Surfers Paradise 08 – *live* race blog

Well… as live as I’m apparently going to get that is. I’ve never live blogged a “radio” show, so this could be interesting.

For those that need it, here is the url for the radio link:
http://playlist.yahoo.com/makeplaylist.dll?id=1610016&segment=217487

On top of getting royally screwed out of any live picture feed, we are also getting a weird audio feed. Only half of the conversation. Mike King keeps setting up the conversation and posing a question, and then we don’t get the other dudes answer… Great!

oh joy… Maybe I will have a drink after all… brb…

Driver intros… they break into Will Power saying he is hoping to “get it done” this weekend.

Fuck! How do we contact IMS Radio to let them know how sucky this is!? Seriously. I may just pull the plug on this little exercise.

Ok… they have fixed the audio I think. (I’m hearing two clear voices now)

LOL! Did he just seriously say Danica wants to win??? BWHAHAHAHAHA! Win what? Second worst driver in the field? She’s already there!

Doing a little recap of the actual season finale now… *bunch of commercials… blah blah blah*

Ok… here we go. Maybe I should just play a random race and pretend I’m watching the Nikon Indy 300. LOL!

Hey, if any of you out there have a webcam, and can point it at your tv and stream it for all of us sitting here staring at our blank screens, please contact me with a link! Cheers!

*and commercial again*

Watch, this will be the race that Will actually wins… :bangs head on desk:
On the bright side, I can boot up the T&S… (it usually crashes the video feed for me)

Cars fired up… installation laps in progress… going through the staring line-up.
Justin Wilson had a problem, and is now starting at the back of the field. That sucks.

Great the timing is slightly ahead of the radio…

Green, green, green! I can hear them go! LOL

Power got the lead. Good boy.
Franchitti up to second.
Dixon and Briscoe all had a little tussle.
Mario Moraes spun and continued. May have tangled with a Conquest car.

Race control orders Dixon to give up the spot he gained by cutting the chicane. Somehow Briscoe ends up in second. (what happened to Dashley??)

Apparently it was Meira that got into it with Moraes. He pits.

Power has pulled out a 4 second lead.

How the fuck did Dashley end up in 7th??

*I feel like a court reporter just listening and typing away…. *

Apparently there is quite the battle between Dashley & Tags. I’ll take their word for it.

A long discussion about Dashley’s fitness… *yawn*

Wilson has already worked his way up to 15th after starting at the back. Nice.

*commercial*

and we’re back with a little bumper interview with Dashley. (boy they have a hard on for him eh? wow)

Justin gets around “The Least” for 13th.

FCY as Moraes runs out of talent. Apparently he hit the wall, bent the tire which spun him around into another wall and to a stop. Questioning if there was a suspension failure from the booth…
I’ll watch the replay and tell ya… on no wait… I WON’T!! grrrrrrrrr.

Field closes up behind the pace car. Pits are closed. Speculation on pit strategy.

little interview with Vitor… he’s lulling me to sleep…zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz… wow…

Helio, Rahal, Servia, Wilson, Wheldon, Camara & Bell all pit. The strategy begins.

The boys in the booth have seen the replay. *lucky bastards* and concur that Moraes’ incident was driver error.

Safety car off, Power lights the candle and says “see ya!”

uh oh, The Princess decided to “race” Helio from the back of the pack. Way to go sweetheart. Helio has a flat, Danican’t needs a new nose. (and some driving lessons apparently)

*commercial*

We’re back with Briscoe interview bumper. He is gaining ground on Power. lead is only 2 seconds now. Briscoe getting some big lurve from the booth. I would be equally happy if Briscoe took this.

Who the fuck is Justin Bell??

UGH….. :bangs head on desk: Will Will Will…
Made contact with the wall in turn 5 on lap 17, then drove into a few more walls and chicanes just to make sure his race was completely written off. He is the Susan Lucci of Surfers.

no words. Gonna be a long off season for Will.

*commercial*

A huge surprise? Hardly. Those of us familiar with this race and Will are not surprised. Wonder who he’ll be driving for next year? (wish I was kidding)

Briscoe, RHR, Viso, Rice, in the pits. The princess holds up Briscoe heading to the pits. Now she is holding Dixon up who is trying to pit. Seriously, just pull her off the track. She is a hazard.

So everything I just typed a minute ago disappeared…. let’s try this again.

FCY for Carpenter who was spun by Rahal, who was collected along with Figge… er Foyt IV.

