Michael Schumacher, confirms his “total convincement” that Mercedes GP has a car “capable of fighting for the championship” and that he hopes “to have an opportunity.”

“I cannot know what the future might bring, but I believe in this team and this is enough challenge for me. I love competition and hope to have a chance to show it,” he declared in an interview in ‘www.formula1.com‘.

The German pilot will be the oldest of the 2010 Formula One season’s grid, and recognizes that “after so much time in the single-seater world, he is aware that there are always fans who follow you and others that do not so much.” “To be able to be in for such a long time, sometimes I had to close up a little and it might just be the same this time,” commented Michael.

The seven-times champion of the world shares ‘box’ with another German pilot, Nico Rosberg, situation that Schumacher considers an advantage because they can communicate in the same language. “I wish the best for him. He is a constructive pilot and it is interesting to have him as a neighbor, since our ‘motorhomes’ are side by side in the paddock,” he explained.

Schumacher clarified that he felt well and that his doctor, Johannes Peil, who attended the test that Mercedes GP performed in the Valencia Circuit, is supervising his evolution.

“He was in Valencia to do me some check ups, as the last one. He wants to make sure that I am totally prepared for the race and obviously, I want to know, too. I am alright and that is the reason why it was not necessary for him to be in Jerez,” he added.

Jamie McMurray held off Dale Earnhardt Jr. at the Daytona 500 on Sunday, a finish so thrilling it just about made up for a pothole that nearly derailed the Super Bowl of  NASCAR.

NASCAR needed two stoppages of well over two hours total to patch a pesky pothole between turns 1 and 2 of Daytona International Speedway. The setback brought the biggest race of the season to a frustrating halt and had NASCAR executives fretting over the potential fallout.

Hoping for a spectacular season-opener to re-energize the industry, the delays instead sent NASCAR chairman Brian France into the broadcast booth to calm an agitated audience.

In the end, though, the hole inadvertently improved the racing.

The action picked up tremendously after the second patch was applied, partly because drivers had to race as if the hole could rip open again and end the event on any lap. And did they ever.

They beat and banged their way through the field in a white-knuckle final 32 laps. Then a flurry of late-race accidents put NASCAR’s ”green-white-checker” policy — an overtime of sorts — to the test.

McMurray, using a boost from former teammate Greg Biffle, powered into the lead on the second and final green-white-checkered attempt. But Earnhardt, who restarted the final sprint in 10th place, was slicing his way through the field.

He weaved in and out of traffic, shoving his Chevrolet into three-wide lines, eventually darting his way to McMurray’s bumper. It was vintage Earnhardt — he’s a 12-time Daytona winner spanning NASCAR’s top two series — and McMurray was terrified to see him growing in his rearview mirror.

”When I saw the 88 behind me, I thought, ‘Oh no.’ He had a good car and I just thought — Earnhardt and Daytona, they win all the time it just seems like,” McMurray said. ”You never know what to expect.”

But with just two laps to make up so much ground, Earnhardt ran out of time and had to settle for second as McMurray sailed to his first career Daytona 500 victory.

”I didn’t know where I was, you know, ’til I really kind of got done almost wrecking down the back straightaway,” Earnhardt said of his charge. ”Then I looked up — there’s just one car in front of me, ‘Jamie’s gonna win this damn race!’

”I was happy for him. He deserves it. They’ve been through a lot. It’s a great team.”

McMurray climbed from his car and ran to the Daytona 500 logo in the infield, dropping to his knees and pounding on the painted grass. Overcome with emotion, he sobbed in Victory Lane as he celebrated with his Earnhardt Ganassi Racing team.

It was McMurray’s first race back with Chip Ganassi and Felix Sabates, who gave him his Sprint Cup Series shot in 2002. But McMurray left and spent four frustrating seasons with Roush Fenway Racing, only to lose that ride at the end of last season when NASCAR forced Roush to drop a team to meet its four-car limit.

McMurray had to fight to get a seat back with Ganassi, and it included convincing sponsor Bass Pro Shops’ owner Johnny Morris to take a chance on him.

The risk was well rewarded Sunday with the biggest win of McMurray’s career.

”It’s unreal,” McMurray sobbed. ”You know, to be where I was last year and for Johnny Morris and Chip and Felix. What a way to pay them back. It’s just very emotional.”

Biffle, a close friend of McMurray’s, was disappointed in finishing third because he was the leader when the caution came out after the first green-white-checkered attempt. But he was able to give McMurray the push that got his buddy into Victory Lane.

