Today marks 10 years since one of racing's brightest stars perished in a devastating one-car accident at Fontana.
Greg Moore touched so many in such a short time, and I am not the best person by any stretch of the imagination to fully pay tribute because I was 10 when it happened. But the few CART races I attended between 1996 and 1999, I witnessed first hand what a genuine and amazing individual Greg Moore was.
My tribute is here and is one of many that have been penned on the memories Greg left on the world of racing and the world in general.
Also read these ones authored by Robin Miller , John Oreovicz, Curt Cavin, Gordon McIntyre and Michele-Marie Beer.
Out for now, cheers.
Saturday, October 31, 2009
Tuesday, October 20, 2009
Pushing to mid-term break
Sorry for no updates over the last couple weeks. Seemingly I have anywhere between 2-5 papers per week with the combination of class, Marquette Tribune and Marquette Journal articles.
Racing-wise Jenson Button has in fact wrapped the Formula 1 title in Brazil, capping a really stunning year when he and the team formerly known as Honda faced the brink of extinction but saved by Ross Brawn and co., winning 6 of the first 7 races and making fewer mistakes down the stretch despite lacking the raw pace and results of the rest of the competitors. Spare a thought for Rubens Barrichello, though, once again the bridesmaid in F1 and at his home race, this time thanks to a late-race puncture.
ALMS had an incredible battle between Jorg Bergmeister and Jan Magnussen for the GT2 win at Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca, a controversial accident between the two on the front straight of the last lap.
And Atlantic wound up with John Edwards snatching the title from both his teammate Jonathan Summerton and season-long points leader Simona de Silvestro at the final race. I hope the series lasts into 2010 but with a microscopic car count and reported lack of payout to this year's competitors according to SPEEDTV.com reports, I'm not overly optimistic.
IndyCar - ranked 4th on this review, that shows how low I think it's fallen - ended with Dario Franchitti taking the title on a fuel mileage win over Scott Dixon and Ryan Briscoe. The Ganassi/Penske brigade swept 16 of 17 races in a very forgettable season, the series also not helped by its move to VERSUS despite improved time commitments and better coverage. Much uncertainty in that series' future.
Still a couple things in the pipeline I am waiting to go online. Otherwise this mid-term break will be a very needed bit of time off from a very hectic and draining first half of the first semester of junior year. Out for now, cheers.
Racing-wise Jenson Button has in fact wrapped the Formula 1 title in Brazil, capping a really stunning year when he and the team formerly known as Honda faced the brink of extinction but saved by Ross Brawn and co., winning 6 of the first 7 races and making fewer mistakes down the stretch despite lacking the raw pace and results of the rest of the competitors. Spare a thought for Rubens Barrichello, though, once again the bridesmaid in F1 and at his home race, this time thanks to a late-race puncture.
ALMS had an incredible battle between Jorg Bergmeister and Jan Magnussen for the GT2 win at Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca, a controversial accident between the two on the front straight of the last lap.
And Atlantic wound up with John Edwards snatching the title from both his teammate Jonathan Summerton and season-long points leader Simona de Silvestro at the final race. I hope the series lasts into 2010 but with a microscopic car count and reported lack of payout to this year's competitors according to SPEEDTV.com reports, I'm not overly optimistic.
IndyCar - ranked 4th on this review, that shows how low I think it's fallen - ended with Dario Franchitti taking the title on a fuel mileage win over Scott Dixon and Ryan Briscoe. The Ganassi/Penske brigade swept 16 of 17 races in a very forgettable season, the series also not helped by its move to VERSUS despite improved time commitments and better coverage. Much uncertainty in that series' future.
Still a couple things in the pipeline I am waiting to go online. Otherwise this mid-term break will be a very needed bit of time off from a very hectic and draining first half of the first semester of junior year. Out for now, cheers.
Monday, October 5, 2009
Update on things
It's been a highly eventful and tumultuous last couple weeks. For starters, coming up in the next week are two exams (one of which is a take-home term paper), two Tribune articles, my first car column for the Marquette Journal, and two motorsport.com articles.
Thursday last week I had the interview to chat with both Dario Franchitti and Allan McNish. Franchitti is one of three drivers looking for the IndyCar Series title this weekend at Homestead though there is no buzz whatsoever, I am hearing. McNish has a new Future Driver Search he and a panel of judges from the Jim Russell Racing School will be conducting in December at Infineon Raceway in Sonoma. Both of those articles will be posted later this week.
