Racing 2009

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MONACO GRAND PRIX
Monaco, Monte Carlo - 24 May 2009

Team / Driver

Position / Time

Brawn GP / Jenson Button

Winner 1:40:44.282

Brawn GP / Rubens Barrichello

2nd +7.666

Ferrari / K Raikkonen

3rd + +13.442

78 laps, 260.520kms / 161.887 miles
Weather Warm and sunny
Temperatures Air: 25-26°C Track: 42-45°C

2009 MONACO GRAND PRIX - RACE
Sunday 24 May 2009

Brawn GP dominated the Monaco Grand Prix - Brawn GP dominated the Monaco Grand Prix today as Jenson Button

 led from the front to secure his fifth win of the 2009 Formula One season with team-mate Rubens Barrichello taking second place for the team's third one-two finish of the year.

To cap a fantastic weekend for the team and engine partner Mercedes-Benz, Jenson's win today was his third victory in a row using his current Mercedes-Benz engine, a record for modern day Formula One.

After achieving pole position on Saturday, Jenson led the race from the front with Rubens making an excellent start from third on the grid to take second place from Kimi Raikkonen before the first corner. Starting on the softer option tyre, the Brawn-Mercedes pair drove composed two-stop strategies, using the prime tyre for their second and third stints. With Jenson pulling away during the first stint as his team-mate suffered from rear graining on his options, Rubens put up a strong fight to hold off the Ferrari of Raikkonen and maintain his second position. Jenson took the chequered flag at the end of the 78-lap race for his first victory around the streets of Monte Carlo.

After six rounds of the 2009 FIA Formula One World Championship, Brawn GP leads the Constructors' Championship with 86 points with Jenson leading the Drivers' Championship with 51 points and Rubens in second place with 35 points.

JENSON BUTTON: "Wow Winning the Monaco Grand Prix is something that you dream about as a child and as a racing driver and the reality of taking that victory just feels awesome. To win in Monaco is truly a special feeling. With Rubens taking a superb second place, a one-two finish for the Brawn-Mercedes team in Monaco is fantastic. The race felt like it went on forever and you feel that the barriers are getting closer and closer as the end of the race approaches. But for the last couple of laps, I was able to relax and really enjoy the moment. It's been an unbelievable day, capped with my impromptu sprint down the pit straight to the podium. I can tell you it's a very long way But it was amazing to get such a fantastic reception from the crowd and I hope the fans enjoyed what was a great race for the team. The car felt good today but we didn't have the best of starts to the weekend so it makes this victory even more of an achievement. For the team, for Mercedes-Benz and for my family who were here in Monaco watching the race this weekend, today has to be the high-point of what has been an exceptional season."

RUBENS BARRICHELLO: "Another one-two for the team today is just amazing. I had a really good start on the option tyre and was able to get ahead of Kimi before the first corner which put me in a great position to challenge Jenson. I had tremendous pace but following so closely behind him affected the aero balance of my car and I suffered with massive graining on the rears which lost me a lot of time. We had a great strategy to recover and I came in earlier than planned to keep second place but by then Jenson was over ten seconds ahead. However it was a great race and I really enjoyed the challenge and the fight with Kimi. I'm still very much in the fight and collecting as many points as possible whilst pushing Jenson as hard as I can."

ROSS BRAWN: "Fantastic drives from Jenson and Rubens, outstanding pit stops from the team and the performance of our Mercedes-Benz engine secured an amazing one-two victory for Brawn GP here in Monaco today. Jenson gave himself the best possible chance of victory after achieving pole position with his flying lap yesterday and he was able to control the race from the front today. Bringing the car home in one piece after 78 laps is no easy feat in Monaco but Jenson was calm and assured throughout the race and drove with real finesse. Rubens had a great start to get ahead of Raikkonen and was showing excellent pace before his first set of rear tyres began to grain heavily as a result of following Jenson so closely. Unfortunately that compromised his chance of fighting it out with his team-mate but he did superbly well to keep Raikkonen at bay and bring home maximum points for the team's championship challenge. The Monaco Grand Prix is an incredibly special race and to win here means so much to everyone here at the track, at the factory in Brackley and at Mercedes-Benz High Performance Engines in Brixworth. Special congratulations to Mercedes-Benz for supplying an engine that has now won three Grands Prix, a modern day record in Formula One."

Monaco sun shines on Scuderia Ferrari's best result of the season
 
The 2009 Monaco Grand Prix saw Brawn GP F1 Team driver Jenson Button clinch his fifth win of the season whilst veteran teammate Rubens Barrichello celebrated his 37th birthday with a second place giving Brawn GP Team F1 its third 1-2 finish in 2009.

