OT: Racing 2008-2009 (Spoiler Alert)

[pk500]

A ton of archival F1 footage is available at F1 Fanatic:

http://www.f1fanatic.co.uk/2008/01/20/n ... 1-fanatic/

Enjoy,
PK

[Gurantsu]

WOOHOO! Michael Shank Racing sweeps the front row for this weekends Rolex 24 at Daytona. My friends brothers car took the pole, beating last years time by over 2 seconds. As long as they avoid the bad luck they had last year they have a legitimate shot at winning this thing.

More info here:

http://www.grandamerican.com/rolex/news ... ?cid=13653

[Rodster]

I think Williams surely under pressure from Toyota has made a mistake in giving a seat to Kazuki Nakajima. Either he will hurt someone real bad again as happened at Brazil last year when he rolled over a few of the mechanics while pitting or he is going to hurt himself real bad. Case in point he had a high speed shunt and escaped uninjured but badly damaging his car at the first day of testing in Barcelona.

Red Bull is using some freaky looking engine cover to help stabilize the RB4.

[GB_Simo]

I think Williams surely under pressure from Toyota has made a mistake in giving a seat to Kazuki Nakajima.

Well, there's an element of pressure from Toyota, and Patrick Head has admitted as much without ever saying quite how much pressure...but I don't think that's at all fair of you, Rod. Michael Schumacher hit mechanics in the pitlane before and caused greater injury than Kazuki did in Brazil, his shunt today was caused by a front wing failure (that's not PR - at this stage of the year, if they'd been confident in the safety of Rosberg's car they'd have let him run in the afternoon) and his race pace at Interlagos was pretty impressive after a lousy qualifying.

Testing crashes happen, especially at this time of the season as new parts run under race loadings for the first time, and to judge a rookie on them, especially a rookie who displayed no signs of being likely to do damage to anyone in lower formulae, is a tiny bit harsh in my opinion. We shall, of course, see how he gets on over the course of the season, but he should be alright.

[Rodster]

Fair enough Adam but if i'm not mistaken while Michael wasn't the perfect driver at least he got noticed his first year as an up and coming driver much like Adrian Sutil and I believe both drivers made a mark when they drove at Spa their rookie year. To Adrian's credit he was getting mentioned prior to Spa as a driver who was out driving his car. At Spa Adrian had a real nice race. Now I want to go watch the race again, man I miss F1.

Kazuki on the other hand doesn't give me that same feeling like Adrian or Michael in their first year. I see a driver who might not have the skills to be on the grid in F1. My question would be if Williams had not been pressured to giving Kazuki a seat would he be in F1 this year? I don't think so but I could be wrong. I hope he proves me wrong because I don't want to see him get hurt or hurt anyone else.

[GB_Simo]

I think there's a difference between 'deserving of an F1 drive' and 'champion of the future', which is probably worth bearing in mind. I wouldn't compare him to Michael for a second, of course. I will say that he's not the first driver to collect his mechanics mid-stop, he won't be the last and given that the only criticism of the safety of his driving came in a wild overreaction from David Coulthard, I'm not sure I understand where this idea of him being a danger to himself and others comes from.

In saying that, I'm not sure I'd have him racing yet either. Williams know what they're doing, and Frank and Patrick aren't renowned for their tolerance of below-par drivers, so you've got to imagine they see something (indeed, I do too - not only did he settle down to become a consistent GP2 frontrunner last year, his fastest race lap in his F1 debut was faster than his team mate Nico Rosberg and fifth fastest overall) but I do wonder whether another year in GP2 just to top off his racecraft might have helped. In saying that, I ignore his racing and cleanly passing cars in a 4-way battle for position in the early stages of his first Formula One race...

[pk500]

Rodster:

Nakajima has made one career F1 start. How can you deduce from one start whether he's a champion of the future or even a promising points' earner?

Guys like Schumacher, who light up the world on their debut, are rare gems. I can only think of a few guys who wowed the world after one F1 start in the last 20 years: M. Schumacher, Villeneuve, Hamilton.

Not even the great Senna torched the F1 world on his debut. Qualified 16th, out of the race with a turbo problem in a Toleman.

Nakajima qualified 19th and finished 10th last October in Brazil, recording the fifth-quickest lap of the race. Yes, he did knock down the mechanics in the pit lane. But still, those are respectable stats for an F1 debut in a pretty middling car.

I think you're rushing to judgment a bit, man. If the kid sucks after three starts this season, leaving a trail of carbon fiber shards, fire away.

Take care,
PK

[pk500]

Edit: Rodster beat me to the punch with the Red Bull engine cover! Good Lord, that's fugly!

Take care,
PK

[JRod]

What's wrong with Spain?

http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport2/hi/motorsp ... 225523.stm

They have serious race issues in that country. If you are a fan of soccer/football you know Spain is a very hostile place if you are black.