The stress is not only school/work-related, but also because of the epic football game that commences this evening: yes, Packers-Vikings with Brett Favre at the helm. My thoughts on that can be found in my class blog, The JOUR 4200 Special:
http://j4200tonydizinno.blogspot.com/
As things are crazy, that is just an update. Out for now, cheers.
Thursday last week I had the interview to chat with both Dario Franchitti and Allan McNish. Franchitti is one of three drivers looking for the IndyCar Series title this weekend at Homestead though there is no buzz whatsoever, I am hearing. McNish has a new Future Driver Search he and a panel of judges from the Jim Russell Racing School will be conducting in December at Infineon Raceway in Sonoma. Both of those articles will be posted later this week.
The stress is not only school/work-related, but also because of the epic football game that commences this evening: yes, Packers-Vikings with Brett Favre at the helm. My thoughts on that can be found in my class blog, The JOUR 4200 Special:
http://j4200tonydizinno.blogspot.com/
As things are crazy, that is just an update. Out for now, cheers.
Saturday, September 26, 2009
SCCA Runoffs Saturday update
We just had back-to-back barnburner races in Spec Racer Ford and Spec Miata, the win and podium spots literally separated nose-to-tail for the entirety of the race. Epic stuff, again, what racing should be.
Meanwhile at Petit, the de Ferran Acura has hit issues and the Patron Highcroft one has carved through the field. At the moment the #2 Audi leads overall and P1, the bio-butanol Dyson Lola Mazda leads in P2 and the factory Corvettes are 1-2 in GT2.
More later today.
Meanwhile at Petit, the de Ferran Acura has hit issues and the Patron Highcroft one has carved through the field. At the moment the #2 Audi leads overall and P1, the bio-butanol Dyson Lola Mazda leads in P2 and the factory Corvettes are 1-2 in GT2.
More later today.
Friday, September 25, 2009
The OTHER race this weekend...
My article from today's races and other activity is here:
http://motorsport.com/news/article.asp?ID=346677
Elsewhere, a world away at Road Atlanta, it is the eve of Petit Le Mans - a race many have eagerly awaited with incredible anticipation for what could potentially be one of the greatest sports car races, EVER.
Okay, that might be a bit hyperbolic. Nonetheless, with Peugeot, Audi, Oreca and the new Drayson Racing Lola Judd joining the P1 field, facing the factory Acuras, the stage is set for an amazing battle for supremacy and an absolute barnburner of a race. I can only imagine what it is like to be there.
The stories so far have been Scott Sharp's devastating crash in the Patron Highcroft Acura on Thursday, completely writing off the team's primary ARX-02a, and the stunning grid in GT2. David Murry scored a shock pole for Robertson Racing in their Doran Ford GT-R, over the returning LG Motorsports Corvette C6 piloted in qualifying by youngster Tom Sutherland.
It's a case of history repeating itself for Sharp, who had a similar practice accident at that event last year, and missed the start. On this occasion the team has brought in a backup chassis from HPD and spent all of today preparing it, the aim to make it on track for morning warmup tomorrow.
GT2 sees two privateer entries beating out all the highly-backed factory efforts from Corvette, BMW/Rahal Letterman, Flying Lizard Porsche, Risi Ferrari, etc. Although a 1000-mile/10-hr race doesn't penalize those who botched qualifying as much as a usual ALMS race, it's still a highly noteworthy achievement.
I feel like I know everything about what's going on there thanks to the incredibly comprehensive coverage SPEEDTV.com has provided thanks to Marshall Pruett and John Dagys, both friends and colleagues. From reading their reports, I can tell those two have worked their asses off and Dagys especially has done a bang-up job, even going as an embedded tire data analyst with Lord Drayson's team.
I should get back to plugging my own outlets now, so check motorsport.com for more from this weekend's SCCA Runoffs, my Twitter page (twitter.com/tonydizinno) and The Marquette Tribune for school stories. The Tribune isn't racing-related but naturally I'll recommend it since for most days as a current student, that occupies a bulk of time.
Should get some sleep, and more to come tomorrow. Out for now, cheers.
http://motorsport.com/news/article.asp?ID=346677
Elsewhere, a world away at Road Atlanta, it is the eve of Petit Le Mans - a race many have eagerly awaited with incredible anticipation for what could potentially be one of the greatest sports car races, EVER.
