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weekend round up – 3rd July 2011 #NASCAR #DTM

Posted on July 4, 2011 by driverjohn

#DTM – a wet day and a shortened race at the Norisring saw Bruna Spengler take the win from fellow HWA Mercedes peddler Jamie Green and the Canadian also moves back to the top of the table.

#NASCAR – the holiday weekend action at Daytona saw Danica actually get to lead the Nationwide race a few times and to do so on merit. Good for her. Mark Martin nailed his 50th pole position for the Sprint cup race, but contact with the #20 car saw him into the wall and finishing 6 laps down as David Ragan picked up his maiden win in Mark’s old #6 Ford.

Filed under: Circuits, Drivers, NASCAR, Tin Tops | Tagged: autoracing, DTM, motorsport, NASCAR, racecar | Leave a comment »

button, mclaren, brawn & mercedes

Posted on June 21, 2011 by truckertoggle

Reading on the Autosport website that MSC says expectations have not been met at Mercedes GP rather make Jensen Button’s decision to move to McLaren after his championship year seem positively inspired.

Since the move he has won three more GPs and been on the podium on a regular basis when the team he left behind have just settled as second division runners most of the while.

At the time it looked like a stupid move. Leaving the team that had won both titles to move in with his predecessor as World Champion in a team that had been built around that lad seemed an act of supreme folly they said. But JB is made of strong stuff and he has gone on the establish himself at McLaren. Yes, Lewis is quicker a lot of the time, but JB shows real guile come race day and on days like last Sunday in Canada he shows that he can really race and make good use of a car and conditions.

Going to McLaren was probably the best move he could have made at the time and to hear that he is in line for a contract extension is both good news and well deserved.

Filed under: Cars, Drivers, F1, Teams | Tagged: autoracing, F1, formula one, NASCAR, racecar | Leave a comment »

weekend roundup – 12 June 2011

Posted on June 13, 2011 by thatconsultantbloke

#lemans – Good action at The Sarthe with Audi holding off Peugeot by not very much after what was almost a 24 hour grand prix. Nice to know that Mac and Rocky are OK after two massive shunts. Pleanty of hard luck stories as always, but a classic race with the result uncertain right up until the flag dropped.

In my opinion Anthony Davidson wasn’t blocking the lead Audi late in the race. He was leaving the door wide open at the chicanes and gave the Audi every chance to get by, he just didn’t back off and let him through. All pretty fair in my book.

#indycar – our favourite Will Power finally got an oval win in the second of the twin races in Texas, so that’s a monkey off his back. Even if he was favoured by the lottery for grid positions, it’s his name on the record book and he can maybe win a few more now that first one is behind him. WP is now 21 points clear at the top of the table having extended his lead by 5 after the Texas Twins. As to the method of drawing the grid for the second race by lots, it may be good for the spectacle, but it is no way to operate a professional race at this sort of level.

#f1 – The Canadian GP gave usa fantastic race with Jensen Button coming from last to first despite six trips to the pit lane. Another gritty drive from Webbo saw him salvage third after a hard day at the office and Schumi doing well coming in fourth right up Webbo’s exhaust pipes.

We also got another edition of Lewis in the Wars. He just seems to be in a place where he just can’t do right at the moment. but he can turn that round.

#nascar – meanwhile over in the Poconos on that unique flat tri-oval the return to shifting gears brought transmission problems to some. Jeff Gordon beat off the Ugly Brothers to tie third on the all time winner’s list with Bobby Allison and Darrell Waltrip on 84 visits to Victory Lane. A good run for JPM saw him lead a fair bit before losing third gear and fading to seventh. Not a good day for championship front runner Edwards with a dud engine dropping him right down the order.

Filed under: Circuits, Drivers, F1, Indycar, NASCAR | Tagged: autoracing, F1, formula one, Indycar, lemans, NASCAR, racecar | Leave a comment »

Bahrain GP 2011 off again

Posted on June 10, 2011 by thatconsultantbloke

So it took the teams to put the lid on the re-instatement of the Bahrain Grand Prix 2011. This has been a sorry mess and has done F1, and motorpsort in general, little credit.

Fines and suspensions are amongst the penalties that the FIA can impose on teams, drivers and team employees for brining the sport into disrepute; a shame that the sport cannot sanction the FIA similarly. Maybe, though, this might be another wedge in the crack that might see a breakaway series established.