bob jennings' WORLD O' RACING  10/30/99

Eddie Irvine, Goodyear going away, Ganassi going to Toyota; it's a crazy world out there

When I began this piece, my intent was to focus on tonight's Grand Prix of Japan (Indianapolis time) and the unusual contest for the 1999 Formula One World Championship, between Eddie Irvine and Mika Hakkinen. That's still my intent. But other things keep happening, as they usually do, and this has been a week with other big stuff going on.   

The rumors have been circulating, throughout this season, that Goodyear was considering pulling out of CART, with their customer base dwindling. Still, when I read, earlier this week, that Goodyear was pulling out of both CART and the the Indy Racing League, I was surprised. However, now that I think about it, it seems like a logical move.

Goodyear has been doing okay in the IRL, winning the "Indianapolis 500" the past two years, the IRL title, in 1998, and six of ten IRL races in 1999. But they 've been awful in CART. The only time Goodyear has won in 1999, was when Gil de Ferran came first, at Portland, in Derrick Walker's Valvoline Reynard - Honda.  

With Walker losing Valvoline next season and with no sponsor replacement as yet, the team's future is doubtful for 2000. I wonder if Roger Penske had given some indication that he was ready to switch to Firestones. A move by Penske would leave Dan Gurney's All American Racers as Goodyear's primary CART representative, which isn't too promising. 

Apparently Goodyear doesn't believe winning the "Indianapolis 500" is worth the expense to remain in Indy car racing. Perhaps the same decision making process that saw them leave Formula One, after last season, was in place.

Goodyear has the big plum anyway. They are the sole contract supplier of tires for all of NASCAR, and in  racing 1999, brother, that's what counts. 

I've been reading this book, about Elvis, called "Last Train to Memphis." All of the sudden, a line from one of the Presley classics pooped into my head. "Brother, that's when your heartaches begin." It looks good, to me, in the sentence, in the paragraph above.

What the hell?

Who knows? Someday Indy car racing may become a worthy investment for Goodyear again. It's sad commentary, though, on the condition of the sport, in these times, and I'm unhappy about Goodyear's departure.

I'm appreciative, however, for what Goodyear has done for the "Indianapolis 500" and Indy car racing over the past 35 years.

They came to the Indianapolis Motor Speedway, in 1964, with A.J. Foyt leading their charge. Firestone came up with a better tire, a day or two before qualifications, however, and Foyt and everyone else, on Goodyears, switched to Firestones for the "Indianapolis 500." Foyt wore his Goodyear suit, on race day though, and won his second "500." The next season, Goodyear was back to stay, with Foyt and an increasing number of top competitors. Two years later, in 1967, Goodyear was on the car that pulled into Victory Lane, not just the winning driver's suit, as Foyt won his third "500." Goodyear and Firestone tried to out spend one another and the era of the "tire wars," in Indy car racing, brought forth a new group of heroes; Mario Andretti, Bobby Unser, Al Unser, Gordon Johncock, Johnny Rutherford.

Eventually, however, the money ran out. Firestone pulled out of all racing, after the 1974 season, and later had to sell out to Bridgestone. From that time, until 1995, Goodyear carried major league racing, with the exception of a few seasons when Hoosier Tires was involved in NASCAR.

Thanks Goodyear and I hope you come back to the "Indianapolis 500" some day.

The other big news is that Chip Ganassi is going with Toyota, for 2000. That one blows me away.

Why would anyone change a winning package like Ganassi has with his Target Reynard - Hondas? The answer has to be money. Toyota must be paying Ganassi a lot of money to make the switch.

Even if Dario Franchitti beats Juan Montoya for the CART championship this Sunday at California Speedway, Ganassi's team is still the best. In fact, I'm impressed that Barry Green, Franchitti and Paul Tracy have been able to compete with the Target cars to the extent they have. It's sort of like McLaren and Ferrari, in Formula One, the way Team Kool Green and the Target Ganassi team have more or less gathered up all the goodies.

Ganassi's move to Toyota continues a series of bold moves by the former driver, since forming his team for the 1990 season. He started with Eddie Cheever and year old Penskes, left over from Emerson Fittipaldi's Indianapolis winning - CART championship run, in 1989, with the Pat Patrick - Ganassi Marlboro team. By mid season, however, Ganassi had Cheever and his Chevrolet engines in new Lolas. In 1992, Ganassi switched to the new Ford Cosworth engine. Two years later, he brought Reynard to Indy car racing. For 1996, Ganassi switched to Firestone tires and Honda power. Three consecutive CART titles, with Jimmy Vasser, in 1996, and Alex Zanardi, the past two seasons, followed.

