OT: Racing 2011 (Spoiler Alert)

[toonarmy]

Ducati's GP11 bike = sweetness !



"Italian graphics and helmet design guru Aldo Drudi has followed Valentino Rossi over to Ducati, and has designed the team's new livery."

Sharp as hell!

[Rodster]

It looks almost orange instead of Ducati Red.

[pk500]

It looks almost orange instead of Ducati Red.

Ferrari used the same day-glo red during the early 2000s. Supposedly shows up better on TV. I think it looks hideous.

Interwetten still had the nicest-looking bike on the MotoGP grid last season. Too bad the team is gone this season due to money woes:



But no MotoGP livery -- and I mean NOTHING -- in the last 10 years topped the vintage 50th Anniversary scheme the Yamaha factory team used in 2005 at Laguna:

[Rodster]

Top ten weird F1 cars

http://en.espnf1.com/f1/motorsport/gallery/37673.html

[GB_Simo]

Is it only me who thinks most of those aren't really that weird at all?

The Ligier JS5 was undoubtedly a bit special, mind, but then the flying teapot was really only an exaggerated version of the fashionable high airboxes of the time. Early in 1976 they were banned, after which the JS5 looked like this instead:



It is. It's worse.

On the old blog I started a section about funny-looking racing cars which began with the Eagle Aircraft Flyer and kind of ended there, because I didn't get the time to write about any more. Future subjects, assuming I get the time to pick that thread up again, include F1 cars entered by Kauhsen, Eifelland and Merzario which are well worth searching for if incredibly peculiar vehicles are your thing.

[Jimmydeicide]

Looks like the Ligier Aerodynamicist's kid was into Noddy,oofa

[toonarmy]

Just a heads-up for people who can find a place that sells MotorSport magazine. I got my January issue in the mail last week and just got around to opening it. They have included a free CD in the January 2011 issue. It's called "Chat Shows Volume 1" and has 12 interviews on it (Andretti, Moss, Brundle, Hill, Rahal, etc.). Really cool stuff! There is also a good article called "When F1 Was Radical." MotorSport is my favorite racing magazine, and just keeps getting better every year.

[pk500]

Just a heads-up for people who can find a place that sells MotorSport magazine. I got my January issue in the mail last week and just got around to opening it. They have included a free CD in the January 2011 issue. It's called "Chat Shows Volume 1" and has 12 interviews on it (Andretti, Moss, Brundle, Hill, Rahal, etc.). Really cool stuff! There is also a good article called "When F1 Was Radical." MotorSport is my favorite racing magazine, and just keeps getting better every year.

I bet some of the chats on that CD are taken from the monthly Motor Sport podcast, which is available for free here:

http://www.motorsportmagazine.co.uk/cat ... -podcasts/

Motor Sport moved to the top of the racing magazine heap when Damien Smith and Nigel Roebuck left Autosport to essentially run the publication. Both are talented, terrific guys with whom I've had the pleasure to work. I'm working with Damien right now on the May issue, which will feature an entire package on the 100th Anniversary of the Indianapolis 500.

[toonarmy]

Just a heads-up for people who can find a place that sells MotorSport magazine. I got my January issue in the mail last week and just got around to opening it. They have included a free CD in the January 2011 issue. It's called "Chat Shows Volume 1" and has 12 interviews on it (Andretti, Moss, Brundle, Hill, Rahal, etc.). Really cool stuff! There is also a good article called "When F1 Was Radical." MotorSport is my favorite racing magazine, and just keeps getting better every year.

I bet some of the chats on that CD are taken from the monthly Motor Sport podcast, which is available for free here:

http://www.motorsportmagazine.co.uk/cat ... -podcasts/

Motor Sport moved to the top of the racing magazine heap when Damien Smith and Nigel Roebuck left Autosport to essentially run the publication. Both are talented, terrific guys with whom I've had the pleasure to work. I'm working with Damien right now on the May issue, which will feature an entire package on the 100th Anniversary of the Indianapolis 500.

I believe you are correct about the podcast. I look forward to the May issue. Are you saying there will be a bonus magazine bundled with the regular May issue, or will the issue just center heavily on the Indy 500?

[pk500]

I believe you are correct about the podcast. I look forward to the May issue. Are you saying there will be a bonus magazine bundled with the regular May issue, or will the issue just center heavily on the Indy 500?

