OT: Racing 2014 (Spoiler Alert)

[Smurfy]

Interesting. I've got grandstand, pit and paddock passes for the event.

If you've got free time afterward I could always buy you a drink (assuming the Beer Garden won't be your office)

And how about Montoya finally finding his groove?

[pk500]

Interesting. I've got grandstand, pit and paddock passes for the event.

If you've got free time afterward I could always buy you a drink (assuming the Beer Garden won't be your office)

And how about Montoya finally finding his groove?

Dude:

Thanks for the offer, but I'm leaving the event probably before the IndyCar race is over. The last Porsche GT3 race ends at 2:05 p.m., so I hope to be on the road, driving back to Syracuse, by 5 p.m. Toronto is the middle of a stretch of three straight weekends on the road for me, so I want to get home as soon as possible.

Have a great time at the race!

[XXXIV]

Fun race.

Rosberg extending the lead with the home win.

A little bit of prison rules racing today....Parts of wings flying every where.

Bottas with a great second place finish in holding off Hamilton who came from twentieth to third. Twentieth to third pretty damn impressive!

Alonso Riciardo had a hell of a battle for fifth.

Why no safety car with Sutil car on the track? That did not look right.

Crazy Massa crash on first lap. He just that unlucky?

[F308GTB]

Why no safety car for Sutil? The cynic in me says it was home field advantage for Rosberg. A safety car would have given Hamilton a greater possibility of winning.

[XXXIV]

Why no safety car for Sutil? The cynic in me says it was home field advantage for Rosberg. A safety car would have given Hamilton a greater possibility of winning.

That exact thought crossed my mind. Could have just been incompetence but that did look dangerous to me.

[Smurfy]

I just thought I would share my Flickr album of some of my 2014 Toronto Indy Photos.

https://www.flickr.com/photos/60348944@ ... 858092925/

It was a great experience. I have to say, the teams and drivers were enormously more fan-friendly than their Formula 1 counterparts (Team Penske being an exception).

I got to have my photo taken with Bryan Herta and Sarah Fisher. Graham Rahal was available quite a lot for the fans as well. Justin Wilson was nice enough to pose for a photo on his scooter just before he left pit lane. Local boy James Hinchcliffe worked very hard, giving up much of his time to meet the fans. Sebastian Bourdais was a real gentleman - When it was raining, he let people step into his paddock area so they stay dry while getting his autograph. Heck, while the Ganassi crews were waiting to move out from the paddock, I managed to chat with Managing Director Mike Hull for about 7 minutes.

I was also lucky to get a photo of Rick Mears and get his autograph!!!

Funniest discovery at the event: Juan Pablo Montoya has manboobs.

[XXXIV]

Cool pics smurfy.

[XXXIV]

A star is born?

Ricciardo wins at Hungary for his 2nd win.

[F308GTB]

I guess the race finished in one of three good scenarios

1 - Hamilton for the win would have been historic. Worst to first.
2 - Alonso for the win would have been a real boost as a Ferrari fan
3 - Ricciardo for the win - how can you not cheer for him? The guy just exudes a sense of "I can't believe this awesome job I have that I incredibly fun..."

Nico looked pissed. Should be a fun summer break as the Mercedes duo ponder the second half. Will either or both self-destruct?

[Smurfy]

Cool pics smurfy.

Thanks

And what an F1 race today. That was fun to watch. Great drives from the top three finishers. I doubt there was any period during the race where I felt even a bit bored.

I have no idea how Hamilton made his pass on Vergne stick!

[DChaps]

Great F1 race, and also cool to see Gordon get the win at the Brickyard on it's 20th anniversary (even if it was a fix). Hard to believe it's been 20 years.

[GB_Simo]

Autosport report that Andre Lotterer may replace Kamui Kobayashi at Caterham, possibly as early as this weekend. I have absolutely no doubt there's logic to this move, but I'm buggered if I know what it is. Anyone clue me in?

[GB_Simo]

This is a bit sudden too, but I kind of get it. Max Verstappen in at Toro Rosso for 2015:

www.autosport.com/news/report.php/id/115435

Though we're rapidly arriving at a point where it's impossible for F1 drivers to become any younger and there'll inevitably be certain failures of race craft along the way, I've been watching a lot of Euro F3 this season and the kid is sensational.

[DChaps]

This is a bit sudden too, but I kind of get it. Max Verstappen in at Toro Rosso for 2015:

http://www.autosport.com/news/report.php/id/115435

Though we're rapidly arriving at a point where it's impossible for F1 drivers to become any younger and there'll inevitably be certain failures of race craft along the way, I've been watching a lot of Euro F3 this season and the kid is sensational.

When seeing this my first thought was that it wasn't that long ago that "Jos the Boss" (Max's father) was the young F1 up and comer. Then I realized that was 20 years ago. Getting old sucks!

As for the Andre Lotterer move, maybe Caterham forgot that the 24 Hours of Spa already took place back in July.

PS -Good to see you posting Adam. Your racing comments always bring a smile to my face.

