Auto Reviews

By ADAM COOPER
Felipe Massa wheeled his Ferrari to the pole position for Sunday’s Turkish Grand Prix. The race will be broadcast on the SpeedTV network, starting at 7:30 a.m. Eastern.
Felipe Massa earned the pole position for the Turkish Grand Prix for the third year in a row with a strong performance in Istanbul, leaving championship leader and Ferrari teammate Kimi Raikkonen down in fourth.

The move of the race from August to May brought with it much cooler weather than is usual in Istanbul, which meant that teams were struggling for grip. In addition there was rain on Saturday morning, which cleaned the rubber off the track and cut running time.

The real novelty was the absence of the Super Aguri team. With only 20 entries, the qualifying format was tweaked so that only 15 cars, rather than 16 cars, moved on from the first round of qualifying to the second round. Five cars, rather than six, were eliminated in second round.

Massa was quickest on the first runs in the crucial final session. He was briefly pushed down in the standings by Heikki Kovalainen, but beat the Finn on his final lap. It was nevertheless a great performance by McLaren-Mercedes’ Kovalainen, following a hard crash in Spain two weeks ago.

In search of grip, Lewis Hamilton made the unusual decision to use the harder prime tire for his final run. He briefly held the pole before Kovalainen and then Massa completed their laps. Afterwards, Hamilton admitted he had made a mistake in his choice.

Robert Kubica maintained the usual form at the front by taking fifth for BMW, although teammate Nick Heidfeld was down in ninth. Sixth went to Mark Webber, ahead of Fernando Alonso, Jarno Trulli, Heidfeld and David Coulthard.

Failing to make it into the top 10 session were Nico Rosberg, Rubens Barrichello, Jenson Button, Sebastian Vettel and Timo Glock. Sunday’s race will see Barrichello break Riccardo Patrese’s record for the most grand prix starts as he reaches the257 mark, and outpacing Honda teammate Jenson Button was a good way to mark the occasion.

With the change to having only the top15 advance, it was harder than ever to make it out of the first qualifying session. Those who failed to do so were Kazuki Nakajima, Nelson Piquet Jr, Sebastien Bourdais, Giancarlo Fisichella and Adrian Sutil. However, Fisichella will start last in 20th position as he received a three-place penalty for going through the pit exit red light at start of practice on Friday.

For Vettel and Bourdais this will be the last outing with the 2007 Toro Rosso car, as the team’s new model will finally be available for the next race in Monaco.

Tony Stewart celebrates his Nationwide victory in Darlington on Friday night.
Before this year Tony Stewart hadn’t won on NASCAR’s longest track at Talladega, Alabama, or on its oldest superspeedway at Darlington, South Carolina. In the span of three weeks, though, he’s accomplished two of his long-time stock car goals.

Stewart led 90 of the 149 laps–the 147-lapper went into overtime–to win the Diamond Hills Nationwide Series 200 at Darlington, generally considered one of NASCAR’s toughest venues. He survived a night that saw eight caution periods for 36 laps and two red-flag stoppages. The final caution/red flag came late, after a multi-car accident on a restart eliminated several top-five runners and forced Stewart to hold on during another race-ending restart.

He did it easily, his Toyota from Joe Gibbs Racing pulling away from Chevy driver Clint Bowyer for Richard Childress Racing. The rest of the top 10 were David Reutimann and Todd Bodine (Toyotas), Steven Wallace, David Stremme and Jason Keller (Chevys), Chase Miller (Dodge), Jason Leffler (Toyota) and Marcos Ambrose (Ford).

The victory was the fourth this year for Stewart in the Nationwide series, the sixth (with three drivers) for the No. 20 Toyota and the eighth overall in 12 Nationwide races for Joe Gibbs Racing. Stewart won in the No. 20 at Daytona Beach, Fontana, Talladega and Darlington; teammate Kyle Busch won in the car at Mexico City; and teammate Denny Hamlin won in it last weekend at Richmond. In addition, Busch won for Joe Gibbs Racing in the No. 18 Toyota at Fort Worth and Phoenix.

Pole-winner Carl Edwards started the race second in points (nine behind Bowyer), but fell to third (150 behind) after finishing 43rd due to an early race, tire-related crash. Busch started the race third in points (12 behind Bowyer), but is second-ranked and 112 behind. He ran well until a crash with Brad Keselowski, who drives for Dale Earnhardt Jr., with whom Busch tangled late in last weekend’s Sprint Cup race at Richmond. Busch finished 31st at Darlington.

Bowyer led 13 laps and Matt Kenseth led 35 until he, too, was involved in a crash. Wrecks also sidelined or dramatically slowed Busch, Edwards, Leffler, Mark Martin, Derrike Cope, Kelly Bires, Sam Hornish, David Ragan and Kertus Davis.

Full-time Cup drivers now have won 11 of the first 12 Nationwide Series races: Stewart (4), Busch (3) and one each for Bowyer, Hamlin, Martin and Kenseth. Scott Wimmer is the only non-Cup regular with a Nationwide victory.

By AL PEARCE
Greg Biffle starts on the pole for Saturday night’s NASCAR Sprint Cup race in Darlington, South Carolina.
If the radio and TV commentators said it once, they said it oh, how about 42 times during Dodge Challenger Sprint Cup 500 qualifying on Friday afternoon at Darlington Raceway. That’s how many drivers–42 of the 45 who completed their qualifying runs–who broke the legendary track’s previous qualifying record.

