Castroneves won the first IndyCar race of the season; Alonso wins F1
Last weekend marked the opening of the season in the IndyCar championship, featuring series for car drivers in North America. New cars (Dallara DW12 Chassis much more streamlined than in the past) and especially since the new engines monopoly Honda ceased in late 2011. Henceforth, Chevrolet, Honda and Lotus share the market. 26 pilots were departing from the inaugural stage on the street circuit in St. Petersburg, Florida.
The Brazilian Helio Castroneves was prevails, the Dallara-Chevrolet commands a. Its success has played a twenty laps when a managed exceed the outside of a bend the New Zealander Scott Dixon (Ganassi Dallara-Honda Racing), then leader. The "Top 5" is supplemented by drivers Andretti Autosport (Dallara-Chevrolet) Ryan Hunter-Reay and James Hinchcliffe Canadian from Toronto, and Ryan Briscoe, Castroneves Penske teammate.
This test, however, has not been to the expectations side show. Many drivers, however, were in the process of learning their new mechanics. This was particularly the case of Alex Tagliani Quebecois. With a Lotus engine that accuses nearly six months behind face its competitors in terms of development, "Tag" knew he had not hoped for a miracle. Despite everything, he shows the best of both qualifications Lotus drivers in the race, finishing fifteenth.
Much more spectacular was the second round of the world championship of Formula 1, which took place on the Sepang circuit in Malaysia. A race which started painfully However, since violent tropical rain came to force stop the activities after less than ten minutes. The second departure, an hour later, was good but the strategies favorite Lewis Hamilton and Jenson Button (McLaren-Mercedes) would be taken into default after multiple tire changes and race incidents.
If Hamilton was doing pretty well (third), Button finished him off points, a modest fourteenth instead. This is the Ferrari driver Fernando Alonso who is required, with a slim lead of two seconds on the Mexican Sergio Perez, driving his Sauber-Ferrari. Of course, Perez is one of the most gifted young people at this time in F1, but it is all the same a surprise to find it on the podium, his nineteenth F1 Grand Prix.
Mark Webber finished fourth ahead of Kimi Raikkonen (Lotus) and Bruno Senna (Williams). It saves the honor of a Red Bull-Renault is the big disappointment of the beginning of the season. His team mates Sebastian Vettel would at best have finished sixth, but a clash with the HRT-Cosworth modest Indian Karthikeyan was force to pit (puncture). He ended the eleventh.
NASCAR finally is on the Super Oval Fontana, California, the Sprint Cup and Nationwide series had an appointment. Sprint Cup, Tony Stewart (Chevrolet) won the event, played in front of almost completely empty and cut short by the arrival of rain stands in front of Kyle Busch (Toyota) and the most popular driver in the series, Dale Earnhardt Jr (Chevrolet). Nationwide, Joey Logano (Toyota) is required to Rocky Stenhouse Jr (Ford). Titleholder, and it reduces the gap that separates Elliott Sadler (ninth of this test) at the forefront of the championship.
The next weekend, the Sprint Cup Series and NASCAR Camping World Trucks will have Martinsville (Virginia) while the IndyCar will Alabama (Barber Motorsports Park circuit). It is also the Rally of Portugal, third ordeal 2012 World Rally Championship.