”I just made my move too soon, a mistake on my part probably,” Biffle said. ”This is a big, big win for anybody’s career. You got to be happy for anybody that ever wins this race. I was especially happy, the guys I was up there beating and banging with, you know, I would rather see Jamie win than those guys.”

Clint Bowyer finished fourth and was followed by David Reutimann and Martin Truex Jr. — teammates for Michael Waltrip, who finished 18th in what’s expected to be his final Daytona 500.

Kevin Harvick was seventh and was followed by Matt Kenseth, last year’s race winner, Carl Edwards and Juan Pablo Montoya, McMurray’s teammate.

After the race, DIS president Robin Braig apologized for the hole and the delays that caused many fans to head to the exits long before the finish.

”We’re the World Center of Racing. This is the Daytona 500. This is not supposed to happen, and I take full responsibility,” Braig said. ”We can come back from this. We know how to fix it. This is hallowed ground. We understand that. We accept the responsibility.”

By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

Yesterday, Jamie McMurray won the 2010 Daytona 500 behind the wheel of his number 1 Chevrolet leading only two laps, the least in Daytona 500 history. He beat out Dale Earnhardt Jr who placed second, and Greg Biffle third. McMurray humbly cried after the race showing great respect for the men who previously won this historic race.

In 1999, McMurray made 4 starts in the Craftsman Truck series. In 2000, he ran 15 Craftsman Truck races and posted 1 top-five and 4 top-ten finishes.

In 2001 and 2002, he competed full-time in the NASCAR Busch Series, driving the #27 Williams Travel Centers Chevrolet Monte Carlo. The latter year turned out better for McMurray, as he won two races and finished sixth in the overall points standings.

Before the fall race at Richmond in 2002, Chip Ganassi announced McMurray as the driver of a Texaco-Havoline sponsored Dodge in 2003. Ganassi planned to have Jamie drive the #42 Dodge for seven races in 2002. Those plans were accelerated when Sterling Marlin fractured a vertebra at the Winston Cup Race at Kansas Speedway.

At the end of 2009, he left Roush Fenway Racing to drive for Earnhardt Ganassi Racing in the #1 car, replacing Martin Truex, Jr who signed to drive for Michael Waltrip Racing. His departure came as Roush Fenway was forced by a new NASCAR policy implemented a few years prior that limited the amount of cars a race team could have to four, and the #26 was the team Roush Fenway chose to cut. McMurray will reunite with Chip Ganassi in the upcoming Rolex 24 Hours of Daytona.

Rubens Barrichello finished the season’s second test for the Williams team, where he established the third best time of the day, after doing 90 laps, mainly in dry conditions.  The gearbox was the only problem of the day.

Sam Michael, Technical Director said: “After a very humid beginning of the day, we went to perform some configuration tests with Rubens, in the afternoon and he progressed with regards to understanding the car.  Also, we have worked with the systems.  Unfortunately, we had to stop before we expected due to a problem with the gearbox.  Overall, the test has been useful to put mileage on the car and advance in the tuning up.”

Rubens Barrichello: “Today, we focused on tuning up the car and we completed 90 laps before we had the gearbox problem, which the team is investigating right now.  The car has worked well these last two days, and we have discovered some interesting things that will help to its evolution.  I had hoped to do a few fast laps at the end of the day, because the car felt in good conditions, but unfortunately my session was called off.  There is work to do in terms of enhancing the performance, but I’m happy with the results we are getting.”

The Daytona 500 is the only event with a unique qualifying system on the NASCAR circuit.  In the primary qualifying, only the front row (the pole position and the second fastest driver) are locked into the race positions.  Since 2005, NASCAR’s top 35 owners points standings from the previous season automatically qualifies those teams (not the drivers) into the event.  The top two teams that are not within the owners’ Top 35, automatically qualify in the Gatorade Duels, a pair of 150 miles (240 km) races. This is followed by a combination of last years’ owners points, pole qualifying speed and if needed, a past champions’ provisional fills out the field.

Qualifying

One round of NASCAR Sprint Cup Series timed qualifying will be held. Each team may run two laps with the fast lap setting the qualifying time. The two fastest qualifiers set starting positions one and two and are the only guaranteed positions, filling the front row for the Daytona 500. • The Gatorade Duels, the 150-mile qualifying races, will determine starting positions for the Daytona 500 beyond the front row. In the event of cancellation, the field will be set according to the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Rule Book.

The 2009 Daytona 500, the fifty-first running of Daytona 500, was the first points-paying race to open the 2009 NASCAR Sprint Cup season.  The race won by Matt Kenseth with car number 17 on February 15 at the Daytona International Speedway in Daytona Beach.  The Colombian, Juan Pablo Montoya finished in 14^th position, and the race was called off with 48 laps to go after a severe rainstorm that had been lingering throughout the area hit the track.

Who is your favorite for Sunday’s Daytona 500?

The rain that affected the programs of the teams on Friday was still pouring down at the beginning of the session.  However, dry conditions as of mid-morning allowed the single-seaters to roll out with more confidence on this test day at Jerez (this week), where Rubens Barrichello, did best time with 1:22.319.

Robert Kubica was the first to start out to a wet racetrack, with Sebastien Vettel in the Red Bull and Barrichello behind the wheel of the Williams FW32 following his trail.

Nonetheless, it was Felipe Massa, who did the first timed lap of the day with the Ferrari F10.  In his first attempt, the Brazilian made a time of 1:29.534, but little by little he found the rhythm until his car stopped on the grass of the pit-lane entrance.  It seems as though the team is pretending to go the limit.  There was the rumor that the car was deliberately left without fuel to confirm the tank’s capacity.

Michael Schumacher, Massa’s ex-team mate was slightly shaky during the first moments, achieving the best lap with 1:29.768 before taking his Mercedes GP W01 to boxes, where it remained the rest of the morning.  The spectators were surprised.

The changing weather conditions forced the teams to the difficult task of choosing tires.  Even though the pools of water in different parts of the racetrack were drying, the teams decided to play it safe and made pauses, waiting for the track to dry.

Barrichello informed through the radio that the driving and visibility conditions were quite good and hoped that the team could realize an evening session “to its fullest.”  Lewis Hamilton was glad with these news, who seemed distraught after he began his work with Jenson Button’s McLaren MP4-25, on Friday.  He declared that the day had been a waste of time, since neither him nor McLaren had been able to make a remarkable progress on their test program due to the wet racetrack.

On the contrary, Nico Rosberg, was filled with confidence after his second day with the Mercedes W01 GP, despite the fact that he was not allowed to drive in dry during two sessions.  He announced feeling comfortable with the car and to be sure that the Silver Arrow “will be near the racing pole positions when the competition begins in Bahrain, on March 14^th.”

“We have some valuable data, like all the procedures.  It’s difficult when you change teams; there is so much to learn.  It’s like airspace science, you know?  Two days ago I did four dry laps, and a one and a half today.  I felt extremely comfortable with the car, as if I could really up.  That gives me a lot of confidence, so I’m not worried with the fact that there was not much time to roll in dry” Nico assured.

The first appearance of the red flags came when Vettel skidded out of the racetrack and left the Red Bull trapped at the circuit end.  Yet, the delayed caused by this incident was minimal, thanks to the quick response of Jerez circuit recovery team.  In 15 minutes, the RB6 was back in the boxes.

At the end of the morning session began to improve quickly.  Barrichello did 1:22.319 after 39 laps and Massa stopped the chronometer at 1:22.697 after 94 laps.  The red flag indicated that Barrichello reached midday as time leader, three tenths faster than Massa.

After humid weather on Wednesday, today there were better conditions that allowed the racing cars to run through the day with dry tires.  Sebastien completed a good number of laps.  Let’s hope the rain forecast for tomorrow is wrong.  The agenda of the Toro Rosso team evaluated some aerodynamic components, tried out several of them and, as the rest of the teams, tested those set-ups with different fuel loads.

The Swiss pilot rolled out three components brought by Bridgestone –the super soft, soft and hard.

“I’m very happy with the last two days and, even though the rain is not an ideal condition, yesterday’s meant we could try out the rain tires,” said Sebastien Buemi.  “Today, we have been able to lap many times with dry weather, and the car is reliable.  We approached several topics and ran with diverse fuel loads, so we are starting to obtain a better understanding of STR5 overall.”

Jenson Button and the Brawn team (currently, Mercedes GP) have been nominated to the prestigious Laureus World Sports Awards.

Button, who prior to 2009 has only won a Grand Prix, is nominated for the 2010 Laureus World Breakthrough of the Year Award after winning last season’s pilot championship.  The other nominees in this category are: Mark Cavendish (cycling) and Tom Daley (diving), as well as Juan Martín del Potro (tennis), Ji Yai Shin (golfer), and the relatively small German football team,  LVI Wolfsburg.  Lewis Hamilton got last year’s award after winning the 2009 Abu Dhabi Grand Prix.

Mika Hakkinen, Laureus World Sports Academy Member and double Formula One World Champion will announce the nominees

The winners –who will be selected by a jury of 46 people-, will have to attend the ceremony that will be held next month in Abu Dhabi.

The FIA announced through a press release that it will not publish the fuel loads of the 2010 Formula One season different single-seaters.  Despite this year’s refuel ban all through the Grand Prix, each team’s strategies will not be known before the race nor which single-seaters have a more efficient fuel consumption engine

During the last months, there was speculation regarding the possibility of FIA maintaining the publication of the fuel loads this season, but finally it was decided not to, and the weight of each car will be kept a secret.

A week after the Super Bowl, the USA shares, the same day, two other events that will paralize the country… and hundreds of thousand more fans around the world.  This Sunday, February 14th several million viewers will sit in front of their televisions to enjoy the begining of the 52nd Annual Daytona 500, and the 2010 NBA All-Star Game in Dallas.

The approximately twenty million spectators who will watch the stock car race will add to the more than 200.000 who will crowd the stands and the inside of the 4.023 meter three-oval racetrack near Daytona Beach.  Many of them will go to see the NASCAR myth, , number 48, Jimmie Johnson who managed a third position for Sunday’s lineup.  The thing being that, the pilot from El Cajón, CA, aspires to his fifth Sprint Cup consecutive title.
Obviously, his rivals will do what is in their hands to prevent him from a new title, specially, Mark Martin, Carl Edwards, Robbie Gordon, Kasey Kahne, Denny Hamlin and the Busch, Kyle and Kurt, who pretend to ruin Johnson’s party of a five-time-championship.  At Daytona, Martin will have the pole position, but the 3.5 hr test might bring many surprises.  The 200 laps to the speedway by the 43 top pilots at more than 300 kilometers an hour, guarantee an extraordinary exhibition with passings, collisions and a lot of adrenaline.

Yesterday, the Daytona International Speedway was the stage of the two 150-mile qualifying races where Kasey Kahne won the Gatorade Duel 2 by .014 seconds driving his Ford . Tony Stewart crossed the finishing line second at the wheel of his Chevrolet, while Juan Montoya’s Chevrolet got third.  On his part, Jimmie Johnson won the Gatorade Duel 1 by .005 seconds ahead of Kevin Harvick who came in second. Kyle Busch won third place.

This leaves the ground set for February 14^th (next Sunday) Daytona 500 were the lineup will be as follows: No. 1 Mark Martin, No. 2 Dale Earnhard Jr., No. 3 Jimmie Johnson, No. 4 Kasey Kahne and No.5 Kevin Harvick, all of the behind the steering wheels of Chevrolets, except for Kahne who will drive his Ford.

Under a sunshine that the ‘scuderias’ in the racetrack were thankful for, the second session of unveiling began in the Jerez circuit.  With the absence of Virgin Racing in the tracks, because there were no spare parts to repair the single-seater, most of the pilots ran for long periods of time.

Today restarted the work that could not be done yesterday due to bad weather.  The teams have collected more data and have been playing the cat and the mouse.  Buemi’s Toro Rosso stopped the chronometer at 1:20.026, getting the best time of the day.

Many tests and many data, would be the balance of the day, where the expected Valencia time duel did not happen.  The media were left with the feeling that the duo reserved for later on.  However, tomorrow if the climate allows it, there will be new unveiling with other pilots.

Time classification

1. Sebastian Buemi (Toro Rosso) 1:20.026 (121 laps)
2. Jenson Button (McLaren) 1:20.618 (83)
3. Nico Hulkenberg (Williams) 1:21.565 (67)
4. Vitantonio Liuzzi (Force India) 1:20.754 (80)
5. Michael Schumacher (Mercedes GP) 1:21.083 (122)
6. Kamui Kobayashi (Sauber) 1:21.377 (100)
7. Fernando Alonso (Ferrari) 1:21.424 (129)
8. Robert Kubica (Renault) 1:22.003 (101)
9. Mark Webber (Red Bull) 1:22.043 (29)
10. Timo Glock (Virgin) 1:29.964 (11)

Despite the wet racetrack due to yesterday’s rain, the morning session allowed to collect and prove the single-seaters’ new modifications.

The pilots scheduled for the morning rolled out: Fernando Alonso, Jenson Button, Mark Webber, Nico Hulkenberg, Viantonio Liuzzi, Sebastian Buemi, Michael Schumacher, Timo Glock and Kobayashi.

During the morning two red flags were seen, the second being more significant, because a front wing belonging to Timo Glock’s car roamed in the racetrack and the German pilot passed over it destroying it.

Sebástien Buemi’s Toro Rosso was a surprise making the best time; the pilot from Switzerland lowered his own times.  Alonso remained up to an hour in the boxes doing changes to the F10.  Everything is ready for the evening. The teams expect better racetrack conditions.

Second day’s morning times

1. Sebastian Buemi (Toro Rosso) 1:20.026 (58 laps)
2. Jenson Button (McLaren) 1:20.618 (29)
3. Nico Hulkenberg (Williams) 1:21.565 (28)
4. Michael Schumacher (Mercedes GP) 1:21.907 (60)
5. Fernando Alonso (Ferrari) 1:21.928 (79)
6. Robert Kubica (Renault) 1:22.129 (43)
7. Vitantonio Liuzzi (Force India) 1:22.886 (37)
8. Mark Webber (Red Bull) 1:23.164 (60)
9. Kamui Kobayashi (Sauber) 1:23.190 (41)
10. Timo Glock (Virgin) 1:29.964 (11)

Finally, the Silverstone circuit has the approval to utilize the new section of the circuit for the 2010 British Grand Prix.

The “complex stage” was originally designed for MotoGP, but when Silverstone recovered the contract to hold the British Grand Prix at Donington, it immediately approached FIA and Formula One Management (FOM) to be able to run in the new racetrack.  Today, Thursday, the FOM consented on the use of this new area, which the organizers hope will improve the view for the audience.

“The circuit was always designed for two and four wheel competitions,” explained Silverstone’s managing director, Richard Phillips. “We have been very careful, together with the marshals and pilots to insure that we are improving and increasing what Silverstone has to offer – one for the pilots and another view for the audience.”

The F1 circuit will keep most of the high-speed racetrack, but will lose Chicane Abbey, Corner Bridge and the left in Priory –all of which have been left untouched to provide an alternative design.  Contrary to this, the drivers will now turn to the right at the Abbey, before entering a 90 degree right turn that opens in two at the left to again go to the existent National Circuit and, finally, the F1 circuit.  It is expected that the extra length will increase the F1 times per lap in four seconds.

NASCAR’s format for the opener, Pole Day locks in the top-two qualifiers for next Sunday’s (Feb. 14) Daytona 500 and establishes starting positions for Thursday’s 60-lap, 150-mile qualifying races. The results from the two 150-milers will determine the starting field — positions 3-43 — for the 500.

So it was a bitter sweet day for Ryan Newman who got third position at the Daytona 500 last Saturday, February 6th. As he did last year at the opening Sprint Cup event, he was the third fastest in Pole Day time trials at Daytona International Speedway.

“It would have been nice to lock in one of those front row spots for the 500,” said Newman, who was the second of 54 drivers to make a qualifying lap. “But overall we had a strong performance and I look for more of the same next week. I want to give a shout-out to all the Soldiers–we are doing our best for you.”

In Saturday’s two-lap qualifying show, Newman’s No. 39 U.S. Army Chevrolet covered the 2.5-mile oval in 47.225 seconds at 190.577 miles per hour.

He was a few ticks slower than the top-two qualifiers — Mark Martin (pole winner) and Dale Earnhardt Jr. (outside pole). Martin’s lap time/speed was 47.074 at 191.188 while Earnhardt’s was 47.142 at 190.913.

It’s worth mentioning that the top-three cars are Chevrolets and are powered by Hendrick engines. Rounding out the top five were Bill Elliott (fourth) and Juan Pablo Montoya (fifth).

“It was shaky out there because the wind was tricky,” added Newman about his qualifying laps. “There was no good way to read the wind. A couple of things happened during the lap that I wish didn’t happen, but the wind was hard to predict. It was a great effort by the U.S. Army Chevrolet. Tony Gibson (crew chief) and all the guys did an outstanding job. From now until the 500 we need to be smart and get this Soldiers’ car ready for the big race.”

Newman’s Stewart-Haas Racing teammate, Tony Stewart, was 21st fastest and will start 11th in Thursday’s second qualifying race.

The Cup series resumed practices on last week on Wednesday. The 150-mile qualifying races on Thursday were televised on SPEED.