That record belonged for 12 years to Ward Burton, who got around the 1.366-mile, egg-shaped track at 173.797 mph in March 1996. That seemed like a street-car lap on Friday, when Ford driver Greg Biffle took the pole at 179.442 mph for Roush Fenway Racing. The track was recently repaved, and everyone knew even before a recent Goodyear tire test that speeds would be dramatically faster.

Beside Biffle on the front row for the start of Saturday night’s race–Round 11 of the 36-race Sprint Cup season–is Chevrolet driver Dale Earnhardt Jr. Chevy driver Jimmie Johnson qualified third, Toyota driver Tony Stewart was fourth and Dodge driver Kurt Busch was fifth. The rest of the top 10: Kyle Busch (Toyota), Elliott Sadler (Dodge), Jeff Gordon and Scott Riggs (Chevys) and Bobby Labonte (Dodge).

The three drivers who didn’t break the old record: 39th-starting Reed Sorenson, 40th-starting Robby Gordon and 41st-starting Paul Menard. Kasey Kahne crashed and didn’t finish his first lap, but he was clearly on pace to break the previous record, too. Even track rookie Patrick Carpentier broke the record, but he’ll still start 43rd for being the slowest of the “go-or-go home” drivers. And pity poor Jeff Green and Johnny Sauter: they easily broke the previous record but didn’t even make the starting grid.

Four different drivers led each of the four practice sessions. The first session included Kyle Busch, Denny Hamlin, Earnhardt Jr., Travis Kvapil and Stewart. The second session featured A.J. Allmendinger, Earnhardt Jr., Dave Blaney, Kyle Busch and Biffle. The top five in the third session was Casey Mears, Martin Truex Jr., Robby Gordon, Jeff Gordon and Johnson. Hamlin, Busch, Earnhardt Jr., Kasey Kahne and Jeff Gordon were fastest in the final (Happy Hour) session.

Seven drivers crashed or spun during the four sessions: Johnson, Menard, Sorenson, Robby Gordon, David Ragan, Kyle Petty and Clint Bowyer. The damage was so severe that Johnson, Menard and Sorenson went to backup cars. Kahne slammed the wall on his first qualifying lap and took a top-35 provisional spot to start 42nd.

Danica Patrick’s car sends up spark during practice at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway.
News of the day Friday: Veteran crew member and former team co-owner Chuck Buckman appeared to have escaped serious injury Friday at Indianapolis Motor Speedway after being hit by Danica Patrick’s car on pit road during a caution period on Fast Friday, the final full day of practice before pole qualifying.

Buckman was walking toward Patrick’s oncoming car when he stumbled into her path and was struck first by her left front tire, then by her left rear tire. The contact threw him to the ground hard with facial and scalp injuries. But he was awake and alert at Methodist Hospital.

Rookie driver Alex Lloyd also went to Methodist with neck pain following an afternoon accident in the first turn. X-rays were negative, but he was held overnight. The contact tore up the car that Scott Dixon used to win the season-opening IndyCar Series race at Homestead-Miami Speedway.

Dixon had the quickest lap of Friday’s action at a month-best 226.968 mph. Marco Andretti was second at 226.710 and Tony Kanaan third at 226.688. Ryan Briscoe was fourth, the only other driver faster than 226 mph, although aerodynamic tows likely aided all of the fastest drivers.

Saturday’s schedule: Practice, 9-11 a.m. Eastern, qualifying noon to 6 p.m. (top 11 starting positions up for grabs). TV coverage: ESPN2, noon to 2 p.m.; ABC, 3 p.m. to 6 p.m.; ESPN2, 6 p.m. to 7 p.m.

Observations: We still don’t know much about the speed demons as rain ended Friday’s action after less than three hours of running. Plus, there were nine cautions Friday, slowing the pace. Clearly, Tony Kanaan and Helio Castroneves are the favorites to win the pole, but Scott Dixon, Dan Wheldon and Marco Andretti will be in the hunt.

It will be interesting to see how Danica Patrick responds after having a crew member step in front of her car. She had been considered a pole favorite, but she ended Friday’s session eighth on the list. The top rookie on Friday was Hideki Mutoh, who might end up with a spot on the front row.

By GREG MIGLIORE
The Cadillac CTS-V on its hot lap around the Nürburgring.
Cadillac aims for the 2009 CTS-V to be the fastest production sedan in the world–and the goal is in sight after a prototype fitted with production components posted a sub-eight-minute lap time at Germany’s famed Nürburgring track.

The CTS-V lapped the 12.9-mile track in 7 minutes, 59.32 seconds, which General Motors says appears to be the fastest time ever for a production sedan. John Heinricy, head of GM’s performance division and race-car driver, piloted the car.

The CTS-V goes on sale this fall. Under its hood is a supercharged 6.2-liter V8 that makes about 550 hp, though final SAE figures haven’t been released. Six-speed manual and automatic transmissions will be available, and it will have a new version of GM’s Magnetic Ride Control suspension.

The CTS-V’s lap time puts it close to the 7:56 posted by a Chevrolet Corvette Z06. It’s about half a minute behind the 7:29 that Nissan officials say was posted by a new Nissan GT-R in mid-April.

The fastest lap time by a production car at the historic track is believed to be 6:55, set in September 2005 by a car made by British company Radical.

A video of the CTS-V’s performance is expected to be posted soon at www.cadillac.gmblogs.com.