OT: Racing 2009 (Spoiler Alert)

pk500 · Post by **pk500** » Tue Mar 17, 2009 10:05 pm

Damn right, Simo. What the hell was wrong with the old 10-6-4-3-2-1 system?

NOTHING. It placed a premium on winning while still offering a reward for consistent finishes in the top third of the field.

The adminstrators of F1 remind me more and more of a dog chasing its tail every year. Ban traction control. Allow it. Ban slicks. Allow them. Expand the points to the top eight finishers. Decide the title solely on victories.

All of the above has occurred in the last 11 years. Is there a more schizophrenic ruling class in any other form of worldwide motorsport?

Take care,
PK

Rodster · Post by **Rodster** » Tue Mar 17, 2009 10:11 pm

FOTA 'concerned' about FIA decisions

http://www.autosport.com/news/report.php/id/73754

Dave · Post by **Dave** » Tue Mar 17, 2009 10:17 pm

The new system is a f*cking joke.

It figures, this year has more intrigue surrounding the first race than any in recent memory and then they go and do something so utterly stupid it takes away my increased interest and then some.

I always thought CART had the best championship scoring system.

pk500 · Post by **pk500** » Tue Mar 17, 2009 10:26 pm

Rodster wrote:FOTA 'concerned' about FIA decisions

http://www.autosport.com/news/report.php/id/73754

Rod:

FOTA is utterly toothless these days, for two reasons.

One, it made peace with Max last year in an effort to prevent the kind of civil war that was costly to American open-wheel racing, continues to rage in American sports car racing and has started in American motorcycle road racing this year.

Two, nearly all of the FOTA members are manufacturer-backed teams. Any threats to form a breakaway series by FOTA will be met by gin-fueled laughter from Mosley and the FIA because the last thing auto manufacturers can do in this global economic crisis is reach deeper into their pockets to fund teams and a new series.

Max has the teams by the balls, as usual. The guy is the most shrewd, canny political animal in worldwide motorsport -- by a mile.

Take care,
PK

DChaps · Post by **DChaps** » Wed Mar 18, 2009 2:07 pm

I can't believe these changes, especially with some of them seemingly at the last minute. Ridiculous. I may be done with F1. I thought they wanted the championship battles to last for the entire season, ie what we got last year lasting to the last corner of the last lap. That will never happen with this new system. Good grief.

Rodster · Post by **Rodster** » Thu Mar 19, 2009 8:24 am

More drivers speak out against the new Championship rules.

Michael Schumacher:
"Schumacher 'astonished' by new rules"
http://www.autosport.com/news/report.php/id/73778

Alonso, Trulli:
Alonso, Trulli, slam latest FIA rules, ''It seems to be that Formula One wants to die”

http://en.f1-live.com/f1/en/headlines/n ... 5209.shtml

pk500 · Post by **pk500** » Fri Mar 20, 2009 10:43 am

DVR ALERT:

Two-hour documentary on Audi's assault on 2008 Le Mans 24 Hours is on ESPN at 8 p.m. (ET) tonight. This movie is made by NFL Films, so it should be good. The trailer looks excellent:

http://www.truthin24.com/#/the_trailers/

Jason Statham as narrator -- COOL! My DVR is set.

Take care,
PK

Rodster · Post by **Rodster** » Fri Mar 20, 2009 2:21 pm

FIA set to postpone new points system

http://www.autosport.com/news/report.php/id/73810

Mob Rules

toonarmy · Post by **toonarmy** » Fri Mar 20, 2009 4:29 pm

Thank goodness this season has been spared from the madness of the "new" system to declare a driver's champion. I fully understand some of the changes made to the sport over the past few years, but some of them are baffling. It is ludicrous to change a sport too much in too short a period. It's also troublesome when changes are so drastic that they undercut past records and statistics to the point that you might as well start anew in comparing stats and records over the years. My take is that Bernie's ego has gotten out of hand and he has lost touch with the essence of the sport and its fans. I know he has done some good things. The problem is that he seems to be tinkering way too much with a great product. I wish that Bernie and Max could be replaced with people who are more in touch with reality and tradition. It infuriates me how F1 is willing to sell its soul so easily for a quick buck in Asian and Middle Eastern countries, but I still follow it religiously despite that foolishness. I can tell you one thing, though, much more tinkering and it will lose me as a fan. We just came off of two invigorating seasons, so it makes no sense to radically alter the product. Maybe Max needed to be whacked a bit harder in his Nazi-themed spanking sessions.

pk500 · Post by **pk500** » Fri Mar 20, 2009 4:47 pm

toonarmy wrote:My take is that Bernie's ego has gotten out of hand and he has lost touch with the essence of the sport and its fans.

Not a recent phenomenon. That happened from about the minute he sold Brabham in 1987 and concentrated solely on FISA/FOCA matters.

Take care,
PK

Gurantsu · Post by **Gurantsu** » Fri Mar 20, 2009 6:20 pm

The final nail in the coffin of me following NASCAR was when they went to the ridiculous Chase For The Cup. F1 has been messing around too much and are well on their way to the same place in my book. There is just too much good racing out there to keep following the mess that F1 has become.

And thanks for the heads up PK, the DVR is set!

pk500 · Post by **pk500** » Fri Mar 20, 2009 6:32 pm

Gurantsu wrote:The final nail in the coffin of me following NASCAR was when they went to the ridiculous Chase For The Cup. F1 has been messing around too much and are well on their way to the same place in my book. There is just too much good racing out there to keep following the mess that F1 has become.

I'm lapsing that way, too, Grant. F1's racing product isn't that great and hasn't been for a decade. Maybe the new regs will help this year, but I'm not turning purple holding my breath.

