OT: Racing 2010 (Spoiler Alert)

[pk500]

Nirvana, if you're an Indianapolis 500 fan:

[Dave]

BOOOIIIINNNNNNGGGGG!!!

Thanks for posting, PK, some real beauties.

[fletcher21]

F1 fans, you have to add this YouTube user to your buddy lists. His GP recaps are better than anything you will ever see. It's tv quality right here. It's only so long before someone offers this guy a job and gives him a chance to make a name for himself.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8djUFFC7 ... re=related

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Bt6q_MLN ... re=related

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ddhHbPQU ... re=related


My only gripe is his weak taste in music.

[GB_Simo]

Fletch, check the watermark in the bottom left. Then visit www.formula1.com, create a user account and watch the very, very good race edits they post after each race. When you're done, tell me if you notice any similarities between the videos posted on formula1.com and the ones on that YouTube channel.

It is, unfortunately, not that likely that the YouTube user will get job offers on the back of his channel. He might well get a breach of copyright notice, though...

Good find all the same, mate. They're consistently entertaining videos, and you'll get a lot more team radio than you do on the TV broadcasts - as your starter for 10, the Turkish edit has some fascinating McLaren radio which you won't have heard on Speed or Fox or wherever. I would however recommend watching them here instead, because they're higher quality, not to mention that they came from that link in the first place.

[Rodster]

Ben Spies continues to impress with 3rd on the grid after qualifying in the Tech 3 Yamaha. And even more impressive was when he decided after three practice laps it was way to dangerous to ride in high wind and rain.

Stoner just owns Phillip Island, starts on pole and is going for his fourth consecutive win there.

[Rodster]

DTM is starting a series in the US in 2013 in conjunction with Nascar

http://www.autosport.com/news/report.php/id/87473

[Dave]

Anyone else watch the Tim Richmond 30 for 30 on ESPN? Really well done.

[Gurantsu]

Wow, that Indy video is awesome! I remember seeing Gordon Johncocks car at a NASCAR race in Dover the year after he won.

The museum at IMS is still the best bargain in racing.

[pk500]

Anyone else watch the Tim Richmond 30 for 30 on ESPN? Really well done.

I did. It was phenomenal -- one of the best among many gems in the "30 for 30" series.

I was skeptical about how deeply the documentary would look at Richmond's illness and the backlash from the NASCAR community about it because the film was produced by NASCAR's in-house video group. But the film did examine all the issues.

I learned two things from this movie: One, Richard Petty really does not like Richmond, even to this day. Two, NASCAR could really use a guy with the skill and charisma of Richmond to lift its flagging popularity. The guy was a human magnet -- what charisma, what talent. There's no one even remotely close to Richmond today in NASCAR.

[pk500]

Excellent recent column about Richmond:

http://sports.espn.go.com/rpm/nascar/cu ... id=5696274

[GB_Simo]

PK gave the ESPN broadcast a mention in his IMS blog the other day. I realise the show's been on already, but the blog is still well worth a visit for another chance to see Richmond babbling away like a tour guide on live TV at North Wilkesboro, an event which sounds fairly unremarkable until you consider that he was still in the race, a race which had just gone green.

Nirvana, if you're an Indianapolis 500 fan:

Lone Star JR's Chaparral is such a good-looking beast. I'm also struck, more in that video than in period pictures, by just how small Jim Clark's 1965 winner was.

Meanwhile, in Korea...

[GB_Simo]

I'm not usually fussed on efforts to recreate that photo of Senna, Mansell, Prost and Piquet on the pitwall in Estoril, but this lot have had a reasonably good stab at it.

From the same link, note the following:

Some dub these lodgings 'love hotels'. Brothels will do. The city has now seen 800 hookers moved off the streets for Bernie Ecclestone

Difficult to blame him now Slavica's gone, though who knows how he's going to keep his shirt immaculately pressed for race day.

[F308GTB]

Messy F1 race. Heart goes out to Webber. Was really pulling for him and he just mentally goofed IMO and probably loses the championship. I admit I did a fist pump when Vettel left half his engine on the track. Let's go Alonso!

[GB_Simo]

Messy F1 race. Heart goes out to Webber. Was really pulling for him and he just mentally goofed IMO and probably loses the championship. I admit I did a fist pump when Vettel left half his engine on the track. Let's go Alonso!

Good of Mark to concede that it was his own fault, particularly when the consequences were so disproportionate to the size of the error he made. After that prolonged and largely unnecessary safety car run at the start, it would have been easy to fall back on the conditions as an excuse, so credit to him for taking responsibility.

The momentum is with just about everyone except Mark Webber, it's true, but win the next two races and the Aussie is world champion no matter what everyone else gets up to. Webbo is more than capable of winning in Interlagos - where he was dominant 12 months ago, don't forget - and Abu Dhabi, with the added advantage that if he wins Interlagos they'll have to use Vettel as his rear gunner for Abu Dhabi.

