Fisichella: Placed on probation by day, DJing in Austin by night

By Sep 15, 2016, 1:25 PM EDT
Photo courtesy of IMSA
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Giancarlo Fisichella’s had a fun last 24 hours in Austin.

The Formula 1 veteran who now shares the No. 62 Risi Competizione Ferrari 488 GTE with Toni Vilander was in the spotlight for the wrong reasons this morning via an IMSA release, but for good, fun reasons last night.

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A post-race altercation between Fisichella and the No. 912 Porsche, driven by Earl Bamber, at the most recent IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship round at VIRginia International Raceway at the end of August, now sees the Italian placed on probation for the final two rounds of the season at Circuit of The Americas this weekend and Road Atlanta for Petit Le Mans in October.

Fisichella and Bamber were battling over third in the GT Le Mans class before Bamber hit and knocked Fisichella off course. A less than pleased Fisichella reportedly slammed the side of the No. 912 car in pit lane after the race.

Here’s IMSA’s release confirming the probation:

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No. 62 driver Giancarlo Fisichella has been placed on probation for the next two IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship events for his post-race on-track conduct in the Aug. 28 race at VIRginia International Raceway.

Fisichella was determined to have violated Rule 48.4 (unjustifiable risk) of the 2016 IMSA Sporting Regulations & Series Supplementary Regulations for the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship.

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The bright side for Fisichella is that in his side gig – his role as “DJ Fisico” (yes, he’s really a DJ, with more info here from a Sportscar365 Q&A last year) – he played at Party on POP in Austin last night.

See a few tweets below from the @IMSA account:

IndyCar disappointed by delay of video game but aiming to launch at start of 2024

By Mar 27, 2023, 3:00 PM EDT
IndyCar video game 2024
IndyCar
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An IndyCar executive said there is “absolutely” disappointment that its long-awaited video game recently was delayed beyond its target date, but the series remains optimistic about the new title.

“Well, I don’t know how quick it will be, but the whole situation is important to us,” Penske Entertainment president and CEO Mark Miles said during a news conference Monday morning to announce IndyCar’s NTT title sponsorship. “Motorsport Games has spent a lot of money, a lot of effort to create an IndyCar title. What we’ve seen of that effort, which is not completely obvious, is very reassuring.

“I think it’s going to be outstanding. That’s our shared objective, that when it is released, it’s just widely accepted. A great credit both to IndyCar racing, the Indianapolis Motor Speedway, something that our fans love.”

In June 2021, IndyCar announced a new partnership with Motorsport Games to create and distribute an IndyCar video game for the PC and Xbox and PlayStation consoles in 2023.

But during an earnings call last week, Motorsport Games said the IndyCar game had been delayed to 2024 to ensure high quality.

Somewhat compounding the delay is that IndyCar’s license for iRacing expired after the end of the 2022 season because of its exclusive agreement with Motorsport Games.

That’s resulted in significant changes for IndyCar on iRacing, which had provided a high-profile way for the series to stay visible during its 2020 shutdown from the pandemic. (Players still can race an unbranded car but don’t race on current IndyCar tracks, nor can they stream).

That’s helped ratchet up the attention on having a video game outlet for IndyCar.

“I wish we had an IndyCar title 10 years ago,” said Miles, who has been working with the organization since 2013. “We’ve been close, but we’ve had these I think speed bumps.”

IndyCar is hopeful the Motorsports Game edition will be ready at the start of 2024. Miles hinted that beta versions could be unveiled to reporters ahead of the time “to begin to show the progress in a narrow way to make sure we’ve got it right, to test the progress so that we’re ready when they’re ready.”

It’s been nearly 18 years since the release of the most recent IndyCar video game for console or PC.

“(We) better get it right,” Miles said. “It’s something we’re very close to and continue to think about what it is to make sure we get it over the line in due course.”