Formula one, IRL race cars thrill fans

Dale Jessup of Bridgestone Motorsports cleans up Michael Schumacher’s Formula One car, which secured him the 2003 drivers’ championships. The car, along with a Team Chip Ganassi IRL race car, will be on display again today at Workers Co-op garage on Foundry Street, off Assomption Boulevard, along with a racing simulator as part of a tour by Bridgestone Tires.

"I always hated Ferrari," William LeBlanc admitted while viewing one of the top automotive engineering marvels in history.

"But you have to give that team credit. It's win at all costs for Ferrari; checkers or wreckers."

The F2003, along with Team Chip Ganassi's 2005 IRL Honda, is on display today at the Workers Co-op Auto Centre at 7 Foundry Street, off Assomption Boulevard. The cars spent yesterday being ogled and drooled over by open-wheel race fans at the Bridgestone Tire Centre on Coverdale Road in Riverview.

It's all part of a Bridgestone Tire promotional tour, which allows fans an up-close-and-personal look at a car that, at that time, was the pinnacle of automotive excellence, and offers the chance to sit in a realistic F1 simulator and show your stuff behind the wheel.

LeBlanc has been an F1 fan since the 1980s and knows the sport well. He counts himself lucky to have attended two Grand Prix, both in Montreal. He marvelled at the sleek lines of the big red machine that won five F1 races that season and secured Schumacher's crown as the world's fastest man for yet another year, though only by a slim margin, which was a rarity for Schumacher who has won more races than anyone.

LeBlanc couldn't help but note that, in the elite world of F1 racing, rarely if ever will a fan get to see a race car so closely.

"It's great to have this in Moncton," he said.

"It falls in line with the fact that Moncton is a real car town."

LeBlanc was referring to the Atlantic Nationals Automotive Extravaganza, taking place July 9 to 12 in Moncton, which is the nation's largest car show and draws dozens of thousands of car fans and about 2,000 custom cars from all over North America.

IRL fan John Steeves was surprised to see Team Chip Ganassi's Honda powered Panos sitting there as he drove by, and he just had to turn his car around for a better look.

"It's nice that they bring something like this to Moncton," he said.

Steeves always attends the downtown "Cruise In" at the Atlantic Nationals, where more than 1,000 restored or customized cars and trucks gather on and around Main Street on the Friday of the weekend event. Seeing the two sleek race cars has him excited for this year's Nationals.

"Anyone who hasn't taken in the Nationals really doesn't know what they're missing," he said.

"I'm not that much of a 'car guy,' but it's really something to see, even if you wouldn't know the difference between a Dollara and a Daewoo."

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