Columnist Brian Hilderbrand: Derek Daly says his F1 driving career is over

Wednesday, Feb. 4, 2004 | 10:02 a.m.

Brian Hilderbrand covers motor sports for the Las Vegas Sun. His motor sports notebook appears Friday. He can be reached at bh@lasvegassun.com or (702) 259-4089.

Derek Daly has no illusions of ever stepping back into a Formula One racecar -- even for a test session.

Daly, a former F1 driver who owns and operates the Derek Daly Performance Driving Academy at the Las Vegas Motor Speedway, tested the Jordan-Ford EC13 this week at Silverstone, England, for a television show and said afterward he would hang up his driving suit.

"This is probably the last time I will drive a Formula One car; I am no longer physically or mentally able to drive them," Daly said. "My biggest problem was trying to keep my head upright during acceleration, such were the forces leaving low-speed corners."

Daly, 50, made 64 starts during a five-year F1 career that ended following the 1982 season. He jokingly said he landed Monday's test with the Jordan team as a result of an unpaid debt with team owner Eddie Jordan.

"Eddie Jordan still owes me money from the first racing car I bought from him in 1973 and this is part of his payback," Daly said.

Since 1985, Daly has served as a television analyst on ESPN, CBS Sports and Speed Channel race broadcasts and said getting back into the car on occasion has helped him keep up with the ever-changing sport of auto racing.

"I use these tests to keep me current with contemporary racing cars because I believe it helps with my television broadcasts," Daly said.

When OWRS announced its 2004 schedule late last year, it listed a May 16 date in Las Vegas for a race. OWRS principal Paul Gentilozzi later said it was likely that date could change in favor of a possible season-ending or late-season race here.

"There is a good possibility that you will see Las Vegas move off of that May date," Gentilozzi said several weeks ago. "Certainly, we have two wonderful opportunities to end our season; one would be Las Vegas, the other would be Mexico City, but we've had a lot of discussions about ending our year and completing our championship in one of those two cities."

The 2004 Champ Car season will open April 18 with the Grand Prix of Long Beach. Las Vegas resident Paul Tracy is the defending race winner.

In an effort to control costs, Champ Car will allow each team a maximum of 15 working crew members per car entered in a race. Team owners, drivers, public relations and marketing personnel do not count toward the roster limit.

Each team's chosen 15 crew members will be designated with a special annual credential, which may be transferred throughout the team as long as the limit of 15 crew personnel per event is not exceeded.

Barron topped the speed chart with a lap of 218.618 mph. Andretti Green Racing teammates Bryan Herta (217.267) and Dario Franchitti (217.188) rounded out the top three during testing. A total of 18 drivers took part in the test.

The 2004 IRL season opens Feb. 29 at Homestead-Miami Speedway.

"I just think CART has been completely mishandled and, even though it's very disappointing to me personally, I just think it's time to move on," Patrick said. "This makes me very sad, but I finally accepted this is the way it has to be."

Patrick founded CART in 1978 with fellow car owner Roger Penske.