Red Bull Owns Front Row for 2010 Chinese Grand Prix after Qualifying

Photo Credit: Mercedes GP

The 2010 Formula 1 has been anything but predictable so far as the teams entered Shanghai to run the Chinese Grand Prix. In a fresh case in point, day 1 practice in China saw substantial strength coming from the Mercedes-engine teams. In both practices, McLaren and Mercedes GP held the top-4 spots on the time sheet. However, as a new day dawned over the Shanghai International Circuit, Red Bull Racing used the day 2 final practice reminded the Formula 1 world that they're the most recent winning manufacturer thanks to Vettel's Malaysia Grand Prix victory.

In qualifying for the Chinese Grand Prix, the Red Bull Racing team made use of their found speed to elevate them to the top in final Q3 session. In a fight amongst team drivers Sebastian Vettel and Mark Webber, the duo provided a titanic battle for which one would hold the preferred #1 grid position. Through the final minute, Mark Webber delivered a lap that topped a mark by Vettel. Seeking revenge after a lost opportunity to start on pole for his home grand prix in Australian, Mark Webber looked poised to start on pole until Vettel retaliated bettering Webber in the final seconds of qualifying with a 1 minute, 34.558 second time. Undefeated in grand prix qualifying so far this season, Red Bull-Renaults have been piloted to pole 3 times with Vettel and once by Webber who grabbed the previous Malaysia Grand Prix round. Red Bull Racing cars will start 1st and 2nd for the second time for a 2010 grand prix race.

Being particularly quiet through the first day at Shanghai International Circuit, a partial awaking took place within the Ferrari team as Fernando Alonso stormed through to third place with his F2010. Ferrari teammate Felipe Massa remains slightly off-pace in China climbing to the 7th spot on the grid.

A remnant to Mercedes-Benz dominance on Friday, a Mercedes GP team car was driven to 4th overall after Q3. Nico Rosberg again bested his seven-time World F1 driver champion teammate Micheal Schumacher who will be starting 5 positions back for the 2010 Chinese Grand Prix in 9th place. Rosberg's efforts also spoiled the work of McLaren Mercedes who has slotted right behind the factory Mercedes Formula 1 car. Starting 5th, Jenson Button will have Lewis Hamilton closely alongside with the start.

With the Chinese Grand Prix scheduled to run at 4 p.m. local time in Shanghai, (3 a.m. Eastern time) a very real possibility of rain showers exists for the region of China according to current forecasts.

2010 Formula 1
Chinese Grand Prix
Starting Order

1. Sebastian Vettel Red Bull-Renault
2. Mark Webber Red Bull-Renault
3. Nico Rosberg Mercedes GP
4. Fernando Alonso Ferrari
5. Jenson Button McLaren-Mercedes
6. Lewis Hamilton McLaren-Mercedes
7. Felipe Massa Ferrari
8. Robert Kubica Renault F1
9. Michael Schumacher Mercedes GP
10. Adrian Sutil Force India-Mercedes
11. Rubens Barrichello Williams-Cosworth
12. Jaime Alguersuari STR-Ferrari
13. Sebastien Buemi STR-Ferrari
14. Vitaly Petrov Renault
15. Kamui Kobayashi BMW Sauber-Ferrari
16. Nico Hulkenberg Williams-Cosworth
17. Pedro de la Rosa BMW Sauber-Ferrari
18. Vitantonio Liuzzi Force India-Mercedes
19. Timo Glock Virgin-Cosworth
20. Jarno Trulli Lotus-Cosworth
21. Heikki Kovalainen Lotus-Cosworth
22. Lucas di Grassi Virgin-Cosworth
23. Bruno Senna HRT-Cosworth
24. Karun Chandhok HRT-Cosworth

Ryan Hunter-Reay Tops Tight Friday Practice for Long Beach IndyCar Race

Photo Credit: Jim Haines

For the 3rd time in 4 races to kick off the 2010 IZOD IndyCar Series season, the open wheel racers will be let loose on a temporary street circuit. A tight but competitive street course, the 1.968 mile Long Beach track hosts some tight, heavy-braking zones that allow daring drivers to attempt gains in position. Following the unfortunately lethargic running of the inaugural Barber Motorsports Park for the IZOD IndyCar Series, drivers will probably be taking stake in knowing the 2010 Toyota Grand Prix of Long Beach is a more familiar open wheel stumping ground.

