Preview

A special race coming up as American F1 fans get to see the Grand Prix gods up close and U.S. Jaguar fans get to cheer for their favorite marque. Unfortunately the excitement has completely gone out of the season, with Schumacher and Ferrari having long ago locked up the drivers and manufacturers championships. Not many of us get excited about second place, as Barrichello has all but a lock on second in the drivers championship and Williams should tie up second soon in the Constructors championship.

The F1 layout at Indianapolis is a weird one. It combines a piece of the famous oval, where F1 cars will redline in top gear for 22 seconds or more, with a ridiculously tight and loopy infield section where the cars slow down so much the spectator figures there must be something wrong with them. Engines need to be set up for both peak power and low speed torque. It is one of the only F1 tracks where slipstreaming is possible. We were treated to the spectacle in the first F1 race at Indy of teammates "towing" each other down the straight during qualifying in order to improve lap times. David Coulthard used this technique to good effect and almost snatched pole in 2000. The only real place to pass on this course is at the end of the front straight, where cars reach the second highest top speeds of any track in F1. It takes big balls to outbrake the car you are trying to pass though, and it is not uncommon for the "passer" to overcook it and the "passee" to take the position back.

Predictions? No question that Ferrari will be on pole and favored to win on Sunday. Williams with their BMW engines are rumored to have broken the 19,000 rpm mark in qualifying, so watch for them on Saturday. For some reason teams seem to get the setups for this track all wrong at times, so it is hard to make a prediction for Jaguar. Assuming they put their thinking caps on and calculate the right setup, Jaguar could do well in this race. Look for them to qualify around the 8-12 slots and have a shot at the points on Sunday.

Of course, if there were a sea of Jaguar flags waving in the stands it would make their job that much easier!

Friday Update

So far, so good after Friday's practice session. The final tally is Schumacher-Ferrari first and Irvine-Jaguar second. Can't really ask for more than that, can you? There must be a good feeling in the garage this weekend what with Ford announcing today that they are reconfirming their commitment to making F1 a success. You have to believe everybody in the team breathed a sigh of relief upon hearing that public statement. One could also argue that Indianapolis is Jaguar's (Ford's) "home" GP and they will carry extra pride in a job well done here.

The Jaguars seemed to be "right" straight out of the box this morning and that is always a good sign. Tomorrow's qualifying will tell us whether Williams, McLaren et al have got a better package but I'm revising my predictions for the starting grid. Look for a Ferrari in the top spot and the possibility of a Jaguar in the top 6.

No surprises at all at the front, the Ferraris taking an incredibly easy front row in qualifying. I watched both practice sessions and the qualifying today, and if it wasn't for my interest in Jaguar's welfare, I would have easily fallen asleep. F1 is boring, sorry.

I know what you're saying: Thompson got his predictions for Jaguar all wrong! What a loser. I must admit, I really don't understand what the h$#ll happened to Eddie today. He was near the top of the time sheets all weekend. This morning, the car looked strong in practice and Eddie turned in a very respectable 1:11.688 to lock in third place. In qualifying, in better track conditions, he turns in a 1:12.282! What gives? All he had to do was clock the same time as in practice and he would have been seventh on the grid. An improvement would move him up even more. I can hear you saying "I bet all the drivers were slower in the afternoon than the morning, it must have been the track conditions...." Well, no. If you look at the practice and qualifying times you'll see that the normal pattern was followed and drivers were faster in qualifying than in morning practice.

Somebody at Jaguar has made an enormous blunder and I would like to know what it was. Tires? Wing settings? Gear ratios? Who knows? I hope they learn from their mistakes. The official explanation from the team blamed the higher track temperature for a lack of grip... apparently the Michelins got too hot on the Jaguar... but not on the Williams, McLaren, etc...

The race tomorrow will be boring, guaranteed. Ferrari will win it easily. Some are saying the Michael and Rubens will fight it out to the death, but I doubt it very much. Bring toothpicks for your eyelids....

Pedro de la Rosa thundering down the back straight during Saturday morning practice.

