The Pics

Coolest dude in the world, Emmerson Fittipaldi!


I met a Talented Rookie who went on to be 3 times Champ Car Champion, Sebastien Bourdais


With Paul Tracy on the Toronto MolsonIndy Pitlane

With Bruno Junqueira

With Patrick Carpentier in Cleveland.


Rodolfo Levin shares a laugh... interview soon


Who's the bigger chatter box? Darren Manning or me? Interview coming soon

During 2003 I worked my way through the Champ Car Pits to ask each driver about thier favorite grand prix cities™. It's not surprising that, given the various national backgrounds and life experiences of the drivers in the series, and the different series that have fed talent to Champ Car, (F1, F3000, Junior Formulas, etc.) each of the drivers has a different set of reasons for prefering a city, a different set of travel experiences to choose from, and a different approach to enjoying a place that hosts a race.

Not suprisingly, each of the drivers who had experienced the delights of Surfer's Paradise in Australia (rain or shine!) put it amongst the top of their lists of favorite destinations. Traditionally, the Australian Honda Indy comes after a relatively lengthy break in the year's race schedule, and towards the end of the season when championships have sometimes been decided, and the tension has decreased. Travel to the coastal Australian destination is also scheduled to allow time for jet lag acclimatization and for a little enjoyment of the tropical paradise before the racing begins. All This and, I'm told, because of the Miss Indy competition that is held there during the weekend!

Rookie Sebastien Bourdais had yet to experience the place, but then his career had taken him to many other exotic places already.

Repeated often in lists of favorites also was Vancouver, one of the most sophisticated cities on the Champ Car roster. Each also was especially keen to include their home town, for example Paul Tracy always loves visiting Toronto and Patrick Carpentier was very keen on Montreal.

I wondered too how the driver's evenings on race weekends were scheduled. Its no secret that they are public property and have signed on to many obligations regarding their 72 hours in a place on the world tour. I asked Kathi Lauterbach, PR person for the Newman-Haas team what part she had to play in what Bruno Junquiera and Sebastien Bourdais did away from the track. "Not much", she replied. They pretty much do what they want away from the track unless they have promotional obligations." And are they often invited to attend events in each city? "Sure they are, I'm approached with a pile of invitations for events around almost every race and I ask each of the guys which, if any, they'd like to do. They're good about charitable things, as for other matters I pretty much know what will interest them in advance. For example, neither of the guys needed any prompting when asked to judge the Miss Indy pageant in Surfers Paradise later this year!"

Still, with most of the day spent at the circuits, and a fitness regime and sponsor obligations to keep up, there doesn't seem much time to really get out and enjoy the places they visit. Cities, however, are often about ambience, depth of emotional association, and the warmth of the welcome of their inhabitants, and it was this, I felt, that determined many of the responses. One thing for sure, this current crop of top flight professional drivers are a completely different breed to those of the old school, who, as international playboys, like say Emmerson Fittipaldi, would ride each city on the world tour hard, and often make it into the morning papers for more than just their qualifying time!

I hope you enjoy this ongoing series, I certainly am enjoying doing it. Check out the silver menu on the left for each of the interviews. If you think of a great question that I should ask one of the drivers, please let me know and I'll see what I can do.

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