Silly Season
Friday, May 14, 2010 at 10:02AM
Well the silly season has started early this year, with Mark Webber the latest driver to be replacing Massa at Ferrari. Do not be surprised if tomorrow you see it's that other well known Australian, Bob Barnard, who is replacing him. I am waiting for the phone call now.
Speaking of Ferrari, they pulled the barcode off the cars after the European Parliament complained of subliminal advertising for Marlboro, which of course it was, but somehow have forgotten the drivers helmets, driving suits and team uniforms.
It is a quiet day in Monaco for F1, but the support program goes on, and there is plenty of motor sport action elsewhere around the world. World Superbike, WSB, is in action in Kyalami in South Africa. Nice to see that track still hosting big events, even if it has gone through a lot of changes over the years. WSB is surprisingly going strong, despite the GP machinery switching to four strokes, with more manufacturers competing than I can remember. Nice to see BMW in there with Troy Corser. The series is run by Mauricio Flammini, a very smart operator who is behind the promotion of the Rome F1 GP on a street circuit. Bernie is still saying it is on for 2013 so Italy will be back to two races a year. Hard to see how Mauricio is going to make a dollar out of a street race for Bernie, ask Chris Pook how hard that is, but if anyone can he will.
Also this weekend is the Nurburgring 24 hour on the daunting Nordschleif, the old GP track from pre-war days. 15.7 miles long with lots of corners and mostly nowhere to go if you get it wrong. The race virtually dropped out of sight for a number of years, and in recent times seems to have been the province of a bunch of amateurs having some fun. No longer it seems. The manufacturers are back with a vengance with the race being run for GT2 machinery and some very very good drivers. Audi have three teams of R8's competing among the 220 cars that can qualify! And they say Monaco will be busy. 800 drivers are involved, with the opportunity to drive more than one car. If you wanted to pack a lot of track time into a race this seems to be it.
Thanks to everyone who has been following the blog and glad you are enjoying it. If you need to have a weekly update on what is happening across the board in motor sport on two and four wheels, log on to www.sarnimotorsport.com and receive Greg's Thursday reports.
Speaking of Ferrari, they pulled the barcode off the cars after the European Parliament complained of subliminal advertising for Marlboro, which of course it was, but somehow have forgotten the drivers helmets, driving suits and team uniforms.
It is a quiet day in Monaco for F1, but the support program goes on, and there is plenty of motor sport action elsewhere around the world. World Superbike, WSB, is in action in Kyalami in South Africa. Nice to see that track still hosting big events, even if it has gone through a lot of changes over the years. WSB is surprisingly going strong, despite the GP machinery switching to four strokes, with more manufacturers competing than I can remember. Nice to see BMW in there with Troy Corser. The series is run by Mauricio Flammini, a very smart operator who is behind the promotion of the Rome F1 GP on a street circuit. Bernie is still saying it is on for 2013 so Italy will be back to two races a year. Hard to see how Mauricio is going to make a dollar out of a street race for Bernie, ask Chris Pook how hard that is, but if anyone can he will.
Also this weekend is the Nurburgring 24 hour on the daunting Nordschleif, the old GP track from pre-war days. 15.7 miles long with lots of corners and mostly nowhere to go if you get it wrong. The race virtually dropped out of sight for a number of years, and in recent times seems to have been the province of a bunch of amateurs having some fun. No longer it seems. The manufacturers are back with a vengance with the race being run for GT2 machinery and some very very good drivers. Audi have three teams of R8's competing among the 220 cars that can qualify! And they say Monaco will be busy. 800 drivers are involved, with the opportunity to drive more than one car. If you wanted to pack a lot of track time into a race this seems to be it.
Thanks to everyone who has been following the blog and glad you are enjoying it. If you need to have a weekly update on what is happening across the board in motor sport on two and four wheels, log on to www.sarnimotorsport.com and receive Greg's Thursday reports.
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