Quotes of the Week
"We will speak with Mosley; we must remove this hypocrisy. The important thing is that you do not harm the others, but for the interests of the team, in a team sport, I think it is a beautiful thing. Just think of cycling when his teammates gets their sprinter to the line." Luca di Montezemolo, President of Ferrari, commenting on Formula 1's current ban on team orders.
"I would have thought, 'I am 22 and I have won the world championship, got poles and set fastest laps. Now what?' I think it was good I didn't win it last year. If I had done it too early I am sure it would have affected me permanently. Perhaps I wouldn't be pushing so much now and in the future." Lewis Hamilton, Formula 1 driver, McLaren Mercedes, contender for the 2008 World Drivers Championship
"The pressure from the fans only helps. It's always better to have it. I've always liked racing at home. You can absorb everything positive from the fans and that helps you do your best. It doesn't help with the driving [power of the mind], but if it makes you calmer, if it helps your preparation, then it's valid. The important thing is to always keep up your hopes and do your best, which for me means to win the race. Perhaps it will not be enough, but it is the only thing I can control, so I intend to try to achieve it." Felipe Massa, Formula 1 driver, Ferrari, contender for the 2008 World Drivers Championship
"I think it's undoubtedly related to motor racing, it's just a question of who. I've got some shrewd ideas. I've got my eye on them, let's put it like that." Max Mosley, FIA President, repeating his claim that he was set up by someone in motorsports when he was revealed to be a prostitute-visiting sadomasochistic.
"I think Tony George's management has a huge influence over his decision-making process and in business you employ people to give you advice so you can understand the path forward. I just don't think he has the best people advising him. I just hope that Tony George and the rest of his boys of the IRL see sense and recognize that this is probably like throwing away the Indy 500. It is far and away their second biggest race. They … probably need to hand out corn cobs at some of the races to get people to some of them. This (Surfers) is an already made up and set up race for them. I can tell you now if there's no IRL on the Gold Coast, there's no Team Australia. Tony George needs to make a decision and needs to make that decision without the influence of his lower management. He needs to decide based on the merits of the event." Craig Gore, co-owner, Team Australia, commenting on discussions that the Surfers Paradise race could be axed from the IndyCar series.
“This car has no grip, first of all, no mechanical grip and no aero grip. And you’re on a race track that has no grip. So, all in all, it’s hard for the drivers to go out here and race. People just want to tell us to shut up and drive the race cars. But you get out here and you give it a whirl for yourself and see how you feel." Kyle Busch, NASCAR driver, Joe Gibbs Racing, commenting after finishing 5th in the Sprint Cup race at Atlanta Motor Speedway
"What a way to cap off the year and in my home country. It doesn't get better than this. I have to give credit to the guys at Team Penske. My new engineer Eric (Cowdin) did a great job all weekend. I'm just so happy for all the (Australian) fans. It was a great event and we're going to turn up the wick tonight." Ryan Briscoe, IndyCar driver, Team Penske, winner of the Surfers Paradise IndyCar race
“My dad finished second twice in Australia and raced there many times. He didn’t win there so it’s up to me to get a win for the Rahals in Australia. I went there once as a kid in 1998, the last year my dad was racing in CART. It is a great place; absolutely beautiful. I was only 9 or 10 so I missed the best part, which is the girls. I wasn’t paying attention to them then. My dad was knocked out right away so I didn’t see much of the race. I went back to the hotel and jumped in the pool." Graham Rahal, IndyCar driver, Newman/Haas/Lanigan Racing
“Honestly, Toledo happened the way it would happen if it happened tomorrow. We had a 90-point lead going into the race. The guy in second (Stenhouse) took a huge shot at us and destroyed our car to where we wouldn’t have been able to make laps. Luckily, the officials that were watching let us go back out because the car was completely destroyed. I did the best I could to go as fast as I can so he wouldn’t blow right by me. He passed me and I tried my best to make sure that he didn’t win the championship for my guys and my crew that worked that hard. My guys deserved that championship and whether we won it or not, the 99 (Stenhouse) was not going to win it like that. I would have done it again." Scott Speed, ARCA Re/Max Series driver, commenting after being parked by ARCA officials for rough driving after retaliating against Rick Stenhouse, Jr.