Bartender Rumors #7

Alright, I might had forgotten to get questions from Twitter, as I had originally planned to head over before the weekend, but then realized there was a race on Friday night, which changed my plans. So I bring you rumors only, no responses, sorry, I'll make up for it.

Anyways, I went by last night and here is what the good man had to tell you and me.

-He says LDR will be a two car team in 2010, no news on driver. He still expects Takuma Sato at LDR for Homestead.

-He says asides from the FAZZT Racing team with driver Alex Tagliani, you can expect one more new (or old) team for 2010, one that no one is talking about.

-Sponsorship packages are hurting for 2010. Teams are hoping that the Homestead numbers turn out to be very good being the championship deciding race. They figure that will finish the season off on a good note, and help sell sponsors on Versus.

-Vision will answer the call in 2010, but one other team won't.

-He says Brazil is 50/50 at the moment.

-A1GP is counting on Brazil happening because they want to be a support race, and have already held discussions with the IRL. They have scheduled their race in Brazil for the same weekend.

-VW may use the IRL as a way to introduce the high end Phaethon back to the USA. They are planning to relaunch the previously failed model to the US in 2011 or 2012.

-Milka is back full time for 2010.

Lots of stuff to go through here, what are your thoughts.

PS: The bartender wants you to sign the petition to bring in more chassis manufacturers in 2012!

A Little Canadian Content

After countless emails and complaints, I must have finally gotten through to someone in the IRL. I've been hounding them constantly telling them "less Americans, more Canadians". Finally they have answered my pleas.

Turns out James Hinchcliffe of Hinchtown, Canada will be running the lucky number 7 (better then Viso's idea of luck) for Sam Schmidt Motorsports in the Firestone Indy Lights series.

Some of you might have heard of James, he has quite the Open-Wheel resumé.

• Rookie of the Year, Formula BMW USA - 2004


• Star Mazda, Series 3rd, 3 Wins - 2005


• Atlantics, Best Series Finish of 4th, multiple wins and pole positions - 2006 to 2008


• A1GP, Multiple Podiums - 2007-2008

James is one of the most personable characters you'll meet and quite possibly one of the funniest as well. In 2006 and 2007 he did work on the International CCWS race feeds doing commentary and I'd say he was better then the American CCWS commentary on most weeks.

Hopefully James will be kicking ass in the FIL series as he definately has the experience on road courses, and he seemed to enjoy his first experience on ovals.

"Ovals are obviously a new thing for me, but I have enjoyed them more than I
thought I would. It is a completely different skill set, and I know I have
a ton to learn, but with the experience of guys like (team owner) Sam Schmidt,
(engineer) Tim Neff, and (team manager) Chris Griffis behind me, I know that my
oval education is in great hands." - Firestone Indy
Lights Site

I'm sure Hinch will have some good times this season and will be a joy for the media to follow around now and then. Also, make sure you check out Hinchtown.com throughout the year as I'm sure he'll have some video blogs on there and some funny stuff as well. I know I will do my best to bump into him at the Honda Indy Toronto.

Time To Get Montreal

I might sound biased as I say this, but I guarentee you, if I was an American, an Australian, or a Brazilian, I would still be saying this.

With rumours swirling that A1GP wants to grab a race at Circuit Gilles Villeneuve in Montreal next year (if they last that long), now is the time the IRL needs to get on the phone and work out a deal to get into Montreal for 2010.

This track brings in plenty of fans every year and even during the CC years, the track was well attended and these fans love their open wheel racing. I guarentee that if the IRL gets to Montreal, they will fill that place up with the lack of F1. And if we let A1Gp get into that track before we do, chances are we lose Montreal for a long time, which we can't let happen.

Before you all go saying, "Canada doesn't need another IRL race", who cares about how many races Canada has. This is a North-American series. You look at Watkins Glen and you see the crowd filled with Canadians. You have to understand that a large percentage of IRL fans are Canadians. On top of that, a race at CGV is a good race. The race would be on TV, and what a race it would be. That track always produces great sightlines and good racing. It would translate to television very well and viewers everywhere would enjoy watching this race.

In this time, we need to put races on TV that people want to watch as well as races that bring in the fans, and I know, and the IRL would be stupid if they didn't know Montreal can do that.

And once A1Gp gets in there, that fills up the CGV schedule as they are only allowed so many weekends per year. With A1GP there, they would fill the place up with the similarity to F1 in cars. But the thing that would really fill the place up would be the French A1Gp car for the French supporters and the Canadian A1GP for the Canadian supporters. If they get into CGV, we won't see that place until A1GP dies.

So please, TG or BB, make it happen. Be smart and show some balls and pick up the phone and find a promoter. Ask Tony Cotman, he knows how important that race would be.