On Friday, two practice sessions allowed the IZOD IndyCar drivers to let loose. In the late morning first practice, Will Power asserted himself in the Verizon-sponsored #12 Penske Racing car. Though Will Power's 2010 winning streak was broken at Barber Motorsports Park last week, the Australian driver possesses a positive opportunity to restart a streak at Toyota Grand Prix of Long Beach. Competing on the California streets in both Champ Car and the IRL/IndyCar Series, Will Power claimed the distinction of being the last race winner in the Champ Car series by winning the 2008 Long Beach farewall. In last year's race under IRL/IndyCar sanction, Power took pole but would finish 2nd for Dario Franchitti. Posting fast laps behind Power within the first practice session, lap times for Indy Grand Prix of Alabama winner Helio Castroneves and Target/Chip Ganassi Racing's Scott Dixon were less than 0.14 seconds slower.

With fastest laps in the Friday morning session residing above the 1 minute, 11.4 second range, a warmer track surface combined with race crews fine-tuning their Indy cars allowed for a much quicker session of lapping. With 8 drivers clocked at completing laps under 1 minute, 11 seconds, Ryan Hunter-Reay driving the IZOD #37 for Andretti Autosport was almost 8/10th of a second faster than Power's morning mark. Ryan Briscoe rose to the occasion of this second practice also by posting his #6 Penske Racing car in the runner-up spot on the time charts. Second fastest, Briscoe's teammates Will Power as well as Helio Castroneves encountered a slight backslide in their time chart positions settling into 5th and 9th after the session. "We're really pushing each other a lot. There's a really good vibe within." Briscoe responded on the Penske website about the shared comradeship of the 3-car Penske Racing team.

As drivers reduced their lap times in discovering their pinnacle for the weekend, the mid-afternoon practice also saw the field close together. While the top-15 cars were within a 1 second margin to the leader, inside this congested time sheet saw the top-5 runners within less than 1/4 seconds. One driver inside the top-5 for the second practice was the FAZZT Race Team's and their driver Alex Tagliani. Placing seventh fastest in the morning with the session including Tagliani's making minor collision with a turn 5 tire barrier, the Canadian driver mounted an improved 4th place run with his #77 La Capsule Sportive/Adonis Products/Honda Indy Edmonton car.



Photo Credit: Ron McQueeney

Using some artful pit decisions at Barber Motorsport Park to move them from 21st to 10th place by the end of the race, the young team to the IZOD IndyCar Series tour is looking at Long Beach to improve as their season best 6th place at St Petersburg. "Obviously finishing the first day in position four is a great achievement for us. We kind of knew that Long Beach was going to be a more suitable track for our car. We are still in the learning process and I think today we learned a lot and made very good changes to the car." Tagliani commented on the FAZZT Race Team website.

Qualifying for the 2010 Toyota Grand Prix of Long Beach is scheduled for the IZOD IndyCar Series for 2:30 p.m. on Saturday.

Tony Stewart Earns Long Overdue Pole Position at Texas

Photo Credit: NASCAR Media

Departing a three-race stretch which kept the NASCAR Sprint Cup season limited to tracks 1 mile and under, the stock car circuit enters the Lone Star state to compete on the ultra-fast Texas Motor Speedway.

Prepping for the Samsung Mobile 500, the Sprint Cup tour returns to the track which last season gave a slim chance for someone other than Jimmie Johnson to win the 2009 Sprint Cup championship. Now 2010, some NASCAR fans will probably be relishing a prospect that the 1.5 mile Texas Motor Speedway could curb Johnson and the #48 Chevrolet who has already enjoyed 3 wins in 7 races. Of course, providing competition for Johnson and Hendrick so far in this young 2010 season is the Penske Racing Dodge of Kurt Busch as well as the #17 Roush Fenway Racing Ford driven by Matt Kenseth.