JAGIN at the Races (with thanks to Cliff Burk, JAGIN Secretary)

The Jaguar Assoc of Greater Indiana (JAGIN) hosted a social hour at the Union Jack restaurant near the Indianapolis Motor Speedway Fri evening and capped off the pre-race festivities by reserving the circle around the monument in downtown Indy for a car display and 5-hour reception this evening. Those who didn't close down the Columbia Club at 8 pm, were probably among the 2 dozen Jags who were escorted through the streets by Indy's finest driving their cycles and providing us free passage thru the traffic lights and pre-race night life. Several of us ended up driving back toward the Circle, passing the execs from Jaguar Racing who were outside the Malibu on Maryland Restaurant at the time.

Gary Hagopian (JCNA president) and Pascal Gademer (SFJC) stopped past the Columbia Club for hors d'hoeuvres and to sip something. Jean Mansen from JAGazette (SFO) stopped by with her 'pit crew', having recovered from the previous evening at Union Jack. The weather has been fantastic, in the mid-'70s (24°C). Those who stopped past the track for quals earlier today came away sun-burned (and disappointed at our 13th and 17th place positions).

Otherwise, about 78 JAGIN members, friends and others who chose to sit in our block of seats will be watching the big screen to see if the first 10-12 cars make it thru turn 1.... that is if we can wrap up our tailgate party in time to find our seats......

Sunday Report

I really don't know what to say about the "race" on Sunday. No doubt those people fortunate enough to be present in Indianapolis enjoyed fine weather and the wondrous sight and sound of 19,000 rpm F1 machinery circulating at high speed. But as a "sporting" event, it was a complete bust. Worse, it was a farce. As someone who has followed F1 for over 25 years, I am quite frankly appalled at what is going on. More on that later.....

Game's over for Pedro... nursing a very sick cat towards the pit lane. Stuck in 5th gear isn't the quickest way around.

Jaguar drove about as well as they could on Sunday. Eddie Irvine made relatively few mistakes but their poor showing in qualifying on Saturday meant that only a giant stroke of luck would get them into the points on Sunday. Pedro dela Rosa scored yet another DNF while trailing the rest of the field. Some gearbox or electronic failure had him stuck in 5th gear for a few corner until the engine decided it wasn't worth the effort and went in a cloud of smoke just at the pitlane entrance. To make things worst, Pedro was told to jump over the fence by corner workers who "forgot" that the other side of the guardrail was in fact a deep puddle of water...

The results of Friday and half of Saturday are encouraging though and this is a team on the upswing right now; it's up to the management to take the necessary steps to capture that momentum and carry it through to next season with a new car and a new engine. Hopefully we will see some stability in key personnel including the driver line up. It would help to loosen the purse strings a bit and try signing a talented engineer/designer and beefing up the support crew. It has been said that the team has been trying so hard just to get the R3 to run at all that they have not had time to worry about the little things that make an F1 car pick up a few tenths of a second. Let's hope they start next season with a strong foundation and build from there.

The other "story" of the weekend was Williams. They obviously have two very quick and fiercely competitive drivers in their lineup and neither of the two is willing to give an inch on the track, even if it means taking each other off! Frank Williams and Patrick Head have a genuine quandary on their hands trying to figure out how to diffuse this time bomb. Best of luck to them!

Michael Schumacher at turn 9

Finally, the sad part...... the prancing horse has been sent to the glue factory, I'm afraid. Once again Ferrari showed that there is no real competition going on at the front of the grid; they easily took the front row in qualifying and easily won the race. For example, by the time Ferrari made their first pit stop Michael Schumacher was able to rejoin the race and still maintain his leading position over third place David Coulthard.

For some inexplicable reason, the team once again ordered their two drivers (who were probably snoozing at this point) to stop racing after the second pit stop and cruise to victory. Why they would do this is beyond me. The championship is already wrapped up, Ferrari has secured more points this year than all of the other teams combined. So why slow down? Finally (watch it yourself) Schumacher decided to slow right down in the last corner in order to facilitate a "photo finish" but overdid it and his own teammate coasts by to win the race by a few inches. As a sporting spectacle, it approaches the WWF (World Wrestling Federation) for garbage content. The self-proclaimed "greatest driver in F1 history" has long ago worn thin in the sportsmanship category. With next race and next season promising to offer more of the same, F1 will soon find itself in real trouble as viewership falls and long time fans (such as myself) change the channel.

Sad, very sad.

Eddie Irvine on the infield section behind the famous Indianapolis tower.
Better luck next year or retirement for F1's veteran ?