As one who has loved both Formula 1 and the USA all his waking life, I’m delighted to see the two reunited in 2012. And the more I learn about the forthcoming US Grand Prix in Austin, the more enthusiastic I become. For one thing, Tavo Hellmund, the man behind the project, goes way back with Bernie Ecclestone. And that, as we know, can count for a lot.

Since first going to the US GP in 1971, I have seen virtually every F1 race run that side of the water, and while some of the tracks used – Las Vegas, Detroit, Phoenix – were duds, others – notably Watkins Glen and Long Beach – became classic Grand Prix venues. I’ll accept that the F1 circuit at Indianapolis was not the greatest test of man and machine, but still it was always a pleasure to go there, because Indy is Indy, the atmosphere is overwhelming, and the thing was always so well organised.

And then there was Dallas. We only went there once, in 1984, and the race was unsatisfactory in a number of ways. For one thing, the track surface broke up appallingly in the blazing heat; for another, there was a certain shortfall in the monies which should have reached Bernie, and thence – in part – the teams…

Thus the Dallas Grand Prix was never held again, and I was one of many who regretted that, for although the surface resembled a dirt track by the end of the race, the street circuit itself was not bad at all, and the atmosphere was friendly and welcoming. More to the point, F1 rang a bell with Texans to a far greater degree than in most other parts of the US it has visited. Remembering deathless venues, with tiny crowds, like Vegas and Phoenix, it’s easy to forget that on race day in Dallas the place was packed.

Austin, too, is in Texas – in fact, it is the state capitol. I haven’t yet been there, but American friends tell me that, although not far from such as Dallas and Houston, it’s a very different sort of place. “English people would probably call it ‘a university town’,” one said recently. “It’s very big on music and the arts – a civilised sort of place…”

Then there’s the forthcoming track. Hellmund says he is well aware of the need to build a ‘proper circuit’, rather than some of the cookie-cutter tracks lately arrived on the World Championship schedule. Although Hermann Tilke – inevitably – is to design it, an attempt is being made to duplicate certain great corners from other circuits, and the track is expected to be quick. Also up and down, which is another plus.

There seems little doubt that the project has keen support, at both local and state level, and that the necessary finance is in place – as also is a firm contract with FOM (Ecclestone).

Ever since the days of Long Beach in the spring and the Glen in the fall, F1 has sought a permanent home in the USA. I must say I thought that had been accomplished at Indianapolis, where the crowds may have been small compared with that at the 500, but still dwarfed those at any other Grand Prix. In the end, having spent a fortune on modifying the place to satisfy F1 demands, Tony George, then the president of the Indianapolis Motor Speedway, ultimately found himself unable to contemplate Ecclestone’s ever greater fiscal requirements, and that – after eight years – was the end of that. I would still like to see Indy return to the World Championship one day – to my mind, there should be at least two Grands Prix in the USA.

For now, though, it seems clear that the Austin project is bona fide, that F1 will return to America the year after next, and the assumption is that the US Grand Prix will be twinned with Montréal (as Detroit and Indy used to be), enabling the races to share the enormous costs of transportation across the Atlantic. The teams and sponsors are – not surprisingly – delighted, and so, I think, should be all F1 fans. It’s good to be reminded that there are areas of the world other than the Far East…

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The inaugural Formula 5000 race in 1975 at Long Beach.

I’ve enjoyed the pleasure of covering all thirty-four Long Beach Grands Prix, from the inaugural Formula 5000 race back in 1975 through eight Formula One races from 1976-’83 and twenty-five CART or Champ Car races from 1984-2008. This year’s race was Champ Car’s swansong in the beachside California city as the defunct organisation’s Panoz DP01-Cosworth turbos raced for one last time before the unified Indy Racing League arrives in town next year. So Long Beach ‘08 marked the end of a quarter century of the sweet sound of turbocharged engines wailing through the sunny California air and as the drivers cruised into the pits at the end of the race and the turbocharged engines – the signature song of Indy car racing – fell silent, the moment brought tears to some eyes.

For the next year or two, the familiar whine of Cosworth’s turbo V8 will be replaced by the harsh, coarse noise from Honda’s much less powerful, naturally-aspirated V8 IRL engine and there’s no doubt that the vast majority of fans and competitors would love to see the IRL adopt a more powerful, turbocharged engine formula as part of its new formula for 2010 or 2011.

1976 Grand Prix of Long Beach, California, USA. March 26 – 28 1976. Niki Lauda (Ferrari 312T), 2nd position.

Like Mario Andretti, I’m among those who believe the new IRL formula must create spectacularly fast and demanding cars to drive. We think there must be a much greater difference between straightaway and cornering speeds. We also believe the new formula must inspire competition between engine and chassis manufacturers as well as adopting some serious elements of green technology. Over the upcoming month of May at Indianapolis I will discuss these issues with many people in the sport and will write about these conversations in the pages of Motor Sport later this year.