With speeds averaging over 190 miles per hour guaranteed through qualifying, teams have been eagerly awaited the Texas race weekend as the true test for the rear spoiler configuration with the current spec Sprint Cup car. Whether stability and control will indeed improve racing will be demonstrated in Sunday's Samsung Mobile 500. However, Friday qualifying for the major NASCAR Sprint Cup event concentrates efforts for only 1 or a possible 2 lap run.

Triumphing in securing the top spot for the Samsung Mobile 500, the #14 Office Depot Chevrolet of Tony Stewart ran a top average speed of 191.327 miles per hour. Recorded as his first Sprint Cup series pole since the fall race at Martinsville in 2005, Stewart's last time starting 1st for a race occurred in a run to his 2nd NASCAR Cup Series championship. Comparing the 2010 qualifying effort to the fall of 2009 on the race track, the time was just 3/100ths of a second faster with the deck lid spoiler compared to a wing mount.

Starting beside the #14 Chevrolet of Stewart, Sam Hornish Jr #12 Dodge mustered a strong run in qualifying to secure the front row spot. While the presence of #12 Penske Racing Dodge in a front row starting position isn't a mainstay, it's interesting to note that Sam Hornish Jr has habitually found consistent qualifying speed at Texas Motor Speedway. Texas is tied for 2nd in his Sprint Cup career for average qualifying attempts.

Rounding out the top 5 for the Samsung Mobile 500 is the cars of Greg Biffle, Jimmie Johnson and this week's most talked about driver Kasey Kahne. A highlight from the NASCAR newswire has been the announcement that Kahne would be joining the mighty Hendrick Motorsports team in 2012. Determined to make the most from the majority of the 2010 NASCAR Sprint Cup schedule still yet to be run, Kahne's devotion is invested in the #9 Dodge of Richard Petty Motorsports.

Kyle Busch in the #18 Joe Gibbs Racing car is the highest qualifying Toyota for Sunday's race. Since the Toyota entered Sprint Cup racing in 2007, the Japanese auto company has yet to find victory lane at Texas Motor Speedway.

Amongst other notable drivers, Dale Earnhardt Jr will start 9th, Texas winner from last fall Kurt Busch starts 11th, Jeff Gordon anchors in 12th and 2nd place in Sprint Cup driver points Matt Kenseth will start deep in 28th place.

Samsung Mobile 500 Qualifying
2010 NASCAR Sprint Cup
Texas Motor Speedway

Top 10

1) 14 Tony Stewart        Office Depot/Old Spice Chevrolet
2) 77 Sam Hornish Jr.        Mobil 1 Dodge
3) 16 Greg Biffle        3M Post-it Ford
4) 48 Jimmie Johnson        Lowe's Chevrolet
5) 9 Kasey Kahne        Budweiser Ford
6) 31 Jeff Burton        Caterpillar Chevrolet
7) 18 Kyle Busch        Interstate Batteries Toyota
8) 33 Clint Bowyer        Cheerios/Hamburer Helper Chevrolet
9) 88 Dale Earnhardt Jr.     AMP Energy/National Guard Chevrolet
10) 39 Ryan Newman        U.S. ARMY ROTC Chevrolet

Other Notables

11)      2 Kurt Busch       Miller Lite Dodge
12)     24 Jeff Gordon       DuPont/National Guard Special Forces
15)  1 Jamie McMurray       Bass Pro Shops/Tracker Boats Chevrolet
17) 43 A J Allmendinger      Insignia/Best Buy Ford
18) 20 Joey Logano       Home Depot Toyota
19) 29 Kevin Harvick       Shell/Pennzoil Chevrolet
20) 99 Carl Edwards       Scotts Ford
21) 42 Juan Pablo Montoya    Target Chevrolet
27) 13 Max Papis       GEICO Toyota
28) 17 Matt Kenseth       Crown Royal Black Ford
29) 11 Denny Hamlin       FedEx Ground Toyota
30)      5 Mark Martin       Hendrickcars.com/GoDaddy.com Chevrolet
42) 83 Brian Vickers         Red Bull Toyota
43) 32 Reed Sorenson       Dollar General Stores Toyota