2008 Indy Lights...

2007 Asian Pacific F3 Champion Dillon Battisitni wins on debut in round 1 at Homestead... 19 cars finished on the lead lap :beer:

Results...

1. Dillon Battistini Panther Racing 67
2. Richard Antinucci Sam Schmidt Motorsports 67 1.6848
3. Brent Sherman Panther Racing 67 4.0942
4. Arie Luyendyk Jr. AFS/Andersen Racing 67 4.1484
5. Chris Festa Alliance Motorsports 67 4.1992
6. Andrew Prendeville RLR/Andersen Racing 67 4.9230
7. Ana Beatriz Sam Schmidt Motorsports 67 5.2269
8. Raphael Matos Andretti Green-AFS Racing 67 5.2749
9. Wade Cunningham Brian Stewart Racing 67 5.3013
10. JR Hildebrand RLR/Andersen Racing 67 5.4302

22. James Davison Sam Schmidt Motorsports 58 9 laps :banghead:

Love the new series name, not a bad way to kick the series off. Too bad TSN isn't covering it AFAIK.

Chris

you can watch the races live for free on IndyCar.com

Good first outings for a lot of the drivers and good rebounds for some of the experienced drivers like Luyendyk and Festa who have had disappointing results as of late.

Thanks for the tip drdisque.

Chris

yeah very cool, I will certainly try and tune in for that :)

cant say I know many names in that list maybe 3 or 4 but they seem to be getting a fair grid so thats encouraging :)

where abouts is the video for the Indy Lights race drdisque ?

Ive searched and cannot find it

Raphael Matos & Richard Antinucci got the race wins at St Pete....

Points after 3 rounds...

1. Richard Antinucci 122
2. Raphael Matos 96
3. Dillon Battistini 91
4. J.R. Hildebrand 90
5. Ana Beatriz 75
6. Arie Luyendyk Jr. 68
7. Brent Sherman 65
8. Chris Festa 64
9. Sean Guthrie 64
10. Andrew Prendeville 64

18. James Davison 41

2006 US Formula Ford Champion JR Hildebrand won at Kansas :beer:

Points after 4 rounds...

1. JR Hildebrand 142
2. Richard Antinucci 139
3. Dillon Battistini 123
4. Raphael Matos 107
5. Arie Luyendyk Jr. 103
6. Sean Guthrie 92
7. Ana Beatriz 91
8. Brent Sherman 89
9. Al Unser III 83
10. Chris Festa 78

17. James Davison 60

Indy Lights will be shown on Motors TV in Europe from this coming Saturday.

New Zealand's A1 GP driver Jonny Reid has passed his Indy Lights test & will be racing in the Freedom 100 at Indy :beer:

Starting Grid for Freedom 100

1. Dillon Battistini Panther Racing 188.397
2. James Davison Sam Schmidt Motorsports 188.390 :unworthy:
3. Wade Cunningham Brian Stewart Racing 188.060
4. Ana Beatriz Sam Schmidt Motorsports 187.875
5. Raphael Matos AFS Racing 187.849
6. Richard Antinucci Sam Schmidt Motorsports 187.551
7. Brent Sherman Panther Racing 187.533
8. Cyndie Allemann American Spirit Racing 187.310
9. Logan Gomez Guthrie Racing 187.053
10. Jeff Simmons Team Moore Racing 186.923
11. Andrew Prendeville RLR/Andersen Racing 186.921
12. Bobby Wilson Team E 186.814
13. Robbie Pecorari SWE Racing 186.754
14. Marc Williams Brian Stewart Racing 186.716
15. Pablo Donoso Team Moore Racing 186.383
16. Sean Guthrie Guthrie Racing 186.365
17. Jake Slotten Michael Crawford Motorsports 186.303
18. Arie Luyendyk Jr. AFS Racing 186.232
19. Al Unser III American Dream Motorsports 185.768
20. Tom Wieringa Guthrie Racing 185.656
21. J.R. Hildebrand RLR/ Andersen Racing 185.328
22. Micky Gilbert Guthrie Racing 185.284
23. Jon Brownson Sam Schmidt Motorsports 185.159
24. Chris Festa Alliance Motorsports 184.627
25. Jonny Reid Integra Motorsports 183.938
26. Mike Potekhen SWE Racing/Chastain Motorsports 183.593
27. Mark Olson Michael Crawford Motorsports 178.497

Top 3 drivers in Freedom 100...