And as I reminded many people at Long Beach this year, back in 1975 at the inaugural Formula 5000 race – won by Brian Redman in a Haas/Hall Lola T332C-Chevrole – the garage area boasted no fewer than forty-two cars built by eight different car constructors. Thirty-nine of those cars started the two qualifying heats and because Bill Simpson’s Berta didn’t make it the first Long Beach race featured seven different car builders making this year’s race pale in comparison.

Brian Redman with the trophy from the Formula 5000 race in 1975.

If American open-wheel racing is to enjoy a resurgence under the IRL’s unified banner it must rediscover this essential nature of the sport. The IRL’s new formula for 2010 or 2011 must dispel the banalities of spec-car racing and attract a trove of competitive engine and chassis builders. That’s the only way Indy car racing and Long Beach will thrive again.

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Last week, following Graham Rahal’s (above) inspired victory in his first IRL race in the streets of St Petersburg, team owner Carl Haas (below) was in the best spirits he’s been in for months. Like all the former Champ Car teams, Newman/Haas/Lanigan has been up to its elbows in a serious thrash over the past two months re-building old Dallara-Hondas or building new cars from parts. So it was particularly sweet for Champ Car’s most successful team to win in St Pete with its talented, teen-aged driver.

“Graham did a tremendous job and Justin (Wilson) (below) was very quick,” Haas said. “Justin had a real chance to win the thing, but he caught-out by the yellows and the pit strategy. It’s too bad because he was very quick.

“It was great for the team because everyone has really worked their tails off,” Haas added. “But there’s a lot to do. We’ve got two more cars to build before Indy next month and it’s going to be tough on the ovals. The top guys have got five or six years of running on us. It’s good to know we can run strong with these cars on a street circuit, but the ovals are completely different. We don’t have any data or information to work from.”

Haas said everyone in his team is delighted to be part of the IRL’s unified Indycar series. “It’s been very, very difficult for the teams from Champ Car to make the change in such a short period of time,” Haas acknowledged. “But people are really loving the fact that it’s just one series and we’re all racing together again. I think it’s going to be a lot better for Indycar racing. There was so much confusion. Nobody knew who was what and the whole thing lost all its identity. This unification had to happen and it’s going to be a good thing for the sport.”

But Haas has his reservations about next weekend’s Long Beach GP where the former Champ Car teams will give their Panoz-Cosworths one last hurrah while the IRL regulars are racing at Motegi in Japan. “I hope Long Beach works out,” Haas remarked. “It’s a terrible way to have to do it and I’m not sure how the people – the fans – are going to feel about it.”

We were assured last week that twenty cars will be on the grid at Long Beach, including former winner Jimmy Vasser. But four-time Long Beach winner Paul Tracy apparently will not be in the field as he struggles to resolve his contract dispute with Jerry Forsythe.

“As far as I know, I’m not driving,” Tracy said. “I’ve told the team that I’m more than happy to do Long Beach, but they don’t want to acknowledge there’s a termination clause in the contract. Nobody has told me anything.”

As Carl Haas says, it will be interesting to see how the fans react to Champ Car’s swansong in the streets of Long Beach next weekend.

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The first unified Indycar race of the 21st century took place last Saturday night before a modest crowd at the Homestead-Miami Speedway. There were many good things to see, including a fierce battle at the front and watching Marco Andretti drive such a strong race on a track where he has fared poorly in the past. In the end, Scott Dixon (below) showed that he and Chip Ganassi’s team will once again be serious championship contenders by taking pole and coming through to win the race with a near-perfect performance after Tony Kanaan ran out of luck in the closing laps. It was also clear that the IRL continues to be all about its three big teams – Ganassi, Andretti-Green and Penske, who entirely dominated the evening.

The tough task facing the former Champ Car teams was made equally clear. French rookie Franck Perera (below) was the fastest of this group, qualifying 15th on his debut with Eric Bachelart’s Conquest team, while Oriol Servia was the best finisher in 12th place, five laps down. Perera finished 14th, six laps down, while Justin Wilson was 15th and seven laps back in his first race with Newman/Haas/Lanigan.

These guys are expected to be in better shape on the St Petersburg street circuit this weekend, but let’s not forget that the top IRL teams have spent years and many millions of dollars in the wind tunnel and elsewhere developing, testing, understanding and dialling in these cars. With limited resources, minimal testing and a brief switch back to their Panoz DP01s for Long Beach before the long month of May in Indianapolis followed by 12 races in 15 weeks, the ex-Champ Car teams face a long and challenging season.

So after all the anticipation and white heat surrounding the unification of Indycar racing we are faced with the realisation that nothing much has changed. Ganassi, Andretti-Green and Penske are clearly on top of a spec-car series with little emotional appeal that is filled with largely faceless drivers. There are few names, no superstars, and the only notable blip the series might enjoy is if Marco Andretti were to win a string of races and challenge for the championship. And, of course, the former Champ Car teams face an embarrassing struggle, which is not likely to improve their hopes of selling any serious sponsorship, nor encourage long-suffering Champ Car fans to turn out to support them.