Now Hamilton is getting it.

[Rodster]

What's wrong with Spain?

http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport2/hi/motorsp ... 225523.stm

They have serious race issues in that country. If you are a fan of soccer/football you know Spain is a very hostile place if you are black.

Now Hamilton is getting it.

I think their anger was directed more at him because of the perceived feud between him and Alonzo while on the same team last year. If none of that had happened it would not be an issue.

Adam maybe be more of an authority to answer this because he lives over there. But Europe does seem to have their fair share of race issues as well. Heck every video game I play directed for the European market usually flashes a message, "stamp out racism" in football.

[Gangrel]

For us Canucks:

TSN is showing 121 races this year!

http://www.tsn.ca/auto_racing/news_stor ... 6&hubname=

[Rodster]

Well fellas this might be a boring F1 Championship title this year after all. Kimi ran a simulated full Grand Prix weekend at Bahrain with the F2008. He set a blistering pace of 1:30:595 which is over 2 seconds faster than last years pole position. And to add insult to injury it was done with no driver aids....ouch!

http://www.autosport.com/news/report.php/id/64995

[GB_Simo]

He did, BUT the only other car on track was ran by Toyota, and according to Autosport's magazine a few weeks back (article is on the website somewhere too, I believe), the Toyota has only two problems:

1) It won't turn into corners.
2) It doesn't like exiting corners either.

Let's see the big players running similar programmes in the same place, and make a judgement from there - winter testing isn't anywhere near transparent enough to allow for a fully-informed judgement on the true performance of any car.

[Rodster]

He did, BUT the only other car on track was ran by Toyota, and according to Autosport's magazine a few weeks back (article is on the website somewhere too, I believe), the Toyota has only two problems:

1) It won't turn into corners.
2) It doesn't like exiting corners either.

Let's see the big players running similar programmes in the same place, and make a judgement from there - winter testing isn't anywhere near transparent enough to allow for a fully-informed judgement on the true performance of any car.

Excuses, excuses.

[GB_Simo]

I know, there's always something with these drivers, isn't there? It won't turn into corners, you haven't started the engine, I stopped because it was on fire...

Ralfie looks set to be the latest F1 refugee to end up in DTM, the twist here being that the others (Alesi, Frentzen, Hakkinen) still seemed interested in being racing drivers when they went there:

http://www.autosport.com/news/report.php/id/65005

[Rodster]

OMG there truly is a Racing God !

Unified series 'closer than ever'

http://www.autosport.com/news/report.php/id/65044

Let me say this I have been an AOW fan since 1985 and it brought me to tears when that once mighty series split. Yes I took the side of CART but at that time everyone was selling their story.

It's been what 12 years years and a lot has changed including myself. Let me say this AOW racing "NEEDS ONE GUY CALLING THE SHOTS". That's right I said it, so there. Formula One has one guy calling the shots and look where they are. Nascar has one guy calling the shots.

The guys running Champ Car are a disaster. They treat it more as a hobby than a business. Hopefully with TG running everything we can take out all the squabbling with all the OW racing owners. And most importantly we can finally put AOWR back on the racing map where it belongs.

Robin Miller wrote a very good article as usual on Speed regarding this.

http://auto-racing.speedtv.com/article/ ... -monopoly/

edit: Robin Miller now says a deal has been done. But of course our resident racing expert PK never told us this.

http://auto-racing.speedtv.com/article/ ... e-at-hand/

[pk500]

A visual comparison of the 2008 F1 cars:

http://www.f1fanatic.co.uk/2008/02/08/c ... 8-f1-cars/

My only deduction is that Formula One cars are uglier than ever.

Take care,
PK

[DChaps]

OMG there truly is a Racing God !

Unified series 'closer than ever'

Wow, this is huge news. Not that I have even bothered to watch Champcars the last few years since most of the teams, drivers, and venues I cared about had already gone back to Indycar Series. However, it will be good to just have it all over and done with. Even though I was also not on TGs side when the split first happened, I 100% agree with Miller's assesment below"

But the real bottom line is that racing is a way of life for George and his family. He’s not going away and he’s got the only open wheel race that anybody in this country still cares about. He’s also got the Brickyard 400 to pay for Indy cars.

It’s not a way of life for Forsythe and Kalkhoven: it’s a hobby, albeit an expensive one. It couldn’t be a business or else they wouldn’t run it so poorly.

No, this is all about ego and power and rich guys playing Monopoly with a sport many of us treasure.

But, until those two understand that Tony George is always going to have Boardwalk and Park Place, open wheel is going to be screwed.

If only the CART owners had realized that back in 1995 maybe us fans would not have had to suffer.

[DChaps]

My only deduction is that Formula One cars are uglier than ever.

Wow, you said it. I thought the BMW was one of the best looking cars last year. The 2008 version is a monstrosity. Williams is butt-ugly too.