1 Dillon Battistini Panther Racing
2 Richard Antinucci Sam Schmidt Motorsports
3 Wade Cunningham Brian Stewart Racing

Points after 5 rounds...

1. Richard Antinucci 179
2. Dillon Battistini 176
3. J.R. Hildebrand 148
4. Raphael Matos 127
5. Ana Beatriz 121
6. Arie Luyendyk Jr. 119
7. Sean Guthrie 110
8. Brent Sherman 103
9. Al Unser III 102
10. Logan Gomez 101

17. James Davison 73

Team E's Bobby Wilson set a new lap record at the speedway despite finishing 6th. Incredible battle between the top 6 drivers.

Pablo Donoso won the pole at the Milwaukee Mile...

Bobby Wilson won at Milwaukee from Jeff Simmons & Raphael Matos...

Points after 6 rounds...

1. Richard Antinucci 193
2. Dillon Battistini 192
3. JR Hildebrand 178
4. Raphael Matos 162
5. Arie Luyendyk Jnr 143
6. Jeff Simmons 135
7. Bobby Wilson 132
8. Ana Beatriz 132
9. Sean Guthrie 130
10. Andrew Prendeville 125

16. James Davison 101

Antinucci, Battistini, and Matos are right where one would expect them to be, considering their track records...Jeff Simmons should be able to keep up with the younger drivers, considering how long he spent at a top-flight team in the big show...The rest of the top ten from fifth back is looking quite competitive...I wish I knew more about this Ana Beatriz girl, she seems to have come from nowhere. The existence of a Brazilian swimsuit model with the same name complicates investigative searches.

Ana was previously known as Bia Figuerio and raced in Braziian F.Renault and SudAmF3.This seems to bee a brazilian thing.Senna dropped the daSilva and the other Brazilian female F3 driver became just 'Suzane'

Antinucci will try his hand at Prototype Racing this weekend in the Rolex series at Watkins Glen. He will be running with series veteran Burt Frisselle. Should be interesting to see as he has shown interest in pursuing that side of racing.

Franck Perera, former F1 test driver, has signed (http://guthrieracingteam.com/news.html) on with Guthrie Racing to compete in the remaining Indy Lights races. A slight step backwards for the 23 year old pilot, one of many that we have seen recently. Still ..most likely a solid move for the Frenchman.

Guthrie is hoping to eventually move to the IndyCar Series, and a 2 car team that includes Sean Guthrie and Perera would be a good option, especially if Perera brings some funding.

he goes alright Franck Perera - did finish 2nd to Raphael Matos in Atlantics last year... Would be worthy of an Indy Car ride in the future...

Iowa Starting Grid...

1. Arie Luyendyk Jr. AFS/Andretti Green Racing 40.1304
2. Dillon Battistini Panther Racing 40.2498
3. Jeff Simmons Team Moore Racing 40.2689
4. Bobby Wilson Team E 40.3128
5. Brent Sherman Panther Racing 40.3141
6. Ana Beatriz Sam Schmidt Motorsports 40.3440
7. J.R. Hildebrand RLR/Andersen Racing 40.3930
8. Raphael Matos AFS/Andretti Green Racing 40.3975
9. Franck Perera Guthrie Racing 40.4251
10. Pablo Donoso Team Moore Racing 40.5027
11. Robbie Pecorari SWE Racing 40.5094
12. Cyndie Allemann American Spirit Racing 40.5151
13. James Davison Sam Schmidt Motorsports 40.5689
14. Richard Antinucci Sam Schmidt Motorsports 40.7555
15. Logan Gomez Guthrie Racing 40.8024
16. Jonny Reid Integra Motorsports 40.8268
17. Andrew Prendeville RLR/Andersen Racing 41.0568
18. Marc Williams Alliance Motorsports 41.1318
19. Travis Gregg Sam Schmidt Motorsports 41.1838
20. Micky Gilbert Guthrie Racing 41.2674
21. Sean Guthrie Guthrie Racing 41.8341
22. Marc Olson Michael Crawford Motorsports no time

Iowa was a great race, saw it thanks to indycar.com streaming :)

Iowa was a great race, saw it thanks to indycar.com streaming :)

I don't know what race you were watching....

It certainly SOUNDED like a good race because the trackside commentators were getting excited talking about some side by side racing, however the TV director decided we needed to watch the two leaders being spread out and doing nothing.

Between the TV director hiding the action and the race director putting out the caution for harmless spins when the cars were towards the back of the field and well away from danger, the race suffered in excitement levels with only small sparks of action.