There's no question that the Ganassi team is to CART, in the post-Indianapolis era, what Team Penske was until 1995. Target - Chip Ganassi Racing (or whatever it's official name is now) is the undisputed "king of the hill," and Ganassi has gotten to that place by taking big gambles and making bold moves. Toyota has been a dismal failure, in CART, which really doesn't make sense, given their resources. If anyone is going to make Toyota work, in CART, it's Ganassi.

So what's happened here? To me, it looks like Ganassi has accepted a big challenge and is probably getting a lot of money for doing it. I like his logic.

It's incredible isn't it? Who would've seriously considered that Eddie Irvine would be leading the 1999 World Championship, by four points, going into the final race, at the start of this season? Even Irvine's season opening win, last March, in Australia, was considered an unusual circumstance.

More incredible perhaps is the possibility that Irvine could become the first driver, since my old F1 favorite Jody Scheckter in 1979, to drive a Ferrari to the World Championship? That's really something else! Think about some of the guys who have raced for Ferrari, in the past 20 years, who failed to get a World title; driving a Ferrari; Gilles Villeneuve -- Nigel Mansell -- Alain Prost -- Gerhard Berger -- Michael Schumacher -- yes even Michael Schumacher.  

It may be Eddie Irvine, however, who gets it done and sends every member of the tifosi into ecstasy, this weekend.

Sure it's premature to speculate about Irvine's World Championship. The current and - almost - repeat World Champion Mika Hakkinen is the next best thing to Michael Schumacher and he only trails Irvine by four points. Irvine's Ferrari is a good race car, but many consider Hakkinen's McLaren - Mercedes the best race car in the world.

But isn't it fun to think about Eddie Irvine becoming the 1999 World Champion?

If memory serves me correct, this is the first time that a Ferrari driver has actually led the points going into the final race, since 1979. Rene Arnoux, driving a Ferrari, was one of three drivers eligible to win the championship going into the final race, of the 1983 season, along with Nelson Piquet and Alain Prost, but he wasn't leading points. Prost 's Ferrari was still in contention, with one race left in the 1990 season, but Ayrton Senna led the points. Schumacher has had a chance to win the title in each of the three previous seasons, since he joined Ferrari, for 1996. In fact, last season, he and Hakkinen were tied going into the final event.

Despite the surprise of it all, the scenario for the race, in Japan, seems an almost fitting conclusion to one of the most improbable Formula One seasons I can recall.

Thank goodness!

Formula One has been so stale, uncompetitive and predictable the past decade that it needed a season like this one has been, in the worst possible way. F1 has been almost as boring as CART.

The season opening race sort of projected what was in store, when Irvine took his first F1 win, in 82 starts, in Melbourne.

Hakkinen pulled the plug on the electricity, in the McLaren garage, when a cable became caught in the rear wing, of his car, as he was driving to the grid. Michael Schumacher's Ferrari wouldn't start for the formation lap, and he had to start the race from the rear of the grid. When Jacques Villeneuve's BAR lost a rear wing, the safety car came on the circuit. On the restart, Hakkinen slowed and retired. Schumacher's Ferrari suffered a puncture, which took him out of contention, after getting as high as fourth.

Irvine took the lead on the restart. Eddie remained in front, with Heinz-Harald Frentzen's Jordan - Mugen Honda and Ralf Schumacher's Williams following Eddie to the finish. Giancarlo Fisichella's Benetton finished fourth. Both Stewart - Fords caught fire, on the starting grid, leaving the spare car for Rubens Barrichello, who finished fifth, followed by Pedro de la Rosa's Arrows.

At the next race, in Sao Paulo, things returned to familiar circumstances. Hakkinen won, followed by Schumacher.

There were some interesting angles to the race in Brazil. When Hakkinen's McLaren suffered a momentary power loss, Barrichello and Schumacher both went by.  Barrichello's Stewart - Ford looked good in front and began to give the promise of things to come. When Barrichello pitted, on lap 27, Schumacher took the lead, followed by Hakkinen. Schumacher pitted on lap 38. Mika pitted on lap 42 and his stop was quicker. Mika returned to the race in front of Schumacher, which is the way they finished. Frentzen finished third, despite running out of fuel on the final lap.He was followed by Ralf Schumacher, Irvine and Olivier Panis' Prost.

