To Russia with Bernie
Thursday, October 14, 2010 at 01:08PM
So the deals done. $40m a year for five years in Sochi on a presumably new Tilke track for 2014. Then there's India, Rome, Austin, who's for the chop? Anyone who cannot manage $40m a year I guess.
The teams met in Japan to discuss how to make the Grand Prix's better. Make them two day events was one option being considered as it would be much more attractive for the fans. We could just run Sunday and make them even better on that logic, or perhaps just have a two hour race for the ultimate experience! They thankfully agreed that was not really such a good idea, but thought that they could move inspection to Friday to save them arriving so early in the week. Now that would be a great show for the fans. C'mon guys, you are supposed to be the geniuses running this sport, surely you can do better than this. Fans come to watch cars on track, racing, remember that? These need to be "events", let promoters run some decent supports like the V8Supercars in Australia and give the fan value for money. Look at the Goodwood Revival meetings to see how its done, or Adelaide in its hay-day.
It's nice to hear Massa has the team's full support. Usually that is the last sound someone hears before he is shown the door. Helmut Marko, the Red Bull motorsport genius says that Kimi is not coming through with the PR value for the money he is being paid. What other rally driver to hear about apart from Loeb, especially as Kimi is not winning and still getting coverage? Marko said Kimi crashes, well so does you golden boy Vettel, but I do not hear that you think he is not worth the money. Talking of Vettel it seems he and Webber are still at odds. A friend commented on Mark's body language in the parc ferme after Japan, and apparently Mark was off to the helicopter straight away without waiting for the normal team victory photo. I wonder how this is going to play out? I know Mark has signed a contract for next year and there does not appear many options open, but how can you see this going on for another season?
The MotoGP is gathering at Phillip Island for the Australian GP and Casey Stoner is looking to make it four in a row. If he can keep his Ducati upright it would be a good start, but he has shown in the last few races that it is competitive, so good luck Casey. Let's hope the rain stays away. The Island can be a cruel place at this time of year and the ground is still saturated after the winter. One famous quote from my September race in 1990 was that if you brought a car "you would be as popular as a Russian submarine in New York harbor." This was from a motorcycle magazine, really helped with my ticket sales! Always a good race at that track so make sure to watch.
On a personal note, how is it I can build a track like that and stage the first and best GP's, and be sitting here underemployed and undervalued? I despair of building a track again the way it is going.
The teams met in Japan to discuss how to make the Grand Prix's better. Make them two day events was one option being considered as it would be much more attractive for the fans. We could just run Sunday and make them even better on that logic, or perhaps just have a two hour race for the ultimate experience! They thankfully agreed that was not really such a good idea, but thought that they could move inspection to Friday to save them arriving so early in the week. Now that would be a great show for the fans. C'mon guys, you are supposed to be the geniuses running this sport, surely you can do better than this. Fans come to watch cars on track, racing, remember that? These need to be "events", let promoters run some decent supports like the V8Supercars in Australia and give the fan value for money. Look at the Goodwood Revival meetings to see how its done, or Adelaide in its hay-day.
It's nice to hear Massa has the team's full support. Usually that is the last sound someone hears before he is shown the door. Helmut Marko, the Red Bull motorsport genius says that Kimi is not coming through with the PR value for the money he is being paid. What other rally driver to hear about apart from Loeb, especially as Kimi is not winning and still getting coverage? Marko said Kimi crashes, well so does you golden boy Vettel, but I do not hear that you think he is not worth the money. Talking of Vettel it seems he and Webber are still at odds. A friend commented on Mark's body language in the parc ferme after Japan, and apparently Mark was off to the helicopter straight away without waiting for the normal team victory photo. I wonder how this is going to play out? I know Mark has signed a contract for next year and there does not appear many options open, but how can you see this going on for another season?
The MotoGP is gathering at Phillip Island for the Australian GP and Casey Stoner is looking to make it four in a row. If he can keep his Ducati upright it would be a good start, but he has shown in the last few races that it is competitive, so good luck Casey. Let's hope the rain stays away. The Island can be a cruel place at this time of year and the ground is still saturated after the winter. One famous quote from my September race in 1990 was that if you brought a car "you would be as popular as a Russian submarine in New York harbor." This was from a motorcycle magazine, really helped with my ticket sales! Always a good race at that track so make sure to watch.
On a personal note, how is it I can build a track like that and stage the first and best GP's, and be sitting here underemployed and undervalued? I despair of building a track again the way it is going.
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