Then again, Vettel's capable of winning them both too, and it seems that every race someone pops up to explain that Alonso probably won't quite be on the pace of the Red Bulls, yet he's won 4 of the last 7. I'm not certain I'd want to discount Hamilton either (how much must he be wishing he'd kept 4 wheels on his car in Italy and Singapore?) though Button's shot at title glory is no more than a mathematical one after today.

I'm inclined to feel Fernando's got one hand on the trophy now, but if you'd asked me to pick a world champion with 10 laps of the race to go I'd have said Vettel, which isn't the name I'd have given you when the race started. Fun, isn't it?

[GB_Simo]

Not sure how I've managed to avoid seeing this video before, but this is tremendous. Berger at Monaco in 1995, with the last of the glorious V12s, powersliding through Casino Square:

[Rodster]

I love the sound of the V12's and that last powerslide was EPIC !!!

What makes me said is how beautiful those cars looked back then when you compare them with the F1 monstrosities today.

[GB_Simo]

F1 SPOILERS APPROACHING. THIS IS A SPOILER WARNING, BOYS.





I believe the expression rhymes with "clucking bell". Not just a Williams on pole, but a Williams on pole by an absolute sodding mile!

[pk500]

F*cking A! I'm really, really thrilled for Sir Frank and Patrick Head. Two of the truest petrolheads in the F1 paddock.

[Rodster]

[GB_Simo]

When I was young, it was probably inevitable that I'd end up a Williams fan. They had Nigel, then Damon, they had an FW14 which I still think is among the prettiest single-seaters ever made and they seemed to win quite a lot. When I was about 8 I started reading up on the history of the sport and learned Williams was still a relatively young team (in its current form, at least) which had been winning races and titles pretty much continuously from the word go. Had you told me then that in 2010 I'd be giddy at the sight of a first Williams pole position in 5 years...

Lord knows what I'd have done if Rubens had got it. Some sort of dance, I imagine.

Bonus Frank Williams fact: though you'd never know it if you listened to our respective accents, Sir Frank was born and raised about 30 miles up the road from me in South Shields and Jarrow, both just outside Newcastle. As far as I can think, I've only heard him mentioned on the local news once in the last 20 years.

[Rodster]

Adam mentioned the look of the FW14 (I like it too btw) and I was looking up info on Gerhard Berger after Adam posted that video of the four wheel powerslide and came across a car he drove in 1986.

[Rodster]

You guys know my feelings towards Mr. Prick but if the guy does pull off a third World Title my hats off to him and he should be considered amongst the very best ever in Formula One. He had a much lesser car all year than the Red Bulls and is leading the Championship and could win it today. I still think Germany was wrong but oh well. On the flip side if he hadn't crashed his car at Monaco which was all going his way, Germany might not have even factored into the equation. And on the flip, flip side. If Red Bull had not thrown away so many races this year Mr. Eyebrows might not be sniffing a third WDC.

I'm still pulling for Marky to win this year. Anyone who can get away with calling Nico Rosberg "Brittany Spears" is OK in my book.

[F308GTB]

The MotoGP season wrapped up today with an entertaining race in Spain. Ben Spies had another fantastic race and I look forward to the Texan making some waves next year with a factory Yamaha. Next year could be a fantastic one with Lorenzo, Spies, and a healthy Rossi.

[pk500]

The MotoGP season wrapped up today with an entertaining race in Spain. Ben Spies had another fantastic race and I look forward to the Texan making some waves next year with a factory Yamaha. Next year could be a fantastic one with Lorenzo, Spies, and a healthy Rossi.

Don't forget the expected Pedrosa-Stoner rivalry at Honda. They will push each other to new heights.

Simoncelli probably should be the best of the satellite riders next season. He really has looked impressive in the last four races of the season on the Gresini Honda. I bet he'll push hard enough next season to unseat Dovizioso from the Honda factory team for 2012.

Bummer about Nicky's crash today. He looked very strong, possibly a good bet for a podium. But he admitted rider error due to pushing hard. No excuses -- that's one of the many things I love about The Kentucky Kid.

MotoGP is the only form of motorsport for which I rue the end of the season. Other series either are too long or not compelling enough for me to lust for a 12-month season like MotoGP!

[GB_Simo]

MotoGP is the only form of motorsport for which I rue the end of the season. Other series either are too long or not compelling enough for me to lust for a 12-month season like MotoGP!

I wish I had that problem. The run from late November to February, when the F1 testing kicks off and NASCAR starts up again, is just 10 weeks wasted unless you're into the Andros Trophy...

Alright, boys: place your bets. The most likely scenario in my mind come Sunday is a Vettel-Webber-Alonso top 3 in the latter stages of the race, in which case Webbo's world champ assuming Seb plays ball (which he might not, which might not necessarily upset too many people within Red Bull). Having said that, even if the Red Bulls remains fundamentally quicker, it'd be dangerous to bet against Alonso getting amongst them, and if one of the Bulls has a mechanical problem it's very difficult indeed to see the McLarens or anyone else being quick enough to get ahead of Fernando and deprive him of the title. Where's your money going?

Elsewhere, I felt that was a display of top quality handbags-at-dawn playground fisticuffs in Texas yesterday.