I recently wrote a note to one of the contributors here thanking him for the fine piece of writing he had done. In his reply, he sort of challenged me to put fingers to keyboard and produce something of my own. It's been a long time since I did any motor race reporting, but since what is said here only has a circulation of mega-thousands, what the heck? I'd like you to come on a little walk with me, partly down memory lane, but partly into the future...

Twenty years ago, a long time in motor racing circles, an American gentleman by the name of Roger Penske decided to have a run at Formula One as an entrant. As we all know, that venture was one of the very few things at which Mr. Penske was unsuccessful, with the likeable Mark Donohue paying the ultimate price at the Austrian Grand Prix in 1975. So Roger left Formula 1, but, in later years, was seen to get that far-off look in his eyes and mutter something about "unfinished business in Formula One..."

Time marched on, as time unfortunately has a lousy habit of doing. Penske returned to IndyCars, and became the most successful entrant in history, racking up lots of Indy 500 wins and lots of season championships, buying circuits like other people buy cars (no, I'm not exaggerating - how many cars have you bought in the last ten years?), part-owner of Ilmor engines, member of the Board of Directors of many companies, including R. J. Reynolds. Owner of a small company called Detroit Diesel. Recent purchaser of K-Mart's Auto Centers. Biggest private owner of trucks in the world (I'm sure there's an Army out there somewhere with more, but I can't find it). Employs more people than most governments. A member of the board of McLaren Cars with a strategic alliance with the team, Ilmor and Marlboro being well-established tie-ins between the two. Remember that point, it becomes a tad critical later on in our journey...

Let us now turn our attention to Canada for a minute. Canada has produced some very good racing drivers, especially lately. Here is a country that appears to have managed to make the "nursery formulae" work to its best advantage. Recent products include Scott Goodyear, Jacques Villeneuve, Greg Moore, Claude Bourbonnais, and what's-his-name ... oh yeah, Paul Tracy. Scott has won a couple of 500-mile races, Jacques won Indy and the IndyCar championship. Moore did his best to win every Indy Lights race they held in 1995, and Claude is also one of the top drivers in the Lights series. Oh, and then there's Paul... He's won a few IndyCar races, finished third in the 1994 championship, had a lot of encounters with the road-side furniture, and also with other vehicles. He even managed a Formula 1 test with Benetton Formula. But he was expensive, and Roger wanted to go back to a two-car team for a year.

So Paul got shipped out to Newman-Haas for a year - a year in which almost everything went wrong for Team Penske, with them not qualifying at Indy for the first time in the last 11,000 years, Al Unser Jr losing his title as Champion (but not by much), being embroiled in a controversy following Portland, and watching Emerson Fittipaldi linger in the lower areas of the field for much of the year (anything less than 1-2 is the lower area as far as Team Penske is concerned!). And Paul missed all the fun. Sure, he won a race or two, probably has several thousand copies of Paul Newman's autograph for sale, and managed to break his foot in a go-kart, of all things... Will he go to Formula 1? Will he stay with Newman-Haas? Will he go back to Penske? No, no and yes, in that order. Paul re-signs with Team Penske for a four year term. Not bad, huh? Yeah, but what about the F1 ambitions, hmmm? After four years, surely Paul will be too old?

Anyone seen where this is headed yet? We'll keep wandering anyway, but now, misusing the title of the Neil Diamond song, we're "Headed For The Future" as we wend our way through this little tale. What would you think if I put two and two together, and neatly make 97 out of it? 1997, to be precise...

Gleeful Prediction Department - In 1997, Roger Penske and Ron Dennis of McLaren will form something that is considerably more than your average strategic alliance, bringing Penske back into Formula 1 with Paul Tracy as one of the Team McLaren drivers!

And all out of my pointy little head, too... Here's the logic:

1. Paul Tracy really wants to do Formula One.
2. Tracy signs a four year contract with Penske, apparently putting himself out of contention for F1 because of his age at the end of the contract.
3. Roger Penske has a point to prove in Formula One. He's a winner, and he doesn't like anything getting the better of him.
4. Roger owns a big lump of Ilmor, makers of the Mercedes Formula One engine used exclusively by Team McLaren and of the Mercedes IndyCar engine.
5. Roger is sponsored by Marlboro, principal sponsors of Team McLaren, and, as noted previously, is on the board of the parent company, R. J. Reynolds.

So there you go. Totally made up, but with a reasonable logic behind it.

Born: Coventry, England August 1947.
Lives: Tembagapura, Irian Jaya, Indonesia.
Work: Computer-aided specialised graphics and management reporting. Background: Involved in motor racing in Australia from about 1964 to 1980, in all aspects - driving, reporting, engineer. Worked with several well-known teams and drivers, including Scuderia Veloce (aaahhh, that 250LM....) mainly on an amateur basis.

Attend Surfers Paradise IndyCar Grand Prix every year.

Don't have favorite teams, drivers or brands - that way I can enjoy a race, no matter who wins.