Iowa race results...

1. Dillon Battistini 115 Laps
2. Arie Luyendyk Jnr 115 0.4948 behind
3. Ana Beatriz 115 2.7089
4. Brent Sherman 115 2.8920
5. Pablo Donoso 115 2.9664
6. Jeff Simmons 115 3.2590
7. Raphael Matos 115 3.5227
8. JR Hildebrand 115 3.5400
9. Richard Antinucci 115 4.3933
10. Marc Williams 115 4.6108
11. Franck Perera 115 4.9390
12. Andrew Prendeville 115 5.1897
13. Micky Gilbert 115 5.7559
14. Logan Gomez 115 5.8181
15. James Davison 115 7.3363
16. Bobby Wilson 115 10.5639
17. Robbie Pecorari 114 1 lap
18. Cyndie Allemann 112 3 laps
19. Jonny Reid 105 10 laps
20. Sean Guthrie 78 37 laps
21. Travis Gregg 67 48 laps
22. Mark Olson 59 56 laps

Points after 7 rounds...

1. Dillon Battistini - 242
2. Richard Antinucci - 215
3. JR Hildebrand - 202
4. Raphael Matos - 188
5. Arie Luyendyk Jnr - 186
6. Ana Beatriz - 167
7. Jeff Simmons - 163
8. Brent Sherman - 154
9. Bobby Wilson - 146
10. Andrew Prendeville - 143

14. James Davison - 116

I was expecting great things from Lloyd but, to be honest, Battistini was even more oriental than Winslow before the season has started. I heard about James Winslow because of his life risking afforts to save mate on track, but to be honst never heard of Battistini doing same Asian F3. And he is leading the championship.

Battistini won the interim Asian Pacific F3 title - must go pretty good though... Where is Alex Lloyd :rolleyes:

Where is Alex Lloyd :rolleyes:

Lloyd is expected to run a few more Indy Car races later this season, he is currently working on putting together the funding. I hope to see him back, he has been extremely impressive.

FYI: Lloyd will run Watkins Glen in the Indy Car race.


In Indy Lights news: Christina Orr just completed a test at Putnam Park, look for her to make a start late this season.

FYI: Lloyd will run Watkins Glen in the Indy Car race.


In Indy Lights news: Christina Orr just completed a test at Putnam Park, look for her to make a start late this season.

Actually, no, Lloyd is not on the IndyCar entry list for Watkins Glen.

Actually, no, Lloyd is not on the IndyCar entry list for Watkins Glen.

hmm...strange?!! My apologies!
:Shrug::Shrug:The only thing I can think of is that my source meant Jay Howard. Howard did make a return to Roth Racing over the weekend.

Watkins Glen Grid...

1. Franck Perera Guthrie Racing 1:37.8651
2. Raphael Matos AFS/Andretti Green Racing 1:38.1211
3. Jeff Simmons Team Moore Racing 1:38.3159
4. Richard Antinucci Sam Schmidt Motorsports 1:38.5744
5. J.R. Hildebrand RLR/ Andersen Racing 1:38.6933
6. Ana Beatriz Sam Schmidt Motorsports 1:38.8381
7. Jonny Reid Integra Motorsports 1:39.0065
8. Pablo Donoso Team Moore Racing 1:39.1074
9. Bobby Wilson Team E 1:39.3539
10. Logan Gomez Guthrie Racing 1:39.4837

Raphael Matos & Richard Antinucci got the race wins....

Points after 9 rounds...

1. Richard Antinucci 307
2. Raphael Matos 280
3. Dillon Battistini 265
4. Arie Luyendyk Jr. 238
5. JR Hildebrand 235
6. Ana Beatriz 234
7. Jeff Simmons 226
8. Logan Gomez 199
9. Brent Sherman 186
10. Pablo Donoso 184

Woohoo, go James :beer:

Sunbelt Rentals 100 Starting Grid...