At the season's third race, at Imola, Hakkinen set the early pace, leading until he slid into a wall, on lap 16. Michael Schumacher got his first win of the season. He was followed to the finish by David Coulthard, who was getting his first points for the season. The other Imola points earners, in order, were Barrichello, Damon Hill (Jordan), Fisichella and Jean Alesi (Sauber - Petronas).

At Monaco, Schumacher and Irvine scored a Ferrari one - two.

The early race saw Schumacher leading Hakkinen, but when Mika slid, at the Mirabeau corner, Irvine went by. Following Schumacher, Irvine and Hakkinen, at the finish, were Frentzen, Fisichella and Alexander Wurz, in the other Benetton.

After four races, Schumacher led the World Championship, with 26 points, followed by Irvine (18) and Hakkinen (14).

Hakkinen came back, at the next race, in Barcelona, to beat Coulthard, who was off to a slow start. It now seemed like Schumacher and Hakkinen were pretty much dividing the wins, as had been anticipated before the season got underway.

The Barcelona race was something of a procession, with little drama. It was Hakkinen - Coulthard - Schumacher - Irvine, and that's the way they finished. Ralf Schumacher finished fifth and Jarno Trulli's Prost was sixth. The F1 standings now had Schumacher leading with 30 points. Hakkinen moved up to second, with 24, followed by Irvine, with 21. 

The last race, of what I consider to be the conventional part of the 1999 F1 season, took place on June 13, in Montreal.

Schumacher, who was on pole, cut across Hakkinen, when the green lights came on and Irvine made a run at Mika before the first corner. Early in the race, Schumacher put on furious pace, in which he traded fastest laps with Hakkinen. Then, Schumacher, who was leading Hakkinen by four seconds, slid into the barrier, coming off the final corner, and was out of the race.

Hakkinen continued on to win. Fisichella, Irvine, Ralf Schumacher, Herbert and Diniz followed Mika to the line.

The World Championship standings now saw Hakkinen leading with 34 points, followed by Michael Schumacher (30) and Irvine (25).

At the next race, at Magny Cours, in France, on June 27, the 1999 season took on the personality it retains going into tonight's finale, at Suzuka, in Japan.

Things started off when rain hit during the qualifying session, and the drivers who went out early were the beneficiaries. Barrichello and Alesi shared the front row, of the grid, with Schumacher making sixth on the grid. Hakkinen was 14th and Irvine was 17th.

The race began with dry conditions, but torrential rain fell after 21 laps. Despite the dry/wet conditions, it was one of the most competitive Formula One races in years. Coulthard looked strong, but his McLaren failed and he pulled off course, on lap nine, while he was leading. After Coulthard's retirement, Rubens Barrichello led, until being overtaken by Schumacher, who was eventually to fall off the pace, in the later stages of the race. Rubens regained the lead, when Schumacher pitted, and stayed there until being overtaken by Hakkinen on lap 57. Hakkinen had spun off course, earlier in the race, dropping from second to seventh place. When Mika and Barrichello both pitted, with eight laps left, Frentzen assumed the lead and held on to win. The German was followed by Hakkinen, Barrichello, Ralf Schumacher, Michael and Irvine.

Hakkinen's points lead had increased, with 40 points, to Schumacher's 32 and Irvine's 26.

Next was Silverstone, the eighth race of the 16 race series.

At the start, Hakkinen led Coulthard, while Schumacher fell behind his teammate, who got away third. Both Villeneuve and Zanardi stalled, on the grid, and the red flag came out. Unfortunately, Schumacher didn't see it, as he attempted to take Irvine. Uncharacteristically , Schumacher made a mistake and flew across the track and gravel, off the circuit, head on into the tire barriers.

His injuries would keep Schumacher out of the next seven races. If the personality of the 1999 season changed at the Grand Prix of France, the circumstances of the 1999 World Championship changed, when Schumacher crashed.

After a 30 minute delay, the race was started a second time and Hakkinen led Coulthard, but Irvine made a good start to pass David for second. They ran in order - Hakkinen - Irvine - Coulthard - Frentzen until the first series of pit stops began. Hakkinen had a problem with a rear wheel, during his stop, and he had to stop again the next lap, falling to 11th, in the process. Coulthard came up with the lead, on the basis of his stop, with Irvine close behind. Hakkinen had more trouble, losing the rear wheel which caused his earlier problems, at the entrance to the pits. He was 18th after this and apparently said to hell with it, driving into the garage.