[GB_Simo]

I remember watching Jos make his debut - Brazil '94, when he ended up in the Irvine/Brundle shunt down the back straight. I was 8 years old. Today, I shaved my hair upon realising that what I thought was a receding hairline is now also a rapidly disappearing crown.

My relative silence can largely be put down to almost a year being prescribed Sertraline - I think it's Zoloft where you are - and the effects of said medicine upon me, my favourite being that I have almost no recollection of ever living through last December. I'm now being steadily weaned off the meds, which must have worked because I even did some public iRacing last week. Skippies at Silverstone and Donington - there's nothing like easing yourself back in gently, is there?

[GB_Simo]

Heads up, chaps: Alexander Rossi is in at Marussia. Funding issues, say Max Chilton's camp, the issue presumably being that his backers haven't paid up and Rossi's have.

Elsewhere, Jeremy McWilliams will be riding in Moto2 at Silverstone aged 127, or 50, I forget exactly which. His doing so makes not one lick of sense.

[pk500]

Elsewhere, Jeremy McWilliams will be riding in Moto2 at Silverstone aged 127, or 50, I forget exactly which. His doing so makes not one lick of sense.

McWilliams is batsh*t crazy, even by motorcycle rider standards. He'll race anything with two wheels offered and is very popular among UK bike fans. He won Harley-Davidson support races during the MotoGP events at IMS when I worked there, and he was a super guy.

[GB_Simo]

Elsewhere, Jeremy McWilliams will be riding in Moto2 at Silverstone aged 127, or 50, I forget exactly which. His doing so makes not one lick of sense.

McWilliams is batsh*t crazy, even by motorcycle rider standards. He'll race anything with two wheels offered and is very popular among UK bike fans. He won Harley-Davidson support races during the MotoGP events at IMS when I worked there, and he was a super guy.

People who aren't batsh*t crazy don't keep on road racing into their 6th decade, just to further illustrate the point. I'm expecting nowt results-wise from Silverstone, but it'll be good to see him on a track again, no matter how nuts it all is.

[XXXIV]

Daniel Ricciardo is kicking ass.



Rosberg is a bad boy. Im Hamilton, I have to kick his ass.

[GB_Simo]

Hmmm.

Nico's message seems to be that he could have avoided hitting Lewis had he really wanted to, but that he didn't really want to. As power plays go, this one might seem particularly short-sighted, since Lewis can't really lose the PR battle. PR doesn't win titles.

The end result of this is likely to be Lewis putting the pair of them into the fence at some point, since the odds of him giving way in any kind of wheel-to-wheel situation are becoming increasingly slim. From a championship perspective, Lewis has the same goal as before: be within 14 points when they get to Abu Dhabi and the double points finale. That remains very achievable. What he needs to ensure, and what I fear he won't ensure, is that he keeps is head for the 6 races between now and then.

[GB_Simo]

Ronspeak 101: you do not "answer" a question. You "tackle the specificity." See here:

http://adamcooperf1.com/2014/08/28/mcla ... on-dennis/

Tackling the specificity of the article for a second, Vettel to McLaren makes more sense than you might think. A chance to drag a once-dominant team back to winning ways, shaping the requirements of car and Honda engine to himself as de facto team leader, rebuilding a reputation dented by the presence of a perma-grinning, unexpectedly fleet Antipodean...many stranger things have happened.

Alonso making the same leap, given his age, consequent need to be in a winning car ASAP and failure to meet desired targets vis-a-vis maintenance of an acceptably high standard of relationship with his prospective superior (Ronspeak 101 translation: Fernando and Ron aren't friends), would be one of those stranger things. However, a lot of time has passed since 2007...

[Rodster]

Ronny is definitely up to something. The fact that Jensen now says he could retire and no commitment on Mag's says both drivers could be looking for a new ride. If Seb goes to McLaren then he will forever have to deal with Danny running him out of town. I never expected Danny to be that good. Not so much talent wise other than Red Bull favoring Seb. Danny has just outperformed Seb and now Red Bull appears to have it's future star and quite possibly let Vettel go.

Alonso, if I had to hedge my bets will reluctantly stay at the Prancing Mule. He still is the number 1 driver at the team. Luca is doing his part by kissing his butt and knows Ferrari slides further down the grid if he leaves. Ferrari seems to be improving so the last 6 races might convince him to stay if the car continues to improve. Kimi says he's pretty much done with F1 after 2015.

[GB_Simo]

Joe Saward has blogged that Ferrari's 2015 driver line-up might not be what you expect and that while the fat lady has not yet sung, she will be in full voice at Monza. What I haven't figured out yet, Rod, is exactly what he means. One to keep an eye on.

[Rodster]

One thing is certain. Ferrari does like Jules Bianchi. He does show promise but needs to mature before he goes under the Ferrari spotlight and media circus. I will throw out a name and don't be too surprised if you see Button or Hammy driving a red car if either Alonso or Kimi are let go.

[XXXIV]

I think you give Danny a Mercedes this season and he is #1 at Mercedes.