1. James Davison - 51.8844
2. Ana Beatriz - 51.8939
3. Dillon Battistini - 51.9197
4. Raphael Matos - 51.9273
5. Arie Luyendyk Jr. - 52.0792
6. Jeff Simmons - 52.1248
7. Brent Sherman - 52.2613
8. Bobby Wilson - 52.3792
9. Logan Gomez - 52.4222
10. JR Hildebrand - 52.4489
11. Sean Guthrie - 52.4758
12. Andrew Prendeville - 52.5782
13. Franck Perera - 52.6109
14. Richard Antinucci - 53.0494
15. Jonny Reid - 53.1748
16. Robbie Pecorari - 53.4118
17. Micky Gilbert - 53.5488
18. Chris Festa - 53.7252
19. Cyndie Allemann - 54.8820
20. Pablo Donoso - no time

Ana Beatriz takes the victory in Nashville, becomes the first female driver to win an Indy Lights race, and is the proud owner of a special edition Gibson electric guitar. (http://www.indycar.com/pro/news/story.php?story_id=11980)

Final Results - Sunbelt Rentals 100
1. A. Beatriz
2. B. Wilson
3. A. Luyendyk, Jr.
4. J.R. Hildebrand
5. R. Matos
6. L. Gomez
7. F. Perera
8. S. Guthrie
9. A. Prendeville
10. P. Donoso
11. B. Sherman
12. R. Antinucci
13. C. Allemann
14. R. Pecorari
15. J. Simmons
16. J. Davison
17. J. Reid
18. C. Festa
19. D. Battistini
20. M. Gilbert

It was a proper win too, all on the track, she hunted down those in front of her, took the lead and kept it, great job.

Congrats to Ana Beatriz on her win at Nashville - thats a great effort :winner: .... Go the women all over the world :beer:

Congrats to Ana on a well deserved win. She has been very consistent this season and hits her marks well. At this point in the 2008 season, she has finished in the Top 5 in 70% of her starts. Impressive.

http://www.thestar.com/Sports/article/460388

Team Forsythe adds Indy Lights program

Norris McDonald
Motorsport Writer

In a surprise move, Forsythe Racing Inc. of Chicago announced today that it plans to to compete in the 2009 Firestone Indy Lights Series, the official feeder system of the Indy Racing League.

...

Forsythe's Indy Lights plans are in addition to its current on-track activities fielding Oakville's James Hinchcliffe and Mexico's David Garza in the 2008 Cooper Tires Presents the Atlantic Championship Powered by Mazda.

I'm interested to see what drivers Forsythe will sign for Indy Lights in '09. They're a good team so they're probably asking for a pretty big check, but they're also unproven in that particular series and the other top level teams have a big head start with that equipment. CGR notably struggled last year and they aren't back this year. Still, if I was a top driver and all the spots at Schmidt, AGR-AFS, and Panther were filled, I'd probably choose Forsythe over the other decent teams (Guthrie, Team Moore, RLR Andersen).

Mid-Ohio Saturday Box Score (http://www.indycar.com/indylights/stats/boxscores/2008/midohio_07192008.pdf)
1. Rafa Matos
2. Franck Perera
3. Richard Antinucci
4. Jonny Reid
5. J.R. Hildebrand

Nice to see some of the guys who have been struggling running up front.

Good to see Jonny Reid up there & James Davison get the car to the finish :beer: ...

Raphael Matos is a class act...

Good to see Jonny Reid up there & James Davison get the car to the finish :beer: ...

Funny that you should mention those two.... In this morning's full wet race. Jonny Reid checked out but mistakenly pulled into the pits just prior to the checkered flag, handing the win to James Davidson.

Unoffical Top 5
1. Davison
2. Wade Cunningham
3. Donoso
4. Allemann
5. Beatriz

:eek: - what was Jonny thinking, dont they have car/pit radio's :rolleyes:

go James :winner: - Jonny :banghead:

Points after 12 rounds...

1. Richard Antinucci - 376
2. Raphael Matos - 375
3. Ana Beatriz - 332
4. JR Hildebrand - 325
5. Arie Luyendyk Jnr - 316
6. Dillon Battistini - 299
7. Jeff Simmons - 278
8. Pablo Donoso - 259
9. Logan Gomez - 251
10. Andrew Prendeville - 247

14. James Davison - 230 :winner:

im sure johnny would have been gutted to lose with a mistake like that

So last year everyone said that anyone could win in Sams No 7 car when Alex Lloyd was on his run of 5 back to back wins. It now appears not as Antinucchi is certainly not dominating this championship the way Lloyd did. Quite a few good drivers in there this year but no stand outs.

So last year everyone said that anyone could win in Sams No 7 car when Alex Lloyd was on his run of 5 back to back wins. It now appears not as Antinucchi is certainly not dominating this championship the way Lloyd did. Quite a few good drivers in there this year but no stand outs.

Very true.... 7 different winners in 12 events. :)

Andrew Prendeville decided to end his 2008 Indy Lights season to pursue other opportunities.:?