I recall watching the Speedvision coverage of the race. After Mika pulled in, he was confronted by Ron Dennis. The Speedvision trio of commentators, Derek Daly, Sam Posey and David Hobbs had a lot of fun with the idea that Dennis was giving Mika a good going over for giving up on the race. Whether that was the case, only those within hearing distance would know, but it did look that way to me.

This was my favorite moment of the 1999 F1 season. I like both Coulthard and Irvine. They're both outstanding talents, although neither come close to Schumacher or are they on par with Hakkinen, in terms of racing talent. But I got a kick out of watching them run nose to tail, around Silverstone; a Scot and an Irishman, one - two, in the Grand Prix of Britain; both number two drivers on their respective teams, but both thrust into the spotlight.

When they went into the pits, Coulthard only held a 0.4 second lead on Irvine. after the stops, however, David was 2.9 seconds in front. That's about the way it stayed, to the finish. Ralf Schumacher was third, followed by Frentzen, Hill and Diniz.

Hakkinen was still leading the points, with 40, while Schumacher and Irvine were tied with 32 apiece. Frentzen had 26 points and he was followed by Silverstone winner Coulthard, who had 22 points.

Miko Salo was chosen to replace the injured Schumacher for the next race, at the A-1 Ring, in Austria, but he had a less than easy start to his temporary Ferrari career, after coming together with Johnny Herbert's Stewart, on lap three.

At the start, Hakkinen led Coulthard to the second corner before David punted him off the circuit. Mika rejoined the race, at the back of the field, and drove like a World Champion to finish third. Meanwhile, Coulthard and Irvine resumed their battle, from Silverstone, two weeks earlier. For much of the race, Eddie rode in third behind Coulthard and Barrichello. When Coulthard and Barrichello pitted, Eddie put on a charge and built a 22 second advantage, and he kept the lead when he made his own pit stop, a few laps later. In the final 12 laps, Coulthard put on a furious charge, reducing Irvine's lead from 1.9 seconds to 0.3 seconds at the finish. Frentzen, Wurz and Diniz followed Irvine, Coulthard and Hakkinen at the finish.   

After nine races, Hakkinen continued to lead, with 44 points, but Irvine had moved to within two points. Schumacher (32) was still third, followed by Frentzen (29) and Coulthard (28).

After the next race, in Hockenheim, the championship points lead would would shift from one driver to another, for the fourth time in the season.

Hakkinen was still as fast as ever, but his luck had gone incredibly sour. When he pitted, on lap 24, while leading, there were refueling problems, dropping Mika to fourth. Then, two laps later, a tire exploded, sending Hakkinen into a tire barrier. McLaren teammate Coulthard fared little better, when he rear ended Salo, breaking a front wing.

In contrast, Irvine's luck was superb. Salo, who assumed the lead, when Hakkinen pitted, allowed Irvine by and the Ferraris came to the finish one - two. Following Irvine and Salo, were Frentzen, Ralf Schumacher, Coulthard and Panis.

Irvine now led Hakkinen by eight points, 48 to 40. Frentzen moved into third, in the standings, with 33 points. Schumacher had 32, followed by Coulthard with 30. 

Hakkinen finally got back on form, in Hungary, with a dominant win. Behind him, Coulthard and Irvine put on another battle, this time, for second. David sat on Irvine's tail until Eddie went wide, enabling the second McLaren to pass. At the finish, the top six were Hakkinen, Coulthard, Irvine, Frentzen, Barrichello and Damon Hill.

The points tightened up again, with Irvine (52) leading Hakkinen (50), Coulthard (36), Frentzen (36) and Schumacher (32).

Hakkinen and Coulthard had another first lap coming together, at the next race, at Spa. Again, David came out the beneficiary, but this time Mika came out of the scuffle with second place. From that point on, Coulthard put on what may be the best drive of his career, to date, beating Hakkinen by 10.4 seconds, at the finish. Frentzen was third, followed by Irvine, Ralf Schumacher and Hill.

The World Championship points lead shuffled back to Hakkinen, with 60 points. Irvine was one point behind. Coulthard was next, with 46 points, followed by Frentzen (40) and Schumacher (32).