Okay, that might be a bit hyperbolic. Nonetheless, with Peugeot, Audi, Oreca and the new Drayson Racing Lola Judd joining the P1 field, facing the factory Acuras, the stage is set for an amazing battle for supremacy and an absolute barnburner of a race. I can only imagine what it is like to be there.
The stories so far have been Scott Sharp's devastating crash in the Patron Highcroft Acura on Thursday, completely writing off the team's primary ARX-02a, and the stunning grid in GT2. David Murry scored a shock pole for Robertson Racing in their Doran Ford GT-R, over the returning LG Motorsports Corvette C6 piloted in qualifying by youngster Tom Sutherland.
It's a case of history repeating itself for Sharp, who had a similar practice accident at that event last year, and missed the start. On this occasion the team has brought in a backup chassis from HPD and spent all of today preparing it, the aim to make it on track for morning warmup tomorrow.
GT2 sees two privateer entries beating out all the highly-backed factory efforts from Corvette, BMW/Rahal Letterman, Flying Lizard Porsche, Risi Ferrari, etc. Although a 1000-mile/10-hr race doesn't penalize those who botched qualifying as much as a usual ALMS race, it's still a highly noteworthy achievement.
I feel like I know everything about what's going on there thanks to the incredibly comprehensive coverage SPEEDTV.com has provided thanks to Marshall Pruett and John Dagys, both friends and colleagues. From reading their reports, I can tell those two have worked their asses off and Dagys especially has done a bang-up job, even going as an embedded tire data analyst with Lord Drayson's team.
I should get back to plugging my own outlets now, so check motorsport.com for more from this weekend's SCCA Runoffs, my Twitter page (twitter.com/tonydizinno) and The Marquette Tribune for school stories. The Tribune isn't racing-related but naturally I'll recommend it since for most days as a current student, that occupies a bulk of time.
Should get some sleep, and more to come tomorrow. Out for now, cheers.
SCCA Runoffs Friday update
The warriors who don't have school to contend with have been here all week - however it has taken until today for me to arrive at the national treasure/road racing facility par excellence that is Road America.The SCCA Runoffs have had practice and qualifying for the last two weeks, and it all culminates in each of the 24 classes' National Championship races today through Sunday.
Four hours in and I am loving my first Runoffs. The atmosphere is so relaxed, all the competitors here are just pure racers - doing it because they love it. Small trailers, no organization, 12 different classes in 12 spots in the paddock, etc.
So far there have been four races of eight today, a further eight each of tomorrow and Sunday. Lots of updates on my Twitter page (twitter.com/tonydizinno) and occasional ones here when I feel like typing more than 140 characters. Out for now, cheers.
Friday, September 4, 2009
Links and update
Week one of my first full year, and second semester at The Marquette Tribune is complete. My article on the dedication and blessing of Marquette's newest residence hall, McCabe Hall, is below:
http://marquettetribune.org/2009/09/03/news/mccabe-dedicated
I have also made plans to attend the SCCA Runoffs up at Road America at Elkhart Lake the last weekend this month. With as much as I love that place, I am really excited about the opportunity.
Sure, it means I miss Petit Le Mans at Road Atlanta which runs the same weekend. But I can't really complain about that because in all honesty, I've seen all the cars that will run at Petit already this year because I had the chance to go to Le Mans in June. I hate to toot my own horn but my goodness that was cool!
There's more to come on the racing front for the rest of this year, I have a couple things I'm working on in my few minutes of spare time. We'll see what happens. Out for now, cheers.
http://marquettetribune.org/2009/09/03/news/mccabe-dedicated
I have also made plans to attend the SCCA Runoffs up at Road America at Elkhart Lake the last weekend this month. With as much as I love that place, I am really excited about the opportunity.
Sure, it means I miss Petit Le Mans at Road Atlanta which runs the same weekend. But I can't really complain about that because in all honesty, I've seen all the cars that will run at Petit already this year because I had the chance to go to Le Mans in June. I hate to toot my own horn but my goodness that was cool!
There's more to come on the racing front for the rest of this year, I have a couple things I'm working on in my few minutes of spare time. We'll see what happens. Out for now, cheers.
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