ELKHART LAKE, Wis. — Thoughts racing through my head while debating the pros and cons of having another Road America bratwurst …
n I’m so pleased and excited for Sebastien Bourdais to finally get a crack at Formula One — and not just because other drivers will have a better chance of winning Champ Car races.
There’s no doubt that the Champ Car field isn’t as strong or deep as it was in the mid-1990s, but the fact that the Frenchman has won an incredible 40 percent of the races he has run speaks volumes. Only the diminished reputation of American open-wheel racing around the world prevented him from having an F-1 opportunity until now.
Bourdais never dreamed of spending five years of his career in America, but it appears to have been a worthwhile detour. He’s made dozens of lifelong friends at the tightest-knit team in American motorsports (Newman/Haas/ Lanigan Racing), and by winning as much as he has, he hasn’t hurt his reputation.
Michael Andretti, Alex Zanardi, Cristiano da Matta and even Jacques Villeneuve gave Champ Car racing a bad name in European circles, but Bourdais should be able to reverse that trend. He works harder as a racer than Michael, is younger and more motivated than Zanardi was when he finally got his F-1 chance, and mentally tougher than da Matta. And he’s a hell of a lot more polite than Villeneuve!
It’s a natural for the Le Mans, France, native to return home to race and a culmination of his dreams. Here’s hoping that Scuderia Toro Rosso produces a competitive car for 2008 and that Sebastien is able to do enough with it to impress every decision maker at Renault not named Flavio Briatore.
n What on earth was Champ Car thinking when it revoked Robin Miller’s hard card? He’s only the most visible and influential journalist that covers the series, not to mention one of its few advocates — well, former advocate.
OK, Miller stepped over the line in his public criticisms of Paul Gentilozzi and Steve Johnson. That’s nothing new from him. It’s why he is beloved by racing fans and hated by the so-called movers and shakers of the sport.
The Champ Car party line is that Miller is not banned from covering the series; he’s just had the convenience of a hard card taken away, though it could be reinstated in the future. He’s free to apply for paper credentials from individual venues.
But after fighting for the good of open-wheel racing for the last 40 years — and for the survival of the Champ Car formula over the last decade — why would Robin want to spend his time and money covering the series?
n It was great to see decent crowds back at Road America, though anybody who thought they rivaled the early ’90s was kidding themselves.
A fascinating comparison would be the actual attendance numbers from Road America’s ALMS/Champ Car twin bill and the ALMS/IRL doubleheader at Mid-Ohio three weeks ago. That track also attracted what was called its largest auto-racing crowd in many years.
It would also be interesting to see a breakdown of how the tickets at each venue were sold or distributed. It is estimated that up to 50 percent of the Mid-Ohio attendance was Honda employees, who received free tickets to the Honda-sponsored event.
n After watching Dario Franchitti take flight for the second time in as many weeks in his car — not his helicopter — I’m hoping that the Scotsman will retire from open-wheel racing (well, the IRL at least) at the end of the season, whether he wins the IndyCar championship or not.
Dario is one of the sport’s true good guys, and I’d hate to see him injured or worse in what I consider the most dangerous form of racing. And that’s when the cars actually stay on the ground.