Daniel Herrington will replace him, driving for RLR Anderson.

Daniel Herrington, Tom Dyer, Christina Orr and Leonardo Cordeiro passed their rookie tests at Kentucky Speedway late last week. All four drivers will now be allowed to compete on the oval track events, should the opportunity arise.

it a bit disapointing that alex missed out on a drive after last year but i guess there was a bit of turmoil with the merger

Kentucky Starting Grid - 24 drivers...

1. Raphael Matos AFS Racing, Inc./Andretti Green Racing 55.9064
2. Ana Beatriz Sam Schmidt Motorsports 56.0219
3. Arie Luyendyk Jr. AFS Racing, Inc./ Andretti Green Racing 56.1725
4. Dillon Battistini Panther Racing 56.1937
5. James Davison Sam Schmidt Motorsports 56.2052
6. Brent Sherman Panther Racing 56.2995
7. Travis Gregg Sam Schmidt Motorsports 56.3533
8. Logan Gomez Guthrie Racing 56.3578
9. Daniel Herrington RLR/Andersen Racing 56.4021
10. Richard Antinucci Sam Schmidt Motorsports 56.5179

Another race win to Dillon Battistini - James Davison, oh so close to back to back race wins...

Race Results...

1. Dillon Battistini Panther Racing
2. James Davison Sam Schmidt Motorsports
3. Arie Luyendyk Jnr AFS Racing Inc
4. Richard Antinucci Sam Schmidt Motorsports
5. Brent Sherman Panther Racing
6. Raphael Matos AFS Racing Inc
7. Sean Guthrie Guthrie Racing
8. Jonathan Klein Team Moore Racing
9. Bobby Wilson Team E
10. Robbie Pecorari Guthrie Racing

Points after 13 rounds...

1. Richard Antinucci 408
2. Raphael Matos 404
3. Dillon Battistini 351
4. Arie Luyendyk Jnr 351
5. Ana Beatriz 346
6. JR Hildebrand 337
7. Jeff Simmons 285
8. James Davison 270
9. Sean Guthrie 270
10. Brent Sherman 269

where was johnny reid?

he didnt qualify or race - dont know why :rolleyes:

He was on the entry list too - no word on TSO as to why they didn't show up for the event.

where was johnny reid?

According to a reliable source, Reid returned to New Zealand due to a scheduling conflict, I would guess that means A1GP.?.?. Hopefully the incident at Mid-Ohio hasn't affected him, I look forward to seeing him back in the car at Infineon.

Tom Dyer will make his debut this weekend at Infineon driving for Michael Crawford Motorsports.

interesting see we got 3 kiwi drivers racing this weekend

Sears Point Qualifying...

1. Franck Perera Guthrie Racing 1:23.2851
2. Raphael Matos AFS Racing, Inc./Andretti Green Racing 1:23.2870
3. Richard Antinucci Sam Schmidt Motorsports 1:23.5182
4. Logan Gomez Guthrie Racing 1:23.7947
5. Ana Beatriz Sam Schmidt Motorsports 1:23.8918
6. J.R. Hildebrand RLR/ Andersen Racing 1:24.0152
7. Daniel Herrington RLR/Andersen Racing 1:24.1269
8. Mitch Cunningham Mo'sGold Racing 1:24.1582
9. Jonny Reid Sam Schmidt Motorsports 1:24.2215
10. Pablo Donoso Team Moore Racing 1:24.2251

17. James Davison Sam Schmidt Motorsports 1:24.6042

Franck Perera won his first Indy Lights race, leading every lap.

It was very difficult to pass.

Matos 2nd, Antinucci 3rd. - Matos takes points lead by 1.

They're inverting 8 places for tomorrow's race, putting Antinucci, Matos, and Perera in 6th, 7th, and 8th respectively and Pablo Donoso on pole. Should be very interesting.

Pablo Donoso won today's race (the second first time winner of the weekend), while becoming the ninth different victor this season. Matos and Antinucci will now head to Chicago, 3pts. apart (Matos 472, Antinucci 469).

Should be a thrilling finish to the season - may the best man win :beer: ... I am gunning for Matos to win the crown...

Points after 15 rounds...

1. Raphael Matos - 472
2. Richard Antinucci - 469
3. Ana Beatriz - 409
4. JR Hildebrand - 401
5. Dillon Battistini - 378
6. Arie Luyendyk Jnr - 378
7. Pablo Donoso - 343
8. Logan Gomez - 334
9. Sean Guthrie - 309
10. James Davison - 303

Should be a thriller but that SS no 7 is good on the ovals !!, perhaps not as close as last years race though.

