Saturday, August 25, 2007

Four Quick Predictions For Tomorrow

Well, the repaved, rebanked, kinder-and-gentler Bristol was kind of a letdown tonight. The newly minted second groove made it race like a pocket-sized Atlanta Motor Speedway. Not unentertaining by any stretch, but not...I dunno...not Bristol, either. Carl Edwards stunk out the joint and won while too many Chase contenders played it conservative and were more focused on finishing than winning. Anyway, on to a full day of racing tomorrow...including a rare live Sunday afternoon show from the American Le Mans Series (whose races usually run on Saturday and are shown on tape-delay the next day). Let's get after it:

Formula One: Turkish Grand Prix at Istanbul Park

(Surprise...it's all about Ferrari and McLaren)

1. Felipe Massa (Ferrari)
2. Lewis Hamilton (McLaren)
3. Fernando Alonso (McLaren)

The names never change, do they? Those two teams are simply dominating this season.

Champ Cars: Belgian Grand Prix at Zolder

First off, I can't wait to see a real race at Zolder. I've only "seen" it as part of the Pro Race Driver series games for the PS2. Long straightaways, impossible curves, and three bus-stop chicanes providing prime overtaking opportunities. Should be a good show.

1. Sebastien Bourdais
2. Justin Wilson
3. Robert Doornbos

IRL : Motorola Indy 300 at Infineon Raceway

Infineon, which will always be Sears Point to me, is one of my favorite road courses. The Indy cars look cramped at The Glen but they can really stretch their legs out at Infineon. The former Champ Car guys and road specialists will have a big edge tomorrow.

1. Scott Dixon
2. Dario Franchitti
3. Tony Kanaan

ALMS: Grand Prix Of Mosport at Mosport International Raceway

I love sportscar racing. The spec series stuff like Grand-Am is entertaining but the ALMS is the place to see actual, recognizable marques competing against each other. I always make the trip over to Road Atlanta for the ten-hour ALMS Petit Le Mans. A very up-close and personal, fan-friendly series with some sweetass cars. My picks for each production class:

P1 (and overall winner): Audi R10. Alan McNish/Dindo Capello, drivers
P2: Porsche RS Spyder. Romain Dumas/Timo Bernhard, drivers
GT1: Corvette C6.R. Olivier Beretta/Ollie Gavin, drivers
GT2: Ferrari 430GT Berlinetta. Mika Salo/Jaime Melo, drivers

No comments: