Record Pace Despite Bhp Cut
Champ Car officials and Ford-Cosworth have modified the 'spec' XFE engine used by all 18 competitors to cope with the special demands of racing at high altitude in Denver, Colorado

Boost pressure has been reduced by two inches Hg to avoid over-speeding the turbochargers in the rarefied air of the Mile High City, where they have to work harder than at sea level.
Despite the consequent reduced horsepower and throttle response, Paul Tracy set a new official lap record of 59.759 seconds (99.821mph) for the 1.647-mile street course, eclipsing Sebastien Bourdais' year-old standard by two-tenths of a second.
Tracy, Bourdais and second-place qualifier Mario Dominguez had various theories as to why that might be.
"I think the tyre is probably a little bit better," ventured Tracy. "And I think it's cooler than last year here. Plus we've improved our car with shocks, springs, aero - our car is a lot different than it was last year when we came here."
Added Bourdais: "We're going a bit slower on the straight than last year, that's for sure, by 3-4mph. But we're only at top speed on one part of this course, and I think we're going slightly faster in the turns."
"The track seems to be a bit cleaner than last year, that's probably part of the reason," reckoned Dominguez.
"And my theory is that because the car has less horsepower, it's just a little bit easier to drive around a tight place like this. You can be on the throttle earlier, where before you had to be more careful because the back end [of the car] could go around.
"That might not be true, but it's my theory."
Rating the best drivers of the century so far
Autosport's Top 50 feature has been a staple of the magazine for the past two decades since its first appearance in 2002. Here are the drivers that have featured most prevalently during that time
The best motorsport moments of 2021
Motorsport produced one of its greatest years of all-time in 2021 despite a backdrop of ongoing COVID-19 challenges and an ever-changing racing landscape. Through the non-stop action Autosport has collected the finest moments from the past 12 months to highlight the incredible drama and joy motorsport generates
The racing comeback artists who resurrected long-dormant careers
Making it in motorsport can be tough, and sometimes drivers move elsewhere before their best chance arrives. Here are some of those who made it back
The hidden racing gem attracting ex-F1 heroes
It’s rarely mentioned when it comes to assessing the best national contests, but the Brazilian Stock Car series that reaches its climax this weekend has an ever-growing appeal. Its expanding roster of ex-Formula 1 names has helped to draw in new fans, but it's the closeness of competition that keeps them watching
The one-time Schumacher rival rebooting his career Down Under
Joey Mawson made waves in the middle of the last decade, beating future Haas Formula 1 driver Mick Schumacher - among other highly-rated talents - to the 2016 German F4 title. A run in F1's feeder GP3 category only caused his career to stall, but now back in Australia Mawson's S5000 title success has set that to rights
The lesson football’s would-be wreckers could learn from racing
OPINION: The greed-driven push for a European Super League that threatened to tear football apart is collapsing at the seams. Motor racing's equivalent, the football-themed Superleague Formula series of 2008-11, was everything that the proposed ESL never could be
The F1 and Indy 'nearly man' that found contentment in Japan
Having had the door to F1 slammed in his face and come within three laps of winning the Indianapolis 500, the collapse of a Peugeot LMP1 shot meant Japan was Bertrand Baguette's last chance of a career. But it's one which he has grasped with both hands
The female all-rounder who arrived "too early"
From Formula 3 to truck racing, Dakar and EuroNASCAR via a winning stint in the DTM, there's not much Ellen Lohr hasn't seen in a stellar racing career that highlights the merit in being a generalist. But she believes her career came too early...