The world-famous street circuit saw Scuderia Ferrari's Kimi Räikkönen and Felipe Massa finish third and fourth respectively, giving the 'Prancing Horse' its best result of the season so far. Kimi Räikkönen, who started the race from the second position on the grid, was overtaken by Barrichello in the first corner but a well executed two-stop strategy helped the Finnish driver secure third position. Felipe Massa made the most of Red Bull Racing's Sebastian Vettel crash in 'San Devote' on lap 17, thus taking fourth position.  It is the first time this season that both Scuderia Ferrari drivers have scored points in the same race.

Stuart Humm, Shell Global Sponsorship Manager, commented: "As a technical partner to Ferrari, Shell sees today's result as very encouraging. There are still 11 races left in the season and Scuderia Ferrari's performance in Monaco certainly bodes well for the future. The Shell team will keep on working shoulder-to-shoulder with Ferrari to provide the F60 car with fuels, lubricants and fluids to help its overall reliability and performance."

Jenson Button of Brawn GP extends his lead at the top of the Drivers' Championship with 51 points, whilst his Brawn GP team-mate Rubens Barrichello consolidates his second place on 35 points. Red Bull Racing's Sebastian Vettel maintains his third place with 23 points.

Indianapolis 500
Indianapolis, Indiana
May 24, 2009

Helio Castroneves Leads Penske Racing to 15th Indy 500 Win

Helio Castroneves paused amid the postrace mayhem Sunday and - as he has done numerous times this month - wept tears of joy. He'd just won the Indianapolis 500 for the third time in nine years, but this one was the most unlikely - and sweetest - of all.
Castroneves recovered from a mid-race setback to come back and win the 93rd running of the Indianapolis 500, ending an improbable month in which Castroneves faced a federal jury only to be exonerated and win the world's most famous auto race for the third time in his career.

Many people have told him in recent weeks that he's blessed, but nobody understands that sentiment better than Castroneves himself.

"This is awesome," Castroneves said over the radio between sobs during the cool-down lap on Sunday. "Thank you. Thank you guys so much. This is incredible."


Castroneves and his No. 3 Team Penske Dallara/Honda pulled away from Dan Wheldon and Danica Patrick on a restart with 17 laps remaining and won the race by 1.9819 seconds. He's now one victory away from tying Rick Mears, A.J. Foyt and Al Unser for the most Indy 500 victories in a career, and Roger Penske's team extended its record to 15 victories in the storied race.

"These guys gave me my life back," Castroneves said of his Penske Racing colleagues. "I'm here today because of these guys. And obviously the fans. The fans kept me strong. They are the best. I'm honored to have fans like these."

Castroneves wasn't the only Penske Racing driver to perform well. Ryan Briscoe led 11 laps in the No. 6 Team Penske Dallara/Honda before a tire issue dropped him back in the running order, but he recovered to run second behind Castroneves late in the race. Briscoe eventually was forced to stop for fuel and finished 15th, but he was thrilled by his teammate's victory.

"What a story Helio is," Briscoe said. "It's just incredible. It's just unbelievable for him. I'm so happy for Helio. It's just a Cinderella story. He's like a newborn kid on top of the world."

Will Power, who filled in for Castroneves when he was unavailable to drive to start the season, also contended for the victory and eventually finished fifth in the No. 12 Team Verizon Wireless Dallara/Honda. "It was a good result," Power said. "I could see the win there within our reach. That certainly would have made my situation easier. I think Roger (Penske) will be happy with a top-five. I haven't hit the wall or anything. I'm happy. Helio did a good job. He deserves that win. He worked very hard, and he's a good driver. It couldn't have gone to a better guy."

Indeed. The remarkable story of Castroneves and his determination won over a crowd of nearly 300,000 at Indianapolis Motor Speedway. "On the surface he has that outgoing personality," team owner Roger Penske said. "He might climb the fence, but inside he's as tough of nails. He had to be to go through what he went through the last six months. It's really a credit to the team." And a credit to a talented racer who's counting his blessings. "To be here talking about this is very special," said Castroneves, fighting tears. "This place is magic."

With the victory, Castroneves improved to second in the IndyCar Series standings, as he now trails series leader Dario Franchitti by just five points, despite missing the first race of the year. Briscoe is ranked third, just eight points behind the leader, while Power - who also missed a race this season - is eighth in the standings.

Indianapolis 500

Helio Castroneves
Team Penske 3 D/H/F 1 224.864 200 2 65 Running 51

2 Dan Wheldon
National Guard Panther Racing 4 D/H/F 18 222.777 200 0 0 Running 40

3 Danica Patrick
Boost Mobile/Motorola 7 D/H/F 10 222.882 200 0 0 Running 35

4 Townsend Bell
Herbalife-KV Racing Technology 8 D/H/F 24 221.195 200 0 0 Running 32

5 Will Power
Team Verizon Wireless 12 D/H/F 9 223.028 200 0 0 Running 30

 

 

NASCAR Sprint Cup
Coca-Cola 600


In the Constructors' Championship, Brawn GP tops the standings with 86 points. Red Bull Racing-Renault lies second with 42.5 points and Toyota F1 Team is currently third on 26.5 points. Scuderia Ferrari now moves into fourth with 17 points.

