It's all Down-Hill
Tuesday, May 18, 2010 at 10:04AM
Poor old Damon Hill, he just had to be the Driver Steward when Michael decided to pull one of his stunts. Now the Schumacher fans are sending him hate mail. Number one, we do not even know how Damon voted on this, and two, he was not the only Steward so presumably a few people agreed on the decision. Now Damon is saying perhaps the driver should not be a Steward, just an advisor, as if that would placate the masses. Like most referees or umpires they will never please everyone, so just follow your conscience and like the drivers, do the best job you can. You cannot always be right, just ask Jarno Trulli.
Quote of the week."The teams are subsidizing the Canadian GP." Tell that to the Canadian Governments that are forking out a reportedly $70 m to get the race back. The poor teams, who we all know are struggling to build their $20 m motorhomes, say that the cost of going to Canada is more than they will receive. Well, they should be asking Bernie about where all that dough is going.
The teams are reportedly talking to Bernie about other things like improving the show. Now there's a concept. Concerned at the empty seats, as "blogged", (is that the right term?) the other day, they want to "tweak the weekend." Now I have to agree that the changes to the qualifying have made for a more exciting session, even though I am a bit of a purist and liked the old days I have to agree the punters see more cars on track this way. But, let's hope we do not get too carried away with the racing. Let's not go to two races, or reverse grids or even shorter ones. Yes, these can liven up the show, but this is supposed to be the pinnacle of the sport and as I have said before the races now are no longer than the average soccer or football match, and a lot shorter and more interesting than baseball! As we keep coming back to it is what is happening during the race that is the problem. Give us more overtaking and we will all be happy, and when the economy improves we will buy seats again.
We hear a lot about green racing and alternative fuels. It is interesting that in the British Touring Car Championship the Ford Focus that is running on LPG is going to made to go slower! So alternative fuels do not always mean giving the user a break to encourage their use, as we have seen with the diesels at Le Mans. It will be interesting to see the Hybrid Porsche at the Petit and I hope IMSA does not make it run as a "demonstration" excluded from the competition. Some may think from my previous writings that I am against alternative fuels. Far from it, I love the creativity and innovation and should allow almost anything and then equalise the performance. What I object to is the way going green is used as an apology for racing using resources, when we all use them every day, and other sports are not exempt. How much gas gets used with 100,000 people going to a football match?
Another busy weekend coming up with ALMS back in action at Laguna Seca, Indy Qualifying, and the French MotoGP at Le Mans using the Bugatti circuit, not the full road course. As Murphy the Bear commented today, Lord Drayson now has a lot more time on his hands to run his race team, so we will see if it improves.
Quote of the week."The teams are subsidizing the Canadian GP." Tell that to the Canadian Governments that are forking out a reportedly $70 m to get the race back. The poor teams, who we all know are struggling to build their $20 m motorhomes, say that the cost of going to Canada is more than they will receive. Well, they should be asking Bernie about where all that dough is going.
The teams are reportedly talking to Bernie about other things like improving the show. Now there's a concept. Concerned at the empty seats, as "blogged", (is that the right term?) the other day, they want to "tweak the weekend." Now I have to agree that the changes to the qualifying have made for a more exciting session, even though I am a bit of a purist and liked the old days I have to agree the punters see more cars on track this way. But, let's hope we do not get too carried away with the racing. Let's not go to two races, or reverse grids or even shorter ones. Yes, these can liven up the show, but this is supposed to be the pinnacle of the sport and as I have said before the races now are no longer than the average soccer or football match, and a lot shorter and more interesting than baseball! As we keep coming back to it is what is happening during the race that is the problem. Give us more overtaking and we will all be happy, and when the economy improves we will buy seats again.
We hear a lot about green racing and alternative fuels. It is interesting that in the British Touring Car Championship the Ford Focus that is running on LPG is going to made to go slower! So alternative fuels do not always mean giving the user a break to encourage their use, as we have seen with the diesels at Le Mans. It will be interesting to see the Hybrid Porsche at the Petit and I hope IMSA does not make it run as a "demonstration" excluded from the competition. Some may think from my previous writings that I am against alternative fuels. Far from it, I love the creativity and innovation and should allow almost anything and then equalise the performance. What I object to is the way going green is used as an apology for racing using resources, when we all use them every day, and other sports are not exempt. How much gas gets used with 100,000 people going to a football match?
Another busy weekend coming up with ALMS back in action at Laguna Seca, Indy Qualifying, and the French MotoGP at Le Mans using the Bugatti circuit, not the full road course. As Murphy the Bear commented today, Lord Drayson now has a lot more time on his hands to run his race team, so we will see if it improves.
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