Gordon happy NASCAR an old spoiler sport again

Jeff Gordon's prospects go up with spoiler, James Hinchcliffe wins, and Lewis Hilton's unpunished antics get ink in my latest column in the Globe and Mail:

Watch out for Jeff Gordon for the rest of the NASCAR Sprint Cup season.

After not having much luck with the Car of Tomorrow's wing, the four-time champion will be looking to regain old form as the Sprint Cup gets back to racing on faster tracks with the old-style spoiler back on the car.

Simply put, Gordon struggled in the wing era, taking only two wins in the 93 races it was bolted to his car. With a spoiler, Gordon won 80 times in 493 starts -- roughly once every sixth race -- and took four titles.

More at: Globe Drive

A grand evening indeed

F1 ringmaster Bernie Ecclestone and former Conservative cabinet minister Michael Fortier, now at the law firm Ogilvy Renault will co-chair a pre-Canadian Grand Prix charity event on June 10, 2010 called “The Grand Evening.”

The exclusive soirée will benefit the Sainte Justine University Hospital Center UHC Foundation and the Hôpital Sacré-Coeur de Montréal Foundation.

How exclusive, or should I say "grand," you ask.

Well, no run of the mill Formula One fan will be attending as tickets for the grand social rendez-vous go for a cool $1,000 each, or a bargain $10,000 for tables of 10, which gets you cocktails and dinner.

Race promoter Octane Racing Group is organizing the event, which is an official activity of the 2010 Canadian Grand Prix. Mercedes-Benz Canada and the Italian Chamber of Commerce in Canada are also partners.

Anyone interested in attending can get more information at the Canadian Grand Prix website or by calling 514 350-4731.

Wickens is new Status symbol

My latest column for the Globe and Mail...

Arguably Canada's best shot at having another driver in Formula One, Robert Wickens will be racing this year thanks to a countryman with long roots in motor racing.

He's Vancouver businessman Teddy Yip Jr., majority owner of the Status Grand Prix team that signed Wickens to race in the GP3 series late last month. Although relatively new to the racing business, Yip's motorsports roots run all the way back to F1 in the 1970s when his father, Theodore, owned a team.

“Naturally, being immersed in the motor racing environment from such an early age developed my love of the sport, and I've always maintained a keen interest,” he said.

More at: Globe Drive

Sato in IndyCar

Former F1 driver Takuma Sato has signed with KV Racing Technology to race in the IZOD IndyCar Series.

No terms of the deal were announced, but it is thought drivers need to bring about $3 million to the table for an Indy Car ride.

“This is a very exciting time for me and all my supporters,” Sato said in a release.

“I have really missed racing last year and can’t wait to get started in this new challenge with such a great team.”

Sato raced in F1 for seven seasons, With Jordan, British American Racing (BAR), and Super Aguri. Sato’s stint in F1 ended abruptly in 2008 when Super Aguri folded after four races.

The 33-year-old driver from Tokyo’s best F1 season was in 2004 when he placed eighth in the championship with 34 points. A year earlier, he famously replaced 1997 world champion Jacques Villeneuve at the Japanese Grand Prix, ending the Canadian’s tumultuous five years at BAR.

But Sato’s high point was a 2007 Canadian Grand Prix duel with Fernando Alonso of McLaren, when he defeated the double world champion in a battle for sixth place driving what was essentially a year-old Honda grand prix car. Earlier in the season, Sato also took an eighth-place finish at the Spanish Grand Prix to give Super Aguri its maiden F1 point.

It is thought KV will have a three-car operation in 201, with Sato joining EJ Viso and Mario Moraes.

In a related note, Canada’s James Hinchcliffe, 23, announced a deal to compete for Indianapolis-based Team Moore Racing in the Firestone Indy Lights Series.

IndyCar’s official feeder series opens its season on Sunday 28 March as the 13-race championship gets underway on the streets of St. Petersburg, Florida.

Pssst, wanna buy an F1 race shop

It looks like things aren't going well at USF1.

First, the race shop in North Carolina was put on the market, signaling that something is amiss.

Now, reports emerged that YouTube founder and CEO Chad Hurley is about to jump ship to fellow F1 newcomer Campos Meta.

All evidence points to USF1 folding even before they start and obviously not running in the 2010 Formula 1 World Championship.

Nothing yet from USF1 on these rumours.

Should USF1 fold, Berbie Ecclestone supported Stefan GP continues to say it will be happy to join the 2010 grid.

Todt's remarks on teams missing races are "clarified"

Apparently, the idea that teams can miss three races of the Formula One season are not sitting well with the Federation Internationale de l'Automobile (FIA).

F1's governing body released a clarification following remarks by its president Jean Todt that appeared in the Italian Gazzetta dello Sport.

The statement puts the quash on the idea teams can join the championship after missing a few races, which F1 commercial boss Bernie Ecclestone suggested earlier in the week and Todt apparently confirmed with his remarks in the Italian newspaper.

Not so said the FIA, which released a pointed statement about participation in events counting towards the F1 world championship.

"Following recent reports on the interpretation of clauses in the Concorde Agreement concerning the concept of a Team's ‘participation’ in the FIA Formula One World Championship, the FIA wishes to make the following clarification:

From a sporting and regulatory point of view, each Team that has registered for the Championship is obliged to take part in every event of the season. Any failure to take part, even for just one Championship event, would constitute an infringement both of the Concorde Agreement and the FIA Regulations."

More on USF1

I spoke to former Toro Rosso F1 driver Scott Speed a while ago about the rumours that NASCAR driver Kyle Busch was in the plans of the USF1 team.

At the time, Speed, now with the Red Bull NASCAR outfit, laughed when it was suggested Busch might leave NASCAR to race in F1. Not because he thought Busch didn't have the right stuff for F1, but because Speed had doubts whether the USF1 team would actually be able to make it to the starting grid in 2010.

He then suggested there was little real activity going on at USF1's US headquarters.

At Daytona, Speed was again asked about USF1.

"I think they have a very ambitious plan to run a Formula One team out of America," he said.

"That’s quite ambitious and I honestly wish them success because it would be great to have an American team in there."

Speed said that with the amount of time he needed to focus on his Red Bull duties in NASCAR and the gruelling 36-race schedule, he doesn't really have much free time to concern himself with the USF1 team or follow their progress.

"But I wish them the best and I pray it works out for them because, as I said, it’s a pretty ambitious plan," he added.

"If they do it, they definitely will have done something that nobody has and also have done what no one else even had the courage to try."