Selected comments from Scuderia Ferrari after the race:

Stefano Domenicali: "The most important thing to come out of today is the confirmation that our car is back to being competitive, thanks to the great amount of work that everyone at the Scuderia, both back home and at the track, has put in over these past few weeks, without getting distracted by everything going on around us. It's not easy to work in these conditions and I want to thank everyone for what they are doing. Today, we got a third and a fourth place which, given the difficult start to our season, is a nice result, but it's still not the one we want. Our aim is to be ahead of everyone and we will do all we can to achieve that as soon as possible. Of course the others won't remain idle but we must continue to push as we have done in these recent times."
 
Kimi Räikkönen: "I can't be happy with third place, as my aim is always to win, but all the same, this podium is very satisfying for the entire team after a very difficult start to the season. However, I am happy that we are back competing at the front again. Over the past few weeks we have made a real step forward in terms of performance and this result confirms it. We still have work to do to catch up with the best, but we are moving in the right direction. This weekend, if some details had worked out differently, the result could have been different - I'm thinking of missing out on pole by a whisker or of my second pit stop when I lost a few seconds. But overall, we have to be pleased."
 
Felipe Massa: "I am very happy with today's performance. The car was very competitive: it's clear we are on the way up and hopefully we can soon be back to fighting for the win. At the start, I lost a lot of time behind Vettel and then, because I made a mistake, I was also passed by Rosberg. But after that I quickly got back up the order and I think I could also have passed Kimi. In the three laps I had longer than him, at the second pit stop, I found myself right behind Button and so I wasn't able to exploit the opportunity. Starting on the hard tyres was the best choice: we still lack a bit of aerodynamic downforce to be up with the Brawns, but it is too early to claim to be the second best team in the championship. What is sure is that we are working well and I am sure we will see further results of that soon."
 
Chris Dyer: "That was a very interesting race today. In the end, we are a bit disappointed, but that's a good sign, both because it shows how much we want to get back to being ahead of everyone and also because, when you begin to think you should have been able to do better than a third and fourth place finish, it means that you are back to being really competitive again. If we had not lost position at the start, probably we could have attacked Rubens, if we hadn't encountered a problem changing the right rear wheel at Kimi's second pit stop. What is reassuring is the pace shown by the F60, especially in the second part of the race, when despite having more fuel than the leaders, we were always quicker. We are very happy with the performance of the car and we are confident we can improve it further with coming developments."
 

AT&T Williams team at Monaco GP

The AT&T Williams team claimed a handful of points in the blue riband Monaco Grand Prix today after Nico Rosberg claimed a creditable sixth position, in the process demonstrating some of the standout overtaking manoeuvres in the early part of the race despite the constraints of the narrow street circuit. The FW31 showed good inherent pace around the streets of the Principality, but both drivers were unable to press any advantage home and after the rounds of pitstops had played out, both drivers reverted to their original grid positions out on the track. Nico's team-mate Kazuki Nakajima took a different direction with a long fuelled first stint that saw him hold his grid position almost to the finish, but a late accident on lap 76 concluded his Monaco race.

Nico Rosberg: I've got to be happy with sixth place today, more just wasn't possible and we did the best we could have in the circumstances. It was a great start with lots going on, but I managed to come through and it set me up well for the early phase of the race. We then did a long middle stint on primes as we were worried about the durability of the option tyre, but they seemed to hold on much better than expected in the last stint, perhaps due to the amount of rubber down on the circuit by the end of the race. That said, I always enjoy racing here, it is a huge challenge that requires you to be inch perfect and it was very demanding out there.

Turkey will host the seventh round of the 2009 FIA Formula One World Championship on 7 June 2009.

NASCAR Sprint Cup - Coca-Cola 600 - Lowe's Motor Speedway. Concord, NC.

Reutimann Wins Rain Shortened 50th Running of the Coca-Cola 600 Monday, May 25,

He had to wait a day to do it, but David Reutimann grabbed the checkers for the 50th running of the Coca-Cola 600 under a rain delay in front of NASCAR's hometown crowd at Lowe's Motor Speedway. The race, originally scheduled for Sunday, was postponed until Monday after rain wiped out on-track activities Sunday night.

Reutimann's crew chief, Rodney Childers made the call to stay out on the track instead of pitting for what turned out to be the last caution of the race. Ryan Newman and Robby Gordon also stayed out, enabling them to finish second and third respectively.

"I'm proud of the whole organization; everybody has done a great job. It was fun, but I felt like I was on pit road for a month. I wanted either the sun to come out and it quit or just pour and it just kind of stayed in between," Reutimann said in the Time Warner Media Center after the race.

There were six cautions in the race and two red flags for rain. The race was halted after lap 227, when NASCAR officials determined that conditions were too severe to continue.

This was Reutimann's first NASCAR Sprint Cup win in 75 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series starts.

Coca-Cola 600 - Results


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