At Monza, fortune turned against Hakkinen, once again. Mika led from the start, but on lap 32, he spun, and the television cameras caught Mika more disappointed than I've seen him before, as he walked away from his car and wandered into the surrounding woods, throwing his driving gloves in disgust.

Frentzen assumed the lead upon Hakkinen's retirement, to win. Ralf Schumacher finished second, followed by Salo, Barrichello, Coulthard and Irvine.

With three races remaining, in the season, Hakkinen and Irvine were tied for the points lead, at 60 apiece. Frentzen moved into third, with 50 points, followed by Coulthard's 48 points.

At the Nurburgring, in the Grand Prix of Europe, it seemed as if no one wanted to win the race. Frentzen led from the start, followed by Hakkinen, Coulthard and Ralf Schumacher. It began to rain, on some parts of the circuit, on lap 18, and from that point on, the weather kept changing from wet to dry to wet to dry.

After the first series of pit stops, the order remained unchanged, until the leader Frentzen stopped on the circuit. Coulthard took over first until hitting the tire barrier, five laps later. Ralf Schumacher assumed the lead until pitting on lap 44, handing the lead to Fisichella. The Benetton driver stayed in front for four laps until he spun, giving the lead back to Ralf. But one lap later, the younger Schumacher's Williams suffered a flat tire and had to go to the pits.

Johnny Herbert assumed first place to give Jackie Stewart his first win as a Formula One car owner. I was happy for Herbert, who has been having a difficult time for most of this season matching teammate Barrichello's pace. I was even happier for Stewart, who is one of my great racing heroes. Jarno Trulli finished second, with Barrichello third. Ralf Schumacher was fourth. Hakkinen had one of his least impressive runs, but still finished fifth, one position ahead of Marc Gene's Minardi.

Hakkinen broke the tie, for the points lead, with Irvine, leading 62 to 60.

Two weeks ago, Michael Schumacher returned for the Grand Prix of Malaysia, at the new circuit, near Sepang. I was amazed that he could return and establish his superiority so quickly. Michael won pole and left no doubt, in the race, who had the fastest car.

Michael pulled out a lead, in the first two laps, with Irvine following. On lap three, Schumacher moved aside to let his teammate by. Coulthard was running well and he went by Schumacher, with a neat move inside, going into a corner. David went after Irvine, looking for a way past, until his car quit on lap 15.

While Irvine was leading, Schumacher was making sure Hakkinen would not get by. After pit stops, Schumacher was again leading, but again he slowed to enable Irvine to go by. Hakkinen was having a difficult time with Herbert, near the end of the race, but passed Johnny for third, two laps from the finish.

Irvine took his fourth win of the year, the second in which one of his teammates handed him the win. Schumacher was second, followed by Hakkinen, Herbert Barrichello and Frentzen.

Irvine was back in the points lead, for the third time this season, with 70 points. Hakkinen trailed by four.

Then came the disqualification of Irvine and Schumacher over the deflectors on both Ferraris, which gave Hakkinen his second consecutive World title. Ferrari appealed the disqualifications and one week ago, an FIA panel upheld the appeal, which opened up the championship battle, once again and handed the points lead back to Irvine.

Now we are real close to race time in Japan. I watched the qualifications, from Suzuka, last night, and they were intense. At one point Schumacher and Hakkinen had identical quick times, but Michael went out later, during the session, to solidify his pole position. Starting behind Schumacher and Hakkinen tonight will be Coulthard and Frentzen. Irvine has been having a tough weekend and his problems continued with a bad crash, near the end of the session, which brought a halt to the action, for a few minutes. Eddie will start fifth tonight.

What do I think will happen tonight? Who knows. Anything can happen and I really don't have a feel for who will end the season as the 50th FIA Formula One World Champion. In closing, I still think Hakkinen is the more legitimate champion, but my emotions tell me they want to see Irvine get the title.

I like Irvine and he has a hint of Nigel Mansell to him. I don't think Eddie is as talented or fast as Nigel was, but both have sort of a flamboyant charisma; sort of a rebellious, but attractive persona. Irvine seems like an improbable champion, but I think his success would be a good thing for Formula One, like a breath of fresh air, adding another dimension to the personality of the competition.  

Regardless, I have enjoyed this F1 season. I have gotten more from F1, in 1999, than at any time since Mansell's World Championship season of 1992. It's been fun and it builds my anticipation for next September's F1 race at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway. I'm also probably more keyed up for the race, in Japan, than I've been about any racing since the "Indianapolis 500" last May.