[Rodster]

I don't know guys I like the look of today's modern F1 cars. Granted they can do without all the winglets and crap. But I guess I like that fact that modern F1 cars look bigger. longer and wider when comparing them to F1 cars from the 70's or 80's.

It's a preference thing I guess.

[Rodster]

OMG there truly is a Racing God !

Unified series 'closer than ever'

Wow, this is huge news. Not that I have even bothered to watch Champcars the last few years since most of the teams, drivers, and venues I cared about had already gone back to Indycar Series. However, it will be good to just have it all over and done with. Even though I was also not on TGs side when the split first happened, I 100% agree with Miller's assesment below"

But the real bottom line is that racing is a way of life for George and his family. He’s not going away and he’s got the only open wheel race that anybody in this country still cares about. He’s also got the Brickyard 400 to pay for Indy cars.

It’s not a way of life for Forsythe and Kalkhoven: it’s a hobby, albeit an expensive one. It couldn’t be a business or else they wouldn’t run it so poorly.

No, this is all about ego and power and rich guys playing Monopoly with a sport many of us treasure.

But, until those two understand that Tony George is always going to have Boardwalk and Park Place, open wheel is going to be screwed.

If only the CART owners had realized that back in 1995 maybe us fans would not have had to suffer.

That's why 've come full circle and will admit every racing series needs a Supremo that calls the shots. That has the best interest for the series and runs it like a business. Love em or hate F1 and Nascar have thrived because one person basically has a vision for the Sport, runs it like a business and everyone else follows.

[Rodster]

OMG there truly is a Racing God !

Unified series 'closer than ever'

Wow, this is huge news. Not that I have even bothered to watch Champcars the last few years since most of the teams, drivers, and venues I cared about had already gone back to Indycar Series. However, it will be good to just have it all over and done with. Even though I was also not on TGs side when the split first happened, I 100% agree with Miller's assesment below"

But the real bottom line is that racing is a way of life for George and his family. He’s not going away and he’s got the only open wheel race that anybody in this country still cares about. He’s also got the Brickyard 400 to pay for Indy cars.

It’s not a way of life for Forsythe and Kalkhoven: it’s a hobby, albeit an expensive one. It couldn’t be a business or else they wouldn’t run it so poorly.

No, this is all about ego and power and rich guys playing Monopoly with a sport many of us treasure.

But, until those two understand that Tony George is always going to have Boardwalk and Park Place, open wheel is going to be screwed.

If only the CART owners had realized that back in 1995 maybe us fans would not have had to suffer.

That's why i've come full circle and will admit every racing series needs a Supremo that calls the shots. That has the best interest for the series and runs it like a business. Love em or hate F1 and Nascar have thrived because one person basically has a vision for the Sport, runs it like a business and everyone else follows.

[GB_Simo]

But I guess I like that fact that modern F1 cars look bigger. longer and wider when comparing them to F1 cars from the 70's or 80's.

It's a preference thing I guess.

And an optical illusion of some sort, given how the regulations state that cars have to be narrower than those ran in the 70's or 80's. Maybe we're adapting to the narrow-track regulations better than we'd expected when they were introduced - as time has gone on, I've stopped noticing that they're thinner now than 11 years ago.

They're all taller than the cars of the mid 80's though, certainly, especially this one:



Rod, I think the basic shape of a modern Formula One car is fine. What I object to, and what makes them a mess visually to my eyes, is all the additional cobblers they attach to the bargeboards, wings and sidepods.

[Rodster]

But I guess I like that fact that modern F1 cars look bigger. longer and wider when comparing them to F1 cars from the 70's or 80's.

It's a preference thing I guess.

And an optical illusion of some sort, given how the regulations state that cars have to be narrower than those ran in the 70's or 80's. Maybe we're adapting to the narrow-track regulations better than we'd expected when they were introduced - as time has gone on, I've stopped noticing that they're thinner now than 11 years ago.

They're all taller than the cars of the mid 80's though, certainly, especially this one:



Rod, I think the basic shape of a modern Formula One car is fine. What I object to, and what makes them a mess visually to my eyes, is all the additional cobblers they attach to the bargeboards, wings and sidepods.

Wow I guess I was fooled because the cars look bigger and wider to me.

I also agree with your point on all the winglets and aero crap they throw on the cars. I'm eagerly awaiting to see the Ferrari updated because they say they are going to introduce a new engine cover. Could it be similar to the funky looking Red Bull configuration? They also said that another update calls for opening the nose for better aerodynamic displacement.

My favorite look was the 1991 cars.

[pk500]

Rod, I think the basic shape of a modern Formula One car is fine. What I object to, and what makes them a mess visually to my eyes, is all the additional cobblers they attach to the bargeboards, wings and sidepods.

My sentiments exactly. Bargeboards should be banned, too.

Take care,
PK