Bob Barnard Track Engineering

Having traveled the world for 65 years I have finally succumbed to allergies here in Phoenix, so until the drugs kick in this will be short and sweet. Not that there is much to talk about, everyone trying to make the best out of the Melbourne race, or find out what went wrong in the case of Mark Webber. They are going to strip the car and try and find the reason, but Mark is man enough to say it could just have been him.

The Indycar star drivers are complaining about the double file restarts resulting in too many accidents. Well you are the ones driving the car dummy! And Kimi is now going to join Juan Pablo in NASCAR having had his fun in rallying. He certainly knows how to crash and will have plenty of practice here.

As foreshadowed yesterday the questions over the Bahrain GP increase. As Joe Saward points out, the opposition have worked out that if a GP can give world wide exposure to a country, then it can give world wide exposure to its problems. GP2 Asia is due there this weekend and the F1 test is on March 3rd, so I guess we will see what happens. The opposition are saying that now there have been deaths due to the heavy handed response by the Government the protests are not just going to go away.

Meanwhile, back with the "good ol' boys" of NASCAR it has been decided to reduce the cooling system efficiency to try and prevent the pairs of cars running together for extended periods and raising speeds to 206 mph. This has to be a first, especially since the field has already qualified. More changes are expected, including a smaller restrictor plate. The engine builders must be tearing their hair out trying to figure out how to set up for the 500 on Sunday. Could be worth watching.

The argument goes on about the date for the Phillip Island MotoGP after this year. DORNA and the riders are pushing for a return to March, and Ron Walker, who controls the GP Organization for both cars and bikes, does not want it to move. But if, as appears likely, Bernie pulls the plug on the F1 GP, then Ron could easily move the bike GP, or is he going to lose both?

Other than these snippets there is again very little to talk about. Barcelona F1 test starts Friday, more opportunities to be fooled by the teams about what they are actually doing.

On the home front most of our friends seem to have had the flu, including us. The Arizona project has taken a different direction and will take a year to get going, but I am hoping for some news on another project tomorrow.

So Mother Russia is taking a bigger role in Virgin. Ian Phillips comes in as COO and brings many years of experience with him, but the new Technical Director is Nikolay Fomenko, President of MaRussia, who has no experience, despite the claim that "MaRussia's wealth of knowledge and experience provide us with a solid foundation with which to enter the second season." Wealth of knowledge and experience? They were only formed in 2007 and most of us had never heard of them until they bought into Virgin. I've heard some spin, but this is a good one. Maybe I am missing something here, did Nikolay work in F1 before starting MaRussia?

So Melbourne GP has the Government's full support? As has been said before, that is sometimes the last sound anyone hears before being fired. I have questioned before the benefit to sponsors of being in Australia, and The Mayor of Melbourne might just have given Bernie the opening he wants. Bernie has also come out and said that having two races in Spain is a problem, so which one is going? Meanwhile the Indian GP is having further management changes as the head of the company promoting it has stepped down over corruption allegations. Don't you just love going to these new and exciting places?

The Renault exhaust is directed to come out in front of the sidepods to increase the airflow under the car to the single diffuser as I suggested, and apparently McLaren has a similar arrangement, with Mercedes considering it. This must take some plumbing to get it there. Does not seem to be doing Renault that much good in testing, but it is very early days. Force India are still sitting around the top of the timesheets with Di Resta and Hulkenburg third and fourth.

Over in Malaysia Danny Pedrosa laid down a lap two thirds of a second quicker than team mate, make that rival, Casey Stoner. Ben Spies was third fast amongst a gaggle of Hondas. Nicky Hayden and Rossi were 11th and 13th respectively, but not respectably, not even being the quickest Ducati's. It would seem that test times in the world of MotoGP are more representative of what to expect for the season than F1, or am I wrong?

Down in Sebring Audi have been testing both the R18 and the old R15, but no details seem to have emerged. Anyone out there get a whiff of times or other goings on?

On a serious note our thoughts go out to my Australian mates who are suffering through Cyclone Yasi, and my American ones who are experiencing blizzards and freezing rain. It froze overnight here in Phoenix and will be colder tonight, but nothing to compare with these problems.

So the end of season FIA Gala is to be held in New Delhi next year. What fun for everyone to drag themselves there after flying around the world all year. What next, the FIA Headquarters?

Sad to see Johnny O'Connell has lost his Corvette drive and been switched to the CTS program in World Challenge Series. Johnny has served Corvette long and well, good luck with the CTS Johnny.

Nice piece from Joe Saward http://joesaward.wordpress.com/ about the dangers inherent in Ferrari's suggestion to run three car teams, worth a read.

Truthfully there is little else in the news worth talking about, must be Christmas. Had a great evening with an old friend, Jean-Marc Bonnay, "Snoopy." Snoopy has done pretty much everything on two and four wheels except F1 and we bemoaned the current state of most of it. Must be getting old. Waiting on plans to start the Grand Bayou project in Louisiana and to see what will come of the Arizona project. Need to get back to finishing the book.

As Joe Saward pointed out in his blog the entry of the Lotus Cars Group into the Renault F1 team actually signalled the departure of Renault the manufacturer from the sport. They have come and gone ever since motor racing started, so no doubt will be back again one day. Until then they will continue as Renault Sport to supply engines, perhaps the correct role of manufacturers in F1. More than a few commentators are questioning if Group Lotus are over reaching themselves, but maybe the Malaysian Government has given enough backing to do it all, or is it enough rope? Petrov looks more and more likely to stay at Lotus-Renault, which leaves very few seats left.

Tony Fernandes has decided to stick with Lotus green and yellow after lots of calls from fans to do so, so Bob Varsha will have an easier time of it. I think there is a lot of goodwill for Tony and Mike Gascoyne to do well next year.

The Junior Trophy added to the World Superbike for 2011 looks like a good initiative. Around $30,000 for the six race European season which includes a pre-season training camp in Spain. This does not cover travel and accommodation so for a non-european it is still a lot to find, but still a worthwhile series supporting WSBK. Nice to see someone trying to find the next generation riders, but the problem remains of where to then without serious personal sponsorship?

On the home front the land for the track here in Arizona has had it's comprehensive plan amendment approved, so now to look at how to lay it out. If you have looked at the web site previously this is a new location and larger site so the layout will be new.