Vision racing says it’s a done deal even though the paperwork has not yet been signed to have Ryan Hunter-Reay drive a second Vision car for the 2009 season. Ryan took The Indy 500 rookie of the year honors last season as well as winning the race at Watkins Glen. He spent the past few months talking to teams such as Vision Racing, KV Racing Technologies, HVM, and Dale Coyne Racing for a potential ride. HVM seemed like the team that he would run with after his private test at Sebring with them.
Vision Racing is now fielding two American drivers in 2009 with Ryan Hunter-Reay and Ed Carpenter.
If Ryan remained without a ride for this season, he along with the IndyCar Series would be placed in a bad situation. IZOD had already filmed their commercials for the 2009 season and had already made billboard and magazine advertisment featuring Ryan Hunter-Reay. Their investment and marketing plans for this year would have been lost. Ryan not finding a ride could have pushed away potential sponsors that were looking into getting involved with the IndyCar Series. Mike Kelly, executive vice president of marketing for Philips-Van Heusen Corporation stated:
It was very important to get him a full-time ride. I can’t underscore that enough. Personally, I like Ryan a lot. He is a winner and he is good for the sport and the brand. From a business point of view we made him the center of our 2009 campaign. We wanted to bring the drivers to the forefront and celebrate the drivers and what they represent. He represented all the right stuff and we connected the brand to him and he is our representative in the campaign, the commercial, print and other areas.
The addition of Ryan Hunter-Reay to Vision Racing brings the car count for the opening race on the Streets of St. Petersburg up to 20 cars.
You can watch the season opener on the streets of St Petersburg Sunday April 5th on Versus Network starting at 2 p.m. ET.
2003 Indy 500 winner Gil de Ferran has been tossing around the idea of an IndyCar Series program. He would not be entering as a driver but as an owner. Since Audi and Peugot pulled out of the ALMS Series for the rest of 2009, Honda/Acura have expressed that they have no desire to compete against no one according to Robin Miller. If Gil de Ferran wants to continue racing he might be making the move over sooner rather then later. Here is what Gil de Ferran had to say:
We are investigating growing into IndyCars. It would make sense, because having two programs would bring economies of scale. It would also help us grow as a team in every respect. We are having a serious look at it, but we would only do it if it makes sense for us and we could put a strong team together.
Gil de Ferran has made it clear that he would not be driving and that he would be entering the IndyCar Series as a team owner. Word is traveling that serious work is going into making preparations for this year’s Indy 500.
What does Versus network have that ESPN did not? How about 130 hours of coverage dedicated to the IndyCar Series. The break down you ask? Versus will air at least seven hours of IndyCar Series and Firestone Indy Lights coverage every week in 2009 that there is a race. Versus will also broadcast a one hour preview show the day before a race that will show the practice and qualification highlights and all the stories that are going on that weekend. The Monday after a race Versus will re-broadcast the race in a two hour long window. The network will also air the Firestone Indy Lights races in one hour windows the Monday after the event takes place. The Firestone Indy Lights race at Indianapolis Motor Speedway on May 22 will be aired live as well as the season finale at Homestead Miami Speedway. All qualification days in the month of May will also be aired live.
The Firestone Indy Lights alone this season will see more coverage than they have ever seen. This should help promote the drivers, teams, and help with sponsorship for the feeder series to the IndyCar Series. Everything sounds win win and now the Firestone Indy Lights will get the exposure that they deserve.
Versus has clearly put everything on the table and is showing that they want to be here and they want to contribute to the growth of the IndyCar Series and Firestone Indy Lights. I think everyone will be very pleased with the race coverage when the season starts with the first race on the streets of St. Petersburg April 5th.
The programming schedule for St. Petersburg is as follows.
While at the movies with my significant other this previous weekend, I noticed that Honda played an advertisement that was quite long. It seemed more like a preview. It is titled “Failure, the Key to Success”. The video featured but was not centered around Danica Patrick and her rought start in the IndyCar Series. It also touches on Honda’s debut year in open wheel racing. I found it interesting so I thought I would post it here so everyone can check it out. You can watch all of the videos at dreams.honda.com.
When I was at Homestead Miami Speedway, I had the opportunity to catch up with Pippa Mann of Panther Racing after the Firestone Indy Lights open test session had ended and ask her a few questions.
IRLblog: How did the opportunity for you drive in the Firestone Indy Lights come about and how does it compare to driving in the World Series by Renault?
Pippa: I have been looking over to coming over to the states since I ran in the World Series by Renault. That is pretty much as high as you can go in Europe unless you have money behind you. In Europe it is still pretty closed off for woman drivers as well. My manager was speaking to a few people to see if there was anything out there. The opportunity came up to meet with Panther Racing. Panther was encrusted on having another European driver over and actually wound up with two of us. They had me over to Sonoma and I met John Barnes as well as other members of Panther Racing. They called me up and offered me a contract and here I am.
IRLblog: How does it feel to be one of the higher anticipated rookies in a Firestone Indy Lights with this seasons rookie class as large as it is?
Pippa: I just hope that I can do a really good job for these guys. They have a great oval car. It’s a fantastic car. I hope to do really well on the ovals. I am still very new at it. Riding in traffic is still something that I have to get used to. Last year these guys had a slightly tougher time with road courses, so we have been working really hard over the winter and we now feel we have a much better road course car for this year. Everyone is really looking forward to this season.
IRLblog: Since Homestead is your first time driving on an oval, how does it compare to road courses in the sense of ease to learn? Is it harder to learn road course driving or oval driving?
Pippa: Back in Europe when you drive road courses, you have these very big 180 degree turns on tracks such as Monza called parabolics which are very fast fifth and sixth gear, pretty much flat out corners, and so for a road course driver it is easier to learn ovals because it is really two parabolics put together. It’s actually flat out and the way the car reacts and behaves is very similar.
IRLblog: How does it feel to be picked up by a team such as Panther Racing?
Pippa: It is an incredible oppurtunity for me and you have to look at their past success and how many races they won on ovals last season. I am looking forward to the first oval race as well as the first race in St. Petersburg.
