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prime pit babes
Keeper,
To get back on the CART topic, here is a prime pit babe from the CART series. She's probably in town as we speak.
prime pit babes
If Carpentier can stay out of trouble
Close.I'll pick Gil de Ferran
(Oct 15) tsn.ca - CART has fined Paul Tracy $50,000 for his actions and critical comments he made during Sunday's race in Monterey, California.
That's the largest fine levied against a driver in CART history. Alex Zanardi was also fined $50,000 in 1998 for on-track infractions.
Aside from the fine, Tracy was stripped of three championship points and placed on probation for the final two events of the season.
CART chief steward Chris Kneifel, who bore the brunt of Tracy's verbal assault, says the Canadian was guilty of four separate incidents: Unjustifiable risk, unsafe act, unsportsmanlike conduct and criticism of officials.
"Paul's lack of consideration for the safety of fellow competitors and their crew members on Sunday is a matter of great concern and is not expected of a driver of his caliber at this level of competition," Kneifel said. "In view of his behavior, his language and criticism of the officials does nothing but demean himself and his profession, and we will not tolerate it."
The loss of the three points drops Tracy from 11th to 12th in the championship with 73 points, leaving him one behind Roberto Moreno of Patrick Racing.
The sanctions are the second this season against Tracy, who was also penalized two points and placed on probation for unjustifiable risk during the Molson Indy Toronto.
Tracy lashed out at Penske driver Helio Castroneves and Kneifel following an incident in the pits on lap 50 of the race. Tracy claimed Castroneves moved into him as he was trying to get into his pit box, eventually spinning him into the wall following the contact. Tracy was forced to drop out of the race with suspension problems.
According to the CART press release on Monday, officials determined that Tracy "deliberately steered to the left and into the 'slow lane', which ultimately resulted in contact between the two drivers".
CART says Castroneves momentarily lost control of his car and moved partly into the "fast lane" of the pit lane where Tracy was driving. The race stewards determined Castroneves did not impede the progress of Tracy and therefore committed no violation.
Tracy was also cited for a second infraction on lap 53, when he pitted again during a caution period. During this pit entry, he drove through several pit boxes to the Marlboro Team Penske pit area, whereupon he executed a tire-smoking "burnout" before exiting the pit lane. In the opinion of the stewards, this represented both an unsafe act and unsportsmanlike conduct.
Tracy was also found guilty of deliberately of making contact with Walker Racing driver Tora Takagi during the yellow flag period between laps 53 and 55.
Tracy eventually retired from the race on lap 61 after going off course into a sand trap during a caution period. In an interview following his DNF, Tracy called Kneifel's lack of action against Castroneves "a joke".
"I had a bent suspension from when Castroneves turned me around in the pits," said Tracy. "And what's more upsetting about that is the way Chris Kneifel runs the series. This series would be better off with a circus clown as the chief steward because the job he does is a joke"
Team KOOL-Green owner Barry Green also accused fellow owner Roger Penske of pit lane shenanigans.
"I happen to think it's the Penske game," said Green. "De Ferran pulled out in front of Dario (Franchitti) in pit lane here last year. Castroneves pulled out in front of Michael Andretti earlier this year at Indy. And now Castroneves was clearly beaten out of the pits and he turns Paul around in pit lane. I'm just surprised Roger Penske allows these things to happen. It's about time that CART took a stand and stood up to their game."
(Oct 30) BERLIN (AP) - Alex Zanardi was released from the hospital Tuesday six weeks after his legs were amputated and spoke of possibly racing again.
"I feel I brought home the best and the most of myself," the two-time CART champion said. "I didn't lose much. I got to know the importance of the love of family and friends. "Sometimes in life we forget what we have." Zanardi, one of CART's most popular drivers, said his first priority is to walk using artificial legs.
But he hopes that someday he may be able to get behind the wheel of a race car again.
"Motor racing has been a great passion of my life, not only my job, and maybe one day if I am able I will (race again)," he said. "But the reality is I don't know what I will be able to do right now."
Zanardi was injured while leading the American Memorial 500, the first CART race held in Europe, with 12 laps left. As he pulled out of the pits, his Honda Reynard got away from him and he spun backward into the path of Alex Tagliani, who hit his car at 200 m.p.h. and sheared it in half.
Zanardi was airlifted to a hospital in Berlin that specializes in treating accident victims. Zanardi lost 70 per cent of his blood and both legs were amputated halfway up his thighs.
"He was lucky to even reach the hospital," said Dr. Walter Schaffartzik, one of the physicians who worked on Zanardi as soon as he arrived at the Unfallkrankenhaus Berlin. "It was a very critical situation."
Schaffartzik said it most likely would be a year or two before Zanardi can walk again. But if therapy goes well, he added, Zanardi will be able to move about without crutches and will at least be able to drive a regular car.
Zanardi, who turned 35 in the hospital, said he has spoken with Tagliani and told him emphatically the accident was "absolutely not his fault."
He now returns to his home in Monaco. He plans to move back to his native Bologna, Italy, with his wife, Daniela, and three-year-old son Niccolo.
Zanardi's right leg is completely healed, but he will have to wait until the left leg is ready before beginning to learn how to use prosthetic limbs.
"I hope I can start before Christmas," Zanardi said, then pausing and smiling. "It would be nice, as we say in Italian, to celebrate Christmas with my legs under the table."
(Nov 4) ROCKINGHAM, North Carolina (Ticker) -- What has long been expected likely will become official very soon when Roger Penske, the winningest team owner in Indy car history, will leave CART to join the rival Indy Racing League next season.
Penske Racing driver Gil de Ferran won his second straight CART championship last weekend at Surfer's Paradise in Queensland, Australia, and will join reigning Indianapolis 500 champion Helio Castroneves in the IRL next year.
Penske and de Ferran will be in Las Vegas on Tuesday night to collect $1 million for successfully defending their CART championship. Penske is expected to hold a news conference next week in Indianapolis to announce he's joining the IRL and leaving CART, a series he helped launch in 1979.
"Roger told me he was out of CART, period," CART team owner Morris Nunn told ESPN.com's Robin Miller on Sunday at California Speedway in Fontana. Nunn had a two-car CART entry in 2001 and will be running one car in CART and one in the IRL next year.
For de Ferran, the switch to an all-oval series means the talented Brazilian will not be driving Penske's entries on street and road courses next season.
"I don't know what is going to happen, but, naturally, I would miss road racing because that's what I grew up with," de Ferran told Miller. "But my allegiance is to Team Penske. My greatest ally is this team, and I don't take that lightly."
De Ferran and Castroneves both have one year remaining on their current contracts.
It's the latest -- and perhaps biggest -- blow to CART this season as Penske Racing set the standard for the series since its inception. However, with leadership problems leading to some of CART's troubles this year, Penske has become upset with the direction the series is heading.
Penske vocally objected to CART's decision to leave Michigan Speedway -- a track he owned for more than two decades -- at the end of the season.
Penske believes the IRL schedule competes in markets that will benefit his team's sponsor, Marlboro. The sponsor was unable to reap full sponsorship benefits at this year's Indianapolis 500 because of the tobacco settlement that limits cigarette sponsorship to one series.
In 2002, that series will be the IRL, so the Marlboro livery will return to the Indianapolis 500, where Penske is the winningest team owner with 11 victories. That includes Castroneves' triumph last May.