Formula One seeks Far East
The head of Formula One would like to have a Chinese-backed team as early as 2005, and he also wants a Chinese driver for the sport.
“From about 1.3 billion people, we’ve got to find somebody,” Bernie Ecclestone told The Associated Press on Saturday, a day before the Monaco Grand Prix.
China is too far from Europe to base an F1 team there, Ecclestone said. But he hopes for “Chinese involvement” with a Europe-based team, suggesting Chinese petroleum and chemical giant Sinopec Corp. as a possible backer.
“It’s a little bit difficult to actually have a team based in China for obvious reasons. Imagine them coming here this weekend, then they go back to China, then come back to Germany the week after. Not possible,” he said.
“So we’re finding a good way to do it,” Ecclestone said. “We need input from them, but maybe the team itself – the mechanical part of the team, for want of a better word – needs to be based in Europe.”
Ecclestone envisions “a sort of team that’s really a little bit under the control of China.”
“If we can get them to agree with what I’ve got in mind it could happen for next year,” he said.
Sinopec is sponsoring China’s inaugural F1 Grand Prix at the Shanghai International Circuit on Sept. 26 – part of the sport’s expansion into new Asian markets.
Sinopec President Wang Jiming told the AP on Friday he had spoken with Ecclestone about how Chinese firms could get involved with F1 teams, but he stopped short of saying Sinopec is ready to be a backer.
“Asia is important for the whole world, not just Formula One,” said Ecclestone, contending Europe is never going to be able to compete with Asia in the long term.
“I want to get more single-seater racing in Asia,” he said. “If we can get a good single-seater series running there we’ll find a driver for sure.”
Busch wins pole at Nazareth
Kyle Busch won the pole for the NASCAR Busch Series race at Nazareth (Pa.) Speedway, turning a fast lap at 131.167 mph.
The 19-year-old Busch raced to his first career Busch Series victory last week in Richmond, and leads the season standings.
“We’ve been doing really well all year long,” Busch said. “We have been running really strong.”
Regan Smith qualified second at 130.875 in place of Kasey Kahne, racing Saturday night in the Nextel All-Star Challenge at Lowe’s Motor Speedway in Concord, N.C. Because Kahne did not qualify the car, he will start from the back of the field today.
Shane Hmiel, driving Michael Waltrip’s car, was third, followed by Jason Keller, Tim Fedewa, Casey Atwood, Kenny Wallace, Jason Leffler, Ron Hornaday Jr. and Bobby Hamilton Jr.
Schumacher fails to win pole
Michael Schumacher will have his worst starting position of the season at the Monaco Grand Prix, where he will be trying to win his sixth straight Formula One race.
Jarno Trulli of Italy captured the pole position – the first pole of his career – while Schumacher had the fifth-fastest qualifying time.
The six-time world champion was bidding for a 60th first place on the grid, but instead will start on the second row today. Previously this season, he had four poles and one second.
“It is going to be much tougher — traffic, start, a much more critical environment,” Schumacher said. “We are not very happy about where we are starting from, but we will still do the race and try our best.”
Schumacher is trying to set a Formula One record for victories to start the season and equal the best winning streak in a season at six. Alberto Ascari won the last six races in 1952 and added three more at the start of 1953.
Schumacher has a perfect 50 points in five races. Ferrari teammate Rubens Barrichello is second in the standings at 32, with Jenson Button third at 24.
Trulli’s Renault teammate, Fernando Alonso, was fourth fastest in 1:14.408, with Michael Schumacher fifth in 1:14.516.
Setzer gets truck series victory
Dennis Setzer took the lead when Carl Edwards inexplicably slowed for what he thought was a caution with four laps left, and Setzer held on Friday night to win the Infineon 200 at Lowe’s Motor Speedway at Concord, N.C.
It was the 11th career victory for Setzer, who has won at least one race for a record seven straight seasons. His Chevrolet beat Edwards’ Ford by 0.869 seconds – about 10 truck lengths – in the series’ second event at the track.
David Starr was third, followed by Nextel Cup stars Kevin Harvick and Michael Waltrip.