Bob Barnard Track Engineering

Well that's a surprise, Charlie Whiting approved the Korean circuit. There are ongoing concerns though, but to be fair to Charlie he is looking at the safety aspects which if it is built to the approved drawings then should be OK. The Koreans announced that Charlie was walking the circuit and inspecting all the corners, as if that were something special. What did they expect, he would ride around at 50 mph and say it looks OK? When I inspected Shah Allam many years ago I said I was going to walk, and the locals thought I was mad and refused to come with me. They rode around in a mini van about every ten minutes to make sure I was still alive and bring me water. They said the only other person who walked was the FIA inspector. Of course, how else are you going to have the time to properly see all the minute details that can make a track safe or dangerous. When I build a track I walk it all the time. I've tried trail bikes and scooters, but there is something about riding or driving that takes a piece of your concentration away, and it is too easy to ride past something.

So, we will see what happens. I am told that Australia is sending a bunch of marshals and officials to help run the race, so at least there will be someone there besides Charlie who knows what they are doing.

Not much else brewing on the motorsport scene, the mid week lull and there are no juicy rumors about who is going where. Saw a headline that Panasonic might sponsor Sauber. After Kobayashi's drive on Sunday I'm not surprised. Let's see some more of that in Korea.

The movie on Ayrton Senna's life premiered in Japan over the grand prix weekend, and has got great reviews from the journalists who were lucky enough to see it. It seems the rest of us will not see it until mid 2011. Have they only got one copy?