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weekend round up – 27th March 2011 #NASCAR #F1 #Indycar

Posted on March 28, 2011 by thatconsultantbloke

#NASCAR – a bit of a bore at Fontana until the final laps from what I hear. West coast races don’t start until it’s nearly time for bed for me here in the UK, so I have to check in on the results next morning. Nice (for me) to see Shrub not win it, but I’m pleased to see JPM continuing his good start to the season. Fingers crossed for him.

#F1 – a bit of a bore from down under as well in most ways at the #AustralianGP. The Barra Boy seemed to have been showing that he did learn something from his Ferarri team mate, or did he mistake which Mercedes he was attacking? Another question; why does JB get a drive through for going off the track in his overtaking manoeuvre (when he had been pushed off in the attempt a few times earlier), but Vettel gets away with doing the same thing when he re-passed JB following his pit stop? He clearly deliverately drove off the track round the outside of JB, so why did he not get penalised as well? Still, a big well done to Petrov for a great drive and for hanging on under pressure at the finish, and also to Perez for a great debut, even if it was spoiled by disqualification. And on that note, a final question; the Saubers went through scrutineering before the race, but were disqualified for an infringement that must have been apparent then, so why was it not resolved at that point?

#Indycar – A good opener at St Pete with some good personal performances. Nice to see Tony Kanaan’s third spot after his off season woes; the series needs to have its heroes there on the track (why no Dan Wheldon for goodness sake?), and also a great personal  best from Simona de Silvestro in fourth, and putting pressure on Kanaan to the flag. The Indy series looks at bit sad at the moment and doesn’t seem to be able to pull in the cash at anywhere near the level that NASCAR can. Hopefully it can hang in there until times get better.

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might it be a wet race down under? Australian GP coming up

Posted on March 22, 2011 by thatconsultantbloke

Down under, the race marshals and corner workers are being briefed ready for next weekend’s fun and frolics.

“G’ day folks. Let’s all have a good one and get this one into the books with no damage, and we can all get off to the Barbie. Now we should get through with no worries, but the V8 blokes will probably get a bit involved in their thrash and we might have to break sweat there. Probably some sweeping up to do afterwards whatever.

Now with the F1, we all want Webbo to take a win, but no partisan stuff, OK? Keep your eyes out for the bloke in the silver car with the red helmet though; we’ve had trouble with him down here before, but he’s been looking a bit past it, so make sure you’ve got your blue flags ready for when the quick blokes are lapping him.

Now we’re not expecting anything on the terrorist front, and the security blokes have got all that well covered, but we do have one special warning that we need you to keep your eyes open for. We’re heard that there may be this little old guy; apparently he thinks that a sudden wet patch on the track might liven things up, so watch out in case he might try urinating on the track at some point. Never mind how good his credentials look, if he tries to slip by you just chuck him back over the fence.”

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tracks may change to improve overtaking

Posted on March 8, 2011 by thatconsultantbloke

Good gracious, what will they think of next?

Are we to believe that those in power have finally woken up to the fact that many of these plastic tracks that they’ve inflicted on us might actually be pretty useless? It would be nice to think that they have.

So let’s see the stupid chicanes that have sprung up straightened back out (including those two abominations on the Mulsanne – it’s not just #F1 that’s been blighted) and have some fast straights leading to slow corners. OK, we’ll not change Monaco, but Barcelona, Abu Dhabi and a good few others would be so much better if sorted out. Modern F1 at Reims anyone?

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weekend round up – 6 March 2011 #NASCAR #F1

Posted on March 8, 2011 by thatconsultantbloke

#NASCAR – Well there’s still life in the old dog yet as MM grabs his 49th career Nationwide win and extend his lead for the highest number of wins in that class. It would have been nice to see him win again on Sunday, but never mind. I was also pleased to see a cup race finish under green for once rather than a succession of cautions.

#F1 – Fingers crossed for JYS to recover from whatver ailed him on his flight back to the UK. I was never a fan, but have always had the greatest respect and admiration for the bloke., and motor sport needs elder statesmen like him.

Bernie managed to get F1 into the headlines to make up for the missing Bahrain GP. A bloody stupid idea (akin to the competition caution that NASCAR love and I deride here as much as I can be bothered to), but it made sure that the press had some column inches to fill. If we are going to go down that route then why don’t we just make all the races virtual ones? Turn up on Saturday and draw lots to determine the grid and do that again on Sunday to sort out the result. Instand cost savings all round.

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The Bahrain GP is no loss, but let’s not forget the people

Posted on February 22, 2011 by thatconsultantbloke

So Bahrain is off because of the troubles. One of those races where the organiser’s wallet was deep enough to satisfy Bernie’s demands, but at what cost to the locals?

The traditional venues struggle to afford a grand prix because they have to be self funding, accepting that the pot includes sponsorship, but how many times have we heard the call for our government here in the UK to help the British GP survive yet another of Bernie’s negotiation strategies? It won’t happen and it shouldn’t. Yes we have a great motor sport industry in this country, but it has to be able to stand on its own two feet. The idea of taking public funds to subsidise the race is obscene to me, and so is the thought that the billions that have been poured into races such as Bahrain and some of the other new venues might have helped the plight of those in need of better education, health and other services.

Motor sport is a sport. Look at the ludicrous sums of money that go on football as a parallel where sooner or later there will have to be a change or the professional game will contract radically. Yes F1 should be the pinnacle of motor sport, but why are we trying to cap what the teams spend when, seemingly, there is nothing holding the costs of the races down?

Bahrain is no loss for me. I wish the people of that nation well and hope that they resolve the issues that have led to the race being put off.

Roll on Australia.

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