The issue will focus heavily on the 500. The cover will feature the 500, too.

[toonarmy]

I believe you are correct about the podcast. I look forward to the May issue. Are you saying there will be a bonus magazine bundled with the regular May issue, or will the issue just center heavily on the Indy 500?

The issue will focus heavily on the 500. The cover will feature the 500, too.

Very nice. Hopefully they do the magnitude of the event justice.

[pk500]

Very nice. Hopefully they do the magnitude of the event justice.

That's my goal, too! But everyone at Motor Sport is terrific. The entire staff shows so much passion and knowledge for the sport. They all ooze petrol from their pores.

[toonarmy]

Very nice. Hopefully they do the magnitude of the event justice.

That's my goal, too! But everyone at Motor Sport is terrific. The entire staff shows so much passion and knowledge for the sport. They all ooze petrol from their pores.

That shows from the quality of their magazine. Been getting it for years and have never been disappointed.

[Dave]

Impromptu all-star race at Daytona today, love the Rolex 24.

[Gurantsu]

I've already banned the family from turning the channel until 10PM! Have my Michael Shank Racing shirt on and I'm ready to go!

[Dave]

The first two hours have been eventful.

[GB_Simo]

Bits of this are reminiscent of the last time we ran an iRacing poker night in the DPs at Daytona. Good fun to watch, though I'm starting to wonder if there's ever been a 17 Hours of Daytona before and whether we might get one here.

[GB_Simo]

Somewhere in Pennsylvania, DSP's leading Michael Shank Racing fan is stood in front of the television, switching through the channels trying desperately to find the endurance race he meant to watch tonight.

[Gurantsu]

Still a fun race to watch, and less than an hour to go. Good fun to see Brundle in Shanks third car. It looks like he's having a blast.

But man, these Ganassi teams are just giants. They do not mess around.

[GB_Simo]

Still a fun race to watch, and less than an hour to go. Good fun to see Brundle in Shanks third car. It looks like he's having a blast.

For one glorious moment, going about 27 wide into turn 1 on that final restart, I thought he'd made it stick around the outside and overtaken half the world. Good to see him and Marky Blundell giving it a hell of a go, particularly since Mark's interview on Speed demonstrated that his physical condition is barely any better than mine.

Quite how any of them were ever going to beat Ganassi, I'm not sure. The 01 car was unstoppable in the final couple of hours.

[pk500]

The 2011 racing season officially starts for me tomorrow with the first official MotoGP test, at Sepang. A three-day test.

Can't wait!

My preview (cheap pimp): http://www.indianapolismotorspeedway.co ... t-feb-1-3/

[Rodster]

Sweet looking paint scheme

[GB_Simo]

Matter-of-fact analysis from BBC's new lead commentator on Twitter:

loved being back in a sportscar, felt 20 years younger. The last lap dive ambitious but if the back stuck I was second. It didn't.

Love the avatar, Rod. Between the Geico adverts and the Old Spice commercials, live streaming of NASCAR races has kept me consistently entertained for the last year. The cars were alright too. I'm more taken with the Renault than I am with the majority of the 2011 models we've seen so far, but then again, that isn't saying a huge amount.

[pk500]

The red wing plates look hideous on an otherwise snappy Lotus Renault.

[GB_Simo]

Red at Total's insistence, apparently. Every other sponsor was happy to have their logo amended to fit the black and gold scheme, but Total have it written in their contract with Renault that their logo will at all times be displayed in the correct red and white.

I enjoyed one of Kubica's quotes from earlier today, when he was asked if it was a dream to drive for Lotus (which he isn't, but I tried to blog about that yesterday in terms my Mam can understand and my head's still aching). "They're just a sponsor. At least as far as I know they're a sponsor. You might as well ask me if it's my dream to drive for Total."

While I'm here, I might as well mention that I've thrown together a little 5 Things To Watch piece at Petrolhead Blogger, inspired by PK's Moto GP preview. I do one every year but I don't usually do it in February - all I can tell you is that I was at a loose end earlier and that even when I look at it now, it doesn't look like the thick end of 2400 words. I'm not absolutely with it tonight so please feel free to have a look and highlight any and all parts that are badly written and make no sense.