Now The Princess runs out of what little talent she packed in her suitcase with her, overcooking it into the melee then stalling it. Apparently she is having her usual hissy fit. Nice debut down-under there Danican’t…. Fucking embarrassment. (and people wonder why I have no interest in giving her any coverage at the track…. Sorry folks, I’m only interested in race car drivers, not empty marketing ploys)

Anyhoo… we are back to green. After much confusion and pace car shuffling, Briscoe came out ahead, but just barely. Dixon is hot on his gearbox, followed closely by Tags. (Go Alex!!)

Will Power: “just clipped that inside wall, just a very bad mistake. I was saving a lot of fuel. I wasn’t pushing hard, it just caught me out”

Booth guys giving Will the rundown of shame… (6 dnfs on the season)

Wilson up to 9th. Helio up to 10th. and Dashley up to 11th. All making good runs after getting caught out.

Look at my little sparkplug go! EJ in 6th! Woohoo.

*commercial*

oops… Dashley just ran out of talent in turn 6. So much for gaining ground.

OK… I’m back! I have a video feed! Jo you are my hero!!! now it feels like race weekend. (I had to turn the sound off though as it was making me giggle) ( I think it’s in Italian)

so… we are on lap 33 of 60. Briscoe is still out front but hasn’t really pulled out a lead like Power had. Dixon is 2 seconds back. Tags is 5 seconds back.

oops… Kanaan is slowing on track… looks like rear suspension damage. (whodda thunk that Mutoh would be the star of the AGR team…. ) He is done. Thanks for coming out mate. Go grab a brewski and enjoy the rest of the race. According to his interview, rear push bar broke. “it is what it is, on to next year” LOL…

Servia and Viso getting racy. Hold on EJ!

Nice! Pointing out the “fuel strategy” win. At least if I have to suffer through their Danican’t luv fest, they are realistic about her skills…

Festival of pitting begins…. Tags assumes the lead. Go Alex go!
and now he and RHR head to the pits. My sparkplug takes the lead!!!

Woah! RHR rams into the back of Tags in the pits. No damage, but RHR gets the position. That’s pretty shitty. Get it back on track Tags!

*commercial*

back. ooh. Viso gets called for blocking Tags. Gives the position up at the request of race control.

44 of 60 done. Rahal in the pits from 9th.

It’s weird to see a Team Australia car on track knowing that Power is done. LOL! I keep forgetting that Cookie boy is flying the Aussie colours today.

Nice little shout out to Paul Newman and all his accomplishments.

*commercial*

(for those commenting, I would participate more, but my little laptop is on the brink of exploding and I am trying not to upset the balancing act I’ve got going on. Seriously. the T&S fucking kills my browser, slowing it to a crawl) (and it’s a 12″ screen, so it’s pretty comical trying to follow everything)

back… EJ making more friends. hehehe… he cut the chicane and had to give the position to Servia. poor little bugger.

Helio is battling with Viso now. Nice. The booth is giving him some lurve. yes indeed he does drive the wheels off and he will be a huge factor next season.

9 to go. Briscoe has a 2.3 second lead over Dixon. and 7seconds ahead of RHR. Tags is 18 seconds back, so unless RHR has a brain fade, he won’t be on the podium or even challenge for it.

*commercial*

back… Wheldon bumper out of the commercial. Oooh… looks like Helio got around EJ. Nope.

The Princess making more friends… seriously, why isn’t she parked yet? She does NOT want to take out the Aussie leader of the Aussie race. She would need an escort directly to the airport and off the island immediately.

ugh… she totally fucked Briscoes lead over Dixon.

ooh… Doornbos gets a mention as the possible second seat at HVM. Nice. (but hey Wiggy!! what about Dan?!?!)

3 to go…. come on Ryan.
oooh… those tires are in a sketchy place….
2 to go…
Come on Ryan! Anyone but Dixon!
Final lap….
*stomach pains…. from holding my breath*
Doh! someone is in the wall! (the leaders just passed him)
Briscoe gets the win!!

Well hip hip hurray for the Aussie crowd! and congrats to Briscoe! Well done mate! Congrats to Tags on the 4th place! and EJ in 6th!

So… was this the first IndyCar race in Oz or the last… time will tell… if it was the last, it’s pretty cool that an Aussie finally won this race. (no thanks to Will… :shakes head:)

So… I must say, live blogging a radio show is much harder than live blogging a broadcast. You have to listen much more closely while typing, rather than just seeing it for yourself and writing what you see.

haha… I just realized for the Race winner Bricoe, Dixon and Power, they’re home. LOL! They can just chillax now and enjoy the celebrations. (well, Will probably wishes he had somewhere else to be actually… )