26 year old Rafael Sperafico – the Brazilian stock car racer – was killed in the middle of the Sao Paulo Grand Prix during a fatal crash. Apparently he lost control of his vehicle during his sixth lap, slammed into the tire wall, and bounced back onto the track. At that point his car was then struck by the car driven by Rentao Russo, who was in serious but stable condition with head injuries.
Dale Earnhardt has had a very bad and troubling year. He was unable to win any race and has admittied that this is his second worst season of his career. But that doesn’t mean that he still won’t be walking away without an award.
When Michael Schumacher retired he was a seven time world champion, but his eighth title narrowly escaped him right down to the line at his farewell grand prix in 2006. Many fans were afraid that he was losing his driving edge after he lost two years in a row to Fernando Alonso. Was he too old to be racing anymore?
Ferrari’s Formula One team has decided that losing Felipe Massa would not be an advantage to them and have extended his contract to last another two years. The announcement follows recent media speculation that Spain’s unsettled double world champion Fernando Alonso could be lined up to join Ferrari from McLaren in 2009 as a replacement for Massa.
Gil De Ferran, a former Indy 500 winner, has decided to leave the Honda Formula One team. He was the sporting director for the team for quite a few years. De Ferran, 39, who also twice won the U.S. CART series with Penske Honda, said in a team statement on Monday that his role had not turned out as he had hoped.
Rick Hendrick is a team player who likes to make sure that when he makes a decision everyone in his crew is on the same page with him. That is why making the decision to hire Mears as a driver was not done lightly. And Mears proced his worth to the whole team by staying in the top five, even after he was penalized for a pit road penalty.
In the last day of the second round of the 2007 Italian and European Ferrari Challenge Pirelli Trophy the Italian series, race-1 ended in victory for Nicola Gianniberti, with Motor / Sauro team driver crossing the line ahead of Nicola Cadei (Rossocorsa) and Vito Postiglione (Motor / Malucelli.) As for the gentlemen drivers in the Shell Cup, the laurels went to Giorgio Massazza (Rossocorsa.)
IBM announced that the Honda Racing F1 team will be developing and manufacturing its 2008 Formula One car with the help of IBM software and services. In addition to delivering significant benefits to the business challenges faced by the Honda Racing F1 Team, the new system aligns the team to the worldwide strategy of its parent company, Honda Motor Co., Ltd., in Japan. This closer integration will maximize resource effectiveness across the group, reduce costs and speed time to market.
In 2007 winning a race will become even more important then ever before. It has been decided that the points system should be changed. The adjustments are designed to establish more balance between winning and consistency, but they want the people to focus more on the winning than anything else.
After two years of conducting wind tunnel and track testing, developing scale models, submitting designs and collaborating with its teams, GM Racing is ready and optimistic for the Impala SS debut at Bristol Motor Speedway on March 25. The race will mark the first of 16 Car of Tomorrow races in 2007 as well as the return of Chevrolet’s Impala nameplate to NASCAR competition.