IndyCar News

The new, 13-race, Indy Racing League calendar provides not just an enlarged challenge for drivers and teams, but also takes in all corners of the USA.

Mark Blundell has another mountain to climb on Sunday in the final round of this year's Fed-Ex Championship if he is to sign off his PacWest career with a victory after he could only manage 21st position on the grid.

Marlboro Team Penske driver Gil De Ferran wrote his name in the record books on Saturday as he took his Reynard-Honda around the two-mile Fontana Superspeedway at an average speed of 241.428 mph for a best lap of 30.255 seconds and his fifth pole position of the 2000 season.

Adrian Fernandez finally confirmed yesterday that he is to run his own team of Reynard-Honda's in the 2001 CART Fed-Ex Championship even though he is in contention to win this year's CART title with current employer Pat Patrick.

Team Zakspeed Forsythe Racing became the second new outfit to announce their entry into the CART Fed-Ex Championship this weekend when team boss Peter Zakowski confirmed an exciting new partnership with Gerald Forsythe.

1. Gil De Ferran BRA Reynard-Honda Team Penske 30.255secs. 2. Michael Andretti USA Lola-Ford Newman-Haas 30.550secs. 3. Christian Fittipaldi BRA Lola-Ford Newman-Haas 30.553secs. 4. Helio Castroneves BRA Reynard-Honda Team Penske 30.561secs.

'PPI Motorsports driver Oriol Servia has become the latest CART rookie to come under scrutiny from the series organisers after the Spaniard became embroiled in several debatable incidents during the last round of the Fed-Ex series at Surfers Paradise.

John Della Penna's Champcar outfit has suffered a crushing blow with the announcement that Toyota will not supply it with engines next season.

CART officials confirmed on Monday that next year's Rio 200 will not be the 2001 season curtain-raiser on February 11th as originally planned nor will it take place on the current 1.8-mile quad oval that has been home to the race for the past four years.

Indy Racing star Stephan Gregoire walked away from a crash during a test session at Texas Motor Speedway this afternoon [Thursday].

The future of PPI Motorsports could be decided in the next few weeks as team owner Cal Wells seeks a replacement for driver Cristiano da Matta and a deal with Ford for engines.

As rumoured, Michael Andretti will line up with Team Green in 2001, running a Reynard-Honda backed by communications giant Motorola.

As expected, Indy Lights driver Jason Bright will make his Champcar debut at Surfers' Paradise next month.

There have been days when Al Unser Jr's performance on the race track has been described as 'monstrous' but, come the Excite 500 race at Texas Motor Speedway, Little Al's car will be a monster again...literally.

Despite not exactly having a love affair with the track that nearly ended his career last season, Mark Blundell buckled down and put in 110% with a car that was virtually undrivable on Friday to give himself a shot at a top 12 grid position going into Saturday's single qualifying session for Sund

Despite trying some major set-up changes in Sunday mornings final warm-up session, Mark Blundell was still left with almost no grip on his PacWest Reynard-Mercedes and entered Sunday's race with a car that was exceptionally difficult to drive on such a tight, bumpy street circuit.

The late Greg Moore was commemorated in his home town when the Molson Indy Vancouver witnessed the unveiling of two memorial awards in his honour.

Dale Coyne has changed his driver line-up for (hopefully) the final time this year, announcing that ex-Toyota Atlantics star Alex Barron will race the No. 19 Lola-Ford previously pedalled by Gualter Salles and Takuya Kurosawa.

With much discussion surrounding CART's expansion into Europe next year and its own 22 race schedule, the fact that the rival Indy Racing Northern Light Series is also planning to embark on its biggest ever season at the same time has almost gone unnoticed.

The October finale for Indy Racing's Northern Light Series at Texas Motor Speedway is getting a new name, as the Excite@Home-sponsored event becomes the 'Excite 500.'

All Champ Cars will be fitted with the Head and Neck Support system (HANS) in 2001 after the device was made mandatory this week by the CART Team Owners.

With 2001 driver/engine contracts seemingly changing on a daily basis, here are the latest possibilities from stateside.

With seven winners from seven races so far this year, it is unsurprising to learn that the inaugural Belterra Resort Indy 300 is wide open with any number of drivers in with a chance of victory.