formula one | motorsportmania

well done Lewis Hamilton

Posted on June 2, 2011 by thatconsultantbloke

Tweeting may be a strange way of apologising for old fogies like me who like to do these things face to face, but Lewis Hamilton is a modern man and you can’t get more public in your apology than Tweeting it, so well done that man. We all make mistakes and can do and say things that we are not proud of, but to stand up and say sorry is the right thing to do.

As he said in one of the Tweets, onwards and upwards. Let’s hope the cards fall better for him in Canada.

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

#NASCAR round up 30 May 2011

Posted on June 2, 2011 by truckertoggle

(Managed to muck up the scheduling on this one and it didn’t go out as planned, so here it is, albeit a few days late – sorry)

Over the last couple of weeks we’ve seen Kimi make his first couple of forays into NASCAR with a good 15th place in the trucks (Nelson jnr did even better, although he has had more practice) and followed that up with a Nationwide outing that didn’t go quite as well. Watching him in the trucks you could see all of the car control and feel was there though, and he just needs to get used to the lack of sophistication in the equipment and the very different subtleties of the racing. If he has fun he will stay and the results will come.

In the 600 more heartbreak for Little E as he ran out of gas on the run to the flag, but good results for RPM with the Dinger and the Digger bringing their Fords in 5th and 6th. Could we have a Petty car back in the winner’s circle this season? Hope so.

Good fun watching the Nationwide race at Iowa. One of the less famous venues maybe, but a good race and good to see one of the series’ regulars hold off the Sprint Cup boys for the win.

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

monaco grand prix round up 29 May 2011 #F1

Posted on May 30, 2011 by truckertoggle

Mayhem at the #monacograndprix with the decision to allow cars to be serviced during the red flag screwing up any chance of the natural outcome.

Some say that you make your own luck, and Vettel certainly fluked this one. Not that he isn’t fast, but McLaren had this one won until that call to bring Button in for athird change of tyres at just the wrong moment. Just when it looked as though he might have a chance of picking up the win late on the red flag blew his chance for good. Why F1 doesn’t run NASCAR parc ferme style procedures at these times is maybe down to safety, but they might just as well have flagged it short under the circumstances. I’m sure that my friends dow the road at Grove would have been happier as hamitlton would not have been able to stuff Pastor’s chances into the barrier. At times Lewis is a bit daft, and his lunge at Massa earlier was not what you expect of a driver with his talents. His penalties were deserved and his ill considered comments post race did him no credit.

Whilst the new tyre rules provide overtaking chances, it was Sutil’s marathon stint that built up the convoy that triggered the red flag incident just as the leaders were coming through.

So, for me, the race got spoiled. Vettel and his Red Bull is the quickest combo around, but a bit of guile, as well atalent and racecraft almost saw him beaten today, but circumstances handed him the win on a plate. Maybe he should get into the casino and put his winnings on the table, or maybe he’s used up today’s quota of luck?

Filed under: Circuits, Drivers, F1 | Tagged: autoracing, F1, formula one | 1 Comment »

weekend round up – 8th May 2011 #NASCAR #F1

Posted on May 8, 2011 by truckertoggle

#NASCAR from Darlington. Regan Smith picks up a maiden win for himself and Barney Visser’s Furniture Row team and manages to translate a great qualifying performance this season (7 top ten starts out of 10 trys) into a win. The wonders of NASCAR make these things possible, and it’s great to se one of the smaller teams pull off a win, especially at one of NASCAR’s iconic venues. Also of note maybe was that the four manufacturers competing in Sprint cup were each represented in the top 4. Less noteworthy was that, yet again, he who shall not be named was involved in some pushing and shoving. We’ve suggested here before that parking him for a few races might wake him up; the #18 driver has the talent to win cleanly, so why all this stupidity almost every week?

#F1 from Turkey. We’re pleased here to see Mercedes challenging and, with Renault/Lotus, making it five teams in the hunt in qualifying at least, even if race pace varies hugely. But is there any doubt that the Red Bull, especially in the hands of Vettel, is the class of the field? Certainly in terms of raw pace he has them all covered.

Behind the flying #1 Red Bull plenty of uncertainty about the outcome with the differing strategies for a while though, but once you get down to the last 15 laps or so it’s all pretty much over. A decent track for a modern one and plenty of overtaking going on.

Who can stop Red Bull though, and Vettel in particular? Two in a row is not an easy feat, but who would back anyone other than Vettel for the title at this stage? Roll on Spain.