MotoGP, the IndyCar Series, World Superbikes and sports car racing provide better racing than F1. That's enough to fill my plate, along with the Sebastien Loeb show known as the WRC.

Take care,
PK

Dave · Post by **Dave** » Sat Mar 21, 2009 10:31 am

I'm very excited to watch Sebring today to see who prevails in the 3-way scrap for P1 supremacy. My money's on Audi, but that's hardly going out on a limb.

Always great to see Gil de Ferran, I think he was one of the most underappreciated Indycar drivers of recent memory.

toonarmy · Post by **toonarmy** » Sat Mar 21, 2009 5:32 pm

pk500 wrote:
toonarmy wrote:My take is that Bernie's ego has gotten out of hand and he has lost touch with the essence of the sport and its fans.
Not a recent phenomenon. That happened from about the minute he sold Brabham in 1987 and concentrated solely on FISA/FOCA matters.

Take care,
PK

Bernie has always had a substantial ego, but I wouldn't say it has been out of hand until the recent several years. I think he is basically an attention whore. He appears to like making absurd proposals or statements and watching everyone go nuts.

GB_Simo · Post by **GB_Simo** » Tue Mar 24, 2009 4:07 pm

It's my understanding that this has been coming for a few days - former racer Lloyd Ruby has passed away:

http://www.autosport.com/news/report.php/id/73881

DChaps · Post by **DChaps** » Tue Mar 24, 2009 4:48 pm

One of my favorites as a kid. RIP....

This is a good book if still available:

Lloyd Ruby: The Greatest Driver Never to Win the Indy 500

http://www.lloydruby.com/index.html

pk500 · Post by **pk500** » Tue Mar 24, 2009 5:23 pm

Yes, Ol' Rube was ravaged by cancer and was placed in hospice Sunday, so this was a blessing.

IMS Historian Donald Davidson wrote a beautiful obit today, which you can read here. Pictures, too:

http://www.indianapolismotorspeedway.co ... Dies_At_81

The book title to which Don referred is accurate, Simo. To put Ruby into perspective, he is the Stirling Moss of the Indianapolis 500. I shared that analogy today with Donald Davidson, and he wholeheartedly agreed.

Robin Miller also has a good obit at speedtv.com:

http://auto-racing.speedtv.com/article/ ... one-at-81/

Take care,
PK

GB_Simo · Post by **GB_Simo** » Thu Mar 26, 2009 7:41 pm

I've actually been looking for that Ruby book for a little bit but I've not had a lot of joy over here. I will keep trying.

I'm the only one here who's still excited about the rapidly-approaching opening free practice in Melbourne, aren't I?

Dave · Post by **Dave** » Thu Mar 26, 2009 9:24 pm

GB_Simo wrote:I'm the only one here who's still excited about the rapidly-approaching opening free practice in Melbourne, aren't I?

I wish it started an hour earlier so I could watch some of it. But I'm looking forward to seeing the results...will Brawn GP's pace hold up? Will there be any other surprises at the sharp end of the grid?

Rodster · Post by **Rodster** » Thu Mar 26, 2009 9:38 pm

Rats it's not any of the P2P sites.

Guess i'll have to wait for the torrents to show up.

pk500 · Post by **pk500** » Thu Mar 26, 2009 10:15 pm

GB_Simo wrote:I'm the only one here who's still excited about the rapidly-approaching opening free practice in Melbourne, aren't I?

No! My DVR is set for all three days.

I have little hope that the Ferrari-McLaren hegemony will be broken, but I hope at least that the new regs spice up the racing a bit.

Take care,
PK

Rodster · Post by **Rodster** » Thu Mar 26, 2009 11:05 pm

So far after the first session Williams came out on top as Nico and Kazuki Nakajima beat Kimi on the last lap. Brawn looked strong, Renault struggled, Force India surprised with Adrian Sutil going to 8th place. Heikki had better success than Lewis. Seabass struggled in the Toro Rosso.

Hot damn, Formula One is back !

Zeppo · Post by **Zeppo** » Thu Mar 26, 2009 11:10 pm

GB_Simo wrote:I'm the only one here who's still excited about the rapidly-approaching opening free practice in Melbourne, aren't I?

No, you're not alone.

GB_Simo · Post by **GB_Simo** » Thu Mar 26, 2009 11:22 pm

Rod, don't Speed show FP1 anymore? Thinking on it, did they ever? I know I used Speed for Friday practice last year, but not which session.

Kimi did his time on the super-soft tyre, the Williams and Brawn cars on the medium tyre, though Kimi's was earlier in the session when there was less rubber down. Without knowing the fuel loads it doesn't mean very much, but the Williams and the Brawn looked so nice on track, as if the lap time came without too much effort. Kimi was a little more ragged to my eyes.

Every time the camera cut to a Renault it was either pointing the wrong way (Piquet) or threatening to (Alonso, who must have spent more time looking over the side of the cockpit than the front of it). It'd be interesting to know what programmes the McLaren men were running - Heikki's car looked alright, Hamilton's did not.

Bourdais explaining the issues with the STR (what was it? No grip at the front, power-on oversteer, locking all four wheels with very little braking pressure? Apart from that...) gave me a giggle, and I wish it was a surprise to see the Red Bull of Vettel being the first car of the new season to break down.

Rodster · Post by **Rodster** » Thu Mar 26, 2009 11:32 pm

GB_Simo wrote:Rod, don't Speed show FP1 anymore?

It wasn't available on live stream.

Oh well i'll watch the replays later via torrent.

p.s. damn mate it's almost 5am your time. That's what I call dedication. I hope you don't have to work today.