And what about Paul Tracy (below)? It’s ridiculous that he’s not in the field. He’s the biggest draw by far, the only guy with a real persona and a predilection to speak his mind. He may be near the end of his career on street circuits and some road courses, but like any driver he’ll continue to cut the mustard on ovals well into his forties. Let’s not forget some of Paul’s ferocious recent performances at Milwaukee in Champ Car’s final years at the venerable track, when he showed everyone what it’s all about with some superbly aggressive outside passes.

As Tracy says, he would love to go back to Indianapolis with a properly competitive car and team to attempt to avenge his loss there in 2003. With the right car, Tracy would bring some flavour and excitement to the Indy 500 that it hasn’t enjoyed in many years. But right now he’s sidelined as his lawyers try to find a way to buy Tracy out of his contract with Jerry Forsythe, who has decided not to run his team in the unified IRL series. In the meantime, the 39-year-old Canadian is a pedestrian.

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It was sad to talk last week with each of Derrick Walker (above), Paul Tracy (below) and Carl Haas. All three had tales of woe to tell about how the fallout from Champ Car’s demise has affected them. Walker’s team finds itself without the sponsorship to be able to race in this year’s unified IRL series, Tracy is out of a ride and has no idea what or even if he will race this year, and Haas admits to losing a pile of money on his investment in Panoz DP01 parts and equipment.

As everyone knows, Walker has lost his sponsor and driver Will Power to the renamed KV Racing Technology team and is going to court to attempt to get some restitution from Craig Gore. Walker has not laid-off any employees and will run three Atlantic cars this year but he’s looking at diversifying into the A1GP series or sports car racing or any other sensible form of motor sport that will pay the bills.

Meanwhile, Paul Tracy awaits word from Jerry Forsythe about how Tracy might buy his way out of his multi-year contract or find some other resolution to his dilemma. At the moment Tracy is a pedestrian, without a ride in the IRL. He’s assuming, but doesn’t know if he’ll race at Long Beach. “I feel like I’m standing on the platform and the train’s driving off,” Tracy remarked. “I feel like the guy who got a new suit for the big date and I’m primed and ready for the prom, and she didn’t show up.”

And then there’s Carl Haas (above), a proud man who, with his partner Paul Newman, built one of America’s most accomplished and respected race teams. Over half a century Haas has made his living entirely from racing, selling cars, parts and service to all kinds of formulas and categories. Haas admitted last week that he has lost more than two millions dollars on his investment in Champ Car’s failed Panoz spec-car project. Like Walker, Haas has remained loyal to his people and he has not laid-off any employees.

The good news is that Cristiano da Matta (above) enjoyed a very good first run in a race car last week since his near-fatal accident at Elkhart Lake in the summer of 2006. Da Matta tested one of Bob Stallings’ Gainsco Riley-Pontiac Grand-Am cars at the new 2.5-mile Eagles Canyon road circuit in Texas and after two days and around 140 laps Cristiano was bubbling with enthusiasm. Da Matta will make his return to racing at Laguna Seca in May, driving a second Stallings’ Grand-Am car beside series champions Alex Gurney and Jon Fogarty. Da Matta will share his car with old friend and former team-mate Jimmy Vasser.

“It will be a good way to get back,” da Matta remarked. “I won’t be able to fight for the championship this year, but just to get back to it and next year be serious about the job of going for the championship, it’s very exciting. And to do it with Jimmy who is not only a very good driver but also a very good friend of mine – and he’s also very fired-up about it – it’s like a dream.”

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In Champ Car testing at Sebring last weekend, 23-year old Frenchman Franck Perera showed he will be a man to watch this year. Driving one of Eric Bachelart’s Conquest Racing cars, Champ Car rookie Perera set the pace and yesterday Bachelart announced that Perera will lead his team this year.

Can a rookie in a small team win races and challenge the likes of Newman/Haas/Lanigan for this year’s Champ Car title? Bachelart says the strength of Champ Car’s Panoz-Cosworth rules package means a small team with good engineers and a fast, young driver can compete against teams like Newman/Haas/Lanigan. With Perera in one of his cars and another competitive young driver in Conquest’s second car, Bachelart hopes to be a serious contender this year.

And Perera? He was a member of Toyota’s young driver program in Europe from 2001-2004 and tested a Toyota F1 car in ‘04. He won the Formula Renault Italian championship in ‘03 and raced in GP2 in ‘06, finishing second in the Monaco GP2 round. Perera came to the USA last year to race in the revived Mazda/Atlantic championship with Carlos Bobeda’s Condor team. He wound up finishing a strong second to Raphael Matos in the Atlantic series, scoring his first win at mid-season on the challenging Mt Tremblant road course. He won again in Toronto the next weekend and also won the year’s final Atlantic race at Elkhart Lake.

At Sebring last week Perera proved he can pedal a Champ Car as quickly as anyone and it will be interesting to see what he can do when the beleaguered Champ Car series kicks-off at Long Beach in April.

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