I can't wait for this race. I will be there!

Raphael Matos won the pole at Chicagoland - Richard Antinucci will start from 7th...

Arie Luyendyk Jr. just won his first Indy Lights race after 62 starts! He ran right on Rafa's rear wing until the last lap.

Matos finishes third after leading 66 laps and claims the 2008 title, Antinucci was taken out by Sean Guthrie midway through the race. It didn't matter much though, Antinucci didn't have the car to run with Matos, Luyendyk Jr., Beatriz or Wilson.

It was a good day for AFS/Andretti-Green.

Live Coverage of the Event (http://juniorformula.blogspot.com/2008/09/live-blog-indy-lights-chicagoland.html)

Congrats to Arie Jnr - thats a long time coming :winner:

Big congrats to Rafael Matos on the championship win - he has won everything in the junior classes from Star Mazda to Atlantics to Indy Lights :unworthy: .... definitely one to watch in 09 when he races with the big boys!

Final Points...

1. Raphael Matos 510
2. Richard Antinucci 478
3. Ana Beatriz 449
4. Arie Luyendyk Jr. 428
5. JR Hildebrand 409
6. Dillon Battistini 385
7. Pablo Donoso 360
8. Logan Gomez 358
9. James Davison 333
10. Sean Guthrie 322

One does have to question the relevance of this series when the previous two championship winners have gone nowhere since their winning year. Unless Matos has a backer (like Mutoh and Honda ) i don't see a slot for him in Indy Car in 2009 as apart from the financial considerations he has hardly been a dominant champion. There appears to be an obsession in US racing with sticking with the old tried and tested names at the expense of young talent. The return of Dario to a team with the current Indy Championship winner and the 2007 Indy Pro champion in it is a good example of this. There is no doubt in my mind that if this was a F1 team, it would be Dixon and Lloyd at Ganassi for 2008.

One does have to question the relevance of this series when the previous two championship winners have gone nowhere since their winning year. Unless Matos has a backer (like Mutoh and Honda ) i don't see a slot for him in Indy Car in 2009 as apart from the financial considerations he has hardly been a dominant champion. There appears to be an obsession in US racing with sticking with the old tried and tested names at the expense of young talent. The return of Dario to a team with the current Indy Championship winner and the 2007 Indy Pro champion in it is a good example of this. There is no doubt in my mind that if this was a F1 team, it would be Dixon and Lloyd at Ganassi for 2008.

Racing will always revolve around money.

You could go back much farther than just Lloyd and Howard, when looking at past Indy Pro/Indy Lights Champions that have failed to secure rides at the top levels of open wheel racing. You actually have to go back to about 2001 (Townsend Bell) or 2002 (A.J. Foyt IV) to see names that many recognize today. Quite frankly, many could argue about their success as well.

Does this make the championship insignificant??..absolutely not. So many of today's junior formula champions up and down the ladder across the world, end up sitting home due to a lack of funding. It's unfortunate, but it's reality.

I would love to see Lloyd and Matos get a seat next year....will it happen? I just don't know.

I have no illusions about the money issue and know from my own personal experience back in the early 80s, that when the money runs out the racing runs out. i just feel that if you want to have a feeder series you must do some feeding otherwise it will ultimately fail. GP2 has been able to feed its champions into F1, which is obviously a healthy state of affairs. It also keeps up the pressure on the older guys who have been in there for a few years.

It's tough to argue against the GP2 driver placement. But looking at the bigger picture...the Indy Lights Championship is far from the only junior formula series where title holders remain stationary.

You bring up an excellent point though, a feeder series must feed in order to survive.

Any chance of discovering when Motors TV might show coverage of Sears Point round? Two scheduled listings have beed inexplicably replaced by Silverstone F3.

Panther Racing signed F3 Euro Series driver Martin Plowman to contest the 2009 Indy Lights schedule. Plowman decided against concluding his F3 Euro Series season and will be moving to Indianapolis shortly.

Plowman struggled this year with RC Motorsport & Volkswagen as he dedicated the season to program development. Unfortunately they didn't accomplish the goals they set out to achieve.

You bring up an excellent point though, a feeder series must feed in order to survive.

And now they have....

Congrats to 2008 Indy Lights Champion, Rafa Matos for signing with Luczo Dragon Racing for 2009.