This Week in Motorsport
Four racing series I cared to watch were in action over the weekend after Independence Day, compared to none during the weekend just past. Three series are to be in action next weekend, when my time shall be unavoidably monopolized by an otherwise most welcome visit from both my siblings & all of their wee bairns. C'est la vie!

Formula Fun!
Formula One World Championship
Round 9
Grand Prix of Great Britain
Sunday, 8 July 2012

Silverstone is one of the fastest circuits on the F1 calendar, but this year's British Grand Prix fell during the wettest summer since meteorological record-keeping began in merry old England, slowing the cars considerably. Friday's practice sessions & Saturday's qualifying were held in pouring rain, qualifying being subjected to a ninety-minute interruption due to excessive water on the track. So of course the race on Sunday was dry as a bone. Mark Webber & reigning double World Champion ('10 & '11) Sebastian Vettel of Red Bull (Renault) finished first & third, with double World Champion ('05 & '06) Fernando Alonso & Felipa Massa of Ferrari in second & fourth. Fifth & sixth place for the Lotus (Renault) duo of '07 World Champion Kimi Räikkönen & Romain Grosjean lifted Lotus to third place in the Constructors' Championship standings, ahead of perennial powerhouse McLaren (Mercedes), who dropped from second to fourth (Ferrari are in second, while reigning double World Constructors' Champions Red Bull stand atop the rankings). 'Twas a whale of a race!

G.P.2 Series
Round 7
Silverstone Circuit, Great Britain
Saturday & Sunday, 7-8 July 2012

G.P.2 is the official feeder series in Formula One. Six of G.P.2's seven series champions have gone on to careers in F1: Nico Rosburg of Mercedes A.M.G., '08 F1 World Champion Lewis Hamilton of McLaren, Timo Glock of Marussia (Cosworth), Nico Hülkenberg of Force India (Mercedes), Pastor Maldonado of Williams (Renault), & Romain Grosjean of Lotus. Six of the seven series runners-up have also gone on to at least one full season in F1: Heikki Kovalainen of Caterham (Renault); Nelson Piquet, Jr., formerly of Renault (now Lotus); Lucas di Grassi, formerly of Virgin (now Marussia); Bruno Senna of Williams; Vitaly Petrov of Caterham; & Sergio Pérez of Sauber (Ferrari). The problem with G.P.2 is that some fellows seem to make a career out of it; instead of impressing & then moving up the ladder, they stay in G.P.2 for years & years. Maldonado, for example, was in his fourth year of competition when he won his championship, over then-G.P.2 rookie Pérez. This year's G.P.2 leaders are all series veterans, making me dubious they have much of a future in F1, except possibly as hopeless, hapless back markers at Marussia or H.R.T. The young driver who's impressed me most has been James Calado, a G.P.2 rookie. Alas, young Calado had a disastrous weekend at Silverstone, scoring no points, & dropping from third in the drivers' standings to a fourth-place tie with fellow Briton Max Chilton. Plenty of time left on the G.P.2 calendar for that lost ground to be made up.

By Endurance We Conquer
American Le Mans Series (A.L.M.S.)
Round 4
Northeast Grand Prix
Saturday, 7 July 2012

The post-Le Mans return to action for the A.L.M.S. was broadcast live (!) on E.S.P.N. 2, by-passing my greatest complaint about the Entertainment & Sports Programming Network's A.L.M.S. coverage, the delayed, edited nature of the race broadcasts. The first hour of the two-hour-forty-five-minute race was carried only on the espn3.com website, but the final hour & forty-five minutes, with time for podiums & interviews after, was carried live on television. This was a most welcome change. The race was run from Connecticut's Lime Rock Park, the shortest circuit on the A.L.M.S. calendar, a tremendous contrast with the Circuit de la Sarthe in France. Still, I was reminded of how much better the American Le Mans Series is than the rival Grand-Am Rolex Series. The next two races will be broadcast in the same manner, before the return to the irksome practice of an edited & condensed broadcast of the four-hour race at Road America. Alas & alack!

Indy Rock
IndyCar Series
Round 10
Indy Toronto
Sunday, 8 July 2012

There are some things to like about the IndyCar Series, but I simply cannot escape the conclusion that it is amateur hour compared to Formula One. The comparison is unfair perhaps, but they are the world's two most-famous open-wheeled racing series & so I think it also inevitable. I'm unimpressed by Indy's namesake event, the far-famed 500, but on the other hand I'm glad they run more races on road courses & street circuits than on ovals. I'm not much of a partisan in that have a team to root for, yet I find myself oddly annoyed that American driver Ryan Hunter-Reay of Andretti Autosport (Chevrolet-powered) has assumed the points lead over Australian Will Power of Team Penske (Chevrolet). Why? The only explanation I can offer is that I am rooting for Power because he has so often been eclipsed by Dario Franchitti of Chip Ganassi Racing (Honda). What do I have against Franchitti? Envy over his marriage to Ashley Judd? No, not really. Power just seems like the underdog, & who doesn't like rooting for the underdog. There are no firm IndyCar loyalties as of yet, nor are there certain to be in future, as I'm still lukewarm about the series.

Elsewhere in Motorsport
S.C.C.A. Pro Racing World Challenge
Rounds 6-7
Cadillac V-Series Challenge
1 June 2012

Rounds 8-9
Motul Canadian Tire Motorsports Park Grand Prix
22 June 2012

The Pirelli World Challenge is an all G.T. series that I first watched because {a} it was on & {b} I wanted to see the Cadillac CTS-V racecar in action. These were my second & third World Challenge races. I'm intrigued enough to watch more.

Next time on "This Week in Motorsport": a major development, maybe even, in the vernacular, a "game-changer."

The Rebel Black Dot Song of the Day
Great Big Sea, "The Night Pat Murphy Died" from Play (T.L.A.M.)

Commentary: I woke up this morning with "The Night Pat Murphy Died" rolling through my head.

The following image was considered for this week's episode of "The Explorers' Club," but rejected on two grounds. {a} As a non-scientific illustration, it served little pedagogical purpose. {b} It's just too scary. We now present it as pure entertainment, solely for the shock value. It's terrifying. Enjoy.