Bob Barnard Track Engineering

Hollywood loves sequels, but I am not sure F1 fans do. The situation in Bahrain is worse now than when they cancelled last year, with demonstrators becoming more violent. As many pointed out, that is what happens if you repress reasonable dissent. The Bahrain Government had only to look to Israel and Gazza, or Northern Ireland, to see just two situations where a majority is not represented. If the human rights activist now on hunger strike dies then we can only imagine what will happen.

How did it get to this, again? Who put this race back on the calendar and why? Bernie has to submit the calendar to the FIA, and I guess he has a contract with Bahrain so is obliged to, but could have chosen not to and borne the consequences. As it is the FIA agreed, and we are all now seeing the consequences. Thanks to a major PR campaign the lid was kept on the teams this year, we were all going to go, except now it is a week away and people are being shot and bombs going off and the cracks in that unity have appeared. One hero who did not want to be named said that the teams want it cancelled. Do the Bahrain Government own so much of F1 and the FIA that everyone is scared of them?

Bernie comes out today and says that the teams don't have to go if they don't want to. Really? At what price? Isn't that what the Concorde Agreement is about, you have to show up? None of the drivers have said a word this year, very strange. The only way the safety of people at the event can be guaranteed is for the place to be an armed camp. Unless you have police or troops linking arms along the track fence you are never going to stop someone climbing a fence. Remember the suffragette who threw herself under the King's horse at the start of the last century? More recently the idiot at Silverstone, and apparently someone tried to disrupt The Boat Race last weekend. I've seen the end of the Suzuka 8 Hour when the crowd comes over the debris fence, and of course who can forget the first Phillip Island MotoGP?

That's just at the track, presumably they are not going to camp there so need to be able to get in and out. Do they have that many troops? Far from being a unifying event I can only see it dividing the country more.

The FIA are missing in action , again. They are monitoring the situation. Someone needs to find enough courage to stand up and say "We're not going." Then we need to find some answers as to why someone thought this was a good idea in the first place.

So we are still going to Bahrain despite a demonstrator being shot last weekend! Bernie and the boys have a big PR campaign going to convince us all is well though, and Bahrain is apparently the best value for sponsors above the European races. This is measured by the viewing audience, so more people watch Bahrain than Spa! Maybe when it was the first race of the year, certainly no one watches it because the track is so great. More PR BS? There are stories of teams having alternative flights from China in case Bahrain is cancelled, so we will see.

Over to Indycar. Some of you will recall that at the time of Dan Wheldon's death I questioned the construction of the safety fence, SMI tracks being different to anyone else. Yesterday I received my March 15 Autosport and was reading the story about the drivers not being happy at going to Texas. The test was cancelled there you recall, apparently to save the teams from switching to an oval set up and then back for St Pete. More to do with the drivers I think. They are not convinced that the 2012 car will prevent pack racing, but they are also unhappy about the fence, which is the same as Vegas. The last paragraph of the piece is interesting as I have not read this anywhere else. "An investigation into Dan Wheldon's accident revealed that pack racing and the Vegas fencing contributed. ... with the supporting poles on the inside (track side) of the mesh." That's what I have said all along. This is not the FIA style of fence. Don't hold your breath for SMI to change it though.

If you think the 2012 F1 cars are ugly, take a look at the Delta Wing, it is on show at Sebring apparently. Looks like a World Championship sidecar motorcycle, except they look better. Or a Morgan backing up, but I can't see how the driver leans out to keep it on the ground.

Eric Boullier expects the first race in Melbourne to throw up some surprises. Let's hope so, it's time to get away from processions. Presumably Eric is thinking of Kimi and his Lotus, that would be something to watch.

Talking of watching, I have decided I will not watch Bahrain F1. The only message Bernie and the sponsors will take notice of is if the ratings are down.

Received this month's Motor Sport, what a great magazine. Mat Oxley in his column on MotoGP tells us his ideas on the best tracks to go to to watch and get the best atmosphere, Mugello and Jerez. Been to both and I agree, but I also like his comment that "Phillip Island is probably MotoGP's greatest circuit." Thanks Mat.

In the same edition there is an odd comment in Gordon Kirby's column by Giles Simon, ex Ferrari, Peugeot and FIA. "When we think about the future of motorsport I think we need to think about attracting more categories of people - the people who are not interested in motor racing." Well what can you say to that? Why would those people watch then? Unless we are not actually racing in future, and then what about your existing audience who are there to watch motor racing? Just look to NASCAR to see what happens when you forget about your existing fans and go pandering to a fickle bunch of newbies.

Well that is what Bernie thinks will have to happen to stop the "dreamers" with their rose colored glasses from spending too much. Is he talking about race promoters? No, it is the teams, those terrible people who spend so much money on going racing. Perhaps if Bernie "capped" what CVC took out of the sport there would be enough money for these dreamers, and perhaps the race promoters could make a quid too. Just a thought.

While mentioning Bernie, he is still unimpressed by the demonstrations in Bahrain, so we are still going. The question will then arise, will we watch it?

Cars and teams have arrived in Melbourne, and also in Sebring, so we are getting close to having some answers as to who has the magic formula for this year. Maybe not Sebring, as not many new cars there. But who knows, maybe the Dyson cars can give Audi a run for their money just as the Duncan Dayton Hondas did.

Our patience usually. Here we are with withdrawal symptoms from a cold and dark winter with no racing and needing something to stir the blood. What do we get? Testing. Just to show how irrelevant testing is, yesterday Hulkenburg in the Force India is fastest, and Senna in the Williams is among the slowest. Today Maldanado sets the fastest time of the week, in the Williams, and Di Resta in the Force India is way off the pace!

While testing does not show us who is really quick, it does throw up who is in trouble. HRT are not here at all and Marussia are running last year's car. Nothing much changing there. Lotus have a real problem with their chassis design and called off this week's test after seven laps when Grosjean said the car felt strange. Back to the factory. Ferrari are not on the pace and Alonso is saying the car is hard to understand. Sound familiar?

Indycar is testing the "Car of Today", the DW12, on ovals, and the drivers believe the problems have been solved with the handling. Pity there will not be many ovals left for them to drive on.

Over in Jerez di Puniet on the Aprilia powered CRT is putting in some good times, about 0.3 secs a lap off the Ducatti of Hector Barbera, which is better than the 5 seconds Colin Edwards managed, but it is a Ducatti and not the Honda, so let's not get too excited. The Duke is better this year by the sound of it, but still not on the pace of the Hondas.

World Superbike kicks off its season at Phillip Island, and testing there has seen a fair share of injuries. Leon Haslam for one has had surgery and may not start. Let's wait and see if Checa can keep it going from last year. He has been quick in testing so far.

NASCAR has its Dual 125's today, so I guess you can say the season has started.

30 days to go for the F1 season to start, and Australia loses its major sponsor, DHL! Of course good old QANTAS will step in, for a lot less I bet, but the CEO says sponsorship, corporate, ticket sales are all up! And they forecast to only lose $56m this year! But it is better value for money than the tennis.

Bahrain continues to be a political "bun fight" with British politicians and peers of the realm taking opposing sides of "should we go or not." Joe Saward has booked his ticket so it sounds as though it is on. Bernie had better be right "that it is only a couple of kids in trouble with the police." Nice one as always Bernie.  Like the guys in Sao Paulo just wanting to sell Jenson Button a hat.