article: http://www.scca.com/News/News.asp?Ref=42

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Russell, ESPN Launch New Motorsports Brand